#this isn't even salt or criticism just

[raayllum]

I feel like the owl house fandom takes things way too srsly esp with ships and preferences on characters. idk I love hunter and amity's backstory and I love luz but I'm more interested in hunter and amity's backstory that doesn't make me racist their storylines are more interesting

So this probably won't be what you expected or asked for but I'm grabbing the opportunity anyway to address some of the ways I think TOH falters from a Storytelling perspective and why I think those issues (as well as how young a lot of the fans are, although when I was 11-13 in fandom I was much more chill and "live and let live" so just shows what a decade can do in terms of fan community) unintentionally perpetuate some of what you mention.

Also don't think you're racist for preferring Amity and Hunter (Hunter, Gus, and Luz are my faves) but I do think TOH has some issues with how it handles its characters of colour, so I am going to touch on that. While I'm white. this is reflected on / verbatim from conversations I've had with Black and Asian friends / fans of the show and how racial stuff can tend to play out in fandom (circa 2013 onwards from personal experience of how people have treated fave characters, like Finn from Star Wars, in the past).

That said, I do still like the show. I love the strong found family, everything surrounding Eda and her allegories for mental health are super solid and important, I'm thrilled by the queer rep (I’m queer & watched Korrasami happen live), and I don't think a show has to be perfect or to check off my personal preference to be good. But I do think the show is... an interesting mixed bag for a few key reasons I haven't seen anyone talk about, so here they are.

Under a read more bc this gets long, like, real long, even though there’s only four things on this freaking list, LMAO. For whoever reads it, have fun!

1. The Owl House writes like first impressions don't matter.

This is one of the biggest things in the show that breaks elements of setup + payoff. After all, if your setup is misleading or unaddressed by payoff later, characters and plot lines may come across as stilted. This also ties into other areas (such as screentime) that I'll touch on later.

By far the character who has broken setup the most, though, is Amity. For example, Amity is introduced as someone who has bullied Willow for years, even when no one else is around (i.e. it's not a pure performance), and even though they used to be friends when they were young. Their friendship fall out / Amity distancing herself from Willow is explained by Amity being forced to by her parents, and understandably struggling with how to deal with and explain it as a child.

I haven't seen the last few episodes of S2 (aka I got up to "Hollow Mind") and I was disappointed in S2A when it seemed like this plot element would never be addressed again. So I was very pleased to learn that there is an episode in S2B that talks about their friendship. Except... it doesn't address the bullying. Because yes, Amity tried to protect Willow by distancing herself... but Amity also didn’t need to Bully Willow, like, at all. Not within the confines of the story and not within the landscape of the character; her parents didn’t tell her to be cruel to Willow. She chose to do that. Repeatedly. And that facet of their bond... has never been adequately addressed. It could be, in the future (but I personally doubt it). 

It’s particularly strange, because Luz was 1) canonically bullied in the human realm and 2) perpetually struggled at making friends. It makes sense that she’d be extra against bullies and protective over the friends she does have, and wanting to see real change before bonding with a practical stranger (even if Amity did show a slightly nicer side at the end of “Covention,” it wasn’t an even ratio whatsoever, either of her niceness or Luz’s meanness). But we’ll circle back to this. 

We see this issue of initially bad behaviour being overruled, sometimes retconned, or ignored to the point of being rewritten a few more times in the series. 

The one that ties into Amity’s character are her siblings. In their debut episode, they have plans to share private pages of their little sister’s diary. This is mentioned in another episode as something they’re trying to make up for, but they weren’t there when shit hit the fan at the library, anyway. So we never see 1) why they were going to be so cruel to Amity in the first place (and I have siblings myself, so no, it’s not a sibling thing, or just a sibling thing), 2) what exactly made them change their mind, and 3) this type of behaviour never reappears or is addressed in the show, either. While Luz gets called a bully for it, the twins get off basically scot free. Yes, they’re obviously affected by their mother, too, but there’s never even a whiff or a hint about why they felt the need to humiliate Amity on a public scale besides thinking she was uptight. 

We see this one more time with Darius, which was the most baffling and completely jarred me the first time I watched it. Darius was being cruel and dismissive to Hunter, but warms up when he realizes the kid does have a spine and will stand up for what he believes this. This is not the heart warming moment or message the show seems to think it is. All I heard and saw was an adult going “Oh, this kid is too indoctrinated and abused to be worthwhile until he proves otherwise, I’ll treat him like trash and ignore that I’m exacerbating his symptoms of abuse until then.” And no matter what comes latter, this is a downright weird set up, emotionally. 

I’m not saying that none of these characters can be set up this way, but the introduction and how different they are in all other preceding episodes — or even when information is given to re-contextualize certain things — feels like whiplash. So the setup is a little weird, making pay off either non existent or unnecessary. This stumbling block makes the emotional continuity feel disjointed too, in some aspects. The way this affects emotional continuity can best be seen in Gus, Willow, and Luz’s friendship — but again, more that later.

As for set up and pay off, it can lead to missed opportunities, namely: why the hell was Amity Lilith’s protege in Convention? Again, not saying the show is bad or this is a bad writing choice, but it’s a weird one. I remember watching that episode, seeing Amity be introduced as Lilith’s pseudo apprentice, and being excited. It meant Lilith-Eda, Luz-Amity, and possibly the two menor-mentee relationships could all be developed simultaneously! It’d be interesting to see the parallels and differences.

At the very least, it would give a personal stake to Amity and Luz’s possible developing bond, with Lilith at the very least going to disapprove, and give Amity and Luz a chance to compete against each other and to see that progression.

Then it was never addressed again. And it wasn’t set up as a “one day thing” either. It seems that Lilith possibly tutored Amity for months, maybe even years, for Amity to be considered her “strongest protege” (exact line). So we miss out on that possible, episodic but still connected plot line (especially because after Convention, we never see Amity caring a whole lot about actual school, even though that as her whole thing in her intro and second episode). Then, even when Amity and Lilith are back on the same side (imagine how interesting exploring that fracturing could’ve been!) they... never interact, never mention, and never act like they know each other.

They’re two characters with the same theme and similar arcs split down the middle, have an interesting setup, and it goes.... Nowhere.

Because first impressions don’t matter in the show, which is particularly weird, as typically 1) what you set up in the very beginning of the show is what you want the audience to be invested in, and 2) the audience is going to / has to pay more attention in the beginning of a show because they’re actively trying to learn the rules of the world and character dynamics / personalities. 

And it’s not the only time TOH does this, so let’s talk about

2. Screentime, Race, and Chosen Diaspora

Specifically that Gus and Willow barely get any, and how this ties into race. So I’ve touched on this before in an article I wrote on Vocal where I share meta-adjacent stuff that doesn’t fit my tumblr vibe, so if for some reason this is your thing, they may be other stuff you enjoy on there, whatever. I’m not gonna repeat myself too much here, but basically: 

The majority of the Owl House cast is white, particularly when it comes to who matters in the plot. Eda, Lilith, and their family are all white. Hooty and King exist in what we’re going to call an aracial space, as they don’t have race and aren’t coded as any particular thing, either; just tried and true demons. Hunter is white; Belos is white. Gus and Willow are regulated to background characters and most of the time when Willow is being developed as a character (“Understanding Willow,” “Any Sport in a Storm”) it’s typically also used to further a white character’s growth of... learning to treat her better? Gus fares a bit better, but gets less screentime. 

So not only is Luz the only primary character of colour, she’s largely cut off in forming meaningful relationships with other characters of colour, and having those bonds highlighted and given strong screen time (as thus far in S2, every time Gus and Willow have gotten significant screentime, it’s been largely removed from Luz, with her often doing something else with Amity). Remember when “Star Wars: Rogue One” came out, and there were discussions being had of “a lone woman only having meaningful relationships with men and no other women”? 

[ Side note: as for the first point, I’m not going to say things I love, like TDP, don’t fall into the “woman surrounded by men” trope for its two main female leads, as Rayla is friends with the boys and was raised by her dads, and Claudia’s primary relationships are also with other men. However, I believe this is mitigated with plot lines like Ellis and Lujanne in S1, as well as Janai-Amaya-Khessa in S2 and particularly in S3, and I think this will only continue to grow moving forward into S4 and beyond ] 

At the same time as Rogue One, there were conversations regarding the films status of “people of colour purely as the supporting cast but never as the primary lead”? TOH meets in as a weird hybrid in the middle, with a person of colour as the main lead, but largely surrounded by white people — and this is the case for most characters in the show.

Raine’s main relationship is with Eda. Darius is in the rebellion with them, but his only meaningful relationship on screen in any way is really with Hunter and the past golden guards. Gus and Willow are mostly side characters. We basically never see their families/parents (and know far more about the Blights / Edric and Emira in every way. Gus and Willow ultimately don’t get the time with Luz for me to call their relationship meaningful. This is especially strange, given that often times kids who are bullied (like all three of them are) cling harder to the friends they do have, and that while S1 was better about making Gus and Willow be extremely important to Luz as her First Friends Ever, S2 has dropped the ball even more so. 

Luz is like an island, ironically on the Isles and cut off from her cultural community and from other characters of colour even when they do exist in her new community.  So that’s talk about that in full. 

Now, there is Luz, who is the primary protagonist (honestly, you could argue Eda is her co-protagonist) and she’s lovely and I love her. However, more than once, Luz’s plot line for an episode is a B plot or less plot relevant compared to other characters (particularly Eda). I touched on this in my Vocal article, but Luz is living in diaspora in the Boiling Isles. Yes, the demon realm suits her much better than Earth largely did, but I would still love to see elements of her culture in ways other than her / her family’s name and her occasionally speaking Spanish. What about holidays, what about missing her mother’s cooking and the cultural connotations it holds? 

The show does engage with aspects of the Isekkai genre that are sometimes overlooked, namely Luz being torn between two worlds (and given that she’s mixed, it’s not like the allegory isn’t already there), but it only goes halfway. It only shows Luz wanting to be in the Boiling Isles with none of the possibilities about cultural shock, assimilation, and other aspects that can play into immigrating countries — or realms. I’m not saying the the show not engaging with Luz’s diaspora is a bad thing, but it does feel like a missed opportunity (as most of this is) particularly since they do try to engage with her on a cultural level with her speaking Spanish and writing her as purposefully Afro-Latina and from the Dominican Republic. 

But honestly, basically everything I’ve talked about already — occasionally misleading set up w/ a lack of follow through, screentime (both considering and not considering its racial elements) — are all compounded into my biggest issue with the show, however, which are its 

3. Disengaged stakes

So while I love Luz, I mostly love her for her personality and sweet hearted nature. I don’t actually love her that much for how she drives the plot forward — even though she does, and even though she’s the protagonist. And this is largely because Luz — and many of the characters — exist in a limbo of what I’m going to call Disengaged Stakes. Basically, they have stakes, but due to a lack of set up, or pay off in regards to emotional continuity (never mind a lack of consistency, i.e. sometimes Eda needs to hide, sometimes she can be flashy in public with zero consequences, sometimes getting caught by guards matters when the story decides it needs a conflict, and sometimes it doesn’t etc) it’s hard to actually be invested in those stakes. At least for me. 

For most of S2, this meant I wasn’t really invested in Luz’s efforts to get a portal to see her mom (although this improved when we actually got a singular episode with Camila). It’s clear Luz isn’t going to live full time, if at all, in going back to the human realm. I also wasn’t worried for Camila, as she hasn’t been fearing for Luz this whole time, instead believing things are perfectly fine if not better than they were before. 

Let me give you an example, and this was actually pointed out in a youtube review of the S2 finale that helped me put my finger on why it... felt weird as a finale (again, even though I haven’t fully watched it yet, but I have watched the bulk of it). 

The four kids are stranded in the human realm, but what does that actually mean, for most of them? For Luz, this carries a lot of weight. She’s spent all season trying to find a way home to see her mother, but is now there under awful circumstances with no way back to the place she actually wants to be. It will also offer Camilla the perfect opportunity to see why the Boiling Isles and her family there is so important to Luz.

But what does this mean for the other three kids? Shockingly little. Like I’ve touched on before, we know nothing about Gus and Willow’s families. Yes, I’m sad they’re separated from them, but I’m sad because generally, kids being separated from their parents is sad. I’m not invested in their specific relationship (same issue I had with Rogue One and Jyn’s relationship with her father, as well). All Luz actually wants, in her core, is to stay in the Boiling Isles. Amity’s relationship with her father is on the mend and her siblings are there for her, but Luz is still clearly the most important person in the world to her, and they’re not separated. Hunter has absolutely nothing back for him in the Boiling Isles, largely, and he’s actually as safe as he can be from Belos’ machinations in the human realm. 

So you have four kids tossed into the human realm, and it only really matters for one of them. 

This is amplified in their relationships. Willow and Gus rarely have anything beyond interpersonal stakes; Amity had her mother, but now her father has turned over a new leaf, there are no interpersonal stakes any longer for her family (and she radically stood up to her mother very early on in S2 as well). She and Luz have had no problems in their relationship besides very brief miscommunication and Amity’s mother. Amity has hardly any stakes outside of Luz. The characters who are dealing with very high stakes, such as Raine, are largely shuttered away outside of the story — or Hunter. 

Dear lord, Hunter. Which, now that we’ve gotten here, let’s talk about what I think could have aided in remedying a lot of these issues

4. Merging

Now I know TOH had to jump through a lot of executive hoops (including the existence and plot relevance of Hexside particularly in S1) so I don’t know what sort of orders came down, or mandates they have to follow but:

TOH has too many characters, and plenty of them could have been condensed as pairs into half as many characters.

I know this, because I went through a similar process of originally having a central group of thirteen characters, and cleaved that shit down to seven. So what are my proposed mergings?

The twins become one character. They more or less are now, fulfil the same purposes and character points as one another (flesh out Amity’s family, tease her and be a listening ear, show their mother’s control, operate as illusionists, etc). Whether it’s brother or sister doesn’t really matter.

Gus and Willow become one character. I would say keep more of Willow’s backstory (w/ Amity), dads, and plant magic alight, as the merged-twin character could substitute as the group illusionist whenever need be. It means that instead of only having splintered individual episodes with Luz or for their development, the small collection would be bolstered and improved marginally. It still wouldn’t fix where screentime or set up fails them, but it would be a significant start. I adore Gus, he’s one of my favourites in the whole show — but he’s less plot relevant than Willow, who is already largely not plot relevant (at least, not outside Hunter’s arc in S2) and we gotta be economical somewhere.

Economical storytelling is when a character, scene, or plot beat is doing at least three things at once, largely — and right now Gus is doing the least, as much as I love my boy, with Willow right next to him. Thus, there we go.

Now for the big, perhaps flat out unpopular one:

Hunter and Amity should’ve been one character. Like the twins, and even Amity and Lilith, they’re largely one theme split down the middle. The show draws intentional parallels between their world views, callousness, and need to be the best due to their abusive families, their strong relationships / connections to Luz, who works to friendship and who are changed by her kindness. There are also less thematic but still overt parallels, like their artificial wands, opposing palismans (bird vs cat), travelling into mindscapes where they uncover secrets. Hell, they both even have a reformed father figure who works with the Abominable coven with a shittier parent who believes in their own superiority at any cost. 

Say Golden Guard Amity is enrolled in Hexside — she has to be trained somewhere — and throughout the season we hear her refer to her uncle, who raised her. He just wants the best for her, and for her to be a worthy member of the Emperor’s coven! It’s only at the end of S1 we learn that Amity’s uncle is Belos, and that her growing bond with Luz may be tested in the future. Then, in S2, she has to make a choice between her familial loyalty, ideological defection, and Luz and her friends (who will have more time to be friends, because there are less characters running around). You can even keep the condensed twin as a surrogate sibling mentor — perhaps one of Belos’ more successful grimwalkers, or flat out not a clone at all.

This merger gives Luz and Amity real stakes in their relationship, a higher sense of drama amid the sweet fluffiness, gives more characters more screentime... And amplifies everything that already exists in Amity’s arc. Yes, seeing a quieter form of child abuse from Odalia is worthwhile, particularly for abused children — but as of S2 she’s basically gone full bad guy and has already done so before in early S2, as her abomaton nearly kills Luz in “Escaping Expulsion” so... moot point? Sorta? Is what I’m saying. 

It would also, for the love of god, give Amity a solidified reason to dye her hair after she finds out she’s a grimwalker. She wants to reassert her own identity, she wants to be different than her successors while also honouring their good nature, etc etc. Imagine “Hollow Mind” but with Amity in Hunter’s place, and all the weight that would hold for each of them, and for Hunter’s character, now condensed into Amity’s. Also stronger parallels of Belos’ clones becoming less like his brother (because Amity is a girl) over time and with parallels of the implied plot line, of Belos killing his brother because Caleb fell in love with a witch, and it’s happening again, this time just with Luz and Amity, directly.

Basically the only things that would have to change would be a little of S1′s pacing, some of S2′s Blight parent related episodes (so largely two until the finale, which again, Darius or the condensed twin could easily substitute)oOr, to come full circle, you could have Lilith also play a factor, the way she did in Amity’s arc in the beginning. This would provide a greater sense that characters actually had lives and connections and little ship passing in the night moments before Luz showed up, and they would all feel more like!! REAL PEOPLE!!

The only thing that would possibly, likely have to go is Willow’s history with Amity.But given that the show has never really addressed the bullying, perhaps that backstory element would be better left dropped, in general. Amity can be a jerky bully without specifically bullying Luz’s friend for like, 4-6 years beforehand, y’know.

Anyway I will never not believe in the validity of what I call TOH Merger and how it would strengthen basically almost every single aspect of the show, take it or leave it. 

Conclusion / Nitpicks

Other notes before we wrap up.

I got bored with just how many episodes relied on the “Character A doesn’t want to fess up to something bc they’re insecure, scared, or trying to look Cool, but inevitably lie and make things ten times worse, and then learn it’s important to be honest” in S1 (hi King, Luz, Willow, and Gus eps respectively). 

Amity’s laser character focus on Luz stifles her relationships with both Willow and Gus (as it is more or less non existent outside of a few lines or group scenes); all of Amity’s character growth is largely because of her relationship with Luz, but the same cannot be said for Luz, leaving their relationship lopsided. This is particularly true for me (and is a total personal Aro-spec induced nitpick) and is all the more glaringly obvious considering they barely had one episode where the two were on friendly / friend-ish terms before crush feelings on Amity’s side came in. This makes me feel less invested in their relationship as a whole, as while it’s exceedingly cute, it feels like it’s based on nothing but Crush™ Feelings and that will also be less compelling to me than a strong Foundational Friendship that develops into a crush. I don’t mind that development happening fast, but this was a little too fast in my book. 

Final disclaimer: Still like the show, still think it’s good, these are just some of the reasons I don’t think it’s Great. The lack of a Merger will haunt me. Thank you goodnight

#toh #toh critical #toh salt #willow park #amity critical #MAYBE?? #gus porter #just covering my bases #toh criticism #no show is perfect if u disagree or don't wanna see criticism #both of which are totally fair! #just move along #non tdp #analysis series #mine #analysis #will be reblogging to main as well for good measure #i spent too long on this but it's DONE #this isn't even salt or criticism just #mostly me being Baffled by some of the character writing choices #from a structural standpoint

[buggachat]

I know I've said this and many variations countless times before, but just a reminder:

responding to fandom analysis posts of a show with "haha or it's just bad writing 🤣", "wow the writers must have written this by accident because they're bad 😛", or "wow one interesting thing managed to happen despite how bad the writing is 😆" is... grating.

I get it. You don't like the show, and no matter what happens in it, you'll never change your opinion of that. So why are you even interacting with analysis posts? What do you get out of it if you think literally everything in this show is written by accident? Why do you think the OPs of these posts want to hear about how much you don't care and don't want to even try to engage with it at all?

Make your own post. And tag it with the appropriate salt tags so I can blacklist.

#''it's bad writing'' as a knee-jerk reaction reply to literally any post ever discussing literally anything that happens in the show at all #is just...... i don't get it. do you think you sound analytical? that it makes you sound smart to be so negative? #that by completely refusing to analyze or engage w the text at all it makes you better than it? #it's nothing. you're saying nothing. you're making no points at all. just watch something else. engage in a different fandom. #get Fs on your lit essays. leave me out of it. lol #ml fandom salt #like you can criticize the writing all you want on your OWN POST but... c'mon... this isn't even criticism... #it's just an echo chamber of Nothing

[nientedal]

On Constructive Criticism.

Hey friends. You ever want to leave a critique on a fic, and the author says they like constructive criticism/"concrit," but then you leave your critique and you try to make it complimentary but the author still seems less than thrilled with you? You may have missed the point of "constructive!" Don't feel bad, you aren't alone. Took me until I started writing and receiving feedback to really figure it out.

The key to remember is, "constructive" doesn't mean "nice." It doesn't mean phrasing gently, or doing a compliment sandwich (although those are fine things to do as well). "Constructive" feedback is feedback that would make the story as the author has already written it stronger.

"The execution of this character's decision to do XYZ felt a little bit out of nowhere, to me. Was that your intent? It didn't seem like it was meant to be a big twist, either. Maybe some extra foreshadowing would make it stronger, or some shock on the part of the other characters." THAT'S constructive criticism.

This is NOT constructive criticism: "This character doing XYZ thing really doesn't make for as strong a story as it could. I think he should have done NQD thing, instead. That would have been better."

The first example offers some ideas on how to help a character's decision land better when the reader couldn't tell what the author's intent was. It's possible the reader didn't like the decision and that's why they noticed - maybe some foreshadowing would have helped them accept it better, or some indication that it was meant to be shocking would have validated the reader's surprise & displeasure. But, crucially, the reader did not suggest anything that would require a massive rewrite. Some tweaking, sure, maybe the addition of a few paragraphs. But not a change to the character's decision as a whole, the way the second example suggested. The second example does describe something the reader thinks would make for a stronger story...but it is not something that would make THIS story stronger. It is describing a different story than the one the author has already written so far, so it's just plain ol' criticism. Constructive criticism makes the existing story stronger.

That's the difference. You aren't workshopping. You are commenting on something that is already being written, that is already planned to the point where someone is already posting it. There is a BIG DIFFERENCE between workshopping a story and simply giving concrit! Unless the author has specifically asked for workshop-style help, offering things to do differently from what was already written is worse than useless. Don't.

Rule of thumb: if what you're saying can be boiled down to "I think this cake would be better if it was pie," say something else. The cake is not pie. It's not GOING to be pie. I didn't ask what you think I should bake, I put cake on the table and asked what you thought of this cake. Tell me what would make THIS cake better. Not the pie you were thinking of, and not a different cake you might have liked better. THIS CAKE.

#writing #constructive criticism #concrit #fanfic #fandom #@ my fellow authors... it's also important for us to remember that even constructive feedback isn't always right #maybe the reader simply missed the foreshadowing that was there #maybe they just really really hated the character's decision and would have needed way more foreshadowing in order to accept it #but your other readers were fine #take everything with a grain of salt; don't jump to change things just because someone else thinks you should #*is* this how you want to write it? yes? then leave it #it's fine #someone not liking your work doesn't mean you should change it #just like someone getting upset when you say No doesn't mean you should have said Yes

[okiidokii]

IDK how to explain this well, but the Miraculous fandom seems to have a very weird relationship with criticism and analysis of the show. It’s apparently a very common  joke to call miraculous a ‘dumpster fire’ of a show, but as soon as anyone actually criticizes it, people get weirdly defensive. Not in a way of trying to push back against bad-faith criticism or simply feeling bad that someone dislikes a show you love, but in a weird moralized way.

Some fandom blogs cry about “salters” (which is honestly such a weird thing to call media criticism) like heresy. All ‘Adrien Salters’ are evil people who hate abused children, and anyone who has even the slightest criticsms of Marinette’s behaviour is written of as a misogynist or a racist (even though a lot of criticism of Marinette IS acknowledging the racism and misogyny of her writing).Even some of the ‘salt’ itself reads as a very poor understanding of how characters work and basic media literacy. Perhaps this is just normal fandom behaviour, but it’s very weird.

#rambles #miraculous salt #miraculous fandom salt #I want to believe its just tumblr #but honestly tumblr has some of the most balanced miraculous analysis i've seen online #it truly doesn't hold a candle towards the insanity of Miraculous Youtube and Twitter #also this isn't a dig a people who block miraculous critical blogs by the way #more of people who spend a lot of their internet time going on anon to spout the most absurd reading of their criticisms humanely imaginabl #honestly i don't even want to use the term 'salt'. #it clumps together actual criticism with people who don't know what an antagonist or a character flaw is #you know what #be the change you want to see in the world #miraculous critical #ohh boy here comes a bunch of tags

[14cookiesinajar]

Destiny 2 has a pacing problem that I think started with Arrivals.

At the end of Arrivals you have the Black Fleet around the Sol System, you have planets being ripped out of the sky, and The Traveler reforming. You are on the brink of a second collapse.

Status: Calamitous; if you will.

But then..... The Pyramids.... do nothing.

And they do nothing.

And they do..... nothing.

Sure they tempt, they manipulate Eramis. We are told there's a reason for what is happening to the planets. But it's just. Unsatisfactory.

Why do I care about stalling Xivu Arath? The Black Fleet is already here. Why do I care about the Cabal, Eliksni? Making alliances against an approaching foe- The Black Fleet is already here.

You were brought to a high in the story with the pyramids arrival and the traveler reforming and then it just sat there. Destiny is really hurt by the fact that a year for us is also a year for the characters in game. If you introduce something too early or too late it hurts more than it would otherwise.

Having so much of The Black Fleet arrive two and a half years ago was a mistake and it could have been solved by simply having the number of pyramids come down to one. One that would hover around Io before taking it, and then moving on to Europa.

Mercury, Mars, Titan being removed as playable areas didn't have to follow that same explanation, look at the Tangled Shore. They could have simply been evacuated or removed from Vanguard priority. Shaxx and Drifter are just stubborn and stay out there (It's all a simulation is just a weird explanation you might as well not have had one).

Either way, reducing the number of pyramids to one is just enough for concern but not enough to feel as if the end game is RIGHT THERE RIGHT NOW only to be left hanging. You have gradually moved from a mostly silent pyramid on the moon to one hovering in the sky, an active threat. Then when Witch Queen arrives you realize THERE IS SOMETHING INSIDE DO THEY ALL HAVE SOMETHING INSIDE?! A natural escalation. And then at the end of the campaign show that the rest are finally arriving. Just on the outskirts of Sol. The end game is finally here... And to fill out the seasons maybe make it clear the pyramids are searching for Something (The Veil), that way you have a single year of rising tension as the pyramids sit there versus nearly 3 years....

I have Lightfall thoughts in regards to this but this is already so long and I haven't actually finished the campaign. I'm only up to Downfall. But spoilers I guess if you haven't even started the campaign and seen the very first cutscene.

It is already doing exactly what I feared in THE FINAL BATTLE IS HERE RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW only for us to....... Go to Neptune. The Witness and Calus were just at Jupiter??? Why did they come to Earth and then have Calus back track for something they knew they needed?????

Lightfall is just a microcosm for the mistake Destiny keeps making in having rising action after rising action and then doing nothing to it and I'm just sad that there seems to be nothing to be done about it anymore but rewrite it in my mind...

#I don't want to put this in the main tags but idk what we call this #Destiny 2 critical #Destiny 2 salt #Maybe????? #I love this game it is just reaching the need to have edits done to it #Like when you are writing the first draft and you are like #Yeah okay that's got to go #This isn't even about the stuff I actively hate #Like The Witness existing outside of The Winnower #This is literally just about pacing and hype build up #long post

[horreurscopes]

So, I could be out-of-bounds here since I think you meant it as dark humor, but what did you mean in the tags of that 'israel-hamas war' post? I suspect you(and op) are criticizing that framing because Israel is obviously demolishing much more than 'Hamas'(and probably doing a terrible job of actually targeting terrorists- they seem content to reduce Gaza to rubble even if the brass of Hamas escapes). I'm guessing that by saying "joining the Israel-Hamas war on the side of Hamas" you mean, if they're going to conflate Palestinians with Hamas unilaterally, then you're saying, whatever the media wants to call Palestinian civilians- you still support them. I am asking anyways though bc, given reports of increasing antisemitic activity in the US and Europe, I am worried about the potential for blurring lines between the cause of Palestinian civilians and the alt-right individuals who are likely masking their antisemitism in the context of being anti-Zionist. Although Israel's government has been the source of Palestinian loss for decades, (it seems to me that) even joking about supporting terrorism is enough to reinforce the persuasion that Israeli/Palestinian Jews and Palestinian Arabs must be mutually-exclusive peoples. I don't think it's fully rational per se(tho I'm not claiming to have all the relevant information myself, and I'm white US American goyim so like- grain of salt-), but I think that existential fear is the incredible hurdle facing Zionist Jews. (Idc too much about the opinions of non-Jewish Zionists bc I don't grant that they are dealing with the same emotional complications at this time, although that doesn't stop me from arguing w my acquaintances abt their callous acceptance of US/Israeli propaganda.) I just think..... isn't it overall harmful to allow anti-semitic rhetoric, even used sarcastically, to enter the genuine humanist cause for Palestinian liberation? Or, have I misunderstood, and you actually are not in opposition to Hamas, or something else I didn't think of?

hi! thank you for approaching the question thoughtfully and with curiosity, i really appreciate it. i was being kind of flippant with that meme, but this is the only ask i'm going to reply to on the matter given that i am neither jewish nor arab, so i'm going to answer in earnest:

hamas is a political resistance movement with an armed wing, much like the black panthers party was, and like the bpp, a large part of the organization is dedicated to social welfare and civic restoration.

they have stated that they are not against judaism, but against the zionist project. they openly support political solutions.

labeling hamas a terrorist group is a propaganda tactic used by the united states and israel to justify the horrors of settler colonization.

hamas is palestine, a part of it, even if palestinians like any other demographic on earth, are not a unified, single-minded people. to declare hamas a separate entity falls prey to the imperialist lie that there is an enemy to fight "fairly" within the people they are displacing and exterminating.

am i rejoicing in the deaths of israelis? of course not. killing civilians and taking civilian hostages is a war crime, whether it is committed by the opresor or the oppressed. the israeli government is not its people, and many jews, within israel as well as in the US, are bravely risking their lives to publicly dissent the criminal acts of the israeli government. all loss of human life is a tragedy.

no one should ever be faced with the choice between annihilation and murderous violence after exhausting all other forms of peaceful protest and being massacred like animals.

but why is it that we consider a resistance group formed within a population with a median age of eighteen a terrorist group, and not the IDF, a US-backed military force with an annual budget of twenty billion dollars?

i am currently reading hamas and civil society in gaza by sara roy to learn more about hamas and the history of israel in palestine. i'll remember to post more excerpts which i am admittedly terrible at.

but all of the information above can be found by reading wikipedia. investigating with duckduckgo searches (not gonna pretend google isn't prioritizing propaganda, to be fair), and reading reliable news coverage like aljazeera and the many journalists who are at risk of, or have lost their lives, reporting on the ground.

i have also appreciated reading posts from @determinate-negation @opencommunion @fairuzfan @ibtisams and @bloglikeanegyptian amongst others

in conclusion:

#palestine

[sage-nebula]

WatcherTV Debrief

I said I was going to write down all of my thoughts yesterday, but I was simply too tired after work. So I'm going to do so now, in a post that is likely going to be very long, but hopefully will still be worth the read for some of you anyway.

TL;DR: I believe this is a very poor decision on Watcher Entertainment's part and it is at the very least going to cost them a huge swath of their fanbase, if not their entire company in the long run. And at this point in time, I myself will not be subscribing.

With that said though, I don't want this post to merely be a rant about how much I dislike the decision, so I'm going to start off by looking at things from their perspective and explaining why, although some people in the fanbase might feel betrayed, none of the three (yes, three, because Steven, Ryan, and Shane were all equal parts of this decision) personally betrayed anyone in the fandom. If you're still angry, I understand that seeing what might seem like a "defense" might be upsetting, but again, I hope you'll find some value in it regardless.

All of that said, that plus my extensive criticism of this decision is going to be long, so let's go beneath a cut.

First, let us state the obvious: Watcher Entertainment is a media company -- a business -- and Shane Madej, Ryan Bergara, and Steven Lim are not your friends. They are business owners first, and media producers + actors second.

I italicized actors to draw attention to it, because this is something that I think gets . . . not forgotten, per se, but pushed aside in people's minds when they consume video content online, particularly when that video content is on YouTube, which originally began as a point and shoot video upload website that was meant to give anyone and everyone the ability to upload their vlogs or silly little videos. The term "parasocial relationships" is one that has proliferated across the internet, but I think the issue here -- with Shane and Ryan in particular -- is not only that people are thinking of them as "friends," but also that they are thinking, "These are their authentic selves, this is who they really are, I know them." And the fact of the matter is, that isn't true. Shane and Ryan are actors. What we see in their videos isn't their authentic selves. We don't know them.

Now, that isn't to say that it's all a lie. It isn't quite the same as, say, Ryan Gosling or Leo DiCaprio playing a role in a film. But every internet celebrity (and that is what they are at this point) presents themselves in a particular way to their audience. Even in the Pod Watcher podcast, where ostensibly they're having Just Friendly Conversations About Whatever's On Their Minds, they're mindful of the fact that their audience is listening, their audience is judging, their audience is making gifs and fanart of moments they like. They're acting. They're playing up personas to keep fans engaged, to keep fans coming back for more.

So Shane and Ryan (and Steven, when he can be) are actors. You don't know their true authentic selves, and you never have. Anything they say has to be taken with a grain of salt, because they are saying what they want you to hear. Even their live shows are rehearsed. And what this means -- that they only show you what they want to show you -- is that they did not betray you, because they couldn't betray you. They don't know you, just like you don't know them. Betrayal is not possible here.

To that end, Watcher Entertainment is a media company -- in other words, a business. And businesses must generate not only revenue, but profit in order to stay afloat. Now, I don't know what Watcher's financial books look like right now. I have seen people throwing around a lot of numbers about what they have to make from Patreon, from ticket and merchandise sales, et cetera, but without looking at the expense reports, the bank statements, and the budget sheets, it's difficult for any of us to say just what state Watcher is in financially. We can guess, but that's the best we can do.

That said though, we don't have to guess to know the very basic principle of running a business. A business has to, at the bare minimum, break even. Ideally, the business would profit, so that they can not only do things like pay their employees fairly, but also so that they can expand and grow. Any business requires money in order to make product, whether that product is food, an item that you can purchase, or entertainment media that you consume as a viewer. As nice as it would be if Watcher could make their content without needing money to do so, they can't. Even independent YouTubers, including video essayists and Let's Players, require money to make their content. The equipment, in both purchasing and upkeep, requires money. The games (for Let's Players) require money. Internet and electricity bills, food, books needed for research, props, et cetera -- all of that requires money. No matter how simple a video may look, it still requires money to make. There is a reason that most people aren't able to make YouTube a full time job, and it isn't because they aren't talented; it's because it is a deceptively expensive venture to get into.

So with that said, even without knowing Watcher's current financial situation, it does make sense that they need money to run their business, purely from a "businesses need money" standpoint. This is common sense. This is why things like Watcher selling merchandise, having sponsored ads, having a Patreon, et cetera always made sense. And it is possible, too, that even if their present financial situation is okay, that they are thinking about the future, and costs they are likely to be incurring within the next year.

I don't know how many people within the fanbase listen to their podcast, Pod Watcher, but I do. A few episodes ago, Steven revealed that he wants to open a Malaysian restaurant within the next year. This is his dream, to bring Malaysian culture to the United States with food. This is an amazing dream for him, it's wonderful for him, I wish him success in this venture.

However, running a restaurant -- and not only running one, but building one from the ground up and running it -- takes an astronomical amount of time and energy. This is time and energy that Steven is currently expending keeping Watcher Entertainment afloat as the sole person in charge of managing their financials. (He has the official title of CEO, with Shane and Ryan having stepped away from that title In Name Only to focus on production, but the job that Steven is actually doing is CFO -- Chief Financial Officer.) So when Steven announced that he was going to be opening a restaurant within the next year, what I heard was, "Oh, Steven is leaving Watcher within the next year." This is supported, in my opinion, by Steven saying things like how Shane and Ryan will get free drinks whenever they visit, and then hastily tacking on fans can have it, too. He was trying not to show that he was leaving just yet to the fanbase, but the writing is on the wall and they all know it.

What this means is that when Steven leaves, they will need to find someone to replace him. Either Shane and/or Ryan will need to step away from producing and acting in their shows to take over CFO duties (which the reason why they stepped away is because they handled CFO duties poorly while Steven was better equipped for it, so I doubt either of them would like to do this), or they will need to hire someone to do that for them. The lowest CFO salary in LA I can find is $140k/year, and that isn't including benefits. Since Steven helped found the company, it's doubtful he's making that much, but his replacement won't be a founder and will likely want competitive compensation. There is a good chance that, considering this, Shane, Ryan, and Steven feel pressured to bring in a lot more money than they're currently doing right now.

And I understand all of that. I have supported them where I can; yesterday I literally wore my $80+ Mystery Files jacket to work, which felt a bit bitter after the news broke and I realized I wouldn't be able to watch future seasons of said show. I overpaid for a denim jacket because I wanted to support them. It's not as if I don't understand.

However . . . here is where the criticism begins.

To begin with, there is an old saying: you have to spend money to make money. To go back to my previous statements about how even smaller scale YouTubers spend money to keep producing videos to keep their channels afloat, what this saying means is that if you aren't going to put any money into your business or product, you aren't going to have a business or product to generate any revenue. However, some young business owners take this to the extreme, and figure that if they pump tons and tons and tons of cash into their business at the start, it will start to generate revenue more quickly. What ends up happening is that they overspend, sometimes even despite their best efforts not to, and end up not being able to claw their way back out of the red in the end.

Unfortunately, that is what I think that Watcher is doing with their new streamer.

Let's be clear: There have been valid criticisms about how they seemingly over-budget on shows that don't need to have such high production values or budget. Someone mentioned that their Let's Play show (I don't watch that one because horror games are uninteresting to me, so I don't remember the name) credits something akin to 26 people, which is silly when you consider the fact that there are independent Let's Players who are able to produce content themselves. Of course, you have to remember that the LPers on YouTube are editing their own videos, which Ryan and Shane probably aren't able to do -- but even then, that would be one or perhaps two additional editors. The number of people they have working on that particular venture does seem excessive.

With that said though, those 26 people were already employed and being paid, so having them work on the Let's Play show was likely not a new business expense. The streamer, however, is a completely different story.

First, they had to have paid likely multiple people to build the WatcherTV streaming website for them. Granted, I could be wrong since I have never used Squarespace, but I find it difficult to believe this is something Squarespace would be capable of handling. So unless they already had experienced programmers on their staff, they would have had to hire programmers to build the streaming website. They would also need to pay for hosting the streaming website, which includes not only the domain, but server space for all of their videos, and videos take up a lot of space. Previously, YouTube hosted all of their videos. Now? That needs to be on Watcher, and server space and maintenance is not cheap.

So they are paying for programmers, domain name, server space, server maintenance. They are also going to need to pay for security. Not only do they need to be concerned about any potential DDoS attempts, but more importantly they need security to ensure that they can't suffer a data breach and lose the credit card information of their subscribers, something which happens all the time to other companies. Now you may say, if it happens all the time and those companies are fine, Watcher will be too, right? Well, does Watcher have lawyers on retainer? Because litigation can be raised against companies with insufficient website security that puts customers' financial information at risk, which means Watcher could find themselves facing a lawsuit if their streamer is hacked and credit card information is stolen.

So they will need to pay for systems administrators to not only build security for the streamer, but also maintain security for the streamer, because cyber attacks evolve each day and it is a constant battle against them. It is possible that whatever third party they partnered with to build the streamer for them bundled all this together (if that is the route they went), but either way, services like that do not come cheap -- and if they do, you are not getting a service of value.

So what this comes down to is that Watcher Entertainment has likely spent a ton of money they allegedly do not have to build this streamer, taking the "you have to spend money to make money" adage to the extreme. Their hope, near as I can tell, is that they will generate enough revenue from the streamer so that they will be able to recoup the cost of building and maintaining the streamer and generate profit. However, judging by the reaction from the fandom, I think that is unlikely.

As everyone knows, the reaction to this news has been abysmal. While some of the responses toward Steven and Ryan in particular have been racist vomit, I do think there are valid reasons for why this news has been received so poorly. These reasons include:

Watcher built hype for a week, with a countdown timer and everything, teasing an announcement as if it were a new show or similar "gift" to the fandom, when in reality it was the news that the fandom would now have to pay for content that was previously free.

Patreon subscribers are expected to continue paying the same amount, but for far less content than before. Access to the streamer is not included in the basic tier; they'll need to double their cash output.

Many fans are international fans who can't access the streamer at all without a VPN to switch their location to the United States. Even if they want to pay, they are barred from doing so, meaning that Watcher Entertainment is shutting a large portion of its fanbase out for the foreseeable future.

Watcher took a very patronizing tone with their audience in both the announcement video and their Patreon letter. In the announcement video, which was fourteen minutes long when the actual pertinent information took half that time to deliver (if that), they began with a long diatribe about their careers and how much YouTube meant to them, and how sad they were to leave it -- as if they had guns held to their head, and weren't making this decision of their own volition. This is condescending; it implies they believe their audience is stupid enough to believe they were backed into a corner and have no choice. In the Patreon letter, they had a line that read, "And part of that change includes a bit of news that will surely be met with some fits of sobs- we're bringing Watcher Weekly+ to a close. We know. We know." Again, this is patronizing language. They are talking down to their fans, and assuming their fans will be heartbroken by losing a behind scenes the video, or whatever Watcher Weekly+ is. This arrogant, condescending tone does not help soften the blow of being told they are going to pay the same amount of money for less content.

As you can see, the way that Watcher Entertainment executed the announcement that they would be moving future content behind a paywall was abysmal, and the fanbase reacted accordingly. Provided that the anger isn't empty and that the current fanbase sticks true to their word about not subscribing (either out of principle, location, or because they can't afford it), Watcher Entertainment has lost a huge chunk of expected revenue directly out of the gate. And it's possible that they expected this; they had to know they would be shutting out international fans (at least for a time, presumably) and that there would be fans who couldn't afford it. But it's possible that they felt that there would be enough fans to support and subscribe anyway (hence the arrogant tone about people sobbing over losing Watcher Weekly+; that attitude screams of "you're so devoted to us you will do whatever we ask no matter the cost"), and also that they would be able to pick up enough new fans that it would cushion the blow of losing old fans.

Here is where the next problem lies.

Watcher's current subscription model is $5.99/month or $60/year. If you go monthly, you end up paying $72 for the year, so the annual plan is the better deal by $12. When you compare pricing to other streaming services, this may not seem so bad at first; it's on par with DropoutTV, and it's cheaper than Netflix, Disney+, and other big names such as those.

The difference, though, is that all of those other streamers -- DropoutTV included -- have far more content than Watcher does, meaning that the customer (and keep in mind that we are customers, we are not friends, and truly we are not fans when we are paying them money for product from their business) gets more bang for their buck.

I have seen the argument from defenders of the streamer in fandom that say, "So you care about quantity over quality?" And this argument is flawed for several reasons:

There are plenty of quality TV shows on other streaming platforms. DropoutTV has Game Changer. Hulu has Schitt's Creek and Abbot Elementary. Peacock has The Office and Parks & Recreation, so on and so forth. Watcher Entertainment has good shows, but they are not the only good shows in the whole of the media industry. Dare I say, they aren't even the only good shows on YouTube.

While Watcher does produce shows of high quality, their shows have tiny seasons of only six episodes each, and their seasons are spaced out months apart. They also cancel their shows without warning or announcement, meaning fans can wait (and wait, and wait) for a new season of a show they like that will never come, because Watcher dropped the show and didn't bother making official word on it. If you go through Watcher's entire content library (which is easy to do even if you like all their shows, and even easier if you only have a handful of shows you enjoy), then you will be paying for a streamer that you do not use for months on end while you wait for the next batch of six episodes that you maybe want to see if, again, you don't like all of their shows. (I myself only follow five: Puppet History, Mystery Files, Too Many Spirits, Top 5 Beatdown, and Ghost Files.) That is money you have spent on a service you rarely use. In other words: money wasted.

That last point is particularly important when you consider that Watcher Entertainment hopes to draw new customers in to subscribe to their streamer.

Pretend, for a moment, that you have never heard of Ryan, Shane, or Watcher before. You are browsing YouTube, and you come across the season premier of season three of Ghost Files. You enjoy it, so you think, oh, I would like to view the rest of the season. You learn that the rest of the season is on a streaming service called WatcherTV, which only hosts series that Watcher themselves have produced. Their library is very small right now. New episodes for ongoing seasons are weekly, they only have one season airing at a time, new seasons have month long gaps between them. This service costs $60 a year annually, or $6 a month ($72 annually). You've never seen any of their other shows before, and while you could technically afford it, it's not as if money is no object to you. You'd likely have to give up a streamer that has a much, much larger selection of shows and movies you already know you like to give this one a shot. (This one that, mind you, doesn't work outside of your internet browser, so you can't watch it on your television either.)

Would you do it? Really put yourselves in the shoes of someone who has no familiarity at all with Shane, Ryan, Steven, or their shows before that moment. Would you choose to pay $60 for a streamer with low accessibility, and a tiny, infrequently updated library? Especially if it meant losing access to so much more?

It isn't just that numerical value of the price that makes it a bad move. It's the price relative to the product being offered. Watcher's own fans, who love their content, are fiercely divided over whether to subscribe, with many saying they won't. In what universe does someone who has never heard of Watcher sign up to pay them that much for so little offerings? Particularly when they'll only be advertising via YouTube, and infrequently at that given that they'll only be posting season premiers?

(And this is not getting into how they were originally going to pull all of their content before the backlash. Yes, they walked it back -- but not only did they say in the video that the content would only be live until May 31st, but the Variety article says that the company originally told Variety that they would be pulling content, only for Ryan to issue a statement saying they wouldn't do that after. Meaning, they walked that part back because that's the part they could walk back. They have undoubtedly sank far too much money into the streamer to back out of that now. It's way too late.)

Businesses need to make money. Steven, Ryan, and Shane are business owners who are trying to make their business profitable. But I believe that this was one of the worst ways to go about it. I'm not saying that I know exactly what they should have done instead. I don't have all the answers. But I do know that from the terrible execution of getting everyone excited only to tell them (in the most patronizing way possible) that they would now have to pay for a previously free service, to deciding to sink a bunch of money into a streamer that they seem to have done no market research on beforehand and that they don't have the content library to support, this absolutely seems like the wrong way. Moving their content to an existing streamer like Nebula would have been a better move, in my opinion. (And it would have prompted me to actually sign up for Nebula, since there are several video essayists I haven't followed there . . . but I would have followed Watcher, since it would give me access to Watcher content and the content of those video essayists I've been missing.)

But what's done is done. As I said, I think at this point Watcher Entertainment has jumped off the cliff and they didn't do so with a bungee cable. I don't think they can walk this back. I'll be interested in seeing if they succeed, but I have very strong doubts they will.

#watcher #watcher entertainment #shane madej #ryan bergara #steven lim

[pacific-rimbaud]

i was reading your thoughts on how fans felt about l&oha and while i concur it is a perfect piece of work in my head and have reread it 5x, i wonder if you think fans tend to be harsher/more critical of hermione and let draco slide? i see it a lot in fics where he's more of an alphahole type

Oh, man. Okay. The can is open, the worms are loose. Rant under the cut.

I'm actually going to set men aside entirely. Just. To the side with you. I desperately need more realistically complicated men, too, but that's a whole separate discussion. Right now: women.

There must be whole dissertations out there on the phenomenon of readers hating female characters with negative traits. I'm a fandom old, so I didn't grow up identifying with Hermione, and wouldn't have even if I'd been young enough to. I did that "which character are you" test just now and my top three matches were Janis Ian from Mean Girls, Jughead from Riverdale and April from Parks and Rec, which, massive grain of salt, etc. BUT gives you an idea. I am not a Hermione and never was, so she's never been a comfort character or self-insert for me. Some of my favorite fictional women are Sophie Hatter (mean, irrational, petty, old and mostly loving it), Harrowhark Nonagesimus (evil stick), Phryne Fisher (zero fucks to give). What I like about Hermione is how imperfect she is. I'm a "cleverest witch of your age I've ever met" truther (book!Lupin is absolutely saying "you're the canniest 14 year-old child I have personally met, saying this as a guy who doesn't get out much," not "you are a once-in-a-century genius"), and from my perspective, she's often wrong and often a dick, and not in a fun and fiesty burn-down-the-world BAMF way. Which. Good for her! Be human.

And that's the thing. I personally don't want Hermione to be perfect, I want her to be what I think she is, textually, which is intelligent, hardworking, loyal, competitive, compassionate, controlling, belittling, rude, petty, insecure, vindictive, volatile. She has the right to be that way, because she's human. The desire for perfected women (or unapologetically and unstoppably awful ones, another brand of female power fantasy) is not limited to Dramione fandom. I think it's amplified in DHr by many readers who DO identify as former gifted children, books-as-coping-mechanism kids and Strong Female Personalities who felt marginalized in childhood and want to see Hermione have it all: she's slim, she's tiny, she's fragile as a bird, she'll break your neck, she'll step on your throat, she'll tear down the system, she'll heal all wounds, she does not need help, she holds all the knowledge, she holds all the cards, she is forever wronged, she can do no wrong, her vagina is tight, her nipples are hard, her hair is on point, her waist is tiny, her tits are bouncing, her ass is in the style of Now. And like. This isn't at all unique to DHr and Hermione. It's pervasive in fiction written by and for women. Female power fantasies are obviously feeding a massive hunger. It's just not what I personally want. Personally, I find it alienating and uncomfortable, which I know equates to, "That is wrong and shouldn't exist" to a lot of people, but that's its own tale as old as time.

There's a disconnect that happens too often where a reader wants one (1) thing from their fiction, and receives something else, even when the contents are clearly labeled on the tin. In this case, wanting a female power fantasy and encountering a woman who's written with flaws makes people upset. And maybe if we could be more honest with ourselves about what we're looking for when we read, work to accept that not everyone wants the same experience, and learn to close a book when it's not working for us and say, "No shade, this isn't for me," it would be less upsetting when we encounter a character who isn't written to meet our personal expectations. I will open a book, realize the FMC is a female power fantasy archetype and close it, because that's not what I show up for. I like my women gritty and weird and foolish and vulnerable and liable to hurt people and feel terrible about it. Give me all the exhausting chatterers and evil sticks and jocks with swords and their hearts on their sleeves (their hearts ripped out), give me shy Anne Elliot and her suitcase full of regrets and the ugly fuckup who never has a glow up, give me dirtbag stoners and Fleabag and Alicent Hightower apologetics and every role Natasha Lyon has ever played. It's not a moral high ground, it's about a preference for seeing actual, demeritus flaws on the page and on the screen. Blame that woman. It's her fault. She has so many faults. Then show me how to forgive her so I can figure out how to forgive myself.

The thing is, I love women. I love women so fucking much. I want to be around them, to get to know them, to read about them, to watch them on TV and see them in films. And personally, I like them ugly. Physically. Spiritually. Morally. Give a woman a Bad Personality and watch her succeed in the most self-injurious way possible, fuck you. Give her a gaping chest wound and line it with teeth. Stick a piece of grit in that girl's tightly sealed shell so that a pearl is her only option. Make her love other women, make her fuck it up, make her have to earn them back.

Thankfully I do feel like we're getting more ugly women in fiction, especially BIPOC, queer and marginalized women who deserve gross, weird, nasty representation and not just didactic moralism, patronization and misguided sainthood. Some readers won't want that, and that's fine. Again, personally (it's all so personal, please, please remember that when you hit that comment button), I'm here for it. If you write about women like this, know that you have a thirsty reader here. I'm swallowing them up. I'm smacking my lips. I'm smashing my mug on the cafeteria floor and calling for another.

#you asked I answered #rant #long post

[theriverbeyond]

thinking about this post (abt how even if circumstances were perfect, John would never have been able to touch the world-soul without losing his mind), and i was thinking more and more about how, like, everything was doomed as soon as Alecto got involved.

because humanity had become unsustainable on Earth, but Alecto wasn't just humanity, right? she was everything: she was the land, the saltwater and the salt, the oceans and the lakes, the fish and the birds and every creeping thing. green thing. if she had done nothing and let humanity die, billions of organisms would have survived and billions more would have thrived in the time after. the world has ended before and will end again and eventually all that pain would have been just a blip in her unfathomably long lifespan.

and yet despite everything, despite being everything, she CHOSE humanity. she chose humanity over every single microbial life, over every cockroach and bacteria and weird little extremophile living in deep ocean vents. she chose humanity over the unknown and aborted future of the planet without humans. she chose John.

so like as much as we can criticize John for his rage and terror and selfish revenge, Alecto made a selfish choice too. and you know what? who can blame her. this is just what love does to us, isn't it? once you are loved, you cannot bear to live without it. it is terrifying. you want to eat and hold and chew it and never let it go even if it is ruining you.

#tlt meta #tlt thoughts #been ruminating over this post..... shoutout to liesmyth for being a john gaius understander #john gaius #alecto #trb.txt #me googling science for this post and humanity has been around for 0.007% of the Earth #that's TINY!!! and alecto chose US??? #for she so loved the word that she had given them john. for john so loved the world that he had made her she. for john so loved the world #etc im biting glass #'the horrors of love' anyway. aughaaahhhhaaaaa etc

[phantoids]

Okay fuck it I'm making this post.

So, we all know the dsmp fandom, especially on twitter, has a bit of a problem with leaktwt and often lots of controversy springing from stuff obtained by kiwifarms. I'd like to talk about this, because it's been pissing me off for months and it's getting ridiculous.

Please stop trusting information like this, or at the very least be cautious with how you interact with it, take it with a large grain of salt or maybe even a handful, don't take it at fucking face value and consider to yourself: why did they obtain this information and how did they obtain it.

Especially the how, because I've noticed the amount of illegally obtained data, from information unobtainable without some form of hacking to a lot of cases of spear phishing. Spear phishing, for those who don't know, is a targeted form of phishing against a specific person; phishing is often described as trying to obtain personal or sensitive information, and here the definition is applicable as digging through years worth of information otherwise inaccessible to the average user without purposefully searching everywhere for it, specifically information from or about a specific person.

This happens a lot, we see many cases, from the people who keep doxxing ccs, to the more recent things with certain information from Steam about Wilbur being made public despite the fact it's inaccessible without some sort of digging or manipulation, and now with (I believe, idk i've not really been looking at it for obvious reasons) the whole Tubbo thing and I believe that was leaked private messages of a friend, I could be wrong there. Either way, there's been so many cases of doxxing, leaked private messages, information inaccessible on the front end of things and it's getting to a genuinely worrying point.

And this isn't because I care about content creators, but I do care about upholding data privacy. Yes, even if they've said shit in the past, please don't go digging and digging because that does fall into spear phishing, and at the end of the day it is very dubiously legal at best. This is something we're taught about in fucking cyber security courses, for even further perspective on how bad it is. Not to mention, often this information is dug up by infamous leaktwt or kiwifarms, which are pretty known for bad faith digging up of shit.

These people dig it up for clout, they dig it up for attention, they do not care who gets fucking hurt and often bringing up old shit is going to harm more people than it fucking helps. It's even worse when you try to hold someone accountable for something someone else did, especially years in the past like it's their fault.

Just, please, stop supporting this, stop circulating this shit like morning gossip, because you're not only hurting people for no good reason, it's also often spreading illegally obtained information from people who commit cybercrimes on the regular. It breaks data protection laws, it breaks someone's fucking privacy.

Content creators are people. Respect their privacy, for fuck's sake, and stop egging on leaktwt/kiwifarms, because at the end of the day you're just telling them it's perfectly fine.

And their campaign of digging things up and harming people in bad faith doesn't end at your favourite cis white boy. They will harm minorities, and they already do, just for clout and fun. Stop it while you can before it gets out of hand, and make it clear they aren't welcome, because the fandom doesn't make it clear enough.

This isn't, of course, to say you cannot be critical of information found about ccs, but please don't allow a side effect to be encouraging or inadvertently making leaktwt/kiwifarms believe it's safe for them here, and that they are supported. Be critical when your fav is found to have said awful shit in the past, give them time to clarify, but also just... be a little critical about how accurate that info is, and who is supplying it. If you find yourself thinking 'now is this really legitimately obtained?' then maybe don't spread it, because it could be fake but a lot of the time it's already been addressed and is simply spread in bad faith.

And sure, they're exposing shitty stuff right now, but what happens when they doxx someone's address for fun?

Data privacy is important, it affects everyone, and even the worst people deserve to keep it. Sure, law enforcement and courts might be able to obtain this stuff, but you're not law enforcement nor a court and you're not entitled to personal data whenever.

#void echos #discourse #this just. has to be said I think. i'm sick of seeing this shit #not to mention how dehumanised ccs are often but that's a whole other thing #respect data privacy or die by my fucking hands for fuck's sake. #yes it's not normal or fucking good to dig up old discord messages and dear god is it not normally obtained to 'find' private messages #those are illegally obtained dear god have some critical thinking about this shit. #this took a lot of courage to post tbh hopefully i don't get clowned on for respecting the fucking law and being a cybersecurity shill.

[genericpuff]

The Mishandling of LO’s S3 Mi(n)season Hiatus - Part 3 2/2

ALRIGHT. THIS IS THE LAST PART. I MEAN IT THIS TIME.

I had completely forgotten how long the mi(n)season finale for S3 was, but I suppose it makes sense considering it was operating as the true cliffhanger before the 4 month break.

If you haven't read the first 3 parts of this episodic breakdown, please go check these ones out first:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3 1/2

Alright, let's get this show on the road!

CAUTION: THIS IS PART 2 OF THE THIRD PART OF A 3 + 1 PART SERIES IN WHICH I WILL BE SPOILING MUCH OF EPISODES 251-253. THIS EPISODE CONTAINS TOPICS SURROUNDING SEXUAL ASSAULT. THIS WILL BE A LONG POST. BRACE YOURSELF.

We've gotten delusional Leuce. We've gotten erasure of the SA. We've gotten a complete bastardization of the original myths that this story got its claim to fame on. The dread has set in, and all I want to do is get off Mr Bones' Wild Ride. But we have one more stretch of mind-numbing track to go, because the reveal of Persephone starting winter was not the end, oh no. The true cliffhanger of this episode - upon which the fans and critics alike have sat on for 4 months - proves that when we think Rachel has gotten crazy enough in this circus she calls a "retelling", she manages to prove that yes, she can make things even crazier, and no, you will not have a good time.

Ironically, despite that opening, I actually have a lot less to say about this last part of Episode 253 than I did about the first part. Obviously there's no feasible way to top "Persephone causes winter", but this episode does come rather close in its absurdity. Ultimately, if these essays have proven anything, it's just how much Rachel retcons things, to such an extent now that she seems to be retconning or outright forgetting information that she established just a handful of episodes prior. You'll see what I mean here as we go along in this.

As soon as it's hinted at that Persephone has started winter, we cut away to Apollo. Because, as per LO tradition, we can't spend longer than 10-15 panels on a single scene.

Already this seems like... really odd framing.

This is Apollo. A character who has been a villain since basically the beginning of the comic, when he sexually assaulted Persephone. This is not something that's up for debate. This is not something that can be refuted, as much as the comic may try to erase it or twist it into something else.

And yet, the vibe I get from this is, "Misled but good-deep-down character being taken advantage of by a sinister being." This isn't the type of framing we should be seeing around a character like Apollo.

I mentioned it ages ago in my post about the SA erasure that it really feels like Rachel is slyly trying to make Apollo empathetic, from giving us an entire episode in his perspective to adding extra panels into the books to making Persephone weirdly reminiscent of feelings for Apollo that she never had.

One thing I also touch on in that post is how Apollo is framed against Zeus. Zeus is also a villain character for much of the series, and even after he's "redeemed", the fanbase still considers him largely to be an antagonistic force. So to have Apollo be trying to take down Zeus comes across as very "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" and I really don't like seeing that framing when it's regarding a rapist.

And this scene largely feels the same. It feels like Rachel's trying to sway the audience into believing Apollo is like Draco Malfoy - a misled boy who "didn't know any better" and was being manipulated by a greater evil. If you haven't guessed by now, that "greater evil" is Ouranos.

Why is it Ouranos? In my opinion (so take this with grains of salt) this is because they need to somehow "one up" Kronos and give Persephone and Hades a tangible force to fight against, to draw a clean line in the sand between "good" and "evil" so that we, the audience, will be forced to categorize Persephone and Hades as "good" and someone else as "evil".

But really, why Ouranos? We're told that he manipulated Gaia to use her powers in an attempt to create "hierarchy" (whatever the FUCK that means, I don't think Rachel really understands how societal hierarchies are created) but there's NOTHING to imply that he was tyrannical or "evil" in the same way that Kronos has been depicted. Rachel's basically submitting this whole plotline to "well it's in the prophecy" but there was NOTHING dictating that she had to try and write a "prophecy" storyline to begin with. So as a result, it feels very tacked on and it's hard to tell what the point is, it really just seems like Rachel watched too much Marvel one week and decided that Lore Olympus - a fantasy romance - needed a big bad.

And by extension it feels like Apollo is being used as a pawn in this dynamic. By making him subservient to an "evil" force, it means he can labelled as definitively "evil", and thus it gives Rachel a vehicle to have Apollo taken down - or even perhaps empathized with much like in the Draco Malfoy sense - without having to touch the SA plot that she set up and never resolved.

He was evil before, but he wasn't the kind of evil that Rachel could write around. Because she doesn't know how to write SA or give her female characters any sense of retribution or agency. We've seen that already with her robbing Demeter of winter and Persephone of her feelings regarding the SA. There was never going to be a chance in hell she was going to be able to write herself out of a plotline she's been procrastinating for 4+ years.

That said, this is just a vibe I get, so I'm not gonna speak on it much more. This is one of those "we're really not gonna know until the comic returns" situations.

Once again, Rachel's trying to make Apollo seem like a "master manipulator", but she's also trying to make him seem like he's the one being manipulated, but she's ALSO trying to write him as a big dumb idiot who literally can't grasp consent. Apollo has to be one of the most inconsistently written characters in the entire comic, and yes, that includes Persephone. Again, it just goes to show she hasn't been able to fully commit to the SA plotline because Apollo's motivations and intelligence levels change with each passing episode. Sometimes he's being nefarious and plotting to overthrow the King, other times he's literally asking a nymph if she'd be willing to cut her hair to look like Persephone. The comic can't choose and so we, the audience, can't tell why Apollo is even still here.

Again, this is SUCH bizarre framing. If we're to believe that Persephone has been "cursed" by no longer being able to create Spring, only Winter, then does that make Ouranos and Apollo the heroes here? Because Ouranos is right, if Persephone is causing winter, that's going to kill the mortals, which is the complete OPPOSITE of what she's trying to do. So what are we left with? A plotline where Apollo and Ouranos might actually have a point about how she rushed into a marriage with the King of the Underworld and sacrificed everything that gave her agency and power - both metaphorically and literally - in the process?

Again, this is why Rachel fundamentally misunderstands the original purpose of The Hymn to Demeter and how she's, by and large, made her retelling worse in an attempt to be "subversive". It puts the plot and character motivations in a place where it's hard to tell what the story is trying to say, I can understand if maybe Rachel's trying to write a conflict where Apollo uses this information to manipulate her, but it doesn't help that knowing EVERYTHING we know about the H x P relationship within the context of this comic, Ouranos has a point that Persephone's union with the King of the Dead is problematic. It might not be the same "problematic" that we're all thinking of, but it really just reinforces the criticisms of this relationship. Is the comic really asking us to say "fuck the human race, they're in love" ??? Because that's NOT what the point of the original myth was in the slightest and it's just a really weird place to put your audience in.

It's 4:45 AM right now as I'm typing this so my thoughts are a little scattered, but all this really feels like is an attempt on Rachel's part to create a new "big bad" for her to use as a distraction from the SA plot and to give Persephone a "flaw", but that "flaw" really only takes away the strength of another character.

Oh, and by the way? This whole "you need the fertility goddess" thing? THE COMIC HAS ALREADY TOLD US THIS WON'T WORK BECAUSE SHE HAS TO BE IN LOVE WITH APOLLO FOR HIM TO BE ABLE TO USE HER POWERS. SO RACHEL'S ALREADY WRITTEN HERSELF INTO A CORNER THAT SHE'LL EITHER HAVE TO SOLVE OR RETCON ENTIRELY. DO YOU SEE WHY THIS IS SO ABSURD???

This line is kind of jarring because we had the Kassandra prophecy at the beginning that talked about the herb, but the prophecy Ouranos is talking about is the one about the sons of kings overthrowing their fathers. I definitely forgot about that one for a hot second reading this, I didn't get how this sequence related to the poisonous plant thing because they're framed as completely separate prophecies. It's not like Kassandra said in her initial prophecy that this plant would be used to overthrow a King again, she just said that the plant still existed and Psyche figured it out on her own that Apollo was gonna use it on Zeus. IDK that's just something that bugged me (also again, why are they believing her prophecies when we literally just had it established an episode ago that no one believes her prophecies LMAO)

Because if it wasn't enough for LO to have one Evil Robot Jeff Bridges villain, it had to throw in another one for good measure. It's just a line of dads and grandpas going back centuries waiting for their turn in the ring with Persephone.

lmao I love this 'hint' at Apollo being the one to write the note from Hebe and leave the cupcake for Zeus. Like... duh? We already put that together as SOON as Psyche said gasp "Zeus!" and then it showed Zeus eating the cupcake while Psyche called him on the phone telling him Apollo was gonna try and harm him. This sequence of 'revealing what really happened' doesn't work here because we've already been told what happened.

Except we know he won't. There's no tension to this whatsoever.

That's Hebe by the way.

It's odd that Apollo is embracing this prophecy when he has a kid himself. He literally has a fully grown son in this comic. I guess Apollo forgot about that, just like Rachel.

And that's it. That's the midseason finale. Ouranos is the new twist villain and Apollo is... whatever the fuck Rachel plans on doing with him.

Now, this leads me to my original motivation to create this series of reviews. It spawned from a conversation we were having in the Discord, discussing what it must be like to be a free reader who hasn't paid for the FP episodes that are still behind a paywall. This is not standard for LO, it hasn't kept FP episodes behind paywalls in the past during long hiatuses like this. I can even prove this with screenshots from the Wayback Machine, during the last midseason hiatus:

(whoof, that rating has dropped. I know it doesn't seem like much but for a series with millions of readers, by law of averages it takes a LOT of poor ratings to pull that number down compared to a series that only has a few readers)

Point is, this is the first time Rachel/WT have done this. Now, I will make this perfectly clear, I don't think this was a decision that was purely on Rachel. WT controls much of the backend like paywall costs, release dates, etc. so I'm not gonna go pinning this on her.

However, I do think this is a completely bungled attempt at trying to get people to pay up. LO has been dropping in views steadily but surely since the midseason break for S2. It's not pulling in the peak numbers that it used to, while it does still pull in a lot more views and money than other series on the platform, it's nowhere near the juggernaut that it once was in terms of record-breaking numbers, and I think WT knows that. So this really comes across as a stunt to get readers to FP, assuming that people will HAVE to pay if they're left waiting for 4 months.

But here's the flaw in that logic - people are still going to have to wait 4 months anyways. Reading those 3 locked episodes, especially all at once, will still leave you in the same place as you were beforehand.

And it shows in the numbers that people aren't falling for the bait.

Again, 17k likes still isn't anything to sneeze at for a FP episode, but it's still just barely above the new average that LO has gained over the past two years. I remember a time when those like counts would be 30k+. And now, despite being on break 4 months with these episodes still locked behind a wall, it's barely able to scrap by its new average of roughly 14-15k, and that average is when episodes are actually updating.

Obviously like counts = / = viewcounts but when they fluctuate, we know that the views have to be as well by extension, at least to some extent, and that's still engagement that's dropped of in and of itself. And we can also see a rough look at how the views have dropped off through the comic's landing page. Now, it's hard to compare data because there was a time when WT actually didn't give follower/view counts on the landing page (this was also when the like count capped at 99k) but we can still see a downslide in growth very visibly in the view count, sub count, and most of all, the rating, which has been steadily dropping for years now.

August 2020:

May 2021:

November 2021:

March 2022 (don't get confused by the 995 million, this is where view count comes in):

September 2022:

March 2023:

Today (October 24th, 2023):

Again, there's no way to get a true clear picture of LO's stats beyond this surface level data, but it does show that LO is just not getting the rapid growth it used to. People are moving on from it. And while its view and sub count are steadily increasing (albeit slowly for a webtoon that gets as much marketing as it does) the average rating is going down. It's clear that the majority of LO's growth happened between 2018 and 2020, which would make sense as the series was still relatively new compared to how it's become old news today, and Webtoons experienced a boom in 2020 due to the COVID-19 lockdowns - a boom that they think still applies in the year 2023, judging by their attempts to import as many series onto the platform as possible and capitalize on an audience that just isn't there anymore.

All of this leads me to wonder - what's in it for free readers after all this? Because if you recall from where we started, the cliffhanger they started on was Hades - possessed by Kronos - attempting to strangle Persephone, a cliffhanger that was resolved within seconds for FastPass readers. If they don't FastPass after that, they'll be met with numerous reveals that don't even make sense for the plot as a whole (such as Leuce making up the text messages).

Again, I don't want to claim that this was a decision on Rachel's part, but it really seems like either she didn't plan this hiatus, or her inability to write naturally without the need for addictive-style formatting as a crutch made it so that the free readers would be given the worst midseason premiere ever.

And what are we, the FastPass readers, going to return to? There are still so many plot threads that have been left unresolved, multiple villains being setup, and as far as Webtoons and Rachel have revealed during NYCC, LO is supposed to end by the spring. That's 20-30 weeks TOPS, which isn't exactly a whole lot of wiggle room for a writer like Rachel who's chronically bad at pacing and getting to the point of the plots she's established.

I know there are so many readers right now anticipating the return of this comic, some of whom genuinely believe this comic is "better than ever" and others who are critical of it but hope that the comic will come back in a better state after the hiatus. But right now there's so much evidence to support the contrary - that LO is about to come back in as bad, if not worse, condition than it was in when it left.

And through all this, for a comic that's finally ending after 5 years, I have to ask - where is the hype? Why are Webtoons and Rachel keeping the finale of this comic behind closed doors? Where's the promotional art, the hinting at what's to come, the attempts to generate any semblance of excitement for the readers who are still left after clinging onto this ride for 5 years? Why were the fans themselves barred out of their own communities during the majority of the hiatus?

And that just leads me to an even more discouraging thought. This is not meant to accuse Rachel or make assumptions. It's simply a thought that I had while thinking about what the series could possibly pull upon its return, so please, take this with MOUNTAINS of salt. It's one thing I hadn't considered with the knowledge that LO will be returning with 3 episodes still behind a paywall, a 'buffer' in and of itself for Rachel to work off of.

Rachel only technically needs one episode ready for the release. Not three as she normally would if the episodes had been unlocked like in previous hiatuses. That's not including whatever buffer episodes she would need beyond the upload schedule, but she's proven to be chronically bad at maintaining a buffer as well since day one.

We haven't seen any promotional art. No hinting. No hyping beyond what's been seen for her "Rachel Smythe Presents" series.

With all that in mind, I have one question to leave this on:

Has Rachel even started working on Episode 254 yet?

#thank you for reading this very long essay series #it's 530 AM and i have to work at 2 PM #i've been listening to drakengard music on loop for 2 hours #these are troubling times #deadass i think the comic is gonna come back even worse than before #and i WILL be here to talk about it if and when it does #lore olympus critical #lo critical #anti lore olympus

[ghostlykeyes]

aki w a housewife!s/o like a sweet wife he comes home to after a long day at work ! yknow :) someone to help him wind down with a nice home cooked meal <33

Aki

Aki isn't quite sure how he managed to obtain something so peaceful and domestic, but he cherishes you, and the home you two have created, a lot. The first thing he does each morning is roll over in bed and give you a kiss. He likes to wake up before you so that he can make the both of you breakfast (he knows that if he sleeps in, you'll beat him to it and he'll wake up to omurice in bed). Aki pours a cup of tea and you enjoy breakfast on the back deck, chatting quietly about your plans for the day while you watch the sun come up. He relishes this slice of domesticity he gets to experience with you each morning, before work shatters the illusion of peace.

He knows that you don't mind scrubbing the blood out of his button-downs or patching the holes torn in his pants, but Aki always keeps a spare change of clothes at work anyway. He doesn't want you to worry when you see how beat-up he gets at work sometimes. Obviously, he can't hide his injuries, but the ruined clothes—those he can hide. If they're easily salvageable he'll just bring it to a dry cleaner's, but if not, they go in the trash. He comes home with a scraped face but clean clothes, and he always shrugs and says he's just careful if you question it.

Someone gave you an apron as a wedding present and Aki thinks you look just adorable in it. Whenever you're in the kitchen, he always sneaks up behind you and undoes the knot to tease you.

Aki appreciates everything you do for him, but above all else he loves when there's a warm bath ready for him after he stumbles home from a stressful day. If he calls you during his lunch, already sounding ragged at noon, you know just what to do. By the time he's home, you've gotten a lavish bath ready for him--candles, Epsom salts, soothing music, the whole nine yards. He takes a good ten minutes to just soak and decompress, and then Aki insists you get in with him.

It doesn't matter if you're the worst cook on planet Earth, Aki will still eat your dinner every night and swear to you that it's the best thing he's ever tasted. He knows the effort that cooking takes and he's not about to criticize you. (But, if you can't seem to make a boiled egg without...somehow...burning it, he may gently give you a few pointers in the kitchen.)

If you're a good cook, though, Aki lets you know it. There's never, ever leftovers from dinner and he always reaches for seconds or thirds.

Aki will love you forever if you meal prep for him. He doesn't mind eating out, but a home-cooked lunch always tastes better. If you really want to make him happy, include some sweets and a sticky note saying "You're the best! <3".

Aki's favorite excuse for avoiding social events is that you're at home, waiting for him with a nice dinner on the table. "Oh, no thanks," he says, whenever someone asks if he'd like to go for drinks or see a movie with a group of friends or coworkers. "My spouse and I already have dinner plans."

Even though you're at home taking care of the house while he works, Aki refuses to let you do all of the housework. "I live here too, dear," he points out if you protest when he starts wiping down the counters after dinner. "It's not fair to make you pick up after all of my messes."

Aki likes to leave little doodles on the grocery list for you. Typically, it's small things like hearts or short messages like 'Hope you're having a good day', and 'Your husband loves u!'. Once he got especially creative and drew an incredibly lopsided squid next to the bullet point for calamari. Amused, you keep the little scribble stuck to the fridge.

More often than not, Aki brings home flowers for you. It's a signal of his appreciation. Even if a handful of daisies isn't much, he doesn't like coming home empty-handed to a delicious meal on the table and a gorgeous spouse. Surely, he should have something to give in return. Smitten, you put the flowers in a vase and plop them in the center of the table so you can admire them while you eat.

Aki is absolutely besotted with you and will do literally anything you ask. After all, you've given him so much—a home, love, a sense of peace. And that's just the big things; considering the small, everyday gestures of care like clean, folded handkerchiefs, warm ramen, and soothing baths, makes him feel like he owes you the world. You'd like your feet rubbed? Aki's on his knees with a bottle of lotion. You see a shirt you like in a store window? He's already rifling through his pockets for his wallet. You'd like to take a trip with him? Just tell him when and where, and he'll do whatever it takes to get the time off from work.

#chainsaw man/reader #chainsaw man x reader #chainsaw man #chainsaw man headcanons #aki hayakawa #aki x reader #aki hayakawa x reader #aki chainsaw man #hayakawa aki #aki hayakawa x you

[shannankle]

DFF: Did Tee like Non?

This horrifying theory is dedicated to @slayerkitty and @peatbogbody (you're welcome😆)

Tee gets upset that Jin is touching White in a romantic way while acting. This could just be Tee being a red flag boyfriend. The way he talks to White later about this suggests he's a bit controlling. But...what if he also was a love rival with Jin in the past and he's worried it'll happen again with White. And what if their rivalry was over Non?

This is admittedly a shoe-string theory that I don't think I'd want, cause look how quickly he took advantage of Non when he realized he could. But let's lay out the evidence:

From their first interaction, Tee seems unnerved being around Non. He avoids looking at him, only stealing glances. And the show focuses on these looks more than one would expect. Is this disgust like Top and Por express, or is he grappling with attraction he is trying to hide from himself and others?

After Jin praises Non, Tee is quick to criticize. We know he's grumpy and cynical, but he also doesn't tend to offer his opinion much when it comes to the details of the project after this point. Perhaps he sees and feels threatened by Jin's immediate understanding of Non.

I bet it is frustrating huh Tee 😉

He positions himself so that he is only glancing at Non. His back to him makes him less vulnerable.

He glances slightly irritated at Por and Top as they harass Non. But agrees when they say he should come to cram school. It's hard to know what's going on in his head. Either way he still remains a silent bystander stealing glances. Does he agree cause he's going along with the group? Or because it means more time around Non?

Color time!!! Fluke, Top, and Por are all in shades of blue and grey. Jin is in yellow and white, showing how he doesn't follow the others perhaps. But look at Tee. His shirt has some blue but is red and white. Another outlier?

But, Non's color is red.

Here he's wearing a shirt with blue, trying to fit in, but when he raises his hand we can see that it has red on it still along with his bracelet. And Tee is matching him. Likely this represents their shared financial struggles and the fact that Tee will be dragging Non into trouble. But it could also indicate a growing attraction on Tee's part.

We have the three primary colors: Blue (Top, Por, Fluke), Yellow (Jin), Red (Non and Tee)

Once again we have the group in street close rather than uniforms. Top, Por, and Fluke are in blue and grey again. Non has green which is close to blue but not quite a match (he can't quite fit). Jin is also once again in yellow and white. It's a bit darker so perhaps a bit closer to the shade of green Non has on, but not quite enough to read as a match. On the other hand, Tee is wearing red and blue. The blue pairs with the rest of the bullies but the red matches Non's sweater and backpack.

Then after we get a shot of Non smiling (and Jin smiling back), Tee turns away like it's too much and gives us this very Kiyoi reaction. Ah his smile is too bright must disparage him and these feelings. He's even got a little catch phrase now.

Again these looks could mean a lot of things but could one of those things be a little jealousy perhaps?

We get another shot that focuses on Tee stealing a glance at Non. It was too hard to get a screenshot but his eyes flicker up as Non passes. This is just before the camera is brought in, so Tee presumably isn't yet eyeing Non as a serious target for his uncle since he thinks he can get the money he needs from the film tickets. Still, I remind you, shoe string. This could just be him refusing to open up to Non being in the group or him considering but not actively pursuing Non as a target.

And here we have a nice parallel. The shot from episode 6 is clearly out of context so take it with a grain of salt. But the parallel is interesting.

So will Tee develop true feelings for Non now that he'll be spending more time with him? In either case, he's still doing awful things to him and is not getting off my shit list that easily.

#dff the series #dff theories #dff meta #dead friend forever #dead friend forever meta #my posts #my meta

[ghost-proofbaby]

i want Steve - Haunted more than i could possibly say

i refuse to think more than 5 seconds about it critically

just know

i am on my hands and knees

haunted (steve's version)

warnings: technically canon compliant (aka the upside down is happening), severe angst, pretty much hurt no comfort.

wc: 1.6k+

an: hi. i love you. i'd say i'm sorry, but i don't think i really am. this probably isn't what you meant by any means but when i hear this song and think of steve all i can think about is that moment in s4 between him and eddie waah. (also, reminder: i will repeat songs if the requests are for different characters!)

He wouldn’t look at you. 

He was the one who started this terrible mess, who had initiated that first kiss, and now he won’t even look at you. Steve Harrington was doing the one thing he had promised to never do – he was walking away from you. 

All the years are spiraling down the drain, years spent by his side even when he didn’t deserve it. Even when he was an asshole, even when he wore the crown of king Steve so proudly. Even when he didn’t deserve your allegiance, he had had it. And now, he won’t look you in the eyes. He’d rather stare down the barrel of death than face you right now, and that very fact was unraveling you at your core. 

“This was a mistake. I shouldn’t have done that.” 

His words are salt in the wound and haven’t stopped echoing in your spiraling mind since he’d said them. 

What, exactly, was the mistake? What part of this did he not only take responsibility for, but regret? 

Was it the lingering glances of the past? Was it all the nights you’d listened to him rant and whine after his breakup with Nancy? Or was it all the times he’d convinced you that he had put you first, not only in your daily lives but in all of this? Did he regret the day he’d thrown himself between you and that Demodog, bat swinging wildly as he didn’t show a sign of fear? Or when he’d left you with radio silence as he’d been tortured underground by Russians and you faced the monsters above, never knowing if he was alive or dead? 

Or was it the kiss? The kiss he’d impulsively thrown himself into, hardly giving either of you a chance to think last night before he’d pressed his lips to yours as you tended to his wounds left behind by the Demobats. One moment, you were taking alcohol-soaked cotton swabs gingerly to his throat that was sure to scar once all was said and done, and the next, his tongue had been in your mouth while his hands gripped your hips and pulled you impossibly close. 

“Staring him down isn’t going to fix whatever… weirdness is happening between you two,” Eddie’s voice snaps you out of your thoughts, making you look up to where he sits in the grass, red in the face and holding a makeshift shield. 

Dustin is still out of breath from their roughhousing and focusing on hammering nails into his trash can lid. 

“Weirdness?” you retort, crinkling your nose, “Nothing weird is happening between me and Steve.”

Eddie shrugs, clearly not buying your defensive tone, “Whatever you say. But I’m not blind, sweetheart. If looks could kill, we’d be arranging a funeral for our resident babysitter.” 

“A mistake? Steve, no, please-” 

“Don’t.”

“Don’t what?”

“Don’t make this harder than it has to be.” 

You knew fear. You’d faced the end of the world plenty of times now, you currently were again, but you’d never known trepidation like this. 

“No one’s dying,” you respond blandly, looking back to the cup of nails as you pass another one to Eddie, “We’re not heroes, Eddie. No one’s dying this time, and there won’t be any more funerals.” 

“I think it’d be a mercy kill if Vecna got his hands on Harrington first,” Eddie takes the nail, pausing his thought as his tongue peeks out between his lips and he levels the nail before bringing down his mallet smoothly, “I think when it’s all said and done, I’ll get red roses to lay at the grave he’s dug himself.” 

It only gets a ghost of a laugh to escape you, a silent breath that leaves you sharply as you shake your head. 

“Do you not want this?”

“I don’t know what I want.” 

He didn’t know what he wanted. He’d made that clear over the last few days. All the tides of his attention had turned towards Nancy, and he’d left you on the sidelines, sick to your stomach and so uncertain of the future between you two. 

You knew what you wanted. It was the same thing you’d always wanted, ever since he’d first laid his eyes on you, effectively cursing you to spend the rest of your days haunted by soft brown eyes and congregations of freckles that dotted warm, tan skin. 

“Don’t be cheap with it,” you croak, eyes looking back in his direction. You don’t even hear Eddie’s amused snort. You’re stunned, taken back by the fact that he’s already looking at you, “Make sure to get him a proper dozen.” 

As hazel eyes lock with yours, you ponder if he’d always been walking this very delicate line at your side. If maybe, you’d not been quite as alone in your unrequited as you’d always assumed.

And you wonder if even the world of the end can delay the impending break to come. 

—

The plan is set, the supplies have been gathered, the teams have been formed – you all know what you have to do. It’s now or never, and there’s no time to second-guess any of it now. 

You’re all back in the Upside Down again, hopefully for the last time, when Steve hesitates in front of the steps of the trailer on this side of the flipped world. 

You almost convince yourself as he’s turning to face you, Eddie, and Dustin that he might bring it all up again. That he might leave you with something that soothes the ache he’d planted inside of you. He’d dug his claws into you long before that kiss, long before he’d lodged all those words of uncertainty down your throat about how he doesn’t know what he wants. You all but beg for him to just leave you with something to hold onto before you both face these nightmares one last time. 

He doesn’t. Instead, he makes one last speech, sternly instructing you three, “Don’t try to be cute, or be a hero, or something.” 

At some point, Dustin and Eddie interrupt him, joking about the way you three were just decoys, not heroes. But you’re not listening – you’re sharply focused on the way Steve’s eyes are avoiding yours again. 

Please look at me. Please say something to me. Please don’t walk away from me, because something about this time feels like the last time. 

You can’t stop thinking about it. You can’t stop feeling the way he’d latched onto you in that small bathroom, the way his fingers curled against your hips and the way he’d left your lips swollen and bruised before he delivered his final blows. You know him, better than the back of your hand, and you know that he hadn’t said half the words he’d wanted to in the aftermath. You know what brand cologne he wears and how his mother was the one to first buy it for him and he never bothered to venture from it, you know that he has glasses that he needs desperately after all the head trauma he’s endured these last few years and you know that he’s too embarrassed to wear them in front of anyone except you, you know the way he still wakes up in the middle of the night screaming at past memories twisted into night terrors. You know him. You swear you know him. 

He still feels like a stranger as he turns without sparing you a glance. Eddie starts to take a step forward, opening his mouth, but you beat him to the punch. 

“Hey, Steve?” you call out into the mist of blue tint and foreign particles. 

When he looks at you, all the air leaves your lungs. 

You thought you knew him. His favorite music played over late night drives with just the two of you, the way you teased him for his hair routine but secretly loved the smell of his coconut shampoo. You had every mole on his neck memorized and knew the curvature of his lips long before you’d felt them. Every inside joke, every quiet exchange of comfort, every moment of pining swallowed down, is choking you now. 

You’ve already lost him. He was always destined to be a ghost in your closet, a cold chill to only visit you in his loneliest of moments. You’ve already lost him, and you never even had him. 

“Please be careful,” you manage to whisper. Your face must be a mirror image to his the night before, he must see all the words you hold back and bury in your chest. 

You are two sides of the same coin. Neither of you will ever learn to unlock your jaws long enough to stop biting your tongues. And it doesn’t even matter now; it’s too late to change anything. 

All his features soften as he offers a nod and nothing more. For a second, you see the boy you once believed you knew. The same eyes, mouth, and nose that had laid staring at you from the pillow beside yours, fighting sleep and fearing the dark. Only brave enough to face it when he laid at your side, hand in innocent hand, never seeing the way he was stringing you along the entire time. Only knowing he needed that comfort and he needed that warmth you would offer to him time and time again, even as it left you hollow. 

You’d already lost him once. As it happens for a second time, something in your gut churns and whispers it will be for the last time. 

He turns around wordlessly, and follows after Robin and Nancy.  You feel that thread that has bound you to him all these years pull mercilessly taut and wait for the break as Steve Harrington does the one thing he swore he’d never do to you – he walks away from you.

"it's getting dark and it's all so quiet, and i can't trust anything now. and it's coming over you like it's all a big mistake."

#speak now (ghost's version) #steve harrington #steve harrington angst #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington x you #why do me and steve always end up SAD

[itoshi-s]

heyyyy Zari, I love your writing! It got me curious, which one of the bluelock boys do you think is the biggest freak in bed? and I mean like nasty, blood, spit, sweat n all? :D

*cracks knuckles* helloooo nonnie beloved akjfhsak i am so sorry i kept this in my inbox for so long but thoughts have been thunked

bllk's nastiest and messiest

cw: fem reader, spit, blood play (v light), cum play, watersports, impact play (v light as well)

ryusei takes 1st place hands down,, is anyone even surprised though? there's barely anything this man doesn't want to try - especially with a pretty little thing like you! once he has you, there's no going back, so you better give him a heads up if you're not in the mood for anythin crazy </3 cause he WILL lose his mind as soon as he gets his hands on you.

a v messy kisser, has his tongue all down your throat, lets you suck on his and is more than happy to give you the same treatment. bites on your bottom lip until the skin breaks, licks into your mouth until there's a faint trace of red on his tongue. a spitter, but he'd rather have you spitting in his mouth instead - loves to see you getting all flustered when he asks you to c'mon angel, lemme taste ya. eats you out until his tongue hurts and jaw slacks, all soaked w your juices. does this thing when he just lets his tongue hang out when you squirt </3 drinks it all right up, ignores your hands pushing away at his head. gets hard all over again when he goes down on you right after he's just spilled himself all up your cunt and laps at his cum seeping out of u :( moans like a bitch, he knows it's nasty but frankly, he doesn't care. (like i said, it riles him up even more.) may i also suggest... watersports..... both ways if you're up for it, but as mentioned before, there's nothing that gets him going so rabid like seeing you all embarrassed n teary eyed. so best believe ryu will ignore your whimpers and squeals on how you've gotta go pee - more so, he will go the extra mile to angle either his hips or fingers just right and press down on your tummy too :( nasty nasty nasty nasty. there's nothing he wouldn't do to you.

rin obviously makes the list as well and i don't take any criticism on this. we've seen him in the u20 game. mans is FILTHY and doesn't care whether he's drooling all over himself or not - once he gets into it, he's gone <3 doesn't need that much to lose it either, give him the right look, a sloppy kiss or two and he's a goner. grabs and smacks every part of you he reaches, kneads at your flesh until there's bruises forming - it's not like he's got a proper thing for it, he just really cannot control it - and probably groans all about it even more than you do. literally fucking forgets to swallow when he's having his way w you, give it a few minutes of making out and he's all slobbered up. forces your mouth open when he fucks you, thumb pushing your tongue down on your chin so that he can spit on it whenever he likes :( always urges you into the shower to clean up right after you're done cause there's like a lil pool of saliva on your sternum or tummy lol he literally drools. isn't embarrassed at all though </3 doesn't mind cumplay either, makes out w you right after you've sucked him dry just to spit it right back into your awaiting mouth. honorable mentions: choking (cause it gets you all teary, face wet w tears and tongue lolled out so that you can get some air in) and last but not least,, licking (needs to have all of you all at once - groans as he tastes the salt on your skin when he licks up your neck)

bachira!!! ohhh he's insane he really is !!!!!!!! loves loves looooooooves cumplay it gets him going like nothin else i am telling you. cums in his pants untouched or either from grinding down into the bed as he eats you out, laughs all breathily when he pulls out. y'make me so messy, pretty girl. wan' you to clean me right up, yeah? loses his mind when you peel his boxers back and, indeed, lick him clean - all while glancing up at him, wide eyed and just as desperate. i do think megs doesn't really last that long in one go - he's just so needy all of the time, gets riled up really quick - BUT he bounces right back, so don't fret!!! he WILL be giving you multiple rounds. and you already know what it means :( yeah. by the time he's done, you can barely keep yourself up on your knees, limp and trembling, with your face painted white. there's milky, thin streaks of cum all over your lashes, probably somewhere in your hairline as well,, and meguru makes sure to rub his tip all ll over your pouty and reddened lips to smear it around. he has so much to give you and makes sure he never holds back :( hah, you're just s'cute like that, baby. you like bein' my messy girl?

#✧.* ✉ zari’s mail #blue lock smut #bllk smut #shidou ryusei smut #itoshi rin smut #bachira meguru smut #ryusei shidou smut #rin itoshi smut #meguru bachira smut #honorable mention; oliver aiku ( cause he is just. so fun to be with.. is always up to try somethin new w u. doesn't care if it's messy ) #rin my love #ryusei >_< #bachira <3

[mitsuyaya]

[ to give a handkerchief ] tsukishima kei

contains: 700+ words. fluff, palace knight tsukki

end note: a second part for this and here is the prologue :)

haikyuu masterlist

The breeze from outside the palace is unforgiving, relentlessly cold as it slips past through your thin nightgown and into your skin. It prickles your flesh everytime the leaves from the trees sways, making your already frigid night more unbearable.

But even so, the cold breeze couldn't outweigh the heavy and bitter feeling in your chest, one that makes you decide to go out, one that causes a tear to suddenly fall from your eyes.

You're glad that it's the middle of the night, devoid of maids, visitors and knights to find you in your most vulnerable moment, you wouldn't want them to have the luxury to find you crying, to find you suffering all because of them.

Because of how much they berate you. As much as possible, you wanted them to see you with a smile on your face, with a bold countenance that says ‘no matter how many times you push me down, I will still rise up.’ But as their chastisement worsened, being more physical as you age, the more you couldn't keep up the facade of a strong woman.

“You are here again, it seems” you looked up only to find the mysterious knight you've seen almost every night. He's here again, with his trademark helmet, his presence you found solace in, and his pretty, silvery voice that soothes your nerves.

“Just as I thought, you were crying aren't you?” there's a hint of disappointment in his tone, not because of you crying everytime he comes to see you but because he knows the reason why you would suddenly go here late at night, to let your tears fall without anyone seeing.

He hands you a handkerchief, a green one. If you weren't so dejected at the moment, you would've teased and told him that giving someone a handkerchief is the same as confessing, but you didn't, you took the handkerchief and wiped your tears.

“What did they do this time?” he asks, “the maids gave me food with too much salt” typical, something only cowards and lowly servants like them could do.

“and the chef made a dessert with pear.” you heard him curse from under his breath, something that made you giggle a bit.

“They know you are allergic to pear, how insolent. You are a princess, how dare they?” he's getting mad on your behalf, even more angry than you are, cursing the names of those imperial maids and cooks — it's hilarious seeing him get so worked up, get so worked up in something that isn't his problem.

It goes on for quite some time, how he swears that he'll make them pay by pushing them intentionally when he sees them, or to criticize them harshly that they'll cry so much.

It's enough assurance and comfort to make you forget about the whole ordeal, enough to make you stop crying.

“I should go back, thank you for comforting me again sir knight” you smiled at him, just this once you wish you could see the face of the man who comforts you every night but you know it'll take a long time, you can't push someone who told you that he feels insecure when he removes his helmet. For now, you're just glad that he's comfortable enough to see and talk to you everyday.

“Good night princess, have a good sleep” he bids you goodbye, standing still as you enter the palace.

When he couldn't find your figure anymore, Tsukishima removes his helmet, his blonde hair all messy now, cheeks dusted with pink as he recalls what he did earlier.

He gave you a handkerchief?

A handkerchief out of all things.

What was he thinking?

You don't even know his face yet and even if he removes his helmet in front of you, he knows you'll be scared, you'll never talk to him ever again — because out of all the people in the palace, it's him you dislike the most.

How could he tell you that he's Tsukishima kei, the empire's greatest knight, the person your father favors so much?

You've said it multiple times, how much you hate your father and his favorite knight, then how was he supposed to introduce himself to you?

And he still dares to give you a handkerchief? Though it is pretty much needed in that moment, still, that was humiliating.

Tsukishima sighs, burying his face into his hand, really he's so stupid. He could only wish you didn't know what it meant to give someone a handkerchief and wish that someday, he'll introduce himself to you — with no helmet.

#tsukishima x reader #tsukishima x you #tsukishima imagines #tsukishima fluff #tsukishima kei imagines #tsukishima kei fluff #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu x you #haikyuu fluff #haikyuu imagines #haikyuu drabbles #tsukishima drabbles