#but that’s not really the point nor the appeal of her character

[boltgunkiller-archive]

it’s so irritating that everyone likes santana for the wrong reasons 🫤 i mean she is funny and i like the mean girl trope but the whole idea of “haha she’s so mean she’s saying the stuff everyone wants to say” ?? amazing job you fell for exactly what she wants to convince you of

#juno speaks #do i agree with her? i mean i guess most of the time #she does call out rachel a lot #but that’s not really the point nor the appeal of her character #you can like her for whatever reason but thinking that’s the purpose/point of her character #ENTIRELY #is missing the point #yes she’s a mean girl cheerleader trope. i love that trope for many reasons #but it’s not just because they’re mean although that is fun #it’s because they’re mean due to inner turmoil or other circumstances. that’s why i like aubrey so much #(from omori not glee lol) #it’s interesting to see and analyze which is a major reason why s2 is my favorite because a lot of that inner struggle #was actually shown on television. like we can see why she’s acting out so much #that’s the interesting part to me. and santana isn’t only mean she just struggles to express herself #she cares deeply about things and FOR a lot of people. she just doesn’t know how to express it #but deep down she’s a good friend and she loves people #she’s shy and insecure and doesn’t like being vulnerable so she never shows it but it’s true #and there are several moments where she sets all of that aside to be there for people because they NEED it #and she does care #like rachel having her breakdown before going on funny girl #santana stepped up and helped and knocked some sense into her #because it was important and rachel needed it #like yes i also do think santana’s funny and i like the mean girl trope i love when girls are mean #that’s no secret #but that’s not all there is to her… ignoring the rest of her character is just irritating like #it’s ignorant 🤦‍♀️ and it irritates me that that’s all people see when they say they’re a fan of her character #like stop there’s so much more.. so many meaningful things about her #Again i do also think she’s funny. but THATS NOT ALL THERE IS ☹️☹️☹️ #anyway. like characters how u want but this is how i feel #gleeposting

[transmutationisms]

oh i would actually be curious to hear your thoughts on lolita book covers in that case. i do get the sense that some of the covers are designed to uncritically titilate and seem to misunderstand the text, but that could obviously be an assumption on my part lol.

oh i agree that the cover designs tend to run counter to nabokov's intentions, both in the text and in the literal instructions he gave about covers lol. they pretty clearly rely on putting some young girl on display, which is exactly what nabokov did not want to do visually; they also tend to suggest dolores as some kind of seductress (sultry gazes, pouty lips, &c). clearly this is precisely the opposite of what the text tells us about her.

however when evaluating these visual choices i find that many people portray them as some kind of originary and culturally polluting act: that is, a narrative emerges that the problem here is people misinterpreting 'lolita', and then publishing it with covers that will do harm to young girls &c. i think this is lazy analysis and fundamentally makes idealist assumptions overestimating the effect of cultural products (books, book covers) on problems, like the sexualisation of children, that are in fact grounded in material relations, such as in this case the status of children as legal property and the total power granted to adults over them. that is to say, these broader conditions are at root the reason that cultural products like the cover of 'lolita' look the way they do, and chalking it up to individuals not understanding the book is never going to get us very far; and also, although some of these covers are pretty egregious, they are the reflection rather than the cause of the sexualisation of children, a problem that would continue to exist even if every edition of 'lolita' ever printed just said "humbert humbert is an unreliable narrator and dolores haze is a child he is preying on" on the cover.

fundamentally i also think this sort of conversation often elides some more interesting points about whom these covers communicate to and what they say. you suggest they are meant to "titillate"; although i would agree dolores is often shown as sexual, desirable, and seductive, i'm not sure that's the same as assuming the cover is trying to arouse the potential reader. for one thing, to put it bluntly, this style of cover tends to be associated more with books marketed to women than to heterosexual men. and more broadly, and this is something the lolita podcast really fails to understand imo, the phenomenon of people reading 'lolita' and relating themselves to dolores is not mutually exclusive with this type of rhetorical construction of dolores-through-humbert's-eyes. that is, often what appeals about dolores is, i think, precisely the fact that through her, people find a way of discoursing about or simply re-enacting the kind of sexualisation that they are already subjected to or have been in the past, whether or not at a level as explicit and extreme as what nabokov depicts.

i'm not really interested in a simple moral condemnation of the people who design these covers; that critique writes itself. they are obviously bad and facile, and reflective of precisely the culture of child sexual abuse that nabokov's text condemns. but if we are interested in the reception of these objects, or interrogating the cultural meaning and implications of their existence, i just think there's a lot more going on here than what the podcast portrays as a simple sort of 'broadcast' model of mass media wherein the 'lolita' book cover and trope is beamed out to unsuspecting innocents who are then exposed to its nefarious elements. dolores appeals to people for lots of reasons, some prurient, some pitying, some openly self-projective, and these are not mutually exclusive with one another nor are they mutually exclusive with readings that reproduce elements of the very lolita character that humbert creates and uses to silence and re-write dolores. we can be uncomfortable with that and refuse to talk about it but if that's the position someone wants to take then i'm not likely to be interested enough in their opinions to, like, listen to their podcast about this book lol.

#lolita

[im-a-hoping-beetch]

Many people genuinely get confused when we, native people, get uncomfortable when Katara, a native character, is reduced to a mom and her canon relationships with characters are put down in favour for a boy who lived in a society that benefitted from her oppression, antagonised her and her friends for most of the series and was even racist at times. But because he's hot and had an episode with katara, everything should be forgiven, because god forbid a native girl gets with anyone who isn't from a group of people who aided the genocide of her people. God forbid two characters who experienced genocide have a relationship and connect over this shared trauma, in favour for boy who also has mom trauma

Look, while I can understand your feelings of discomfort towards the ship, I’d still like to put certain things into perspective.

Now, I don’t really know what you meant by her being “reduced” to a mom. Do you mean that her relationship with Zuko would confine her to such a role? Which, by the way, is absolutely laughable, since one of the main reasons why so many ppl ship these two is bcz unlike every member of the gaang (aside from Suki), Zuko is the only one with who she doesn’t have to act like a surrogate mother. Katara is allowed to be angry and be vulnerable with him. All things that we rarely see her be able to do with the rest of the bunch, let alone her own brother.

Actually, one of the main appeal of the two is bcz, both have the same level of of maturity and similar way of interacting with the members of the gaang. Which is why so many ppl label the two as “parents of the group”.

But, if you’re talking about how, we zutarians usually talk abt the intricacies that come with her being a motherly person, I’ve got some news for ya. Most of us, usually, never fail to highlight how much of a tragedy, her being pushed into a role of adulthood at such a young age is. Also, on how, ironically, her canonical partner (Aang) has never really helped with that phenomenon, actually he perpetuated it even further.

Besides, wanna talk abt canon relationships being put down for a boy, well, look no further than canon itself, anon. I’m guessing that you’ve probably read this post, due to the phrasing at the beginning of your ask. One thing I specifically touched on, was how much of Katara’s existence seems to revolve around Aang, the biggest example being, the comics. In them, we do see the creators ready to strain Katara’s established relationships with the gaang (aside from her brother) in order to shove kataang down our throats. Cuz if you think abt it, Toph and Katara’s interactions are heavily reduced, let alone meaningful ones and do not even get me started on Zuko or Suki.

Yes, Zuko lived in a society that benefited from her oppression. He has antagonized her and her friends. But Zuko is also made to recognize the harm his actions have caused. Additionally, at no point is he not faced with the consequences of what he has done towards the gaang. Every single member gets to express anger or/and resentment over what he’s done in the past, Katara is no exception. Actually, she’s the one who’s given the most leeway in terms of doing so. Even for things he had no control over such as her mother’s death and the fire nation raids. However, instead of whining about how he’s not responsible for all of this taking place, something he could’ve easily done, he makes it up to her. He helps her seek justice for her mother while her canonical future boyfriend is out here reducing her righteous anger to blindsided revenge.

I don’t know what you mean by “Because He’s hot and had an episode with her, everything should be forgiven.” To me, that last part owed to make me scratch all the dandruff off my braids. Language is a powerful tool, but often than not, people don’t really know how to use it nor seem to understand the ramifications of their use. When you say “everything should be forgiven”, you are framing forgiveness as something passive, when, here, it is active. Someone does the action of forgiving Zuko, Katara does. Katara forgives him, because he earned it.

Right now, I’m assuming that you thought you were in defence of Katara, but the truth is that you are actually perpetuating an habit that many have had when it comes to the Southern Raiders. Which is to perpetually strip any agency Katara has in an episode literally centered around her character!?!

Nobody forbid anyone from anything. If people don’t feel comfortable shipping these two, so be it. However, to act as if Zuko hasn’t actively fought against the system that has led to those atrocities being done or like he hasn’t used his position of power in order to make actual change or/and retributions, is simply disingenuous.

Aang and Katara did have a relationship, but have never connected over their shared trauma. More specifically, Aang failed to connect over their shared trauma, when he should have and instead used as a way to silence hers. @sokkastyles makes a very good point about it in this post.

#atla #avatar the last airbender #zutara #anti kataang #anti bryke #anti aang #atla fandom critical #zuko #katara #pro katara #the southern raiders #anti atla comics

[nihilnovisubsole]

something i've been thinking about as GDC comes around again: it's amazing to sit in the same room with Real Industry People and hear the truth of why certain story decisions happened the way they did. studio games are odd group projects that take a really long time to make, and there are many irons in the fire and many interests at play. sometimes the stars align and a team gets a laser vision, creative freedom, and the budget they need, and they ship the thing they meant to ship.

but not always. if a character you love got killed off, it's entirely possible that their original writer left or they couldn't bring the voice actor back. or leadership wanted to close down old story arcs and tie up loose ends, or someone felt new characters would bring in a new audience. if a series seemed to drop a plot thread in a sequel, it's possible that the narrative team wanted to include it and it got cut for scope. or shareholders wanted to appeal to a different part of the playerbase. or the team had internal creative conflict, or any number of reasons as simple as "it got lost in the shuffle because we did so many rewrites". [important disclosure: i'm not vagueposting about specific games here. i'm just rattling possibilities off. resemblance, unintentional, etc.]

and of course that's not a phenomenon unique to video games. tv shows make snap decisions when they get canceled before the planned end of the story or a cast member wants to leave. movies' plots can change when a new director comes on board, or they bring in a script doctor, or an actor's problems interfere with the shoot. even louisa may alcott changed little women's ending over concerns that if jo remained unmarried, the book wouldn't sell. i'm not sure whether it was her publisher or she worried about it herself, but the point is, something got altered, and it can happen anywhere.

as a fan, i found these developers' stories both comforting and vindicating. for a long time, i've felt like someone riding two horses at once: the fanfic-and-OC girl playing on other writers' playgrounds, and now also the staff writer who sees how the sausage gets made. i've been affected - probably overmuch - by a character's sad end, only to learn that some third party or outside motive influenced it. i've met writers who also didn't like where a plot was going, but didn't have enough seniority on the team to protest it. i've heard stories along the lines of, "we were trying to make lemonade, man," and what shocked me more than the revelation is the peace i gained from it. it's a miracle the games shipped at all. the things that got made, got made. between professionals, it's neither heretical nor some wild flight of irrationality to ask, "what if things had gone a different way?"

and, i mean, it would be both cynical and incorrect to wave it all off and say that no storytelling motives are ever wholesome. some characters die because it's the logical conclusion to their arc. some universes with complicated worldbuilding benefit from narrowing their focus and shaving off a few subplots. i'm just saying many things are possible. when you only sit on the fan side, it's easy to feel like Canon™ looms above you, inviolable, when you're really in conversation with it. there's a lot of power in saying "i respect the team's accomplishments, but i would've made different choices." you'd be surprised how often the team agrees with you.

#writing #workjob

[jolenes-doppelganger]

hiii, i was wondering if you’d be willing to do a continuing of your rose the hat one shot, maybe where reader pays off her debt? ;) or literally anything with rose / rebecca, i’m sooo obsessed with her and ur fic made me go feral it was amazing !!

[Hi Anon! I originally didn’t consider making a second part to the fic, (I just like the vagueness of one shots), but I am happy to write a second story involving similar themes. We’ll call it a multiverse addition. :3 Thank you for the request!]

Belligerent Collector

Rose the Hat x Fem! Reader NSFW 18+

Summary: A chance meeting at a supermarket with a specialized clairvoyant brings Rose more than she could ask for. A little too much. [Shifting POVs].

Warnings: Depictions of straight sex between Rose and Crow (oral M and F receiving/giving, 69), one slap (R receiving), choking, depictions of attempted SA, overly emotional for a smut fic, lesbian smut (oral R receiving, strap on use, strap sucking R giving, forced deepthroating, Rose uses a set of vibrating panties to get off), a wee bit dub-con for good measure

A/N: Author pushes her writing boundaries in the name of character authenticity!!! No I’ve never had straight sex, no I don’t want to have straight sex, but boy oh boy, Rose has and will continue to fuck our little corvid boy, and you bet the mattress has some stories to tell. (I promise it ties in!!! It’s very brief!!!).

Word Count: 5.6k

Waking up in a foreign environment had always felt strange. Waking up in a foreign environment in a dream, only to wake once more in reality made realities blend together. Were you really in the rundown motor home of your Grandma’s in Dallas or were you in the divinely furnished home of some elite posing as a trailer park beauty? Then memories… Oh fuck, the memories.

“Rosie, the kid is barely even a kid, not worth eating at this point.” Crow lamented.

“Oh, for fucks sake, she’s not a kid, she’s an adult, let’s just call her that.” Rose spit back, crossing her arms over her bra covered breasts.

“Okay, fine. The adult-kid, this little overgrown shrimp, can see us coming from miles away. We wouldn’t even know about her if you hadn’t brushed her hand in a supermarket.”

Rose rolled her eyes, or more so you felt the motion of her rolling her eyes. These were her memories after all, and you were living them through her eyes.

“The rube brushed my hand, and she brushed right through my train of thought. She skimmed my mind, Crow! She skimmed my mind!”

Rose felt many things in this particular memory. Anger, a sense of deep humiliation, or more so violation. Rose felt that she had been violated by the little bitch child, a half-adult. The little half-ling had brushed her hand reaching for a lane divider for the conveyor belt of the grocery store, and had managed to skim her mind doing so. Like it hadn’t even been a forethought. She read the inner monologue of Rose the motherfucking Hat like it was as simple as brushing her hand in the first place!

“I want her dead.” Rose blurted. “Not just because she’s a little steamier than normal for her age, but because she read my mind. And now she knows who I am, she knows what I do, and she’s an adult, Crow!”

“-And since she’s an adult she has the authority and the ability to cause more problems than a kid, blah, blah, blah, I get it!” Crow cut her off.

Through Rose’s eyes, the bare-chested man was neither handsome nor appealing. He was a fucking vermin. One that had been latching on to Rose like an overgrown calf, sucking her dry; patience, charity, her damned sex drive all dried up like a desert.

“Out.”

The memory ended there, and with it came a brief reprieve, but brief. Another one of Rose’s memories slammed right into your head, the intensity of it hitting you hard. The last memory had been triggered by the touch of the sheets under your fingertips. This memory by the weight your body exerted on the mattress.

I need to breathe, oh fuck I need to breathe-

“Rosie baby, you taste so fucking good.” Crow moaned, sliding up, his dick sliding out of Rose’s mouth.

Rose sputtered, taking in mouthfuls of air. She laughed once she could, wiggling her hips enticingly. A mouth came down on her open entrance once more, tongue rolling wet circles over it; the way she liked it best. It was a 69, Rose was on the bottom because they were trying something new. Rose opened her mouth again, breathing in deep before guiding Crow’s hips down again.

The angle forced her to deepthroat him in his entirety, without exerting too much pressure on her uvula. She felt him licking and kissing her open pussy, moaning into her as she swirled her tongue at the base of his dick. It was the closest to breath play Rose was willing to go, and even as tears streamed down her cheeks, jaw aching at the stretch and gag reflex struggling against her higher will, it was fun.

The memory was ripped away, and you shot up as fast as you could, desperately trying to get away from the unwelcome memories that kept springing upon you. Never before in your life had someone's memories been so vibrant, so stubborn to be heard. You felt humiliation, no, violation. These mental images springing upon you without warning, without a trigger other than touch were akin to being violated. Usually you had more control over your abilities, you didn't have the ability to so easily peruse someone's mind, but with Rose it was like you weren't even trying. Well you weren't. Clairvoyance was an entirely conscious effort, at least it always had been. But Rose? Her mind and memories jumped open. It wasn't like a book sliding off a shelf, or a book falling open, no. It was like the books were violently flying off the shelves, ripping themselves open and shoving your face into them.

"Didn't I tell you to get out already?" Rose sighed, setting the book down she'd been reading.

Andy appeared, worrying her lip like a frightened child. Well... Hadn't she been a teen? Rose couldn't remember, age was pointless anyways. Whether she was 32 or 15, she'd look young with a fresh batch of steam in her.

"But.. I thought-"

"It was a one-time thing. My man is coming home today, and I'm not in the mood to pull apart a cat fight." Rose huffed.

This was the morning after she'd turned Andy, the night after she'd eaten the little blonde's pussy again and again until the young woman's body gave up on pleasure entirely. And waking up after that power trip, that victory for the Knot, it put things into perspective. But regardless, she was being a little too harsh on the newcomer.

"Put your clothes on, and come over here."

The blonde wasn't special, like Rose thought. A glorified pillow princess. And the blonde did have an ability that would benefit the Knot, but Rose was hungry now. She'd given Andy her own damn steam, her own life force. Sure, it had been fun, but not fulfilling.

"Why?" Andy whispered, sliding into Rose's open arms.

Rose groaned, sliding her hat over her head. She had her pair of two day old panties on, nothing else. She looked good, as always, but she was tired.

"Because it just can't. It was fun, it was something we could share, but I'm not available. I can get away with one night, one little welcome for the newbie, but I can't justify more than that to my Crow Daddy." Rose sympathetically explained. "You'll find another, there's plenty of youngins in the Knot still. Silent Sarry, for one."

Andy stared down at her feet. Rose watched her large brown eyes fill up with tears. Then she jerked her head, willing them away. A tough cookie, Rose thought. She'd get over this.

"Can I hug you goodbye, at least?" Andy whispered, looking at the floor still.

Rose chuckled at this, pulling the girl in for a gentle hug, followed by the softest kiss she was capable of giving.

"There. Now chin up, go have breakfast with the others. You're True now, you're family."

As Andy gently closed the door behind her, Rose let out a soft sigh, drawing patterns over the floor with her toe.

You dropped to your knees, clutching your head. It was painful, exerting this much energy into viewing her memories, even if it was completely against your will. You'd been in and out of consciousness for... You couldn't be sure. Time had lost all meaning. You were bombarded by memories until your body succumbed to exhaustion, only to wake up and be subjected to more memories. Rose's memories.

You knew her better than yourself at this point.

"Ah, you're actually conscio-"

Rose carried the little rube to her trailer, smirking as the girl twitched spasmodically.

"Bit off more than you can chew there, huh? Too greedy? Viewed too many memories at once?" Rose taunted, watching the young woman as she continued to twitch, her eyes wildly fluttering as her eyeballs roved around beneath her closed eyelids.

"God, she's like the dying." Barry the Chunk commented.

Rose laughed at that. Her fingers were frozen in twisted shapes, like the claw of the arthritic hands of the elderly. It was nothing like Grandpa Flick's nasty rheumatoid arthritis, but it was comparable.

"Well, that's what happens when someone gets too big for her britches." Rose smirked, hauling the girl right atop her bed. "She'll stay here under my watch until she can maintain conscious-

"Oh god, make it stop!" you cried out, clutching your head as it throbbed dangerously.

You were so tired, so hungry, and thirsty beyond belief. Nothing about this place was welcoming enough to allow you even a split second of rest and relaxation. Out of the corner of your eye, a ring covered hand came forward, reaching out to touch you.

"Don't touch me!" you shouted, voice dry and ragged.

Rose raised an eyebrow, looking at you quizzically. It was one of the few times you'd seen her. And unlike the mirrored effect you were used to viewing her in, the only perspective of herself she had, you were looking at her in the present, through your eyes.

"So now you're calling the shots? Oh, well excuse me." Rose let out an annoyed laugh.

You were scared to breathe, waiting for another memory to suddenly implode over you, but none came.

"I just... I'm tired. And if I move, if I shift my weight over the damn floor I might get another memory."

Rose cocked a brow.

"Get another memory? What, you can sense the memory of objects?"

You hesitantly nodded. Rose let out an intrigued sniff, but that's the only reaction she gave. You had been in her head long enough to understand what her different mannerisms meant. It gave you an advantage, being able to read her so.

"So... You've been reliving whose memories?" Rose asked, brow raised in that calculating critique.

Stern, that's what she was. This was Rose being stern.

"Yours. Only yours."

Rose's nose twitched in immediate disgust and disgraced anger.

"Not by choice," you butted in, trying to calm the storm before it began to brew much farther, "I keep passing out from exhaustion because I can't figure out how to stop viewing the memories. I'm tired, I've had enough of your thoughts and memories and..."

You cut yourself off. The next words out of your mouth would have been 'hedonistic escapades', or worse, 'sexcapades'. Rose eyed you dangerously, neither really believing or listening to your plight.

"Too big for my britches, crude violator, shrimp, halfling, rube, bitch-child," you listed, "I know. And I know too much. I don't want to know, I-"

You cut yourself off, pausing before you reenacted Irina Spalko's inversed lament. This could be something out of an Indiana Jones movie, you supposed. Rose had the special, magical hat after all.

"So, what. I don't care if you do or don't want to read my thoughts-"

"Memories-"

The slap that landed across your cheeks stung, and for the first time since meeting Rose, you were stunned. Slapping someone wasn't something the woman did. She was zealously cruel, calculatingly wicked, manipulating, hateful, over-indulgent and sadistic, but the woman didn't hit people. To lose herself in such a motion would surely seem overdone, by her standards.

"Shut your mouth." Rose seethed.

It was anger. Pure, unbridled, raging fury that caused her hands to shake. You'd never gotten a memory from Rose where she was so angry. Her trailer wasn't a place where she let negative emotions hang about, and that's why it was her safe place.

"You have the audacity to interrupt me when I'm speaking to you? You've been leaching off of me for weeks while I tracked you, reading not just my thoughts, but re-living my memories, and you have the fucking gall to interrupt me?" Rose spit, hands reaching up and choking, squeezing your windpipe.

It was an ego wound, you realized. She was bitter because her ego was being trodden all over by someone who'd been in her head for as long as you had. It was simple, in essence. You knew her. Intimately. More intimately than anyone else. In all of Rose's glory and power, you were interrupting her like any other individual regardless of the fact that you knew her. Knew what she could do, knew what she was.

"I don't even want your steam anymore, I just want to watch you die."

Your stomach lurched, and a memory slammed so violently into your skull that it didn't have somewhere else to go. You grabbed onto Rose's wrists, pulling her down the rabbit hole with you.

"Fucking Rube!" Malte wheezed, hands clinging to Rose's wrists.

Rose was shaking, her hands were shaking. The man beneath her wiggled like a squirrel caught in a trap, his eyes bulging violently, the whites of them rolling wildly. Rose was scared shitless, squeezing harder on instinct, even as the man beneath her slapped at her arms, trying to pull the young teen's hands off him.

He'd tried to rape her. He'd lured her into a street corner, promising her cash if she hiked up her skirts for him. She'd agreed to do so, she needed the money to feed her family. But she'd misheard him, or more accurately, had misunderstood him. The English these American foreigners spoke didn't cling to her Irish tongue easily. That and the structure of the English language was hard. It didn't match up with her native tongue. Combined with a day working in the filthy factories of Jersey had rubbed her hands and mind raw, so "Lift your skirt" meant to quite literally lift your skirt, no other motive or hidden arrangement. She was tall for a fourteen-year-old girl, but he had been stronger. Malte, the son of the factory owner, descended from Dutch immigrants who settled in Delaware, well before it was called Delaware had his eye on her. And he'd shoved her up against the brick wall of the factory, pawing at the front of his trousers, trying to bury himself between her legs as she tried to politely get him to stop.

But Rose was tired. And there was no direct translation for 'no' in her native language, and she couldn't remember the English word for it, so all her words were mixes of jumbled Irish phrases, none of which he interpreted correctly until she struck him between the legs.

His mouth was starting to froth. And the more pressure she exerted on his neck, the more afraid she got. If she killed him, oh god, if she killed him she could ruin her own life, the life of her family. They'd starve, they'd have nothing left to eat. She reached for the first strewn article of clothing she could grab. A top hat, the expensive satin lined kind, one that could fetch enough food for her family if she sold it. Food, eat, live long, stay young... Eat well, live long, stay young...

<------------->

Rose was crying. Sobbing like a fourteen-year-old child all over again. And the body underneath her was seizing, twitching and letting out garbled sounds. Rose grabbed the body, hugging it to her chest with possessive neediness. She needed physical contact, she needed that reassurance. The memory viewing had ended there, but Rose's memories filled in afterwards. She'd run home, falling into her overburdened mother's arms, sobbing and whimpering like her infant brother, still latched on her mother's breast. Her father had been furious, her mother scared. They were all scared in the perpetual twilight of Rose's memory.

Malte had never pressed charges. Whether it was pride or some other vice that compelled him to stay silent about the assault, he never did speak a word of it to anyone. But Rose found that her hours were cut back, her position was regularly filled before she had made it to her station. She looked for other work, worrying over the little bump that grew inside her mother. Worrying about food, about money, about the things that they needed to stay alive, let alone stock up to build their American dream.

"Tá brón orm." she sobbed into the girl's hair. "I'm sorry." she repeated.

Because Rose wasn't holding the rube girl anymore, she was holding a mirror of her younger self.

<------------>

Waking up for the upteenth time was more exhausting than being awake itself. Your head swum with too many thoughts, the mind's way of catching up after being unconscious. Someone was petting your hair, little strokes and teases that pulled at your scalp menacingly.

"We have a debt." Rose murmured. "My people are hungry, and they're going to go hungry because you're not on the menu any longer."

Her words rolled over your head in weary waves, peddling meanings over the valleys of your brain until they slowly sunk in, stringing together cohesive ideas once more.

"And why does that mean I have a debt with you?"

Rose gave the hairs at your scalp a tug, raising an eyebrow as she looked at you seriously.

"Because what I say goes, honey pie."

You closed your eyes, nodding in defeat. The light hurt, everything hurt.

"Got any more memories to view? I have millions, my mind is a cathedral."

You fought back the urge to mouth the words along with her. You knew her little cliches too well.

"I don't think so. The last memory was pushing others out of the way until it could be seen."

The logic behind that theory was imbued with a hidden clarity that had come from somewhere in your unconscious mind. The memories would stop jumping in front of your eyes again.

"Okay, well, you owe me. I'm keeping you alive because you're useful. Clairvoyance is a gift, we don't have a lot of True with such wide sensors as you."

Leaning forward felt like the next best thing with your head throbbing so violently. A soft little 'mmph' left your lips as you did so.

"You're not listening..." Rose said in sing-song fashion.

"Brain hurts."

Rose snorted at this.

"So eloquent. Truly, you should write novels with your linguistic prowess."

You let out another grunt in response.

"Its like talking to a caveman." Rose muttered.

She brought a cup of something to your lips. Tea. You drank it, not really caring that it was lukewarm and half full. It was liquid.

"Not picky. I'll add that to your list of positives."

You eyed her wearily.

"And let me guess, all the negatives include the fantasies of me you can't have because I know you too well."

Rose cocked an eyebrow, momentarily stunned.

"Well. I do have plans for you in the physical department. Crow and I are fizzling out, it might be time to break in a new lover."

She said it so confidently, in a fashion that made it almost unbearably flirtatious.

"You're wondering how good my head game is."

Rose laughed, a stunned kind of bark that caused her chest to jiggle, the swell of her breasts unencumbered beneath her t-shirt.

"Oh god, you're hysterical. I mean yes, but you make me sound so blunt. So, collected." Rose snickered. "I can be blunt, and I certainly try to be..."

Rose trailed off, eyeing you carefully.

"Kiss me."

It was a command that cut through your tired brain. She caught your head as you leaned in, pressing her lips against yours, one hand tangled in your hair, the other resting on your back. Rose pulled away after the short kiss, seemingly a little vexed by something.

"How much... How much experience do you have? You kiss like a petrified boy."

You blushed profusely, even though embarrassment in your exhausted state was difficult to even feel.

"I'm tired. Not in the mood."

Rose sighed, nodding at that statement.

"Fine. We'll nurse you back to health before the turn, get you all spick and span. But right before then... You and I are going to sort out this little debt situation we have going on. And then we'll see if you survive the turn."

The thought made your stomach queasy. You were between hell and a hard place. Become like her or die.

"What if I'd prefer being on the menu?"

"Not a lesbo?" Rose teased.

"Not a child eater."

Rose rolled her eyes, leaning in closer as she gripped your hips tight. She kissed your neck chastely.

"Eat well, live long, stay young."

You found yourself looking up at the ceiling, almost willing another memory to intrude, an excuse to pull away from this aggravating situation, but nothing.

"I'd like the luxury of just being normal."

Rose laughed at this, a genuine laugh.

"Whoever told you reading minds was normal. God, you're positively hysterical. I want to make a miniature you and stick her in my hat."

You crossed your arms, perusing the trailer for any signs of food, like a mouse. A little mouse caught in the cat's trap.

"I'll feed you, but first you need to give me a proper kiss." Rose whispered, breath tickling your earlobe.

As if you had anything on your mind other than food. Rose was pushing at your boundaries, playing with you and molding you into a state somewhere between desperate and stubbornly defiant. You leaned in, but you paused. You were coming on too strong. This needed to be natural, not forced. But it was forced, that was the paradox. Leaning in again, slowly, you met her grey eyes, taking a deep breath in. Your hands you drew up to her face, thumbs gently rubbing over the hollow of her cheeks. Rose leaned in, eyeing you with predatory intent.

"Good." she whispered. "You're getting somewhere."

You leaned in even further, pressing a teasing kiss to the corner of her lip, catching her gaze with hers. It was a game of both movement and eye-lines. Each of you would rove your eyes up and down the other, trying to catch the opponent in the act, making that split second of contact before drawing away to brush noses, to shift grip slightly. You weren't kissing yet, no, this was all about will. Who could tempt the other into making the first move.

"I believe I asked you to give me a kiss." Rose whispered, growing a bit bored of the game.

The softest brush of your lips over hers, making that eye-contact.

"Is that what you want?" you asked.

Rose's eyebrow quirked, and then she leaned in, pressing her lips to yours in response. The kiss wasn't as soft as you would have made it had you been administering the kiss. Rose kept you steady with a hand on your hip, a hand in your hair, her mouth occupied with yours. You forced yourself to be more engaged, even with how hungry and weak you felt. She tasted of mint tea, an undercurrent of something sour clinging to the edge of your tastebuds. It was the product of your clairvoyance, surely. Rose didn't taste quite right, a fact that lingered in the peripherals of your thoughts as you leaned into the kiss. She pulled away after a moment, seemingly amused.

"You're so chaste with your kisses. Or perhaps neat is the correct word. It's entertaining to see you so careful and focused."

Rose leaned back, dropping her hands. She easily maneuvered you out of her way, walking towards a fridge on the side of her camper. She wasn't wearing any pants, just too tight lacy panties. Her long legs were on full display, bare feet padding across her wooden floors. Her motions were all so elegantly careless, like she didn't much care what kind of gesture she made, so much as things landed in their respective places.

"Eggs alright with you?" she sighed.

"Yes, thank you."

Rose hummed in reply, starting up her gas powered stove top. She cracked open three eggs, reaching into the fridge for chives, cheddar cheese and bacon bits. It smelled good.

"You're pale, drink this."

A glass of orange juice appeared in front of you, and Rose looked down at you with some amusement.

"Like a startled lamb, freezing up in front of a newcomer." she laughed.

You drank the juice, grateful for the liquid. You weren't really paying attention to where your eyes rested as you drank, you were too tired to focus on much else other than the motion of your throat as you drank down the juice.

"I look that good do I?" Rose teased, grabbing your chin and angling it up.

You'd been staring at her upper thighs. Being so tall, Rose's legs filled much of your central and peripheral vision as you spaced out. The couch was low to the ground, and her stance gave a clear view of her inner thighs and the patch of dark hair that clung around her bikini line.

"Sorry, spaced out." you blushed, face going hot with the weight of your embarrassment.

Rose chuckled, squishing your face in soft teasing. She took the glass out of your hand, returning to the stove top. She came back with three eggs piled with cheese, chives and bacon. An American breakfast classic. You ate quickly, and the miserable tightness of your stomach gradually subsided.

"Perhaps you'd like to lay down on the bed and take a nap." Rose suggested.

You nearly choked on your bite of egg. The memory and the feeling of being forcefully deepthroated through Rose's eyes still clung to the back of your mind.

"Uhh, no. Not the bed. Couch is fine."

Rose cocked an eyebrow, taking away the plate of food you were still working on.

"Why? My hedonistic escapades still haunt you?" Rose threw your earlier internal monologue right back at you. "My sexcapades?"

You looked up at her in pure disbelief and jaded embarrassment. Rose wore a shit eating grin, leaning in as she grabbed your chin.

"Poor thing, thought you were the only one with the ability to skim someone's foremost thoughts, huh?" Rose cooed. "Maybe that's what we'll do.. Re-enact that little fixation of yours, get it out of your system."

You found yourself shaking your head and stuttering, hands searching for something to grab onto.

"Mhm, oh you're getting all flustered just thinking about it." Rose grinned cruelly, pulling you up to her feet. "What a perfect way to settle our debt, huh? We'll re-enact one of the memories you collected."

This time, you ardently shook your head, getting over your momentary bout of shyness.

"No, I didn't have control over what I was seeing, I didn't want to-"

"Shush, honey pie." Rose cut you off, pushing you to sit on the bed. "It'll be fun, we'll go slow-ish."

Rose stretched, settling on the bed beside you. She dusted off her hat, gingerly setting it off to the side. Hands looped around your waist, drawing you in.

"You'll like it, I promise." Rose whispered, leaning in to nip at your jaw and ear.

As she placed little love bites over your face and neck, her hands massaged slow patterns on your waist and back. You let out a soft sigh, leaning into her little nips and kisses.

"There you go, warming up to me perfectly." Rose cooed. "Touch me."

Your hands obeyed, cupping her lower face and neck. She placed a slow kiss in the crook between your jaw and neck, opening her lips to suck softly at the skin there. A soft moan broke out of your throat, to which Rose replied with her own throaty hum. One of your legs crept up to straddle her, and a hand from your waist quickly caught your leg, aiding the motion.

"Oh, good girl." Rose whispered. "Warming up nicely."

You smiled shyly, brushing your nose against hers. Her lips caught yours in a kiss, her tongue sliding out to caress your lip. You met her tongue with yours the longer the kiss went on, teasing her with your tongue. Rose's hands slid down your back, taking handfuls of your ass and massaging slowly. You moaned immediately, allowing Rose to slip her tongue into your mouth. Your hands were in her hair, playing with the half-braided strands that clung to the base of her scalp.

"Ready for more?" Rose rasped, one hand gripping your rear, the other drawing patterns down your spine.

"Yes." you found yourself saying.

Rose pulled off her top, freeing her breasts entirely. She brought your hands to them, biting her lip playfully.

"Touch, squeeze."

You did as she asked, to which she rewarded you with a sinfully teasing kiss.

"Lay down, top off."

You did as directed, pulling off your shirt, and the loose sports bra she'd found you in. Rose rummaged around in a drawer near the bedside for a moment, grabbing several Items. You watched as she slipped off her underwear, pulling a plain looking black set over her thighs again. A remote, which she clicked just twice. Rose bit her lip immediately, wiggling her hips a few times. A fake dick, a harness. You blushed as you realized just what she was going to do.

"I've never... I can't suck dick." you blurted out.

Rose laughed, sliding the harness over her hips.

"Too bad. You're gonna. And if you leave teeth marks on my nice silicone cock I'll throttle you."

Rose settled between your thighs, dragging your leggings and underwear down in one motion. She spread your thighs, eyeing the glistening folds of your inner labia. Taking a moment to gather saliva in her mouth, Rose leaned down, spitting on your red, erected clit.

"There's something you can focus on while I stretch your throat."

Rose crawled over you in a traditional 69, slapping the silicone dick on your chin.

"Open."

You could see the soft blur of the panties as they vibrated, producing a noticeable wet spot on the black fabric. Opening your mouth as wide as you could, you were careful not to graze the silicone with your teeth. The saliva Rose had placed on your clit slowly began to drip down and cool, producing a maddening sensation. Leaning forward all the way, Rose propped herself up on her elbows, holding your thighs open.

"Breathe through your nose, deep breath, now relax."

Rose pushed her hips down, forcing the silicone past your molars, past your uvula and down into the hollow space of your throat. You gagged, grabbing at her hips and thighs, desperately trying to push away the weight on your head that bore down. Rose laughed as she heard you gag and choke, letting up after fifteen seconds. You sputtered, nose running and eyes blurry with tears.

"Catch your breath, I'll give you fifteen."

Fifteen seconds felt more like five, and the silicone was back down, further this time. You couldn't breathe through your nose, and the burn of your lungs mixed with the stretch of your throat was both terrifying and maddeningly difficult to get away from. Rose let up after a moment, and you were quick to breathe in through your nose, filling your lungs as rapidly as you could, exhaling shortly thereafter. The next time, you breathed in through your nose as the dick slid down your throat, forcing the muscles of your throat to relax. Rose hummed in approval, pressing a soft kiss to your clit.

"Good girl. Now I'm going to rock. If you absolutely cannot manage to get any air in, two taps to my hips, got it?"

Rose didn't wait for you to make any sort of noise or gesture in understanding, she just undulated her hips slowly. You exhaled with every thrust out, inhaling as she thrust in. Your lungs slowly began to accommodate the lack of air, your throat muscles relaxing. Rose kissed your clit again, humming carefully as she rolled her tongue in slow circles over your clit. You found yourself getting the hang of things, more focused on the sensations between your legs than the burn of your throat. Rose's own stimulation was heightened by the pull and stretch of the vibrating panties that shifted with every movement of her hips. You moaned as she licked down into your entrance, and Rose let out a breathy hum in response.

Her mouth settled at your entrance, licking and probing gently. You gripped her hips, helping to support her thrusts. Overtime, your nose brushed her clothed clit as the base of the strap met your lips, adding direct pressure to the vibrating panties. Rose moaned loudly at this sensation, fervently kissing and licking your open pussy. Your lower abdominal muscles coiled rapidly, and by the way Rose was growing sloppy with her thrusts, she must have also been close.

Warm tingles slid up your spine as you climaxed, and your moans were muffled by the strap. Rose slipped the silicone dick out of your mouth, allowing you to gasp and moan through your orgasm without threat of suffocation. Still relatively aware, you had the forethought to find her clit through the panties and rub circles over the vibrating fabric. Rose let out a series of breathy whimpers, pushing her hips back into your thumb until she too climaxed. In need of a place to rest her weary hips, Rose sat back, resting on your face. A mouthful of panty-clad pussy and an eye-full of ass was all you knew for a good fifteen seconds.

"Fine then." Rose sighed, sliding off of you after you tapped the side of her ass twice.

Rose looked down, eyeing your puffy, tear and snot covered face. She smirked, reaching for something on her bedside table. A polaroid camera, one that had to be from the 90s. She snapped a photo of your frazzled state, taking out the photo produced and grabbing a pen.

"What shall we name this one? 'Belligerent collector', perhaps."

Rose gave an evil grin, sliding off the vibrating panties and casting them aside. She swung one of her legs over your face, angling her still wet core over your mouth. Another snap of the camera, capturing your mortified eyes as your mouth was obscured by her vulva.

"And this one we'll title 'debt settled'."

<------------->

#rebecca ferguson x reader #rose the hat x reader #rose the hat x you #rebecca ferguson x you #rose the hat smut #rose the hat doctor sleep #doctor sleep #rose the hat #rebecca ferguson #wlw #lesbian #lesbian smut

[nekropsii]

More Reminders:

Karkat is a bootlicker. This is a prominent character trait. He’s rooting for the Alternian empire- yes, even though it’s ruled by a system that wants him personally dead- and really wants to be a part of its military.

Eridan has a “genocide complex” and is able to be roughly described as the troll equivalent of a white supremacist. This is one of the first things we learn about him.

The Beta Trolls are 13. All of them. This includes Equius. This includes Eridan. This includes Vriska. This includes Gamzee.

99% of Gamzee’s character is racial caricature. No, he is not intended to be a Dionysus parallel. He is intended to be a “satirization” of Black people.

Sapphic pairings have always held precedent over MLM pairings. They’ve always been more important to the plot, been handled with much more grace, and had more screen time. This isn’t a bad thing.

Doc Scratch is a child predator. This is an incredibly prominent character trait of his, and you’re way past due for a reread if you’ve forgotten. He has a particular fixation on, as canon puts it, “little girls”, and targets both Rose and Kanaya. Do I even have to bring up what he did to Damara?

Regarding the previous point, Rose and Kanaya both get very traumatized during the course of Homestuck’s story. They’re not well put together sophisticated “mom friends”, they’re 13 year olds just like almost everyone else is, and they’re going through hell. Rose in particular makes the effect all of this trauma has on her very well known. This is what Grimdarkness is.

Cronus is a child predator, too. During the course of the Openbounds and Ministrife, we see him unabashedly predate on three specific kids, and this behavior is made out to be extremely creepy. These three kids are Karkat, Tavros, and, yes, Eridan.

The Exiles were incredibly important to the plot, actually. You guys are just mean.

Almost every relationship in Homestuck is flawed in some capacity, that’s the point of a tragic drama. The main cast is literally nothing but traumatized and/or mentally ill 13-16 year olds. A good chunk of them aren’t even socialized, or grew up in an actively hostile environment. Or both. No shit characters mess up sometimes, or have unhealthy behaviors- it’s just natural in that situation. Some dynamics are substantially more healthy than others, but the main appeal of Homestuck is that everyone is flawed and damaged.

A good majority of Vriscourse was just people leaping at the opportunity to express pure, unabashed misogyny. I don’t think I have to elaborate upon this.

No, Jane is not a fascist, nor is she racist. She’s never been either of these things, that’s something that was invented out of left field by the Post Canon writing team. Being a fascistic racist was never within the scope of Jane’s character. No, it being “a result of her having grown up being fed propaganda by The Condesce” does not explain that plot thread in Post Canon for a single second, because Jane experiencing a major personality shift because of HIC literally already happened in canon with her going Crockertier, and she came out of that a stronger person. Never once has “racism” been on the list of problems she has.

Hemoloyalty is not intended to be a 1:1 metaphor for racism, nor is it intended to be a 1:1 metaphor for classism, or any other type of oppression. It’s not a 1:1 metaphor for literally anything, it’s intended to be flexible and contextual. This is not a bad thing, and is, in fact, a common storytelling method used by a lot of fantasy/sci-fi writers. Condemning Hussie for a lot of things in their writing is valid, but Hemoloyalty not being strictly analogous to only one type of real world oppression is patently not one of them. You do not know how metaphors work.

Official =/= Canon. No one is calling Pesterquest canon. You really shouldn’t be doing the same for Post Canon. The Homestuck Epilogues and Homestuck^2 are Official, but they are definitively not Canon. This is literally the first thing you learn about either of these projects. This doesn’t invalidate anyone’s enjoyment of any of these properties, of course, but it has to be stressed: Official does not automatically mean Canon.

#i said id make a new reminders post. here it is! #homestuck #homestuck meta #homestuck analysis #beta kids #beta trolls #alpha kids #alpha trolls #karkat vantas #eridan ampora #equius zahhak #vriska serket #gamzee makara #doc scratch #rose lalonde #kanaya maryam #cronus ampora #tavros nitram #the exiles #jane crocker #post canon #dubcanon #nekro.pdf #nekro.txt

[oliveroctavius]

Doesn't the decision to get involved with Sam Bullit prove Gwen was a bad person?

Hey, I've been looking for an excuse to post about this. The Sam Bullit arc isn't really about Gwen (though it certainly reveals some things about her character). The Sam Bullit arc is about racist dogwhistles and why they work.

ASM #92 pg 19: "I will bring law and order to the people of this great city! I will show no mercy to the anarchists and all others who would destroy our way of life!"

Bullit's platform is not openly white supremacist in the sense that it doesn't overtly mention race. He talks about laws and safety in a way meant to appeal to rich white voters. The true meaning should be clear to anyone with any political awareness (who are those others and what is our way of life?), so why does this rhetoric attract "otherwise rational" people?

ASM #91 pg 6: "I want to volunteer to help you--in your campaign for DA. Because--I want you to bring Spider-Man to justice!" "We need strength--strength to punish those who mock the law! I will use such strength to bring Spider-Man and others like him to justice! I will not betray your trust."

Gwen makes her decision to back Bullit on the way home from her father's funeral. There's a very real phenomenon of tough-on-crime bills named after (white) murder victims. The grief of families who feel like justice hasn't been served is a powerful tool to push harsh laws while smothering any criticism as "disrespectful" to the victims. What’s in a Name? An Empirical Analysis of Apostrophe Laws, 2020.

Bullit showed up at George Stacy's funeral with this exact goal in mind, and when Spider-Man "kidnaps" Gwen later, he leverages the media obsession with white girls in danger for his cause. Gwen is a pawn, but she did offer her help first. Her desire for closure is very human and her short-sighted reactionary faith in "the law" is very white.

Oddly absent from your "proven bad person" takeaway is J. Jonah Jameson. The Bugle lends Bullit a platform to make Gwen's personal tragedy a political talking point. JJJ has the ~Black best friend~ excuse and everything, and he still blows past red flags like crazy.

ASM #91 pg 7: "Maybe they were better days than now! At least we had law and order then." "Yeah--and lynch mobs, and bread lines, and Uncle Toms..." "Come off it, Robbie! What's wrong with a man standing for law and order, anyway?" "Maybe it just depends on whose law--and what kind of order you're talkin' about, man!"

(Another point of this arc: marginalized groups learn to recognize dogwhistles pretty quickly for survival reasons. If they tell you something is a dogwhistle and you don't see it yet, look closer.)

ASM #92 pg 9: "Parker's story just served to open Jameson's eyes--but I've kept a dossier on you. I haven't been city editor all these years for nothing! I know where your support comes from. I know about the lunatic hate groups who are backing you. I know what you really mean by law and order!"

Late in the campaign, the Bugle switches sides. This scene tends to be described as JJJ giving the racists what-for, but the moment is truly Robbie's. (Note that it took Peter getting roughed up for Jameson to take this seriously!) JJJ can yell at Bullit all he likes without consequences, but Robbie is kidnapped and threatened by white supremacists in retaliation. It's Robbie's determination to speak up that eventually puts Bullit out of the running for good.

The Bullit arc isn't there to sort characters by Bad Person and Good Person. Neither Gwen nor JJJ have to personally hate black people for their self-centered sense of safety to be weaponized by a racist agenda. This is a Stan Lee PSA about masked bigotry and how it might appeal to you even if you consider yourself a Good Person.

But for some ~mysterious~ reason, Gwen's brief agreement and Jameson's brief rejection are the only parts of these two issues I ever see brought up, with Robbie's major role not mentioned at all. Some ideas fit more neatly than others into smug ship-war quote tweets and anon asks, it seems.

#olivertxt #comics #reductionist takes from people who clearly do not care about this arc have been getting under my skin for ages #gwen stacy #robbie robertson #jjj #/ racism

[angellic-critique]

Hey, I want to ask something: why Is using a drag queen's persona to create a female character a bad thing?/genq

The implication of cissification/forced gender norms is what I take issue with.

You're okay anon. I am going to clarify that this is a queer person critiquing upon a poorly mishandled drag persona of an animated Italian mobster spider that is named after cocaine. I am aware of the extremities here but I cannot stress enough how harmful viv's surface level writing for only her character designs is genuinely harmful and hurtful to me, as a queer person.

I see the themes she attempted to write but having angel dust only centered purely around sex, sexual advantages from the porn industry [without substance[, the pimp abuse and nearly racist depictions of Italians [Gold tooth mobster who only likes guns, violence, sex, drugs, money, alcohol etc,]-

I could go on and on and on as to why Angel Dust despite seeming to come from some level of apathy to drag kings/queens is nothing but surface level tripe. I do not care if the show releases and all it is focused upon is Valentino's abuse and misdeeds towards angel, IS THERE ANYTHING TO THIS CHARACTER BESIDES BEING ABUSED.

there is a difference of wanting to design a drag persona and having the gender be ambiguous but it is an entirely different level of tripe bullshittery to have a character that is allegedly surrounded around drag performing and openly being himself, is supposedly forced under a guise of abuse to undergo the said drag performing...????

Having a AMAB crossdressing to be a drag persona but then take that empowerment away from him, as if he was never allowed to be feminine in the first place. Angel Dust screams tryhard sexy appeal. I do not understand his, alastor, or Stolas for that matters' 'sex' appeal if they are not written well nor with any care for that regard about the communities they are representing.

Viv just wants to write the themes of addiction, gay trauma and industry abuse? That's perfectly fine as long as there is nuance and reasoning and justification for those characters turning to those types of aliments for aid. What do I meaaan????

Alastor has no asexual/aromantic representation, if anything the fandom has proven that it is APHOBIC !!!

Stolas takes pills and it never going to be brought up until Octavia finds out and then SHE is casted to be the villain over calling out the fact that her dad is a POS that only cares about Blitzo! GENUINELY WHAT?

Blitz is an alcoholic stalker SEXUAL HARRASSER that has NO REPRECUSSIONS WHATSOVER FOR SAID DRINKING, IF ANYTHING THE SERIES PRAISES HIM TO BE ONE!!!!

Husk is also a surface level alcoholic that doesn't get called into question! I'm sorry I'm not talking about the main point you asked anon but genuinely please look at the larger scope over why viv just depicts abuse and substance use as 'haha comically funny' while attempting to 'humanize' her Demons. It seems that the show is just pro-abuse and of they genuinely actually have Valentino try to be threatening or a well written pimp ill laugh and delete my blogs honestly since I have no hope from script leaks revolving around him comparing guns to cocks. Viv really loves writing about industry abuse with no nuance here.

I did not bring up Molly whatsoever because unlike Viv I actually love the drag performer community and empowering culture they represent. It's the same reason I believe that Brandon Rodgers is anti-drag despite constantly crossdressing/displaying it within his videos. It's harmful because his drag didn't NEED to be a separate person angel dust should BE the DRAG PERFORMING NAME.

HELLUVA BOSS HAS PROVEN THAT ALL VIV CARES ABOUT IS EXCUSING AND MARKETTING ABUSERS RATHER THEN CALLING INTO QUESTION WHY ABUSE IS HAPPENING IN THE FIRST PLACE.

#trash askbox #ill tag later i have to walk away #there is no characterization or bite to angel outside of his drag sona #anti vivziepop #fucked up #helluva boss critical #hazbin hotel critical #anti helluva boss #please stop supporting spindlehorse #please stop supporting vivziepop #vivziepop critical #spindlehorse critical #anti hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel criticism #spindlehorse criticism only #spindlehorse criticism #anti brandon rogers #please let me know if im accidentally coming off as too harsh/bitter about angel im kinda pissed off viv took his drag away like??? #its okay you can be queer here and critical of queers #im just baffled over arackniss and cherry bomb having more spotlight then the fact that angel is a drag performer :/ #leather with no mystique and lace with all the abuse blatantly written over :x

[bumblebeehug]

I've watched season 1-3 of winx in less than 4 days, and I'm so glad I grew up on that instead of cocomelon. Even when the script seemed cringe and not as fleshed out as it could be, they never made the people watching the show seem stupid (they made Bloom seem stupid instead, lol (half-joke)). The dialogue could be simplefied and sometimes a bit naive, but at the same time they never made it feel very simple? Maybe I'm just blinded bc I'm a sucker for illustrated animations, but the fact that they could make a complicated storyline with a lot of character arcs, while keeping the dialogue simple enough for kids to follow, is just amazing. And as if that wasn't amazing enough, the show had good balance in the art - it was colourful, the characters were dynamic and unique with different siluettes (something i rarely see in kids shows today), while also appealing to the preteen audience: the winx girls are strong, stylish, girly girls, who can seek out love from men without needing them to save them. They show that you can be unique in your friend group, and you can still be loved and appreciated (thinking about Musa, Techna and later on Aisha/Layla, who all aren't the stereotypical sweet/soft/stylish girls, but who still find friends who love them for who they are). (More analysis beneath the read more thing - mainly a discussion on how family is represented in the show and how important it is for children to be able to look up to female figures that can represent them. + some other stuff.)

Winx also casts light on a lot of different family dynamics - something i've only really seen Bluey do well recently. Stella's parents are divorced, Bloom is adopted, Musa's relationship with her dad is strained ever since her mom died, Aisha/Layla is an only child who struggled with lonliness despite having both of her parents together (they were absent bc of their royal duties), Techna doesnt seem to have any mayor issues, nor does Flora. And the thing is - these struggles are shown in such natural ways in the show. All of these dynamics turn out to be part of their journeys - Bloom struggles as a fairy because of her unknown past, so she must resolve it and find out more to be able to become a fully fledged fairy. Stella has dealt with her divorced parents most of her life, but in season 3 the entire Valtor thing strains her relationship with her father, and she has to overcome it so she can save him from Cassandra or whatever that duchess was called (girlie practically gets banned from her home planet, don't you forget). Faragonda brings Musa's dad to her first concert, which once again strains their relationship, but then strengthens it when he sees how capable she is, both as a musician and as a fairy. Aisha/Layla displays how it is to have more traditional parents - as a child she had lots of expectations to be a proper princess, which she for a long time still had trauma from, plus that her parents wanted to pick her future husband for her (they were all lucky that the two of them matched well lol). And then we have Flora who showed off sisterhood in an amazing way - worrying over and scolding her little sister, but never doubting for a second that she'd risk her life to save her. To the point though - everyone faces difficulties that can be reflected in most people's lives, and the show makes these journeys meaningful and important. I personally never had a need to see myself represented in my family situation, but my friend had divorced parents, and she told me that Stella's viewpoint made it easier for little her to deal with it. If Stella could overcome it (reminder that she still allowed herself to feel sad about it) then so could my friend.

Now, while I'm at it, I might as well continue ranting:

Maybe I'm just not updated in modern shows, but isn't there an entire market of preteens who are missing these types of shows today? We're always talking about how clothing trends and social media is forcing younger people to grow up eariler, but let's not forget that these kids have nothing if they don't decide to grow up immediately. There's no shows, no "toys" (i'm mostly talking about merch that caters to young people - "H2O just add water" pillowcases and diaries etc) and no older teens in these shows setting appropriate clothing trends. Shows aren't cool enough nowadays for preteens to see the appeal of being young. Too many shows are changing their target audience to younger and younger children - and not only shows! Just look at the Nesquik bunny! He went from 100% drip and style, to 100% millenial.

Ik this isn't anyone in particulars fault, but this is just my way of saying: go back to unique styles and outfits! Shows aren't cool anymore, and removing the illustrated style and exaggeration is absolutely part of that.

I also saw someone on TikTok critique the pace of the earlier seasons - they said everything was too slow-paced and boring, and honestly? I couldn't disagree more. Now, I don't have any difficulties concentrating, so maybe it's a bigger problem for people with ADHD or similar diagnosis, but the slower pace gave more time for me to immerse myself in the winx world. They added amazing vocals and soundtrack, that could either showcase heartbreak or joy, and these details made the show reach much higher quality, despite looking like it was made in the cheapest animation program ever.

I went off on a tangent, but I'm getting back to winx now - what I mean is that kids nowadays have no authentic way of finding shows like winx, mainly because there aren't any! Most shows are made for kids under the age of 8 or over the age of 13, and there's almost no inbetween. Shows don't do it like winx did anymore - they don't make the art appealing enough (bc the shows are never illustrated - fair enough i'll add, bc illustrated animation is too expensive to be profitable nowadays, but not even the animation is appealing anymore, they're all rapunzel-lookalikes/wannabes), they don't trust that the watchers have brains and critical thinking, so they make the stories too dumb, they don't have the guts to make scary storylines, and they try so hard to be inclusive without actually succeeding at it (making all the fairies even paler than what they were in the beginning of the show).

I'm sure everything I've said here has been said before a trillion times, but I wanted to get it off my chest. I won't blame anyone if they decide that they ain't reading allat bc i really ran with this. If u did read this though, thanks! And sorry if i spelled things wrong, I'm writing this on a Swedish computer that insists that every single word is spelled incorrectly, lol.

#winx club #winx #winx club analysis #winx analysis

[brilliant-red-eternity]

Wouldn’t it be better to ship Akane with a guy who isn’t absolutely morally bankrupt or something?Not that she needs to be in a relationship to be happy or something.But isn’t Kougami just a serial killer with just extra steps😭I never got his appeal or how he became the definitive charecter for psycho pass when plenty of better charecters out there.The way people romanticise him(or his trigger happy tendencies lol) just because he’s hot doesn’t sit right with me.Absolutely no charecter growth whatsoever,literally causing problems for everyone by his selfish decisions.At this point I think Kougami getting killed to save someone would be considered his charecter growth.I don’t even see the case for Akane even being attracted to him in the first place.I am sorry.She’s extremely kind to everyone.That’s why she treats him like a human.

To be honest, I had a hard time coming up with an answer. You make it quite clear that you don’t think much of Kogami and how should I argue against it? It’s a matter of personal preference whether or not you have sympathy for a fictional character and want to understand his or her motivations. It’s true that Kogami is not the glorious hero of the story, but wasn’t that precisely the author’s intention? To contrast him with Akane and have him take a more pragmatic stance, leaving moral reasons aside?

I won’t see Providence until the end of August so I can’t really grasp where the negativity is coming from. My advice would be to not dismiss his character out of hand but try to dig a little deeper. Kogami is not some one-dimensional caricature. In the Psycho FES stage play, Akane says that Kogami is a person who “lives between violence and philosophy”. There is a whole spectrum of characteristics that he has, including very contradictory ones. Kogami is idealistic, but also arrogant. He’s courageous in battle, but cowardly when it comes to interpersonal relationships. He has a sense of morality, but doesn’t strictly adhere to it. He is intelligent, but makes stupid and harmful decisions. He’s selfish, but also selfless enough to sacrifice his life for a higher purpose. He fights his opponents with brute force like a beast, but his desire to protect the weak shows that he’s also a kind and compassionate human being.

Kogami is a walking contradiction. Most people are and that is probably what makes him so popular among fans. People can identify very well with a character who has flaws, screws up or fails as long as he tries to move forward somehow. The road to self-knowledge is rarely a straight line, so I can understand that his character growth (or lack thereof) may be frustrating for some. Providence seems to be another important transit station for Kogami and he appears to have learned his lesson. We don’t get to see his rampant violent behaviour in PP3. He also managed to survive three more years until he came to pick up Akane which wouldn’t have been possible if he had continued his self-destructive lifestyle with the SAD.

The term serial killer doesn’t fit him. Kogami isn’t a psychopath who wants to gain control over another human being, nor is he thirsty for fame. People seem to forget that he doesn’t kill law-abiding citizens but criminals and scum and it wouldn’t be a problem in any other action movie/comic book where the climax is always a final battle between protagonist and antagonist. I don’t want to justify violence and murder because it’s morally wrong, but other characters seem to understand Kogami well enough: Masaoka and Saiga assisted him with Makishima, knowing full well what the outcome would be. Ginoza helped him fight Rutaganda and said “I owe you” (because he killed Makishima and revenged his father’s death) before handing Kogami back Masaoka’s revolver and letting him escape. Garcia’s “mug shot” was already on Frederika’s laptop before anyone even knew this man was pulling the strings behind the attacks in Tibet. She probably supported Kogami so generously with expensive high-tech during his suicide mission because Garcia was on MoFA’s hit list all along. However, it is always Kogami who gets his hands dirty. If anything, it makes him an incorrigible idiot.

Kogami seems unable to look away when injustice happens. In this respect, he is no different from Akane who challenges Sibyl every time she sees a problem. They’re both stubborn, but Kogami’s desire for vigilante justice makes him a complicated character. An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind is exactly why Akane rejects violence and defends the rule of law. However, the law didn’t protect people from Makishima under Sibyl and it doesn’t exist outside Japan. The law of the jungle creates only fear and instability, and innocent people get hurt. Kogami has accepted to be a tool in the lawless world and he may even consider it his fate. Is that selfish? It rather looks like he doesn’t attach much importance to his own happiness and treats his life as disposable. His selfishness brings him no advantages, quite the contrary. Kogami sacrifices his own salvation and it sends his life into a downward spiral as he becomes more and more detached from the people he loves.

I think Kogami is a baka but he isn’t morally bankrupt. While he claims to have no regrets, his actions and thoughts paint a very different picture. He tried to live without violence and killing in Tibet and he didn’t want Tenzing to end up like him. He openly admits to Akane that his way of doing things is wrong and he was haunted by Makishima’s ghost right after the murder which proves that he has a conscience. I think the only slip he ever had was when he told Akane to kill Makishima in Nona Tower. The scene emphasizes his selfish nature and just like Hamlet, he seemed willing to not only accept his own downfall in the pursuit of revenge, but that of others too. He also didn’t think about Saiga’s future when he showed up at his house after escaping the PSB.

Kogami has refrained from dragging others into his business since then and has kept to himself like a lone wolf. But no man is an island and his egoism remains a problem. I guess he won’t realize that his actions have an impact on others until he receives Akane’s letter as a wake-up call in Providence. It remains to be seen whether he’s willing to change his habits in the future or not, but I’m hopeful.

Regret and remorse are usually two different things. Kogami says that he has no regrets about the past when he talks to Akane on the phone and I think he’s sincere. He doesn’t wish to undo his decisions. In his view, the “dirty work” needed to be done and Kogami believes that he alone bears the consequences and the sorrow, no one else. That changes when he finally sees how much his actions affect and hurt others. Akane’s letter makes him helpless and angry. I think it’s clear that Kogami starts to feel remorse and to develop a sense of responsibility. Remember how Garcia said that Kogami would be living the life of a guy who never took responsibility for anyone else? At some point between PPP and FI, Kogami undoubtedly realized that he needs to apologize to Akane and that he needs to mend his ways. I would consider this character growth.

I understand that some people take a dislike to Shinkane and wish to find Akane a “better” man. I adore this ship but I’m not indulging in fantasies about Kogami and neither does Akane. She has learned to see him for who he is, especially since Shambala. Is it a surprise that she likes him anyway? That she still has faith in him? Kogami is not evil. He’s a man with good intentions who lost his way and nobody but himself can save him. Letting him die while protecting someone would be the easiest way out of his character dilemma so I hope they won’t do it. It would look like a death sentence with a quick karma reset. I don’t even want to imagine how Akane would feel about his death, especially if he died protecting her. There are other ways to atone for one’s sins: to help others, take responsibility and do good in the long run.

Kogami is indeed a brooding hot type of guy, but that’s not why he’s in the story. His purpose is to interact with the protagonist. Kogami started as Akane’s mentor and he inspired her to grow by challenging her. She soon surpassed him and confronted him with her own views about humanity, the law and the idea of how society should look like. They began to form two opposites of the same coin and it became the premise of season one and beyond. No one cares that Frederika kills vagabonds or that Gino shoots Peacebreakers. It doesn’t matter because it’s all about the contrast between these two. Akane’s approach is non-violent, that’s why Kogami’s violent approach looks particularly extreme. They’re like complementary colours where one colour emphasizes the properties of the other. She’s a disciplined person, he’s a wild animal. She looks like a saint, he is the epitome of a sinner. She operates within the system, he is on the outside. They’re incompatible. They’re also intertwined like yin and yang. Is it so outlandish that fans want to see the two of them together? Maybe. But it also feels natural, like holding two magnets with opposite poles together. I can’t help but feel the pull.

Akane doesn’t need a romance to be happy, I agree. She has friends and she completely dedicates her life to creating a better society for everyone. However, her options to influence the system seem exhausted at the end of Providence. Sibyl wants to get rid of her by promoting her to a less influential position in the Ministry. Sibyl also wants to abolish the law. Akane probably felt she had nothing left to lose and therefore killed chief Kasei as the final act of her career. I don’t see her having a happy marriage or kids and all that stuff but Akane shouldn’t remain alone like a martyr. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to experience love, especially in world dominated by algorithms and AI.

We all want Akane to be happy and I can understand your annoyance with Kogami. They’re not a perfect match, especially since they repeatedly find themselves in situations that are extremely stressful and existential. But every relationship is a learning process and a daily struggle. It’s a gain in knowledge about myself and the other, and it’s doomed if there is no forgiveness. Akane and Kogami have known each other for eight years but they have only spent a few months in each other’s company. Wouldn’t it be interesting to see what they could achieve together, now that Kogami is back in Japan and Akane is released from confinement? Akane doesn’t place much value on material things, and I doubt she cares about etiquette or social conventions like marriage anymore. She’s an outlaw just like Kogami. Their existence has become an act of rebellion against the system and since they both have been spiritually connected from day one, it would be great to explore their bond further and not just stop.

You said that Akane treats Kogami like a human being only because she’s kind. Is that so? When they first met, Kogami represented the exact opposite of the artificial world of Sibyl in which Akane grew up. I guess she was attracted to Kogami (and developed a crush on him) because he was a human being, someone from the mundane world, a world she thought had perished long ago: paper books, no holograms in his home or closet, file folders and photographs, physical strength and critical thinking. All of the enforcers had a different lifestyle, but it was Kogami who fascinated her the most. He had something archaic about him, something mystical and exotic. He was also quite masculine and Akane liked his physical appearance very much, although this was a bit more obvious in the novels where she described his face as handsome. Was Kogami her first love? Did she like the idea of saving him? I don’t know. Fact is that Akane wanted him to remain human, that’s why she didn’t like the term “hunting dog”. She didn’t want him to become a murderer because she genuinely cared about him. And even after that, she wished that someday they would meet again like two human beings.

Kogami’s obsession with Makishima made it impossible for him to understand Akane. Only on his journey did he gradually come to his senses at the sight of all the shitholes created by lawlessness and anarchy worldwide. After that, he tried to hold on to Akane’s words. He tried to live without violence and killing in Tibet. He saved a bus with refugees. He ensured that Tenzing did not throw her life away. He managed to shake off Makishima’s ghost and found the courage to return home. He allowed Akane to arrest him for the killing of Tonami and apologized after picking her up from the isolation facility. Is it just me or didn’t it look like Kogami was bowing to Akane, because his head and gaze were tilted slightly downward?

Kogami has serious flaws and a preference for violence, but he isn’t bad through and through. I bet we will see his character grow from here. Look at Akane’s happy face at the end of First Inspector ! If that doesn’t give you hope, I don’t know what will.

#psycho pass #psycho pass providence #akane tsunemori #shinya kougami #kouaka #shinkane #answered

[alicent-vi-britannia]

What was C.C.'s wish? And what kind of relationship does C.C. with Lelouch?

Today I'm going to get into swampy water because for the first time on this page I'm going to address CC's wish and I'm going to take her relationship with Lelouch very seriously. Lelouch and C.C.'s relationship is one of the most misunderstood in the series. Honestly, I think very few fans understand all the relationships in Code Geass. What sets Lelouch and CC apart is that their relationship is highly idealized for the wrong reasons. In other words, fans love the idea they have of Lelouch and CC's relationship, rather than what it is. This time I'm not going to talk about the headcanons of the shippers, I'm going to talk about the canon and in order not to go on too long, I'll limit myself to talking about the core of the relationship and to do so, I have to explain what C.C.'s wish is.

So what was C.C.'s true desire? She longed for love in its purest form. An unconditional love because deep down she wanted to be recognized as human and that is the cornerstone on which the relationship between Lelouch and C.C. is built. C.C.'s past shows us that she was dehumanized at an early age: by her condition as a slave that defined her as an inferior being before her masters, by the people on whom she used her Geass who reduced her to an object of desire, by the nun who used her as a tool for her own purposes and for the code that turned her into the Immortal Witch we know. This human degradation in combination with deep emotional deficiencies from childhood and the traumatic experiences we saw in episode 15 of R1 led to the development of low self-esteem and the appearance of suicidal tendencies.

C.C.'s death wish, in fact, is a manifestation that C.C. has no self-love. I have read some opinions that suggest that C.C. is self-deprecating, but I disagreed with them because C.C. didn't love herself long before she met the nun and beyond feeling guilty for giving Geass to Lelouch and the children of the Geass Cult, she never reproaches herself nor do we see her devalue herself as they have made other characters with themselves (Suzaku, Nina, Euphemia…). So I don't think she had an opinion of herself until she assumed her condition as selfish Immortal Witch (which is a stage in her life when she had morality removed from her). And you can't hate yourself if you didn't love yourself at some point.

It isn't so simple to see that C.C. has low self-esteem since her arc has a philosophical approach and in that sense it differs from Rolo's arc, which also starts from the theme of "love" and the thesis that "love humanizes you"; but the message reaches us much more directly because it doesn't have a sieve. C.C. justifies her suicidal plan by appealing to passive nihilism. "Life is absurd and has no meaning because there is no love, there is pain and if life has no end it means that the pain is eternal." Faced with this terrible conclusion, C.C. thinks it is better to take her own life. But death doesn't represent a solution. In reality, just as it is for Suzaku, death is an escape from the suffering that C.C. feels and, at the same time, it is a way of becoming aware of her humanity by recognizing the existence of death; because, as Martin's character said in the anime Monster, "nobody really wants to die."

This is one reason why C.C. refused to give her code to Charles at the last minute and didn't force Mao and Lelouch to take her code, preferring to abandon them. The other reason is that C.C. isn't so petty as to condemn them against their will to an immortal life since she felt affection for them and in turn, Lelouch and Mao wouldn't be able to take the code, knowing that C.C. wanted to end her life. The problem is that C.C. doesn't know what she wants and she has no idea what love is. She had no parents or friends. She only knew conceptually what love is, but Geass offered her a distorted vision of her wish and, as she herself said, she forgot what it is (and that's why it's ridiculous when CluClu fanboys deny C.C.'s words about her feelings for Lelouch, when she tells Kallen that she doesn't know if she loves him in episode 24 of R2, and insist on emphatically stating that C.C. was in love with Lelouch). Furthermore, she was so immersed in her own suffering that she couldn't realize that she already had what she always wanted.

Ironically, C.C. decided to cut connections for fear of suffering again and being despised. People tend to project themselves onto others and those who suffer from low self-esteem think that no one can love them because if they themselves can't do it, neither can others. Hence she distances herself emotionally from her contractors, how? Through contracts (it is C.C.'s favorite barrier). By defining her relationships strictly in contractual terms, she already creates a distance. In psychology, there is a term for it and it is "attachment." Broadly speaking, the relationship that an individual and his or her caregivers had in childhood will determine their relationships in adulthood. Clearly C.C. manifests an avoidant attachment. "Avoidant attachment is characterized by the tendency to avoid emotional intimacy and dependency in a relationship. People with this type of attachment tend to maintain emotional distance and may be reluctant to express their feelings. This may be due to past experiences of rejection , abandonment or emotional wounds that have led to the creation of an emotional shell as a protection mechanism."

Initially, Lelouch also dehumanized C.C. considering her an Immortal Witch. Like Clovis and Code R, he intended to study herIt is not until after he hears CC call her her own name in her dreams in the cave in Narita that he begins to treat her like a human. That moment in the cave is important for both of them. On Lelouch's side, because C.C. enter the circle of his loved ones. And, on C.C.'s side, because Lelouch thus became the first person to treat her as a human. So the first emotional bonds are forged that become stronger as time goes by and thus we arrive at the favorite episode of CluClu fans: "C's World", from the second season.

Episode 15 of R2 is a sample that Lelouch really is a good person: even though he just discovered that CC used him to transfer a curse to him and that she was dishonest with him about her relationship with his father, Lelouch shows compassion and empathy for C.C. because he wants his loved ones to be happy (and he has seen C.C.'s unfortunate past recently). Therefore, he asks C.C. that she dies with a smile, which, at the same time, is a tight synthesis of Agathonism, which is the philosophy that refutes passive nihilism and whose maximum postulate is "enjoy life and help live a pleasant life." This noble request constitutes a turning point in the relationship between them since in this way the contract between partners of Lelouch and C.C. becomes a promise between two humans (words from the official Code Geass guide, not mine). Why? Because in that moment when Lelouch promises to make her smile, C.C. see his love. The Greeks divided love into several types and one of them is agape. Agape is the highest form of love and charity and essentially refers to unconditional love (in fact, Christians later adopted the term to precisely describe the love that God feels toward humanity). This is the love that Lelouch professes for C.C.

The following episodes only emphasize what it already demonstrated before. Even when C.C. lost her memory, even when her association with his enemy and her participation in the Connection to Ragnarök came to light, even when she withheld pertinent information from him, even when she gave him the Geass that would change his life forever, even when Lelouch had to sacrifice himself to atone for his sins and bring peace to the world, Lelouch never held a grudge against C.C. On the contrary, he always treated her with kindness and offered her empathy and gratitude. In the end, Lelouch managed to save C.C. of her self-destruction by accepting her and recognizing her as his equal. This is what restores C.C.'s will to live and gives her the motivation she needs to find love and acceptance for herself.

In addition to the fact that Zero Requiem gives a new perspective to C.C. since not only does she witness Lelouch's love for humanity, she also sees Lelouch's persistence despite difficulties. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is being human. She understands then what it is to be human and what life means. It's about survival. And, similarly, C.C. understand what love is. It's about sacrifice. Thanks to Zero Requiem and Lelouch, C.C. finds meaning in life and is more than ready to embrace it and love. Thus Lelouch honored his promise to C.C. and it only remains for her to live and be happy as he desired.

Indeed, Larry. C.C. has a love story, not with Lelouch, but with herself and interpreting Lelouch and C.C.'s relationship. as a romantic relationship would strip away the powerful character of C.C.'s arc. and it would take away from the uniqueness of her relationship with Lelouch (which I confess I didn't find at all special at first, compared to Lelouch's other relationships that featured much more complex, nuanced, rich, and interesting dynamics and developments). Besides that's the point of their relationship. When C.C. tells Lelouch in episode 24 of R2 that he is not like any man she has ever known, she meant that she had met contractors and people who had hated and loved her, in what sense? Exactly like Mao. That's why the official Code Geass guide explicitly notes that Lelouch never saw her as his lover or mother. Therefore, if he had expressed romantic love or erotic love or filial love (storge is the Greek term), Lelouch wouldn't be different from Mao. He loved her in a way no one else had. And that is agape love. The one who only pursues the well-being of the other, putting it before his own, without expecting anything in return, even if that love isn't reciprocated, which has nothing to do with romantic love or sexual desire. In agape love there is no jealousy, envy, distrust, betrayal or anger towards the other for their failures or actions, because, simply, you love the person, accepting them as they are. That's the relationship Lelouch and C.C. have.

PS: enough of believing that self-esteem problems are solved thanks to romantic love, Julia. That only happens in novels of dubious quality.

#code geass #code geass: lelouch of the rebellion #lelouch lamperouge #lelouch vi britannia #lelouch #c.c. (code geass) #cluclu #lelouch x c.c.

[13eyond13]

a friend of mine who isn't into Death Note asked me why people ship Lawlight. I gave her a pretty good answer but I feel that couldn't encapsulate it fully and you are the most articulate/analyzer person I can think of here, can you help me?

omg, I'm flattered you think that, but a bit worried I won't be able to speak for everybody about this! I'll probably just have to mostly say why I like to ship it and hopefully that will suffice...

1) the constant tension and the mind games between them is the heart and soul of the series to me. Light's a complicated character that is both very entertaining to follow and also sort of an infuriating bastard to watch as well, so when L waltzes in being like "HOLD ON A MINUTE HERE I KNOW IT'S YOU AND I'M DEFINITELY GONNA PROVE IT" and Light both seems to get extremely excited about how clever he is and also horrified and determined not to lose, that makes for a very charged dynamic that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Light's curiously positive reactions to L opposing him, as well as the way L intuitively understands him and pushes his buttons so effectively, is definitely one of the funniest and most intriguing things to watch in the entire show.

2) there's a lot going on in the narrative to continuously draw parallels between them and to sort of suggest that they're the true equal and peer that the other one has never actually had their entire lives, the solution to the boredom and loneliness and aloof superiority they've both been feeling due to their above-average intelligence and privileged positions and ambitious competitive stubborn streaks and so on. People love that and also find it super tragic/angsty or fascinatingly ironic and darkly funny that they end up only meeting in an enemies, "you're the closest thing to a real friend I've ever had but one or the other of us will have to die" sort of way

3) This part of their relationship also gets me as well - they probably would not have easily met if Light HADN'T been Kira, because L never has to meet any of the people he works alongside nor any of the criminals he catches in person - Light was just good enough at being a criminal to force L to meet him in person, basically. And there's also no guarantee that if they DID meet in other circumstances that they would have clicked so weirdly well as they do, because their cat and mouse game was probably the best way they could both impress each other the most and prove their own intelligence and entertainingness to each other as well. The immense difficulty of setting up this ship so that it actually works is part of the enduring appeal to me.

4) I think there's just a lot of intrigue to how much is left unsaid between them the entire time. They literally never get to have an actual straightforward heart-to-heart even once in the story, but they're seen obsessively thinking about each other the entire time (and Light continues to do so for years after L's death, even to the point of comparing everyone else who opposes him to L unfavorably after his death and admitting he feels bored again now that L is gone). I think a lot of fans were kind of dying to see them interact in a more straight-forward way

5) the handcuffs are certainly fairly suggestive and kinky hahaha... and the memory loss arc definitely brings up a lot of interesting "what if" type scenarios in every shipper's mind. Not everybody is convinced that they really hate each other, and seeing them work together on the case like that causes a lot of people to think about how they might get along if Light had never picked up the notebook in the first place. The fandom has a lot of people who really like the idea of them together whenever Light isn't Kira, and also a lot of people who think their dynamic is superior and works better when Light IS Kira - and having both of these different dynamics between them presented to us in canon makes for even more interesting possibilities to explore

#there is probably more to it than that as well #but these were the main things i could think of off the top of my head #ask #anon #lawlight #p

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

what the hell is the male or female gaze and why are zutarians obsessed with it

You know how some scenes in movies and shows, especially those from a few decades ago, have some scenes that exist solely to show off how hot an actress is, but in a really, really weird way that doesn't feel like a hot moment in a story, but a story suddenly being interrupted and turned into a cheap porno? You know, those scenes where there's a conversation going on, but the camera is practically up the actress's ass?

Some feminists starting pointing out how these scenes neither fitted the tone of the stories, nor were all that appealing, how many of the actresses were coerced into them, how many directors treated them like shit during said scenes, and how some of these actresses were MINORS, and how often times this was the only role of women in stories. "Look hot for the benefit of this male director and male audience members that think women are sexual objects, then disappear."

They also noted how, in some states of the US and in other countries, some set-in-stone rules about what things related to sex could or could not be shown to certain audiences had some sexist undertones. For exemple, a scene with no nudity of a male character getting a blowjob from his girlfriend was ALWAYS considered less inappropriate than him eating her out - again, even with no nudity or anything too explict. Violent rape scenes with the girl crying her eyes out for several minutes did not change movie ratings, while a quick scene showing a girl getting to orgasm did (but a guy having an orgasm wasn't a problem).

There was also the classic "Guy was in charge of directing a lesbian sex scene, made it look like a horny 11-year-old boy's very confused notion of how sex without a penis could even work."

They refered to that kind of thing by the catch all term" the male gaze".

Some people thought the term was great. I always felt it was unnecessary and a bit pretencious since we already had terms for those things: Misogyny, double-standards, exploitation of minors, abuse of authority, puritans seeing consensual sex/sex positivity as inherently more sinful/inappropriate than violence (even sexual violence), clueless men that think the experiences of gay women are the same as this fantasies, or just the regular crap movie trying to get the audience horny enough to watch it even though it has nothing to offer.

There was also a tiny, small, huge with problem with it: it implied men were always the bad guys, and women always the victims. No room to discuss women that abused their authority (look at the literal thousands of abusive "mom managers" of child/teen stars that gladly allowed hollywood creeps to perv on their children) or the men, and underage boys, that were also sexualized to absurd degrees (plenty of the infamous Twilight scenes of the werewolf guy constantly being over-sexualized happened when he was still a teenager).

And, it also led to a bunch of very stupid consequences:

1 - People claiming any kind of eroticism on screen was ALWAYS bad, inherently exploitative, served no purpose in a story, and could only be appealing to guys, not girls.

2 - People labeling ANYTHING they didn't like as "male gaze" or "male fantasy" - see Zutarians claiming Kataang is the writers' incel fantasy of the Nice Guy getting the girl that is totally not into him).

3 - Women labeling anything they personally liked "female gaze" as a way to imply their opinion was "superior" due to supposedly being "feminist" - see Zutarians claiming Zutara is the "female gaze", the "feminist ship", or that all the fanon content for it "by women, for women (and guys that are not sexist)."

These words are just like toxic, problematic, abusive, etc. It's the classic "There was a point to this at first, it got derailed pretty fucking fast, and now annoying, pretencious people on the internet will use this term incorrectly FOREVER because they think it makes their opinion objectively correct."

(The only difference being, again, I personally always felt like "male gaze" had some problems even without the internet watering it down to meaning "I'm right and you're wrong because I'm better than you")

#anti zutara #male gaze #female gaze #things are not that fucking simple

[kaladinkholins]

hot take time about the mizu and akemi ship. y'all can disagree but i said what i said, because again, it's just an opinion!!!!

putting the rest under a cut so y'all are free to ignore this if you want. i'm just rambling anyway and, again, these are just my personal opinions.

okay like i gotta hand it to blue eye samurai like it's genuinely impressive that they've written their characters so well, like each one of them feels so real and fully-realised

and as a consequence of that, it actually. for the first time ever. has me rooting against a sapphic ship becoming canon endgame LIKE LMAO ???? i didn't think that was POSSIBLE but here we are ???

cuz like if you know me at all you know i usually instantly latch onto any femslash ship at any given opportunity. like i don't think yall understand. i was ride or die for korrasami before it was even remotely a thing, like at that point korrasami was still a CRACK SHIP in the fandom and i was gunning for it immediately and begging them both to leave mako's stupid ass!!!

but SOMEHOW this show, with all its gender fuckery galore and all its well written characters, has somehow made me look at the mizu/akemi ship and say "i'll pass." like dont get me wrong i was pinning my hopes on it initially in the first episode, but by the time i got to the end??? NAH.

like don't get me wrong they ARE cute and sexy on paper and i DO definitely see them developing feelings for each other (mizu towards akemi especially, less so the other way around because akemi just does not strike me as the pining type) but for an endgame? nah. it'd be weird and messy for both of them like!!! they'd be bad for each other!!!

they both want and need completely different things in life (mizu wants vengeance but needs acceptance/belonging; akemi wants freedom but needs autonomy and empowerment).

and they don't even share much in common that would help them bond in a romantic way? like not even interests-wise, but like. personality-wise too. their perceptions of life and approaches and experiences all directly contrast each other. like i know that they're narrative foils and all, which is great, excellent really, but romantically? there is no common ground between them.

besides, of course, both being AFAB and struggling with the patriarchy and misogyny, both having a surrogate father figure who raised them (swordfather for mizu; seki for akemi). aside from those things, they diverge in almost every single way?

like i do get the appeal of the "yin and yang" dynamic of opposites attract in ships (i have so many such ships from other fandoms after all), so i do suppose that, if given enough time for a really long and intense slow burn, it could work. but with all the plot plot plot the show's got going on, i don't know if that's going to be possible, especially now that mizu is ??? apparently going to london ????

and what would their endgame even look like? the two of them running off into the sunset together? why? when akemi has everything she wants and needs in edo palace? which, by the way, is completely the opposite of what mizu wants and needs, as mizu needs a place where she is free to be herself and is accepted and loved for who she is. she does not need, nor want, a life of political intrigue. she is not made for it, nor is it meant for her. akemi, on the other hand, is perfectly suited for such a life, while being completely unsuited for a life on the road, travelling, or living on a farm in the middle of nowhere. nor would akemi like or enjoy such a life either! she'd get freedom, yes, but it would hardly be fulfilling, especially now that she has decided that she wants greatness!

i don't know. if they become canon endgame, the show better put in the work. because this is a netflix adult animated show with the freedom to do that (unlike, say, cartoons on nickelodeon and disney where the creators all faced heavy censorship to get some rep in), so if they're taking the sapphic endgame route, they better buck up and put their backs into it because seeing the state of it right now, the chemistry is bone-dry and the prospects are disastrous!!!!

so until further developments prove me wrong and change my mind, every time i see mizu/akemi content somehow escape the confines of the mute function, i just reenact the gengar gay wrongs gif:

#fandom.rtf #wank.mp3 #shut up haydar #blue eye samurai #mizukemicritical #also i say critical not anti because im not 100% against it #like lemme be clear i support gay women's rights and wrongs!!!!!!! in this house we stand up for toxic yuri rights 🫡 #but! i'm talking about like. from the perspective of what i want to be the canon endgame of the show #like i fully endorse the show exploring a romance between them! #but im crossing my fingers hoping they are not the final canon relationship ykwim dkjfksjfsk #but regardless of my feelings just know i'm still out here in the trenches defending them from the reddit homophobes 🫡🫡🫡

[jinjinranran]

Mari x Saeyoung ❤️

So in this case it's CANON that Saeyoung is a bi/pan king ✌️ both fit him so I did 2 versions since I'm indecisive, tho I usually call him bi bcs it can be used as an umbrella term and bcs I hc Saeran as bi as well 🌸

Additional pieces:

I couldn't get that "someone you know is Italian... maybe even someone you love" meme out of my head and since Mari is half Italian, it fits okay 😂😭

Other characters: 💛 💜 🧡 💗 ❤️ 💚 💙 🤍 🤎

Mari's story under the cut ✨️

❤️ Mari Oh ♡ she/her ♡ 21 yo ♡ demisexual

Mari didn't have a label for her for a long time. She didn't honestly think much of it - until a friend of hers brought up a topic about different sexualities, and when she learned about demisexuality, she went oh, that kinda fits and explains a lot 😮

She had lots of celebrity and fictional crushes and can get quite... imaginative, but the thought of being intimate with a real and attainable person without being super close? Far from appealing. The whole concept of dating before getting to really know each other, blind dates, people meeting to just "hook up" or pursuing someone only because you want to sleep with them? Separating friendship and relationship and even treating the former as something less? It all put her off and confused her. Do really most people operate that way? For her, the perfect idea of a relationship is friends-to lovers trope and that's what she wished for in her own life.

She considered being demiromantic as well, but she had romantic feelings for people she wasn't close with (very few, but still); they did go away fairly quickly tho, as opposed to crushes formed after friendship.

Regarding her potential partner's gender, she has slight preference for masculinity but honestly, doesn't care much. She doesn't label her preference nor romantic attraction.

She doesn't really talk about her sexuality much unless it's with someone really close and it's revelant to the conversation.

You can bet tho that this living meme made a big deal to "come out" as Italian at some point 💀

With Saeyoung, they clicked instantly, both sharing the same sense of humor and chaotic energy (to other members of the rfa and Saeran's displeasure sometimes 😂). But it wasn't just those funny moments that made her really connect with him. She adored the dorky Seven, and she loved the hurt, broken Saeyoung. She knew she met her soulmate, her best friend with whom she wants to spend the rest of her life with.

#cmc pride series 🏳️‍🌈 #mystic messenger #mysme #saeyoung choi #luciel choi #707 #mystic messenger seven #seven x mc #custom mc #mystic messenger cmc #headcanon #mystic messenger hc #original character #my art #pili oc #oc: oh mari

[gegengestalt]

This is basic but top five dussy women

How dare you make me choose! But fine... I'll do it based on personal taste and fondness (not necessarily writing that appeals to me or how good of a person they seem to me)

Grushenka. It's no secret to most people here that I'm hopelessly in love with Grushenka. She's almost like a muse to me. I loved her the moment she appeared, but the more I kept rereading and thinking about her, the fuzzier the feeling inside got. Behind the rumours that paint her as some extraordinary temptress, she's just a girl, you know? I don't think she did anything wrong. She can be capricious, resentful and mischievous, but also sweet, generous and respectful towards what is sacred. I don't think she's the best written Dostoyevsky woman, but she's the one that takes up the most space in my heart. She knows how to have fun and she doesn't let people step over her. As a fallen woman she's a very vulnerable person in the society of her time and I can't help respecting her for knowing how to use the little power she has. I love her and her fierce heart (and how she kept her fierce heart even after getting engaged to Mitya. I've yet to make a post about the massive amount of parallels between these two).

Nastasya Filippovna. Of course she had to be at least in the Top 3. I've only recently started rereading The Idiot and right off the bat her magnetism is extraordinary even when she's not present. To me she's the best character in The Idiot. Her trajectory towards doom in the path between accepting compassion and embracing what she feels is punishment impacted me greatly, and it's not unlike the human struggle itself. Many Dosto women are mostly to "connect" characters togethers or serve as support, but I truly felt like Nastasya's path and fate was truly her own.

Katerina Ivanovna... This one may be controversial, because not many people like her. The true "fatal woman" in The Brothers Karamazov, which is why Grushenka felt more 'fresh' in my opinion. It took a while for Katya to grow on me. She is controlling and has a saviour complex, but I think she truly believes she's doing the right thing. That's exactly what makes her tragic. She's absolutely unwell, though she could and should have been way more evil. She scares me a little.

Varvara Petrovna. I kind of fell in love with her character since I started Demons. An older woman with a strong character, who keeps an intellectual as a pet? Sign me up. Stepan is usually pointed at as the one responsible for the events in Demons, but I believe Varvara should have even more accountability. She built the tower and sat at the top, looking over everyone... And then watched it collapse. I think she deserves this spot.

Sonya Marmeladova. Ok, I know she's not too popular right now because she's meek and too saintlike. But you know what? I really respect her. After reading Sade's "Justine" and realized how her character may be an improved version of the titular character, I started to look at her differently. She's young and pure- hearted, but not naive nor stupid, and she clings to God as a source of strength rather than just a promise of Heaven. I don't like that her sacrifice is painted as kind of a flaw, but I'm going to ignore the framing and focus on how stoic she is. Even being a little weird, she's having none of that pseudointellectual existential agony, her feet are on the ground. I truly wish more of her was explored.

#netochka was a close fifth but I decided to give the spot to sonechka #gegengestalk #wow this got long #a love letter to dussy women