#if your characters have to act way dumber than they are in order to get an emotional moment | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

baltears · 8 months

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starting to realize that one reason not everyone reads you the same way and some people think it's a dramatically dumber show than it is is bc not everyone is aware of how precise the writers were in creating joe's pathology and the amount of verisimilitude in the writing around his extreme trauma and the resultant extreme behaviors.

joe acts the way that he does because part of him (the inner child) sincerely, very deeply craves love and connection, but bc he grew up in an extremely high stakes survival situation – & never really experienced a life away from his multiple sources of simultaneous extreme threat* and longed-for crumbs of affection & validation & emotional comfort before reaching adulthood – he quite literally cannot help recreating that same completely insane level of high stakes in his own life because that is still how his nervous system is wired. he is too internally fragile to feel like he can withstand true inner scrutiny, the type required for deep recovery from trauma. this part is also hard to explain to people who dont have this type of trauma, there's this very pervasive terror that certain things will just somehow annihilate you and swallow you up, such as looking too closely at your feelings, or someone else seeing who you are deep down and rejecting you.

so when joe fixates on someone he has fantasized will save him,** he feels the need to stalk and gather information in order to craft this perfect, completely fabricated self that he knows will not be rejected the way he thinks his real self automatically would be, bc deep level rejection also = annihilation. and because his mom (and i'm not trying to be harsh here, she is also a victim and a survivor, just being real) failed in her handling of the situation with his dad and further failed in her handling of joe killing him, child joe forms this impression in his brain and nervous system that "situations that i am involved in can unpredictably escalate to extreme violence", and "extreme threat to my feelings/emotional self also goes along with extreme threat to my physical body and life". this impression never changes. he never unlearned this. so what he ends up doing is unconsciously creating circumstances where this will happen because it is familiar &he never really learned how to function in situations where the threat level is "normal". when he gets rejected or the threat of abandonment comes up or anything else goes wrong, he immediately internally escalates to maximum threat response and is prepared to resort to extreme violence in order to 'protect' himself and/or a woman or a child. i just feel it's worth noting that the vast majority of human interactions do not and would not escalate unpredictably to extreme violence, and the reason it keeps happening around joe is because he (again, unconsciously- this is a nervous system level response) either creates it himself or seeks out environments where this level of dysfunction is the norm. btw the patriarchal obsession with protecting women comes from a combination of misogyny + a deep mostly unconscious need to justify killing his dad to protect his mom because his entire self worth hinges on whether that would make him a bad person who deserves to die.***

he manipulates others as a survival tactic by mirroring them and saying what he can usually tell they want to hear, but actually does it so constantly and compulsively that it becomes maladaptive and frequently hurts the social impression he gives (how many times did other characters call him out for being a weird phony?). he compulsively narrativizes himself and his life in bizarre, binaristic, fictional trope-based ways because he coped so hard with books when he was locked in a cage as a kid & had to tell himself stories about what was going on around him and what it meant in order to feel like his existence could withstand his circumstances. i could go on. my point is that i think joe is in a lot of ways actually a very accurate intelligently written and sensitive portrayal of a cptsd victim. like frankly i personally just don't want to have the conversation anymore about whether we're allowed to relate to joe because he does the memey relatable narrator thing and is a white man, those things are not why i find him relatable. yes the "commentary on protagonist status being automatically applied to white men", "commentary on patriarchal norms and how women are de-voiced / objectified and treated as disposable", the genre deconstruction stuff, the topical stuff, the memey stuff, are all vital parts of the show as well and deliver some extremely cogent points and an entertaining viewing experience but what im getting at is this cake has layers. love is also an amazingly written character for very similar reasons and i love all the pov stuff with her in season 3. ok signing off now

*in the case of neglect and abandonment from his mom, which has life or death level stakes for a child, and physical abuse and extreme psychological terrorism from mooney

**i want to briefly draw attention here to the fact that healing fantasies are a vital survival tactic for kids in traumatizing situations, although they can become maladaptive into adulthood – there is a misogynistic flavor to joe's because he is a misogynist deep down, but my point is that the healing fantasy is used to avoid total despair/annihilation in the midst of the extreme pain of trauma. most of the other traumatized characters in the show also display signs of coping with a healing fantasy, and the reason joe is so good at manipulating fellow traumatized people is because he recognizes on an unconscious level how to create the image of a healing fantasy that they will be vulnerable to.

***so, again, life or death level emotional need to uphold this belief system, as we saw in s4 when he hit a point of no longer being able to justify any of his behaviors and very rapidly reached a decision to attempt suicide.

#fyi this is a living document because it is frankensteined together out of the various pieces i remember writing last night #before tumblr threw my painstakingly word-vomited first draft of this post off a cliff. so you may notice me making more edits #you #you series #joe goldberg

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calaisreno · 2 years

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Be humble, be nice

My little rant on not being a dick.

I used to belong to an online writing community (NOT Ao3). I left after two years.

There were many helpful people there. We read each other's stories, and I got both valuable perspective and practical advice.

There were also not-so-helpful aspects to the experience. Some writers expected critiquers to edit their story, didn't bother to spell-check their work or use punctuation, and wondered why no one wanted to read their story.

Because you had to critique stories in order to post your own work, some writers gave standard advice about adverbs and other "rules" of writing that don't need to be rigidly enforced. Unenthusiastic, dull, cookie-cutter advice.

The thing that finally made me leave, though, was a conversation in one of the forums. Someone was complaining about "bad writing." Writers who don't know basic stuff, write cliche characters and plots, lack imagination, etc.

One comment: "I don't think that you are doing a person a favour by telling him or her they have talent, but...... Why not tell them outright they would be better off doing something else?"

Another comment: "Some people are dreadfully incapable of creative thought - the pretentious horrible stories of nightmares. Others are incapable of improving, they stagnate and never try for better. Some people are unaware that they need to improve."

In other words, there were people who felt it was their responsibility to tell other people to stop writing, that it was a waste of effort, and that they shouldn't bother spending their time writing because they were never going to be any good at it.

To be fair, it wasn't the kind of writing community where everyone was just writing for fun. These were people who wanted to make a living writing. Many were willing to help new writers. But some of them didn't like "wasting time" helping people who seemed beyond hope.

So maybe it wasn't a good fit for me. I only want to write the stories I imagine, hope they don't suck and that a few people will like them. If they do suck, well, just move along, dear reader. Read something else. I don't mind.

Good advice often hurts. That's something we all have to learn if we want to improve-- at anything.

But there is a difference between hurting to help (when asked) and hurting just because.

If you tell me you didn't like my story because you didn't understand why Character A said blahblah to Character B or because my point of view was all over the place, that is advice I can use to write better.

But if you tell me you just hate stories where characters act that way or stories that end that way, or you think Character A was racist/sexist/homophobic and nobody should write a story where characters act that way-- go read another story.

There were also some really good people in that community who were talented writers. Kind, generous people who taught me a lot. One comment on that thread was right on:

"Look: there's a stage you go through (as a writer). You become so convinced of your merit as an artiste that you feel you are in a position to utterly dismiss the vast swathe of scum that collects at your toenails. "When you're in that stage, you're simply wrong. And what is worse, your writing is terrible. It's probably not execrable but it's nowhere near where it needs to be. "While you spend energy on and devour succor from the idea that "other people are lesser than I", you fail to get on with your proper job, which is sorting out your own material. "So take your ego trip and cram it up thy behind. There's always more to learn -- and there are always dumber people learning it more quickly than you."

Sort out yourself. Be humble, be nice. Encourage art and artists. ❤️

#encourage art #criticism #fan art #be humble

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daisyachain · 1 year

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wrt Yaoi Lesbians the key dynamics of the classic slash ship are a) inadmissibility of any genuine feelings by/between men, let alone romantic ones, b) strong, plot-driving feelings by/between men because women aren’t allowed to be people and thus can’t meaningfully participate in relationships, c) necessity of doing both at the same time; communicating the strength and meaning of m-m relationships to shore up plot holes while never saying outright that they like each other. Essentially: the slash classic is predicated on show-don’t-tell relationships taken to the extreme. What makes them resonate is the idea that even a moment of normal camaraderie (eg going out for drinks together) is a dangerously emotional and subversive move.

So, in order to create f/f slash (as opposed to femslash), you need women who have strong, plot-driving relationships and nuanced characters. That’s the Bechdel portion of it. Most people get this far. Fine.

What a lot of series miss is that you need some sort of structure in the story needs to make emotional honesty between those women taboo in the same way that toxic masculinity does. You need to have pressure on the characters that will break the immersion if one of them says ‘you don’t look bad’ to the other. The nature of homophobia and misogyny is that they’re one and the same in a lot of places. Male characters can’t have any emotional attachment to other male characters because emotions are feminine and it’s gay to have emotions. Female characters, on the other hand, have no ceiling on how close they can be to other female characters and have it read as not gay, because emotions are feminine and any emotions between female characters are just kind of a natural woman tendency rather than intentional acts, and thus have no meaning.

To achieve the level of tension between f/f pairings you’ve then got to have not only the taboo of your standard non-f/m relationship, you’ve got to create some sort of barrier to all friendly interactions.

Different successful variants go about it in different ways. X-Men comics use superhero angst to stand in. Illyana fears her eeeeevil nature and that prevents her from actually pursuing Kitty. The Expanse (TV) manages it by keeping its women on opposite sites of geopolitics rivalries. Nagata and Drummer will never be able to reconcile their moderate/radical divide, Draper and Avasarala’s banter is kept bro-y by their refusal to actually like an Earther/Martian. Jolyne and Hermes’ dynamic manages to replicate the classic slash arrangement because you get the impression that they’re too preoccupied with punching the monster of the week to be spending time ruminating over their relationship. In order to get better femslash dynamics we need to have louder, dumber, more brooding, and more stubborn female characters.

#kelsey rambles #arcane is sort of on the fence because they do have a compelling f/f subtextual romance but that’s explicitly coded #it’s an intentionally built romantic arc. does it take some cues from the slash dynamics of reluctant-buddy-cop-team-up? yes.#but for a woman’s sasunaru you need to know that it’s neeeever gonna happen

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imthepunchlord · 3 years

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Do you have any thoughts on how the guardian role is handled lore wise? Would you change much about being the guardian?

Oh yes I do and there's so much that I would change up.

The more we see of the Guardians, the dumber they are and the more pointless they are. To a point it's a wonder if they were worth the inclusion as they don't amount to much and are just useless. I'm putting this undercut as I just go off.

- Lore wise, they set it up that adults are naturally more powerful, so why did Fu pick two kids to fight his battles for him? Why not adults? Why did he leave them on their own instead of offering them some means to have an edge over HM?

- Of the Ladybug and Cat, we have yet to see anything unique that the Cat brings to these fights that the other 15 miraculi that Fu has with him couldn't do. You need a distraction that's going to mess up the akuma? Monkey and Fox. You need a protector/aggressor? Bee, Turtle, or Dragon. Ladybug is a must as its the only cleanser so far and has ML to boot, but Cat doesn't need to be out there, and as soon as HM had quite publicly stated that he wants LB and Cat, Fu should've reclaimed the Cat immediately to secure its safety and that HM won't get both. Another or two could go out to replace it.

- Why was picking Adrien a good idea? If Fu had just arrived in Paris, ok, but Backwarder reveals he's been living in Paris for a while. And with that, he's seen Adrien's face everywhere.s Adrien is potentially the most well known kid in Pari. Technically, for Fu's want of secrecy, why pick the most iconic face in Paris to get a miraculous? That sets up one of your heroes to always have attention on him. Fu picking Adrien doesn't make any logical sense.

- Why is Fu ok with endangering one kid but not the other? Why does Marinette get a test set up that risks her life and Fu's if it hadn't gone well and Adrien just helps an old man up, a common decency that most would do. It's like two extreme differences that don't work well in comparison as Marinette gets the risky test and Adrien it looks like he got his miraculous on a silver platter as he got the far easier one that takes the least effort to be a decent human being.

- Fu being a terrible mentor and hero picker in general and the whole shebang with Syren. If Adrien is not meeting his standards or if he doesn't trust Adrien at all, why is Adrien being allowed to continue as a hero? Or if he really wants Adrien to stay, why isn't he doing anything about Adrien? Why isn't he telling Plagg to encourage Adrien to step up and get serious? If he can take on the role of being Adrien's Chinese teacher, why not do that to try and guide Adrien to improvement so he can also be trusted with Guardian secrets too and truly help Marinette out. He's got two options when he doesn't trust Adrien or finds that he's meeting his standards: he takes the miraculous back or he addresses this issue himself.

- I also call big BS about him not doing anything at all when he comes upon Adrien detransformed on the roof with Plagg. Cause he's risking himself going out to find Chat Noir only to find him detransformed. That realistically should raise some brows and concern him. Adrien at least should've gotten a lecture or warning.

- Also the reveal that kwamis aren't allowed to know about their own power. that to me is off putting. It really stresses that kwamis are beneath them, these very ancient and powerful beings that have probably seen a lot. And canon validates it by making them children (which to me is the writers being lazy so they don't have to do complex characters).

- The whole thing with Fu's backstory. Dumbest backstory I've ever heard and it just paints Guardians in a really bad light, and by extension, real life monks. Monks didn't go to people's homes to take children. If they did take kids with them, those kids had nowhere else to go and offered them a place to stay until old enough to be on their own. And that test, omg, wtf. Ok, I can get the idea of a test of temptation, but there are other ways to perform it without starving a kid. Especially leaving said kid alone unsupervised with 19 powerful miraculi two of which have wish granting abilities. How would the Guardians even know if Fu used a miraculous as they left him alone with mriaculi. If Fu wanted to, he could've made a wish to never be picked.

- Fu didn't even do shit when he finally had a chance to face off against HM. He just sat in his damb ball and allowed himself to get knocked around. At least try and roll over him! Be a ping-pong ball! DO SOMETHING. Like, why did you even pick Turtle??? Turtle wasn't able to do anything against Butterfly! I thought it could as Fu had been ready to go in Origins, plus the 5 are based off Wu Xing, by set up, Fox and Turtle should have some sort of an edge over the Butterfly. But I guess that means there could be other options aside form LB and we can't have that, Marinette's miraculous needs to be the only thing to take on the Butterfly to really stress on the fact that it comes down to only her.

- The memory wipe thing that's an apparently must when you retire from being the Guardian. Honestly I think that should've been saved as a last resort if you're ever captured and could be forced to leak info, not when you retire. Doing so removes a valid source of advisement that a new Guardian can rely on. History is there to learn from it and this tradition removes a source of history to learn from, either from having guidance or seeing what the old did and how you want to change things. This also makes me concerned as I see Adrien taking advantage of an amnesiac Marinette.

- I went off about the NY Special revealing there's more Orders here.

- And lastly, Su-Han, the other Guardian to see aside from Fu. And with him, it solidifies how stupid they all are. When the Butterfly is being misused in Paris, why is someone aggressive and judgmental coming to Paris? Why is this guy even working with kids when he doesn't like kids? And the reveal that Guardians don't use miraculi at all. That just makes that test all the dumber with testers being unsupervised. And for Guardians not meant to use miraculi, how come Marinette gets a nice perk as LB that she can pull a miraculous out of her yo-yo? They're probably playing that she's "the first" to do so but realistically, I'm pressing x to doubt. In the long history of miraculi and when Guardians were around, you expect me to believe that Guardians never used miraculi themselves? What if there was no one to turn to, do they just the disaster happen? ...Well, based on how terrible canon is setting them up, I wouldn't be surprised.

SO.

There is a lot I would change up about the Guardians and for this, I'll adjust canon.

- Adrien gets the ring another way, maybe a gift from his mom or aunt or grandparents. Realistically, there's no logical reason for Fu to pick Adrien. He just has too much attention on him and Chat being an unexpected miraculous user can make him wary, adding to him only trusting Marinette.

- I'd have Fu be more present in Marinette's life, a customer who comes in a lot. This way he can offer advise when needed but not take away from Tikki. And this has him more closely keeping an eye on things.

- I'd change up Fu's backstory. He got separated from his family in a flood, the previous Turtle saved him, tried to help him find his family and with no luck, took him to the Temple, but only the section where other orphans are where they work to help take care of it, oblivious to the miraculous near them. After a year, Fu is one of the few selected to be entrusted with miraculous knowledge. He's surprised but not all that for it as he'd rather go find his family still. Idk how Temple falls but its not that. That was just dumb and avoidable.

- I wouldn't have Adrien meet Fu at all. In truth, it actually could've been cut out entirely as Adrien meeting Fu didn't amount to anything. He doesn't help with Guardian duties, doesn't help pick heroes, hasn't stepped up at all in his role as a partner. And he's not as torn up about Fu's loss as Marinette is. Adrien meeting Fu was pointless in the grand scheme of things. Nothing was progressed or changed from Adrien meeting Fu.

- I'd have HM ONLY getting an edge on Fu because Mayura was there to help him, catching Fu off guard. I want to see the Turtle truly in action, to see what else it can do cause sitting there to be smacked around was just unimpressive. And if Asstruck even did as much research as he could, he'd know that in Chinese mythology, the Turtle is a boss. It's the keeper of history and symbol of immortality, and it's up there with Tiger as an animal that can go toe to toe with the Dragon. And of the Four Symbols (associated with 4 seasons), the Black Turtle is also known as the Black Warrior. There should've been a lot more to Turtle than just sitting in your shell and allowing yourself to be knocked around.

- Su-Han I'd drastically change up. I'd keep in him being critical and stern, but he approaches things smartly and patiently. Before he dives into aggression and accusations, he wants to know what's going on. Why does this 14 yo have the Miracle Box? How was the Butterfly obtained and misused? And what the hell is going on??? How are these people so small and how did they get into this thin glass box?? Computer? What's a computer??? Essentially, have fun with the fact that Su-Han is essentially a time traveler and one great bonding experience to have with Marinette while also offering some good comedy is him learning about the modern time and her acting as his guide. Su-Han can give her guidance that Fu hadn't been able to give, and Marinette can offer her own in a way that Su-Han will need. Which by extension could remove Marinette having a near mental breaking point and revealing herself to Alya, and could avoid some of that drama of what's coming.

- Speaking of which, Adrien. I'd use Su-Han to finally address the issues with Adrien as a hero and partner. Su-Han prioritized Marinette as she has the Miracle Box, but Adrien is someone he'd take the miraculous away from. Adrien would get a very clear warning and call out for his actions and role.

#ask Punchie #long post #Adrien salt #Fu salt #Guardian salt

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darkpoisonouslove · 3 years

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Hi, can you please do Bloom and Icy 1,3,7,9,12,13,14,19,20,25,28,29,30?

1. Who is the most affectionate?

Bloom. Icy likes it but initiating it will take a little longer. Especially since she is still trying to pretend affection disgusts her to keep her reputation of a heartless witch intact. It is totally not working because she is weak for Bloom but it will take her some time to admit it out loud even though she is totally aware of it.

3. Most common argument?

Who is hotter. Totally initiated by their friends (aka Stella and Darcy), totally not serious... until it becomes serious. The fun thing is that they’ve argued it different ways - sometimes insisting that the other is hotter, sometimes insisting that they are the hotter one. It totally depends on how the others will set it up for them. They haven’t seriously fought over it, though. Bloom can make Icy melt at any moment and Icy has all the icebreakers to fix any potential drama situation. (I am not sorry for any of this XD)

7. What’s the first thing that changes when they realize they have feelings for the other?

Icy starts looking for ways to end the confrontations between them without having to kill Bloom. It majorly pisses her off because a) it’s getting in the way of her plans and b) she has to make herself look progressively dumber and more incompetent because Winx seem to lose brain cells as time goes on and pull increasingly dumb stunts. She is sure anyone with half a brain would have figured out that she is doing it on purpose but Winx are too busy fighting them to figure it out and Bloom is super dense about it (probably because she’s in denial).

Bloom finds herself no longer on Diaspro whenever she shows up. Instead of being jealous, Bloom finds herself drifting into musings about what would have happened if it had actually been Icy in disguise instead of Diaspro. Somehow all those scenarios end up with her and Icy experiencing some major sexual tension (in that fight and any other) and they end up kissing and more aggressively. She doesn’t even feel guilty because Sky was lying to her anyway. She just can’t comprehend why Icy of all people and that is why she denies having feelings for her even though she knows it deep down.

9. Who worries the most?

Icy worries more actually. Both about being “good” enough for Bloom and also for Bloom’s safety. Basically, she may love her and respect her as the keeper of the Dragon Fire and a powerful magical user but she still views Bloom and Winx as a bunch of dumbasses who totally get mixed up in the biggest trouble you can find in the universe. Bloom also thinks that Icy gets mixed up into a lot of shit but she is confident that Icy can handle it. She is also a bit scandalized to learn that Icy does not fully return that confidence when it comes to Bloom’s ability to get out of sticky situations (mostly because half the time the only reason Winx survived against the Trix was because Icy didn’t want to actually kill Bloom).

12. Who initiates kisses?

Icy. She likes kissing Bloom and she looks for no excuses to do it. She just goes for it. She doesn’t need a reason to kiss the life out of her girlfriend. She doesn’t care that she is contradicting her proclamations of disliking affection.

13. Who reaches for the other’s hand first?

Bloom. She likes just holding on to Icy, maybe cuddling into her and smooching her, too, or running her free hand through Icy’s hair. Icy claims it is counterproductive. Somehow you’ll never see her letting go of Bloom’s hand, though. She actually starts reaching for Bloom herself as she gets more comfortable with PDAs (and any displays of affection at all).

14. Who kisses the hardest?

Icy. Bloom was not prepared. She is a puddle for Icy the moment she gets devoured with a kiss and Icy loves every moment of it. They both do.

19. Who tells their family/friends about their relationship first?

Definitely Icy. Although it is more of a they already knew kind of situation. Stormy and Darcy had noticed the change in her and they figured out what was going on.

20. What do their family/friends think of their relationship?

Darcy and Stormy are okay with it. They don’t exactly have that big reactions. They might be kinda salty because Winx were the reason why they ended up in jail several times but they’re happy if Icy is. Winx aren’t all that sold on it, though, considering all the times the Trix almost killed them. They come around eventually, some faster than others (surprisingly, it took Flora a big time because the Trix nearly killed Miele) but they do believe in people being able to change and be better so they are happy once they are sure that Bloom is having a good relationship that makes her happy. Mike and Vanessa need some time to get used to it as well because the Trix also nearly killed them. And Marion and Oritel aren’t thrilled about the Trix being descendants of the Ancestral Witches and having attempted to murder Bloom and her friends more than once. But they actually come around faster (well, Marion does, and she has to stop Oritel from meddling) because they don’t feel like they have that much authority in Bloom’s life. So really, it is Mike and Vanessa that Icy has to win over. She does understand why they’re wary of her and is even surprised that they’re giving her a chance at all. So she does her best to be the best for Bloom and they slowly warm up to the idea of her being Bloom’s one and only.

25. Who needs more assurance?

Bloom. She has many insecurities about never fitting in and she actually feels more uncertain about why Icy likes her. Icy is pretty certain in Bloom’s feelings about her because given what they’ve been through and what she’s caused Bloom and her friends, Bloom must really like her in order to even consider being with her. She is actually glad that she can provide reassurance for Bloom, though, and be there for her now to make up for what she’s done in the past.

28. What do they do when they’re away from each other?

Icy will totally get into more trouble than she would if Bloom were around. It’s not that she can’t control herself but she sometimes misses her more villainous moments. Bloom knows about that and pretends she doesn’t see when Icy is being more of a bitch than she needs to be. So Icy isn’t lying to Bloom about anything. She just knows it will be better for both of them if Bloom can pretend to be completely clueless about Icy’s misdeeds. She also chills with Darcy and Stormy, though. Or... well, they’re chilling like villains but you know. She’s chilled with Winx a couple times as well and that went better than she thought it would. Stella was a little annoying but they actually had a good time shopping together? Who would’ve thought. She’s also sparred with Musa and Layla and it was fun. She’ll deny it, though.

Bloom draws a lot. She likes making surprise drawings for Icy and of Icy. She also hangs out with Stella a lot. The other Winx as well but mostly with Stella. She’s had several outings with Darcy and Stormy and that went... decently. They found some things in common but there was also some awkwardness. Darcy and Stormy had a hard time opening up to her to which she totally related. So that kind of acted like a bridge. They were mostly learning to get along without Icy being there and it got better with time. They can have a pleasant meeting just the three of them now.

29. one headcanon about this OTP that breaks your heart

Icy has a hard time around Daphne because she feels bad for what Daphne (and therefore Bloom) had to go through because of the Ancestral Witches but she can’t help but be salty about Daphne being resurrected and getting to live while Sapphire is still cursed (if we take a better version of canon where the fact that she had a sister did not come out of the blue). Same for Domino vs Dyamond. She finds it hardest to interact with Daphne, however, because of Daphne’s character. The calmness and sort of wisdom that Daphne has kinda grates on her nerves. It breaks Bloom’s heart a little that her sister and her wife (oh, yeah) can’t get along (Daphne is not all that thrilled about Icy either).

30. one headcanon about this OTP that mends it

Bloom makes a necklace herself (with a little help from Hagen) that contains a spark of the Dragon Fire (like Oritel’s sword) and give it to Icy to both show her that she trusts her and share with her everything that is hers - not just her love, but her magic and life as well. It might have been a proposal without actually being one. Icy has to work very hard on learning to contain the tears every time she looks at the necklace in order to actually be able to wear it. It boosts her powers and makes her and Bloom a formidable team and arguably the strongest partnership in the whole universe.

#winx club #winx bloom #winx icy #bloom x icy #blicy #winx headcanons #ask #frye7

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toutallyahoe · 4 years

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Hey, it me, a dumb sleeby bitch. I know you're not taking requests. So I'm gonna leave this at your doorstep and if you ever want to do it, go for it. No pressure. But pls if you ever have time and motivation, could you give me some cute sleepy headcanons for any of our very good cowboys? Thanks in advance and I love you and everything you do. You're amazing.

i would literally write a fucking book for you-- i have told you this so many already asdfghjkl

but ya want some of the good boahs and some cute sleepy headcanons? BOI I AM IN!

also, before i continue-- CALL YERSELF DUMB BITCH AGAIN AND I WILL gently KICK YER ASS and hug you to death because ya ain't dumb or else i am more dumber than a fucking rock you sweet, talented smort, beautiful fecker!

AND ANOTHER THING !!! *sobs* HOW CAN YE DO THIS TO ME?!? SHOOTING ME WITH A SURPRISE COMPLIMENT-- ACK ME HEART! I FEEL M U S H ASDFGHJKKLXNBSOHD

okay, i calmed down now... onto the headcanons! btw, multiple characters because ya didn't specify who you want in this headcanon and because i knew yer beautiful ass would like more than one boah

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Arthur Morgan

• first off, best boah right here

• second off, this bitch won't admit he is sleepy even if his life depends on it

• is it pride???

• probably...

• definitely

• i dont know, i see Arthur as one to not really say anything he feels because he doesn't want to be a bother or thinks he'll be a dead weight

• because life as an outlaw? it ain't really the best life

• so, when there are jobs that takes a few days and he volunteers to take watch, Arthur won't admit he is tired and would continue on be on guard no matter how many times he is asked to get his ass some rest

• it'll be a pain in the ass if you aren't patient enough or very worried about him

• because knowing Arthur, he'll just suck it up

• so, if he is sleepy, his [Name] is on his ass immediately

• "you need rest"

• "don't need nothin"

• he IS stubborn as fuck

• and also incredibly more sassier when he is sleepy

• it honestly sometimes annoy [Name]

• "Arthur, you look like you're goin to pass out-- jesus christ! just rest already!"

• Arthur is too stubborn for his own good

• and it sometimes lead to some arguments really

• but [Name] will be the first to give up when he just sees Arthur and sighs

• [Name] will sit by his side and just talk about stuff

• trying to make Arthur relax and at ease

• he'll be sassy at first but will ease up and comment genuinely

• Arthur will then unconsciously place his head on his [Name]'s shoulder as the [Hair color] haired man's voice drowns his thoughts with stories of the past (either his or [Name]'s past)

• before you know it, Arthur "sleep is for the dead" Morgan is fucking asleep

• [Name] notices how quiet Arthur and will turn his head to see the outlaw asleep

• [Name] just smiles at Arthur and place his head on Arthur's and let a content sigh as he close his eyes

• they'll be fine sleeping for a bit

John Marston

• best greasy dumbass raccoon looking ass bitch

• but-- ahem

• like Arthur, John will be stubborn at first

• it's pride and John doesn't want to get babied really

• he already gets that enough from the rest of the gang since he is a real life predatory bait and gets mauled by a lot of animals

• honestly, this man has the shittiest luck

• but also lucky in some way...?

• but yeah... ANYWAYS

• when John gets tired, he is functioning with no braincells (like he doesn't already)

• [Name] is honestly tired with it

• just fucking glaring the shit outta that greasy raccoon boi

• then maybe...just maybe, you can get him to rest his greasy ass

• John will be a bit of a whiny bitch to be honest

• like, he'll whine he ain't sleepy

• but as if it was on cue, he'll yawn

• John looking a bit embarrassed and [Name] looking at him with that "really?" look

• [Name] ain't dealing with yer bullshit raccoon boi

• i can definitely see [Name] restraining John from running away and carry the guy to his tent and slam his in the cot and glare and order John to stay and sleep like a damn dog

• John would be honestly pissed because DAMN IT [NAME]! YA HAVE TO DO THAT IN FRONT OF EVERYONE?!? ARTHUR AND SEAN AIN'T GOING TO LIVE THIS DOWN (because those two are bastards... lovable bastards though asdfgghjkl)

• but also turned on but pfft-- he won't admit that

• but yeah, [Name] just sitting on the side of his bed and will not leave until he makes sure John rest

• "you ain't leavin, are you?"

• "i aint leavin till i see yer ass sleep, Marston"

• yikes, getting called his by his last name? usually his [Name] does that when he is annoyed or angry at time

• that when John know he ain't getting out of this

• "aight... fine! i'll sleep! happy?"

• "very"

• to be honest, John feels happy when [Name] does that

• it's because this is how his [Name]'s care for him and it is sweet

• a bit annoying but sweet

• John sleeps and [Name] softly sighs and place a soft kiss on John's forehead and leaves the tent to do his work

Leonard "Lenny" Summers

• pure child

• pure child who can never do anything wrong

• just, this fucking boah is pure child who can never do anything wrong and y'all can fight me is ya say he aint

• ANYWAYS

• Lenny is adorable when he is sleepy

• just utterly adorable as fuck and his [Name] just smiles at how cute he is

• like, Lenny is reading a book under a tree and the day was just a lovely day despite it being so fucking boring

• Lenny planned to read but as the calm breeze pass by him, it didn't take long for Lenny to be yawning and his eyelids dropping but the young man is trying so hard to fight the sleep off and stay awake

• honestly, [Name] saw Lenny sleepy but being too stubborn to admit defeat with sleep will try to stay awake

• [Name] is just amused by it and found it adorable

• always adorable with Lenny

• but anyways, Lenny would be one of the submissive out of everyone if you ask him to go to sleep when he is tired

• will literally not fight back on it because his mind shuts down from the sleepiness

• honestly? will act like a baby

• because he is a baby and [Name] loves him so much and spoils him

• "come on Lenny, let's get ya to yer cot"

• "hmmm, [Name]? can you carry me there... please?"

• just adorable akdbjqjdjsjfjjsjd

• me baby

• aNYWAYS

• Lenny is just a good boah

• like, he gives up rather quickly because he knew his [Name] is looking out for him and besides, if he says yes? he gets cuddles

• so yeah, that's good for him

• Lenny gets warm cuddles and sleeps well in the arms of his [Name] who holds him very close and just being soft boahs

Sean MacGuire

• loud and dumb irish bastard who stole me heart

• i adore him asdfghjkl

• but ON TO THE HEADCANONS

• Sean is a whiny loud ass bitch when he is sleepy

• he acts like he seems drunk

• and it is both hilarious and tiresome for [Name] because he is the one dealing with this shit

• i can see Sean just clinging to his [Name] and yelling on the top of his lungs on how tired he was

• and his [Name] rubbing his temple and tell Sean to get to bed then

• "[Name]! there ye are ye beautiful fecker! i have been looking all over fer ye"

• "and why is that?"

• "i'm sleepyyy"

• "then rest Sean"

• "but i dont want to!"

• honestly acts like a kid

• a loud ass bratty kid...

• it's not even cute

• kinda

• okay, [Name] finds it adorable but he ain't telling no one shit because he already suffers from a sleepy Sean who acts like a drunk toddler

• he doesn't want to deal with everyone teasing him on being soft with his drunk toddler lover

• but yeah

• like John, i can definitely see [Name] try to restrain this dumb bastard

• probably had to hoagtie Sean if i had to be honest

• which may or may not have the sleepy minded Sean blurt out something that made [Name] exasperatedly sigh and a bit flustered

• because-- goD DAMN IT SEAN! stop being a thirsting bastard for a bit and get some sleep?!?

• "Sean, keep this up and I'm goin to hoagtie you..."

• "that's a bit kinky [Name]-- but yer boy is always happy to please ye--"

• "oh my lords-- Sean!"

Charles Smith

• stronk hunt boah

• he is just so beautiful-- im gonna cry asdfgghjkl

• bUT ANYWAYS

• Charles won't admit it outloud when he is sleepy

• he is usually reserved and quiet anyways so his [Name] has to pick up some signals when Charles is sleepy

• but Charles won't be so stubborn about it though

• like, he is kinda like Lenny, a bit submissive and giving in on his [Name]'s words if the man tells him to sleep

• well, if [Name] finds out he is sleepy that is

• when this boah is sleepy, he usually sits in a somewhere in a shade and looks at the sky

• preferably under a tree and away from camp for a bit because honestly, the camp is just too noisy at times

• so yeah

• [Name] will notice him not doing anything and just cloud watching and will sit by him

• Charles would send him a small smile and a nod

• the two would just be quiet and after sometime, Charles would lay his head on [Name]'s lap as the [Hair color] haired man braids his hair and then undoing it again, repeatedly doing the action for a bit

• it honestly soothes Charles a lot

• just his [Name] playing with his hair which he is the only who can

• it was nice and with him already be sleepy, Charles would be lull to sleep

• and with that, Cahrles is softly snoring in his [Name]'s lap as the [Hair color] haired man undoes the braid again and then look at Charles' sleeping face fondly then look at the view in front of him with a gentle smile

• it doesn't take long for [Name] to sleep too with that

Javier Escuella

• a man after me own heart

• honestly, this man is just gorgeous asdfghjkl

• BUT BACK TO HEADCANONS

• Javier would probably be the only one who ACTUALLY goes to his tent and sleep in his cot

• maybe drag [Name] there because the mexican just want a nice cuddle you know?

• honestly, sleepy Javier is adorable to his [Name]

• Javier's mind just shuts down and he forgets how to speak in english and mumbles in spanish until he falls asleep

• i can also see Javier being one to plop himself down on his [Name]'s lap when the guy is sitting somewhere (below a tree or on a seat) because when is sleepy-- he loses his braincells and all functioning

• Javier just searches for his [Name] and throws himself because one, his boah can carry him alright anyways and two, he just loves too

• his [Name] is honestly amused because Javier won't be like this when he is functioning well

• well, not all the time

• but yeah

• [Name] thinks it's cute and will hug his lover

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maggot-monger · 3 years

Text

some musings on shipping culture

just to get this out of the way: this post is prompted by things i have seen people say and reblog recently about a variety of ships and fandoms, some of which i have been in, some of which i have not. it is not directed at any individual in particular.

i am also not upset. how other people like to enjoy fandom is interesting to me but ultimately it’s totally irrelevant to how i like to enjoy fandom. in fact, my apathy about other people’s favorite ships is a major reason i am curious about how some people respond to each other/canon/whatever.

the main question is: why do people care what other people ship and why they ship it?

here’s what i got. this list is not ordered by importance.

1) purity culture

tbh i am kind of burnt out with thinking about purity culture. probably a lot of reasons are somewhat related to purity culture, but i don’t want to get into whether or not it’s ok for people to ship stuff they wouldn’t condone in reality (although for the record, if you couldn’t tell, my opinion is: ship literally whatever you want). so, moving on.

2) whether or not ships are likely to become canon

a lot of the time, this debate gets avoided either because none of the ships being argued over are likely ever to become canon, or because one of them is almost definitely going to become canon. sometimes it’s an argument about which relationship is more important, whether romantic or not (two examples: 1) most wincest shippers understand that sam and dean were never going to kiss on the mouth on tv, but are very invested in the brothers’ relationship being the central relationship in the show regardless. 2) debates over whether elsa in frozen should have a girlfriend or stay single).

much of the time, people get passionate about ships going canon because of issues of representation. wanting the queer ship; wanting the ship involving at least one character from an underrepresented group; wanting the ship that resonates with some meaningful experience much of the audience can relate to. that’s all cool. i get all of that. i don’t personally have many feelings about ships i like going canon because that’s not really part of the experience for me, but i understand why it’s appealing to others.

i do not, however, understand why some people whose ships might become canon care about telling people whose ships are never going to become canon that their ships are, uh, never going to become canon. like, in my experience, usually people who ship a never-going-to-be-canon ship know that it’s never going to be canon, and while they might be salty about it, they aren’t claiming that their thing is going to be what happens in canon. i get why never-going-to-be-canon shippers might get pissy at might-be-canon shippers because it sucks to “lose,” or because often (not always) might-be-canon ships are very popular comparatively and it can get tiresome to see your fandom dominated by something you don’t like/care about. but why do fans of popular (might-be-)canon ships get pissy about fans of never-gonna-be-canon ships, within fandom spaces?

a lot of this tension might be because of fandom dominance wars, rather than canon dominance wars. the never-gonna-be-canon shippers might feel that the might-be-canon shippers are dominating fandom spaces, but the might-be-canon shippers might feel that the never-gonna-be-canon shippers are dominating canon spaces. often when this happens both ships take up a lot of fandom space regardless of which takes up more, and might in fact be equally popular. so this might be just misperceptions about relative popularity, and feeling like your ship is being attacked/ignored disproportionately in the fandom when in reality it isn’t. i have definitely seen this sort of attitude from warring flagship supporters many a time.

but ok, to come back to why might-be-canon shippers make arguments against never-gonna-be-canon shippers based on likelihood of canonization: why? i don’t get it. i’ve seen this happen even with people who ship fully realized canon relationships arguing against people who ship fully non-canon relationships. why?

my instinct is to think that last one is a sore winner thing. like, you won dude. good for you. take your winnings and let everybody else lick their wounds/carry on with their own preferences in peace. i’m even inclined to think that canon shippers as a rule should ignore most baiting by non-canon shippers because losers should be allowed to be little a bitter, as a treat. but at this point, i realize that i have just made a claim about how people should act in fandom, and who am i to say that? no one. so: never mind. and it might not be a gloating thing anyway.

another piece of evidence i see people bring up in these arguments is about basis in canon, rather than likelihood of canonization. that seems like another major point, so let’s move on to that.

3) basis in canon

whether or not a ship is likely to become canon, there are lots of conversations about which ships make the most sense given evidence from the canon.

i, being a massive slut for characterization, get this sort of. usually even when i enjoy crack ships i want to make them work with textual evidence somehow. i personally just think it’s more satisfying to figure out how two characters might have met and what would have appealed to them about each other to lead them to connect/date/bang/whatever, even if it never happened and never will happen and nobody would even think about the pairing unless either they were trying to be funny or they were really far down a rabbit hole. that’s my own geeky cross to bear.

i don’t get why “basis in canon” makes any ship better than any other ship though. sometimes a ship is within reach of canon characterization/story, and the work to go from non-canon to canon is suuuper minimal. these ships make sense pretty much as they are. that’s cool! such ships are usually popular for a reason: they appeal to a lot of fans of the canon because not a lot has to be done to the source material to make it work. often, the more you have to modify/do interpretation footwork, the more people’s interesting is going to drop off because you’re getting further from the source, and the source is why everyone is here in the first place. (some fandoms are of course exceptions to this.)

but why is closer-to-canon better? sometimes the work to get from canon to a far-from-canon ship is really clever, and does actually make a lot of sense if you follow the reasoning. sometimes far-from-canon ships are satisfying in a way other closer-to-canon ships aren’t (at least to some people). sometimes far-from-canon ships allow for creativity that closer-to-canon ships don’t. sometimes the appeal of far-from-canon ships is none of that, and it’s purely because the ship is sexy, or it’s controversial, or it’s weird, or people have gotten tired of the fandom flagships and they’re looking for something new.

i don’t understand why any of that is worse than the reasons for shipping something with “more basis in canon.”

personally, i get tired of fandom flagships in most of the fandoms i’ve been in very quickly. furthermore, i lose interest in ships almost immediately if/when they become canon. that’s not a value judgment; it’s just a pattern in my own preferences that i’ve observed from 15+ years of fandom involvement. i enjoy having to work in the murky waters farther from canon to justify my weird little ships. i find the moment of canonization exciting and satisfying (and sometimes emotional and vindicating), but i do not enjoy watching people actually being in romantic relationships very much (part of this is probably due to the fact that i personally do not enjoy being in romantic relationships very much). i also just tend to enjoy elements of ships that a lot of people find off-putting, but this is going back to purity culture and, again, i don’t want to get into that. these preferences reliably lead me away from close-to-canon ships and fandom flagships.

(just to be clear: i’m not being attacked. i do not feel attacked. i'm just using myself as a rhetorical example here.)

does this make my taste in ships bad? i don’t know what "bad taste in ships” means, but if you’re going to say that my taste is bad, i’m going to want you to justify it.

does it make my taste in ships stupid? well, sure, i do like stupid shit sometimes. but i also feel that it would be strange, if not flat-out incorrect, to claim that my taste in off-norm ships is not thoughtful. i think about many of my far-from-canon ships a lot — often, i think about them a lot before i start shipping them/see anyone else ship them, and i decide i like the characters together because i’ve come at it from a character analysis perspective. i have liked ships for some extremely nerdy reasons. a lot of people who like far-from-canon ships get there because they like thinking about characterization and plot and symbolism. to be completely honest, i often end up liking rarepairs in part because the people who end up liking rarepairs often have higher overall intellectual skill and desire to think about things extensively on average than fans of fandom flagships do on average. so, is liking far-from-canon ships stupid? that’s subjective. is it unintelligent? probably not.

is enjoyment of these ships dumber when people don’t get there through a lot of analysis, or when they don’t try to justify their enjoyment once they’ve decided they like a ship? i have seen extremely well-written, clever, extensively researched fic about pairings the author had no interest in justifying, and imo that’s just as intellectually motivated as analysis about why the ship makes sense. so, i would say, no.

is it bad to ship stuff and have no intellectual interest in it all? i mean, everyone can have whatever opinion about this, but in my opinion, no. this is fandom. this is for fun-having. i’m a nerd, but not everybody has to be a nerd. sometimes i like to read stuff that is not nerdy, that just shows me something comforting or new or evocative and doesn’t ask me to care about how we’ve gotten there. i might care anyway, but that’s on me, and it doesn’t make my enjoyment better than the enjoyment of someone who doesn’t want to overthink it.

finally, even if a ship having no basis in canon does make it worse somehow, who cares? what is the point of arguing over ship quality, of all things? is it just elitism? is it defensiveness against criticism of fan work being inferior to original work? is it a desire for everything to make sense, paired with a belief that people prefer things that make the most sense? if anybody has read this far and has insight into this, please tell me. i see this so often, and it baffles me every time. i don’t really want to agree, but i want to understand.

so, i don’t quite get this one. i get parts of it, but overall, i don’t get it.

4) i don’t have a number 4. i put a number 4 when i started writing this post but i think i covered what i was going to say here in points 1-3. alternatively i forgot my 4th point in which case RIP.

if you read this far, i apologize for the messy organization. i wrote this primarily to sort out my own thoughts. i’m not sure it helped, but it was something to do for an hour XD

#please don't reblog #(idk why anyone would but)#(i am happy to chat though! i am genuinely interested! my questions are not rhetorical)#further disclaimer: none of this is about my current main fandom which seems blessedly tolerant compared to many fandoms #i say things

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richardscamacho · 4 years

Text

television romance.

you let out an audible huff as your eyes rolled back into your skull. finally, the pencil dropped from beneath your fingers as your eyes rose to meet the pair of boys, the wood making a dull clatter as it hit the sketch pad on your lap. you picked your head up from the couch cushion in order to take a better look at them; first, you immediately took notice of christopher’s annoyed expression, next, zabdiel’s hopeful gaze.

“not this again,” you stated simply.

the other three boys could be heard talking amongst themselves in the kitchen. although you weren’t able to make out the entirely of their conversation, you were just able to hear your name come up once or twice, which was what tipped you off this time. it had become their favorite form of entertainment—watching dumb and dumber fight over you. your step brother seemed to be at the head of this party, as erick took the most pleasure in your annoyance.

“it’s been two months,” came the blonde’s response.

that was the one thing you had always admired about his character—he was incredibly upfront. he was simple and easy to understand, for he said things exactly as he meant them without beating around the bush in order to do so. he knew what he wanted out of life and he didn’t see much of a point in playing games to get it. he laid everything out on the table once without feeling the need to present it to you time and time again. it became easy to forget about his intense feelings toward you when you were just enjoying each other’s company, became easy to view him as a friend... maybe even a little more than. he was good company to keep, you thought.

christopher was cut from a different stone entirely. the brunette brushed a chunk of hair from his face and nodded in agreement. those deep brown eyes bore into you as he spoke, his voice coming out strained and irritated.

“we deserve an answer,” he said. “it’s embarrassing that everyone gets to watch you bounce back and forth between us. that’s not fair, (y/n). you knew you would have to pick one of us eventually.”

this type of response wasn’t out of the ordinary for the older male. he played games often, thinking that he could get you to warm up to him through the means of coy flirtation. he was a man who felt deeply and passionately, which was why the harshness in his tone had yet to make you flinch. you had seen it from him before; you knew that he didn’t mean his words in the way they had come out, that he wasn’t as good with his feelings as most would assume. this was why he so often resorted to other means of getting you to fall for him. he was so unable to come out and say it like you needed him to—in a way that didn’t come across as sexual or devious—that he tended to lean into little gestures.

“excuse me?” you asked calmly, swinging your legs off the side of the couch. you were fully prepared to get up and walk off at this point, unsure of where this conversation would lead. you cocked your head to the side, feigning bewilderment. “you’re not entitled to anything, christopher. i think your head’s gotten a little too big, especially if you think i “bounce back and forth” between anybody. i don’t even give you the time of day unless you’re throwing some gift at me and i have to say thank you.”

that familiar loud laugh could be heard echoing from the kitchen, as erick presumably came to the realization that richard just lost the bet they had placed a few weeks ago. zabdiel’s eyes widened in surprise. it seemed as though he was trying not to laugh himself, his lips pursed ever so slightly. you looked back to christopher, still not finished addressing him.

ignoring the look of anger beginning to form on his face, you continued.

“i’m tired. i’m exhausted. i’m not a prize, and it’s so irritating watching you fight over me every single time i come over. what’s funny is that it isn’t even a fight! you show out for my attention just to get on his nerves and you need to grow up. you’re too fucking old to be acting like a child.”

then, sketchpad in hand, you rose to your feet. your eyes fell upon the blonde as you began to walk around the pair, your lips curling into a big, toothy smile.

@pmcobabie

#cnco #cnco fluff #cnco angst #cnco chris #cnco zabdiel #zabdiel de jesus #christopher vélez #cnco joel #cnco erick #erick brian colon #richard cnco #cnco x reader #cnco fanfic #cnco fic #cnco blurbs #cnco drabbles #cnco one shot #cncomusic

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adiabolikpastel · 4 years

Text

Wig Snatch

Rating: PG-13

Word Count: 1274

Original Character(s): Skye Oakly & Lilly Tenebris ft. Alrick Rosenfeld

ღ A little extra from @the-sloth-woman - thank you for writing this! It is so good! This is a continuation from Losing You.

An AU piece where demons have taken over, however cannot breed normal. They must use the human’s to secure linage for the future. The Rosenfeld clan captures a human girl to marry off to the head of the family, young Alrick.

Reluctantly, the snake demon prepares for his wedding. There is just one last thing he must do. A young siren who had been his lover for quite some time. Will the two be able to maintain a connection after the big news? ღ

♬�� ✧❥✧¸.•*¨*✧♡✧ ♬° ✧❥✧¸.•*¨*✧♡✧ ♬° ✧❥✧¸.•*¨*✧♡✧ ♬° ✧❥✧¸.•*¨*✧♡✧

Skye did not want to attend the banquet in celebration of Alrick’s new mate, but he had little choice in the matter when Laito decided to drag him along. Skye had always had a feeling that Laito knew about his relationship with Alrick, but his insistence on Skye’s attendance to the banquet had all but confirmed his suspicions. It was a cruel trick for Laito to play. He knew that Skye had avoided the mating ceremony the night before. Seeing Alrick with the human would truly mean that their relationship was over.

He sat a few tables away from the nobility, his attentions pointedly focused on the untouched meal on his plate. Alrick looked happy sitting on the dais with his human companion, which made everything feel much worse. Skye wanted some sign that Alrick felt just as miserable as he did. But now it was like a switch had been flipped inside him. Was this the same man who had been on the verge of tears when telling Skye that he would be forced to mate with a human?

Skye hoped it was all an act. To think that Alrick actually liked being with this creature was disgusting. Her kind had persecuted the demons for centuries, and now she sat beside their prince as his equal. And soon they would be expected to bear children. If Skye had eaten anything he would have vomited just at the thought.

He leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his kimono. The dress code for a formal banquet was traditional, and Skye had donned a beautiful kimono decorated with patterns of swirling koi fish. He wore one of his longer wigs, tying it up into an elegant bun at the base of his neck. Alrick once told him that this kimono showed the story of perseverance and that the koi, like Skye, could swim upstream through any hardship. He wore it in the hopes that he could catch Alrick’s eye and perhaps remind him of the memories they shared together.

His eyes flickered to the human woman, Lilly. Her kimono was matched to Alrick’s. It was pale lavender that faded to white at the bottom and decorated with little snakes. Alrick sat tall and regal in his while she looked like lumpy and misshapen. She was too round for him, too fat. Her eyes darted away when Alrick looked at her, like a pathetic blushing virgin. If he were up there Skye would have met Alrick’s gaze with pride, giving him all the respect and admiration he deserved.

Not that she could give him what Skye could. She didn’t know the way Alrick liked to be touched. Skye was a master at it. He could bring the prince to his knees with the barest touch of his hands and a few simple phrases. She wouldn’t know how much Alrick liked having his hair pulled, how he liked having nails dragged down his back, how he craved hearing his name moaned in the throes of passion. Skye knew Alrick’s body almost better than his own, and he could please him far better than anyone else ever could.

The anger he had been bottling up had reached its breaking point. Skye pushed away from his table and strode to the bathroom. He didn’t know if he wanted to punch a mirror or dissolve into tears, but whatever the option was he didn’t want anyone else seeing it.

He splashed water on his face, careful to avoid ruining his makeup. He glared at his reflection in the mirror. He looked radiant in his kimono, poised and elegant like a princess should be. If it wasn’t for the fact that he had been born male it would be him by Alrick’s side, not the human.

No, that wasn’t it. His kind had no laws against mates of the same sex. Alrick married the human because their kind was dying off, not because she was a woman. It was his duty to

carry on the royal lineage and he needed heirs to do just that. Of course, if the humans hadn’t fought back so much during the war the demons wouldn’t have the problem if infertility facing them now.

Humans, humans, humans. All of Skye’s troubles could be traced back to those pathetic creatures. It was their fault that there was a war in the first place, their fault why the demons were now dying off, their fault that his Alrick had to betray his heart. He wished they had been wiped off the face of the planet.

He wiped his eyes, careful not to smudge his mascara. Perhaps he would abandon the banquet altogether and return to the Sakamaki manor. With no one at home, he could order in some takeout or blast some loud music. Anything to make himself feel better.

It was this thought that kept him occupied as he left the bathroom and walked right into Lilly.

“Oh, I’m sorry!” The human gasped, her hands flying in front of her like a shield. “I didn’t see you- I wasn’t paying attention- I’m sorry!”

Skye huffed and patted down his hair, his temper flaring. If this bitch ruined his outfit he was going to be livid.

“I-I’m really sorry,” she bowed shyly when Skye ignored her. “Are you okay, miss?” An opportunity presented itself like a blooming flower. Skye drew himself up to his full height and walked around Lilly, scrutinizing every inch of her appearance. “That’s a beautiful kimono,” he murmured, his voice low and sultry. “It’s such a pity that after today it will smell like filth.”

Lilly flinched, drawing her hands inside her sleeves. “Excuse me,” she murmured, avoiding Skye’s gaze. “I really have to get back-”

“Do you think-” he continued as if she hadn’t spoken, “that a woman like you could really make him happy? That a human could do a better job than one of his own kind? Tch,” he rolled his shoulders, letting the full weight of his beauty fall upon her like a sack of bricks.

Her face turned the same color as her garish hair but she pretended not to notice. “I think that the high council seems to believe that I am a good choice. Even if you do not.”

Skye threw back his head and laughed at her arrogance. “You and I both know that everyone in that room would shred you to bits if given the chance. Do you really think you were given to him because you’re mate material? Please. You are breeding stock-” the words were a venom laced hiss- “and nothing more.”

The confidence in her face faltered. “Th-that’s not true-” “It is and you know it. Tell me, do you think he’ll keep you around if you can’t have children? If you grow old and gray and useless, and he stays radiant and beautiful forever? You’re even dumber than I thought if you believe that for one second he could ever grow to love you.”

Lilly looked away and bit her lip. “I don’t pretend to think that,” she said, her shoulders trembling with defeat.

“What a good little pet you are, already knowing your place. At least you can take comfort in the fact that when you’re dead and gone the prince can find himself a real mate.”

Skye turned and made his way back to the ballroom, his head held high with triumph. He was right of course, the human girl could not live forever. And when she was rotting in the ground he would take his rightful place beside Alrick.

All he had to do was wait. .

#commission #writing #skye oakly #alrick rosenfeld #lilly tenebris #the sloth woman

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watchingminecraftyansim · 4 years

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Post 6 - OH MY GOOOOOD

Hoo boy! Hi I’m Isabelle, and things have just gotten interested in episode 7 of Samgladiator’s Yandere High School, so pause your podcasts, stop reading your books, drop whatever it is that you’re doing, and start reading, because today’s episode is juicy!

So the episode hits the ground running, with Taurtis beating the shit out of Sam to wake him up, and to tell him about his newest product, Tauritos, which are just Doritos with a T, sure to be a big hit among trans men. Taurtis is also apparently filthy stinking rich just from saving up to launch his product, and he stayed up all night thinking of what his product would be. He also drank 10 5 hour energy, or a 50 hour energy, mad props to the man for not just dying of a heart attack any time in the episode. We also see a new student, DomRao, who is hitting on Invader, Taurtis points this out to Sam, but he doesn’t care one bit. We then move along to the convenience store, which has been renovated to be like, quadruple the size it was originally and it now sells clothes. Taurtis decides to approach CrabManCarl with the idea of selling Tauritos in his store, and CrabManCarl loves the idea and says he will order them once Taurtis gets some. They also talk about stealing the robot again, which, spoiler alert, they don’t do this episode. Taurtis also buys a shirt which costs 25 Yen, or roughly $1.15 for us Americans. How the hell do you get shirts that cheap? Moving on from Taurtis’ stupid cheat shirt, we also Ssee that Jay has a fucking triple decker bus, it has a GameCube, a bed that looks to be larger than a California King sized bed, a shower on the top, which sounds like a bad idea but I’m not rich enough for a triple decker bus so what do I know? We also see PowerDragon who is sleeping in the bed, I know I haven’t talked about him much, but I like PowerDragon, something about him just makes me like him. Taurtis also asks Jay to invest in Tauritos, which he does and throws a stack of money at Taurtis, and then everyone quickly rushes to school before they can be late. On the way Sam and Taurtis realize they completely forgot about their homework, and try to come up with something on the spot.

As Sam and Taurtis reach the classroom however, we realize they don’t need to worry about that as Gareth has hung himself. Sam, being the bastion of empathy that he is, tells Invader to go away when she says to him that she is scared. Sam and Taurtis also take a bit to think about how they could have prevented it, like by not breaking into his house, or saying he murdered his ex-wife, or just kinda being nicer to him. Sam leaps into action saying that he and Taurtis are now the substitute teachers, having Taurtis hand out the assignment while he reads it to the class, while Gareth’s body just swings there next to him. Many people have objections to this, including Taurtis himself, saying that they should probably call the police, but Sam says they’re in school so they have to do the assignment. I mean, I’m a bit of a stickler for the rules, but even I would say at that point you don’t have to do shit that day, or the next couple of days if you find your teacher’s dead body, and like, even with teachers who I don’t like I would probably be more shocked than like, anyone there, who just act like they just saw a bunch of blood stains on the wall rather than a dead body. Gareth’s final assignment also sort of doubles as his suicide note, saying that he wants the students to do a test, but he can’t control what they do, like he couldn’t control his ex-wife leaving him. He also says that he didn’t muder her, and loved her more than anything, and will be joining her soon. Say, isn’t this a bit fuckin’ heavy for Minecraft Highschool Roleplay? Experts, and by experts I mean me, say yes. But before we can get too far, Sam spots Rowan in the hallway and flags him down to see what they should do about the whole teacher suicide thing. Rowan has the only sensible reaction and freaks the fuck out and tells the kids to leave and that school is over, and the student body starting to crack horrible hanging puns. I won’t say the show isn’t accurate on that front, because I know kids would do that at my school. Sam does however, finally show some compassion, and lets Invader cry on his shoulder, which the student body then jumps all over and takes pictures of to post to Fumblr, and Dom tells Sam to stay away from his girl. The hanging jokes continue until Rowan yells at the kids to stop. We are then introduced to the cop who I assume is investigating Gareth’s suicide, Paul Blart, probably not played by Kevin James, but you don’t know that it’s not him playing Paul Blart. He however mistakenly believes that there has been a murder, and then swiftly tries to go undercover, saying that he’s a new student, not a cop. Sam is the only one who doesn’t buy this, because when he asks if they are going to do anything illegal that night Taurtis almost talks about how they’re going to steal the robot. I don’t know who’s dumber Taurtis for believing a man in full cop get up is not a cop because he says he is, or Paul Blart for only getting a bit suspicious when Taurtis practically incriminates himself and Sam before Sam can say anything. He also believes that GameCrab is a type of drug, so suffice to say he has a big brain. He also very conspicuously spies on Sam and Taurtis throughout the rest of the episode, and Sam talks about stealing the robot with him in earshot, so no one is smart here. Taurtis also tries to get Paul Blart to invest in Tauritos, he instead decides that he is going to steal the idea, which Sam and Taurtis object to because his name doesn’t start with Taur, and they leave. They then head to the convenience store where Invader reveals that she was dating Dom, breaks up with him, and Dom declares that he is going to kill Sam. The episode ends with Sam starting to plan how they are going to steal the robot.

So this episode was interesting, killing off one character to introduce another, I remembered that Pual Blart was in the series, but I don’t remember in how major of a way. We are also exiting the territory of stuff I marginally remember, anything past this point I have likely forgotten about, except if it is major. So tune in next time where we look at Episode 8, where the boys hopefully will finally steal the robot.

#yhs #yhs sam #yhs taurtis #yandere high school #yandere highschool #taurtis #samgladiator

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dragon-ball-meta · 6 years

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brandong50 replied to your photo “People are obsessed with power scaling. They refuse to admit that the...”

I mean the moment jiren got serious he one shots roshi with. I effort lol. I feel like people complain about the manga without even reading the chapters..... Sure I get the manga as of late has been rushing through this arc but on a realistic level that’s really its biggest offense. The anime consistently relied on ass pulling and pure mind numbing stupidity. Trunks got a new form that’s never explained and was able to make a spirit bomb without even trying. Vegeta got a random new form. Goku got UI because he got hit really hard. Kefla in base was stronger than ssg goku yet a controlled fully powered berserk kale with the help of caulifla got shitted on by ssg goku. Zamasu became the universe? Wtf? 17 became blue level by raising his kids and stopping poachers? I almost forgot about this one, goku black and zamasu were forced to retreat because of tear gas... The manga does stupid shit but the anime makes it look like a fucking work of art by comparison.

Hoo boy. Let’s break this down. “I mean the moment jiren got serious he one shots roshi with. I effort lol “ No, he kinda doesn’t. That’s the problem. He actually has to try. The manga even outright implies Roshi is more or less getting close to attaining Ultra Instinct.

Roshi, in the anime, fought much slower and weaker opponents, not a guy stronger than a god. Even if he wasn’t going all out, he was at least using the same level of speed he’d been using on Goku, who couldn’t so much as get a solid hit in on him. And in the anime, they still managed to get this point across, still managed to give him a good showing (and actually let him get some KOs to his name) in the process. “I feel like people complain about the manga without even reading the chapters.” You must be new here, I suffer so my peeps don’t have to. “Sure I get the manga as of late has been rushing through this arc but on a realistic level that’s really its biggest offense. The anime consistently relied on ass pulling and pure mind numbing stupidity.” 90% of the manga has been just that but let’s go through your examples. “Trunks got a new form that’s never explained and was able to make a spirit bomb without even trying.” Trunks’ “new form” isn’t even a new form. It’s marketed like one, but for all intents and purposes in the series, it’s not. It’s simply Trunks focusing all his power into being used in one short burt; essentially, he becomes what seems to be far, far stronger, but it uses all his ki up front and he’s instantly drained when it wears off. It’s more like a Kaio-ken than anything else in practice. As for the latter? Yeah, kinda dumb. Wanna know what’s dumber? Goku inexplicably learning Beerus’ Desctruction technique, something reserved EXCLUSIVELY for Gods of Destruction that requires their specific sort of energy, and then somehow, inexplicably, having MISSED with it. Said technique being something that he’s supposedly not even used in practice before, yet he somehow knew it would work. Fused Zamasu being carved back into two by Trunks’ sword, only for both to then become... Fused Zamasu. Vegeta, who had only been healed by Trunks’ new healing powers enough to not die and stand on his own two feet being able to then rush in, kick a Goku in much better shape out of the way, and then OBLITERATE TWO FUSED ZAMASUS THAT NOT EVEN GOKU COULD HURT, AND STILL KEEP FIGHTING. This isn’t even touching on Kaioshin apprentices supposedly having healing powers they lose when becoming Kaioshin, and only Kaioshin being able to use the Time Rings, yet Zamasu is seen using both powers in tandem, or why the hell Zeno felt the need to literally erase the entire universe to deal with a small army of Zamasus rather than just erasing the Zamasus. “Vegeta got a random new form.” He got one in the manga too. How exactly he was able to attain god ki at all? Never explained in the manga. How he managed to attain Super Saiyan God in the manga when the whole “Yamoshi” thing kinda deemed the ritual a necessity to tap into that? Never explained in the manga, it’s just handed to him for fanservice, along with somehow managing to make him even faster than in Blue. And given UI Omen was anime exclusive, and Toyotaro just LOVES him some Vegeta Wank, expect his special blue to show up in the manga too. “Goku got UI because he got hit really hard.” Goku got UI because he was damn near killed, his body completely emptied, and the Spirit Bomb was absorbed enough into his body to act as a temporary power. Goku was essentially unconscious when he first used the form, as it was done to exemplify the body moving on its own, focused only on the fight. Which, frankly, actually ties in with Whis’ teachings, unlike, you know, just suddenly unlocking it in a burst of anger like a Super Saiyan form. “Kefla in base was stronger than ssg goku yet a controlled fully powered berserk kale with the help of caulifla got shitted on by ssg goku.” Do... do you not understand how Fusion works? Goku and Vegeta would have gotten stomped into dust if they’d fought Buu before they Fused; Goku at SSJ3 wouldn’t even have been enough. After Fusing though, they handled him as if it were child’s play. That’s literally how it works, my guy. “Zamasu became the universe? Wtf?” Zamasu became a genuine god and his power was such that even after destroying his body, his spirit lived on and ascended, attempting to become an omnipotent, omnipresent being who was one with the Universe. The only person greater than him at that point was Zeno himself. Makes sense then to call him there and for him to erase that entire universe in order to eliminate Zamasu. Certainly, more than it does to do so because there were, like, 100 of him. “17 became blue level by raising his kids and stopping poachers?” 17 became as strong as he was because he trained and pushed himself for well over a decade. Also worth noting: He’s not “Blue Level” any more than Krillin is. Goku wasn’t even close to going all out at the point they were sparring, and Gohan, Vegeta, Freeza, etc. were still a good bit stronger than he was. Not sure why people think that 17′s job is literally all he could have been doing. “I almost forgot about this one, goku black and zamasu were forced to retreat because of tear gas...“ Gas is gas, my dude, and if you got a body it can be affected. Especially a mortal one, like what Black’s stuck in. I mean shoot, these people still need air too. Goku could conceivably die due to drowning in the lake by his house. Power don’t negate that. “The manga does stupid shit but the anime makes it look like a fucking work of art by comparison.�� The manga also literally claims Goku is a terrible father, doesn’t care at all about his kids, resented Gohan and didn’t care for him when he wasn’t fighting, only starting to care when he saw Gohan “actually fights pretty good” (as if he didn’t already know it), and even insults his basic intellect and calls him a piss-poor fighter that relies on power over literally anything else, which is... well, just demonstrably untrue. Goku’s been strategizing throughout this entire series, finding ways to overcome gaps in power or resistance to conventional means of fighting. This manga is a low-tier fanfic written by a man who doesn’t understand these characters at all.

#brandong50 #DBS #DBS Manga #WTF Toyotaro

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jamesnelsonart · 5 years

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Batman: White Knight Review

Folks, I can’t always let you know when a comic is bad. I don’t have the energy. A lot of bad comics are created every day, and to catalogue the reasons why Action comics issue 724342 didn’t appeal to me would be an exercise in futility and pain. No, when I see a bad comic usually the most it’s guilty of is being boring or not making a lot of sense and maybe the art isn’t put together very well. So I just ignore said media if I don’t like it. Maybe I’ll joke about it a bit with friends, but why spend my life on such things? You already know where this shit is going-- I’m about to break my code here. Every now and then, I discover something uniquely bad. It’s bad in a way I never could have even considered. It’s bad in a way that demands my attention, and I simply have to think about it, and then share my pain with others. That comic book is Batman: White Knight, and boy does it blow.

It’s honestly hard to tell where to begin with this review because if you think about any bad part of this book for more than one minute you’ll immediately be reminded of another bad part that relates to the first bad part, and so on and so on. It’s an interconnected network of bad. A true spider web of shit, full of parts all intersecting into an intricately dumb design. A painstakingly-made pyramid of poop, with each brick being laid as the foundation for something even worse than what came before it. I suppose I should start with the premise and work my way down from there.

What if, and hear me out here, what if the Joker became a good guy? And Batman… get this… was a bad guy??????? That’s the whole gist of Batman: White Knight. The white knight in the title is Joker, because he is a very pale dude from that chemical bath he took in his origin story. So that’s the premise. You understand the title. Now usually in superhero comics a shake-up like this might last for about a year before a return to the status quo, but White Knight takes place in an alternate universe, so write/artist Sean Gordon Murphy has the opportunity to make some big changes that will stick since there’s no worry about it impacting the main DC universe. Characters have the potential to die for good or change permanently here, and with the idea of the Joker becoming good you could get a pretty wild story here with some twists and turns. So why the fuck does nothing happen in this story!? Oh sure, this is a comic so actions do indeed occur. Events take place across a series of panels as they do in all sequential storytelling… But damn, this comic is a whole lot of nothing! It positions itself as a big shakeup, Batman as you’ve never seen him before! Only, it isn’t. This story is the safest fucking thing I’ve read disguised as an edgy, you-didn’t-see-that-coming, no-one-is-safe story. In some ways it’s funny, kind of like that Joker. But the only joke here is that I wasted my time reading this shit.

The story starts with Batman pursuing the Joker in his Batmobile, causing tons of property damage and hurting some innocent bystanders. Nightwing and Barbara are with Batman and are upset that they can’t reel in his dangerous impulses. Batman chases the Joker into a pharmaceutical factory where the Joker does his Joker speech. You know the one. The speech every writer ever feels that they have to write for the Joker, as if it adds something to his character. The Joker speech basically has the Joker go on about how he and Batman are polar opposites blah blah blah and how the Joker, in his own twisted way, has some affection for Batman and then Batman will be like NO and punch him or something. Hey, subtext works a lot better when it, y’know, remains subtext and not outright actual text. So Batman gets real riled up here and force-feeds the Joker a ton of pills while someone films him doing this and posts it on the internet. This combination of pills makes the Joker not be psychotic anymore (this is dumb as hell, but the rest of the comic is way dumber so you’d be surprised how the lowered standards allowed me to just roll with this) So this Batman is a pretty rude guy, being down with needless violence, and about as smart as a sack or bricks, but it’s an alternate universe, right? Characters are supposed to be different. Yeah… about that-- when doing an alternate universe it helps to have your universe be well-defined. This is especially important if it’s already similar to the main DC universe. The reader is left unsure as to what has or hasn’t happened in the past. Did the Joker ever commit any mass murder in this timeline? We don’t really know. The Joker has had a lot of incarnations so it’s kind of important to know how evil he is if he’s gonna become a good guy. If he’s committed numerous atrocities then I can understand a lot of peoples’ skepticism to him being good guy. Or was he some guy throwing pies at peoples’ faces and defacing property? Already none of this shit makes any sense if you stop to think about it but I have to keep going or this review will never get around to bashing the important stuff, like everything else about this book.

So the Joker’s mental stability is restored (which somehow also changes his bleached-white skin and green hair back to normal, those pills must have been wild) and he becomes a super-genius and decides to fight Batman’s brutality, and by extension the Gotham Police Department’s brutality. He’s done telling jokes now, he’s now the Woker(ok he never gets called that, but it would’ve been funny if that happened). And with his genius intellect unrestricted by his unstable personality he is now free to… sue the city. Damn, that’s exciting. I feel I should stop here and say there’s a reason the Joker is a fairly static character, and that’s because he works perfectly fine as a clown with a Batman obsession who does crimes and has some good zingers. Those are the interesting things about him, so when you remove all of those traits you’re left with a pretty boring character. What is the Joker without any of his personality or Joker-ness? Just some guy. And that guy is the protagonist of the story now… great. The other characters don’t fare much better. They all act extremely stupid, wildly out-of-character, or perform actions that conflict with prior information the reader has been given about them. Batman does no detective work, largely having the plot fed to him by other characters and falling into every trap imaginable. He can only ever react to situations. Harvey Bullock is deriding Batman for brutalizing the Joker and seems very anti-police brutality, yet later is arresting a black activist, blatantly escalating a situation where there was no violence. Barbara Gordon is hanging out chatting with Mr. Freeze (who appears to be a nicer guy in this continuity) and spills the beans about her secret identity, then is shocked to realize that she’s been wearing her Batgirl costume, thus revealing her name! Why is she so dumb!? Why on earth would she want to talk to Mr. Freeze in her civilian identity, huh? They were in the Bat Cave when this happened, so suit or not, it’d be pretty obvious that the girl in the Bat Cave is Batgirl. What the fuck? See what I mean when I say it’s hard to know where to start and end with bashing this shit? I mean this was like a 2-panel thing. Everything leads into everything else because nothing was thought through or considered while writing this comic so events happen just because they have to in order to move events along, character motivation or personality be dammed. And what happens is… not much if you really analyze the sequence of events in the story. Joker gets better, sues the city, participates in a march against Police corruption/brutality and decides to run for mayor. Batman gets mad about this. Joker then discovers a slush fund that is used to repair all the damage Batman does to the city and exposes it to the public. As a mayoral candidate, Joker proposes using this slush fund to instead heavily arm the police. Doesn’t this kind of contradict his anti-police brutality sentiments by offering the department numerous tanks to drive around in? Ah, fuck it. I doubt any part of this is thought through or any narrative dissonance considered so I’ll just keep going. And that’s… all the Joker does. Well, he does do one more thing. He decides to start dating Harley Quinn. And if I’m gonna talk about the characters, I mean REALLY talk about the characters, I’m gonna have to talk about Harley Quinn. Or rather, the Harley Quinn…s. Plural.

I should preface this by saying it’s pretty clear Sean Gordon Murphy is a fan of Batman the Animated Series. It is good, so who can blame him? What gets weird is he inserts a ton of TAS-centric stuff into White Knight in a way that feels arrogant. He knows what is best for Batman, no one else. So why do I feel this way about his writing here? Because the Joker goes home and is greeted by a Harley Quinn who is like “Wow, can’t wait to have tons of sex and kill a ton of people with you again! My favorite hobbies are not wearing a lot of clothes, staying evil, and being an unpopular New 52 redesign!” Then the revelation comes, the OLD Harley Quinn shows up in her TAS jester outfit and derides the new one as a big tiddy bimbo (not joking about that, her dialogue is actually deriding her for having large breasts and not being a good role model lmao) and says that she will resume her relationship with the Joker now, because he respects women (you really gonna do Poison Ivy like that? Smh). As we all know, when you think an abusive partner has changed, you should definitely restart your relationship with them. This has never, ever backfired in the history of the universe. But back to the point-- in fairness the New 52 Harley did suck, but I don’t know why this whole thing is even in the story. Haha, I’m joking! I know why! It’s because Sean Gordon Murphy probably realized that he needed an antagonist to make some action happen because the story was clearly going nowhere! So the new, unpopular Harley goes off and swears she will return the Joker to his bad self, calling herself “Neo Joker”. So how does someone with no resources or notable skills become the antagonist? Well don’t worry, the entire cast is very, very stupid and their agency is null and void, so if something needs to happen for this story to move along, it just happens.

Earlier in the story for the Joker to discover the slush fund he had to get the rest of the Batman rogues gallery to do it for him by stealing documents on it out of some building. How does he get every criminal in Gotham to do this for him? By inviting them all over and serving them drinks with bits of Clayface mixed in. You see, Joker used the Mad Hatter’s mind control tech on Clayface so it stands to reason that if you ate some of Clayface’s clay then the mind control would work on you by extension! It only sounds stupid because it IS stupid. I also gotta ask why the entire rogues gallery would accept drinks from the Joker… he’s kind of known for not playing well with others and, uh, frequently poisoning people. But again, these characters need to be dumb for the plot to happen. So Neo Joker discovers the control module thingy because the Joker just left it around (I assume the mind-controlled villains were just shitting their pants in the days leading up to this since they were all stored in a warehouse) so now she gets a villain army. And then she gets a giant freeze gun to use on Gotham City because in this universe Mr. Freeze’s dad was an ex-Nazi who came to America and built that and left it underground. No maintenance required after sitting around for decades, this baby’s ready to blast! So while all that was happening Batman went to jail, Joker let him out to help him with dealing with Neo Joker, and Alfred died. That might sound like things that happened, but let me be clear: nothing happened. Nothing happens this whole comic. Things appear to happen, but that is not the case, that is camouflage. Sure, Alfred dies, but Mr. Freeze starts helping Bruce, so one old man is replaced with another. Actually this is an upgrade, Mr. Freeze knows way more science shit so this new model is great! Batman is finally jailed for flaunting the law but then Joker releases him and reveals that he found out that Batman had been paying for the property damage fund, not the taxpayers! So Batman was a good guy all along! He was just being a brutal dick because Alfred was dying so it’s all in the past now. So if Batman was good all along then what was the fucking point of this comic? The premise is good Joker vs. evil Batman, until it isn’t. What was the point of ANY of the first part of this dumb ass book? But the reader isn’t supposed to think about that. To distract from the fact that there was apparently no conflict at all the Neo Joker starts making threats with her big freeze gun and villain army. So Good Batman and Good Joker gotta team up with the militarized police force to take her down! Yeehaw! But. There is a catch. The Joker’s mixture of meds is wearing off and he will revert soon! The classic ticking clock scenario—as bad as everything is, this should at least inject some tension into the story, right? Wrong. Joker reverts while he’s in the Batmobile with Batman, and then he’s like “I still wanna defeat Neo Joker for stealing my shtick.” So don’t worry, he’s still on your side, Batman. I’m kind of impressed that Sean Gordon Murphy took such an easy opportunity to add some stakes to this bland comic and was like NAHHH, FUCK THAT, I LIKE MY COMICS BAD. So the police ram the villain army with their tanks and uhhh not all of Batman’s villains have super powers you know… some are just regular-ass people. The Penguin gets fucking hit head-on with one of the tanks, how the hell did HE not die? Plus they’re all mind-controlled in the first place so that raises ethical questions as to how they’re being treated since they’re not willfully being evil right now but BATMAN IS GOOD OKAY? HE PAID FOR THE PROPERTY DAMAGE FUND SO IF HE SPLITS SOME FUCKIN SKULLS THAT’S JUST WHAT HE’S GOTTA DO YOU LITTLE BIIIIIIIIIITCH. DUE PROCESS… IS FOR CUCKS. YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO DIE at this point in the comic I guess. Yawn… so at this point I think they all win or whatever. The freeze ray is stopped or something. Look, this part is kind of a blur. All you gotta know is Harley marries the Joker before he totally, totally reverts for real this time and gets sent back to Arkham. Then the dumbest thing Sean Gordon Murphy has ever written happens. And I read this book, so know that I do not say that lightly.

Near the start of the comic when Batman force-feeds Joker the pills it’s stated that this was all part of Joker’s master plan to get Batman to feed him pills that he just somehow knew would cure him and this would trigger Joker’s ultimate plan of… revealing the misallocation of taxpayer dollars? And he came up with this when he was still a bad guy, right? Huh? Well guess what, fuckos? It’s time for a fucking twist. Turns out the original Harley Quinn, who is Good and Pure and Keeps Her Clothes on except when I, Sean Gordon Murphy, draw her and the Joker fucking, is the one who planted the pills at that scene, as she reveals to Batman. Mind. Blown. No, really, my mind is blown as to why Sean thought this would add anything to his comic aside from more questions regarding the logistics of how she did that. How did she know which factory Batman would chase the Joker into at the start? How did she know Batman would force-feed the pills to the Joker? You’re not really a master planner if your plan relies on a ton of variables way out of your control. Then Batman is then like “wow that’s cool that you did that. this is why I always liked you more than the rest of my rogues gallery because I know you can do good things.” Yeah that’s right FUCK YOU Two-Face. Burned-ass bitch. You think YOU were the friend-turned-enemy who Batman hopes will one day turn good again? Wrong. It’s Harley. It’s ALWAYS been Harley. Then Batman reveals his secret identity to Commissioner Gordon and says he’s gonna be a cop in a blatant sequel hook. The threat of a sequel to this is scarier than any cliffhanger. Brr!

Ughhh, and you KNOW there’s gonna be a sequel, too. This can’t just end here. When I said I had to review this comic it was because most of the reviews say shit like “a bold new direction with a much-beloved property… DC, please don’t revoke my blog’s access.” This book demands a thrashing. It deserves to get laughed at, but everywhere I looked online people weren’t laughing. There was praise! Now look, Sean can draw a pretty picture so he has that going for him. And he’s also willing to kiss up to ComicsGate, a hate group populated by unskilled whiners, so that they’ll waste their money buying his bad book with pseudo-progressive politics. But I’m not here to insult Sean Gordon Murphy. This is a review, and I pledge to keep it focused on the comic. It would be unprofessional and rude to call Sean a gutless coward, or a worm, or a hack writer who just throws references around to create the illusion of lore, or a guy who condescends to trans writers and artist who get harassed daily about how they should just befriend their harassers, or a guy who thinks his inability to stick to a narrative theme makes his work deeper, or a guy who shits on indie creators in interviews because he works on Batman and they do not. No, that would all be mean to say, so you won’t hear me saying it.

I will give the comic this much, though. If you enjoyed All-Star Batman and Robin for how absolutely wacky it was, this book might be right up your alley. It fulfills that same feeling of viewing every panel and going “What the fuck? WHAT THE FUCK???” So if you like bad books, this book is for you.

#Batman:White Knight #DC comics #review #lol #The Woker

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knotty-hottie · 5 years

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@alycat919 So, we haven’t talked before, but your post in the Ouran High School Host Club tag reminded me of my final paper for my Gender/Women Studies and I thought I’d share it. I promise I’m not tagging for drama, but just because I wanted to thank you for reminding me. It was a lot of fun to write a research paper about my first anime, and, despite the negativity I talk about in the paper, it’s still a personal fave of mine. You’re free to scroll past this if you aren’t interested, or to engage if you are. I just want to share the work I’ve done with the fandom I’ve explored. 😁

Ouran High School Host Club: Rich in Benevolent Sexism and Rape Culture

He pinned her against the bed, looming above her like a wild beast. Her chocolate brown eyes were wide, her nightgown bunched, her breath caught in her chest. The two stared at each other, like predator and prey, for a split second that felt like an eternity. He opened his mouth, and spoke, surely, calmly.

“You should fix that, ‘being a guy or girl doesn’t matter’ naivety of yours. It’s your fault for being too defenceless.”

It may sound like something from a badly written smut piece, or the rape fantasy of a young person, but in Ouran High School Host Club, this is the reality of our heroine, Haruhi Fujioka. She is a ‘commoner’ (lower middle class) student at a school for Japan’s most elite, having gotten in on a scholarship. After an incident involving her stumbling into an occupied music room in search of a study place, a vase worth ¥8,000,000 (equal to approximately $73,000 in today’s United States dollars), and some classic anime tropes, she ends up as a member of the school’s host club. The series itself describes the host club as “[The place] where the school’s handsomest boys with too much time on their hands entertain young ladies who also have way too much time on their hands. Just think of it as Ouran’s elegant playground for the super rich and beautiful.” The series is one of the most famous of all time in the anime community, coming in at spot 20 out of the top 50 most popular anime of all time on the Anime News Network. On SBS, Ouran came in at spot 40 on a fan-voted poll for best anime of all time. On Funimation (the anime’s publisher site) and Crunchyroll (one of the most popular anime streaming sites of today’s day and age) Ouran comes in at 5 stars. It’s a well known, well liked piece of media, that has earned itself an anime adaptation from its manga origin, a dating simulator from its anime adaptation, and a live action reboot based on all three of the previous iterations. Yet, somehow, underneath all of the things to like, there’s a dark underbelly that many willfully ignore or are just plain unaware of. The series perpetuates gender roles, rape culture, and some not-so-subtle homophobia. The way that it gets away with these things is by portraying them through the lens of benevolent sexism, which catches readers, watchers, and players alike off-guard.

Benevolent sexism falls under the larger umbrella of ambivalent sexism, which is divided into two main categories. The first category is hostile sexism, which is what most people think of when they try and imagine sexism. It is described by Dictionary.com as, “[sexism] reflecting negative views of women who challenge traditional gender roles.” It is the toxic, hypermasculinized form of sexism that many are taught to look for. It is the comments of, “You aren’t a real woman if your hair is short like that,” and, “Women are dumber than men.” On the other end of the spectrum, there’s the idea of benevolent sexism. Rather than comments of, “Women are weaker than men, making them inferior,” we hear the benevolent sexist say, “Men should protect women, as it’s the right thing to do.” It’s those moments where women are told they look better when they smile, or are in dresses, or have children in arm. The words are complementary and polite, but they hold the same message as those negative comments of the hostile sexist. Ouran works carefully to craft its message so that it doesn’t insult its main fan base (young women), while still getting its message across. For example, there’s the character of Renge Houshakuji.

Renge first appears in the manga in ‘Episode 3’ and in episode 4 of the anime adaptation. She is what is known as an otaku, which, in modern culture, refers to someone obsessed with some aspect of pop culture (whether that be video games, anime, movies, etc.) to the point that their social life suffers. In Japan, the word has become a word similar to our ‘nerd’ or ‘geek’. In American culture, the word is considered derogatory, and usually falls in line with words like ‘weeaboo’ and ‘wapanese’. Renge wholeheartedly accepts her otaku status, locking herself in her room to do what she enjoys most; playing dating sims. After a turn of events, she ends up at the Host Club, believing that she is in love with Kyouya Ootori, a host who looks identical to one of her favorite characters. After she reveals that this is why she likes Kyouya, she is bashed for her hobbies and considered crazy. The moment her hobbies come to light, they are painted as wrong and she is vilified, even though her male counterparts are considered just and right in there own hobbies. When Hani, one of the hosts, is depicted as morally correct for acknowledging that he is allowed to like the color pink and cute things rather than martial arts. Renge is one of the few female characters in the show that is depicted as having personality traits outside of, “infatuated with handsome boys” and “ultra feminine”, yet she is considered “crazy” for expressing those outside traits. It isn’t that she isn’t traditionally feminine, but that she has more to her character than that, much to the dismay of her male counterparts. She has her own hobbies and ideas. She knows exactly what she wants and goes for it. Even if her methods are questionable and a bit on the stereotypically crazy side, she still goes after her aspirations.

When Tamaki, one of the main characters of the show, greets and flirtily welcomes Renge to the club, she flinches away at his nonconsensual touch. She seems shell-shocked, blushing in what seems like embarrassment. After she comes to terms with him touching her face without permission, she slaps him, calling him a phony (among other insults), and leaving him emotionally beaten before going to Kyouya, the one she really wants. She decides to reinvent the Host Club’s characters in order to help Kyouya make more money, which should, she believes, make him fall in love with her the way she loves him. She is shown to get her ‘comeuppance,’ in a sense, when everything she goes for backfires. Kyouya reveals that he does not like her, she nearly ends up hurt, and she is told that she must take her time and learn about others in order to have a good relationship of any kind. When you come into relationships expecting someone to act a certain way, you are harming your chances of a healthy relationship. The message is good, but Renge’s fate is not quite as nice. She becomes a frequent background character, used for exposition, cheap plot device, and/or the voice of the fawning fan girls. The closest we get to her personal hobbies is the fact that she sometimes cosplays and, if we’re lucky, hear her talk about them for five or so seconds.

Another example of women in the show comes in the form of Benio Amakusa and the rest of the Zuka Club. In the third book of the series, specifically in ‘Episode 10’, we are introduced to Benio. She is dressed in the men’s uniform, has short hair, and is openly flirtatious with Haruhi, acknowledging Haruhi’s sex publicly to the Host Club’s dismay. Once Benio and company reveal to the hosts that they are, in fact, women, Tamaki labels them all as lesbians. All three do end up showing attraction of some sort to women, but the fact that he labels them all as such simply because one is shown to enjoy dressing in the men’s uniform and having short hair is a disturbing thought in and of itself. Tamaki sees that one is a lesbian, and begins making assumptions about their collective character based on that assumption. He goes so far as to pass out in shock at the presence of lesbians, and, once he awakens, says the following to the three Lobelia Woman’s Academy members; “You girls are all wrong!! What can come from a woman loving a woman!? Why did God create Adam and Eve, if not--!” He’s cut off before he can finish the thought, much to the LGBT+ community’s pleasure. Much to the community’s displeasure, however, is the imagery used in the anime to depict lesbians as nazis, having them do the nazi salute to a flag labeled “women”. Back to the plot, once he believes that he might lose Haruhi to this all-girl’s academy, he has some of his fellow hosts dress in exaggerated womanly clothing and wigs so that she can have ‘the best of both worlds,’ so to speak. The hosts think that, if they act ‘womanly’ enough, they will be a satisfactory replacement. Haruhi proceeds to explain that she had never even considered going with the girls, as her home was with the hosts. The Lobelia girls promise their revenge in a seemingly silly and typical manner.

In the only other episode that the Lobelia girls show themselves in, we get to see them kidnap Haruhi and, under the guise of needing Haruhi to perform, trick her into a situation that would lead to a non-consensual kiss in front of a large crowd, if not do more to her. When you watch the show, there doesn’t seem to be much going on aside from a silly and ridiculous plan that some rich lesbians are pulling to get revenge on the ‘noble and correct’ Host Club. When you really think about what’s happening though, it’s scary. They kidnap someone. They nearly sexually assault someone. What does it say that there only true gay representation resorts to these tactics when they are previously thwarted? The girls are basically degraded to recurring villains with silly beliefs, antics, and existences. Why is that?

In volume 5 of the manga, ‘Episode 17,’ we get exposed to Ayame Jonouchi, who is entirely skipped over in the anime. She makes a return in the live action series, however, holding her own arc in the third episode of the series. She’s incredibly intelligent, notably attractive, and, according to the hosts, a monotone speaker. They even go so far as to call her, “Miss Morse” and “Morse Code Lady” at one point. She is described as scholarly looking and strait-laced, and holds a major grades complex. The last of those points explains why she has always been in the top two of her classes grading system, holding the second place position hostage directly under the Host Club’s Kyouya Ootori. Once Tamaki transfers to Ouran, however, she gets knocked down to third, much to her displeasure. She becomes a foil for Tamaki in a sense, showing that her struggle and constant practice to gain knowledge will never be enough to beat the natural tendencies of her male counterparts. After checking the traditional genders of all of the names listed on the sheet for her class, I discovered that there was only one other girl on the page. Her position? Seventh place.

Ayame’s tale’s conclusion is a little bit painful to watch, as it is near a cliche at this point. It turns out that she actually loved Tamaki for a certain comment he made about her straight hair during their first meeting. Her hair is naturally wavy, leading to her having self-image issues in the face of her crush that lead her grades to drop just enough for Tamaki to take her spot. Her wavy hair being exposed by the rain, a breakdown of frustration, and a few compliments from Tamaki later, she discovers that she is beautiful no matter how she looks on the outside, and becomes a regular customer of Tamaki’s. She is petite, cisgender, heterosexual, and pale. The only reason we know that she continues attending the Host Club is because it is literally written into the final panels of the chapter. We never actually see her again in either rendition of the story.

The most famous ‘woman’ in all renditions of Ouran High School Host Club is Haruhi Fujioka. She is a first semester high school student. She is of the lower middle class. She lives with her father that, in every rendition of the story, is called a ‘tranny’ who works at the local ‘tranny bar’ (rather than addressing him as a drag queen at a drag bar). Her mother was a lawyer before her passing. She is attending Ouran Academy on a scholarship. Her hair is short, she needs glasses, and she can’t afford a uniform. She wears her father’s hand-me-down clothes and her grandfather’s hand-me-down glasses to save money. She’s blunt, book smart, and open minded. She’s a lot of things, but, somehow, she gets some of the worst treatment of the series. She is the reader’s insight into the author’s world; the character being exposed for expositional purposes, so to speak. For the sake of brevity, let’s walk through some key episodes of the anime (which is the story’s most well-known adaptation) and talk about what goes wrong in each one.

In the first episode of the series, “Starting Today, You Are a Host!”, we are introduced to Haruhi Fujioka, the protagonist of the story, who is simply looking for a quiet place to study, and, by mistake, stumbles across a club room in use by Ouran Academy’s Host Club. The members (specifically Tamaki, the series’ largest offender) proceed to insult Haruhi on monetary grounds, insert themselves into her personal space, and assume her gender identity and sexuality. After Haruhi drops an 8 million yen vase, the hosts (again, primarily Tamaki) begin to call Haruhi a dog and basically use her as a servant/errand runner. At one point, Tamaki calls Haruhi a ‘piglet’ in reference to her poor ‘servant’ status putting her beneath him. Later in the episode, Haruhi is revealed to be conventionally attractive, her wants are ignored as the hosts makeover her. Her hair is cut, a uniform is bought, and contacts are put in to make her fit the traditionally beauty standards of manhood (as, for the moment, some of the hosts are under the ruse that she is, in fact, biologically male and cisgender). Once this happens, all who attend the host club seem to treat Haruhi better. She is talked to by girls (which, many argue, is understandable, as she is now a host. My counter-argument is that the girls had to request Haruhi in the first place, something they likely would not have done before Haruhi’s involuntary makeover) and the hosts begin paying her real attention. Tamaki begins claiming Haruhi as ‘his own’ to other people, signalling that, to him, attractiveness is the primary trait that is needed to be on the same level as him, personality be damned. He also proceeds to invade her personal space without consent, which leads to her calling on Mori (another host) for assistance.

Once we hit the final moments of the episode, we find that Haruhi has gone to a changing room as her uniform has been soaked in the events of the episode’s climax. Tamaki, yet again invading personal space without consent, walks in with little to no warning on Haruhi changing, discovering her sex is female. He is shocked and embarrassed, reacting in a seemingly cute way to the discovery. Kyouya eventually comments on the predicament, laying out on the table the true message of the episode. “Could this possibly be the beginnings of love?” he asks the viewer, turning to the camera. He wipes over all of the harassment Tamaki has done to Haruhi, ignores what she really wants in the moment, and waters her character down to ‘love interest’. She is the pretty, feminine foil to Tamaki’s handsome, ‘persistent’ (read as; incessant harassment) personality. They are clearly ‘meant to be together,’ and the show makes it clear in that moment that they will be together whether she wants to be or not as the men in her life see it that way.

In the eighth episode, “The Sun, The Sea, and The Host Club!”, we find the most controversial scene of the series. Before we can get to that, however, we need to walk through the circumstances that lead us to it. The Host Club is on a trip to the beach (after all the men in Haruhi’s life argue about which swimsuit she should wear, of course), and the male hosts decide to figure out what Haruhi is afraid of via a game. The game is that whoever finds out what Haruhi is most afraid of gets pictures (taken and supplied by Haruhi’s father) of Haruhi in middle school (the more I rewatch these episodes, the more creepy things I realize are in them). After a long day with no results, Haruhi gets called up upon an overlook by some of the Host Club’s guests. As she makes her way up to spend time with them, some drunk men beat her there and begin harassing the guests. They grab the girls, asking them if it’s dull without any boys around and ignoring the girls’ pleas to stop. Haruhi, arriving upon the scene, throws a bucket of shells at one of the offenders, calmly asking them to go away. She stands her ground when one of them attacks back, allowing for one of the girls they were harassing to get away at her own expense. After some verbal abuse, Haruhi is thrown off the overlook into the water below, where Tamaki immediately goes in after her. The other hosts handle the assaulters, and, once Haruhi is proven to be safe, the berating begins. “Are you one of those?” asks Tamaki. “Actually a martial arts master, like Honey-senpai?” He grabs her, and goes on. “How could you think that you, a girl, by yourself, could do anything about those boys?!” After Haruhi explains that her actions were a split second decision and she didn’t have time to think, he yells at her, “Well, think about it, you idiot! You are a girl!”

Tamaki and the rest of the male hosts seem to be on the same page, insisting that Haruhi needs to apologize for her actions. Haruhi, on the other hand, does not see any wrong in what she did, which leads to some friction between herself and Tamaki. The two refuse to speak to each other until one apologizes to the other. At dinner, to avoid talking, Haruhi overeats to the point of making herself sick, which she notices only after being chastised again by the hosts sans Tamaki and Kyouya for her actions. After they request an apology from her, she finds that she needs to empty her stomach’s contents and runs to the nearest bedroom. She finds out that the room is, in fact, Kyouya’s, and that the two of them are now alone, prompting the series’s most controversial scene. Fans sometimes call it, “The Scene in the Dark.”

Haruhi apologizes to Kyouya on multiple grounds as he takes the time to lay out all the hassle she has caused him. When Haruhi offers to pay him back, he points out that he has far more money than her and that she is already in debt. He turns down the lights as he lays out her dilemma and brings up a new solution as he leers at her; why doesn’t she pay him back using her body? While she stands there, attempting to process what he’s said, Kyouya takes action. He grabs her arm. He throws her upon the bed. He straddles her, pins her to the bed, and tells her, bluntly, “You should rethink your own gullibility, that things have nothing to do with a person being a guy or a girl. You’ve made a mistake in leaving yourself so open.” He looks her in the eye and, in simple terms, lays out that he could take her. He has more money, more power, and, most prominently, a penis. Haruhi says that he is bluffing, and, luckily, he was. He gets off of her, and she comments that he is “nicer than she thought” for the experience he’s provided. Bisco Hatori, the creator of Ouran, drives home her message bluntly. Women are weak and should be protected by the men in their lives. They should be passive and, if they fail to be such, should immediately apologize. If a man decides to not sexually assault or rape you, he is nice. You should be thankful that he has the courtesy to not sexually abuse you. It’s legitimately terrifying that this is the message that is being sent out.

As salt in the wound, the very next scene is with Tamaki and Haruhi, with the latter cast as a scared little girl in the damsel in distress trope. She hides herself in the closet, curled in a ball, as the audience and Tamaki discover that Haruhi is scared of thunderstorms! She explains that she has always had to rely on herself as her mother is dead and her dad is constantly working. In response, Tamaki promises to take care of her from now on, she seems to come to a silent agreement to lean on the men in her life more, and the two have an emotional make up moment. Haruhi gets love and support from her friends again once she begins to lean on the men in her life and accept the help. I’ve seen other people argue that the message of the episode is that everyone needs to rely on others sometimes, which is a fair argument, but I can’t bring myself to agree the more I look at it. If it’s just about relying on others, why is there the scared little girl imagery? Why do they even emphasize Haruhi’s sex at all in this scenario if it’s not about that? Hatori knew what she was writing, and the message she sent out. She had a plethora of other ways to explore this theme, and she wouldn’t have written it this way unless she meant for it to be taken in a gender-biased manner.

I could go on, but I feel that I’ve explained my stance on the matter. Ouran High School Host Club is a classic anime in the anime community. A lot of people I know and that I’ve heard from in my life grew up with the show, and some still seek a romantic partner like one of the hosts. In all of the series’s adaptations, we find that certain themes remain prevalent. Women are meant to be pretty, submissive things that are interested in their male counterparts at all times. If you have your own interests, you are obsessive and crazy. If you like the same sex, you are against men. If you take a leadership position, you’re a nag. If you stand for what you think is right, you are a bother to the men around you. It’s scarily similar to what I’ve seen on social media. If you talk about sex too much, you’re a slut. If you talk about sex too little, you’re a prude. If you are too skinny, you’re on drugs, too fat, you have no impulse control. It seems that there is no ‘right’ woman to possibly be, in the fantasy that is Ouran or in the reality we face daily. We can only hope that, someday in the future, we can look back at Ouran and unanimously see it for what it is; a romanticized sexist daydream disguised as a teenage anime romantic comedy.

Works Cited

2400 (2011). Thoughts: The Merit Scene in Ouran. [online] Midnight Express. Available at: https://2400express.wordpress.com/2011/09/11/merit-scene-ouran/ [Accessed 11 Oct. 2018].

Adler, J. (2015). ‘Ouran High School Host Club’: Haruhi, Heteronormativity, and the Gender Binary | Bitch Flicks. [online] Btchflcks.com. Available at: http://www.btchflcks.com/2015/03/ouran-high-school-host-club-haruhi-heteronormativity-and-the-gender-binary.html#.W6qeFGhKjrc

Darlington, T. (2009). The Queering of Haruhi Fujioka: Cross-Dressing, Camp, and Commoner Culture in <cite> Ouran High School Host Club </cite>. [online] English.ufl.edu. Available at: http://www.english.ufl.edu/imagetext/archives/v4_3/darlington/

F. Innes IV, K. (n.d.). Benio Amakusa. [online] Absolute Anime. Available at: https://www.absoluteanime.com/ouran_high_school_host_club/benio [Accessed 11 Oct. 2018].

Hatori, B., RyoRca., Werry, J. and Caltsoudas, G. (2002). Ouran High School Host Club. Hakusensha, p.All.

Hurford, Emily. "Gender and Sexuality in Shoujo Manga: Undoing Heteronormative Expectations in Utena, Pet Shop of Horrors, and Angel Sanctuary." Electronic Thesis or Dissertation. Bowling Green State University, 2009. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. 04 Oct 2018.

Lark, M. (2015). Gender roles in Ouran. [online] Themorninglark.tumblr.com. Available at: http://themorninglark.tumblr.com/post/100669214865/gender-roles-in-ouran-hey-guys-sorry-your [Accessed 11 Oct. 2018].

Lark, M. (2015). Kyouya and that scene in the dark. [online] Themorninglark.tumblr.com. Available at: http://themorninglark.tumblr.com/post/100783759195/kyoya-and-that-scene-in-the-dark [Accessed 5 Oct. 2018].

Ogi, F. (2003). Female Subjectivity and Shoujo (Girls) Manga (Japanese Comics): Shoujo in Ladies' Comics and Young Ladies' Comics. The Journal of Popular Culture, 36(4), pp.780-803.

Ouran High School Host Club. (2006). [video] Directed by B. Hatori, T. Igarashi and Y. Enokido. Japan: Bones.

Ouran High School Host Club. (2011). [video] Directed by C. Han, Y. Tachibana and I. Natsuko. Japan: TBS.

SBS PopAsia HQ (2018). Votes are in: The top 100 greatest anime of all-time (as voted by you). [online] SBS PopAsia. Available at: https://www.sbs.com.au/popasia/blog/2017/10/12/votes-are-top-100-greatest-anime-all-time-voted-you [Accessed 11 Oct. 2018].

SJ Party (2017). [online] Random Media Analysis Thoughts On OHSHC. Available at: http://thesjtparty.com/post/162171016890/random-media-analysis-thoughts-on-ouran-high [Accessed 11 Oct. 2018].

Unknown (n.d.). Ambivalent sexism. [online] En.wikipedia.org. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambivalent_sexism [Accessed 11 Oct. 2018].

Unknown (n.d.). Anime Top 50 Most Popular - Anime News Network:W. [online] Animenewsnetwork.com. Available at: https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/ratings-anime.php?top50=popular [Accessed 11 Oct. 2018].

Unknown (2018). the definition of benevolent sexism. [online] www.dictionary.com. Available at: https://www.dictionary.com/browse/benevolent-sexism [Accessed 11 Oct. 2018].

Unknown (2018). Otaku. [online] En.wikipedia.org. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otaku [Accessed 11 Oct. 2018].

Unknown (2018). Ouran High School Host Club on Crunchyroll!. [online] Crunchyroll. Available at: https://www.crunchyroll.com/ouran-high-school-host-club [Accessed 11 Oct. 2018].

Unknown (n.d.). Renge Houshakuji. [online] Ouran High School Host Club Wiki. Available at: http://ouran.wikia.com/wiki/Renge_Houshakuji [Accessed 11 Oct. 2018].

Unknown (2018). Stream & Watch Ouran High School Host Club Online - Sub & Dub. [online] Funimation.com. Available at: https://www.funimation.com/shows/ouran-high-school-host-club/ [Accessed 11 Oct. 2018].

Wings, S. (2018). Ouran High School Host Club’s Infamous Episode 8: A Study on Rape Culture. [online] Pixels and Panels [ A Game x Manga Blog]. Available at: https://soaringwingsblog.wordpress.com/2012/10/04/ouran-high-school-host-clubs-infamous-episode-8-a-study-on-rape-culture/ [Accessed 4 Oct. 2018]

#ouran host club #ouran hshc #ohshc #ouran koukou host club #ouran academy #essay #research paper #final paper #gwst #i promise that i’m not trying to rip this series to shreds or something #it just happened to be what i wanted to rewatch at the time and i decided to kill two birds with one stone so to speak

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darkpoisonouslove · 4 years

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“The Battle for Magix” Thoughts

I am pretty hyped about this because of how good the previous special was and because the events it is supposed to cover are my favorite part of season 1 of Winx Club. This should be intense due to the nature of the events it will have to depict so I am anxious to see how they’ve done. Fingers crossed that this will deliver!

- I am actually pretty glad we didn’t see that conversation between Winx about going to get Bloom because it was annoying to me (and it wouldn’t make sense considering they never got punished for the Day of the Royals). Besides, this works well even without it since Bloom didn’t tell Winx she was leaving so it was only natural for Stella to go look for her.

- I like the lack of dialogue as they enter Alfea. Appropriate with the heaviness of the situation and also removed that line of Stella’s about “this could be the end of the world”. Considering what we’ve seen from the Trix already, I think the threat that they are is coming through even without being spelled out for the audience.

- Well, the conversation with Faragonda was trimmed significantly but I actually don’t mind. It got the important bits in and I think the way Faragonda’s reasoning from keeping this from Bloom was worded a bit better here than in the original. Plus, they already thought of contacting Griffin which nobody thought of in the original. Not that they’ll have the time to do it but still.

- There were some weird pauses in the scene with the Trix fighting Griffin and almost all the dialogue was completely abolished for some reason. Also, I was going to screech at Griffin’s initial reaction to seeing them because they aren’t supposed to be expelled in this but from her words, I guess she was just outraged that they’d been nowhere to be found the last... At least two days? I suppose that could work but the other witches’ reactions didn’t make much sense. I like the way Icy’s ice encased Griffin in this one, though. It looks much more solid than it did in the original. Also, the fact that Icy totally steps on the ice in her heels that almost says “Yeah, she can walk on ice in stilettos and still be regal as fuck.” XD

- “I am not a fairy. I’m not anything anymore.” Aw, baby no! What have these specials done to me? I actually feel pretty bad for Bloom?! Now there’s a surprise. I guess I just feel that the way her guilt is portrayed is realistic to me and I also wish that she wouldn’t dismiss herself like that. She was something before she discovered she has powers so this is not true. But please, tell me they won’t be going to Domino!

- Why did Riven have to go to Cloud Tower if he and Darcy can communicate from afar? But besides that, I LOVE what they have done to this scene! I love how Riven had no idea why they were in Griffin’s office and the way he instantly was like “Well, I’m fucked. Everything is wrong.” This is so much better than the original! And the confrontation was intense even if it was a bit shorter than it was originally.

- Eh, I hope they’re gonna say something more about the Army of Darkness/Decay. They aren’t even calling it that and I will be disappointed if they don’t say it is made up of everything that has rotted in the past 1000 years because that was one of the best ideas I have ever seen.

- Why were the creatures attacking Knut? Or was it that he was simply in the way? I like that Saladin wasn’t that suspicious of him in this one but they really sped through this scene. There was hardly any room to breathe and the tension could’ve used a few more moments to build. Also, Knut’s sudden change of heart was indeed very sudden since we never saw him past the first special. In s1 there was a bit of a gradual change in him before he decided to leave the Trix. Oh, and the mention of his mother that he wanted to protect wasn’t in this which was sad because it gave him character, some kind of miniature backstory and motivation.

- Oh, they actually kinda prepared for the battle? And Saladin gave a motivational speech that resonated with the Specialists? Instead of, you know, “whoever survives passes the semester”? I am on board with that. But damn, I guess there is no barricading yourself when the things just appear from the ground. Also, I am living for this guy:

- Ah, I see mini Ogron is also here:

- Knut’s save was cool but there is no end to the creatures. I also liked Saladin using his magic but Red Fountain still fell. However, I feel like that will prompt Bloom to go to Cloud Tower to look for her powers so no Domino. Yay!

- *screams* The scene where Diaspro comes to take Sky from Red Fountain was missing! I sure hope that means that she was the one to dump his sorry ass! You go, girl! You deserve better! (I just hope they won’t say something else later on. Leave me in my land of make-believe, will you?)

- Why does everyone have flames in their eyes? I get it that the Trix have the Dragon Fire now but what’s your excuse about Faragonda? I know the situation is dire and they are all “aflame” with both worry and determination but chill with the “Eyes on Fire”.

- “Hey, kiddo”? XDDD I’m dying. I never thought I would hear Griffin say that. I like this scene, though. I like that there was some student-teacher interaction, especially since Riven isn’t Griffin’s student. And him wanting to help her both with getting out and blaming herself was just adorable. They have trimmed this one a bit from its original, too, but I get why that is necessary. And they removed that detail about Griffin using magic to help Riven pick the lock which has always annoyed me so much. Are you seriously telling me that Riven can’t pick a lock on his own?!?!?! Really?

- Well, I’m glad they removed the “Riven is the living Red Fountain manual” part. And they showed him falling from the window? Nice! But omg!!!!!!!!! Are you seriously telling me Sky just sensed that Riven was in trouble?!?!?!?! That is, like, only the basis of the true love/soulmates connection. I said what I said. Or rather the writers said what they said.

- Sky just called Bloom a lunatic. Great! I am a bit sulky about the fact that the tunnels between the schools were only mentioned now (since they cut all the times they were used before). It would have made this smoother and not seeming like it just popped out of nowhere. But awwww! at Stella being so ready to go with Bloom. I just don’t like that we still haven’t seen the rest of Winx this episode.

- I kinda agree with Stella on Knut getting his shit together. 14 near death experiences in 30 minutes is A LOT.

- Bloom’s Earth powers are coming in again! It is said that we won’t have them dubbed as such here (since I think that happened while they were on Domino in s1).

- Okay, but the fact that they skipped the trip to Domino does one big disservice to all this and that is that Bloom and Sky originally reconciled on the way back from Domino and here that never happened.

- Ugh, again with the “we’ve been friends with this person for years but we can’t recognize their voice for some fucking reason”. I hate it when they do that in movies/shows. Unless you have a cognitive condition, you should be able to recognize people’s voices.

- I can’t decide which is dumber - the original s1 “my cape is aerodynamic so I survived the fall’ or this one’s “it was just luck that he didn’t break anything”.

- Prince “I’m glad to have you back” Sky aka Riven’s boyfriend. I don’t make the rules here.

- Didn’t Bloom say that the Trix wouldn’t expect them? Because they sure look like they expected them.

- Riven deliberately went looking for Griffin? I like that change! And it actually makes sense.

- Well, he found her. Three seconds later. This right here doesn’t make sense because she would’ve had to have been very close in order to arrive to the room so soon after Bloom and the rest did. Not to mention that there was none of the dialogue here. They really butchered that scene. And removed some of the next ones. Though, I guess they weren’t that crucial.

- At least they removed the “enter the portal in alphabetical order” part that was just stupid. But I still don’t like the fact that Bloom decided to stay with Sky (it is kinda out of place since they haven’t resolved their relationship drama here but they act like they have and I know that is not the most important thing right now but still) and both Griffin and Stella allowed it. This is stupid from a tactical point of view. If Bloom gets caught, they won’t have a chance to stop the Army of Decay without her to get her powers back. And Stella just left her behind? Yeah, right.

- Where were these magical blasts coming from? The Trix were still back in Cloud Tower but that magic appeared to come from the front. That was kinda nonsensical. But damn, what a crash.

- Wasn’t it dark when the witches entered the portal? Why are they only arriving now? The idea of a portal is to transport you instantly, you know? Bloom and Stella got from Alfea to CT faster on foot.

- Sky even sounds like an asshole. Like, the tone of his voice is asshole-ish. And he called Bloom crazy again. I cannot stand him.

- Why didn’t they bring Mirta to Faragonda or Griselda? I am sure that they could have reversed the spell Icy put on her. She didn’t even have Dragon Fire back then. That spell can’t be so strong.

- “They’re ganging up on us”? You destroyed Red Fountain and took over Cloud Tower. It was only logical that they would all gather at Alfea. What else were they supposed to do?

- At least they got rid of “the Invisible Road” that made no sense at all.

- Am I supposed to root for Sky and even be impressed by him? Yeah, I don’t think so.

- They also removed the first wave of attack against Alfea. I know they don’t have much time but that’s kinda disappointing. Well, nothing to do about it.

- Well, the crown of Domino is not Bloom’s birthright. It is Daphne’s. But now that she’s more or less dead, Bloom is the only living heir of Domino that is left. There is a difference, though.

- I wish Bloom would have left Sky to deal with it on his own. And yes, I know he couldn’t have.

- Darcy and Stormy never gave Icy their Dragon Fire in this one, though. So they should have been able to break out of Griffin and Faragonda’s prison since they still had the most powerful magic in the universe. Come on, people! And Darcy waited until that tornado was right in front of her to start running instead of getting out of its way the moment she saw it was out of control and heading in her direction.

- Oh, damn! There’s some real fury in the battle between Icy and Bloom. From both sides. But it’s obvious that ice can’t defeat fire. As long as Bloom has her flames, Icy can’t defeat her.

- Okay, this was actually more intense than the original. And it was the wave of Dragon Fire energy coming off of Bloom that destroyed the monsters instead of them just disappearing once the Trix were defeated? That was a solid change.

- What are those shackles that Darcy and Stormy are wearing? Those look kinda... painful.

- “Here you go, Miss Faragonda”? Did Bloom just give Icy to Faragonda like “now you can handle this from here”? Omg, what a power move!

- That sentencing them to Lightrock scene was kinda... meh. I mean, I think I prefer the original. This just had a weird feeling to it. Also, why is Icy’s makeup running? Did Bloom’s flames make it melt off or what?

- Bloom and Sky are kissing? Why? They never resolved the Diaspro drama. I hate this part.

- They dropped the part where Bloom was looking for her origins. She still has no idea what happened to her parents and she didn’t even think about it. I get how that went to the background once the Dragon Fire was stolen from her but they should have brought it up in that last part when she was telling Sky that she was thinking about everything. She sure wasn’t thinking about her parents. And it should have occurred to her after meeting with Daphne.

Well, idk if it is the fact that some of the battle scenes were missing or that they really cut down on some of the others, but I didn’t really feel it in this episode. And Musa, Flora and Tecna were barely in it (but they still wasted time on the ugly transformation sequences). Objectively speaking, this had almost all the elements necessary for the plot to come to a logical ending. There were two or three huge things that were left out that really make some of this nonsensical but, overall, I guess it was okay. I didn’t really like it as much as the previous one and I can’t even say why. Some of the original feel of tension was lost to me, I suppose. Let’s see what the last special will deliver.

#winx club #winx bloom #winx stella #trix #winx icy #winx darcy #winx stormy #winx riven #anti sky #winx griffin #winx faragonda #winx saladin #winx specials #the battle for magix #thoughts #review

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calliecat93 · 5 years

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Your top 5 most misunderstood characters in your opinion and why?

Huh... that is a REALLY good question Anon. Like sometimes the misunderstanding is just something stupid that gets overblown in fandom, but... hmm... okay I’m going off the top of my head here so there are probably better examples out there. But here’s my picks in no particular order:

1. Donatello (TMNT 2012)

If anyone has followed my blog since my 2k12 phase, you all already know what I’m going to say. During mainly Season 2, but it was kinda there in Season One, Donnie got a TON of stalker/creeper accusations because of his crush on April. Now I won’t lie, there ARE good reasons why and looking back now, I think I was too harsh and missing the point when I argued back. I am now more understanding of these kinds of problems and why so many were against it and I apologize if I came off as bitchy or aggressive in my defense posts. Nevertheless, my stance still stands. Donnie is an idiot teenager in love, bot a stalker. His motivations were overall well-intentioned, if carried out poorly. Fortunately by Season 3, this more or less died but since I spent about over a year arguing about it, it still stands out in my mind.

2. Martin Kratt (Wild Kratts)

Okay, it’s surprisingly hard for me to think of misunderstood characters cause as I said, it’s mainly for stupid reasons. This one is very minor, but I thought of it. The WK fandom is usually overall on the same page, hence why it’s the most tolerable fandom I’m in. Now Martin is a very happy-go-locky character, most characters in the show are. But he’s normally characterized as ditzier and well... dumber than his brother Chris. This is because Chris is the more logical thinker, but the truth is they are pretty equally intelligent. Martin isn’t as logical and straightforward with his creature knowledge, but he knows just as much as his little brother. He’s more emotionally smart and seems to have a better understanding of a creatures behaviors and emotional thinking. In short, Martin isn’t stupid. Reckless and short-sighted maybe, but so is Chris so...

3. Elsa (Frozen)

I’m gonna get a lot of heat for this one. Elsa has become very beloved since the movie came out, especially due to Let it Go. A song about accepting your gifts and allowing yourself to be set free. Indeed the song and the sequence that accompanied it are amazing... and are very bad in context. Elsa isn’t a bad character. I sympathize with her a lot, but IDK if I’d call her empowering. At least not until the end. While Elsa accepting her powers is a good thing and healthier than her previous mindset, it’s STILL unhealthy. She’s still isolating herself form everyone. She’s still living in fear. While she didn’t know about the storm until Anna showed up,s he was still abandoning her sister and a kingdom that was counting on her. It isn’t until the end when Anna more or less died for her that Elsa finally faced her problems. I hope the sequel will do a better job of letting Elsa become a confident character, but as it stands in Frozen she is nowhere near as great as she gets made out to be imo.

4. Professor Snape (Harry Potter)

Ho boy, this one. I was struggling to think of one when THIS popped into my brain. I hate Snape. I hate him so much. But SO MANY think that he is this sympathetic character who ultimately did nothing wrong and did all that he did because of his love for Lily. Which yes, he can warrant sympathy and him acting as a double agent was a very brave act that in the end helped the good guys grately. But... Snape is still an absolute asshole. Just look at his treatment of Harry, or really many of the kids. He’s outright rude an insulting to Hermione, a child, and I think int he books he was to Neville as well. But Harry? He is harsh, cruel, and cold to this kid because he’s the son of his former crush and his former bully. Look, he can hate James forever, but Harry did NOTHING to him. He is a kid who never even knew his parents and Snape KNEW THIS. If he truly loved Lily, he’d have at least been decent to the kid because he understood his loss. But not, he treat shim like dirt. He also got Lupin fired because he was friends with James by outing him as a werewolf, which was just terrible in so many ways. Also he never got over hating muggle borns from what I can tell, he switched because he was in love with a woman who he himself drove off. Yet we’re supposed to hate James more, nvm that he changed his ways by the time he and Lily married and wasn’t a racist. Sorry Rowling, but Snape is a terrible character imo and while his double agent act was indeed brave, I will never understand why so many try to paint him as a character who did no wrong when he was without question an asshole.

5. Professor Ozpin/Ozma (RWBY)

I saved this for last because it’s the most recent n my mind. I already wrote about this yesterday, but... man do many demonize this poor guy. Because Ozpin has had to make crappy decisions and has a tendency for secret keeping, so many wanted to paint him as secretly evil. Even moreso than Salem. Because... IDK, the male character always has to be terrible? Now Ozpin is a shady character, but even when all this started in V3, I always saw it as him trying to do what was best for the greater good and he clearly didn’t like doing those things. There were never any signs to me that he was evil or using people as sacrificial lambs without giving a damn. He does, and that’s what makes him interesting. He has to do all these questionable things that he himself hates because if he doesn’t, he risks the Gods wiping out the world. Essentially, many want to use Divide, the VILLAIN SONG that paints Ozpin as this terrible person from the VILLAINS POV, and use it as fact. Truth is, Ozpin is a regular guy who got given an impossible task and sadly to fulfill that task, it involves making the harsh choices that no one wants to make. But even after that revelation, so many still want to stick to the ‘he’s a heartless bastard using children soldiers’ crap and accuse the writing of being bad because they didn’t get what they want. Ozpin is a very complex character, and people need to accept that instead of clinging onto him having to be 100% good or 100% bad. Humans don’t work that way.

#I surprisingly couldn't think fo many #there's a lot of whining when it comes to interpretation #but overall the majority I see on the same page #Anonymous #ask

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