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stormbornbastard · 3 years

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The Potential In Philoise

gif credit: @vakariaan

tw/ sexual assault, abuse, depression, suicide, julia quinn’s writing

AN: Okay, so I said awhile ago I would explain why Phillip and Eloise are my favorite couple in the series so get ready...it’s a bit of a long one.

I read four Bridgerton books immediately after the show ended. Skipping over The Duke and I because I wasn’t comfortable with the assault scene between Simon and Daphne and also because I had already seen the romance play out onscreen. I fell in love with each romance I encountered, mainly because I didn’t read them as they were but as the show would make them out to be. I romanticized a romance series as weird as that sounds. Yet, none of the romances struck me the way To Sir Phillip, With Love did.

It’s not a perfect book. In fact, it's incredibly problematic. Phillip rapes his depressed wife, Marina (although given Julia’s history with crossing the lines of consent I doubt this is the way she wanted us to interpret the scene. Actually, the way it was written made it seem like we were meant to sympathize with Phillip and his loveless marriage. Hence the way he immediately grows ill afterward.) Marina attempts suicide and dies due to disease later on. Given her storyline in the show and the fact that a young biracial woman is playing her was disheartening, to say the least.

(AN: I don’t consider the character to be Black representation, she’s biracial. As a black woman who enjoyed her character and arc, no part of me felt seen and represented through her because she was half black. She's Biracial rep, not Black rep and that’s okay. Just putting that out there. )

Phillip seeks a woman to take care of his children, fuck and do the shit he doesn’t want to do. His mental illness is handled in such a shitty way. The independent nature Eloise once has is almost stifled by Phillip and what he wants for some reason. He’s neglectful, erratic and he does dismiss potential negative feelings Eloise could have in their relationship because of his past relationship.

It's fucked up. The entire book.

And yet, imagining how this problematic romance would play out on screen once properly adapted for modern audiences makes me fucking giddy. All because of one, simple thing that remains the reason I am so fucking excited to see this pairing onscreen.

The unrealized potential the pairing and Phillip as a character have in the novel.

Let me explain.

Their romance is unique. Phillip and Eloise are not strangers when they meet. They’ve been writing to each other for months, picking each other’s brains every week or so. Getting to know each other in a way that other couples in the series don’t at first. Intellectually. They’re able to keep such a steady, enthralling dialogue through letters, and it's a friendship that they both enjoy. Phillip stimulates Eloise’s mind, something the show has emphasized her wanting, for months. He’s her intellectual equal, or at least...he has the potential to be. Of course, he slaves over the letters (which is cute as fuck because he really just wants her to like him) but it's still his words. It’s his voice. It is Phillip, at his best.

I hope the show can play this up. Phillip is a botanist and a scholar before he inherits his family’s estate. Eloise has a desire to learn and further her knowledge of the world around her. Bonding over their shared love of education, fun banter based around teasing the other and their individual studies, taking an interest in what the other desires to learn. Reading books together in the greenhouse, etc. The show could easily play up the fact that Phillip was not only a gardener but a literal man of science, something Julia neglects in their book despite it having the possibility of playing a major factor in their love story.

The possibilities of it just...makes me swoon.

Moving on, Eloise choosing to pursue a possible future with this man is a big fucking deal. Running away from home to go after a future for herself IS her displaying her OWN agency. Sure, Phillip poses the question of it but she’s the one who chooses it. Phillip doesn’t demand her to come to him, he simply suggests it and she’s the one who acts. The one who pursues. And if they hadn’t been bombarded by her brothers, it would’ve remained her choice of whether or she wanted to be a part of this man’s life permanently.

Phillip wouldn’t have forced her, he could’ve easily tried to. By going to the Bridgerton house and discussing with Anthony the possibility of marrying her but no, he asks her. HE ASKS HER AND SHE CHOOSES. I fucking love that. It's like the bare minimum but given the time period and the number of couples where the man has the final say on the marriage, this just makes me giddy. The show could change this and give Eloise more time with Phillip to the point where she chooses him and isn’t forced into the marriage which I hope they do.

Also, their first meeting where neither one of them is what the other expects sounds amazing ngl. The initial confusion, shock, unease, and undeniable attraction, it's gonna serve why lie?

Despite how much it affects him, the subject of Phillip’s abuse is handled so...wrong. As someone who shares an experience with abusive parents, I understand the fear of becoming like them. Of hurting the ones you love and being angry and feeling guilty. Yet, Phillip never confronts these fears. Not really. Sure, we get the scene in the nursery but thinking of how the show could handle it and his relationship with his children makes me excited. Having him being neglectful of his children was the wrong move, especially if his fear is hurting them in an attempt to discipline them. It's clear he loves them and ultimately wants the best for them which is why he’s searching for someone to better take care of them despite the shitty bitch he already has hired. I hope the show capitalizes on that.

Have Phillip be involved but not a disciplinary figure. Yeah, I get that he’s the man or whatever but it's clear that Phillip finds no enjoyment in the act or even pondering it. But he does love his kids. Have him be overwhelmed but still involved. It just felt weird that Phillip didn’t want anything to do with his kids despite one of his main reasons to look for a wife was so that they could be properly taken care of. Have him try but struggle. A lot.

It’d be funny to see Oliver and Amanda running the house and Phillip struggling to keep up. They’re supposed to be mischievous, they should play that up in the show. Having the kids be little gremlins but instead of him ignoring them completely, he could just give in to their whims. And when his anger does get the best of him, then he could run. Be distant, wrestle with his internal struggle with abuse but also knowing he can’t let his kids run his household like this and go about as reckless as they do.

Speaking of abuse, I hope they scrap the nursery lady altogether. I know it’s supposed to show him stepping into dad mode but it just felt like unnecessary and triggering of his own child abuse. He could easily step into this role by learning to deal with his anger, learning to control it. Eloise could suggest journaling the way she does (another bonding moment that could be less cute and more intimate if done right.) Having him put his anger into gardening, I interpreted it as it being a safe place and coping mechanism for him in the book and that would be nice to see.

Having to finally put an end to his kids' tirade once he learns to trust himself and realize that he’s nothing like his father. Actual healing from childhood trauma and Eloise helping him do so. She could also suggest boxing with her brothers like...it just makes sense. As someone with a temper, boxing helped me sort through that and the opportunity to see Phillip and Simon bonding, while boxing, over their shitty dads, sounds pretty fucking cathartic (and hot).

I would just like the show to truly show that just because you’ve dealt with abuse doesn’t mean you have to be defined and like your abuser. Phillip is a pretty great candidate for it because the guy is...scarred, to say the least.

I love the physical side of Phillip and Eloise’s relationship. Like really love, it's said that they try different things and are comfortable in that regard with each other and it just...yeah, that makes me happy. Besides that, I hope they play up the intellectual side of their relationship. Two nerds in love are adorable and imagining Phillip ranting about plants and Eloise just being completely enthralled at this man and his passion sounds like the cutest fucking shit.

Speaking of intellectual, it's implied Phillip cares little about high society. Meaning, wouldn’t he care even less about societal expectations and norms? Meaning Eloise would literally find freedom with this man to just...do her. Despite the book showing how Phillip wants a wife, it never really says that he cares exactly how that wife maintains herself or their household. Eloise wants to fuck around and wear trousers? He doesn’t care. Eloise wants a private tutor and a study for herself? Cool. Eloise wants to take Amanda riding in the forest and then teach her how to shoot? All good. The man was literally proud to watch her beat her brothers in a traditionally masculine sport. He wants his wife to run his house and his entire life how she sees fit.

Julia really neglected how much agency and power that could give Eloise. She could be his equal, like really be his equal. Of course, Phillip becoming more involved in his and his children’s lives is a part of his arc but nothing leads me to believe he would want to control Eloise. The two of them being more than just lovers, but partners who allow the other their freedoms when needed sounds epic as shit.

Now some things that could easily be left out, the rape scene. It’s there to showcase that Phillip has lost his wife and there is no chance of reigniting whatever they may have had in the past. Yet, there are so many other ways to show that. Phillip could try and speak with her with no response. Hold her hand and she pulls away? He’s a smart man, it doesn’t take much to get the hint so that could’ve easily been written out and replaced with something else.

Second of all, I like the possibility of Marina and Phillip finding happiness at first. Of them trying to love each other after George and succeeding. The way Marina is written in the show, I doubt she’s quick to give up. So to see the two of them having an agreeable marriage and getting along would be nice. They could showcase her mental illness in a different form, it's clear she suffers from postpartum depression. She withdraws into herself, distances herself from her children. She’s depressed but it's not as stereotypical and easily spotted as Julia makes it out to be. Marina just gives up on her children and life without any fight? Absolutely not.

As someone who suffers from depression, the way Julia wrote it is so...??? The truth is, I would like Phillip and their family to not even realize she’s suicidal. To not see it coming when she jumps in the lake and attempts to end her own life because that's exactly how suicide impacts so many people and their loved ones. They don’t see it coming. Phillip struggling with the guilt of that rather than the anger of being trapped in a loveless marriage sounds...a lot more interesting to me. Me, personally. Considering how much buzz the show has, it would spark up a dialogue and a good one if handled properly. I’ve thought a lot about Marina but this is just how I would prefer to see it handled if they go through with her canon death (which I am not actively rooting for by the way.)

Another reason I like the potential of Philloise is Oliver and Amanda, they just add some extra spice. If fully realized characters, watching them grow closer to their dad and form a relationship with Eloise would be so rewarding for two kids who have lost a lot. Also, the amount of comedic gold in their pranks with Eloise and dynamic with each other would give the season even more humor on top of Eloise herself.

And as much as I love the line, “this-us-is heaven.” They could easily modify the love speech. Like very easily.

My point is, I think their potential outweighs the problematic factors in their story and I doubt the show will fail on realizing it and ridding itself of the problematic aspects. One could even say they already started, I mean look at the way the show made a point to show Eloise’s disgust with fathers and husbands who abandon their family, and then comes Phillip, doing the absolute most to protect his remaining family. I mean, Bridgerton did turn the weakest romance in the series into a whole pop culture phenomenon. My hopes are high. Okay, that’s all.

#this is long as hell #my bad #eloise x phillip #phillip crane #eloise bridgerton #philoise #philloise #my babies #i love them #i cant wait for their season #to sir phillip with love

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strawberry1212 · 3 years

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Asian drama female lead passivity

I feel like a lot of aspects of female lead (FL) passivity is discussed (the fish kiss being the most famous example), but I wanted to systematically analyze each trope under the theory of female passivity and its feminist implications.

This topic has been stuck in my mind ever since I read a blog years ago (literally like six years ago so I’m sorry I have no idea where it is, I can’t link it) talking about how intimacy in Asian dramas is always portrayed as something women relent to giving up half-heartedly, and men one sidedly pursue. Women are chaste, men are lustful, and women are yielding to men, that is the essential message.

This dynamic plays out in Western media as well--the movie Don Jon is a super interesting analysis comparing how women are indoctrinated by romcoms, to how men are indoctrinated by porn. So women attach grand romantic gestures and romantic commitment to their self worth, because that’s what the girl gets in her happy ending, while men attach it to sexual prowess/having women do kinky sexual favors.

This dynamic is super harmful because it works to suppress female sexuality, as well as male emotionality. People are always surprised when a woman would rather just want sex (or a career) over a romantic commitment. And men are applauded for having the bare minimum of emotional awareness because it’s so rare.

I think a form of Asian drama female lead (FL) passivity that is most talked about is the infamous “fish kiss.” See exhibit A:

The guy initiates the kiss on the usually unsuspecting girl, as if the girl ever going in for the kiss herself would be too sexually aggressive. And as if even enjoying the kiss would be too much, they have her just stand there eyes wide open. It’s awkward, and even slightly funny to watch, but our critique often ends here. But I think the fish kiss is a symptom of a much deeper problem.

You will notice that female lead passivity is present in all physical interactions between the romantic interests.

The pull in hug:

Which sometimes the FL looks uncomfortable to frightened in:

I even found a meme, so I know I’m not the only who thinks this is weird:

(meme/photo credit: https://goliath1357.tumblr.com/post/27115253892/kdramareasons-awkward-one-sided-hugs-k-drama)

What I don’t like about this trope is first of all, it makes female consent seem less romantic. It romanticizes this idea of male pursuit/female passivity, the man will protect her, the man will pursue her (basically like an object), the man will do all the work in making the relationship progress, etc., and it romanticizes this dynamic to women--this is easy to romanticize for us, because to the most of us that aren’t being constantly pursued by two hot men, this pursuit dynamic seems like a dream boat. Often the kdrama female lead (due to the Initial Misunderstanding trope) will even dislike and push away the male lead--and yet he still pursues her, how romantic! -_- Except in real life, the guy aggressively pursuing you and ignoring you disinterest is not romantic.

And the issue is on both sides, because it teaches women to just stand there, not express consent, and not express sexual/intimacy enthusiasm when we’re feeling it (that would be ~unladylike~). And on the other side, it teaches men to do all the pursuing and to assume that a girl standing frozen, wide eyed, and often looking scared as you kiss her, is consent. Sometimes the guy even interprets a clear “no” as consent. (Honestly I’m not even sure if these Asian drama writers are thinking along the lines of “xyz is consent,”...like I’m not sure how often they even think of the concept of consent tbh.)

But anyways, passivity. is not. consent!!!! That’s why we have the slogan “Yes mean yes,” meaning both parties must have enthusiastic, clear consent, for respectful intimacy. Asian dramas discourage women from expressing an enthusiastic “yes,” and it teaches men not to expect this “yes,” so they can steamroll past passivity and even rejection.

And I know some people will be boohooing me on this. “But sudden kisses and hugs are so romantic!” people will say. But what is “romantic,” like many things, is a social construct. We think things are romantic because they’ve always been presented to us as romantic, with swelling music in the background and the implicit understanding that anything is ok because they are Soulmates(TM) that end up happy together. We construct our idea of what is romantic largely out of media.

But that is not real life, and carrying those messages over to real life (as we inevitably all do), is dangerous. I just moved to Japan so this especially hits close to home for me: I dress conservatively by American standards, but I couldn’t bring a quarter of my clothes when I moved because I worried men on trains would interpret them as revealing, and therefore I would be “asking for it.” I, and I’m sure many women will feel me on this, think about and fear sexual assault very often. And when we don’t enshrine active consent, we perpetuate rapist culture.

Since “romantic” is anything our society constructs it to be, let’s romanticize enthusiastic consent! (like this NCT song!!) I think sudden kisses can be cute when you’ve established boundaries that it’s is ok, but it scares me that men and women are watching this and thinking suddenly kissing a person you haven’t discussed boundaries/intimacy with at all is cute. It’s all fun and games when it’s the hot male lead kissing the girl you know he’s going to end up with, but it’s not cute when it’s real life men thinking they’re entitled to women’s bodies.

Other examples of female passivity:

I stopped watching Moonlight Drawn over the Clouds at precisely this scene:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6I0WXeD-dc&ab_channel=KBSWORLDTV

because it was so painful to watch her sitting there like a fish as the guys got these cool fight scenes. Like girllll literally do anything, throw a rock, something! First dramas routinely disable the female characters by making the male characters the able fighters, but even if you’re not an able fighter you can do more than just sit there like a lame duck -_- Especially the parts of these scenes where someone is standing over the girl with the sword and the writers don’t give the girl the presence of mind to simply run away, but they give the guy the presence of mind to somersault into the room, jump over ten monkey bars, slash the antagonist, and catch the girl bridal style on his way down. I guess the damsel in distress trope is as old as the book, but just the complete passivity so many female characters show in fight scenes as they need to be saved is really annoying and disempowering.

I think the worst part is their faces, they’re all like omg! this is so sad!

well girl you could have done literally ANYTHING other than sit there as he took ten bullets for you lmao. Women don’t exist to stand by and be saved!!! This is a historical drama but the modern drama version is when the guy is getting beat up by bullies or whatever and the girl just stands by and does nothing but look upset.

Another good trope that is under this passivity theme is the double wrist grab, where we not only have ONE male lead (ML) manhandling the FL, but TWO MLs. Ahh yes the only thing better than forcibly ignoring consent and the FL’s wishes is TWO men doing it.

I heard this recently even happened in True Beauty...which...that drama...truly I thought Kdramas were progressing until I saw how much people were hyping up that mess of misogyny (not to mention how boringly predictable it was).

I can’t quite express this next trope in a screenshot, but something I also see a lot of is the ML professing his love to the FL and she sort of just stands there like O_O. Like she’s just sort of this object that sits there being admired? It’s just such an unnatural way to react to someone professing their love for you, and these scenes drag on for many minutes of just the ML’s dialogue so the female actress, having no lines, has no choice but to sit there O_O. Like give her lines! Give her reactions! Give her anything other than being wide eyed!!!!

And these physical interactions represent deeper emotional passivity in the female lead.

I’ve noticed it’s almost always the trend of the male lead falls later, but falls harder, and ultimately he puts more energy into making the relationship progress. Again, this buys into female fantasy, but it is an unhealthy fantasy that is grounded, I think, in our insecurities, and our fear of putting ourselves out there (so we would rather have someone pursue us than put ourselves out there and meet someone halfway).

This emotional passivity is why, weirdly enough, sometimes I will really like the drama because the girl is very stubbornly, openly, and aggressively pursuing the guy. A case of this is Itazura na Kiss, or Mischievous Kiss (there’s a Jdrama, Kdrama, and anime--I only watched the anime). Now the guy is downright meannnnn in Mischievous Kiss, this was not a healthy relationship at all, but there was something refreshing about the girl. Sure her aggression was in pursuing a man, but at least it was aggression, and I’d always only seen any hint of female sexuality/actively pursuing as something very stigmatized.

I think a sister trope to the passivity trope is the innocence trope. The guy will literally take the initiative to profess his undying love to the FL and she’ll be like “what?? omg stop teasing you’re joking ahahha.” Why do FLs need to be so oblivious/innocent? I think it caters to the way media is seen through a male gaze but that’s a trope to deconstruct another time.

#feminism #asiandrama #jdrama #kdrama #cdrama #kdrama tropes #kdrama analysis #kdrama feminism

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thejustmaiden · 4 years

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Heyo, fellow Inuyasha fans! Happy Friday! This particular blog will serve as a collection of random thoughts I’ve been mulling over lately. Hope you’ll consider giving it a read. By the way, it’ll specifically pertain to the Sessrin ship. If that’s not something that is of interest to you, then no need to read any further. Whatever happens, I wanted to get this out before the sequel. Alrighty, let’s go!

I’m not sure many of us realize just how much fiction sparks public dialogue and shapes culture. There have been countless studies and research done to prove it, therefore this really isn’t up for debate. What the real question here should be is have we taken the time to fully contemplate and assess just how much fictional experiences are able to change or influence our perspective on real, everyday life? The visual arts are just one of many evolutionary adaptations that serve to give us more insight into one another’s mind. If our outlook on fiction contrasts with said insight, then perhaps some re-evaluating is in order.

Powerful works of literature such as 1984 and the beloved Harry Potter series are just two examples. George Orwell’s book contributed strongly to how readers viewed government and politics during that time, and to this day it’s a book that resonates with many. As much as Harry Potter is cherished all across the world, there are religious and academic institutions that condemn it or have even gone so far as to ban it. I may not agree with the extreme measures taken, but it’s fascinating nonetheless to witness the extent to which fiction can move and mobilize people for a cause.

The takeaway is that indicating fiction doesn’t have the power to create change in our everyday lives is misleading to say the least. So how exactly then can fictional stories that are, after all, completely made up affect society in such profound ways? It all lies in the power of the psychology of fiction. According to cognitive psychologist and novelist, Keith Oatley, who’s been researching the psychological effects of fiction for over a decade, he states that engaging with stories about other people can improve empathy and theory of mind. When we identify with these characters’ struggles, we begin to share their frustration for societal problems that plague them. These types of stories tap into our emotions more so than- believe it or not- nonfiction, and thus their effects inspire us and even have the ability to alter our worldviews.

I’ll be returning to that specific topic a bit later, but moving on for now!

It’s safe to say that I speak on behalf of the majority of antis. That being said, I first want to add that we are aware that sessrin shippers claim to agree that there was nothing inherently romantic that took place between Rin and Sesshomaru during their travels together. The thing is we have trouble believing you guys when you time and time again provide contradictory statements to defend your stance.

Voicing things like, “all signs point to Rin” and “it’s been foreshadowed” sends the exact opposite message of what you supposedly stand for and, if anything, confirms that you’ve had romance on your mind long before it would’ve been acceptable to come out with openly. You can’t just go along with what we say when it’s convenient to your argument and then back it up later with “who else but Rin.” How can the relationship you’re imagining be so obvious if they didn’t hint at it for the whole duration of the original series like we agreed upon? Elaborate on how we could’ve possibly come to such wildly different conclusions when we started AND left off with the same views for and throughout the series.

On top of that, making the excuse that we don’t speak for adult!Rin and that she has the right to make her own decisions once she’s old enough is a weak defense. Firstly, because we haven’t even met her. Secondly, because it’s unfair of you to assert that you know what’s best for Rin and then say we’re not allowed to just because it doesn’t align with your beliefs. I get that you feel protective over her character, but do recall that this adult version of her none of us have actually met yet. We have no idea what kind of woman she’s become, what her dreams or aspirations may be, and whether she’s married or even wants to be. I’m not against the idea of her falling in love, I just don’t think it’ll be with Sesshomaru. I guess I’m also a fan of the idea of her following in Kaede’s footsteps, because if anyone can grow up to be an independent, trusted, and wise leader of the community like her it’s Rin.

To make matters worse, way too many of you continue to celebrate the drama cd and profess that it was sweet that Sesshomaru basically promised he’d wait for Rin all while somehow ignoring the glaring grooming implications. Why do you only see what you want to see and fail to acknowledge that actual child grooming scenarios do in fact play out like this in real life? A high percentage of people who have been victims of grooming can attest to this. If Sessrin does go canon, all the sequel succeeded in doing to avoid the direct correlation with grooming was skip over the more questionable and dodgy portions of it. Take out the time jump, however, and you no longer have a loophole to cover up the scary unmistakable truth, which is that Sessrin and grooming are essentially one in the same.

No one case is identical to another so please don’t come to me with your “but how is it grooming if Sesshomaru didn’t manipulate Rin” refutes. Nobody knows what the hell went on during those years between The Final Act and this upcoming sequel. Based on everything exhibited so far- that is if we decide to recognize the drama cd like so many of you choose to do- Sessrin’s dynamic is eerily reminiscent of real life child grooming. Why else do you think a lot of us fans have a huge problem with it? It’s triggering for a reason.

Let’s be honest, Sesshomaru’s supposed love confession could’ve just been the first of many gestures like it. Who really knows, right? According to you shippers, a major shift in their relationship took place sometime during this critical period none of us got to watch unfold. I’m sure you all have explored the various ways this would’ve gone down in fan fiction and through other creative means of expression. Not to spoil the fun, but all I can’t help but wonder about is just how many of those supposed “cute moments” would’ve been as creepy and cringey as that proposal. Hundreds of thousands (possibly millions?!) of fans would undoubtedly agree with me, too. It seems to me this ain’t due to a mere difference of opinion. Taste is one thing, ethics a whole other.

By the way, in case you didn’t know, groomers don’t necessarily need to plan out every single move in order for their behavior to constitute as grooming. What we should be paying attention to instead is the fact that Sesshomaru made a conscious decision to act on his own selfish desire for a young girl who couldn’t have possibly known in that moment the magnitude of what he was asking of her. Why is it that a vulnerable Rin is put in a position that forces her to be the one responsible for making such a big, life-changing decision for the both of them? Yes, Sesshomaru gave her the choice and, yes, she doesn’t have to make it till later, but why on Earth is he coming to her with this well before a child her age is ready and mature enough to handle it? Even if his intentions are good (broadly speaking of course), his what you shippers probably call “innocent acts” are incidentally coercing Rin into reciprocating his feelings. Whether he planned for that or not, he’s at fault. Period.

That’s one way the power imbalance works. A child wants nothing more than to please the adult they look up to and adore, because they’re impressionable like that. Maybe Rin processes this like she’ll want whatever he wants, so that’s what she trains herself to believe- either right then and there or over time. Plus, if you really think about it, why wouldn’t she trust him if in her eyes he’s been nothing but good to her and that’s all she’s ever really known? (Psst! Charm is integral to the manipulative nature of grooming so it’s deceiving AKA manipulation can come off as praise or flattery.) Bottom line is that Rin is too young to have to think about this kind of deep stuff at all, and Sesshomaru shouldn’t have taken advantage of the power he had/has over her to influence a decision she was by no means prepared to hear about much less decide on. Your headcanons seem to imply that she’ll eventually have to choose though, and Idk about you but I rather not push my own fantasy agenda onto a underage girl regardless of how much I want it. Idc if she’s fictional, it wouldn’t feel right so why would I want to see that? My principals couldn’t ever allow for it.

Even if it wasn’t an official proposal, per se, it’s still disturbing to me that so many of you find joy in the thought of a grown adult male essentially waiting for a young girl HE KNEW to become old enough before pursuing her. I know this drama cd ain’t technically canon, y'all, but since this is literally the only source we have that may foreshadow a potential Sessrin to come, and it’s referenced a lot, I figured it still should be called out for exactly what it is- Grooming: 101!!!!

Just as I demonstrated above, fiction has the ability to make even the most inappropriate and uncomfortable situations be viewed in a favorable light when you put the right spin on it. *cough* Lolicon culture, need I say more? *cough* Despite what you may believe, the strategies fiction utilizes to explain themes/concepts can genuinely lead to how we perceive them, and ultimately to how we come to make sense of a similar event presented to us in real life. Especially if we have no prior experience with any of it and have nothing to compare something to, these perceptions can be dangerous yet still persuasive to certain fans- young ones in particular. The more narrative consistency across stories and different mediums, the more likely they’ll influence social beliefs. Minors don’t possess the same capacity as adults to think critically about the content they consume, and if we aren’t more careful about what we put out there then all of us will continue to face serious repercussions.

This is precisely why it’s crucial we persist in our fight against the rabid phenomenon of glorifying young girls in every sexual context imaginable. Just look at what something as seemingly harmless as fiction has the power to do. The scope of fiction is broad and far-reaching, and it’s about time we stop denying that fact and actually do something about it if we have the means to.

The truth of the matter is that we’re in desperate need of proper education and training programs on this issue in our communities. Families need to ensure their children have access to the necessary resources, but it isn’t just on them. ALL of us gotta do our part and ALL of us should be up for the task. It takes a village, right? If we do not properly discuss and address child sexual abuse (CSA) with our children and in public forums, including the internet, then we’re ultimately accepting incidents of CSA should they arise. Consequently, that also translates to indirectly accepting that the predators among us stay untreated and/or unpunished. That’s how the generational and societal aspect of the abuse can continue, and we must do everything in our power to secure our children’s future. Yes, even when it comes to fiction.

If you still somehow don’t think the Sessrin pairing has anything to do with grooming, allow me to break this down for you one more time:

1. If some of your fellow sessrin shippers say that a relationship like this in real life is harmful, then that should be pretty telling in and of itself.

2. Piggybacking off #1: if your only defense to that is “well it’s just fiction,” then you should ask yourself why you can’t ever come up with better reasons. Same goes for history and culture, so please stop using those to justify this relationship. None of the above can or should be applied since it’s already been established that fiction pervades our lives and vice versa.

3. If fellow shippers who are victims of grooming say they are drawn to Sessrin because it allows them in a way to “take back control” from their abuser so that they can better cope with past traumas, then they’re inadvertently admitting that Sessrin does possess qualities associated with the past child sexual abuse they underwent. AKA Sessrin is relatable for its abusive dynamic.

I have to ask by the way, but why do you get so offended when we don’t support your ship anyway? Is it because we interpret it to be controversial and you don’t like your ship getting a bad rap? Is it because it would be insulting to admit that antis actually have a point in it being problematic and you rather double down instead? Or is it because you’re projecting yourself onto Rin and prefer to not go into detail about why that is? Maybe it’s too personal, or maybe it’s because deep down you’re ashamed. Of course that doesn’t mean you’re bad people, but suppressing these kind of negative emotions can’t be healthy for anyone. A little awareness and self-reflection on your part can benefit not just you but all of us in the long run. Cognitive dissonance can suck, but it’s also part of being human.

I recently came across a comment I’d like to share with you. Unfortunately, this is not the first time nor will it be the last I see the likes of it. Anyway, in it a fan stated how embarrassing it must be being an Anti in this fandom when an episode like “Forever with Lord Sesshomaru” exists. Guys, this shipper and all those who liked their post are showing their true colors. Perpetuating and/or anticipating these sexualized images of young girls is a grave issue in both our society and media alike. I think we can all agree on that, or at least I hope so. It’s remarks like these that prove we still got a long way to go in terms of progress, and if we ever hope to effectively reverse some of our backwards way of thinking. So serious question for ya in regard to this: Why is it too much to ask that grooming be portrayed for what it is? Grooming. To clarify, grooming is bad and needs to be painted in a bad light. It’s as simple as that. If only we could all acknowledge it for what it is, we wouldn’t be in this predicament.

Historical accuracy and cultural differences aside, it appears the crux of the matter between Sessrin shippers and Antis is our acceptance and/or denial of fiction’s influence on real life. If we can’t agree on this, then we’ll never agree on anything else. As mentioned earlier, there is more than enough evidence to support the idea that fiction impacts our lives in extraordinary ways. I, for one, believe in the transformative power of stories. I think they do more for us than many of us give them credit for and/or are inclined to admit.

This is partially why I believe that the majority of sessrin folk are missing the point most of the time. All they do is focus on insignificant and irrelevant information that accomplishes nothing but more gaslighting and strawmanning. Whether it be an intentional or unconscious decision, whatever we argue goes right over their head. All they do is throw around deflections and antagonizing remarks that serve no real purpose other than to make Antis out to be the unreasonable and irrational ones. Making connections between our own lives and our stories is a completely natural and normal occurrence. If those particular shippers insist on denying just how interconnected real life and fiction both are, what that tells me is they’re either out of touch with reality or deliberately choose to be.

Just to be clear, I am of the opinion that most if not all antis aren’t real life predators. If they say they aren’t, I honestly take their word for it. Speaking to Sessrin shipper directly: We know it’s not Sesshomaru you want to be but Rin. No, we’re not calling you pedophiles or groomers. None of us think you are using a fictional ship to attract underage fans to be the Rin in your life or anything of the sort. We are well aware that many of you are self-inserting yourself as Rin, so please don’t feel the need to tell us yourself because that would be stating the obvious.

I learned from a few of you since this sequel was announced that the Sessrin relationship isn’t just a ship but an opportunity for you to confront the person who used and abused you. So there’s two issues with this I’d like to raise. (Sorry if I’m repeating myself, but it’s urgent I stress this again!) This is what I have to say:

If fiction does not affect real life or have the ability to normalize anything as you claim to believe, then why does “fixing” what happened to you via your preferred choice of coping associated with these two characters in the first place? Why bring your past abuse into this at all if at the end of the day it’s “just fiction” and nothing more to you but a source of entertainment?

By confessing that you use Sessrin to cope with your past trauma, you therein reveal that Sessrin does in fact resemble an adult-child relationship with a grooming dynamic. So why then would you want other fans to be exposed to a pairing that brings to mind the very abuse you endured? We’re supposed to stop this toxic cycle- NOT find more ways to manifest and relive it, much less subject other fans to it.

You may think that Sessrin doesn’t fit the textbook definition of what child grooming is, but that’s not to say it doesn’t embody it or that it doesn’t at the very least have traces of it that stand out.

“Antis are miserable people who don’t know how to enjoy a good story. It’s just fiction, stop ruining it for other fans!”

Well, no, it’s not just fiction or just a story. Some of you evidently went and proved that yourself, and without my help, by revealing how you relate Sessrin to your own life and apply it to cope with past abuse. Past abuse or not, as far as I can tell we’re all equally invested in these characters. That speaks volumes and just goes to show that fiction touches our lives in long-lasting ways.

I have something I want to say concerning some of who believe that it’s inconsiderate of antis who have been victims of grooming or another form of child abuse to tell other victims who ship Sessrin how they should cope with their trauma. Now as much as I respect the various means victims discover to deal with their painful pasts, there’s always an appropriate time and a place for these things to occur. We must seek out better ways to safely cope with the abuse we lived through (if any) without running the risk of hurting and endangering others.

There are plenty of fans in other fandoms who don’t try to defend their ships going canon, because they’re able to recognize an unhealthy or toxic pairing when they see one and won’t try to justify it. A Sessrin romance simply does not belong on a show geared towards teens, and I really don’t need to go into detail about why we shouldn’t support it, at least canon-wise. Shipping Sessrin is your right, but if you don’t keep it to yourself and your corner of the fandom then you really shouldn’t be surprised by the opposition. All we ask is you respect that their specific dynamic falls under the category of child grooming (or very close) and should be treated as such in public. The world of fiction may be wider than the world we live in, but that doesn’t always mean “anything goes.” In the creative spaces our minds occupy we must still adhere to the same fundamental and moral guidelines we live by in life. There’s nothing wrong with exploring new terrains and experimenting with ideas, but we must also remember that our stories are all about communicating and connecting with people. So let’s please be more mindful of the sort of messages they’re sending.

Besides, this isn’t only about you and what makes you feel safe, it’s about all of us. I don’t know how much more I can stress that really. How can thoughts endanger our children, you ask? Well, it’s not like we’re suggesting that our thoughts can jump out of our tvs, materialize themselves, and place kids under mind control. The forces behind fiction are a lot more complex and nuanced than a “monkey see, monkey do” approach, so don’t waste any more time trying to describe that to us. You’re taking this argument in the wrong direction.

Take the “violent video games breed killers” theory. I’m afraid you’re misconstruing what we’re saying and then taking it quite too literally. Please stop twisting our words, because nobody on our side is saying that just because you play violent video games that you’ll become a violent person. The Sessrin equivalent of that would be if you ship them then you must be a pedophile or turning into one. *sigh* I know you guys are feeling attacked, but I’m afraid your defensive nature is keeping you from thinking straight. Clearly, there are always exceptions (I’d recommend reading up on the Slender Man case), but Antis aren’t saying you’re one of them.

You see, it’s not so much about the content as it is the notion of the content. Kids and teens who are playing these video games have been informed that killing is wrong, because they grew up learning that early on like the rest of us. No sane person would advocate for violence and nonsensical killing in real life. Since they fully understand the severity of the consequences of killing a person in real life, they are able make a clear distinction between the two. When it comes to killing there is hardly any ambiguity. Sadly, that is far from the truth when it comes to sexualizing girls. It should immediately be perceived as wrong leaving no room for interpretation, and yet here we are still putting up with these inaccurate and demeaning female representations.

Most children who have been groomed don’t realize it till years down the road. If they aren’t ever taught the telltale signs to properly labeling grooming situations, how do you expect them to make sense of and relate to a fictional version? Let’s think of about it from a child’s perspective. Yes, this includes teens who rely pretty heavily on adult guidance and the content we put out there for them. Put yourself in their shoes for a moment and picture that you’ve never had child grooming explained to you (because that’s just the reality for so many unfortunately). Wouldn’t you say it’s possible for them to deduce that what they see on their screens is how they come to discern something in real life, especially if they have little to no experience with it? Perceived realism is plausible, y'all.

What it comes down to in the end is that the ideas and emotions we cultivate behind these stories leave an impression on others. Impressions are capable of influencing the way we see the world, which in turn affects us and beyond just our imagination. The way I look at it, stories contribute to how and why we normalize certain beliefs and trends. If fiction reflects real life like most of us tend to agree, then wouldn’t you say Sessrin is a (in)direct result of this world’s tendency to place young girls in overly sexual or romantic environments? Where do you think fiction draws its inspiration from? Sure, some of it originates from our imagination, but most of what drives us to create these stories is the real world and the people who live in it.

Fiction is meant to mirror reality, but it’s ridiculous to suggest that it’s only a one-way street. That fiction in no way, shape, or form influences our reality? Or that it only works the other way around? With all due respect, that’s simply not true. No productive discourse can be had if we choose to ignore the truth and don’t come together (at least halfway) to tackle the real issues at hand.

Okay, I think I’ll leave it off there! Thanks so much for reading. I expect this to be my last blog on any topic regarding Inuyasha in the near future. As much as I’ve looked forward to answering all of your asks and writing all the blogs I have over these past almost 5 months, I think it’s best if I spend some time away for now. With the sequel fast approaching, I’m doing what I always do: hoping for the best and preparing for the worst. I’ve met some amazing people along the way, that’s for sure. And who knows, maybe you’ll see me active in the tags sooner than we think. Until then, it’s been an absolute pleasure! Enjoy the sequel, all of you. 💜

#inuyasha #hanyo no yashahime #anti sessrin #it's been real y'all #catch ya on the flipside #(which I hope is in a promising sequel 🤞)

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heroofspiritsisthebestlink · 4 years

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Why i like Hinamiki

Hinamiki is by a wide margin my favorite ship in the danganronpa series. That comes as no surprise to anyone who knows me closely. It’s practically what i’ve shaped my identity in this fanbase and DR related friend groups around. Unabated gushing about the things I like and love is practically my modus operandi. Shipping especially is something I’ve always loved doing. It comes naturally to me, for one reason or another. I see characters I like acting cute together, and my brain releases the good chemicals and says “That’s good, give me that. More.” It’s even why I started writing. I wanted what games didn’t give me, which was more, or in some cases, anything at all. Danganronpa 2 gave me Hajime and Mikan, two characters that, admittedly, have limited interactions comparably. Hajime speaks more often with more vocal characters, like Kazuichi, Fuyuhiko, the ever looming Nagito, and, of course, Chiaki, while Mikan’s interactions are usually limited to Hiyoko’s awful treatment and whoever else is around during it. Thankfully, the game has supplementary content in the form of Free Time Events, casual pieces of dialogue that gives you extra insight to chosen characters. However, this benefit is far from a unique attribute to the pair.

In that regard, protagonist ships could be seen as “easy.” You could make the argument that the FTEs gives equal leverage to all protagonist ships across all games, regardless of what character it is. Everyone is on equal footing, so the relationships that develop between the protagonist and the character feels less genuine, and more-so tailored after the player’s personal preferences, made more apparent by FTEs disappointingly not making an impact on the static story. With all that being said, what the FTEs does provide is an insight to character relation. How the protagonist and the other character talk, relate, interact, and perhaps most importantly, how they react.

Hence we arrive at Hajime and Mikan.

I have a huge appreciation for Hajime and Mikan's FTEs, because I honestly think it's where Mikan is handled best. It allows the game to focus entirely on her, which gives Mikan enough room to properly convey the nuances of her character. How an incredibly troubled past has left her deeply afraid of abandonment, hyper-observant, socially stunted, pessimistic and internally vitriolic, all caught up in a downwards spiral that gets worse when one problem bleeds into the next, with no band-aid solution. And when you’re spiraling out of control, it’s always nice to have someone to take a hold of you and pull you down to earth again.

Not only does Hajime actually hear her out, but he's able to make her calm down and have a regular conversation without enabling her worst attributes. And I think this is especially important, because there's rarely another instance where that happens. Mikan is so used to going on autopilot and be willing to give away everything she has, that she's actually taken aback when Hajime tells her she doesn't need to do any of that to make him talk with her, because he realizes how harmful it is of her to be like that, even if he doesn’t understands the depths of her scars, because he doesn’t need to. Him giving her genuine attention, and not expecting her to show off her bra, do a weird trick or tell Cool Nurse Fact #2364, is a completely new experience to her, because that’s usually how she’s survived in her shitty life.

And because of that, she actually feels comfortable opening up about her inner pain to him. She, at least partially, confides in him with what she's been through when telling others would probably drive people away. She employs a false sense of physical vulnerability so much to other people to keep them interested in her that it's a completely rare thing for her to open up and be genuinely emotionally vulnerable with him. It's a bit of a gamble to her when she's usually 200% deadset on not doing or saying anything weird, because that might make people disturbed with her and leave her alone. But regardless of what happens, Hajime doesn't leave her. And that's special to her, because to her knowledge, that's a first for her.

Of course, Hajime is not a therapist. But the first step towards improvement is trusting someone with your issues and identifying them. Having a shoulder to cry on is not a necessary step, but it’s a step that goes a long way. Then you take the next step, seeking help. And when it comes to that, it's always nice to have someone that holds your hand and leads you the right way. But in the end It's still up to you to walk forward.

Aesthetically, Hinamiki is a pair I’d describe as a “soft-looking” ship. Their height difference is adorable and they’re typically depicted as being very cuddly in fanart. Very Cool and Good. I also love how the purple and pink stands next to the green and white, the colors are noticeably different, but compliment each other in a soft way nonetheless.

I also really love the different dichotomies between the two. They both seek to be recognized, (one out of a desire for the inherent prestige of talent in a talent-obsessed society, the other out of love) both get taken in by a personal devil that promise them what they want, only to coax them into becoming monsters of hope and despair respectively. I love that one is a hyper nervous wreck of a medical genius while another is a tempered, but gentle heart that struggles to remember what a fucking elevator is. And I love how they just get each other. It’s heartwarming to see two people understand the other’s insecurities and how they affect them.

Ultimately, I think a ship that’s all about the respite and quiet intimacy between two who understand and love each other is a nice break from how bombastic and forward Danganronpa usually is, both for how they go through everything, but also for the viewer. You could say that I love Hinamiki for being what danganronpa usually isn’t then lol, just two characters taking their time to care for each other and getting a bit of respite. Because that's love.

Thank u for ur time ❤️

#danganronpa #hinamiki

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thewebcomicsreview · 4 years

Photo

Normally I open up the Homestuck 2 liveblog with a tongue-in-cheek comment about how reading HS2 is pain, but I just watched the debate and HS2 looks incredible by comparison, so let’s see if this good mood carries over. Looks like we’re on Candyland, too, Candy updates tend to be better (or at least bad in a funny way) than the oft-boring Meat updates, and personally, I think “The Omega Kids fuck around” is the best part of HS2 by yards.

Man, that lamp is almost perfectly positioned to draw a line through the image separating the two scenes (the dialogue for which is on two separate columns), but it’s just the tiniest bit off-center. I wonder if that was intentional and mobile-responsiveness is just a cruel mistress. It’s a cute touch, if so. I suppose the door (and the photos, which are the same height as the door) also serves the same purpose of having the two scenes be sectioned off. I don’t really know a lot about “scene composition” so maybe I should stay in my wheelhouse, but I think it’s divided very nicely

HARRY: and some of us aren't gods and shit. JOHN: i'm detecting a hint of judgement in your voice, there, harry anderson JOHN: don't you enjoy being a part of all this? finally getting to be in the thick of it all?

John, always dense, has not picked up on Harry Anderson’s demotion to Harry. He’s also inserting a lot of his own desires onto Harry, here, too. Vrissy is the one who wanted to be in the thick of it all (thematic idea to stick a pin into to see if it plays out: John should be mentoring Vrissy and Vriska should be mentoring Harry. Some evidence that HS2 is building this idea, but not a lot yet)

HARRY: now YOU look like you're hiding some extra commentary. JOHN: oh, i don't need to burden you with all the bureaucratic stuff, it's boring.

You gotta subscribe to John’s $20/mo Patreon tier for that, Harry.

JOHN: because here i am, sitting in the dugout, same as you. HARRY: in the dugout? JOHN: oh, or, uh... JOHN: what's a metaphor you might like better... HARRY: no, JOHN: i'm like the uhh...understudy. HARRY: dad. no, jesus, you don't have to do this. JOHN: or i got cast in as babysitter number 2 when i had auditioned for, i dunno, HARRY: yeah, please, i got the baseball metaphor. HARRY: i'm not a complete fucking nerd.

John doesn’t really “get” theater kids, I get. It makes me think a little of how John’s dad thought John was massively into clowns. Also, this is a cute.

JOHN: it's been really nice to get to spend so much time with you. HARRY: um. yeah, it's not so bad. HARRY: anyway, before you ruffle my hair or anything, it looks like things are getting a bit heated between the vriskas over there. HARRY: maybe we should offer them a snack to bring the mood back down? JOHN: me, mess up your hair when you’ve worked so hard on that look? i do know you at least that well, harry anderson HARRY: thank god.

This is also cute. Harry maybe the only person in the entire cast of Homestuck or Homestuck 2 to have a semi-normal relationship with his parents.

Speaking of semi-symmetry, the line where Harry says how happy he is to stay home almost lines up perfectly with Vriska being furious that she has to stay home. I wonder again if that’s a coincidence of if someone had a really clever idea that didn’t make it fully intact through editing (or was considered not worth the effort).

VRISKA: How are you so calm right now? Your lusii were training you, right? And you’re a troll, you’re definitely five times stronger than a human! And if you’re my clone, you are way more 8adass than little miss Fussy Fangs.

Vriska is making several false assumptions here, but the most interesting one is that Vrissy is Vriska’s clone. She’s not. She’s descended from Vriska, and takes after Vriska very strongly, but it’s not a one-to-one thing.

VRISSY: 8ut I guess this Situation is Kind of Serious? VRISSY: There’s a whole Plan and Stuff Like that. VRISKA: Clearly not a good plan, 8ecause then I would 8e part of it!

Vriska.jpg

VRISKA: That’s just even more indication that they don’t know what they’re doing! Lalonde and Maryam have had however many sweeps to get older and stupider, 8ut from where I’m standing, it was literally only a few days ago that I was their commander! I am primed for the 8attlefield!

Okay, this line is across from John saying he’s in the dugout. There is absolutely an intentional, if not one-to-one strict, mirroring of these two conversations that’s actually really neat. I should go back to the other times HS2 has had conversations formatted like this to see if this mirroring has been happening all along. It’s a really good use of the format! I like this a lot!

JOHN: so anyway, as you can see, this would have worked just fine! HARRY: no i think karkat’s right. this looks like shit, dad. JOHN: you know, me letting your earlier use of the word "fuck" slide wasn't a blanket approval for all cursing in front of me. HARRY: sorry. HARRY: try not to make such a shit plan, and i won't call it that. JOHN: haha wow.

The other thing I like is the John/Harry dynamic.

HARRY: it's not like i think i'm any better! HARRY: i mean, i still can't believe i told vrissy and them to bring a dead celebrity to school. HARRY: what was i THINKING. JOHN: you were thinking it sounded hilarious! JOHN: but yeah, in hindsight, maybe not the best call. JOHN: maybe it’s genetic? HARRY: yeah. HARRY: i kinda can’t believe we’re all still alive, actually. HARRY: and how did YOU make it this far, being so bad at this? JOHN: i had my friends with me, i guess.

John your friends repeatedly tried to kill you and succeeded at least twice.

He’d spent so long seeing mostly the best parts of Roxy in Harry Anderson. He forgot, he guesses, to look for himself in there, too. And if what they have in common right now is a lack of strategic foresight, hey, he’ll take it.

I’m slowly developing a theory that John is subconsciously the narrator of Candy, given how everything suddenly started going John’s way after Calliope left (and how the narrator seemed to really hate Gamzee last chapter). Remember, John has spoken in narration before in HS1, but never seemed to realize he was doing it. I probably need to essay this theory out at some point, but not now.

Oh, hey! Jane does have goons! And they’ve slightly change the way they draw Rose’s hair, so her head isn’t a perfect circle with lines on it. This looks much better.

JANE: I haven't given a political speech in years, Ms. Lalonde. I don't know what you're referring to. I'm just a simple business woman. JADE: right with her own talk show JADE: and multi billion dollar merchant company and lobbying groups! JANE: That's what a business woman is, Jade, dear.

I know that this is supposed to be Capitalism Bad, but “You claim to be a businesswoman when you own a merchant company!”. Jade. Come on. This reads less as Jane going “Of course I’m evil, I’m a CEO” and more that Jade literally doesn’t know what a business woman is.

JANE: You are on my territory, in the presence of my secret police, laying your hand on my investment.

Jane you don’t own “territory” do you not know what a businesswoman is either?

JANE: Your ship is in contested airspace. You will land, whereby it will be confiscated by the Royal Human Guard. After that you will be taken into custody.

CONTESTED BY WHOM, JANE? WHO THE FUCK IS THE WAR BETWEEN?!

JADE: shut the fuck up for a minute and look up!

There’s a BIG-ASS spaceship like ten feet in front of you! Did you not notice until Jade pointed it out?

Also why does the Rebellion ship have the Crockercorp prongs on it?

JANE: Or have you forgotten who has been paying for her schooling and taking charge of her introduction into society? JADE: i never asked you to do that! JADE: you offered! JADE: so stop calling me ungrateful for not sucking your dick over things i never asked for!

Sorry again, Jade, are you implying that you wouldn’t have given your daughter an education had Jane not offered? “Rose and Jade entrusted their daughter to Jane, who they were at war with” is an enigma of a plot point.

The world is watching her be dressed down by a couple blood traitor rebels, one of which has very prominent dog ears. Jane wonders if either of them are even recognizable to the assembled as two of the old gods. One of her PR managers had recommended that she keep her look as static as possible, so that people can always recognize her as Jane Crocker, Captain of Industry, Creator of Earth C, Maintainer of Peace and Plenty.

Jade has always had dog ears what the fuck? I guess this is supposed to be Jane’s warped thinking.

So, anyway, Kanaya fake-holds Tavvy hostage, Jane buys the threat as real and they build up like Jane is going to sacrifice her own son for PR points but she ultimately stands down and lets everyone go. It’s left intentionally vague whether or not she was always going to do this, or if she didn’t want to do it in front of Jake, or if the presence of Jake stirred something in her that made her change her mind. I like the ambiguity.

This was a very “Homestuck 2″ update. The plot of kind of nonsense, but it’s carried by the character interactions and a bit of cleverness.

#Homestuck 2 #Homestuck 2 liveblog #Homestuck

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horrible-monstrosity · 3 years

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mothermom 3 is a baaad animine

part 1: fuck these characters I thought the bit about not being able to go through a certain way because there's ants (that the player can't see) you wouldn't want to trample was going to introduce a theme of kindness and gentleness, but the game sure... tramples that early on by having your oh-so-kindhearted-and-mournable mother trample the fuck out of a sentient talking mole cricket to death right the fuck afterwards. Like, you were just talking to and playfighting with that mole mere seconds ago, and now it's thoughtlessly and meaninglessly dead, and it's supposed to be funny. And then you're supposed to forget all about it when mom dead because care and have emotions for this characters you've barely known for like one minute worth of interactions dragged out over like an hour. ok Then after bumbling along being a hollow little bag of nothing for like ten hours Lucas suddenly proves himself a detestable little cunt by just straight up stealing something he's told was a precious item, a yo-yo belonging to Porky's friend. Because, like... fuck Porky, I guess, in this geame franchise about love and heart and healing there's just this one fat kid we're all supposed to just disregard and piss and shit on and detest by default for no fucking reason just because the game narrative said so. Porky's existence was pretty weird already in Earthbound- he's apparently being abused by his fat parents, and aside from being a bit snotty and show-offy, he does at least make sure his little brother gets home safely at the beginning. He just seems like someone who needs a friend, which... actually makes Ness look like an asshole in retrospect for not just giving him some kind of help. It was kind of fine in that game because he was just a minor character, but making him some supervillain in the next game just because he was some dumpy abused kid is just... what the fuck. But anyway, whenever the plot expects us to care about Loocus and his dumb dead mom I just think about things like the yo-yo and the mole cricket and I lose all empathy. These people are assholes. You're trying to make sympathetic victims out of assholes and an asshole out of a sympathetic victim. Get your meaningless fucking sunflowers the fuck off my screen you bitch fuck

And then on the other hand there's Duster. The character who's absolutely the most deserving of empathy out of all these cunts and we're supposed to see him reembracing his shitty old life as something he should be really happy about. Like for one thing, the entire plot where he reenters the cast is stupid and makes no sense. When we hear he's at the club playing with the band, I could think of a lot of reasons for it- he could be laying low to protect the egg (seeing as how Tamzilly got pozzed and going back there would accomplish nothing), he could have just decided to fuck off and do something he actually enjoyed rather than go back to his shitty asshole dad, he could have somehow ended up far far away from the town and joined the band to make his way back home travelling with them/earn a living so he could get back. But no, before we even get to see him and see how he's acting Strong Female McDerpa Character tells us that he most definitely has amnesia. Because, like, why would he ever give up on his jackass dad and that braindead town otherwise? And then we meet him and it's exactly what we were unceremonously told it was, how rivetting. Then for some reason he decides that if he's really who you say he is he needs to... give up his life as a band member entirely to get the egg back. Can't just come with you to get the egg or until the adventure's over, nooo he needs to abandon his new life forever and ever and just go get fucked and fuck himself. fuck. let my man play guitar and also that "thiefs but good somehow because derp" shit is retarded and I hate it

Finally there's Girl Character who I refuse to even remember the name of because she's... nothing. Even her being kinda cunty about how she's sTrOnG and nOt lIkE ThoSe OthEr gIrlS is just bland. The other girls from the past two games were cute and girly and still credit to team with their strong psychic powers, why the fuck is she like this?

part 2: i've stopped giving a fuck about making this into parts fuck you What the fuck is the story of this game? You spend hours dicking around with a fucking timeskip and a ghost mansion or some shit and the game randomly namedrops the needles at some point, and then... the six or seventh chapter is just titled GUYS THE NEEDLES ARE ACTUALLY REALLY IMPORTANT YOU GUYS. Six or seven fucking chapters in, and we've barely gotten to anything resembling a coherent plot. What the fuck have we been doing up until this point again? Why the fuck do we even need the dragon needles plot anyway? Just have the main cast move from one pigmeng plot to another with things like the thunder tower, slowly working their way up the chain of command until they reach the final boss and his ultimate plan. You don't need to introduce an entire plot worth of fucking shit a third of the way into the game you fucking fuckers

The themes are a fucking dumpsterfire. Just plop some fucktarded work bad money bad bullshit in there and call it a day... Evil monkey man could have given that fucktard anything and got him to hide it in the well and it would have caused a ruckus when he came back and stole it. He could have convinced him to hide his grandma's ashes in the well- would the takeaway from that have been that honoring the dead bad? That's how fucking flat it is. If anything it just comes off as if the people of Tamzilly are just a bunch of mindkilled retards with no defence against humanity's own nature aside from shutting themselves off from the outside world entirely- the slightest contact with normal human interactions like money or having to contribute to society for a living, they all self-destruct. It's not le capitalism that made the old people home bad, it's whoever the fuck actually built it... which, if the outside world weren't basically strawmanned with the le evil pigmans and monkey abuser guy, would have been Tamzilly themselves. Which, because the strawmanning is so unbelievably absurd, makes it seem like Tazmilly is just a retarded place that somehow managed to make the old people's home this bad on their own or some shit I don't know I just can't buy it

Speaking of empathy, the game somehow manages to make the Pig Heil guys endearing even while they're actively working on the thunder tower that's cooking the dumbass town residents. Are they supposed to be abusing the electric catfish when they're cutely telling the things to hang in there and do their best? When Lucas got a jerb hustling the golems around and they managed to make it like a positive thing (the pigmangs encourage you, seemingly pay a decent wage, and even the doggo enjoys running on the treadmill once he gets into it), I thought there was going to be a tweest or at least some nuance, but the absurdity of the nice ol' piglins in the evil tower just makes it seem like it's just entirely unintentional, by writers who just have no idea what the fuck they're doing. The generic braindead modern-bad messaging and the generic brainless funny-characters-ha-ha sides of the writing clash horribly and somehow manage to mangle each other even worse than they already were.

The whimsicality is fucking dead. It's just all so forced and one-note... or, very consistently two-note in every single thing, because absolutely every single monster you meet is just two things funny stuck together. The first two games could glide smoothly between fighting enraged possessed zoo animals and weirdo people, weirdo fucking blended monsters that don't look like anything in particular, and then just sometimes the taxis that're used for decoration on roads will veer off course and engage you in battle. It's simultaneously wildly unpredictable and smoothly cohesive. And it's wonderful. But M3 is just... it leans over, shoves a megaphone down your throat and loudly informs you that "the PIGMEN have FUSED the THINGS toGETHER" and proceeds to beat you over the head with "this thing is THAT thing and THAT thing" over and over again. It's forced, mechanical, hamfisted and just not whimsical at all. And it's not just because the pigmengs aren't Giiigigigigiyasass (which could have been fixed by having them harness traces of Gig's power if that was the problem anyway), because it extends to absolutely everything- the ghosts at the mansion for example are just all absolutely fucking nothing. Like the main big bad boss is just "he's GHOST who THROWS FURNITURE and is BEETHOVEN and plays BEETHOVEN MUSIC". Because Beethoven is old thing therefore old mansion and ghosts, geddit? How fucking pathetic. Oh there's another thing, the weird aliens/conspiracy bent the first two games had is gone entirely. That's something that really helped it feel so wild yet at the same time cohesive... Actually, the game also seems to have done away with the surprise overworld sprite encounters like the aforementioned taxis. ... No wait that's right, they blew their load in the first levels with the rock lizards, which were fucking boring.

The dialogue fucking sucks. just fucking drags the fuck on endlessly for fucking ever to say barely anything, and barely anything you need to actually hear. Did Earthbound ever stop you to inform you that the TAXIS are AFFECTED by GIGUDUGDSAS like you couldn't figure that out yourself? No, they say Gigi's affected shit in a couple sentences near the beginning and let the rest of it speak for itself, pretty much. It's hard to give exact examples because I can't fucking remember any of this shit because it just slides right off my brain like ducks off of water, it's so bland and pointless. The sparrows drone on endlessly with worthless tutorial shit and then take an entire extra sentence to chirp at you and remind you that it's talking animals oh wow wacky!!!!!!! And when Duster decides he really is what you say he is he stands there going "ME IS DUSTER" over and over again like he's fucking Bimpson. You don't have anything interesting to say about finally figuring out who you really are? Okay... There's multiple fucking scenes of slow-scrolling walls of fucking text telling you absolutely nothng you don't already know except that the writers are wanking the fuck off over their own dumbass writing where in Earthbound there was like one scene of this towards the end that really just set up the emotions of the final sequences and underlined how far you'd come and shit and was a good moment of reflection and shit.

I also find it exceptionally intersting that all the people in Tazmilly before the timeskip have names and unique appearances, but anyone who only shows up after is just some generic design called "Man" or "Woman" or what have you. It feels weirdly dehumanizing towards outsiders.

This game fucking feels like the writers just fucking dumped a bunch of absolute shit down like they expected everyone to just eat it up, either because of the success of the previous games or because of the emotional manipulation the plot is laced with. The characters are all either detestable cunts or desperately need to be airlifted out into a better game pronto. And it's unsettlingly... modern in what's wrong with it. The capitalism-bad-tradition-good-mindkill-yourself messaging, the spunky female character(tm) who rubs it in your face how strongk she is (and who keeps talking even when you're controlling her while the other characters all become silent protagonists)... even the weirdly random spite towards characters the narrative has decided aren't "deserving" enough, or characters only being allowed to handle said spite and retain sympathy by cucking to it completely (Duster)... I suppose that's just a sign that these sorts of writing problems and hangups are older than that and have just become more popular/visible in recent times, but it's still really fucking weird to see.

I feel like I should be concerned that the team behind the Earthbound series also started Gamefreak and created Pokemon, though since the split obviously happened before Mo 3 I don't know how much overlap there is between staff members there specifically... seeing as how these exact same sort of writing problems have started to rear their heads in the Pokemon franchise, starting weakly in gen 6 (cough zinnia cough abandoned ship plotline cough) and absolutely fucking exploding in 7 (cough LILLIE COUHG FUCKING TAPUS COUGH AGAG V HIC CUFGH VOMIT AAGHK); I haven't yet fully witnessed gen 8 but everything I've seen of it so far looks no better, except there's no shill character (Marnie is just kinda... there), just suffering. But that's all for another post.

welp time to go watch the remainder of the game until my brain rots off

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bisansastarks · 4 years

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”I could further explain on how it's important the moon motif was brought up again for the final time (in the most flagrantly romantic way Donna pulled no punches) and how that relates to the double meaning” PLEASE DO!!!

So i just drank a very heavy beer HERE GOES NOTHING.

The moon motif is actually cleverly brought up before we even know what it is. The chapter that introduces Boris is titled Badr Al Dine which Boris explains when he meets Theo (in a rambling omg cute boy is talking to me let me word vomit everything interesting I know, way) was his muslim name which means Moon of Faith. Cool, you think and move the fuck on with your life bc seriously this kid is RAMBLING.

Then we have Theo actually introduce or explain the motif that Donna is utilitizing herE. Theo, at the heart of the story is a boy who desperately misses his mom. He’s in Vegas, basically an orphan for all that Larry does (FUCK LARRY FOR LIFE) and thinks about something Audrey said. She said when she was in Kansas she used to get homesick and she would look at the moon because she knows the people she loved would be looking up at the same moon.

Donna Tartt, flagrantly holding all our hands bc WE WILL UNDERSTAND WHAT SHE IS PUTTING DOWN, then has Boris who is sleeping in the bed next to him wake up and Theo asks him rather inanely is the moon the same in Indonesia? To which Boris responds, of course it is stupid. The moon is the same everywhere.

Theo and Boris continue to hang out in the moonlight while avoiding talking about their feelings. Theo even has a “false moon” moment with Pippa when he goes to New York. He describes sitting outside with her and looking at the moon and having great long talks and how connected to her he felt….and then when they went inside they felt like strangers once more. Yeah, Donna isn’t subtle with her moon motif and I love her for that.

The moon is knowing you’re apart from someone but they’re still intrinsically your home, your safe place to weather the storm. It is NOT just being in the same place.

The moon pops up again when Boris and Theo are in Amsterdam and it’s the most ominous moon mention. Which makes sense because they are headed for doom. Their relationship Is also at their rockiest. They’ve been separated for a decade and the painting stands between them. Is the moon still the moon? Are they still the same boys clinging to each other like cast aways ?

Of course Theo gets his answer when Boris, a character defined by his will to survive, is ready to lay down his life on the off chance that Theo and the painting can escape. And Theo, oh Theo, once a sweet kid who adopted a dog bc Xandra abused it, and cleaned Boris’ cuts, kills a man to protect Boris. HE ALSO DOESN’T ONCE CONSIDER THE PAINTING. The painting he obsessed over worse than his oxys. The painting that represented both his trauma and his love for his mother.

So we have two characters who still have not had a goddamn conversation and we’re being told this through Theo’s repression manuscript lense, but they’ve realized in this moment what they would do for each other. And how can someone not be integral to who you are, your home, your safe place, the goddamn moon, after all of that.

So finally (tipsy Angela rambles excuse me) we get to the Antwerp loft. Again I must remind you of two things. 1. Donna Tartt is not anti drug. 2. We are limited to the scope of Theo writing this through his repression.

Theyr’e watching a movie just like Las Vegas, and it’s It’s A Wonderful Life. What scene does Donna have Theo describe? ANY iconic scene in the movie? NO OF COURSE IT”S A ROMANTIC MOMENT ABOUT THE MOON. Here is the dialogue.

George: What is it you want, Mary? What do you want? You want the moon? Just say the word and I’ll throw a lasso around it and pull it down. Hey. That’s a pretty good idea. I’ll give you the moon, Mary.Mary: I’ll take it. Then what?George: Well, then you could swallow it, and it’d all dissolve, see? And the moonbeams shoot out of your fingers and your toes, and the ends of your hair… Am I talking too much?Old Man: Yes! Why don’t you kiss her instead of talking her to death?George: How’s that?Old Man: Why don’t you kiss her instead of talking her to death?George: Want me to kiss her, huh?Old Man: Ah, youth is wasted on the wrong people!

So we have Theo and Boris in their apartment avoiding their feelings as per usual (Theo: do I really have to say it?. DO I REALLY HAVE TO TELL YOU I DON’T WANT YOU TO DIE?) and we have the characters in the movie who are kind of arguing in a bantery way and George says “That’s a pretty good idea, I’ll give you the moon.” And what does Mary say?

I’LL TAKE IT.

It’s about giving and receiving. They both know now what they mean to each other. They’re talking around each other but they know each other. They know the other’s heart. ALSO DONNA, pls, in It’s a Wonderful Life a character tells them they should stop talking and kiss……god I love her.

So, they’re watching this movie about the moon and how the characters should just shut up and kiss, and they’re talking about Boris’ drug use. Now I fundamentally disagree this is Theo AT ALL separating himself from Boris. I want these kids to be healthier but Theo is not anti drug yall. HE doesn’t want boris to use needles. FULL STOP. Theo uses pills because he wants control and he finds it safer. Boris uses a needle because he’s always craved oblivion. But either way, Theo would like him to tone it down.

But we also know Theo partly agrees with him. HE SAYS SO. In a rambly somewhat pretentious end monologue, about how like Boris he believes in chasing the holy rage calling your name. About how sometimes you want things deemed bad, by society, and you cannot hide from your true nature.

What true nature? Being a drug addict? Is Donna Tartt’s ultimate thesis do drugs? NO. This book is about love and how it can save us. Our love of art and how it makes it immortal. And our love of each other and how it can save two trauma ridden boys being blown around by a storm.

So, on my deathbed I will crave it. I’ll give you the moon.

(if you liked my ramblings and would like to be more in your feelings about these boys and the moon listen to this song and read this amazing fic I feel like I fever dreamed)

#boreo meta #boreo #the goldfinch meta #my writing #WHEW OKAY BACK TO DRINKING DONT YALL SLEEP ON THIS I STG

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t4t-lumpygrab · 4 years

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Fanfic Friday 3: Bmo Character spotlight

Woop! It’s Friday again and you know what that means!

Now with Distant Lands coming out in less than a week on June 15th- I think now’s a good time to look at what Bmo fics there are. As there’s probably going to be a whole lot of them in a few weeks.

For character spotlights I’m going to start off with what I think is the best fanfic currently out there about this character, which will get a detailed review, and then I’ll recommend some other pieces of writing.

With that imo the best Bmo fic currently out there is: Flowers for Bmo, King of Ooo by Princeofonesingledomain on Ao3

So first off this fic is about something I personally find really interesting: Ooo 1000 years later, the world Shermey and Beth inhabit. That part of the finale was absolutely heart wrenching and the perfect way to end a series about accepting change and letting things grow. Everything in Ooo ultimately stayed just as we left it, everything stayed but it still changed.

This fic is three chapters long and opens on a strong, well written and enjoyable chapter about Shermey and Beth deciding to visit Bmo. The dialogue between these two is really good and distinctly Adventure Timely, especially in the way sadder aspects are handled.

Also the jokes are really funny! Which is perfect for a duo at the start of their adventure- Shermey and Beth are at the same point of their story as early seasons Finn and Jake were. And the humor reflects that with jokes I can imagine being in a season 1 or 2 episode.

Other little tidbits that tie nicely into the show are the little snippets we get of old Ooo - like Beth humming the food chain song as she looks for something to give Bmo, or the duo casually discussing Peppermint Butler who by the way HAS BECOME GUARDIAN OF A NIGHTOSPHERE PORTAL! There’s no boring exposition in the way we get this information, these things are just seamlessly placed in the narrative like references to old Ooo were in the episode Come Along With Me. So this fic feels like a good sequel to that episode from the get go and the second chapter only builds on this.

The second chapter focuses on Bmo and is much more melancholy, starting with Bmo sitting and staring at the clouds, thinking about how the way they change their shapes reminds them of someone? Jack? Jake? Or was it Phil? Which is a really nice example of character based description- the sort I love to see in a fanfic!

This really draws you into Bmo’s centuries old mind. It’s peaceful, but still playful. Bmo has stayed the same, but also changed.

This is also reflected in how superbly Bmo is written. Bmo is still charming and childish, they still mess around with their reflection friend football, but there’s an... age to Bmo now. A tiredness, a weariness and sense of loss that wasn’t there before. Which contrasts really well against Shermey and Beth who’s adventure is just beginning.

In general this fic made me really emotional and is a really good dive into Bmo’s character, it also features a lovely song written by Marceline for Bmo that I can totally imagine being in the show and an absolute gut punch of an ending.

I say ending in reference to the second chapter because that was originally when the fic was supposed to end, but the author graciously added an epilogue that brings together all the characters mentioned and has Bmo finally find his place in this new world, finally moving on from the past to be the friend to Shermey and Beth, a returned Bonnie and Marcy, a grown up Peppermint Butler and characters yet unmet that he was to Finn and Jake.

Staying the same, yet changing.

...You think the author’s done after writing the best Bmo fic I’ve ever read? Nope! Just as things couldn’t get any better, you find out this is part of a series and has not one, but TWO sequels! These are focused on other characters so I’m not going to review them, just list the summaries and encourage you to check them out:

Autumn Leaves - Caught in a conflict between Sweet P. and a great returning evil, Shermy tumbles down a mountainside and meets someone who seems to know him, even though he's never seen her before. Could this be the Huntress Wizard BMO told him about?

A Grey Winter’s Bloom - How did Marceline get her wrinkles and grey hair? What happened to Simon? A night that starts as an attempted romantic evening for her and Bonnie ends up being more than Marceline ever bargained for. In BMO's house of many memories, Marceline finds Simon's glasses lying on a shelf. They remind her of a time that seems too long past to be real, but too personal to be far from her heart. Shermy, Beth and the others listen to her recount the first time she'd noticed Simon was growing old, and that there was nothing she could do to stop it.

With that another really good Bmo fic is Disk Check Error by Skyeel also on ao3.

-the super good writing of Bmo. Every line feels like it’s said by them.

This fic is a homage to Bmo’s memory storage, which by now stores some of the addest, happiest, tensest and funniest moments of Ooo’s history.

The first two memories we see are a cute Bubline fluff piece post “What Was Missing” which is Bmo at their cutest and most baby! The writing of them is in character and each piece of dialogue feels like it was taken from an actual show script. The bubbline in this is also adorable.

The second memory is equally cute- focusing on Bmo making a videogame for Finn as a birthday gift only for the Ice King to show up and for them to sort of.... collaborate? Either way it’s very sweet, Bmo is their usual childish self and the Ice King’s weird personality goes really well with theirs, meaning we get to see a sweet and playful side to Simon just as we do Bmo.

Meanwhile, the beginning and end of each segment listing Bmo’s memory storage ties them all together. This seemingly related piece of data is revealed to be the size of another memory, which Bmo has had to rip out of their hard drive to make way for new memories. And the third memory- which is actually Bmo’s present 1000 years later deals with just this special data.

Like in the first fic Bmo 1000 years later is slightly different, older than the Bmo we grew up with, something that this fic makes all the more poignant because we saw Bmo as they used to be right at the start. Bmo has two guests over and tells them a story.

Now I’m not going to spoil the emotional core of this story but I am going to tell you what I really enjoyed about the final memory.

It’s very rare for a fanfic to take full advantage of the written word as a medium and this one takes advantage of typographical features (fancy words for stuff in a text that’s visual e.g. font, punctuation etc) in a way that not only tells the story but is emotional.

All in all, like the first fanfic this one links to the core theme of Adventure Time: that even if things change, from Simon and the Ice King to Marceline throughout the seasons to the land of Ooo itself, what truly matters about these things will always stay the same. Especially when that’s love.

Some other lil Bmo fics I found enjoyable are:

A Real Boy- 7 very short 2-4 paragraph chapters detailing how Bmo wishes on an artefact Finn and Jake find to be a real boy, and ends up zapped into a parallel reality.

This has some really cool moments as well as general Bmo cuteness- plus there’s some cannon x OC ship stuff that’s always nice to see. I love fan OCs and think they’re great fun if you can’t tell by my fankid horde. This has a cute ending too. It’s very short and can easily be finished in 10 minutes.

Bmo’s Greatest Adventure - this one’s a lot longer and I haven’t fully finished it, though from what I’ve read so far it’s pretty nostalgic for early seasons Adventure Time as well as early 2010s Fanfiction. The characters are in character, Bmo is their plucky self and other than that this fic is what it says on the tin so here’s the author summary:

In the land of Ooo, before the Mushroom Wars, there was an ancient yellow computer chip held precious information about all of the secrets about rebuilding & maintain the society that was once e story was told that there will be a great computer mind to help translate and rebuild Ooo, but the chip was hidden away & So BMO's greatest adventure began.

The Treasure of two Robots - I’m a bit hesitant about reccommdending this as it’s written for the Bmo x NEPTR pairing and in it Bmo is referred to with she/her exclusively and just generally gendered as female.

While Bmo is generally interpreted to be a genderfluid character, this comes off as a little erasing of all the times they’ve used he/him and seems like the writer is trying to avoid writing, y’know, gays. Though Bmo canonnically has no sex and is referred to with a variety of gendered forms throughout the show, including he, she, m’lady and others. None of which Bmo corrects or seems uncomfortable with/has preference for, so we can assume she/her is technically fine.

So as such I can’t fault people for writing Bmo to be leaning femininely in their fics if that’s how they see the character though it does come off as straightwashing of what should be an lgbt pairing - a male and a genderfluid person’s relationship isn’t straight. But like I said, this is just my suspicions based on the year this fic were written in. It could simply be author interpretation. There’s nothing in this fic to suggest Neptr doesn’t also love Bmo when they’re a boy, and that Bmo isn’t genderfluid.

That said this is a very cute fic featuring human versions of Bmo and NEPTR that shows what NEPTR and Bmo get up to when Finn and Jake aren’t around, and Bmo’s playful nature contrasts well against NEPTR’s more reserved and meek personality so they end up working well together. Bmo encourages NEPTR to get stuck in and enjoy himself while NEPTR acts as a much needed voice of reason. It’s nice to read about Bmo having carefree fun after, y’know

this.

So that’s that! I may do another one about Bmo if Distant Lands gives us as many fics as I’m hoping it will... hopefully...

See you all next week!

#adventure time #adventure time fanfiction #bmo #distant lands #atime #atimers #fanfiction #reviews #fanfic friday

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callunavulgari · 3 years

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YEAR-IN-BOOKS | 2020

So. Last year I read 112 books. The year before that I read 89. The year before that I read 39. This year I have (thus far) read 87 books out of my goal of 75 and will likely at least one or two more before the end of the year. So, click below if you want rambly book recs!

1. a book you loved?

This year has been rough. Like, I’m looking back at the books I read in January and am genuinely horrified to realize that I read them a scant twelve months ago when it feels like I read them at least three years ago. I’m glad I kept my limit lower this year, because enjoying anything this year has been harder than usual. I did read some decent books though, and I think the one I loved the most was Gideon the Ninth (and it’s sequel, Harrow the Ninth). They’re both fantastic books, and so deeply unexpected. Reading the first chapter or so of Gideon’s book is like getting whiplash. You go into it expecting angsty lady necromancers and get a crossdressing bee that secretes hallucinogenic substances and pulsates in time to the music in your head. Literally, Gideon’s dialogue is so out of left field that I spent half the book delightedly confused. But it is genuinely funny? And lesbian necromancers in space is just.. such an underutilized concept. Harrow’s book was a little harder - her head space is weird and everything is intentionally fucking with you so you really are confused for 90% of it, but I think the pay off was more than worth it.

2. a book you hated?

I was deeply, DEEPLY disappointed by The Secret Commonwealth. I finished it near the end of January and was just so fucking mad for days. Because the thing is, my expectations were not super high. I was excited for it, mostly because a grown up version of Lyra is something that I thought I would only ever experience in fanfiction. Now, I wish I’d only experienced her in fanfiction. Graphic attempted rape, retroactively confirming a rape happened in a previous book (one where it was implied that the victim got away in time), retroactively raping a character from the previous trilogy... like. I’m sorry. But fuck that noise. Fuck Philip Pullman. Fuck any douchebag asshole who thinks a woman has to be raped in order to write compelling fiction. I was riding the high of the new HBO series (which was good) and I guess I just... thought the author would have some goddamn integrity.

3. a book that made you cry?

We Are Okay was a really gorgeous, tender little book about grief that I read in one sitting in my bed when I really should have been sleeping. I read this book in March, when things only kind of hurt for me. When things were still largely okay. Before the bulk of covid hit my side of the world. Before self-isolation was an every day thing, not just something in books. Before Mal. Before getting covid. But ultimately, this was a book about healing. It aches, yes, but it also soothes.

4. a book that made you happy?

Both Beach Read and Written in the Stars made me pretty happy. Both romcoms done right, the first is a book about a romance writer falling in love with a thriller/mystery writer. They’re staying at neighboring beach houses and spend a summer getting themselves out of their comfort zones by challenging the other to write in the other person’s chosen genre. It’s sweet. It’s sexy. Over all, a really fun read, with enough depths to keep me engaged.

The second book is a meet-cute that involves astrology, fake dating, and lesbians. It’s written phenomenally well, and gave me a brief surge of happiness when I needed it most.

5. the best sequel?

Probably Harrow. The Dragon Republic is a great second choice though. Again, it’s a hard book, and I wouldn’t have been able to read it any later in the year than I did, because it is... not a happy book. But it is, in my opinion, a good one. And I am still excited about the third.

6. most anticipated release for the new year?

I am hoping to get the as of yet Untitled sequel to Ninth House in 2021. I am also hoping to actually be able to read The Rhythms of War in the new year, since I doubt I’ll get a chance in 2020. I’m looking forward to Mister Impossible, the second book in the Ronan trilogy by Maggie Stiefvater. I’m looking forward to the Hourglass Throne, which I think is coming in 2021? A Desolation Called Peace in March. The Thorn of Emberlain might actually be out in October, which will be wonderful it doesn’t get pushed back again. Rule of Wolves, the King of Scars Duology in the Grishaverse will also be March. One Last Stop by Casey McQuistion in May!!!!

7. favorite new author?

Defintely Tamsyn Muir. I will also be keeping an eye out for Alexandriua Bellefleur’s stuff...

8. favorite book to film adaptation?

Uh, can I say MDSZ/The Untamed without actually having read the original text? Well, I’ve read a few chapters, but damn.

9. the most surprising book?

Taproot. It’s this little graphic novel about a gardener who can see ghosts. And like. It still makes me warm to think about how tender it is.

10. the most interesting villain?

Does Loki: Where Mischief Lies count? Since Loki is technically a villain, even if he’s only villain adjacent in this book.

11. the best makeouts?

I... don’t know? I didn’t real read any of these books for makeouts. Not this year.

12. a book that was super frustrating?

Boyfriend Material. It has great ratings! It has fake dating! But the story was very so-so for me.

13. a book you texted about, and the text was IN CAPSLOCK?

I think I yelled at Nick a few times about how pissed I was at the Secret Commonwealth.

14. a book for the small children in your life?

The House in the Cerulean Sea is a book about a case worker at the department in charge of magical youth and he is charged with traveling to an island and making a very important decision about the children living there. It was adorable and I wish I’d had a book like it when I was young.

15. a book you learned from?

That is not the sort of book that I was reading in 2020.

16. a book you wouldn’t normally try?

I read a couple mysteries. Some were good. Most made me remember why I don’t read mysteries.

17. a book with something magical in it?

Call Down the Hawk, because all of Maggie’s books are at least a little bit magical. And while this definitely didn’t hit quite the same vibes that the Raven Cycle did, it was still very, very good.

18. the best clothes?

Gideon the Ninth and Harrow the Ninth have the best goth aesthetic I have ever seen in a book. Also, The Invisible Life of Addie Larue, because Addie’s clothes always sounded cute and comfortable.

19. the most well-rounded characters?

The City We Became had some fantastic characters. It was really interesting to see Jemisin get out of her typical fantasy setting and this novel was so out of this world.

20. the best world-building?

Deeplight! It’s described as Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea meets Frankenstein and that is pretty accurate. Old gods that traversed the sea tore each other apart and now the world tries to get a hold of their corpses for amazing powers. It was really, really cool and probably the best book I could have chosen to read at the beach.

21. the worst world-building?

Eh. Most of the books I hated I didn’t keep reading this year.

22. a book with a good sidekick?

I really like all of the characters in the Tarot Sequence. There are some solid characters, even if there’s basically no women. Also Graceling.

23. the most insufferable narrator?

I was not a fan of The Mysterious Benedict Society, mostly because of the narrator. It was so boring and I quit halfway through.

24. a book you were excited to read for months beforehand?

Return of the Thief. Which... was still mostly good. But the ending felt lackluster for me. I may go back and reread the series and see if it feels more genuine after I’ve read them all together.

25. a book you picked up on a whim?

I literally picked up Written in the Stars because the cover was pretty and it looked like the romance was between two girls. And it did nooooot fail me.

26. a book that should be read in a foreign country?

Shrug emoji.

27. a book cassian andor would like?

I still don’t know what to make of this question.

28. a book gina linetti would like?

Shrug emoji.

29. your favorite cover art?

Gideon and Harrow, honestly. I also really liked Under the Udala Trees.

30. a book you read in translation?

I genuinely don’t know.

31. a book from another century?

Teeeeechnically The Great Hunt?

32. a book you reread?

I reread the Diviners and the Captive Prince series near the beginning of the year. They were still delightful.

33. a book you’re dying to talk about, and why?

Into the Drowning Deep was fucking amazing. I love Mira Grant’s work anyway and there’s this scene where a character pilots a submersible into the Marianas Trench and experiences your first face-to-face encounters with the sirens and like. AHHHHHHHHHH. It was so spooky and beautiful and just genuinely amazing.

TLDR; 2020 sucked, most books still couldn’t pierce through the depression, but there were a few bangers.

#heather says what #new year's memes #2020 #books to read #recommendations #fuck yeah recs!!

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bangtan-madi · 5 years

Note

Sliding in.... How about "Rfa + cbubby!reader"??😆😆 love u bb

Love you too, you nerd lol.

Jaehee

Jaehee knows what it’s like to go through an awkward phase with your body, especially as a fellow woman. Sure, guys have their own confidence issues, but Jaehee instantly relates to you when you tell her about your self-confidence issues in the past.

Sure, you’re getting a lot better! You actually love how you looked now, but every now and then, those thoughts resurface, like a dark and grim shadow from the past.

Ever since you moved in together, Jaehee has learned so much more about you, and vice versa. When she learned about your confidence issues, it was all she could do not to stare at your beautiful curves and exclaim, “But why!”

But she knows better than to be that blunt. She has curves of her own, and she knows how sometimes those irrational demons find a way back, even into her own mind. It took her a while to get used to her larger chest, so in a way, she knows exactly where you’re coming from.

You always tell her that she’s beautiful when she’s feeling down on her appearance, so Jaehee learns to make it a habit to do the same for you.

It takes her a little while to figure out the cues for your doubt. A little longer gaze at the mirror, going through several outfits before deciding on your staple “safe” ensemble, an extra quiet ride to your intended destination: those are among the ways she puts it together.

When she does, she wraps a gentle hand around yours and pulls your attention from your internal dialogue, one that is probably not too kind at the moment. Offering a smile, Jaehee leans in and presses a kiss to your temple.

“You know you’re beautiful, right? Every curve, every bit of you: all of it is beautiful. I wouldn’t change a single thing if I could, and neither should you.”

At that, your cheeks heat up like crazy because here is this gorgeous woman calling you beautiful! Who wouldn’t?

“I know you’re doubting yourself, and I know it’ll pass like it always does, but I just felt like I should tell you that anyway.”

You turn your head, catching her off guard by pressing your lips to hers before she can pull them from your temple.

“Holy hell, I love you.”

Jumin

If there ever was a man who did not give two shits about what you look like, it’s Jumin Han.

No, literally, this guy hardly even notices, let alone cares, that certain body types are seen as more beautiful in the media. You wanna know what body type he prefers? You. That’s it. Your body is his favorite body type.

Of course, the moment the media surrounding him starts to make comments about you and how you look, that’s when Jumin starts to care.

A lot.

Most people don’t consider him the over-protective type, but he definitely can be. He sees how some of those news articles and reporter’s insensitivity start to get to you over time. It starts out with rude comments about the physical differences between you two, and spirals out of control with outright blasphemy (at least, that’s what he calls it.)

He finally snaps when he catches you sitting on the sofa one morning, eyes glued to the news on the TV. The reporter is giving a review of last night’s RFA party, zoning in on Jumin and you. It was a party you’d planned for weeks, and you were so proud of the way it turned out. You were positively beaming, your smile making your cheeks rounder and lifted.

But that damned reporter is ruining an entire night of good memories. No, they couldn’t focus on all the good that happened, all the fun that was had, all the joy and laughter that filled the night.

No, they have to go and talk about the dress you wore, and how it was “too revealing for a woman of your size.”

Which Jumin considers absolutely ridiculous. You looked ravishing in that dress. He’d shown you just as much after the party had wrapped, if you get my meaning *wink wink nudge nudge*

And what’s more important, he knows how good you felt in that dress. Made and tailored especially for you, it hit you in all the right places. Every curve, every spectacular inch of you looked breathtaking.

But now the media has you down, and Jumin clenches his jaw when you tug his shirt, one you’d slipped into earlier that morning, further over your stomach and thighs.

That’s it.

Jumin retrieves the remote from the table and shuts down the television. You don’t even have the time to ask why before he’s on the sofa with you, arms perched on either side of your head, head leaning in close to yours.

“Don’t listen to those lies. They don’t matter at all. All that matters is that you looked wonderful last night.”

Your breath catches in your throat at his words, and his close proximity.

“You really think so? I mean, last night…I felt amazing in that dress. But now…”

Jumin’s gaze and voice refuse to waver.

“I know so, and if you need some convincing…Well, My Love, that can be arranged.”

And you can bet that later that day, there were heads rolling at the media outlets when Jumin Han called in a complaint about the fake news that was being spewed.

You never knew why they suddenly stopped nagging on your appearance, but every time you made a comment about it, Jumin had a smug look on his face.

“What’s that expression for? Did you do something, Jumin?”

“What, me? Oh, no. Certainly not, Darling. They must’ve just…came to their senses.”

Seven

Out of the entire RFA, Seven is both the most oblivious and least caring about what the “normal” body types are. He’s even worse than Jumin. He literally doesn’t give a shit. I mean, people come in all shapes and sizes, right? Why should he care if the love of his life doesn’t fit into society’s mold?

“Just think of it as the ultimate form of rebellion!”

He’s probably the easiest to be around, too. He loves you for who you are, not what you look like. What’s more important, he knows how much you love how you look! And honestly, as long as you love yourself, no one else’s opinion matters.

Even if you’re in a good place–hell, a great place–with your self-image most of the time, everyone has days when they just don’t feel like themselves.

Seven’s empathetic when it comes to body confidence issues. He’s been there himself. When you’re down, even if it takes him a while to notice because of his under-diagnosed ADHD, he’s right there beside you to cheer you up.

It’s not usually anything in particular that sets you off. Sometimes it’s something as simple as a mood swing caused by PMS or a little bit of bloating that your mind has distorted. Other times it’s the terrible habit of comparing yourself to other girls, even your friends who would never want you to think of yourself as anything but beautiful. When you’re in your deepest rut, you’ve even caught yourself comparing your body to Jaehee’s.

You know these feelings pass, but until they do, you can be uncharacteristically quiet and shut-in. I mean, you and Seven sometimes go days without leaving the house due to the nature of your jobs or recovering from an all-nighter. So, at first, Seven doesn’t notice when you stay in your room for the better part of a day.

However, when you don’t come out for dinner, he starts to worry. So much so that he puts his laptop down and tip-toes over to your bedroom door.

“Maybe she’s just asleep.”

He knocks on the door. You don’t answer. He tries the knob and finds it unlocked. Pushing inside the bedroom, he finds you curled up in a fetal position on the bed. Your eyes are open, staring at the wall, and you have a pillow clutched to your chest.

“Babe, are you okay? Are you feeling all right?”

Heaving a sigh, you don’t reply verbally. Seven closes the door behind him and patters over to the bed. He gently pokes your ribs, a huge grin on his face, trying to elicit the fit of giggles he usually gets from this action. When he doesn’t get that response, only a hand shoving his away, his laughter fades.

“Babe, what’s wrong?”

“Not in the mood, Sae.”

His brows furrow and his frown deepens as he runs a hand through your hair.

“Tell me?”

You lift your head from the pillow and gaze up at him.

“Just feeling a little like Error 400 right now.”

Seven perks up at the mention of one of your secret code words. Most of them had to do with computer error codes. This particular one, Error 400, was the code for a bad request. It was the code you two used when either of you was having bad thoughts about your appearance, using the “bad request” error to represent how terrible you were feeling.

Seven instantly knows how to help. He knows that your thoughts would pass and that there isn’t anything he can do to help, not really. He lays down and curls up against you. Pulling you into his arms, he presses kisses all over your face.

“I’ll stay with you until we can fix that error, okay? I wouldn’t be the great 707, Defender of Justice, if I didn’t help my 606 when she needed it.”

That causes you to smile a bit and let him hold you. You knew that the thoughts would pass, but having Seven stay with you made the process a little easier.

Yoosung

Yoosung, besides maybe Zen, is the person that will shower you with the most compliments. Every little thing you do, every little part of you, he adores. From your curves to your hair, from your eyes to your smile, from your style to your voice: this boy loves everything about you.

Seriously. He might get all flustered when you call him cute or adorable, but he’ll turn the compliment right back around on you.

“No, you’re the cute one! Like…wow! I must’ve won the lottery or something!”

It’s honestly ridiculous, the number of compliment wars you two get into. It’s borderline disgusting. If any of the other RFA members are around, you can count on Jumin rolling his eyes, Seven making hurling noises, Jaehee blushing like crazy, and Zen bursting into laughter.

It’s become the punch line of a lot of jokes, but the truth is that neither you nor Yoosung care.

At first, he might not know about your self-confidence issues. You carry yourself like you love how you look, and most days that’s the truth. Inside your head, you really love yourself, every little bit of you.

But those around you, certain friends and family members, don’t feel the same way. And they’re vocal about their disapproval of your body.

Which astounds Yoosung to his core. How can anyone as beautiful as you ever be thought of as anything but angelic?

It’s only when Yoosung overhears a conversation with your mother that it clicks into place for him.

“Mom…I’m not going to change how I look. I don’t care what Aunt Rose says. You both gossip too much about people and their lives, which are none of your business. Please don’t call me again if that’s all you’re going to say.”

When you hang up, Yoosung starts to turn away from the door, not wanting you to see that he listened in on a private conversation. However, when he hears your soft whimpers, that thought fades in an instant.

One second, he’s turning on his heel back towards the bedroom and the next you’re in his arms. With your face buried into his shoulder and arms wrapped tightly around his neck, Yoosung runs his hands down your back, letting them linger on your hips.

“Have they always been like this?”

You nod and cry into his shoulder, clinging to him like a lifeline.

“I’ve always had curves. Y'know, big hips and thighs, big boobs and arms. Everything about me is curvy, even my face. My parents thought it was unhealthy, but I swear to god Yoosung, that’s just the way I am!”

Yoosung holds you until you calm down a bit, after which he pulls away and gazes down at you. He brushes your tears away and holds your face tenderly between his palms.

“I wish we’d known each other when we were younger. Imagine how much grief I could have saved you from?”

“Would you have even been friends with me? I was the weird kid with no friends. No one wanted to be around me, Yoosung. I doubt you would’ve been different.”

Filled with passion and frustration–both from your words and from your mother’s cruelty, Yoosung pulls your face to his, pressing every feeling you already knew into a heart-stopping, spine-tingling kiss.

“Of course! And I bet you I’d have fallen in love with you all the sooner.”

Zen

Despite what most people think, Zen has a healthy blend of confidence and arrogance. He knows how good looking he is, and that attitude has rubbed off on you in all the right ways.

When you first met Zen, you were coming out of a dark depression, one that left you with questions about your worth and beauty. There were a lot of things that helped you gain confidence again–reading the right books, listening to the right people, getting rid of toxic “friends” that had nothing nice to say–but one thing that helped you more than most was befriending (and eventually dating) Zen.

He helped you see how beautiful you really were, not just on the outside but on the inside as well. It’s canon that Zen is totally into body worship. That goes for inside and outside the bedroom. He constantly compliments you on your appearance and personality, knowing that both are of value.

“You have to know that the very things you dislike are my favorite parts about you. Can you at least try to see them how I do, at least for a minute or two?”

But Zen’s mindset didn’t happen overnight. His entire childhood was filled with his mother telling him he was ugly. Do you know what that does to someone’s psyche? It took him most of his teenage years to get to a point where he truly loved himself, inside and out. What better gift could he give you than helping you get to that place, too?

While Zen had his family putting him down about his appearance, you have other sources of negativity. And while most of those have long been sifted out of your life, every now and then the memories of their harsh words come back to haunt you.

Which totally takes you off-guard. The past few months with Zen have been some of the best in your life. Your mental health has never been better. Between the changes you’d already started and the new habits you formed with Zen–mostly around working out together and eating a balanced diet–you were feeling the best you’d ever felt! Your weight hasn’t changed much, but both your mind and body are so much stronger.

So when Zen comes home from filming and sees that you’re still gone, a text telling him you’re still at the gym, he grows a little concerned. When he sees the salad (which you hate with a passion!) already prepped for your post-workout meal, right beside a bottle of appetite suppressant pills on the counter, he knows something is wrong.

Zen is extremely observant, especially when it comes to you. He knows that when you start to slip back into the spiral of self-hate, he has to stop you before it gets out of control.

When you return home from the gym, he approaches you with a gentle smile and a tight embrace. Not saying a word about what he saw on the counter, he tells you that he loves you, that he wouldn’t change you for the world, and that he doesn’t tell you that nearly enough.

At his sweet words, you burst into tears and cling to him. The sudden outburst surprises Zen, but he quickly collects himself and holds you close. The two of you sink to the floor in a pile of intertwined arms and legs, you practically sitting on his lap as you wipe your tears away.

“I wish you’d told me it was getting bad again, Jagiya. You know you can talk to me about this kind of stuff, right?”

You nod into his chest, trying to control your erratic breathing.

“I didn’t realize I was slipping, Zen. I swear I didn’t. I just thought, hey, I can get into better shape. I can cut down a little. I can go a little longer at the gym. I–I…”

The tears keep coming, and Zen holds you even closer, hands moving up and down your sides, fingers massaging your curves.

“Working out and eating healthy are good things, but overdoing them isn’t good for anyone, baby. You don’t have to cut down or change a thing. I love every part of you. As long as your healthy–and trust me, you are–then you have nothing to worry about.”

You lift your head and offer a watery smile to your lover.

“What did I do to deserve you?”

Zen leans forward, brushing his nose against yours.

“What can I say, Jagiya? I got really lucky.”

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datura-foxglove · 5 years

Note

Akira/Ren-Ren?

Anon, you have to know when I saw this ask I was tempted to sit here on my laptop and gushed out about this gorgeous boy. Unfortunately it’s already 12 am and I was running out of energy because I just pulled an all-nighter yesterday. Now that I still have about 55% of my energy left after a full day, let me throw a whole essay at you (just kidding, my friends already stuffed my mouth plenty of times with snacks just so I will stop rambling about this boy. I won’t put you to the same pain)

First impression : Eh... doesn’t look that impressive. From design only, Minato is still unbeatable as protagonist. (I managed to avoid all the goddamn spoiler on youtube, though I get spoiled that there will be a traitor on the team)

Impression now : HE. IS. JUST. SO. GORGEOUS??? ON THE OPENING HE THREW HIMSELF OVER THE WINDOW, WHAT IS WITH THAT SLOW MOTION AND BEAUTIFUL SPARKLES. NO, MY HEART----

And then at the end of the game, I was just crying my eyes out and screams “OH MY GOD HE SHOT A GOD IN THE FACE WITH A GUN.” as an avid SMT fan, that was the last bullet needed for him to completely steals my heart. Damn that was awesome. As in general, I just love double-faced characters? (why am I not surprised that I usually like Gemini characters) But from all the Persona protagonists, the execution of Ren’s double faced characteristic is executed so well with his double life as Joker and Ren? As a bonus, his dialogue choices are so wild compared to Minato’s apathetic and Yu’s chad ones. So he is like the combination of everything I liked in a character : double-faced, a troll, great empathy, not hesitant to make his ideal a reality despite having to dirty his hands, repressed anger that blew up in cold fury, black and messy hair, quiet but his body movement speaks more of his moods, absolutely excellent with his hands, stupidly brave, and many more that I have to cut before this truly became a 10k words essay. And his smiles. HIS SMILES. That means his soft, shy smile, his proud grin, his arrogant and cold smirk, EVERYTHING. Oh my god he is truly a debonair with his smile I CAN’T--- I also love how people keep saying that he has a catlike attitudes : love jumping from high places, breaking things, probably will purr if cuddled, sheer grace and amazing flexibility plus balance... as a cat owner, those really attract me. He loves reading books, playing games, and a great cook too how could he be so perfect---

*cough* Uhh... yeah, I love him. I also love how he essentially adopt his friends and confidants? He is like ‘oh, society doesn’t want them anymore? They are mine now, no return.’. His whole groups and confidants are people who the society rejected but he accepted them all. He doesn’t give up on them like how most people are and his confidants returned that loyalty by... well, being his confidants. Though his loyalty to his confidants also means that he is stupidly self-sacrificing and I can’t--- everytime I played NG+ I have to see him being beat up by the police and I’m absolutely livid and sad that he has to go through that. He also knows flower language because he works in flower shop oh my god Ren if you any more perfect than this I will go down my life from now on disappointed that no man will ever be like you--- okay, I seriously has to stop. This is getting too long and you all will see me crying for this boy at this point.

HE LOOKS SO GOOD WITH RED AND BLACK AAAAA--- (DATURA STOP----)

HE WEARS HEELS---- (You guys thought my post about Hibiki is long? Well once I started talking about this boy I can’t stop save me aaaa----)

Favorite moments : THE WHOLE GAME? Ehem, well if I have to choose, his last fight with the last boss is my favorite. It’s just so satisfying to see him breaking the chains around his Persona (which can be a symbol of how he breaks down the chains that society has bound him with) and evolved it to his ultimate Persona which then proceed to shot a god in the face. Plus his last words of ‘steal it, Satanael’ and ‘begone’ are just like cupid arrows to my heart. Aaaaaa---- the ending where he discarded his glasses is also really melting my heart. It’s like he is telling us that he doesn’t need his mask anymore. Also that moment when he jumped down the window, and don’t forget---- (STOPPP--)

Idea for a story : Well, I’m working on a time travel fix it fic. I already got 3 chapters worth of at least 5k words, but I won’t post until I got at least 10 chapters because I have this terrible relationship with multiple chapters fics and commitment. So yeah, probably have to wait a bit with that one. I also have that crossover plot bunny with Devil Survivor, and the obligatory vampire!AU because I’m a sucker for that trope ever since I was in middle school damn it :’D

Unpopular opinion : I prefer his anime name, Amamiya Ren, than his manga one, Kurusu Akira. Both have nice meanings, but I like Ren better mostly because lotus is my favorite flower beside datura. Not to mention despite it’s flaws, I still like the anime better than the manga (my favorite is still Mementos Mission though) and Akira feels like such a common name in anime/manga that Ren feels more unique.

Favorite relationship : As a ship? Akechi. Well to be honest I love them as a ship or just as friends. I love them because they acted as foils to each other really well. Does it excuse Akechi for nearly killing Ren? Oh hell no (why did you think I write Akechi suffering in all of my fanfics?), but that also gives more complexity to their relationship. And I love angst. Which this pair gives really, really well. 75% of their fanfics are angst and I’m living to be torn asunder again and again. The sheer potential the two of them could have is absolutely interesting and my curious mind can’t stop thinking of what we could have had with two wildcards in the team. Atlus, why. (Here is hoping P5R will give me everything I want).

I also love Ren with Futaba. Futaba is just the best little sister material that I enjoyed their relationship so much, as siblings. Well Sojiro had basically adopted Ren at the end of the game so they are canonically sibling anyway. ALSO DID YOU SEE THEM DANCING IN P5D, THEY ARE SO ADORABLE.

Favorite headcanon : Ren is an absolute cat lover and when Morgana joined the team he was ecstatic inside. His phone is filled with Morgana’s cute photos and that is why he submitted to all Morgana’s orders to go to sleep. But he is also a cat and he absolutely purrs if someone plays with his hair.

#amamiya ren #kurusu akira #joker #persona 5 #character ask meme #long post #you can see I really love this boy #and I can talk endlessly about him #I bought ps4 just for him #and then I bought P5D just for him too #and I will buy the limited edition of P5R just for him too #asks #anon #Anonymous

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askmarietheapprentice · 5 years

Text

How L’amour est oisueau rebelle and Oops! … Did It Again both relate to Ann and Ren. Part 2 Oops!... I Did It Again

youtube

Since Ann’s Phantom Thief outfit seems inspired by Brittney Spears’ Oops!... I Did It Again red latex suit I thought it best to analyze the music video as well as the lyrics.

So we begin the video with mission control on Earth talking to an astronaut on Mars. The gravity status is “effective” Though the gravity of the Mars in real life is about 38% that of Earth’s gravity.

The oxygen status is 98% which in the normal rage of a reading on a pulse oximeter. The astronaut is asked for any sign of habitation and he finds the album cover to Oops! I Did it Again. Ground Control calls it cute and the Astronaut agrees and/or Britney “ cute” which has three possible meanings “Brittney is pretty in an endearing way.” “Brittney is sexy.” “ Brittney is being clever in a self seeking or superficial way.” It is a self referential joke. An earthquake happens an Britney’s lair is revealed. Ground asks “ Mars lander what’s happening up there?” He never gets an answer to that question. And the song proper starts. Not that someone is spinning a stick lit up wit fire on both ends and someone else is breathing fire. Both and and Ren are associated with fire. It’s Ann’s element and Ren is set on fire but doesn’t burn during his awaking and his ultimate persona is a seraph meaning “burning one”.

I think I did it again I made you believe we're more than just friends Oh baby It might seem like a crush

But it doesn't mean that I'm serious 'Cause to lose all my senses That is just so typically me Oh baby, baby

Remember when I brought up that Mars’ gravity is far lighter than Earth’s. Yeah I think it’ s used as a pun because the singer isn’t taking the flirting seriously far less than they probably should. The thing is the tone for most of the song is false innocence but there are some lines that suggest the singer does regret at least partly their behavior.

Oops!...I did it again I played with your heart, got lost in the game Oh baby, baby Oops!... You think I'm in love That I'm sent from above I'm not that innocent

Ann will flirt with her friends to get things from them and Ryuji will call her out on it when she tries to use it on him. Ren does have a habit of teasing his confidants always to their annoyance and he does have a lot of joke answers at school only one is technically correct. All the Thieves “get lost in the game” becoming fame/recognition obsessed. Ren thinks he’s a demon if we take Arsene’s appearance in account even though his ultimate persona is angel, it’s Satan before his fall from grace. (Symbolizing that he’ll do anything to protect/serve/save humanity no mater how steep the cost is to him personally. Being damned is the highest personal cost you can pay for anything.) Ann can wear a devil outfit in Dancing in Starlight.

You see my problem is this I'm dreaming away Wishing that heroes, they truly exist I cry, watching the days

Can't you see I'm a fool in so many ways But to lose all my senses That is just so typically me Baby, oh

The thieves don’t believe heroes do exist because before the fateful day of April 11th no one was willing to the brave heroic thing for anyone.(Ren almost gave up after his first encounter with Shido.) So each thief resolves to be the hero they needed for a long time. They were all called fools by their Persona and reproached. (With the posable exception of Morgana and Akechi. We don’t see their awakenings.) Brittney is dressed in white crop top and skirt . She’s also lying down on what looks like a spider’s web. The astronaut is also hanging by a chain. Brittney doesn’t trust his intentions and is keeping him hanging. Literally and figuratively.

The chorus repeats. This time she’s back into her red catsuit.

Then during the bridge she’s wearing a white long-sleeved shirt and a black leather skirt. She front flips to the astronaut takes off his helmet which causes it to inflate before returning back to normal size in what I believe to be a reference to Total Recall a movie were a man choses between two lives and two lovers with the knowledge that if he choses wrong he’ll die or other people will suffer under an oppressive and brutal society. He choses to be a revolutionary than to possibly save himself. It’s a popular theory that he was dying living out a unreal scenario. Yaldabaoth forces the player to say that the game is a work of fiction as a continuity plan to get rid of the thieves once and for all if they became a threat to him and his plan. Then a train whistle is heard and we hear this dialogue.

"All aboard" "Britney, before you go, there's something I want you to have" "Oh, it's beautiful, but wait a minute, isn't this...?" "Yeah, yes it is"

"But I thought the old lady dropped it into the ocean in the end" "Well baby, I went down and got it for you" "Oh, you shouldn't have" Oops!...I did it again to your heart

This is a clear reference to Titanic’s Heart of the Ocean. Which could mean two things in connection to Persona 5 each maxed out confidant give Ren something that helps him gain what he wants most and was stolen from him: his freedom. Or it’s the collective heart(The collective unconscious is called the sea of the soul in the Velvet Room.) of Tokyo that the Thieves steal that turns the tide in their Battle against Yaldabath. What Ren commands Satanael to steal.

#Persona 5 #Persona 5 Spoilers #Ann Takamaki #Ren Amamiya #Oops!... I Did It Again

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b1uecandlehomestuck · 5 years

Text

Speaking of that tier list, I made a tier list, a personal ranking of the Homestuck characters. Nothing definitive or objective. Feel free to comment on it, or send me your own tier lists for me to judge.

I’m gonna put the rest below a “read more” just because, after writing it, I’m realizing it’s insanely long so I’m not gonna dump this monster of a text post without a nice little cut-off point. I encourage you to read more, but you don’t have to.

I’ll start from the bottom and go up.

For starters, I think the bottom tier is pretty much objective and inarguable.

F. This tier is reserved for characters I consider to be failures. Personally, I feel like HIC is just not a very satisfying “main antagonist” for the trolls; I don’t specifically mean that she didn’t fullfil her role well, like other characters in this tier; it’s a good base for alternians to have a tyrannical ruler who was responsible for throwing their society into the fucked up mess it is. However, as for HIC herself, she feels very lacking. She’s greedy and merciless. That’s it. She’s merciless because she’s greedy. That’s about the extent of her depth. The same goes for Meenah, they’re basically the same characters. She had some potential to grow with (Vriska), however, the fact that she simply decides to abandon (Vriska), while it does serve to show how HIC is inherently merciless, damns her to F-tier. I’ll admit that I may have a negative bias to the troll-sprites, but they always felt like an insult to the people who were upset at the deaths of the trolls. The ones that aren’t effectively silent no longer represent their own characters, and just feel like a suppliment to the character they’re fused to; Erisol is a little funny, but is otherwise inneffectual. Fefeta seems like an intentional insult to the people upset by both Nepeta and Feferi’s deaths to just have her permanently mute for no reason. Davepeta never really felt too much like Nepeta, just a continuation of Davesprite’s story. ARquius, again, just felt like AR with some of Equius’ quirks. Corrupt Jane and Corrupt Jade have no personalities and basically took away any character from the two characters who needed character development more than ANY of the humans. They have a few cool moments, but are ultimately fail to be proper characters. I forget Dancestor Eridan’s name. I’m not crazy about the Dancestors, I don’t think many people are, but he’s one of the most noteless. Eridan... I will admit, maybe I shouldn’t put him as low as he is. He’s not really a failure in terms of his literary goal; Eridan is a very good antagonist. He’s an angsty, alternian-equivalent neo-nazi ultra-angsty teen, and he sits in that role absolutely perfectly. On the other hand, as someone who loves Feferi as much as I do, it’s hard not to loathe him. I know, it’s a very biased reason to dislike him, and I mean no disrespect to those who do, but I would be remissed if I didn’t put him at the bottom. He really isn’t as bad as his placement would imply, I just have a personal vendetta. Jake. He’s just Jake. Literally the only reason he exists is to fulfill the need to have Jade’s guardian be one of the Alpha kids. Beyond that, he’s basically just a robot who says old-timey words and we’re told is very attractive. Dancestor Gamzee is down here for the same reason as Dancestor Eridan. Noteless, and related to a character I hate. Biased? Yes. But this isn’t an objective list.

E. This is for characters who annoy me personally, more or less. Except for Tavrosprite. Tavrosprite is here because he’s a troll-sprite; however, he’s consistently funny, and is mostly used very sparingly. Also, Tavros gets more of a major role later on, so maybe it leaves less of a sting. I also really like Tavrisprite. They’re probably the best sprite. They get a really cool theme and are a funny joke character. I didn’t give a shit about Dirk until the Epilogue. It says a lot when the Epilogue manages to make a character more interesting considering the Epilogue is the worst part of the comic. That being said, it takes him from “awkward angsty teen” to “evil omnipotent god-character”, so it’s not really much of an improvement. Most of the time, when Dirk comes up, it sends a signal to my head saying “oh god, here comes a long, drawn out, over-complicated spiel about ultimate selves and bullshit like that”. Sollux had his moments early on; he was a much better character early on, but quickly became a weird, kinda depressing character? I dunno. In hindsight, maybe he should be in E. I think I just dislike him because he’s with Aradia and Feferi and I think they deserve better but that’s a dumb way to think so whatever. Give him like an E+. Jadesprite. She cries a lot. There are some funny moments but ultimately, not crazy about her. She has none of the parts of Jade I liked and didn’t exactly serve to improve Jade in any way. Lord English... too complicated. Why’s he got so many origins? I dunno. Caliborn added much more to him, but I’m gonna separate “Caliborn” and “Lord English” into two characters. On his own, Lord English is just kinda nothing. A big spooky boogeyman. Vriska. That’s right, THE Vriska. My thoughts on Vriska are extremely complicated. There are hints at something more under the surface, but I feel like there was too long of a stint of her being a straight-up Mary Sue who kills everyone and is super cool and is never punished. I’ll talk about this more when we get to (Vriska). Moving on.

D. These are characters who have done nothing for me, or are otherwise just a step below “neutral”. Dirkbot is kinda the only entertaining thing to Dirk as a character. Dirk is basically the “host” to the real star of the show in terms of Dirk’s characterization, Dirkbot. Lemme get some bonus shout-outs to Sawtooth and Squarewave. I really like And It Don’t Stop, a comic Hussie made long ago, which is what they were based on. I feel like if Dirk kept that aesthetic more, I’d like him more as a character. Calliope... An interesting concept, I really like some concepts in relation to her, but as has been discussed, I feel like Hussie and the writers like to frame her as being perfect and they sort of refuse to dig deeper into what could make for a very interesting character. Dualscar looks cool but otherwise doesn’t do much for me. I REALLY like the Ancestors besides HIC, so instead of being plopped down to F like the Dancestors, the “nothing” Ancestors get put in D. Grandpa Harley is just kinda around, much like Jake. Horrus... is kinda interesting. Kinda cute. I like him. And he’s related to a troll I really like, so he gets a boost. Rufio is a joke character, but he’s a decent joke character, so he gets in D. Mindfang and the Summoner are here for the same reason as Dualscar. Mom Lalonde has EXTREMELY limited relevance, but her short time is decent. Now that I’m thinking about it, she doesn’t really deserve a D. Maybe a C-. I’m gonna be really honest, Porrim gets to be in D because she’s pretty. That’s about all the reasoning there is.

C. This is my “neutral” point. Everyone here is the middle ground. (Vriska) is the Vriska we see getting abandoned by Meenah in Act 6. She’s the Vriska who’s grown as a character, and experienced deep resentment for how awful she was, and then faced how horrible she was first-hand. I’m gonna be honest; I love (Vriska). Unfortunately, Hussie, being the horrid subhuman that he is, decides that after putting (Vriska) through the worst, and then getting abandoned by the only flushed interest she’s ever really had, we would never see her again. (Vriska) deserves to be in A, but Hussie cut her down to a C. Aranea is interesting; aside from having an involved and reasonable part of the plot, she’s a very enjoyable character. Lord knows I can relate to somebody with a very special interest who adores to just ramble and ramble and ramble paragraph after paragraph about them, just like what I’m doing at this very moment. Good dog. Best friend. Lil’ Cal is a joke character who becomes a surprisingly pivotal character in what seems like a stupid way at first, but eventually makes genuine sense. An interesting character to think about. If you can even really call him a character? Damara... well, I think she’s pretty. Also her dialogue is funny after you translate it. So she gets a +1 on Porrim. Davesprite is funny. Dave’s funny, so a second Dave is also funny. He’s no all-star, but he’s alright, yeah. The Desciple is cute and a good relation to Nepeta. The Grand Highblood is extremely intimidating. I think he’s a really cool design for an intimidating, horrible warlord. That’s all. John... is interesting. Funny and dopey, but as far as character development goes he really starts to slow down and become... kinda... weird. I’m not really sure how I feel about him, ultimately. So, C. I really liked Jane, but then they turned her into a mindless bad guy with a tiara, and then they turned her into a mindless bad guy because capitalism. I like Rosesprite. I think I like her considerably more than Davesprite, give her a C+. She’s definitely the best of the sprites; she represents Rose well, but also twists her personality in a new and interesting way by making her very peppy and really playing with that silly side of Rose that’s so rare. Kankri... I’ll admit it, I think he’s kinda cute. He’s fussy. Whiny, sure, but I dunno. Meulin is extremely cute, but her actual writing irks me. Not because it’s bad, it’s just... you know. Doc Scratch was a fun antagonist for the time we had him. Certainly a lot more fun than any of the other antagonists (sans one), even if a lot of his writing hinged on being all-knowing. Karkat and Sollux’s ancestors served good story roles so they get C. Obviously we don’t really know anything about their personalities, but they give you some stuff to think about.

Oh god this is way too long, I’m too tired to finish this shit. You can ask me about the rest of you’re curious, g’night.

#Homestuck

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digikate813 · 5 years

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My Little Pony Re-Watch: Episode 30 Luna Eclipsed

*Here’s a fun fact. This was the first episode of Friendship is Magic I ever saw. I kept seeing Luna around in AMVs (those ones that use cartoon characters from all different shows) and since she looked cool and it seemed like she was an anti hero of some kind, I wanted to find the episode she was featured in out of pure curiosity, and that was this one! Which was luckily on since it was close to Halloween at the time.

*This may technically be the Halloween episode, but it centers around the Equestrian holiday, Nightmare Night. And what i really appreciate about the creation of a new holiday for this world is that it’s not just Halloween with a new name. It has a lot of the same traditions of course, but there’s Equestrian history behind them. All centered around the used to be legend of Nightmare Moon.

*Adding more to the fact that Nightmare Moon’s reign seemed ot be more legend then historical fact until recently, but the twists they take on the traditions we know nad love are pretty creative. Wearing costumes so Nightmare Moon can’t find them. Gathering candy as a sort of peace offering to a statue of Nightmare Moon in the forest that we have never seen before and, will never see again, but at least it looks cool, so she won’t eat the children. Some of it might be kind of messed up, but Halloween is all about scarring kids for life. It’s part of the fun! The whole history of Nightmare Night is just more creativity unique to this world that I appreciate.

*This is also the first mention of the ancient scapegoat of the lore sorcerer, Star Swirl the Bearded. Love him or hate him, this is a historic moment in the show’s world building.

*Also Twilight goes out dressed in a handmade costume of someone she thinks is really cool but no one else know’s what she is. That was pretty much every Halloween for me. I relate.

*A really fun part of Halloween episodes is seeing what costumes they choose for each character. And with a celebration the whole town is involved in, there are some very creative costume designs and choices here. I’m not gonna go through all of them but I did want to point out Rainbow Dash dressed as one of the Shadowbolts from the first episode. A perfect choice to be sure, but there’s also the great detail of seeing it poorly stitched together. Emphasizing that it’s clearly a homemade costume since the Shadowbolts technically don’t exist. It’s small, but it’s details like that that make the world feel more real to me.

*And i swear there is somepony in the background dressed as Daring Do. It could just be a regular safari outfit, but I prefer to think of it as foreshadowing. Let me have my delusions.

*This episode also introduces Pipsqueak. A little colt from Trottingham (oh these names) Not much to say about him but he’s adorable and fairly popular, so his first appearance was at least worth a mention. But is it just me or does his voice keep changing. Sometimes he has the accent, sometimes he doesn’t. Sometimes he sounds like a kid, sometimes he sounds like an adult playing a kid. Did anyone else notice that?

*I’m also pleased to see Zecora play such an active role in the Nightmare Night celebration. Makes me a bit surprised she doesn’t get a moment with the festival’s surprise guest.

*Time for the star of the show! And after what I’m sure was anxious anticipation, Luna finally makes another appearance with a memorable entrance. A carriage pulled by the first bat ponies we’ve seen, and sporting a new design. I can’t remember the thought process behind the change, but I think it looks way cooler.

*Luna may have instantly been turned back to good thanks to the Elements of Harmony, but she’s still having trouble adjusting back into society. Which makes sense given that she’s been gone for 1,000 years, and might explain why we haven’t seen her since she was reformed. Even though the official reason is that Hasbro thought since she used to be a villain, she’d be “too scary” for younger viewers. And then she went on to become the most popular character at the time. Good work Hasbro.

*This is something I really love about Friendship is Magic. When they bring back former villains for future appearances, they take the time to integrate them back into society. And that it takes work. The townspeople are still scared of Luna, and the trouble she has communicating with them is only making things more difficult. Luna’s struggle is summed up kind of perfectly in a line she has after a couple of failed attempts to fit in. “they have never liked us. And they never shall” This line is generally overlooked, but it says so much to me about Luna’s mindset. The whole reason she became Nightmare Moon was because she felt underappreciated and unloved by her people. And in doing so, she only made her relationship with her subjects more difficult. Even when she’s making a genuine effort to win them over.

*This is honestly one of Twilight’s best endeavors. It shows how far she comes and might even one of the first signs of the potential she has to fill her future role. She approaches Luna when the others reject her, and does everything she can to help her fit in.It’s the kind of thing the show would represent many times over in the future. That you should give others a chance when they want to make a genuine effort to be better.

*Luna’s lesson with Fluttershy to help her speak better will never cease ot make me laugh. The timing is perfect and it’s adorable and I love it.

*The fun has been doubled! Still one of Luna’s most iconic lines, and to be fair, unlike some other liens from the show that became meme worthy, this one is really applicable to any situation. I’ve used it.

*Personally there’s a lot of great lines in this one for me. I love the dialogue in this episode.

*Let’s take a second to address Pinkie’s actions. Running away form Nightmare Moon saying she’s going to eat everypony like the legends say. Yes this is one of those Pinkie appearances where her over the top antics only make things worse, but we later see that that was just Pinkie’s way of having fun on Nightmare Night. Because sometimes it’s fun to be scared (like i said before. remember?). Now in the wrong hands, that could have come off as an excuse, but since it leads to the ultimate resolution, I think it’s okay. And i think if she had known it was hurting Luna’s feelings, she would have stopped. Maybe i should be harsher about this, but Pinkie has had far worse appearances in the show.

*So Luna can apparently change back into her form as Nightmare Moon? Interesting....

*This is another great message, and like i said, one the show reinforces as it goes on. That things and situations my seem foreign and scary. But when you take the time to look deeper and offer them a chance at friendship, you can see a whole new side to them. Luna was trying to move on from her past as Nightmare Moon and try to be like everypony else. But it was only when she embraced her title as the Princess of the Night, that she found out why this holiday is so special, an it wouldn’t exist without her. And once the kids accepted her, the townsfolk joined and were pleased to have her be part of the festivities. Luna finally found out how to be loved by her subjects. To fit in while at the same time being herself. And I’m sure that extra layer of sympathy only made Luna more popular to the fans.

This episode is obviously special to me since it was the first one i gave a chance. And while this kind of intricate analysis was not my first thought when I watched it, I thought it was cute and had something going for it. While it would be a couple of weeks after this until I became a full on fan, this certainly peaked my curiosity, and something about it kept me watching. And i am quite grateful for that! Next Time: Sisterhoove Social!

#My Little Pony #MLP Rewatch Marathon!#luna eclipsed #My Little Pony Friendship is Magic Review #analysis #MLP:FiM

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comicteaparty · 5 years

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July 15th-July 21st, 2019 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party week long chat that occurred from July 15th, 2019 to July 21st, 2019. The chat focused on Radioactive Underground by Ezra Rose.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- WEEK LONG BOOK CLUB START!

Hello and welcome everyone to Comic Tea Party’s Week Long Book Club~! This week we’ll be focusing on Radioactive Underground by Ezra Rose~! (https://tapas.io/series/Radioactive-Underground)

You are free to read and comment about the comic all week at your own pace, so stop on by whenever it suits your schedule! Remember, though, that while we allow constructive criticism, our focus is to have fun and appreciate the comic. Below you will find four questions to get you started on the discussion. However, a new question will be posted and pinned everyday (between 12:01AM and 6AM PDT), so keep checking back for more! You have until July 21st to tell us all your wonderful thoughts! With that established, let’s get going on the reading and the chatting!

QUESTION 1. What has been your favorite scene in the comic so far? What specifically did you like about it?

QUESTION 2. What do you think caused Robbie’s scar that is briefly seen? Further, why is Robbie taking medicine? What might all this have to do with Griffin’s particular concern for how Robbie is doing?

ezzy

Wow what a wonderful comic surely who ever made this comic is very smart and also handsome

RebelVampire

QUESTION 3. At the moment, who is your favorite character? What about that character earns them this favor?

QUESTION 4. Which aspect of the world has caught your eye the most so far? Why does it interest you? Also, how do you think it will play a role in how the story unfolds?

RebelVampire

1) my favorite scene is probably the first scene we see robbie at maki's. i liked the little flirty dialogue and then the ultimate payoff with it at the end. like i really felt like i was in robbie's shoes during it cause i wasnt sure if there was chemistry and then the "robbie with an i e " thing really sold it for me. just a great banter setup i can really appreciate. 2) Given the opening scene, I gotta imagine Robbie was fighting monsters or w/e he fights in the underground and took on a challenge he wasnt ready for. And that probably nearly killed him and thus why the scar and medicine. Cause the medicine is probably keeping his heart going or something like that. As for Griffin's concern, Griffin gives off a kind of motherly feel to me despite the aggressive attitude. And it seems she and robbie have a sort of mother-son bond (at least a little bit). and ya know, mom's worry when their sons almost die.

3) my favorite character atm is probably robbie. While this could change as the characters become more familiar, I really just like Robbie's design. It feels edgy and relateable at the same time without being overboard. I also think it super suits his personality. 4) I'm really interested in the underground aspect of the comic. Cause it really doesn't feel like their underground, yet it's clearly a thing. And given robbie's crush isnt from the underground originally, itll be interesting to see how the cultures differ. Since there already seems to be some inequality going on. In terms of the story, I definitely think the underground's probably...status in society is probably a breeding ground for crime. hence robbie's entire life situation.

ezzy

>:3c

RebelVampire

QUESTION 5. What has been your favorite illustration in the comic so far? What specifically about it do you like?

QUESTION 6. Why do you think Yui was supposedly kicked out of the family business, and how do you think she got involved with Griffin? What theories do you have about the rest of Griffin’s crew? Alternatively, who do you most want to learn more about?

RebelVampire

QUESTION 7. Which characters do you enjoy seeing interact the most? What about their dynamic interests you?

QUESTION 8. What do you think the ultimate goal is for Griffin’s group as for why they steal? Is it just for money, or is there some larger picture? Further, what do you think Robbie’s personal investment is in the whole thing?

RebelVampire

5) My fave illustration...s is probably the ones of Griffin on this page. https://tapas.io/episode/1357536 Griffin looks so cool, and something about this up-close shot choices really made me appreciate her really cool, badass design. Instantly won my heart over as a top-contending chara for favorites. 6) Yui sort of strikes me as the type who rebels just to rebel. Like the teen who never got out of the rebellious phase because she's 2kool4skool. And from what we've seen with her relationship with her family, rebelliousness is not well-received. And I can see from her families perspective how it kind of just looks like Yui lazes around and then throws attitude. I don't really have theories about the rest of the crew, although I definitely do want to get to know the completely non-human world. They'd be a great insight into the rest of the non-humans that are in this world.

7) I probably enjoy seeing Robbie and crush chick the most. They've got really cute chemistry that just makes me squee on the inside. And I also hope he continues to be called Robbie with an i e for a while. 8) I think the answer to this question depends on perspective. Most of the crew, like Robbie and Yui, are probably just in it for the money. While I think Griffin is in it for the money, I also think she has a bigger picture idea. Like eventually aiming for the grand jewel and making people super pissed. Or more I should say, she's waiting till they can make the heist of a lifetime and retire on a beach in Hawaii. As for Robbie's personal investment, besides money, he kind of maybe just has nothing better to do? So far my impression of him is hes the type to think hes not good at a lot of stuff besides running and fighting. Thus morals be damned, lets steal things? XD Plus if he needs medicine, hes gotta pay for it somehow. So to summarize, his investment is needs money + belief in lack of job opportunities. I think if something better came along hed be heavily tempted.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 9. What sorts of art or story details have you noticed in the way the comic is crafted that you think deserves attention?

QUESTION 10. Who exactly do you think Griffin is? In other words, what’s Griffin’s backstory and why is Griffin invested in stealing? Further, why do you think Griffin keeps the group at arm’s length and has them drop her off at random locations?

RebelVampire

9) One deal I appreciate is the balance of Griffin's design. Like there's this right blend of human and non-human traits that you could even guess she was a half-breed before anybody even said anything. And being able to get that across immediately visually is really A+ work there. 10) I think Griffin was probably someone a lot like Robbie. Just in the underground, nothing to do, no opportunities, and so she took the easy route of theft. However, I think she was at least once part of a bigger organization (given the connections she has) and that she kind of betrayed them and ditched them. Like I said earlier, I think she's both in it for the money but kind of has some bigger idea picture about retiring in style or something like that. As for keeping the group at arm's length, I actually think it's to protect them. Cause she clearly seems to know dangerous folks who know her and have a bone to pick. So by not letting the others become too notorious, she keeps the heat on her.

ShaRose49

I started this one awhile ago and I thought it was very well-drawn(edited)

ezzy

Thank you i try very hard

RebelVampire

QUESTION 11. What do you think are this particular comic’s strengths? What do you think makes this comic unique? Please elaborate.

QUESTION 12. Why do you think the new girl working at Maki’s has come to the underground? What might it have to do with her relationship with her parents? Further, what role do you think she’ll play in the larger story?

spacerocketbunny

1. Favourite scene is probably the one where everyone is in the diner after the heist! The banter is fun and I like how the characters interact. Yui and Robbie are great, they act like siblings who can't stand each other but of course cover each other's asses if they get in trouble. Also the moment when Robbie meets Sky, she asks his name so she can label his food but then he asks for her name and she pauses like "why are you asking the server's name lol" 3. Ummmm Griffin because she's a mysterious babe?? Love me a stoic lady with questionable motives ;)) also Sky is so sweet, I love that she's an artist! 4. Love the demons and other folks that are integrated into the world, it's a lot of fun! I hope there'll be more interesting people to see :)

5. The latest pages with Griffin on the phone look great, great colours, nice backgrounds, I like how the colours are starting to become more dynamic! 6. Mmmm my guess is that she's a bit messy and callous and probably messed something up in the family business. Too early to make any hard speculation but if anything I think it was Yui's fault probably... I want to see more of what these heists are for, and how their group operates. I'd like to see more on Griffin and her origin since it was pointed out that she was a %100 human (I'm assuming the other half is demon?) 7. Right now Yui and Robbie because of the bickering they do, but now that I've seen Sky blush after interacting with Griffin I'm

9. I like the style of the comic, it's angular and sharp and I like the character designs! I feel like the comic's aesthetic and mood is still being realized but it's progressing with each page and I can't wait to see how it develops further! 11. Like previously mentioned I think the style is definitely a strength, it's fun and offbeat and I like that it's one that I'm not seeing in the comic scene right now. The character interaction is great too, even as early as it is I'm already invested in these characters and I want to know more about them, they're a fun lot and they all play off each other in a great way. I'm interested to see where this comic goes and how it'll develop, I'll definitely be checking back for updates

RebelVampire

QUESTION 13. What are you most looking forward to in the comic? Also, do you have any final thoughts to share overall?

QUESTION 14. Who do you think Solomon Reiki is, and what does they want with Griffin? What does this have to do with the guard who Griffin fought during the heist? What could this mean for Robbie and the rest of the crew?

RebelVampire

11) I think the comic's strength are definitely the character designs. There's a lot of personality packed into them. Not just the main characters we've seen so far but even the side characters as well. It makes for a really dynamic setting and cast that immediately catches your eye. Somehoe all the designs also really suit the tone of the story as well. 12) I feel there definitely has to have been a falling out with her parents. And she fled to the one place where she thought they would never look for her or something. Given she seems somehow hardcore herself, I could totally see her joining the crew and going on thieving adventures. Or at the very least being an informant of some sort. 13) I'm looking forward to learning more about the rest of the crew and seeing how they all play off each other. Cause that will definitely have a big impact in terms of how the heists go. 14) Given my previous theories, I think Solomon Reiki was Griffin's old boss who is super pissed at Griffin's betrayal of leaving. But until recently they havent been able to find Griffin so hence the guard. Heard some rumors and sent the guard to confirm whether its the traitor or not. Of course, this probably gonna put the rest of the crew square in sights and get them unwanted attention from bigger criminals or something like that.

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- WEEK LONG BOOK CLUB END!

Thank you everyone so much for reading and chatting about Radioactive Underground this week! Please also give a special thank you to Ezra Rose for volunteering the comic and creating it! If you liked Radioactive Underground, make sure to continue to support it via some of the links below!

Read and Comment: https://tapas.io/series/Radioactive-Underground

Ezra’s Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ezrarose

Ezra’s Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/ezzymourao

Ezra’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/SuperSonicSoda_

#ctparchive #comics #webcomics #indie comics #comic chat #comic discussion #book club #bookclub #webcomic book club #webcomic bookclub #comic tea party #ctp #radioactive underground #ezra rose

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