#like i know this is a fictional character but the response here is so indicative of this much broader issue that makes me want to scream

[derinwrites]

The Three Commandments

The thing about writing is this: you gotta start in medias res, to hook your readers with action immediately. But readers aren’t invested in people they know nothing about, so start with a framing scene that instead describes the characters and the stakes. But those scenes are boring, so cut straight to the action, after opening with a clever quip, but open in the style of the story, and try not to be too clever in the opener, it looks tacky. One shouldn’t use too many dialogue tags, it’s distracting; but you can use ‘said’ a lot, because ‘said’ is invisible, but don’t use ‘said’ too much because it’s boring and uninformative – make sure to vary your dialogue tags to be as descriptive as possible, except don’t do that because it’s distracting, and instead rely mostly on ‘said’ and only use others when you need them. But don’t use ‘said’ too often; you should avoid dialogue tags as much as you possibly can and indicate speakers through describing their reactions. But don’t do that, it’s distracting.

Having a viewpoint character describe themselves is amateurish, so avoid that. But also be sure to describe your viewpoint character so that the reader can picture them. And include a lot of introspection, so we can see their mindset, but don’t include too much introspection, because it’s boring and takes away from the action and really bogs down the story, but also remember to include plenty of introspection so your character doesn’t feel like a robot. And adverbs are great action descriptors; you should have a lot of them, but don’t use a lot of adverbs; they’re amateurish and bog down the story. And

The reason new writers are bombarded with so much outright contradictory writing advice is that these tips are conditional. It depends on your style, your genre, your audience, your level of skill, and what problems in your writing you’re trying to fix. Which is why, when I’m writing, I tend to focus on what I call my Three Commandments of Writing. These are the overall rules; before accepting any writing advice, I check whether it reinforces one of these rules or not. If not, I ditch it.

1: Thou Shalt Have Something To Say

What’s your book about?

I don’t mean, describe to me the plot. I mean, why should anybody read this? What’s its thesis? What’s its reason for existence, from the reader’s perspective? People write stories for all kinds of reasons, but things like ‘I just wanted to get it out of my head’ are meaningless from a reader perspective. The greatest piece of writing advice I ever received was you putting words on a page does not obligate anybody to read them. So why are the words there? What point are you trying to make?

The purpose of your story can vary wildly. Usually, you’ll be exploring some kind of thesis, especially if you write genre fiction. Curse Words, for example, is an exploration of self-perpetuating power structures and how aiming for short-term stability and safety can cause long-term problems, as well as the responsibilities of an agitator when seeking to do the necessary work of dismantling those power structures. Most of the things in Curse Words eventually fold back into exploring this question. Alternately, you might just have a really cool idea for a society or alien species or something and want to show it off (note: it can be VERY VERY HARD to carry a story on a ‘cool original concept’ by itself. You think your sky society where they fly above the clouds and have no rainfall and have to harvest water from the clouds below is a cool enough idea to carry a story: You’re almost certainly wrong. These cool concept stories work best when they are either very short, or working in conjunction with exploring a theme). You might be writing a mystery series where each story is a standalone mystery and the point is to present a puzzle and solve a fun mystery each book. Maybe you’re just here to make the reader laugh, and will throw in anything you can find that’ll act as framing for better jokes. In some genres, readers know exactly what they want and have gotten it a hundred times before and want that story again but with different character names – maybe you’re writing one of those. (These stories are popular in romance, pulp fantasy, some action genres, and rather a lot of types of fanfiction).

Whatever the main point of your story is, you should know it by the time you finish the first draft, because you simply cannot write the second draft if you don’t know what the point of the story is. (If you write web serials and are publishing the first draft, you’ll need to figure it out a lot faster.)

Once you know what the point of your story is, you can assess all writing decisions through this lens – does this help or hurt the point of my story?

2: Thou Shalt Respect Thy Reader’s Investment

Readers invest a lot in a story. Sometimes it’s money, if they bought your book, but even if your story is free, they invest time, attention, and emotional investment. The vast majority of your job is making that investment worth it. There are two factors to this – lowering the investment, and increasing the payoff. If you can lower your audience’s suspension of disbelief through consistent characterisation, realistic (for your genre – this may deviate from real realism) worldbuilding, and appropriately foreshadowing and forewarning any unexpected rules of your world. You can lower the amount of effort or attention your audience need to put into getting into your story by writing in a clear manner, using an entertaining tone, and relying on cultural touchpoints they understand already instead of pushing them in the deep end into a completely unfamiliar situation. The lower their initial investment, the easier it is to make the payoff worth it.

Two important notes here: one, not all audiences view investment in the same way. Your average reader views time as a major investment, but readers of long fiction (epic fantasies, web serials, et cetera) often view length as part of the payoff. Brandon Sanderson fans don’t grab his latest book and think “Uuuugh, why does it have to be so looong!” Similarly, some people like being thrown in the deep end and having to put a lot of work into figuring out what the fuck is going on with no onboarding. This is one of science fiction’s main tactics for forcibly immersing you in a future world. So the valuation of what counts as too much investment varies drastically between readers.

Two, it’s not always the best idea to minimise the necessary investment at all costs. Generally, engagement with art asks something of us, and that’s part of the appeal. Minimum-effort books do have their appeal and their place, in the same way that idle games or repetitive sitcoms have their appeal and their place, but the memorable stories, the ones that have staying power and provide real value, are the ones that ask something of the reader. If they’re not investing anything, they have no incentive to engage, and you’re just filling in time. This commandment does not exist to tell you to try to ask nothing of your audience – you should be asking something of your audience. It exists to tell you to respect that investment. Know what you’re asking of your audience, and make sure that the ask is less than the payoff.

The other way to respect the investment is of course to focus on a great payoff. Make those characters socially fascinating, make that sacrifice emotionally rending, make the answer to that mystery intellectually fulfilling. If you can make the investment worth it, they’ll enjoy your story. And if you consistently make their investment worth it, you build trust, and they’ll be willing to invest more next time, which means you can ask more of them and give them an even better payoff. Audience trust is a very precious currency and this is how you build it – be worth their time.

But how do you know what your audience does and doesn’t consider an onerous investment? And how do you know what kinds of payoff they’ll find rewarding? Easy – they self-sort. Part of your job is telling your audience what to expect from you as soon as you can, so that if it’s not for them, they’ll leave, and if it is, they’ll invest and appreciate the return. (“Oh but I want as many people reading my story as possible!” No, you don’t. If you want that, you can write paint-by-numbers common denominator mass appeal fic. What you want is the audience who will enjoy your story; everyone else is a waste of time, and is in fact, detrimental to your success, because if they don’t like your story then they’re likely to be bad marketing. You want these people to bounce off and leave before you disappoint them. Don’t try to trick them into staying around.) Your audience should know, very early on, what kind of an experience they’re in for, what the tone will be, the genre and character(s) they’re going to follow, that sort of thing. The first couple of chapters of Time to Orbit: Unknown, for example, are a micro-example of the sorts of mysteries that Aspen will be dealing with for most of the book, as well as a sample of their character voice, the way they approach problems, and enough of their background, world and behaviour for the reader to decide if this sort of story is for them. We also start the story with some mildly graphic medical stuff, enough physics for the reader to determine the ‘hardness’ of the scifi, and about the level of physical risk that Aspen will be putting themselves at for most of the book. This is all important information for a reader to have.

If you are mindful of the investment your readers are making, mindful of the value of the payoff, and honest with them about both from the start so that they can decide whether the story is for them, you can respect their investment and make sure they have a good time.

3: Thou Shalt Not Make Thy World Less Interesting

This one’s really about payoff, but it’s important enough to be its own commandment. It relates primarily to twists, reveals, worldbuilding, and killing off storylines or characters. One mistake that I see new writers make all the time is that they tank the engagement of their story by introducing a cool fun twist that seems so awesome in the moment and then… is a major letdown, because the implications make the world less interesting.

“It was all a dream” twists often fall into this trap. Contrary to popular opinion, I think these twists can be done extremely well. I’ve seen them done extremely well. The vast majority of the time, they’re very bad. They’re bad because they take an interesting world and make it boring. The same is true of poorly thought out, shocking character deaths – when you kill a character, you kill their potential, and if they’re a character worth killing in a high impact way then this is always a huge sacrifice on your part. Is it worth it? Will it make the story more interesting? Similarly, if your bad guy is going to get up and gloat ‘Aha, your quest was all planned by me, I was working in the shadows to get you to acquire the Mystery Object since I could not! You have fallen into my trap! Now give me the Mystery Object!’, is this a more interesting story than if the protagonist’s journey had actually been their own unmanipulated adventure? It makes your bad guy look clever and can be a cool twist, but does it mean that all those times your protagonist escaped the bad guy’s men by the skin of his teeth, he was being allowed to escape? Are they retroactively less interesting now?

Whether these twists work or not will depend on how you’ve constructed the rest of your story. Do they make your world more or less interesting?

If you have the audience’s trust, it’s permissible to make your world temporarily less interesting. You can kill off the cool guy with the awesome plan, or make it so that the Chosen One wasn’t actually the Chosen One, or even have the main character wake up and find out it was all a dream, and let the reader marinate in disappointment for a little while before you pick it up again and turn things around so that actually, that twist does lead to a more interesting story! But you have to pick it up again. Don’t leave them with the version that’s less interesting than the story you tanked for the twist. The general slop of interest must trend upward, and your sacrifices need to all lead into the more interesting world. Otherwise, your readers will be disappointed, and their experience will be tainted.

Whenever I’m looking at a new piece of writing advice, I view it through these three rules. Is this plot still delivering on the book’s purpose, or have I gone off the rails somewhere and just stared writing random stuff? Does making this character ‘more relateable’ help or hinder that goal? Does this argument with the protagonists’ mother tell the reader anything or lead to any useful payoff; is it respectful of their time? Will starting in medias res give the audience an accurate view of the story and help them decide whether to invest? Does this big twist that challenges all the assumptions we’ve made so far imply a world that is more or less interesting than the world previously implied?

Hopefully these can help you, too.

[brookheimer]

……starting to think a lot of you do not know what the word empathetic means

#i have a lot to say about this but it is going to have to wait a few days until i’m no longer up to my ears in work #but here’s a little thing to tide you over: empathy does not a good person make #a capacity for empathy is in no way a capacity let alone willingness for good #empathy and intense horrendous cruelty are not mutually exclusive #if you think that evil comes in a single form if you think evil is just pure callousness coldness spot-it-a-mile-away inability to love #then no fucking wonder people keep doing evil terrible things like in real life and your response is always ?! W hat ?! #shocking: terrible evil people are still people. they are not robots of pure malice. they were once babies with coloring books #that’s not saying we should feel bad for them or anything at all!!! just that you guys seem allergic to acknowledging that it doesn’t take a #category 5 sociopath to commit an atrocity #everyone go read arendt’s banality of evil and go watch act of killing by joshua oppenheimer #no wonder trump keeps winning. y’all don’t view his supporters as people with any qualities other than Racism #like i know this is a fictional character but the response here is so indicative of this much broader issue that makes me want to scream #i get it. you’ve lived in a bubble your whole life and never interacted with people vastly different from yourself and had to acknowledge #their personhood as much as their viewpoints disgusted you. talk to a conservative once in your life it might be mind blowing #not bc you’ll be like WOAH :o THEYRE NOT SO BAD AFTER ALL! no!!!!! because they ARE that bad and they are also regular normal people!!!!! #you are all so incapable of viewing anyone you dislike as having internal lives! christ! #this is how trump won! how do you not see this! #seriously go watch act of killing go watch anwar who murdered hundreds of people in cold blood warmly scold his grandchild for poking a duck #too hard. like the most horrifying part of horrible ppl who commit atrocities is that they aren’t caricatures of evil #we wish they were it would make it easier to understand #agh i’m rambling i’ll shut up #god watch ppl be like Uh why are you defending trump/genocide/fascists etc #dumb fucks i’m telling you the most terrifying part about those people is that they are actually people that’s what makes it so hard to #comprehend bc atrocities are so much easier to swallow when you can pretend a force of pure evil is behind it #okokokok good night lol

[delulu4anime]

Pairings: Illumi x fem!reader

Word count: 5.2k+

Warnings: Breeding (Lol it’s Illumi, it would be against the law not to add a breeding kink), mating press, PIV, slow burn, brief mentions of death (Illumi eventually shows you his crazy side), time skips. Please let me know if I missed anything.

A/N: MINORS DO NOT INTERACT FOR THE LOVE OF HADES. I started rewatching hunter x hunter and I forgot how much I adore Illumi. This man has me on my knees so quickly even tho he is TOXIC. Stayed up till 8 am writing this story about this sexy bug eyed man cause he deserves it. Yet another fan fiction where I listened to a song and went oh shit it’s this character. Not proof read. Enjoy!

Currently listening to: In the Middle of the night by Ellen Duhé- “I’m getting what is mine, you gon get yours.”

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

You took a deep breath as you stared at your reflection in the bathroom mirror. The bags under your eyes indicated that you had gone a few days with little to no sleep. You couldn't remember the last time you got a good nights rest especially with the impending occasion coming up. There was a light knock at the door and with the turn of the knob your door was opened. Your mother cheerfully walked into the bathroom all dressed up for tonight's dinner. Your eyes drifted to your room which had been disturbed with the evening sunlight pouring, curtains you could've sworn were closed before you dragged yourself in here.

"Darling you really should open those curtains more often. It feels like a morgue every time I come in here," She huffed out.

Ah, so she took it upon herself to open them.

"I brought the necklace I wore on the night of my engagement dinner." She said turning her attention to the dark blue velvet box, setting it gently on the counter.

She quickly frowned upon seeing the state you were in.

"Why haven't you gotten ready yet? You don't look at all delighted; you know how important this dinner is tonight! We've waited twenty years for-"

"I know mother." You quickly said trying to save yourself from the lecture that would no doubt make your family late to the dinner if she rambled on.

You met her strict gaze in the mirror and mumbled an apology as you tucked a strand of hair behind your ear. Her face softened as she walked over to you; her hands finding their way to your shoulders.

"Please try to understand this will make both our families stronger. You were practically raised as a Zoldyck, but we need it to be official." Your mother said as you looked at her reflection in the mirror.

"I grew and trained with Milluki," You said as you shrugged her hands off your shoulders. "Shouldn't I be marrying him instead? I know nothing about Illumi."

You watched in the reflection the way your mother rolled her eyes clearly displeased with your response.

"You are well aware of our agreement that the eldest daughter goes to the eldest Zoldyck son. Honestly darling you act as if this is the end of the world? Your father and I knew nothing about one another and we turned out just fine. Now please get ready, we wouldn't want to keep your husband to be waiting anymore than he already has!" She exclaimed as she made her way out of the bathroom.

You knew that your parents had an arranged marriage like their parents before them. You've lost count of the times your mother would tell you stories about how your father wasn't who she chose to marry but that didn't mean that he didn't eventually become the love of her life. They built an entire life together which lead to the successful artillery business they ran and you. You knew the ties your family had with the Zoldyck's had been strictly business but now that you were of age it meant that bond would be taken from business to family. No matter what your parents told you this was nothing but another business deal to you.

You hadn't always dreaded being married to the oldest of the famous assassins. In fact you recall on several occasions Milluki teasing you for getting lost in thought and scribbling Illumi's name over and over again when you should've been studying up on jobs you'd taken on. However, despite training day and night with Milluki for years you had only laid your eyes on Illumi twice. You were around nine years old when you saw him for the first time. You and Milluki were were practicing ren when Illumi came home from a successful training mission at Heaven's Arena.

You couldn't take your eyes off the way he moved so effortlessly; you punched Milluki for teasing you for staring at his brother for longer than needed. The second time you finally came face to face with Illumi at the age of thirteen. You had learned you were a transmitter with your speciality being in poisons. Although you had successful learned how to use nen Silva knew you had a long way to go before you'd be able to use it flawlessly. He wanted to teach you the important lesson on when to back down from an opponent where success wasn't guaranteed.

You knew Illumi was stronger than you and Milluki combined but you refused to let him believe you were weak. After all you had been training day and night with all the toxins you could get your hands on. You cringed at the memory of Illumi looking down at your defeated body, you groaned as you held onto your side only to look up to meet his emotionless eyes.

"This is all you've been able to accomplish? You are the weakest out of us all. You won't be much use to me when we marry. Train harder or I'll kill you." He said flatly as you watched him turn to walk away not missing the way your heart skipped a beat.

You made a promise to yourself then to get stronger even though you didn't have much of a choice. Not only would you be a disgrace to your family but you'd pay for it with your life. Now at the age of twenty it had been seven years since you had seen Illumi and you dreaded it. You didn't trust your mind or your body around him; all logically thinking out the window when he was near. Although you'd gotten stronger and the training you completed with Mulluki had paid off part of you felt you'd never be enough for Illumi.

Not smart enough.

Not strong enough.

Not pretty enough.

You rolled your eyes knowing you were stalling at this point because this engagement was going to happen whether you liked it or not. And with that you started to get ready for the dinner with your future husband and family in law. Once you showered you wrapped a towel around yourself, walking back to your mirror to quickly do your makeup and hair. You carefully put on your black octavia dress, making sure not to ruin your work. You opened the box your mother had left behind and ran your fingertips over the smooth texture of the pearls. You removed the necklace and put it on yourself. The cool pearls making contact with your warm skin caused you to shiver.

Here goes nothing.

The flight to Kukuroo Mountain was about an hour long; you stared out the window as your parent's reminded you to be on your best behavior as if you were a child. You knew what the Zoldyck's expected of you so you chose to nod every once in a while as if you are paying attention, to give your parents the peace of mind. Before you knew it you had arrived to the testing gate and passed through it with ease. You reached your hand out to pet Mike as he bent down to receive your affection. You and your parents made your way up to the butlers quarters where they escorted you to the Zoldyck mansion. The memories seemed to flood back once you set foot inside. From all the times you ran up and down the halls playing hide and seek with Killua to nagging Milluki to get out of his room for once and train with you. You couldn't help but genuinely smile as you passed by the many portraits of the Zolydck family on the way to the banquet hall. Your parents pointing out the few paintings you were in when you were younger, voicing their joy about how tonight would officially make you apart of the family. As tradition you were seated at the end of the elegant dinning table; you ran your fingertips over the fine wood as you looked to see those around you. Your parents sat to the left of you while the Zoldyck's sat at the right. You sheepishly waved at Milluki who scoffed at you and looked else where. You couldn't help but pout at your childhood friend. Silvia took notice and leaned closer to you.

"He envy's Illumi." He said.

You paused for a moment then looked back at Milluki with wide eyes. Jealous of Illumi? For being engaged to you? You shook your head at the thought of the hidden feelings Milluki had for you.

"He shouldn't." You mumble as you look over to the empty seat next to you.

"Of all the day's to be late!" Kikyo hissed.

The butlers began bringing out courses of the meal out. You were able to start eating when you felt a presence causing you to look to your left towards a door leading into the banquet hall. That's when you saw him. You felt yourself exhale a shaky breath as he made his way over to you. His hair was much longer than the last time you had seen him, he'd gotten taller, and more toned. Yet his dark eyes remained the same and they watched you just as closely.

"Y/n." Illumi spoke as he took his place next to you.

You were at a lost for words as Kikyo chimed in.

"You're late! You left your bride to be waiting!" She exclaimed only to cause Silva to raise his hand to calm his wife down.

Silvia suddenly rose from his seat and cleared his throat. He had prepared a speech about the agreement of a proposal to the two oldest of each family. Illumi stood at one point as his father continued on; he grabbed your hand which caught you off guard. You felt Illumi's cold fingertips slowly slide a sliver band on to your ring finger. You gazed up at Illumi as he held on to your hand a little longer before letting go and returning to his seat. You were going to officially be a Zoldyck. The rest of the evening was filled with your parents talking with the Zoldyck's about planning the wedding and future business deals. But once your mother uttered the word grandchild you couldn't help but start choking on the glass of water you had been drinking. Everyone turned their gaze to you as you coughed; Illumi wrapped his arms around you and helped you stand.

"Excuse us." He said as you both walked out of the banquet hall.

You managed to calm yourself down once you were away from the judgmental stare your parents were giving you.

"I'm fine Illumi," You said as you realized you were still walking so closely to one another. "Really I am. We can go back." You said as you broke out of Illumi’s grasp.

"Would you not like to take a walk with me?" He suddenly said.

"Sure." You finally said after hesitating for a moment.

You walked in silence down the hall and out a door that led you into the courtyard. You took a deep breath of fresh air and slowly exhaled. You looked up at the night sky that glistened with millions of stars. You both stayed silent as the creatures of dusk seemed to come to life; chirping and croaking around you.

"May I ask you something?" Illumi finally said.

"Of course." You said.

"Are you uncomfortable around me?" He asked which made you look over at him.

"Well," You hesitated as you started to fiddle with your ring. "It's been seven years since the last time I saw you Illumi. We haven't spoke much these past few years and you just slide a ring on my finger just an hour ago signifying that we are to be married."

He looked over at you and cocked his head to the side.

"It isn't a surprise to you is it? We've been arranged to get married since you were born." He said plainly as if he were talking about the weather or what he had for breakfast.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is that it all happened so fast," You bite your lip knowing you couldn't hold back what you had been wanting to say since you saw him this evening "It's nice to see you again Illumi."

He hummed and stepped closer to you; his fingertips brushing a piece of hair behind your ear.

"You've grown up." He said, rubbing his hand lightly against your cheek. "You're quite beautiful and not nearly as annoying as you used to be."

You groaned and pushed his hand away from you as if he was nuisance yet your face heating up said otherwise.

"Way to ruin the moment." You huffed out.

"I can tell you've gotten stronger as well." He said and you nodded your head.

"I've been training hard. There's no shortage of poisonous plants to learn from." You said.

Silence fell between you again yet this time it wasn't uncomfortable. You felt yourself relax as the tension slowly slip away.

"You're more sure of yourself now." He said abruptly.

You paused to think back to all the long training sessions you endured, the painful limits you pushed your body to, and the long nights you'd longed to see Illumi and prove to him that you weren't the weakest.

"I just want to be a good wife for you." You said. "This may be an arranged marriage but I hope along the way you can see me as more than a business deal."

You watch as Illumi picked up your left hand and place a soft kiss onto the silver ring he had placed on your hand earlier. His warm lips were a significant contrast to his cold fingers that held onto your hand. You let go of a breath you didn't even know you were holding watching how gentle he was being with you.

"I've waited for so long to see this ring on your finger. You'll make a fine wife." Illumi said softly.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

It had been a month since the engagement became official and you felt like it was all just a fever dream. You hadn't seen Illumi since the night of the dinner and you couldn't help that sinking feeling that had followed you for so many years; was he distancing himself from you again? You couldn't even get your mind off things because the mother's on both sides insisted that the wedding happen immediately. Which also meant your mother forbidding you for taking on any jobs to help with planning; the lack of work and his absence caused your mind to stir. You were in your old room at the Zoldyck mansion, gazing at your reflection as a few maids fixed the long train of the dress your mother surprised you with. You nervously played with the ring on your finger as your eyes traveled to the intricate pattern in the lace, there was something so familiar about the dress but you couldn't exactly pin point what. Your eyes traveled to the tall window that was in the corner of the room where your mother and Kikyo sat at a small table drinking tea. The same table you sat at countless nights looking out into the courtyard yearning for Illumi to come home to you. The maids stepped to the side as you turned to face them, you placing your arms behind your back. You watched as your mother's eyes watered as she stood from her chair and made her way to you.

"What do you think my dear?" Kikyo smiling before taking a sip of her tea.

"It's beautiful." You say as you brought your hands to your sides to run your fingertips over the fabric.

"This use to be my dress,' Your mother said as she grabbed hold of your hands. "And it fits you wonderfully!"

You turned to look at yourself in the mirror once again feeling like a fool for not recognize the dress immediately. Your mother had shown you endless photos of her wedding day and the dress was the focal point of every photo.

"This means so much to me. Thank you mother." You said and smiled at her reflection in the mirror.

"I have a gift for you too my dear." Kikyo said as she made her way over to you.

You turned to see her holding a beautiful silver necklace with a small blue gem dangling from the center. You leaned down as Kikyo placed it around your neck.

"I wore this on my wedding day. A good luck charge from your mother and I." She said as she stood back with your mother to admire you.

You ran your finger tips over the necklace and smiled.

"This is perfect. Thank you both." You said.

The next few hours were spent sitting at the table listening to the two women bicker on who to invite to the wedding of the century they called it. You rolled your eyes and looked over to your door as you watched Milluki walk down the hall looking down at his phone. You excused yourself from the table which was useless because they were both stuck in their own world of wedding planning. You quickly made your way out of the room and chased after Milluki down the hall.

"Hey Luki wait up!" You shouted after him which only caused him to turn around quickly. The irritated look you knew all too well.

"I said stop calling me that stupid nickname." He sneered as he looked down at his phone once again.

You couldn't help but giggle as you followed him into his room. You leaned against the doorway as you watched him walk over to his desk; your eyes widening at the amount of computers that were turned on, each with something different flashing on each screen.

"So what have you been up to?" You ask as you walked over as you looked over at his figurine collection.

"Killua is asking for a favor," He grumbled as he looked up to one of his monitors. "He needs a copy of Greed Island."

"The rare video game?" You questioned as you looked over his shoulder to the screen which caused him to chuckle.

"Papa always said you were too smart for your own good." He said as he looked over his shoulder.

"Smarter than you for sure." You teased.

"Shut up!' He yelled as he turned back to his computer typing away vigorously.

The only thing that filled the room was Milluki's fingertips against his keyboard as he looked into getting more information on the legendary Greed Island for his younger brother. You had wondered what Killua had been up to since leaving to go take the hunter exam; you hadn't been around when he lashed out Milluki and Kiyko but you couldn't help the chuckle you let out when you found out. Being under the same pressure from your families it was inevitable for you and Killua to become close.

"You don't seem too thrilled to be getting married." Milluki suddenly said bringing you out of your thoughts.

"What makes you say that?" You say flatly.

"Your eyes don't light up the same way they use to when anyone mentioned Illumi." He replied, looking between two monitors.

"It's just a lot to take in," You sigh out. "I went from being a kid learning how to become an assassin like the Zoldyck's to becoming an actually Zoldyck by marriage.   It's hard being in love with someone sees this as nothing more than a business deal"

Milluki stopped typing to turn to face you again; that irritated looking back in his face.

"You really are stupid aren't you? He may have never said it when you were around but he's made several remarks about you to me. It sickening how he only seems to care about his jobs and you." He turned his chair completely around.

You couldn't help but laugh at the confession, searching in his eyes for the truth. Your smile faded as he stared right back at you and you knew that look all too well.

"Now get out cause I have work to do." He said as he turned back to his work and dismissed you with a wave of his hand.

You hesitated only for a moment then walked out of his room; you turned and looked to see Milluki talking on his phone to Killua if you had to guess.

"Thank you Luki." You whisper to yourself and with that you took your leave.

Before you knew it the evening turned into night fall and Kikyo was pleading for you to stay, trying to reassure you that Illumi would be back soon. You agreed thinking back to what Milluki had said earlier. After saying your goodbyes to your mother you returned to your room to find the maids making your bed and bringing a few of your belongings you had left here when you traveled between your home and the Zoldyck's. You thanked the maids as they bowed and left the room. You let out a long sigh as you threw yourself onto the bed as you listened to the clock on the wall tick away the minutes wondering when Illumi would be home; your hand brushed over the fabric of your t-shirt around your stomach as the butterflies seemed to dance around gleefully. Here you were again waiting and yearning for Illumi; aching for his gaze, his touch, and his words to overwhelming your senses. You sat up quickly at the idea of a game; a game that you dominated when you played with Milluki. Assassin 101: tracking and locating your target. If Illumi wanted you as much as Milluki said he did then prove it. Game on.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

You sighed, rubbing the soreness out of you neck, and clocked out for the day. It had been a year since you left everything behind to test Illumi; what better way to prove his worth than a game of hide and seek. If he successfully found you then Milluki was right and you'd happily go through with the wedding, if he didn't seek you out then you had a fresh start to live your life free of the expectations of everyone. You had gotten an office job which was quite an adjustment from what you had been trained to do originally. However, doing work as an assassin didn't require long hours behind a desk staring at a monitor.

You lost count of how many times you had to stay overtime to finish a team project. It was finally Friday which meant your coworkers attempting to get you to go out to a local bar but you yet again declined their invite and opted for a another night in with dinner from the convenient store. Your heels clicked against the concrete, a breeze hit your skin causing you to shiver. You walked faster, holding onto your paper bag tightly and cursing yourself for forgetting your sweater back at the office. Luckily the convince store wasn't a far walk from the apartment.

Going into hiding meant getting a new identity and with a new life meant new struggles; applying for jobs and apartments with no credit or job history under the new identity proved to be a challenge but you came out victorious in the end. You walked up the flight of steps to your apartment; you smiled and greeted your elderly neighbor as you put your keys in the lock. You promised to go visit her soon to keep her company while she ate dinner and watched her weekly tv drama. You walked in as you told her goodnight, closing the door behind you with your foot, and reached over to turn on the lamp that sat on a side table. You tossed your keys along with your heels haphazardly on the table and floor.

You walked through your small living room that connected to your kitchen. You set your bag on the counter and putting your food to the side. You suddenly froze in place as an uneasy feeling came over you; you could recognize that blood lust from anywhere. You slowly turned to Illumi standing in your living room playing with one of his many nen needles in his hand. His lips slowly curved into a smile that you had never seen grace his face before.

"So this is where you've been hiding all this time," He said as he started to walk over to where you were. "I'll give you credit this is just inconspicuous enough to make it hard to track you. Not to mention using zetsu to conceal your presence." He chuckled to himself.

You braced yourself against the counter as he stood in front of you. He grabbed your face with one hand as he lightly pressed his needle against your throat with the other.

"You actually found me?" You asked dumbfounded which only made him scoff. He actually came looking for you, and you welcomed the butterflies that swarmed in your stomach.

"Do you know how many people I had to kill just to see you again?" He asked as he leaned in close enough for your lips to graze one another's.

"It took you long enough." You breathed as you looked into his eyes.

He cocked his head to the side as if he was confused but you could tell by the rest of his body language that this little hunt excited him. He removed his nen needle from your neck and took a step back. Silence fell between you both as the tension grew. You could have sworn Illumi could hear your heart beating out of your chest from where he stood. Here he was after a year of being apart and better yet he sought you out. Without thinking you grabbed onto Illumi and crashed your lips against his. He immediately moved his hands to your hips, his grip would leave bruises no doubt but you didn't care. Without breaking the kiss he lifted you onto the counter, his hands leaving your waist for a brief moment to wondered up to your blouse; he ripped it open effortlessly as the buttons flew off hitting the counter beside you or the floor. He started to kiss his way down your jaw to your neck causing you to sigh. You felt his hands slowly move back to your waist, pushing your skirt up, as he started to place open mouth kisses on your neck. You let out a soft moan as he found your sweet spot close to your ear.

"Drove me crazy looking for you." He breathed into your ear. "Hiding what was promised to me since birth."

"Needed proof you were serious about this. About us." You softly said as your fingers found their way to his hair.

"Proof? You needed proof that you're one of the only things that's been on my mind for years," he huffed out. "You and this." He said as he pulled your damp panties to the side and easily slid two fingers into your cunt.

He moved his fingers in and out of you agonizingly slow; you hated the way he teased you.

"Please Illumi." You whimpered out as he chuckled pulling his fingers out of you.

He stepped back to look at you, eyes darkening at you disheveled form. You hair in disarray, your blouse ruined just enough to show off that lace bra, and your skirt bunched up around your hips. He watched your chest rise and fall as you pant . This was what he had chased after. This is what he wanted, no needed. This was his wife. He smirked as he turned on his heel and made his way to your couch. Your eyes followed the way he gracefully sat down and spread his legs; he lifted his hand and motioned for you to come to him. You quickly got off the counter and made your way over to him but before you could touch him he stopped you.

"Strip." He said plainly.

You kept your eyes on him as you removed everything one by one till you stood in front of him naked. You wished you were embarrassed about being completely nude with eyes looking you up and down; his eyes looking at you like you were his prey. He leaned back into the couch and you stood in between his legs. He patted his lap and you couldn't help but let your eyes wonder to his crotch. His facial expression read as if he disinterested yet his cock straining against his pants said otherwise. You climbed on top of his lap and placed your hands on his shoulders. You felt his cold hands run over your sides and down to your hips once more giving a light squeeze; he chuckled at the gasp you let out. His hands moved away from your hips briefly as his hands made quick work of freeing his aching cock. You lifted your hips as he lined himself up to your entrance. You slowly lowered yourself down onto him, both letting out a moan as he bottomed out. His large hands moved back to your hips as you started to move up and down against him. You soon found your rhythm, closing your eyes taking in the feeling of his cock; he leaned up placing soft kisses against your neck.

"Fuck Illumi I've wanted this for so long." You moaned out.

Suddenly you were flipped onto your back as his hands moved under your thighs and pushed them to your chest. Without hesitating he started to pound into your pussy with hard, deep thrust. You let out a loud moan as your eyes rolled to the back; your hands grabbing onto the fabric of the couch to steady yourself.

"This is finally mine. All mine.' Illumi huffed out as he watched the way his cock bullied your pussy. "Isn't that right?"

"Yes." You managed to moan out as you felt yourself already nearing your climax.

"Going to give me the next Zoldyck heir like the good little wife you are." He said which caused your eyes to shoot open.

You watched as he moved one of his hands against your stomach putting pressure causing both of you to moan in sync.

"You're going to make me a father aren't you?" He said and you frantically nodded your head to cock drunk to object.

"Yes Illumi, please." You begged. "Want to be your good little wife."

You felt his fingertips travel to your clit and rub harsh circles as his hips continued on his brutal pace. You threw your head back and moaned Illumi's name as you reached your climax.

"What a good girl you are." Illumi cooed as his eyes traveled to the white ring around his cock.

With a few more sloppy thrust Illumi finished inside of you as you both panted. He pulled out of you and watched his cum slowly seeping out; he ran his slender fingertips along your slit just to shove his fingers inside you to keep it all inside.

"I'm taking you back home tonight. We are to be married tomorrow. We've kept each other waiting too long." He flatly said which caused you to laugh.

"Anything for my soon to be husband." You hummed.

#hunter x hunter #hunter x hunter smut #smut #fanfiction #fanfiction smut #anime smut #hxh #hxh smut #illumi zoldyck #illumi hunter x hunter #Illumi smut #Illumi Zoldyck smut #lemon #delulu4anime

[ilvero-love]

Establishing Locklyle 💙🖤⚔👻

Whilst the books may not have ramped things up between our dashing heroes until Book 3, Complete Fiction hit the ground running. It's clear from the opening scenes of Lockwood and Co that these are our canon couple.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. What I really want to do with this post is look in detail at how well the opening scenes of this series are put together, especially in the context of Locklyle. Warning, it's a long one, but there's just so much to unpack.

The show opens with a mysterious couple walking. We see their kit well before we see their faces. But it’s the dialogue between them that provides the real hook. It's intelligent and immediately starts to build the world we are entering.

In these opening moments of the series, those of us new to the world of Lockwood and Co don’t quite follow the context of the exchange, yet in the hands of these two it doesn’t matter. The dialogue is clever, natural and, importantly, has just the right amount of snark.

Lockwood's response of "No need to be facetious" indicates that he is not cowed by Lucy's criticism and her later response, with accompanying knowing grin, of 'Thought you said there was no time to be facetious', hints at an already established mutual understanding and connection. But I'll come back to this in a moment.

When they meet Mrs Hope, Lockwood immediately slips into business mode, reassuring her of their capability. She looks uncertain but it's the first hint we get of Lockwood's charm and confidence, such a large part of his literary character throughout the book series.

Lucy, however, is not so diplomatic and immediately says adults are useless anyway. Lockwood, ever conscious of impressing the client, gives Lucy a look causing her to clarify what she means.

This was a change from the book where it is Lockwood who is dismissive of adults and Lucy soothes it over with explanation. However, Complete Fiction have made a clever change here. Having Lucy deliver the line is much more consistent with their characters, reflecting Lockwood's charm and Lucy's more acerbic edge. In fact much of this interaction with Mrs Hope is reversed from the books and I think it works better to establish the characters of Lucy and Lockwood.

With Mrs Hope's departure, we move inside the home and get our first understanding of their skills. We see Lucy and Lockwood as they tune into the house and see Lucy's point of view as she vividly experiences Mr Hope's death.

I love this scene. The ease as Lockwood laughs and leans against the wall. Lucy's feistiness as she challenges him with justification for her reaction. His response? He offers tea. The first reference to what we will come to know as a staple of their world.

The warmth of the kitchen offsets the ghostly greenish glow of the rest of the house. It's a very cosy, warm and domestic scene. It works to establish a sense of the calm before the storm.

As they discuss the backstory of the haunting, I adore Lockwood's question "Sarcastic or ironic?" and Lucy's response of "The cleverer one" is perfect 👌 One more example of the easy banter between them.

From here we move back upstairs to find ourselves a ghost 👻

The world building in these opening scenes is considerable. It's hard to believe it all happens in the space of 8 minutes.

I spoke earlier about how they seem to have a connection already. In the books Lucy has been with the company for around 6 months but, in Complete Fiction's universe she is only new to the company.

Which means that she, like us, is a bit unsure about Lockwood's ability. He is clearly charming and the leader but Lucy's criticism about trying to make contact with the living coming on top of his failure to pack the chains, means we're not quite sure and then we're left with Lucy dangling over a deadly drop and the opening credits roll.

It must be said that Complete Fiction have put this opening episode together so well. We don't get to see what happens with Lucy for another half hour and I admit by then, I'd almost forgotten our beginning.

We delve into Lucy's backstory which I won't go into detail over here, that's a separate post altogether. We do however get to see the development of the connection that Lucy and Lockwood clearly have and it's evident from when they first lay eyes on each other that there is a mutual connection.

There's so much to pull apart here: George's disdain, Lucy's rising feistiness as a direct consequence and Lockwood overseeing it all. The delight with which Lockwood shows her 35 Portland Row, Lucy's obvious pleasure at finding somewhere to stay, a place that could be home.

But it's the growing connection between Lucy and Lockwood that is clear. So much so that by the time of the final exchange between them in the library, Lucy is comfortable enough with Lockwood to call him out over his overstating of the standing of "Lockwood & Co". I love Lockwood's calm explanation that it was a mild exaggeration and that lots of people make them, much like she did when she exaggerated her rapier prowess ⚔

It's reflective of Lucy's inner resolve that once she realises Lockwood is not concerned by her omission, she challenges him by asking: "How do I know you're good enough for me?"

Cue the perfect segue back to her dangling over the stairwell precipice.

Now it's Lockwood's turn to shine and turns out, yes, yes he is good enough for her 🖤💙

After fighting the ghost off, with some pretty impressive moves to be honest, Lockwood grasps Lucy from falling and here, here is the moment where Locklyle is canon.

Yes I know he's just saved her from certain death, but the way they cling to each other🤗😍💙🖤

Let's just take a moment to savour this scene 😍

Sigh 😍🤗

Now, where were we?

Lockwood is so shaken by the events that he is ready to retreat, it's Lucy that wants to push on. Ironically, it's her that is reckless at this point. The desire to understand the ghost's pain drives her on and provides an early indicator of a major plot point for upcoming episodes and indeed seasons (🙏🙏Manifesting like crazy 💙🖤🧡)

The rest of the episode unfolds at pace. They find the body, Lucy grabs herself a souvenir and saves Lockwood from Ghost lock. It's just unfortunate that it results in the ultimate destruction of the house.

But our canon couple are locked in. There's no going back from here, they just go deeper and deeper.

And we willingly go along for the ride 🤗💙🖤

#locklyle #lockwood & co #renew lockwood and co #save lockwood and co #lucy carlyle #anthony lockwood #Lockwood & co episode 1

[funnier-as-a-system]

if I have fictional characters able to pull of full-ish conversations in my head but (mostly)only when I like

ask them a question or for their opinion on something or whatever

is that plurality I feel like I’m just tricking myself but I’m not sure

i also dissociate sometimes but that’s probably unrelated

It may be! This sort of experience can be a normal form of imagining conversations, but it's also something that can happen with systems, especially if the system in question has fragments (system members who usually lack some form of autonomy and/or identity – this can make certain things difficult for them, like starting conversations on their own). I'd recommend looking into the dissociation side of things and see if there's anything accompanying it, such as memory issues, acting unlike yourself, or a change in your skills/skill level for things. Figuring out if you're a system can be tricky, especially if your experiences lie more on the rarer or less-discussed side of things (assuming that these are, in fact, fragments, which aren't spoken much of in the system spaces I've seen), but it's not something anyone is expected to figure out overnight, so don't stress yourself out and let yourself/ves take your time in determining what's going on.

Perhaps you could ask these characters if they'd consider themselves to be headmates? Or you could go with the puppeteer test; since the concern here is if they're really there/their own selves if you're the one initiating everything, trying to puppet them into acting or saying things they wouldn't normally do (especially if it's something they'd be embarrassed by) will probably help you determine if you're just imagining conversations with them, based on their response to it. This isn't a foolproof test – they may just go along with what you want of them, especially if they're fragments (I don't know exactly why that's a common trend with fragments, but it is) – but it's usually a pretty strong indicator one way or the other.

Hope this helps! Good luck figuring yourself/ves out!

#thanks for the ask!

[dolphin1812]

The weather that Hugo describes feels very indicative of the mood in Paris, with the winds of cholera brewing a storm of popular anger. With respect to Gavroche, though, this is immediately relevant in that it makes him cold (and Magnon’s children are freezing, too). The cold is especially bad since, like his sister, he often goes several days without eating and wears rags.

Watching Gavroche take charge is so cute! He tries to seem so confident in front of the younger kids (saying that having nowhere to sleep isn't a big problem, for instance) even though he’s also suffering. As we saw with Mabeuf earlier, he’s genuinely generous, too. Not only is he helping these children, but he gives his scarf to a poorly clothed girl, demonstrating his general kindness and good nature. The girl’s lack of a response reminds me of the line from before about the Thénardier children not noticing their new siblings because they were too impoverished to be aware of their surroundings. It’s a sad parallel, but it reflects well on Gavroche’s character. And his kindness and confidence work! The kids are soon happier! They’re all still in a horrible situation, but he’s lifted their spirits.

His exchange with Montparnasse is hilarious. He has no respect for him whatsoever. On the one hand, that lack of respect is one of the many gamin traits Hugo listed that Gavroche embodies. On the other, though, it shows his casual familiarity with crime. Montparnasse isn’t scary to Gavroche because he already knows his world, using the same slang and recognizing the people Montparnasse talks about. As for Montparnasse, his ease around Gavroche is a reminder of where he came from. He was a gamin, too, so Gavroche is equally familiar to him. It’s funny to read, but it does indicate that Montparnasse’s life is one of the most likely options for Gavroche’s future if he manages to age out of being a gamin. That Montparnasse seems cool to the young children probably isn’t a good sign for gamins more broadly, either, as he may seem appealing to children with so few options even though he’s horrible.

(And he’s not even that good at crime!)

I love how he warns Gavroche about the officer, though! It’s a kind gesture, and it’s clever! According to Donougher, in the French, there’s assonance with the syllable “deeg” in everything he says (“je te dis,” “ma digue,” “si vous me prodiguez dix gros sous,” “d’y goupiner,” “mardi gras”). 

And we’ve reached the heavily symbolic elephant! Gavroche literally lives in the ruins of empire. Hugo says we can’t know what it means, so in that sense, we should be careful not to overestimate how clear its meanings are, but that he explicitly states that it’s difficult to know also pushes us to search for symbols in it. And it’s not all bad! It’s grand and majestic (maybe even “great!”), like Napoleon I was to Hugo. But it’s also a carcass that’s being worn away by time, and it’s unpleasant to look at for “respectable” people in particular (much like its gamin inhabitants are ignored and looked down on). 

And it’s also been replaced. Hugo frames it as an inevitable change like that of classes, drawing on 19th-century theories of the “natural development” of societies to explain why the elephant’s era ended. The emphasis on ideas over power feels like an indirect criticism of the Napoleons, with the idea of a republic being the progress that their dictatorial power can’t counter. 

That aspect, in general, feels the most significant. Napoleon did some good; his elephant is now a shelter for Gavroche, and his rule inspired many in France by giving them hope that they, too, could advance socially and that their country would be influential. But this is a hollow sort of “good.” The elephant is a shelter, but only because there are homeless children who need it (and, as Hugo points out, it was a real need; the fiction here is based on a real case). France’s empire couldn’t last because it was against republican principles in France and across Europe. If the elephant was in such a bad state so soon after Napoleon I, then, imagine how much worse it would be to bring its idea back with Napoleon III! 

Hugo even says that the good of the elephant came from God, not Napoleon!

Another note: the elephant is for someone that other doors are closed to, once again illustrating the importance of open doors. Gavroche wouldn’t need the elephant if he weren’t a social outcast. His poverty would not be this desperate if people respected him and helped him.

His use of the wire is very creative! But that it’s all from animal enclosures in the Jardin des Plantes drives home that animals have more than he does (and are given more by society). It’s worse than Valjean not having a place to stay when the dog had a house, in a way, because at least the dog was tied to a family in some way, either as a pet or a work animal; the animals of the Jardin des Plantes are there as a spectacle alone, and it’s for that spectacle that they’re given good quality things. His narration is hilarious, but it’s heartbreaking, too.

#les mis letters #lm 4.6.2 #gavroche #montparnasse

[anubisisms]

what's this about oseman getting backlash? I don't have twitter and I hadn't heard about it anywhere before your post

Oooh anon, it’s been a wild ride over on Twitter the last few days.

Lots of screenshots incoming!

Basically an account that is allegedly linked directly to Oseman posted this a few days back (the og was deleted so I’m sourcing this from other posts), captioned with 'Nick's search history':

Source for the 'offending image' (again, og was deleted so had to find a reply with it. I did see the original post before deletion though so I can verify this is unchanged).

Anyway the post is. Very tame. Actual teenagers probably have way worse search histories. But this content is apparently directly from Alice, which I haven't been able to verify, but the art style, if not from them directly, is a very good mockup.

However, due to the fact that Alice Oseman has consistently said things which have attracted an audience of sex-negatives, their audience is, thus...very sex negative.

And when I say they've said things to attract sex negatives, there is of course the famous criticism of yaoi and BL they've made as 'fetishising' and full of 'toxic tropes' simply for containing sexual content, in addition to the downright bizarre energy of this post right here on tumblr:

Screenshot source

^ This reads to me as condescending at best. (Also female gaze...what). But it works as an excellent example of who Oseman has ultimately attracted to their works - people who agree with what they've said, and who agree that anyone wanting to know about sexual stuff in Heartstopper is weird and 'icky'.

Then the post from the start got uploaded to twitter. Then the discourse started rolling in from these same people:

The source for the discourse quote tweets

Anyways, there are plenty more replies to the same effect, calling Oseman a pedophile, a creep, and accusing them of...basically the same things they once said about BL, yaoi authors and fujoshis.

The general response outside of the enraged fans is that it sucks, truly, that they're being targeted for an absolute non-issue, but again, you reap what you sow. Oseman went out of their way to indicate the space that the Heartstopper fandom occupies isn't safe for NSFW content. And that's fine if you want your space to be family friendly! But to then engage with NSFW content within that space after saying everything Oseman has said is hypocritical at best.

So yes, a soft Alice Oseman downfall is happening, at least among the people in the HS community who think sex is satanic or whatever. Most people like myself don't care much about it - again, fictional characters and fictional sex, who gives a fuck - but what most people find amusing is the real karma angle of it all. Talk shit, get hit and all that jazz.

Anyways, sorry this got so long, but thank you for the question Anon! I hope this helps explain a bit!

#ask answers #anon #alice oseman #heartstopper #disk horse #anubis yells #fandom wank

[ssaalexblake]

It's really common to see criticism against 13 in how she's passive, especially related to the Timeless Child (i.e. the Master making the discovery, Swarm killing Tecteun, not having memories of the past so she isn't held accountable for her past actions). Just missing the point of how maybe she having agency removed by others might be the point and I guess, sorry the Doctor didn't commit matricide on national television?

acknowledging that 13's having her agency removed was on purpose would require being willing to accept that the timeless child story is a critique of imperialism and colonization, and of how people use and abuse refugees and erase them from cultural history. Or possibly just people managing to even Realise this all, never mind accept it.

Like, yeah, sorry, she has no control over these things that were done/are being done to her, there is a reason for this. Like portraying her value and right to know these things Anyway. Like how she's a whole complete person deserving of respect despite not knowing. The story says she has a right to own her own past, but it's not callous enough to imply she was lesser When she didn't have it. Those without agency are not lesser. Cough. Bit of a point, that.

But also, i'd raise the point that the idea of having and using whatever agency you Do have Inside of oppressive systems and situations is a massive theme here. 13 may not have a lot of agency, but she sure as hell isn't Passive. Passive is sitting around waiting for things to happen To you, that is not the doctor. If nothing else, they tend to run away at top speed to avoid things rather than let them happen. 13 is never Passive. Having things happen To you doesn't make you passive, like? You Can be passive in these situations, but this is not even close to a foregone conclusion. 13 seeks out answers, a lot! Ask Yaz, she'll tell you how much she wanted to stranger her for not being transparent about what she was looking for. It's canon that 13's Actions drove Tecteun's, making the doctor the first domino (like, I mean from a cold sequence of events kind of way. It was Not 13's fault that Tecteun did this, but she Did cause Tecteun to act).

(also, lol, Karvanista would have Loved if 13were passive. No Such Luck.)

But yeah, anyway, agency In systems that try to strip it from you is a ~thing here that holds hands with the anti-imperialism themes. Fugitive!Doctor did not have the agency to do much of anything but she ran far far away. She could do that even if she couldn't get out of division by being allowed to just leave. Vinder (the doctor metaphor) exercises his agency in an oppressive military state by simply reporting what his leader did that was wrong. He couldn't stop him, but he could sure as hell stand up for his principles despite what it cost him. That is a use of the agency he Did have in a system designed to strip it all away from him.

In reality, we All live in systems we can't escape. We all live at the mercy of the actions of those around us. That doesn't mean we are entirely helpless or totally powerless. A small action in response is an action we chose based upon the options we had regardless.

So yes. The lack of agency is a plot thing. I respect that female characters not having agency in fiction simply because it never occurred to the writers to give it to them is a Massive issue, but this isn't that.

And yeah, sure, Matricide. Obvs what we want on our little family show??? I think maybe we should just realise that the doctor was not going to kill Tecteun. Swarm did not kill tecteun Instead of 13. The doctor is many things, but somebody who just kills somebody in front of them because of what they did to them? No. Swarm happened to kill Tecteun, there is no indication that he stole some kind of kill shot from the doctor because the doctor was not, actually, attempting to kill her herself! As much as i'd sympathise with a game of who gets to Tecteun, this scene was Not that.

Also... Uh, even aside from the above, how was 13 going to kill Tecteun? Swarm's whammy meant no regeneration, 13 doesn't possess that kind of permanent kill shot.

And honestly. Whatever, You wanted 13 to find out about this on her own? Fine, whatever, but that's a preference not a critique. Personally I think it'd be hard to find a way for her to find this out through a sequence of events entirely based upon her own control. She was running from her past and from Gallifrey, she was not going to find this out without somebody else telling her? She's not the master who Would go digging through the matrix for sheer funsies and nosiness. Or possibly boredom. If the doctor is bored or nosey they go meet strangers.

So yeah, she had little agency in certain areas. It's because she's representing a subset of people whose agency has been stripped from them. That's kind of the point!!!

#sapphichymns #dw shit #this probably makes no sense but Oh Well #and... i'm not sure if you meant #hold Tecteun accountable or the doctor #which... #i am Troubled if it's option two #but it wouldn't surprise me #dw meta #kinda #not sure it hits the scale but w/e #i wrote a whole answer out for this last night but didn't post #glad i didn't bc it made zero sense lol

[andthebeanstalk]

My hope as a writer is that you will read the very good, very intense and grounded intro to my graphic novel when it comes out....

And you will be intrigued by my bangin' art and/or my killer audiobook as you eagerly move on to the next arc...

At which point you will feel me, the writer, take you by the hand, look you in the eye, and then point at a passing shark and go "okay so first things first, we jump that fucker." And without waiting for a response, the gay sky pirates are here and the "fan fiction tropes" light will REMAIN ON FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE FLIGHT. SHARK! SHARK! SHARK! SHARK!

And then we go goof around with some silly little guys for a couple story arcs. David and Kuruk save a literal puppy. Build a friendship. Meet the Amazing Armadillo Woman. Normal stuff. And then the most devastating shit I can possibly conjure up with all my power and heart as a storyteller and an artist. And then! More silly little blorbos! :D And then both at the same time!

The metaphorical shark is now your inner child! we are befriending the shark! we are jumping over cars in a monster truck with the shark! 😌🌸💖

Look at me. Look at your man. Your man is now you. You are now me. We are all one and yet deeply individual. Trans women are women. I have made you another himbo. The narrative is RADICALLY LEFTIST. /tone indicator: Old Spice reference. HE'S DONE IT. Jack's done a joke! #WRITERSKILLZ

Anyway, next thing you know, I've made you care about my characters with my trickery and overall silly vibes. And then you'll be all like, "ohhHHHh, Jaaaack! I feel like when David learns to love himself for his own inherent worth, I also come closer to giving myself permission to do the same."

And I'll be like, "haha, fool, you've fallen right into my trap! Get HELD by the NARRATIVE, bitch! Get VALIDATED, why don't you! I bet you're feeling CATHARSIS right now, you absolute SUNFLOWER! Hahahahaha!!!!

So anyway, that's the general goal, I think. It's good to have goals.

#original #the blacksmith #writing #writer #shitposting #jumping the shark #jump the shark is a writing term here used in the context of getting fucking weird #which is bad unless you're here on this earth to be a silly little guy like me

[nightlight-writes]

Hello, if you write angst, may I request a any character you want x reader, where in the process of time travel, they lost reader. You can have any ending you want. It can be hurt/comfort or straight angst.

the time has come (Sonny Brisko x Reader)

Genre: Angst

Warnings: None, although this IS pure angst.

Disclaimer: All characters and events depicted are fictional, and are not intended to resemble real events or real people.

Note: Sorry for taking so long! This probably isn’t what you had in mind but I tried my best (๑•́ ω •̀๑) hope you like it!

“Sonny! Are you there?”

For a brief second, you could’ve sworn that you saw him standing near the window. Clearly, your appearance must have shocked him, for he hastily opened the door as soon as you rang the doorbell. You were then brought into a loose hug, the smile on his face ever unchanging.

“Hello! I’m sorry I couldn’t answer the door immediately. Is there anything you want to do today?”

“Well, what about you? You always seem like you have the whole day planned out, you know?”

“Ah, I was just wondering if we could go to the zoo! Oh, and maybe we can get some negi too. And then we can just spend the rest of the day here, just chilling and having some snacks. How does that sound?”

Immediately, you took his hand and rushed out, ready to start the day. A look of surprise appeared on his face, but since he didn’t forget anything he didn’t really mind.

You and Sonny arrived home several hours later. After placing the groceries you bought from the store on the table the two of you just watched the sunset from the window, its many hues giving way to the dark and cold night. Without warning, he wrapped his arms around you in a tight embrace, and the distinctive, yet muffled sound of sobbing came from deep in your chest.

“Please, don’t go!”

“…Sonny? What’s wrong? There’s no need to hide it from me.”

Upon hearing your response, he stood up and wiped the tears on his face with his finger. Yet, if you listened closely, the sound of sniffling could still be heard.

“I… There’s nothing wrong. People come and go all the time. It’s nothing unusual, really.”

“Are you moving out or something?”

“It’s… It’s more complicated than that. I don’t exist right now, and once I go back, you’ll never even know who I am.”

Sonny’s tears came back in full force as he prepared himself to reveal the truth.

“In short, I’m from the future, and by the time I’m born you’ll already be rotting in a graveyard somewhere.”

Your mouth was agape with shock as you tried to comprehend what he had just told you. Unbeknownst to you, his shoulders loosened and the expression on his face was less stiff than you’ve ever seen before, even if it wasn’t necessarily a happy one.

“Anyways, we should sleep. I’m getting really tired now. Can I hold you for just a second?”

You nodded, and Sonny carried you to the couch and placed you on his lap. This was the last time you’d ever hear the soft sounds of his breathing and his heartbeat, and the last time you would feel the warmth of his hand on your head and the softness of his lap. Around midnight, even those were gone, replaced by the feeling of a sleek, yet oversized jacket over your body.

Morning came. You were in an unfamiliar house, with someone’s jacket on top of you. There weren’t any huge cardboard boxes around, but it didn’t seem like anyone was living here either. Yet, the messy surroundings indicated that the owner of the house left in a hurry, without any time to take anything with them.

A camera was on the table. Curious, you picked it up. In it were pictures of you that seemed to be taken at the local zoo. Now, you’d never go to the zoo by yourself, but what was even stranger was the person standing next to you in the photos. He was far taller than you, almost dwarfing your small stature, and his hair was a very unnatural bright yellow. His eyes seemed to oscillate between blue and purple, with the exact hue changing in every photo. Whoever this was, you couldn’t recall seeing anyone in town with those exact features.

The door was already unlocked, and you walked outside, In the yard was a sign reading “House For Sale”. You had already guessed that the house wasn’t yours, but the sign raised even more questions. Surely, the jacket on top of you earlier and the camera full of photos had to belong to someone. The owner had put too many personal touches on their belongings for them to be for work purposes.

You then walked home, forever perplexed by the mysterious house. The next day, the family that moved in handed over that jacket and camera to you, but you denied that they were yours. Of course, you were the only person they knew that they saw in the photos, so they just left the mysterious objects with you until they could find more information about the owner.

To this day, you still wear that jacket. Nobody knows why you developed an attachment to it, but the scent just felt so familiar to you. Yet, it was also completely alien, completely new. You planned on returning it to its owner once you found them, but as the days went on it seemed you would never meet them at all…

#nijisanji #nijisanji en #noctyx #sonny brisko #sonny brisko x reader #nightlight.txt

[madmachaca]

I got this in my inbox, and I think is a worth seeing argument:

It is about a previous post I made about Doflamingo and since it seems it´s causing some confusion, I want to add something (I´m gonna write my answer first, because it´s less confusing that way, and then let y´all read the collaboration I got after the Readmore section. IF WHOEVER SENT IT TO ME DOESN'T WANT IT HERE, TELL ME IN AN ASK AND I WILL DELETE THAT PART)

(*I wanna mention that this I am writing now is not an answer to the person who sent it to me, but something I wanted to add. I appreciated getting that perspective sent, and to that person, I'm gonna say, "Thank you." it was a good read)

As I mentioned in a reblog (which was in spanish) I may have explain myself badly, when I said they went through the same, I meant their shared experinces. Or maybe, I oversimplificted things. Yes, I do acknowledge the two Donquixote brothers grew up in different envioremnts, I am not ignoring how badly Doflamingo was affected, but the point of my original post (and here is where I think it´s the first miscommunication problem) was that I like how the show doesn´t justify him with his past. I like when villians are let to be so. Doflamingo is a twisted man with antisocial behaivor and that (in a work of fiction) it´s entrataining. I don´t want him to be justified, but I like him being explained. understood and justified is not the same thing, I should mention. Explaining a character gives it dept, but explanation is not always done so the audience can empathize, sometimes, it just does that explains.

The other thing is a matter of personal taste. I like doflamingo because I like entrataining villians, but I don´t empathize with him and I still cheered everythime the strawhats ruinned his plans.

Now the other issue with my orignal post, and form here on I will put the topic of the brothers aside and talk in general terms, also I will change the size of the font to indicate a mood switch because this may be controversial: 

The decision to become kind does not depend on your past. It depends on you. 

I stand by this.

BUT,before you all say anything,

 No

I DO NOT THINK is as simple as “ah, get over it and be better to others!” I know it´s way more complicated, and I said it: it requires a lot of will. not to mention it´s painful, but it´s possible with help.

(Reminder that I am not talking about the Donquixote brothers here anymore, but genreall (and I will use you solely for the sake of simplicity):

Your hard past is not your fault. ok? if you suffered, what happened to you it´s not your fault. I wanna make that clear. 

 yet, there comes a moment when it becomes your responsability... by this I mean that using you past as a justification to hurt others is on you.

 and I get not everybody get´s the chance to change. Not everybody will be helped, but know that if somebody is willing to help you, most of the work would be not in them,, but in you. 

I am well aware there are real life examples of people that were never helped and that is, with no sense of irony, tragic and sad.

Sorry for that oversimplied rant there, I just wanted to make myself clear. 

Now, from here on, is what I got in my inbox (read it if you will, I genually think is a point of viewworth of considering)

AGAIN, THIS ANSWER IS NOT DIRECTED TO THE PERSON WHO SENT ME THIS, BUT A CLARYFICATION OF WHAT i SAID AND A THOUGHT I HAD. 

I am just sharing because it´s a point to consider. as the person who sent it said “it´s more complicated that that” 

Thank you for keeping up with the mess of ideas and thoughts that is more brain, and now, this time for real, it´s the post I got sent:

Idk I think it’s more complicated than that. Those kids very much did not go through the same thing or have access to the same resources and that very much does impact their choices. Just the minor differences of one being the older protector to the younger drastically changes how they would experience and move through the world. Two years is a lot at that age and one was more aware more indoctrinated and needed more help and education to fix this.

With the story showing after they parted as children only Rosi received in any meaningful way while Doffy not only didn’t get any of that support but got negative enabling. If anything Law who was stated to be just like Doflamingo as a child shows that really more than being stopped or controlled the child needed to be rescued.

Sure now the character needs to be stopped but still it should be noted the first attempt didn’t work and ended with a death and the second one hasn’t really fixed any of the problems that created the situation nor corrected the man in question as another prison break could unleash him again. Doffy had issues but his brother was completely wrong in believing he was born evil and was never afraid or cried. We see evidence all throughout the flashbacks and present day that was never the real problem with the kid.

Rather it was the negative lessons he internalized that were promoted throughout his life by the people around him and that he later promoted and spread. For example Doffy wasnt born believing owning slaves was good he learned that from other adults and his parents never corrected this before they moved. So as a child he isn’t broken or twisted he is repeating the values taught to him and engaging in behavior he would have previously been praised for.

His negative reaction to the change is actually a common childhood reaction to drastic shifts in their environments and 180s in how they have previously been raised. You see these reactions all the time in real world deprogramming initiatives and kids from those do go on to change and live better lives. Doffy isn’t a god or monster he’s a normal human being. His actions are his own and have consequences that he must live with but they are also shaped by his environment. Not 100% one or the other but a toxic mixture of both.

#i can see why people understood I meant thet went through the same. I rarely proof read and I didn't explain myself #another character who wnet through hell is nico robin and I kinda wanted to mentioned her up there but it got to long #donquixote doflamingo #donquixote rosinante

[bookofmirth]

hi, it’s the hofas/gun control anon here! thank you for such a well thought out answer :) and i’m sorry my response is so long!

first, i do agree with how nesta and az’s different opinions do match up with their experiences, so that does put their conversation into more context. i definitely agree with what you said about how the conversation kind of just blinked and moved on immediately - but i feel like this is a problem in a lot of sjm’s books, where she’ll bring up a complicated political issue that has interesting implications in her fantasy world, but then just move on immediately without actually wanting to delve into the hard, uncomfortable parts of it.

while i agree that it probably wasn’t meant to show sjm’s gun views herself, and i firmly subscribe to the belief that depiction doesn’t equal endorsement and authors should be able to examine the nuance of lots of different social issues and perspectives without readers conflating it with the author’s own opinions, i do think this scene does exemplify a major fault in her writing in that all of the complicated topics surrounding oppression and sexism and all the isms in her stories are tackled in a moderate, “safe” way. so i completely agree with everything you said about respectability politics! as a side note, i’m currently reading babel: or the necessity of violence by rf kuang which has this quote that i really liked: “This is how colonialism works. It convinces us that the fallout from resistance is entirely our fault, that the immoral choice is resistance itself rather than the circumstances that demanded it.”

so like, while yes, i don’t think it would be fair to try to determine sjm’s exact views on gun control laws from her fictional characters’ discussion of it, i do feel that it’s representative of the very white feminist-esque views that she perpetuates through her writing, rather than delving more into the dynamics of structural inequality and taking an intersectional perspective. i do think how an author chooses to write about social issues can be indicative of their own personal views, rather than what words are actually on the page. and what gets me is that the potential is there!! like she creates such complex, rich worlds with such unique characters, but i feel like sometimes she just glosses over the harder stuff. i am very curious how she will decide to resolve the illyrian plot - i am truly hoping she doesn’t take a white savior approach with feyre or nesta, or just having devlon killed off, as it wouldn’t actually fix the sexism ingrained in their cultural norms. 

i wonder if sjm writing in this way (like respectability politics) has taken a turn for the worse since throne of glass? i def agree with everything you said about bryce and cc, but i feel like it was the opposite with aelin. like aelin was never opposed to using violence in order to fight back against oppression, esp coming from her own background as a slave. i haven’t read tog in a while so maybe nostalgia is blinding me and it had the same issues, but idk. 

i’d love to know your thoughts! I

Hello! Here is the original post for anyone confused.

i do think this scene does exemplify a major fault in her writing in that all of the complicated topics surrounding oppression and sexism and all the isms in her stories are tackled in a moderate, “safe” way.

I totally agree with this. I think that she does sometimes lean into more complicated topics, but that would mess with the HEAs she wants to write, at the end of the day. And she seems to be working through some difficult topics in her writing, but then... idk, gets bored with it? Which really highlights her privilege, to me, because she can think about these things, but never too deeply, not if she doesn't feel like it. I don't wanna get too much into her personal life or politics but CC as a whole has really made me wonder about her!!! I have some big questions, but it's not my place and I don't think it's very respectful, so I'll just leave that there. Like if she came out publicly posting a "Blue Lives Matter" graphic then I'd get into it, but she's private and I respect that.

That quote from Babel is *chef's kiss*, perfect. That's exactly what I was alluding to and a big problem that I had with hoeab. That I was waiting to get addressed in hosab. And then was waiting to see if it ever got resolved in hofas. Surprise! No. Nope. We're just going to go with this cognitive dissonance around people's actions and beliefs and just... hail Bryce as a hero, I guess. Even though she truly doesn't give a fuck unless she gets pulled kicking and screaming into giving a fuck. (I'm sorry my anti Bryce just spilled out, my cup is too full of it.)

I was talking to @gimme-mor about the series the other day and she had some great thoughts about why Bryce may have been so dismissive of other people's struggles (ones that she, I thought, should have empathized with) but I'll see if she wants to add on or make a post about it. :) I'll just say that her original idea that would have explained Bryce's attitude, in her opinion, did not pan out.

Sometimes, I think we are in love with the potential of sjm books, more than the actual payoff. They hit the right beats just enough and with just enough oomph that there is something there. Or maybe that's not totally fair because I do give some of her books 5 stars still, after multiple rereads. But she doesn't always follow through to the same extent that she did in HoF or acomaf! But I do wonder if we think about all of these issues far, far more than she is.

i wonder if sjm writing in this way (like respectability politics) has taken a turn for the worse since throne of glass?

I was actually saying something similar to this to someone the other day. Because yes, these are different stories, and different characters, but you have to wonder, with a different political climate than existed in 2012 or whatever, or whenever she was a teenager in the early 2000s, how much that influenced her views and the way that she wanted to write these kinds of stories. Again, it could be that she is just writing a different kind of story! That she wanted to explore different kinds of characters. But Bryce being a discount, knock-off version of Aelin doesn't make that seem likely. IDK!

#sjm critical #hofas #hofas spoilers #ask #anon

[izamationbroker]

Gee, I wonder who they're talking about! ☆

Now, before I get into the nitty-gritty about this post, I want to make clear of one very important thing:

I don't care whether they headcanon Izaya to have ASPD or not.

In fact, this post isn't really going to be much about Izaya at all. Sorry if you were hoping for a big debate, but per my disclaimer about fandom discourse, I really don't care when people disagree with me. Everyone has their own headcanons, and they're free to enjoy those headcanons however they want.

However,

What rubs me the wrong way about this post is the vaguepost slander and blatant ableism they cite as their evidence.

The language they use to describe people who headcanon Izaya as having ASPD is consistently and intentionally derogatory in an attempt to emphasize inexperience and discredit. That's crossing the line for me from "let it be" to "stepping on my lawn". I know they didn't directly mention me, but it the statement above it's hard to think of anyone else they could have possibly been referring to. That's a deliberate attempt to put me down and start beef from my perspective.

I addressed this at the very beginning of my original essay on Izaya, making clear that I was not a psych professional and that I relied a lot on basic research and the experiences of loved ones who had ASPD. I admitted that I hadn't read all of the novels. I wrote that essay in response to an ask from a friend who wanted me to go in detail about it. Naturally, differential diagnosis is a thing, and on top of that, this is a fictional character we're talking about. It's only fair that different people will interpret the text in different ways.

I was in no way trying to make the case that it was canon, because the only way one could argue it's canon is if Narita said so himself. I won't step on other people's toes about their headcanons if I don't agree with them. Just because I don't personally headcanon Izaya as autistic doesn't mean I'm going to make a long-ass post "debunking" the very possibility and vague the guy who did a writeup on how Izaya fits the criteria (No, in fact I was actually inspired by that post for the format of my own on ASPD).

This person, on the other hand, felt such a visceral disgust to the very notion that this fictional character could possibly have ASPD, that they felt the need to make a post to "debunk" it, like some kind of gross rumor. What does that say about how that person views ASPD and the real people who have it?

That brings me to my second issue with this post: The blatant ableism.

This post makes two main points about why Izaya couldn't have ASPD, and both of those points reek of ablism. "Lack of remorse" is a complex issue in the realm of ASPD, and I see it all the time with my brother and partner, who both have ASPD. From what I understand from the post, the poster seems to believe that people with ASPD are simply incapable of feeling remorse. That is really not the case. In fact, the quoted diagnostic criterion in the DSM V they are referencing says this:

"7. Lack of remorse, as indicated by being indifferent to or rationalizing having hurt, mistreated, or stolen from another"

It's more than just a "lack of remorse," the DSM expands further to describe that this criterion is met when some either displays indifference or otherwise rationalizes their actions. Furthermore, there is a marked difference between regret, guilt, and remorse. Like I said, it's a complicated matter.

I know my partner has talked about it already on their own blog, but I wanted to restate it here: People with ASPD are capable of feeling remorse is select situations with select people. For example, in my essay about Izaya, I mentioned that he regrets how Mairu and Kururi turned out because he raised them. They're his family, and very close to him. It makes sense that they would be important to him and exist as an exception to his tendency to rationalize everything he does.

My brother and partner regret things all the time, but usually that's more because of outside consequences rather than internal belief that what they did was wrong or that they hurt someone. Sometimes they feel guilt, but it's quickly rationalized away before they could ever take action on it. In certain circumstances, they have felt true remorse, and because they almost never deal with it, it's probably one of the most painful things they've ever experienced. To make the blanket statement that people with ASPD simply do not experience any form of this complex emotion is extremely dehumanizing and ableist, disregarding the possibility that people are complex and should not be limited a stereotype.

The second point this poster made was that Izaya's disregard for social norms could be explained away by his IQ, and to that I say

What year are you living in?

IQ is a funky little quiz that tests your logical and spatial reasoning rooted in eugenics as an excuse to dehumanize people who don't score high enough. There is nothing social about it, and even if there was, science in this day and age have discarded its relevancy. It's been reduced to a quirky number that puzzle game apps use in their mobile ads to entice you to download them. "People with an extremely low IQ are not capable of understanding the social norms"? Just say they're r*tarded and call it a day. Seriously. Autistic people everywhere (myself included) would be disgusted at this display.

TLDR: Don't gossip and spread ableist propaganda. Oh, and

Stay off my lawn.

#tw ableist language #tw ableism #aspd #discourse #the broker speaks #I'm not putting this in iza's tag this has nothing to do with the headcanon itself

[v-arbellanaris]

Not here to excuse Samson's actions, but I do find it weird that the writers had a street beggar sell a young boy/man to slavery because said boy/man didn't have money, and Samson needed money for his addiction to lyrium. I just feel like this writing decision definitely came from the writers's ableism, their apparent view of beggars as bad, unreliable or greedy. In DAO, you can encounter a beggar in the alienage who turns out to just want free money, and another beggar in DA2 who turns out to be demon-possessed the next time you meet her. Samson may have done wrong, but it feels like the writers want to make it out that beggars are just plain unreliable. My thoughts on this, anyway.

so like. which is it. is his writing ableist or classist. schrodinger's writing, where it's both ableist or classist based on whatever you need it to be to make samson morally pure?

i never said he sold anyone into slavery knowingly. what i did say was that samson is not a Good Templar because 1. he goes back to the templars given the opportunity, unlike OTHER TEMPLARS that we KNOW leave the order, 2. maybe when he's taking money from incredibly desperate people or working with incredibly desperate and vulnerable people, he has due diligence and a duty to make sure whoever he is sending them to isn't going to put them on a fucking ship to tevinter to be sold. like. i don't know how much clearer i can make it at this point - samson was always morally grey. and i do think there's ableism touching his writing - as there is touching a lot of the writing concerning disabilities and addiction in da (one of my more unpopular opinions is that ending da2 with meredith's death is ableist, after all) - but that doesn't like... mean that Did Not Happen? the samson thing with feynriel wasn't a retcon added in later to make him look back, it was something that did, in fact, happen? and i really don't think that the problems with samson's writing boils down to wanting to give out a specific message about beggars in da.

(you have plenty of beggars in dao that are never treated like that - notably in the alienage, but also in lothering. usually you're the one that can be an asshole to people begging for money, and to me, it's pretty clear you're the asshole for it.)

like. if you had argued that it was to paint a Certain Type of Addict to look bad, then i do agree, but this really just feels like a Reach. samson, within the context of the narrative, made decisions that he should be responsible for. and there's definitely off-putting aspects around his writing - specifically, around his addiction - but i don't ever really agree with the solution to engaging with that kind of writing to be "let's just pretend it didn't happen". how do we recontextualise what he did? how do we rewrite it so that he still retains complexity without putting off awful implications about addicts as a whole? (and the easiest solution to me, here, would be to parallel him to someone like keran - who, unlike samson, willingly left the order and will willingly go through lyrium withdrawal and have to deal with that, when it's made clear his entire household was depending on his templar paycheck for survival.)

and like. i promise you, i really think you can just. like samson. and he can be kind of morally ambigious and morally grey and you can still just enjoy him as a character and still feel a great lot of sympathy and love for his situation regardless. you don't need to sand off his edges to make him more palatable to me - what's important is that you enjoy him as a character. and that's fine? i certainly don't think you're an irl piece of shit for enjoying him as a fictional character? i certainly still think he's interesting? i only indicated that my opinions around aspects of his character had changed/evolved? so like? go ahead and enjoy him???

#asks #samson critical #idk why i'm getting samson related anons i'm really not that pressed abt him #why are u here on vilf dot tumblr dot com to convince me to woobie ur villains? i dont get it. #is he not MORE interesting for his moral ambiguity? or is this a 'i need him to be morally superior to c/ullen for real life moral reasons' #kind of thing? i'm really confused. #anyway can we pls stop talking abt him lol. i'm not going to engage w any more anons abt him for a good long while i think

[victoriadallonfan]

um, so, first of all, I want to say that in general, I really really love reading your thoughts and essays on wildbow's writing, especially the parahumans series. It's genuinely enlightening and interesting a lot of the time.

However, I've noticed this kind of pattern where you see someone making a meta-textual argument ("doyalist" reasoning, commentary on the story in the context that it is a work of fiction), and you respond, or attempt to dispute the argument with a textual argument ("watsonian" explanation, talking about the story as events that happened, without the context that the story is fictional).... which ends up not actually addressing the metatextual point?

It's like, ok, one example would be something like magneto: there's an argument that the X-men stories are loosely inspired by the civil rights movement, with Professor X and Magneto being archetypically "moderate" and "extreme". This presents a significant issue when Magneto is depicted as unreasonable, needlessly violent, and antagonist, as, deliberate or not, this sends a negative message about figures perceived as more extreme (with Malcolm X being the most common example).

The is a meta-textual argument.

A meta-textual counter-argument might be "there are other characters in the X men universe who are 'extremists' but who are portrayed relatively positively, and additionally, the fact that (the hero) Prof X's name is similar to Malcolm X indicates the creators might have felt more generous to Malcolm X and similar people than the idea suggests".

However, a textual counter argument would be to ignore the real world connections and context of the original X-men context, and simply double down on talking about how much a villain Magneto is.... which is irrelevant. It doesn't actually address what the original argument is talking about.

melancholy-jouissance was talking about Tristan as an example. He acts in a shitty way towards Byron, crosses Byron's boundaries, and crimes are motivated by a desire for sex and romance.

What's worse is that there's a stereotype (both in fiction and in the public consciousness) of gay people being more sex-motivated and sexual than straight people are. Depicting Tristan as being more sexual, and more sexually motivated than his identical twin brother plays into this stereotype in an extremely damaging way.

Deliberately or not, it sends a bad message, and is a bad representation of gay men.

(on top of this, separate from the representation thing, it's just extremely unpleasant to read as a bisexual person)

However, instead of addressing any of this, your response was to point out, with a sequence of excerpts, what Tristan did wrong, as if he was a real person on trial?

Which, is like, those are well researched, well formatted points, but you aren't actually engaging with the argument being presented to you.

If anything, bringing up these other things that Tristan did wrong kind of proves melancholy's point... doesn't it?

I don't know. I do enjoy reading your ideas and analysis, and this ask isn't meant to be calling you out or anything like that, but I do think that there's a lot here (and in similar debates) that you're missing.

Let me counter argue this in your Magneto way:

Let’s say’s that there is a panel where Magneto is on trial for trying to murder a human. And the human is saying he needs to face justice for his attempted murder. A tumblr post says, “Wow, I can’t believe Marvel thinks that Magneto was wrong for fighting back against his oppressors!”

Now, let’s say that the panel was cut out of a larger strip* and we see that he was actually going to murder another mutant before the human pushed the both of them to safety (the mutant does not know he saved his life). And we learn that said mutant was and is prominent Mutant Rights activist, who was targeted by Magneto for associating with human allies pushing for their cause.

The panel is taken out of context of a particular scene so that Marvel is made to be promoting something that isn’t true. The reality is that Magneto is framed as wrong because he was being a murderous asshole, not for wanting mutant rights.

There is a BIG difference between “Hey, Wildbow is ignorant on tropes and needs to be more world weary before tackling such heavy topics” and “Wildbow is a massive homophobe and the text clearly points to him hating people who want gay sex!”

I agree with the former, but the latter is just dramatization and dishonest to be blunt.