#but the fact now exists that i just... wasn't good enough for this fandom :'(

[caparrucia]

Full offense and pun fully intended, but I genuinely think the very existence of "dead dove, do not eat" was a fucking canary in the mines, and no one really paid attention.

Because the tag itself was created as a response to a fandom-wide tendency to disregard warnings and assume tagging was exaggerated. And then the same fucking idiots reading those tags describing things they found upsetting or disturbing or just not to their taste would STILL click into the stories and give the writer's grief about it.

And as a response writers began using the tag to signal "no, really, I MEAN the tags!"

But like.

If you really think about it, that's a solution to a different problem. The solution to "I know you tagged your story appropriately but I chose to disregard the tags and warnings by reading it anyway, even though I knew it would upset me, so now I'm upset and making it your problem" is frankly a block, a ban and wide-spread blacklisting. But fandom as a whole is fucking awful at handling bad faith, insidious arguments that appeal to community inclusion and weaponize the fact most people participating in fandom want to share the space with others, as opposed to hurting people.

So instead of upfront ridiculing this kind of maladaptive attempt to foster one's own emotional self-regulation onto random strangers on the internet, fandom compromised and came up with a redundant tag in a good faith attempt to address an imaginary nuance.

There is no nuance to this.

A writer's job is to tag their work correctly. It's not to tag it exhaustively. It's not even to tag it extensively. A writer's sole obligation, as far as AO3 and arguably fandom spaces are concerned, is to make damn sure that the tags they put on their story actually match whatever is going on in that story.

That's it.

That's all.

"But what if I don't want to read X?" Well, you don't read fic that's tagged X.

"But what if I read something that wasn't tagged X?" Well, that's very unfortunate for you, but if it is genuinely that upsetting, you have a responsibility to yourself to only browse things explicitly tagged to not include X.

"But that's not a lot of fic!" Hi, you must be new here, yes, welcome to fandom. Most of our spaces are built explicitly as a reaction to There's Not Enough Of The Thing I Want, both in canon and fandom.

"But there are things on the internet that I don't like!" Yeah, and they are also out there, offline. And, here's the thing, things existing even though we personally dislike or even hate or even flat out find offensive/gross/immoral/unspeakable existing is the price we pay to secure our right to exist as individuals and creators, regardless of who finds US personally unpleasant, hateful or flat out offensive/gross/immoral/unspeakable.

"But what about [illegal thing]?!" So the thing itself is illegal, because the thing itself has been deemed harmful. But your goddamn cop-poisoned authoritarian little heart needs to learn that sometimes things are illegal that aren't harmful, and defaulting to "but illegal!" is a surefire way to end up on the wrong side of the fascism pop quiz. You're not a figure of authority and the more you demand to control and exercise authority by command, rather than leadership, the less impressive you seem. You know how you make actual, genuine change in a community? You center harm and argue in good faith to find accommodations and spread awareness of real, actual problems.

But let's play your game. Let's pretend we're all brainwashed cop-abiding little cogs that do not own a single working brain cell to exercise critical thinking with. 99% of the time, when you cry about any given thing "being illegal!!!" you're correct only so far as the THING itself being illegal. The act or object is illegal. Depiction of it is not. You know why, dipshit? Because if depiction of the thing were illegal, you wouldn't be able to talk about it. You wouldn't be able to educate about it. You wouldn't be able to reexamine and discuss and understand the thing, how and why and where it happens and how to prevent it. And yeah, depiction being legal opens the door for people to make depictions that are in bad taste or probably not appropriate. Sure. But that's the price we pay, creating tools to demystify some of the most horrific things in the world and support the people who've survived them. The net good of those tools existing outweighs the harm of people misusing them.

"You're defending the indefensible!" No, you're clumsily stumbling into a conversation that's been going on for centuries, with your elementary school understanding of morality and your bone-deep police state rot filtering your perception of reality, and insisting you figured it out and everyone else at the table is an idiot for not agreeing with you. Shut the fuck up, sit the fuck down and read a goddamn book.

#shut up rie

[olderthannetfic]

Being a trans man and not being an anti is also isolating, which is part of why I think trans guys gravitate towards either being an anti or reposting anti posts. If you're not an anti, you get booted from discord servers, blocked on social media at best or sent misgendering rape threats, death threats and suicide bait by other trans men at worst, and now that I'm in college I've found IRL that not being an anti makes a lot of people in queer spaces available to the average college student incredibly uncomfortable. So you have to either be entirely alone - which is very difficult when you're young, queer, and just coming into your own identity - or you have to be around it a lot without saying a word. Agreeing with it at first wouldn't even be necessary. You just have to not say anything against it, and then you'll be able to be around other people.

It doesn't help that most trans men who get sucked into anti circles are teens at the time. There's 501 proposed anti-LGBT laws right now, not counting everything that has passed, the majority of it anti-trans. If you're a teenage boy seeing all this transphobia on the rise, you're going to feel powerless. Bullying people like antis do makes you feel power over at least a few people. Being told you can consume your way into being a good person via media intake makes you feel like you have power and control over at least that.

I was sucked in incrementally because I wasn't exposed to the more violent antis who fantasized about murder and hurting people for writing fiction, I met my only friend - who was an anti - after my dad had beaten me for coming out as trans, and I was sixteen. I got out when I was eighteen because once I went to live with my mom, a psychologist, she gently corrected me when I would say things that aren't based in fact. She pointed out how upset these people were making me. She taught me how to fact-check claims and look into the veracity of claims.

And when I tried to convey to my friends that no, what they were saying wasn't supported, they turned on me. Including the only person who had been there for me when I was hatecrimed, who had reached out to me specifically because she met me what day. I lost every friend I had in roughly 30 hours.

If I hadn't had a really great mom, a very intelligent rabbi who's well-versed in psychology and is a former lawyer who saw the "fiction made me do it" excuse used to defend heinous crimes and doesn't buy it, and an older half-sister who lived through people calling her a psycho lesbian because she's a lesbian who played D&D, listened to metal and dressed Goth in small-town Montana in the 80's/90's, I would have probably killed myself. Having those three people who accepted me and did not accept this extremist rhetoric kept me sane and repaired my self-esteem enough to keep me going.

But a lot of people don't have three adults who are intelligent, supportive, and know better than to fall for this faux-psychology. A lot of people don't even have one. Often, they have unsupportive people who also believe firmly in the faux-psychology of "if you watch a thing you'll do that thing IRL". So there's not only no one hauling them out of this, it's getting reinforced.

Being a non-anti who is a trans man gets me a lot of shit from a lot of people online and offline. (As other anons have mentioned during the ace discourse, online talking points come up on college campuses and in real life, because the internet is not an alternate dimension, it is something being used by the people around you who exist in the same physical space as you.)

A reality that I don't think people want to discuss is that trans men, just like all other people of all other genders, suffer a lot of psychological distress if they're put in a position where they have no support. I sure as fuck wasn't happy being in a position where I went from having tons of online friends, discord servers I could hang out in and fandoms I associated with good vibes to none of that, plus harassment, plus massive misgendering.

It's a lot less awful of an existence to be a trans man and an anti when you're young and need community and support than it is to not be an anti and be isolated. And humans gravitate towards the least awful option 99% of the time.

--

Yuuup.

Having some kind of real support network, usually offline but at the very least not randos you met a day ago on discord, is vital and is the difference between not only whether you rot in a pit of antidom forever but in stemming the massive flood of trans teen suicides. The overall queer rates aren't great, but the specifically trans rates... they're bad. They're so, so bad.

[zoe-oneesama]

From what I’ve know, the fandom mostly dislikes Andrey for reasons related to Chloe (bad mother etc.), but what are YOUR reasons for not liking her?

Cuz she's an asshole? On top of being qualified for the Top 3 Never Should've Been Parents to Begin With Award (next to Gabriel and Tomoe), she's an elitist dick waffle without any on screen talent to back it up. So she's a fashion critic. So what? What makes her qualified, have you seen her outfit? And I just have a special hate boner for people who look down on the service industry, so she already wasn't winning any awards for "firing" people left and right.

Meta-wise, I hate her because she just confuses things. "Despair Bear" makes it out that Audrey abandoned the Bourgeois when Chloe was small, though at least old enough to remember, so maybe at minimum 3 years old, though in a sensible universe, closer to 5 or 6. Yet despite being absent from Chloe's life for about a decade, if not more, we're supposed to believe Chloe is the way she is because she's emulating her mother...who isn't there to emulate? Okay. Sure Jan.

Totally unnecessary, Chloe's personality has a good foundation in the fact that her father is rich, powerful, and ready to drop everything to cater to her every petty whim. What does Audrey even add to Chloe's story as presented? Personally, I would've liked it more if Chloe deeply resented her mother and was determined to prove she was BETTER than Audrey. Then have her be frustrated and pissed off every time the two of them are accidentally in sync. Show me a love-hate relationship, at least that would've been interesting, and better yet, would've had something to say about a parent abandoning their child.

But the show just sorta soft balls it. Chloe and Audrey immediately "resolve" a lifetime of abandonment issues because another 14 year old pointed out that they both suck and the two bonded over the fact that she's...right? Audrey decides Chloe's name is worth remembering, she's worth staying in Paris for, and she's "exceptional" in less than 3 minutes because Chloe yelled at the Butler. And for the rest of the series, Audrey is just another Chloe-Patsy, doting on her like her Dad in "Malediktator", cowering under her outburst in "Sole Crusher", and acting as her enforcer when Andre ever puts up a fight. A duo made in hell, but they ARE getting along.

Which makes the leaks for how they're going to end things for the two are confusing.

I don't like Audrey because she was made to be unlikable, but I also don't like Audrey because of her effect on the story. She's used to excuse Chloe being The Worst because look! An Even Worse person! And she made Chloe sad! So you should ignore those several felonies Chloe's committed because her mommy sucks! Nevermind that Chloe and Audrey get along just fine now!

And on top of that, she's used to excuse Andre. Andre, who spoiled Chloe from the beginning, who acts as her attack dog when Chloe cries wolf, who's taught Chloe how to lie, cheat, steal, and bully her way to the top. Somehow HE is getting off scott-free now because He CaN'T bE a DirEcTor aNd fUlFiLL hiS dReAm cUz HiS wIfe'S a BiG meAnIE. Even though Chloe is mostly his fault.

Why couldn't Audrey just stay in New York so we can pretend she doesn't exist and just let Chloe's behavior make sense like it did back in Season 1?

#audrey salt #writing salt #andre salt #my opinion #ml salt

[decepti-thots]

something that is very interesting rereading early MTMTE is that the comic is actually very much written with the assumption a ton of its readership are specifically pre-existing IDW comics readers, which can sometimes be difficult to remember because of the fact that a lot of people wound up coming onboard to MTMTE from outside the fandom in the end and now it has a reputation as an entry point as a result. this manifests in a couple ways throughout the first couple major arcs. one obvious one is that the Overlord stuff functionally makes it a sequel of sorts to Last Stand of the Wreckers, at a time no direct sequel was planned. but my favourite is that there's a kind of narrative trick the comic pulls with the leadup to the payoff Remain in Light gives us for Magnus.

the Magnus we get in early MTMTE is not the Magnus we get in earlier IDW comics. he's very exaggerated; where phase one Magnus is a by-the-books stickler for not so much as bending rules and someone we see struggling to maintain that sense of moral uprightness in the face of the war and the people around him being far less dedicated to staying on the straight and narrow like him, it's completely turned up to eleven in early MTMTE. phase one Magnus would not be doing endless doorframe audits, or throwing people in the literal brig for crooked badges. but this doesn't necessarily register as a change in character so much as a change in genre. MTMTE is also a dramedy with heavy emphasis on the comedy side of that in a way no other IDW comic is, and the shift in Magnus' characterisation therefore feels like 'well in THIS genre, that's what that archetype is like', rather than a diagetic shift in character. even if you come to MTMTE straight off those prior comics, it is very much a 'roll with the genre shift' thing rather than a 'hm. Magnus is acting… weird' thing. you let it go.

there are a couple indications this might not be the case early on. Rodimus especially seems to be under the impression that Magnus is acting uptight even for him, with his insistence on waving it off like 'he needs to relax, Swerve can you get him to chill on Hedonia because my guy is REAL stressed' and the like. (this makes sense- Rodimus is the person on the ship who has actually been directly interacting with Magnus regularly pre-MTMTE.) but it's not super obvious and not heavily emphasised.

which makes the eventual post-Overlord and RiL reveal, which is that Magnus has in fact been acting weird because he's having a breakdown that has largely gone unremarked upon by his shipmates, really really good. Magnus has not been doing doorframe audits because he's the comically uptight second in command acting as straight man for genre purposes; Magnus has been sending Rodimus a million memos a day and losing his shit over nothing because as someone whose entire identity as 'Magnus' is rooted in a wartime role he escaped into, he's been having an existential crisis now the war is over and he has no purpose and doesn't know what to do because he never expected to have to play that part in peacetime. the entire time the genre shift was somewhat obfuscating the fact this characterisation was a thing that is in-universe relevant, which also then reflects back on the fact Rodimus is like. hm. probably should have noticed that, now I feel like an asshole for not realising. (the scene where he and Rung discuss those unread memos, post-Overlord.)

it's a small thing, but it's a really effective misdirect for the payoff Magnus gets in RiL that reads a hell of a lot more clearly on reread and rewards that chance to revisit the early issues with that knowledge. of course that wasn't just a gag, of course he's actually slowly losing his shit slightly, he cannot go five seconds without making it clear he is Stressed As Hell. but until you get to that actual reveal, there's just enough room for the comic to let a reader assume it's, you know, we're in a comedy now, we need a hilarious straight man, and Magnus is it. it's great! all the stuff MTMTE pulls to simultaneously obfuscate the Magnus/Minimus reveal while also making it feel completely reasonable on reread is great. really good use of reader bias there.

#idw #meta #ultra magnus

[captainsophiestark]

Flickering Firelight

Luke Castellan x Reader

Masterlist - Join My Taglist!

Written for my personal fic writing challenge for 2024, Sophie's Year of Fic! Featuring a new fic being posted every Friday, all year long :)

Fandom: Percy Jackson

Summary: Three snapshots of a relationship with Luke Castellan, before during and after the things he does for Kronos.

Word Count: 1,258

Category: Angst, Fluff

Putting work into an AI program without permission is illegal. You do not have my permission. Do not do it.

I sighed, leaning my head against my boyfriend's shoulder, both of us illuminated by the flickering light of the campfire we'd made on the beach. Everything had been so busy over the last week, and it was nice to finally have a moment just for us.

"Lotta new campers this summer," mused Luke, my best-friend-turned-boyfriend as of a few months ago. "We're gonna have a hell of a time with them in the Hermes cabin."

"Yeah. Hopefully it won't take too long for them to get claimed. Some of them have been pretty good about it, lately."

Luke just grunted, not really giving me a full response. I knew exactly how he felt about the Olympians and the things they did, so I let it drop.

"I have to say, it's nice to have everybody back, though," I said, gently changing the subject. I took Luke's hand in mine, gently tracing lines with my thumb. "The whole place just feels more alive with the summer campers here."

"True. And I'd be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to getting them all back into shape in the sword arena, since I just know almost none of them practiced while they were gone."

"Now that is a show that I'd like to watch."

Luke huffed a laugh, and I pulled back just enough to look him in the eyes. The corner of his mouth quirked up in a smirk that I absolutely adored, and which made my heart race.

"I've got a good feeling about this summer," I said, moving a little closer to Luke as I spoke. The smirk faded from his lips, replaced with a more thoughtful expression I couldn't totally read.

"Yeah. So do I."

****************

I hadn't seen the love of my life in a long time, and now we stood on opposite sides of a battlefield. And he wasn't really my Luke.

The flickering firelight of the burning city around me reflected off of gold armor, in the gold eyes I didn't recognize.

"Luke..." My voice broke on his name, turning into a hoarse whisper I hardly recognized. "Please..."

The only indication the man I loved was still in there was the slightest twitch of his eye. Time slowed as the monster that had brought him into this mess smiled at me, nothing like the mischievous grin I knew and loved.

"Nice try, little hero. But he's gone. And so are you."

I tried to raise my sword as Kronos advanced on me, but my arms were like lead. I was among the last defenders of Olympus, further out from the final ring my friends had made. I wanted to make a meaningful stand to try to stop this here and now, but as the seconds inched by, it became more and more clear that wouldn't be possible.

The last thing I saw was Luke's stupid sword Backbiter, with its bronze and steel blade, flashing through the air towards me, held by a monster using someone I loved as a mask.

****************

I sighed as I put my feet up on the stone ring of the firepit before me, leaning back in an extra-comfy lounge chair. The sun shone down on me, warming my skin despite being Olympus knew how far underground. Here, it didn't matter. I'd found paradise.

Based on the fact that Elysium still existed at all, I knew my friends had managed to succeed. It hadn't been too long after I'd first arrived here that someone brought news that confirmed it: Kronos and his Titans had been defeated. Olympus had won the day.

Sadly, I wasn't down here by myself. Too many friends were here with me, all of us dying in the fight and at least making it here together, as a small silver lining. We'd taken over a whole section of the place as our own secondary Camp Half-Blood, enjoying the peace here together while we could.

Some of us had even tried for rebirth, and more were headed that way. But I couldn't bring myself to leave. At least, not yet.

I kept waiting for what I was almost confident wouldn't happen, but I refused to move on all the same. Silena had made it down here, after all, despite being a spy for the Titans. She'd realized her error and made a change, helping our cause and redeeming herself enough for Elysium. Based on other accounts from above, Luke had done something similar. He'd also done much worse than Silena, but I still couldn't make myself give up hope of seeing him here too.

"Hey."

I looked up to find Ethan Nakamura, one of Luke's lieutenants who'd defected at the very, very end, looking at me from a few feet away. I raised an eyebrow at him, and he blew out a breath.

"Somebody's here to see you."

I frowned, then shot up straight in my seat as a familiar face stepped out from behind one of the residences of Elysium. Luke, looking more sheepish and unsure than I'd ever seen him in either of our lives, struggled to meet my eyes. I froze, hardly believing what I was seeing. It was him. Like he'd been before all this shit with the Titans.

He finally looked up, and his eyes were his own, all trace of that horrible gold gone.

Tears flooded down my face as I rushed forward, wrapping him in a bone-crushing hug. I sobbed into his chest as I held him, my Luke, somehow here with me after death when I never thought I'd see him again.

He breathed my name like he didn't believe I was real, his arms finally coming around me and holding me tight. We stayed like that for a long time, holding each other, hearts pressed against each other. Finally, it started to sink in that he was really here with me, after everything we'd been through. I pulled back just a bit, so I could look him in the eyes again. Those beautiful eyes that I loved met mine.

"Luke..." I breathed, a smile lighting up my face. Slowly, a beaming smile spread on his own, mirroring mine.

"I- I didn't think you'd be happy to see me."

My heart ached at his words, and I leaned in to give him a soft kiss on the cheek before meeting his eyes again.

"I wasn't happy with the choice you made, Luke, and a lot of bad things came from it. But you came back to me in the end. If what I've been hearing is right, you helped save the world, at the cost of your own life. And even at the worst moments, I never stopped loving you."

"I never stopped loving you, either. If I could go back, if I could do things differently-"

I put one finger to his lips, gently cutting him off before he could get too far down that path.

"I know, Luke. But you can't. None of us can do anything to change the past. So we might as well enjoy where we are now."

He nodded, a soft smile gracing his lips. I leaned up to press mine gently against his own, the kiss soft and sweet and everything I'd been missing since that last summer we'd had together. I let myself enjoy the moment, Luke's hands tightening on my waist, then pulled away.

"Come on," I said, trailing my hand down from his shoulder to take his hand. "Let me show you around, and then we can get some marshmallows and hang out by the fire."

Luke beamed. "I can't think of anything in the world that I'd rather do."

****************

Everything Taglist: @rosecentury @kmc1989

Percy Jackson Taglist: @valkyriepirate

#sophie's year of fic #percy jackson #luke castelan #percy jackson and the olympians #luke castellan x reader #percy jackson fanfiction #percy jackson imagine #percy jackson oneshot #luke castellan fanfiction #luke castellan imagine #luke castellan oneshot #pjo #kronos #camp half blood #hermes #the titan war #pjo x reader #elysium #ethan nakamura #silena beauregard

[verysium]

i assume that you listen to the weeknd sooo may i ask for a quick the weeknd song associations w bllk characters perhaps? if possible. i like the way you think of each character and im curios if we have a common perspective at some point

😭 if you mention abel in any ask to me, there is no way it's going to be quick and easy. this took me like a week to process and even longer to formulate my answer. it's difficult to assign just one song to each character because the discography is just so versatile, so there may be some overlap.

THE TOWN

this song is basically kaiser if he left someone in his past prior to joining bastard münchen in his rise to fame. i envision a reader who was with him during the early years of his career (maybe as childhood friends), and he abandoned them when his big breakthrough finally came.

"you did many things / that i liked, that i liked" the covert narcissism here was the selling point. now i'm not saying kaiser is a pathological narcissist, but the way he thinks inherently revolves around himself. he only likes people because they have something he likes. you have to possess something he actually wants before he even bats an eyelash at you. and even when you do get into his good graces, it's conditional. in other words, kaiser's buddy-buddy system is entirely based on value. how much value are you going to provide him, and how long is that value going to last? hence why he's so obsessed with isagi because our little blueberry sprout protagonist has both the novelty and adaptability kaiser desires.

"you made me feel so good / before i left on the road" i know this sounds like some shit a frat boy would spew, but here me out. i think the reason why half the fandom absolutely bashes kaiser's character is because his actions come off as emotionally immature. making arrogant claims with nothing to back them up? having no personal boundaries? manhandling other people? projecting his own insecurities in the form of jealousy? that sounds a lot like some of the male specimens i've seen in today's society, particularly those who make podcasts for a living. kaiser is not a hot bad boy. he's just pure jerk in some cases, and a tragic backstory is not going to justify those actions. but to apply that to a romantic relationship? some of y'all are not ready to hear this, but kaiser is not going to make a good boyfriend. he would most definitely use you.

"you deserve your name / on a crown, on a throne" if there's one thing you should know about kaiser, it's that he will find a way to pay homage to his past, even if it wasn't a good time for him. so despite the way he absolutely ghosted you years ago, he will find a way to enshrine your existence within his. i have a running theory that kaiser's tattoos are actually for the girl he left back at home. he'd probably get your name inked on his knuckles or something.

"but i remember on the bathroom floor / 'fore i went on tour / like you said we couldn't do it again / cause you had a thing with some other man" i've read a lot of fics where kaiser has a possessive meltdown whenever reader finds someone else after their break-up, or even just the reddit theories that kaiser will flip out when ness finally leaves him. i'm going to add my own take on this. yes, kaiser will freak out but only after a long stage of denial. at first, he's going to be unfazed because there's no way you'd actually leave him. and even if you did find another man, you would inevitably come crawling back to him. in his mind, the fact that you two should be together is about as debatable as defying the laws as physics. which is to say, there is no debate.

"now that i heard you're single /...i'll give you something to live for" mr. steal your girl is back. kaiser may be rash and impulsive in his everyday life, but his patience is limitless when it comes to biding his time against his enemies. you're finally big enough to eat, yoichi...does that ring any bells? he will literally wait just so he can see your new relationship crash and burn. and when it finally does, he will swoop in during your time of emotional need and make you co-dependent on him. this man has the self-seeking opportunism of a whole vulture committee.

"and it feels so priceless to me / that you're always free" ok but this double entendre??? like priceless as in you're valuable to the point you're free from anyone's definition of value. but also priceless in the way you're worth nothing, and people can have you for free. this is literally kaiser in any relationship where the other party overcompensates for him. i'm going to use ness as an example. i think kaiser knows how much ness is willing to do for him, and he appreciates it (he better lol) since ness is one of the only people he can actually get along with. but at the same time, the fact that ness would literally do anything for kaiser is also the reason why kaiser takes him for granted. given the large supply of admiration and support, it's only logical that the demand for it should wane. the key to keeping kaiser's attention is scarcity. you can't be too distant from him, but you can't be too close either. if you're right in the optimal middle, then you're scarce, and all scarce things are rare and, subsequently, valuable.

PRAY FOR ME

this song could work for so many characters, but i'm going to go with noel noa because i haven't talked about him much. he fits into this model for "the strongest" character (akin to gojo in jjk or "the little giant" in haikyuu!!) this mentor/role model archetype is incredibly significant in the protagonist's journey to the top. noa is isagi's primary motivation and presumably his greatest obstacle if he were ever to become the #1 player in the world. the tragic aspect to this archetype is that we often aren't given the full picture for these characters. their internal consciousness is eclipsed in some way because the story is written from the perspective of the protagonist. noa grew up in the slums of france, but the manga doesn't actually focus on any of the struggles he had to face. all of that is implied and sometimes even expected. his strength (or at least the image of his strength) becomes everything, and he can't afford to lose any of it. i think that's the saddest part about any character considered the strongest. they push themselves to the top but simultaneously back themselves into a corner.

"if i'm gon' die for you / if i'm gon' kill for you / then i'll spill this blood for you" i know noa's peers like to shit on him for being so serious all the time, but when you're raised in the kind of environment where everything has been against you from day one, the survival mentality is literally ingrained in you. a lot of his advice to isagi is centered around this idea of eliminating any wishful thinking. he can't count on anything that isn't certain. so if he's going to have to make a sacrifice, it has to be worth it. i think that's also why noa doesn't relate to any of the other world class players. he isn't driven by greed or fame or popularity. the egoist mindset doesn't arise from his own personal ambitions. it's simply how he's learned to live life from a young age.

"my heart don't skip a beat, even when hard times bumps the needle" noa is solid. like rock solid, 10 on a mohs hardness scale. but more than solid, he's incredibly sharp in his focus. he specifically tells isagi not to try and play god because he's seen so many other players try to do that and fail. they get caught up in what their goal could mean: victory, prestige, grandeur, control over others. but to noa, a goal is simply a goal. he doesn't care if this is a win or a loss for his team. he doesn't care if this will put him at rivalry with others. all he needs to do is figure out the most efficient way to get a black-and-white ball through the net. and he's so goddamn good at this. he's mastered it to the point he can focus on what he desires right now in this moment and block out everything else as unnecessary noise. hence, he doesn't get overwhelmed by external pressures. everything about him, even his ego, is intrinsic. and that's what makes him the best.

i'm running out of room, so i'm just gonna list the next few below:

starboy: i've seen this song being assigned to either rin or kaiser, but now that i re-evaluate it, i think the self-deprecative and bitter tone fits sae best.

call out my name: reo listened to this the day nagi left him. i was there, so this is a reliable primary source. it is his breakup song.

heartless: i would assign this one to sae. the melody, the vibe, not so much the lyrics. the overall impression just fits him. i don't know how to explain it.

the hills: this song suits barou, and you cannot tell me otherwise. i'm gonna blast this every time he makes an entrance in the manga.

lost in the fire: this is oliver's pre-game anthem. he's not actually as cool as the song implies, but he likes to think he is.

don't break my heart: this is rin when he's acting butt-hurt. his first big heartbreak was from a 180-cm redhead who drinks salted kombucha every morning and has ugly shorn-off bangs.

die for you: honestly this song was made for the children of divorce who grew up with a messed up conception of love and avoidant attachment style, so obviously i'm going to assign this one to hiori.

too late: kaiser plays this from his stereo while he sips on a martini and contemplates self-destruction. he recognizes that he was in the wrong, but is he actually going to apologize? hell no.

moth to a flame: this is isagi being the homewrecker he is. he's not innocent enough to be completely pardoned. i would classify him as either chaotic good or lawful neutral.

gasoline: niko would suit this song cus he can be somewhat nihilistic if he wants to be. also because i headcanon him as someone with a disorderly sleep schedule.

the morning: uh....honestly idk. this one stumped me. it's giving that one barou backshot where he was training shirtless. but it also reminds me of that one kaiser panel with his 300,000,000 salary.

sidewalks: kunigami plays this song while working out. he is the og grinder. started from the bottom and clawed his way up to the top.

how do i make you love me? ness plays this while doodling in his "operation make kaiser fall in love with me" notebook.

less than zero: this is kira after isagi ousted him from popularity. not much else to say.

#asks #blue lock #blue lock headcanons #blue lock imagines #rin itoshi #sae itoshi #niko ikki #nagi seishiro #reo mikage #kunigami rensuke #barou shouei #ryosuke kira #noel noa #oliver aiku #isagi yoichi #hiori yo #alexis ness #the weeknd #abel tesfaye

[blue-chimera]

Re: Dean killing Amy (and lying about it)

I know this is a controversial thing in the fandom, and — for the record — I think that the way Dean handled this situation was wrong. But I think that Dean's primary sin was not having an honest conversation with Sam that got both of them on the same page before he took action. Not the fact of killing Amy by itself.

The thing is this: what Sam & Dean do is not "dispensing justice." Justice doesn't really exist outside the trappings of society. None of the sentient monsters they kill ever get the benefit of a jury of their peers. They don't try to rehabilitate any of them. There is no probation. There's no social contract. There's generally no second chances. The monsters are too powerful, and hunters simply don't have the resources to even approach the concept of justice without an institution behind them.

For example: When they attack any given vamp nest, Sam & Dean have no way of knowing whether all vamps they're killing are murderers or would-be murderers. Maybe some of the vamps inside are newly-turned & haven't even had the chance to kill someone or choose to abstain. Maybe some limit themselves to blood bags & just stay with the nest for protection. They don't know, and they can never really know. They just gather enough evidence to satisfy themselves that they've got the right target (with no oversight — they themselves are judge, jury, and executioner) & then they kill the monsters in front of them in an attempt to minimize the loss of human life.

For the most part, they are saving lives, and that's a good thing. But they walk morally ambiguous lines while doing it all the time.

On to Amy's case: Amy defends her actions by saying that these deaths were necessary to save her child's life. Is that sufficient justification for killing multiple people? What if her child turns out to just be sickly for the rest of his life? What if it turns out that he can't live on dead flesh like she can? Does anyone seriously think that Amy would stop killing for him if, at some point, the body count got too high? If some night she couldn't get her hands on a criminal, but she spots someone changing a tire on a lonely highway & has the chance to grab him instead?

And that's not even to get into the whole question of whether any of the criminals she killed could've been rehabilitated themselves or whether they really deserved execution for their crimes. If I recall correctly, we get to see that at least one of them seems to be a really bad person — the show goes out of its way to get us to side with the pretty woman & her small child over these "scumbags" — but that doesn't mean they were all complete wastes of life.

Ultimately, then, was it right or wrong to kill Amy? I think it's impossible to say. But I think Sam & Dean make that same kind of judgement call together all the time. And, in the absence of any other system, that's the best they can do.

Now, I understand why Dean went behind Sam's back: he was trying to spare him the pain of her death, much like he'd tried to spare him the pain of Madison's death. He was also concerned that Sam wasn't mentally healthy/stable enough to deal with her death, either. (And it didn't help that Sam snuck out to deal with the case solo — something that surely gave Dean flashbacks to the last time he'd taken off alone, thinking he was with Dean the whole time.)

But Sam deserved an honest conversation on the subject. And Amy deserved to at least have the two of them deliberate together before killing her.

#spn meta #crit & disagreement welcome! #understanding dean winchester #dean winchester #sam winchester #amy pond #spn

[naranjapetrificada]

This is going to be long so the short version is this:

I convinced my therapist to watch the 🌟Gay Pirate Show🌟 and now I have to confront a previously unidentified and terrifyingly deep emotional wound that could be as transformative to heal as it is terrifying to approach.

My therapist and I have a lot of let's say...demographic things in common that have made this the most successful therapeutic relationship I've ever had, but also that just made me think he might like the show. It's no secret that ofmd has been a deeply moving experience for its viewers, and queer, neurodivergent, and/or people of color have written at length about the special ways it touches us (or doesn't). Those are three categories both he and I fit into and it feels relevant to say that for context.

So yes I thought he might like it, but I also wanted to pick his brain about Big Feelings it was giving me that I hadn't experienced with the same intensity with other media/fandoms. Y'all, he gave me a completely unexpected reading on the show (and its story and its fan works) and why it makes us feel So Much that I haven't seen anywhere before.

When I say Big Feelings, I mean like I've literally had to swear off a couple of pretty innocuous categories on AO3 ("Growing Old Together" and "Domestic Fluff") because they would devastate me in ways that I couldn't attribute to anything specific. Growing Old Together comes with the possibility of death separating them, which is heartbreaking, but that didn't feel like it was the thing that was gutting me. Domestic Fluff could probably be called the most innocuous tag ever, but anything that saw our blorbos settling down and watching the Revenge sail off into the distance was fucking me up as well.

There are plenty of reasons why OFMD makes queer people feel so much, but when I say this was fucking me up I mean like, well, remember when people outside of classical music started learning about appoggiatura? Like intellectually knowing why I was crying but at a loss how intense everything felt. And my therapist (who is as good at analyzing a text as he is at being a therapist) was like "oh, it could be all the grief."

The grief.

The audacity of this motherfucker (affectionate).

It's a romcom! It's a romcom that we were explicitly told would have a happy ending! It's a romcom where the characters will get to sail off into the sunset together like they want and like we want for them! Stede and Ed, after four decades of self-hatred and trauma and fear and isolation, somehow find each other. And one of the sweetest things about their story is that it's a late in life love story, because it's incredibly inspiring for someone to get to experience a part of life they thought wasn't for them. The inescapable fact that their time together will be shorter than any of us would like is sad but not unaccountably sad to me, because of how much joy they'll be able to cram into the time they have left. I could be wrong but I don't think that alone is the source of what's been overwhelming me.

Grief is a constant presence in the world-building and the storytelling because grief is a natural response to well, so many things about being alive. Grieving is some of the hardest shit any of us ever have to do, but it's also so universal and so many of the things that make us uniquely human also make grieving well, maybe not easier, but something we can endure and process through ritual, community, and the example of those we've witnessed grieving their own losses. Many kinds of grief come with narratives that you can accept or reject all or parts of, but the narrative exists.

But have you ever heard of disenfranchised loss? Loss that's not easily labeled or classified or given the time or space or understanding it deserves? Have you experienced a loss like that? Can you imagine how much more difficult it makes the grieving process?

Well what my therapist suggested, the thing that knocked me on my ass hard enough that I had to come have Online Feelings about it, is that eventually, we all have to mourn ourselves. Not necessarily in a "mortality is inevitable" way (that happens to everyone) but in ways that are often unique to people like him and me (black, ND, queer). Even if we work on ourselves, if we grow and heal our trauma and feel at home in our identities and our bodies and build beautiful lives, eventually we will be forced to mourn the selves that we never got to be in the societies in which we live and the selves we once had to become to survive this long.

And that mourning is a kind of disenfranchised loss, with no clear path forward. Obviously this conversation happened within the context of everything my therapist knows about me as an individual, but I thought certain things might resonate with other fans as well so I wanted to talk about it. The story of this bizarre little man and his remarkable second act and his lovely little found family and his incredibly beautiful love story (that we've been guaranteed will end happily) is still haunted by the specific kind of grief that comes from learning what's possible, and regretting that you didn't know it was possible sooner.

And does anybody have more delayed milestones, later-in-life discoveries, and/or need to invent places for themselves than those of us on the social fringes? Than those of us in societies unequipped for (or actively hostile to) the ways we exist and the things we need to survive and thrive? Than those of us who have to create our own narratives or be saddled with inaccurate or harmful narratives created by others, or even no narrative at all?

And narrative is so much. Narrative is everything. Narrative is the story we tell ourselves and each other and that literally shapes our reality. So those story beats where we discover something better than what came before are inherently stories with loss and will require mourning, because we mourn loss.

Even when the story has a happy ending. Especially when the story has a happy ending for someone who never thought they would be allowed to have one.

I mean just like, FUCKING HELL. I can't blame anyone for this but myself. I know my therapist. I know how insightful he can be. I did this to myself and now I have to live with it. But my god is it a massive mountain I'm about to have to climb now. My therapist and I have always found it helpful to discuss media that makes me Feel Things (see all the trauma work that came from Life is Strange) but if you had told me that I'd be looking into this new dark cave of unprocessed shit thanks to what I thought was just gonna be a harmless little gay pirate show starring fucking Murray from Flight of the Concords I would probably just have assumed you were in the middle of having a stroke and taken off to get you the medical attention you desperately needed.

#not to be dramatic #but I definitely worry this might still be dramatic #my therapist is great #but the problem with a good therapist #is that sometimes they will fucking read you #and then you get whiplash #don't be afraid to bring up media that speaks to you in therapy #you never know what might come of it #or how much it might shake you #I should also be clear that all this grief in a story with a happy ending isn't a bad thing #it just kind of is #and when you enjoy it #just enjoy it #every moment of joy is a gift #no matter the context #go ahead and grieve yourself #also I couldn't find an elegant way to fit this in #but the storytelling is very neurodivergent #or at least unfolds in a way that is friendly to my neurodivergence #that's why I'm not a big TV watcher anyway #but I was able to sit down and mainline this #it's the first new show I've watched in literal years #ofmd #our flag means death #ofmd meta #our flag means death meta #🤯🤯🤯 #😳😳😳 #disenfranchised loss

[fallinfl0wers]

rest

fandom: genshin impact character: xiao reader type: gender neutral summary: to him, hope does not exist, but tonight he does not care. he just wants to rest. warnings: xiao's mental health and bad perception of self. notes: a little something i wrote after the new teaser dropped. a self-indulgent thing edited for the blog <3

His feet drag across the wooden floors of the roadside inn that always receives him with no questions asked, the faint sound of his breathing almost echoing in the emptiness of the last hallway of the highest floor, a small area void of any other resident aside from himself.

That is, until he reaches his door, where he can now feel the presence and hear the breathing of another without having to open it.

And maybe, in any other night, he would've felt himself relaxing and his heart fluttering at the knowledge of who awaited for him behind the sturdy door of sandbearer wood. In any other night, maybe he would be feeling sorry he was intruding in what he considered now as that person's private quarters despite being well aware of the fact that that place was his as much as it was that person's.

But tonight, he just wanted to rest.

Whatever little energy he'd gotten from the rice wine pudding given to him by that little girl's grandfather was already dying down, and he needed nothing more than to fall face-first wherever he could.

His heart breaks a little more upon opening the door and inevitably waking up the other resident of the room, who always had some trouble falling asleep.

You.

It's the way you turn back around on the only bed in the room and blearily blink in direction of the door while still snuggling that blue, hand-made stuffed toy resembling one of Sumeru's forest spirits that has his heart breaking.

There really isn't a single moment in his life where he's not a nuisance to others, is there?

"Huh? Xiao...?" You yawned, sitting up on the bed and looking in his direction with droopy, tired eyes. "You good...?"

Xiao closed the door, and let out a breath he wasn't aware he'd been holding in.

"Forgive me. ... I just want to rest."

Xiao was not completely ignorant when it came to reading other people's feelings. For all the things he lacked, empathy was, by some miracle, not one of them.

Yet, with the way your shoulders dropped and your gaze was clouded with a feeling he was reluctant to name, he couldn't give himself an idea of what you were thinking when you heard his words.

There's another yawn coming from your mouth as you nod, laying back down on the bed, stuffed toy tightly clutched to your chest.

"That's alright..."

You stared at each other like that for a couple of seconds that felt like an eternity to him.

If only you knew what was going on in his head, what would you say? How would you look at him? What would you think of him?

He has no time to ponder it, because after giving him a nod, you shuffle to the left side of the bed and turn to face the wall, understanding that he didn't want to talk about it.

You had always been like this, understanding and patient. Xiao couldn't quite make up his mind on whether or not this was a good thing when directed to him.

Sluggishly peeling off the more restrictive and stuffy parts of his clothing and lazily pushing off his boots, he stared at the empty space intentionally left for him on the bed.

Resting... yes, that really must be it... that must be the only thing he wants...

At least for tonight, resting is fine. Resting is good.

The covers and blankets are soft to the touch of his scarred hands as he gently tugged them just enough to fit himself under their warm comfort, his head gently resting against the plush pillow right beneath. The gentle fabrics that brush against his body to keep him comfortably warm are just heavy enough to be soothing rather than suffocating.

He can accept this much comfort, just for tonight.

You laid right next to him, he could tell by the sound of your breathing that you were not yet asleep as you should've been.

He stared at your backside for a good minute before looking up at the ceiling, with eyes that were already so used to seeing in the dark that he couldn't tell if the prickling feeling and the beginnings of tears in their corners was his distress, fatigue, or just the natural reaction of his strained gaze.

"...Goodnight, Xiao." Your voice whispers to him.

He breaths in, then lets it out. Slowly, shakily, hesitantly.

With a last glance at you, he turns away, his back facing yours as he, too, curls up beneath the blankets.

"...Goodnight..."

The sound of your name falling from his lips gives him a tiny bit of peace.

It is not enough.

Not tonight.

But that is okay.

Just for tonight, he can rest.

You're right next to him.

He can rest.

Xiao's eyes fluttered closed, and together with you, he drifted off to sleep.

Let the Xiao of tomorrow worry about the pain of tomorrow, tonight, Xiao wants to rest.

fallinfl0wers. 2023.

#genshin x reader #genshin impact x reader #genshin impact imagines #genshin impact headcanon #genshin imagines #genshin impact scenarios #genshin scenarios #xiao x reader #xiao x you #xiao x y/n #melodywritings #melwritesgenshin #x gender neutral reader #gender neutral reader #gn reader #x gn reader #note that the plushie reader has is a plushie of ararycan #i love that little guy #twilighttheatre

[springbloggy]

I was thinking about my beautiful ask with sitcom anon earlier, and came to a realization. Every "lore show" from the 2010s follow the same structure.

Each lore show follows this structure, give or take:

Child from another world, usually a girl, finds themselves in other world that's different to them.

(In the case of Steven Universe, it's a group of grown adults going to different world)

The character makes friends in the other world and over time and others from the world they came from also come into the new world as well.

A darker, seedier thing starts to pop up, bringing up a bigger mystery. As it turns out this cheerful, happy world is darker than it first appeared.

Then a big twist happens, the unexpected villain(s) reveal themselves, or perhaps a character had a shadier past than expected. Whatever the case, things are now in dark territory, and the main character and their friends are expected to fight them.

Then rushed ending cause they didn't think farther than the mystery. Star Vs. ends with the implications every magic character died, Steven Universe ends with a whimper bland note, Amphibia ends with one of the most controversial endings in Disney history. Really the only show here that got an ending that wasn't controversial or sparked defense within the fandom in some way is Owl House.

That isn't saying that following a basic plot structure such as this is a bad thing. Many stories follow a similar plot structure to each other. Heck this exact plot structure can be seen in Deltarune, which I consider a great story. So why then do I contest this so much? Let's count the ways.

Lack of pre-planning

Most of these stories lack the proper planning to land their mysteries. Many of these shows end in weak ways. Regardless of how a person feels about the endings of these shows individually, there was a great sign all over the internet that I saw of multiple people being disappointed by how these shows ended. By focusing more on the buildup to the mystery and the dark elements and not focusing on creating a satisfying story, many of these shows probably ended up having to create an ending on the spot when the time came for the shows to end, leaving disappointed fans and waste of time.

Deltarune, a game with a similar structure, already has its ending preplanned. In fact, its the inspiration for the games entire existence. While writing around an ending is odd, it shows the extra care to make the ending work by making the characters and stories compelling enough on their own without the ending having to overshadow everything. While predicting the ending and mysteries is fun, it is not the main focus of the game's story and shouldn't be.

Similarly, early FNAF had mysteries, but the games told a clear enough story about children getting revenge over their killer that the mysteries didn't matter too much.

Even fnaf 4, being as confusing with its mysteries as it was on release, told a compelling story of a terrified boy gaining nightmares of his favorite cartoon characters and ultimately dying to one of the animatronics.

VS. modern fnaf games where the games story is built around telling as much mysteries as possible over pre planning a good story, that it leaves the games a confusing mess. The best example is the mimic, where no one can decide if Afton is possessing it somehow, if it is not possessed by Afton, but a child, if it is not possessed at all and is just mimicing Afton, etc. Problems that all could have been solved had the story been pre-planned well in advance to clear up what was happening with the Mimic as early as possible.

2. Lack of variety

Many of these shows follow the same story beats with lack of subversion or differences, many of them also seemingly star in a the same type of location, just with a different "flavor". Star Vs. is Steven Universe with magic instead of space. Amphibia is Star Vs. but with frogs. The Owl House is Amphibia but without the alternate universe stuff and also gay people. Once you see the same story so many times, it becomes bland no matter what you do to make it different.

The 80s are a decade infamous for being bland, with cheaply animated shows meant to advertise toys. Yet all these toy advertising shows manage to have more variety than any of the popular shows from the 2010s. You have a show about robots protecting Earth, a show about ponies going on magical adventures, a show about bears who come to earth to help cheer up people, a show about a boy going into his favorite video game worlds, and more. Despite having the same purpose, to sell a specific toy, they all have such different environments, meanings, and genres from each other.

While the 2010s shows all have the same purpose, to teach about kindness (at least that's the general vibes I get), yet they all have the same genres, similar settings, and similar problems. Instead of building off the mistakes of one show and improving on them with a different setting, story, and message, each show chooses to steal each other's homework. Amphibia being the most overt example, with it putting Steven Universe's anime influences on it's sleeve and making a full on super-saiyan scene.

There's a certain point where it goes from being nice homages to other work you love to being derivative.

3. Lack of critique

People want to defend these shows because they are shows that they spent good amounts of time of analysis and interest watching. I can't persuade someone to dislike these shows, as everyone has different tastes. But I find it odd these shows can't be critiqued in the same way other media has been in the last decade. People are now critiquing the amount of superhero movies, how most animated movies in the 2010s had a twist villain of some sort, how Harry Potter has the most racist subtext ever. Yet, once you even glance at Star Vs., for example, you can't say a word? It's just a strange double standard I've noticed.

Ironically the want for people to see art "as a true art form" has people not treating it as a true art form by not critiquing it.

Conclusion

I am sure with the right amount of pre-planning, following good story structure, and respect to the audience a show with this structure could provide a good story.

Owl House has a big fandom and positive reception, and while I've personally hadn't had the interest to watch, I am sure a lot of why is that the show does handle this plot structure well. The fact the ending has not been contested in the same way other show endings have been prove that in a way, it can work.

But you can't just have one plot for every show forever, you need a variety of entertainment, or else things go stale.

In the 90s, many animators got sick of the corporate 80s and began making weird, offbeat shows, like the Rugrats. The 2010s, no matter how much people don't want to admit it, are a return to 80s sentimentality, but worse. All the work people did to make animation new, exciting, and different in the 90s got undone by people making the same show 5 times.

2020s, while sparse at first glance, are so much more interesting in terms of variety. A show about a girl and her ghost friend, fish out of water with a country family in a big city, a girl must save the world from robots, all within the same network. While there's a rise in reboots and its sad there's overall less animation coming out of the big networks, I feel like the future of animation and the variety it may bring is vastly more interesting than the 2010s.

#springy thoughts #long post #my fingers hurt

[b0njourbeach]

I think I saw someone ask this the other day, but what are your thoughts on Azul?

You saw right, though I've answered the question in a rather silly way the first time. Mainly because I have many thoughts of Azul, yet not a single word comes to mind when I try to write them down - This is why, dear anon, your request was for a long time in my inbox. I certainly haven't forgotten you, it just has been an issue that my words don't wish the way I wish bur now here I am, ready to talk about our dear Teenage Businessman!

Book 3 spoilers, mentions of Eating disorders

There are certainly a few topics that are questionable or even judged upon the fandom, some also seem to forget that Azul is more than his contracts and his shady ass business. Some view him as manipulative while I believe he just saw stupidity in humanity and took this weakness of mankind and turned it against those who were foolish enough to not ask questions. Azul has never lied in his contracts, not a single time. He provided what he had offered and taken what he was entitled to take. Let's take the main issue of Book 3: The contract Ace, Deuce, Grim and many others had signed: Offering their magic for a study guide - If they'd make it to the top 50, they'd get their magic back. If not, they become the Sea anemones that are to follow Azuls every order. He provided the guide and it helped everyone who has gotten their hands on it - Did he lie? He didn't. All he did was *exactly* what people had asked - Nothing less and nothing *more*. And that is the exact point: He didn't give information if he wasn't asked for it. Or ayuus contract: He took Ramshakle, he provided what the Freshmen needed - He didn't lie. In fact, he offered more than he had to: The Potion. The twins interfered but was it against the contract? It wasn't. As I see it, Azuls contracts are much like the wish of a genie: If you wish, be most specific or live with the consequences. You don't want anyone interfering with your stealing? Should've said so, simple as that.

What Azul made the "Villain" was the naivety of those who signed their name on the contract.

But there's more of Azul than this. I think it's justified of what he does. People are stupid, people are naive but most importantly: People are cruel. Especially kids are worse than any demon from hell. If you're being bullied as a child or even up to being a teenager, you'll be emotionally fucked for a long time, if not forever. You'll become insecure of whatever you've been bullied of for something that'll feel like eternity. You want to avoid this very thing, no matter how important it is supposed to be in your life. It'll cause you to break down at some point just for you to pretend like nothing happened afterwards - Especially if you've built up the very picture of someone who's got it all together like Azul did. While he pretends there's no issue, I refuse to believe that he doesn't have an Eating Disorder. Being bullied for your weight as a child (which is - in his case - not even really justified since you basically compare an octopus to a fish. A comparison that is found in every sense of the equation) leaves a mark. A deep, burning mark. Avoiding mirrors, pictures, tight clothes or being seen by anyone without your clothes. You can't tell me he's willing to get rid of his childhood and not have an eating disorder, that he wants to pretend the little healthy octopus child didn't exist and that he can look in the mirror without suffering. It's Canon that he's strictly taking care of his weight - But it's also Canon that his favorite food is fried chicken, possibly the worst choice for strictly keeping your weight. A diet is all good and stuff but strictly starving your body of certain things will only cause mental distress.

I can see he's a sensitive soul, trying to hide behind the mask of sheer confidence and superiority. His only friends are the two weird guys who didn't leave him alone - Sure, they're not the best choice but having two eels by your side is better than being alone. Whether the relation between these three is toxic or not, they depend on each other - especially Azul depends on Jade and Floyd and by the way the twins reacted to Azuls overblot, I'm confident to say that they also depend on him. After all, they might "Can't stand" each other as they'd say, they still stuck around even though there are many reasons to be "like the others" and turn away.

There was something else I had in mind but it just won't come to me right now, so I'll leave it at that for now. All I'm gonna add is that I'd really like to hug Baby Azul and tell him that he's perfect the way he is. To be his friend and let him know that it doesn't matter how he looks like because no matter how much you Weight, if your nose is crooked or if you're labeled "ugly" by modern society, it's your heart and soul that is meant to be you; not your mortal vessel.

#twisted wonderland #twst #x answers #azul ashengrotto

[joyswonderland1108]

Seriously Army?

So she's back home and she's ready to rant and give answers and let you rant with me cause what on earth?

Okay So Jimin had a schedule in Budapest, he left on the 16th which got fuckers panties in a twist because why oh why would Jimin go to the same country JK went to? Didn't you know Budapest is exclusive to JK and JK only? But fear not, a few hours later they were celebrating again because "Jimin will be away for GOLDEN Live on stage" Uhm okay.

Comes the 18th and Jimin is going back home, guess what?

Right.. Because how fucking dare Jimin goes back to his HOME COUNTRY WHERE HIS PLACE IS, HOW DARE HE? THAT VIXEN!! But yeah gotta love the dedication in manifesting Jimin's presence in JK's GOLDEN Live in stage performance. Anygays..

Damn if you do, damn if you don't. So they're unhappy that Jimin went to Budapest but they're also unhappy that he's going back home.. Exactly how do you make these people happy? We don't know, actually we do they absolutely despise Jimin's existence and the ideal for them is him staying 7 countries away from JK..

MOVING ON, comes d-day of the performance, Joon is there, absolutely adorable, in his whole hotness and cuteness, then someone mentions that apparently according to K-army Jimin was there, well.. False alarm that of course got deleted later (rightfully so) when they got the correct information. But that was enough to rile up that cult which led to this

(Stole this from jikookreports)

All that from a false alarm too, they didn't even wait for it to be confirmed or anything just the mention of Jimin there was enough to have them foaming at the mouth. Which then was followed by this

(Stole this from Keira on Twt)

Which ended up being complete bullshit but of course Army hyped it up took it as a fact despite it being unverified news and despite the fact that k-media has been bullshitting on many things before but before i continue.. Notice how none of Joon or Tae's presence in JK's event seem to bother people? Like yes, them being there means they love their maknae, their baby star candy and want to support him but Jimin being there means he's a leech and can't stay home for once. Lovely.

Moving on and this is the cherry on top, this dumb ass, this wet sock, this lab rat, posted this

Now if the previous post wasn't enough of a lie this uncultured twat decided to make up a whole ass au out of that previous lie and of fucking course 12.4K (now probably more) of "smart" Army ate that shit up.

Mind you this post is still up and OP thought it was funny to keep it up and add this

So not only homeboy Tae was busy today, as seen here

Joon also mentioned that other members, which logically would be Vmin, have a shoot today, which means both weren't there. But this motherfucker was proud about spreading misinformation DURING THE LIVE not even after but decided it was a good idea to post some bullshit before even the live ended so basically disrupting people's attention and creating some whack ass drama instead of focusing on the performance that JK worked hard for.

Now if you did watch the live you know that JK pointed to Joon and asked to give him the mic to give a lil speechy speech, so are you now insinuating that JK is a dick for not acknowledging Tae's presence and only acknowledging Joon? Literally nothing about that post is a cute joke, not the timing of it, not the obvious lie when my boy Tae wasn't even there, just.. How very inconsiderate do you have to be? If YOU don't care about the live then it's on YOU, keep your childishness to yourself and if you still wanna make sick jokes, out of respect, wait for that live to fucking end.

Some people are on the TL while watching the live to hopefully catch some live translations as those offered with the live can be a bit off for now, so having to scroll through your tl and then you come across this shit? I don't know why it is so normalized to hate on Jimin and to disrespect JK, exactly what did this fandom become? Is it that hard to appreciate these boys without creating so much drama, so much hate, so much chaos?

I'm seriously very disappointed, as always, in ARMY cause if that was coming from the cult only then it's nothing new but then again at this point, at this rate, is it even something new that ARMY are engaging in loads of fuckery? No.. Not at all really.

Grow the fuck up.

#Army #Well.. BTS Army not actual Army uhm #If this stupid fandom could treat Jimin & Jungkook good we'd finally find peace. #Youtube

[exstasyplague]

Just wanted to say, I have loved reading you jjk analysis while I hyperfix on the fandom. I have one question that I hope you can give me some answers to. Regarding Geto, do you believe that he's earned the title of special grade like Gojo and Yuki? I fully believe that he could reach a monster level like Gojo but I also think plot didn't let him grow more. Because people call him weak for losing against Toji (someone who also beat Gojo) and he wasn't at his prime yet bit then they also say Yuta was able to easily beat him and I think while the jjk 0 was good, it didn't utilize Suguru. Because it felt like he didn't do anything for the 10 years he defected and I think it's just because 0 was made so early on. Hope this isn't a bother, I just really like how in depth you are.

hiii. thank you for your kind words <33 it's time *cracks fingers* for a little...

Analysis on Suguru Geto's Powers

first of all. let's remember together what a special grade in jujutsu kaisen means~!

— a power so unpredictable that it's labeled as a calamity

— somebody powerful enough to overthrow a country on their own.

so far so clear? great.

let's also look a bit into what suguru's abilities are.

CURSE MANIPULATION

as the name implies, he can absord curses and manipulate them according to his needs/ desires, with no limit on how many at a time.

doubting him comes easy now that we know what gojo suguru's full strength is, but back in their highschool days they were called the strongest for a good reason: they were on par. on balance. gojo's birth caused cruses to go crazy and the one with the most efficient skill against curses was geto. he was so powerful in a way because gojo caused so many curses to exist, widening his range of possibilities. beautiful parallel imo.

MARTIAL ARTS

no secret that my man can throw hands. not only does he have good curses, he can also fight alongside them/use them as a distraction since unlike most shikigami users, he goes into full offensive mode. that poor old man was DONE. you've also seen how well he handles cursed weapons in jjk 0 and in general how high his battle iq is. geto was a menace.

he beat this dude so hard his literal life flashed before his eyes. and look at how casually he does that 😭 i can't. kenjaku ain't ever gonna excude this type of MAJESTY.

even if his fight against toji wasn't as flashy as gojo's, let's not forget that he actually did have a moment where he caught fushidaddy by surprise.

considering the fact that toji is literally a battle genius, that's very much something.

*clears throat.*

anyway.

the destructible power of his curses is also insane. he killed a whole village like it was just play time, no advanced plotting needed. you can say whatever you want, but being able to act on a whim like that... this absolute freedom of choice only comes from strength.

tell me that shit's not scary af.

and let's not forget that he got deemed so dangerous by the jjk society that he got put on par with a curse and even in the jjk 0 movie 'he had to be exorcised'. you know how in the manga they talk about saving riko and how because they're the strongest it doesn't matter what aftermaths they get? yeah. that's the perks of having power, the perks of being 'the most powerful'.

geto wasn't in hiding mode after his silly spree— he was easy to find at his temple and he was sentenced to death on sight yet in 10 years no fkin sorcerer was able to kill him.

they fr knew his whereabouts.

gege also shows him in his full splendid strength through his art.

geto was more than powerful— he was a low-key beast.

his only holdback was the world in which he lived, all the anguish and misery it brought him. he started doubting himself. he started losing faith in himself as human and a sorcerer and so he sought other paths through which he could find meaning, dooming himself beyond salvation. (his cursed technique is so shitty he can't live without giving it a meaning and clinging onto a meaning, let's not forget that manga panels about the awful taste and everything).

mentally he reached stagnation and from that point...he was meant to die.

that doesn't make him weak. he definitely deserved his title and definitely was the strongest along with gojo. hope this helped

#jujutsu kaisen #gojo satoru #geto suguru #jjk analysis #jjk manga #jjk 0 #power scaling #jujutsu kaisen analysis #jjk anime #jjk geto #cursed energy #CT #curse manipulation #geto suguru analysis #geto analysis #suguru

[asocial-inkblot]

Just wanted to share about what one of my brothers was saying the day before.

Gonna have to paraphrase here:

So I found out recently that my brother is an "Azula wasn't sympathetic" fan; and that was his exact argument, whereas I, of course, argued the opposite. The problem was that I'm so used to and sick of hearing that same old tired argument(s) that I at times struggled to explain my viewpoint in a respectable way and ended up insulting him (first?). He insulted me too but that doesn't matter, I guess (also that's beside the point).

I realized after that we both made good points and told him as much, but I don't think I was able to convey to him what I was trying to get at. I now think the reason why he just couldn't understand where I was coming from originally (and still technically am) is that we truly were basing our arguments on two different worldviews and I believe it may be the same with other anti-Azulas (for lack of a better phrase).

His argument hinged on the idea that how you act is all you deserve to be seen as. That what someone does or how they present themself to the world, dictates how much sympathy he/she/they deserve.

Mine however, came from a place of understanding and the belief that who you can be and who you were kept from being, matter more than who you currently are, as it pertains to the deserving of sympathy.

He also argued that the general consensus of the fandom is proof enough, but we Azula fans know that the general population doesn't just get to decide how everyone views someone or something. Outliers matter too, especially large outliers like the Azula fandom (that appears to grow more and more everyday ✨⭐️).

Although I eventually agreed, for example, with his assertion that Ozai preferred Azula over Zuko because she was more "ruthless" (or less compassionate when they were young children, as I saw it). I still believe that my original point that he actually preferred her because she was the superior bender, was true as well. I argued that he used her for that reason. My brother however, I guess didn't pay attention to the word "used". Being used by a parent is damaging to a child's psyche and teaches them from a young age that they exist to satisfy others, and be tools for others' glory.

Perhaps more importantly—beyond the fact that I pointed out she was only 14, was indoctrinated almost from birth and that Ursa was NOT afraid of her but actually scolded her (due to thinking Azula was inappropriate and perhaps un-ladylike, not "evil")—I also had in mind that Ozai's favoring her was a point against her childhood, not for it. There are still people in the world that think Ozai's preference for Azula was something to envy when that couldn't be further from the truth. The fact that Ursa favored Zuko and Ozai favored Azula is one of the, if not the biggest examples of and reasons for why Azula deserved sympathy.

Children need love, appreciation, encouragement and safety. Not favoritism, egocentric-interest, manipulation and fear.

(There were other things said while my other brother watched that I angrily disagreed with and that I myself may have been wrong to say/came across as overemotional because of, but I'll stop here. At least, for now.)

Edit: Small rephrasing.

#Azula #Azula Defense #She deserved sympathy. #She deserved MULTIPLE chances too. #ATLA #Avatar the Last Airbender

[konkontatsu]

So one of the things I noticed when I first started playing ptn (three days before adela's event, actually) and going through twixer and tumbr (for all the sapphic content in this fandom, as you do) was a concerning amount of people convinced that the chief *had* to be straight (or gay for male!chief) because they kept refusing to be Chelsea's sugar baby.

And I thought to myself "fair enough, a Chinese game probably can't be *explicitly* gay (no matter how much they've been pushing it) I'll just continue all and not get my hopes up it's at least a fun game with good story" and then ... adela's event came out.

Let me start off by saying-HOLY F*CKING SHIT THAT WAS THE GAYEST GACHA EVENT I'VE EVER PLAYED IN MY LIFE-this game is feeding me well

*ahem* moving on <puts on my detective hat and monical> I can say without a shadow of a doubt that fem!chief is very much NOT straight do to the fact that chief blushes (like a slut-) when adela says that she likes her, this is CLEARLY sapphic behavior, so something else *must* be going on behind the scenes.

Clearly I need more clues

This brings us to the most recent event, insatiable fiesta. I, for one, didn't know such sapphic levels to exist in media. However there is something, hiding in plain sight, that has become more apparent than ever. We have never witnessed the chief expressing s*xual attraction towards another individual ... until now (that I know of).

It wasn't directed to the new gorgeous face Cabernet, nor towards the equally attractive npc's. Instead it was directed towards Macchiato a sinner they have clearly known for awhile before this event and despite not knowing the s*xual nature of her actions until after they've borne whiteness to it. I can only come to one conclusion...

The chief...is a demisexual queen (and king)

#ptn #path to nowhere #ptn countess chelsea #ptn chief #ptn adela #ptn cabernet #ptn macchiato

[yamcha-thelonewolf]

How would you feel if Toriyama made Yamcha a fighter again and was actually stronger this time? I'll always be thinking how when he smacked Beerus in the back he made a face. What if he wasn't taken just by surprise that he did it but by the power behind it?

Like what if Toriyama did Yamcha dirty and decided he's not strong unless he does not want to fight?

Good question. Yamcha is still a fighter, for me. He never really gave up, even though what DBS showed us seems to say otherwise. I can't accept the fact that he threw in the towel, that was never like him. Yamcha always shows to us, in his own way, that he still has a passion for martial arts. Get it? Martial arts. That thing that long ago in Dragon Ball was the leitmotif of the whole story.

However, I don't think Yamcha has really stopped believing in his potential. It is virtually impossible to do so after reaching such a power level that makes him literally one of the strongest human beings in the world. Plus if we consider the fact that, between him, Tien and Kuririn, Yamcha's features are the most "normal" (he's got a nose and only two eyes) we can also safely say that Yamcha is the strongest human being in the world.

Okay, this is a bit of nonsense that I sometimes like to bring up.... But think about it, it might as well be so if we have to be really precise.

«JUST LOOK HOW SERIOUS HUMAN MY FACE IS!»

So, I would just be happy if his warrior attitude, that was never really buried, was put on display again. Even a little sentence, a hint, a tiny scene where he is seen fighting or training with one of his friends... That would be enough for me.

Yeah, something like that... Dragon Buddies.

For example, I am so glad that he made his return in Moro Arc as a Z-Fighter; I would like to see the animated version of his moment. Unfortunately, I think this is not the beginning of his rebirth. I have always thought that Yamcha's only enemy is Yamcha himself, and partly so, but the truth is that the real villain of his story is Akira Toriyama himself. It pains me to admit it, but it is so. I can't understand why he is pandering so much to the idiocy of the DB fandom making fun of Yamcha.

Yamcha laughing at memes about Yamcha knowing that he could destroy everyone with one finger.

The hell, even in Majin Buu Arc he was amazing. All right, I know, they're fillers, but you want me to be honest? The fillers took better care of him than the canon episodes and the manga. I mean, at the beginning he was presented to us as a 40-year-old man who had now given up martial arts for good, wearing a banana yellow suit, expensive and sadly unsuitable for battles. He just doesn't seem to want to hear about it. But then, after several episodes of him goofing off or being a fanboy in the stands, like everyone else Yamcha dies, and it is in the afterlife that his will to fight is reawakened after so long. As it was with King Kai before. For those who have followed him from the beginning of Dragon Ball, to be able to see Yamcha again happy, excited and strong, with his uniform on like the old days, is a joy to behold.

Relative joy.

Guys, I can't accept the fact that Yamcha has to be dead to feel even more alive, or even worse that his existence depends only on fillers. Yes, I know, it's still better than nothing, though...

Another good job was also done by the OVA Dragon Ball: The Return of Son Goku and Friends!, probably the last work that remembers that Yamcha also exists and especially treats him as a very valuable fighter. I'll talk about it.

This moment is still one of my favorite. It is one of the most badass things about Yamcha, plus it reminds me so much of a scene where Tarzan does the same...

Look! On one side we have the ape man (no, not a saiyan), on the other side the wolf man... Damn, I love it! Well, maybe I'm digressing, but it is curious to notice how the act of undressing is cathartic for both characters. They both strip off a garment that does not really belong to them and wildly bring out their true nature, their animal instincts, but most of all their desire to protect those they love. That's Yamcha. After all, who says Yamcha has to save the world to redeem himself as a character? He can also do so by protecting someone. That is something he can do very well, and I will prove it to you. Anyway, I sincerely hope that his role in the world of Dragon Ball will also be recognized in DBS. I also hope he can use again even his sword, but unfortunately he became a meme and, apart from the Moro Arc, we only saw him slaughtered and humiliated even by his own friends. This is the saddest thing that could have happened, also because in OG Dragon Ball it would NEVER have happened. There is no more demeaning thing than seeing Goku completely ignore one of his close friends, one of the first, and treat him as if he were worth less than zero. Seriously... WTF?! The Goku I love would never have done that.

Alright, that's the real Goku! Thank you!

I mean, maybe Goku wouldn't have invited him to the Tournament anyway, but at least he would have stopped in front of him to say a few comfortably words. As he once did.

Because, you know, that's what you do with friends and those who have been there for you in the good and in the worst of times. Let us remember that Yamcha took care of Goku together with Chichi when the virus struck him in the heart...

Well, I try hard to think that this is all a joke, though I doubt it. I strive to think that the whole attitude that the characters have had in DBS toward Yamcha is just the result of a studied plan to piss him off and spur him to undress again and howl like he used to. But... I know it's not.

Therefore, even though Moro Arc slightly brought our Z warrior back to the forefront and confirmed that Yamcha is still very strong, I still do not consider myself satisfied. What I would like more than anything else is just a confrontation between him and the protagonist, Goku, in which the saiyan helps him believe in himself again. And if it is not Goku, someone else is fine as long as Yamcha is reconsidered with dignity.

I don't think I'm asking for that much. Goku has helped so many people, dinosaurs, mice, monkeys, strangers he has met only once in his life, even bad guys... So why not help the first character who consciously believed in his abilities?

...Guess I have started a new topic. I will definitely talk about the relationship between Yamcha and Goku as soon as I can. Being the main character, a positive assessment of Yamcha by Goku could change the current idea of this character and make him much stronger as a result. I mean, Goku is the Mr. Satan of the real world. What he says is the truth, so it is only up to him to make sure that Yamcha can come back stronger than before.

Thanks for asking! 💕

#yamcha #goku #dragon ball #dbz #dbs #dragon ball z #dragon ball super #akira toriyama #justice for yamcha #make yamcha great again #chichi #kuririn #tenshinhan #topic 5