#He genuinely relates to these people and feels their suffering - even if he didn't have his extreme empathy he would still genuinely relate

[ssaseaprince]

Reba McClane: I drew a freak

Will Graham: You didn't draw a freak. You drew a man with a freak on his back. There is nothing wrong with you.

Reba McClane: The blind attract them.

Will Graham: Not just the blind.

[sockatoo-the-wafflebird]

after seeing a bunch of stuff in the fandom related to how touch-starved ragatha really is, i just had to go back and count every time she touches herself or looks like she wants to touch someone else in episode two. and guess. just guess.

i counted eleven different times on-screen that she's rubbing her own arm, fiddling with/ holding her own hands, hugging herself, etc. eleven times is way more than i was expecting (i was thinking five at first) but it's literally almost every time she's on screen. and i didn't count how eager she was to take princess loolilalu's hands in her own.

and i also felt obligated to overanalyze the way pomni acts, especially around gummigoo... this is more about ragatha though i think? idk either way this will be long so buckle up and grab some popcorn

ragatha is the kind of woman to need to be touched, with every fiber of her being, but never ask for it, because she doesn't want to bother anyone. she needs physical affection, and she would accept it from literally anyone, but she also needs people to like her. she needs people to rely on her. ragatha stays optimistic to a scarily unhealthy degree jist to make sure no one hates her. and somehow it works.

she doesn't ever cross anyone's boundaries, she doesn't dare even imply that she wants to, even though she needs it more than anything. she just projects her insecurity and self-loathing in the form of "cupcakes and sprinkles and petting kitty-cats" and "if you're feeling sad just do a little dance!!" like girl is suppressing so much... the mass of all her suppressed emotions has ti have become a singularity by now.

anyway, with pomni canonically just disliking being touched, ragatha only suffers more. she seems like she's attached herself to pomni, in a sense? she's desperate to try and make pomni feel extra comfortable, for some reason. and i think i know why.

all the other members of the circus already know her. she already knows what they think of her to an extent, and she already knows how much or little her happy-go-lucky demeanor does for them all. and no one there seems to really be a genuine friend to her other than kinger. and, y'know, he's... kinger.

so ragatha has no one to really confide in, and i assume no one else confides in her other than the occasional need for encouragement or reassurance. and as previously stated, she needs people to lean on her.

then pomni shows up! and she seems like a somewhat nice person. so ragatha tries her absolute hardest to get pomni to like her. because no one else in the circus seems to care.

this dynamic seems like such a good opportunity for gut-wrenching angst and tension. maybe even a horrible scene in which ragatha tries to make pomni feel better with her debilitatingly unhealthy and unrealistic optimism im a situation that absolutely does mot call for it-- and pomni just can't deal with it anymore. because she's smart enough to know that ragatha is only using it as a decoy and a tool to hide something deep, dark, terrible, within her... and snaps at her.

full-on yelling, pointing, walking towards her all in a blind, devastating rage, because pomni is smart enough to see that it's just a way to get her self-worth from somewhere other than herself, and that it's all a facade, and she hates that ragatha thinks that's the only reason people care about her... and ragatha is dumbfounded, because in her entire life, in and out of the circus, no one has ever been able to see through it. not a single soul.

this eventually leads to a heart-to-heart, and apologies, truths, lies, and everything in-between fall out of their mouths like waterfalls. and it all leads to the best friendship either of them have ever had.

pomni is no therapist, no professional. but she's been through some bad places before, as seen in ep 2 with her conversation with gummigoo. sometimes we just need to be realistic about things, and acknowledge that things aren't okay. and pomni seems like she can keep things real. which is something ragatha desperately needs.

and when pomni is about to explode from the insanity of the world, ragatha can be there as comfort and reassurance, because pomni's always drowning in the bad possibilities so much and being so skeptical of everything that it's debilitating. ragatha can see the bright side of things no matter what (even if it's unhealthy most times), and with pomni seeming like an overall more down-to-earth person, they can balance things out really well. ragatha's got the heart to keep everyone's spirits high, and pomni can stay real with everyone to make sure they're prepared for whatever might come barreling towards them. i think this is what makes them so perfect for each other.

and the connection, the deep emotional understanding of each other leads to something... more.... homosexual. yeah i'm a chronic jesterdoll shipper of course it would lead to this

---

all the funny ha-ha aside, this dynamic is so fun to brainstorm about. i'm in love with how deep this could get. some of this might be pretty far from cannon, as only episode two is out when i write this, but i'm trying to interpret their characters as accurately as possible from what little we have so far. i think i did pretty well for a random gay bird with internet access

i'm half-tempted to incorporate a scene like this into my au. like it's soooo juicy i love it i want to write it i need to see it realized

[ghostbite0]

What was the tiny 21 trios first reactions to turning, reactions to each other and if they panicked how did they calm down? (Extra question, what could trigger Giyuu(IMMM SORRRY HE'S ONE OF MY FAVES))

this ask feels like a good time to bring back this comic

this is a very good question... their reactions were all very different. think fight/flight/freeze in a way!

Sanemi

"fight"

essentially got really pissed off and refused to believe what was going on.

He refused to accept their situation and angrily babbled, commanding the demon that transformed them to turn them back and stuff.

typical Sanemi shenanigans

he mellowed out a bunch, but he didn't actually calm down and relax until Kagaya got to talk to them

Sanemi continued being really pissed off and frustrated

when Tengen teased him he did attempt to bite him

he's usually able to get a hold of himself (though its 10x more difficult with the baby chemistry)

but more often than not he does need help calming down. the others worry he could make himself sick or hurt himself

Giyuu

"flight"

he initially froze and was in genuine shock over the situation

like sanemi he refused to believe it and insisted this was some sort of nightmare

but he eventually realized the other two were in a worse position and his main concern turned into trying to find help

though the second they were safe he tried crawling away & attempted to avoid the entire situation

he wasn't entirely phased when gyomei was cradling them and carrying them to the other hashira. he just played dead

to calm himself down he basically asks for his haori and will use it as a sort of blanket

he distances too, though it can be difficult given he is. a baby

unfortunately. shinobu and tanjiro won't let him

Obanai

"freeze"

obanai was so overwhelmed and horrified he didn't know what to do, which just overwhelmed him even more

he basically just suffered in silence at first

obanai's had it rough since he was a newborn so. lots of negative thoughts and feelings

kaburamaru recognizes this and sticks as close as possible, especially with how tiny obanai is compared to the two

he was really freaked out for a number of reasons, and was alarmed by how weak he was because, again, tiny, sickly baby

obanai was calmed down when kaburamaru coiled around him and nuzzled against him in support

he was also surprised to find he was at ease shortly after being scooped up by rengoku and fawned over by mitsuri, though he wouldn't show it easily

and to answer your second question about giyuu........ i think anything that could be related to sabito or his sister (particularly reminders about what happened to them) would really screw him up... i don't have any specific scenarios but. i'd think it would be something like that!!! a bunch of people crowding him and coddling him would probably freak him out too, since he's used to being by himself

[melonteee]

I've seen many people complain that Oda in Post Time skip One Piece spends a lot of time worldbuilding and making up side characters on every island that distract from the main ones and the plot. While I can see where some people are coming from, as someone who reads comics from Marvel, I WISH the wordbuilding and side characters were that developed because most of the time, unless it's about space or magic or directly related to the plot, the world feels genuinely dead. Even the main setting of a story sometimes feels so dead, like for comparison

Around 2 years ago, they had an event where, at some point, an inhabited island got pretty much nuked. We spent 3 real life years on that island and the writers really couldn't make any readers care less about all the civilians (men, women, children and babies) dying as they wrote them as a single minded entity who didn't mind that fate if their government told them to do it so they used two of the "main characters" (the most selfish pricks imaginable who never even cared about the island and the people there as they are long-established villains + due to plot, were made part of the people who rule over the place and get the most privilege and best life there compared to everyone else), to pull the heartstrings of fans on how terrible it is for them to die this way and how tragic that these two had to die in this event... All because the plot hyperfocused on the island's government (not even interesting to read and full of what felt like highschool drama) instead of the people the government looks after and who would be the greatest casualty here. All of this didn't matter either because everyone on that island was brought back to life (that plot device was present even before the event so caring about anything was going to be hard from the get go) including the "main characters" that died.. Guess who got to come back to life first while many others were on a waiting list years down the line still ?

Now compare this to Oda and what he did with Lulusia. All things related to this island were mostly cover stories, many cuts back and forth in a "meanwhile in...", ... But once Chapter 1060 hits, we feel the tragedy and horror, we are at awe at how much destruction was unleashed on these people. That scene was made even more horrifying and sad when it was animated in Episode 1089...and then we learn the reason the island was obliterated had nothing to do with Sabo being there. Any island we knew who partook in a revolution could have been a target. We find out that even that was an excuse because the main goal was to test a weapon and nothing more. Oda is using a tool here called "less is more" for this island and it was sincerely enough for me to care A WHOLE LOT about Lulusia even if the main characters never set a single foot there and it wasn't part of the main plot. There wasn't even a main character who "died" there either to pull on our heart strings. We just saw these people triumphantly come out of a political crisis and enjoy their first hours of freedom after lord knows how long and then

They were all gone. Erased. And even if they didn't all see what was about to happen to them, they felt it. They died in fear

Oda is very very good at his world building, because he makes sure these islands are LIVED in, not just that they EXIST. It's all well and good to wipe out an island to show the political and immoral powers that be, but we don't feel the impact unless we SEE the people and culture existing on the island.

It's why now, with Vegapunk explaining the state of the world, we are getting reactions from EVERY corner of the globe. We are being reminded how big this world is, how lived in this world is, and how many people are suffering under the world gov. We CARE about this world, we care about the PEOPLE in this world, and Oda's spent years building his world up for THIS moment. It's really spectacular.

[yuri-is-online]

This might just me being tired and dumb, but I kind of get how Ace having a more supportive family would lead to isolation? Like. People who have no family to rely on form their own, and that kind of bond can be beat by very little else. There's not only possibly shared trauma, but there's probably also a shared understanding that "we all we got". It gives a weird sense of hope to see someone else in your situation, someone who relates to you even a little bit, and you want more anything in the world for them to make it out and thrive, and you can trust that they want the same for you.

So with Ace, who's trauma (that we know about) mainly comes from association and the iverblot fights, it's a bit harder to make that bond. He (assumably) got all the love and support that he was supposed to get from his family. And yeah! Sure! He can still seek it out elsewhere! But it's a thing he already has, he already has somewhere to go at the end if the day for comfort.

This is actually a theme that I'm gonna play with in my 80s fic, Deuce is lower middle class, while Yuu is just a slightly glorified version if homeless. Ace is squarely middle class, if not upper middle, he never has to really want for anything. Not like Deuce and certainly not like Yuu.

Learning how to pinch for pennies and find deals are things that makes Aces life more convenient, but it's something that Deuce and Yuu need. And that's where the divide is.

He wants to take care of his friends (he's still in denial) more than anything, but he also feels like there's this weird line he can't cross, with him on one side and Yuu and Deuce on the other. It honestly doesn't help that Yuu has a separate, small friend group outside of him and Deuce that are all in the same "Shit is completely fucked right now but by God are we gonna make it out" boat. A boat that Ace will probably never be in. Ace loves his family and is grateful, and knows exactly how much he lucked out. But he still wants to have that bond. That "the world feels like it's ending but atleast we'll be going down together" type of bond. Comforting Yuu while they cry about not having heating in the winter will never be the same as having to suffer alongside them and know they were in this together. Trying to find the cheapest possible version of a food products with Deuce and discovering knock off brands that Ace would never imagine existing (who the hell made knock off cheerios?) Will never be the same as actually having to rely on those knock off and part time sales, and feeling a sense pride that they were able to save enough money this month that they could actually buy something nice. Ace probably won't ever be on that side of the invisible line.

He'll bring them to his side though. Ace wants to take care of them more than anything. He wants them in his life more than anything. And he'll have them. No matter what he has to do to make that happen.

Sorry if I missread your post and just dropped a huge angst bomb in your inbox! I just have thoughts and there are a lot of AceYuu and ADeuce moments in chapter three and one or two of them digs into this a little.

You didn't misread my post at all I swear we are sharing custody of a braincell because this is just *chef's kiss* exactly what I was thinking.

Having that solid middle class stability and parent's who genuinely love you and each other is nothing to be ashamed of, not that I think Ace has enough humility for that, but it does mean that he has a gap in his understanding for Deuce and especially Yuu's situation. I keep thinking about how he ended up eating those tarts because he skipped a meal over worrying about Yuu and their circumstances, he cares. He is crass and rude with it but he cares! I love how you say he'll bring them to his side of the line, that's exactly how I see him thinking about it.

Ace's isolation (in my view) seems to come from how much more he values his friendship with Yuu and Deuce over literally anyone else in the school. He'd benefit from talking to Jack and Epel more, they also have solid home lives and Jack at least I think has financially stable parents, but those guys aren't his people. For better or worse, for sickness or health, Yuu and Deuce are who he is sticking it out with. He'll never say it in game, but he really does love you both, in what way is of course up to the interpretation of the player.

but you know which one we both prefer frfr

[synergysilhouette]

My frustration with Asha's writing

A lot of people liked "Wish," and a lot of people didn't, and a particular concern for the latter was the main protagonist. Since I'm in the camp of "I'm frustrated with 'Wish,'" I'll discuss a little bit about why Asha feels like such a letdown.

She's an archetype, but not an individualized character. She screams "Disney heroine," but she doesn't have anything about her that makes her character stand out (positively) among other Disey female leads. She has no flaws that hinder her, and her positive traits are vague at best. "I care too much," is the most generic thing I've ever heard a main character say. In fact, it becomes almost meaningless when a character (who genuinely means it) says it about themselves; caring too much is a statement that works best when talking about someone else. In fact...

2. She has significant plot armor. She gets far in the process of being considered to be Magnifico's apprentice, but it's never said WHY. Considering her friend (or friends? I'm not sure) works in the castle, Dahlia putting in a good word for Asha would make sense to why Magnifico would consider her, and even him asking around town for their opinion of her would make more sense. But it feels like she gets so far in the process simply because she's the main character, despite Magnifico knowing next to nothing about her. And Magnifico has several magical powers at his disposal, but he's still defeated by her (mainly because he only uses his staff against her).

3. She has a lot of influence, but again, it's not really said how or why. During the reprise of "This Wish," the people of Rosas side with her against Magnifico--but this is likely because she's the only one who dared to stand up against him. We only see Asha interact with the people of Rosas during the opening song with her as a tour guide (how did she get THAT job?), and it feels very professional, very timed. It doesn't feel intimate or personal, like Asha has built up a good rapport with the other citizens.

4. Her family is poorly defined. Sabino's wish is to create a song that inspires the next generation, but as Magnifico himself mentions, that's a vague wish--plus imo, it's cheating; rather than working hard and creating a legacy for yourself, you want to wish to give something for people to remember you by. And Sabino is obviously older than Magnifico, but his life--and how he lived it without the kingdom of wishes--is never explored. Perhaps if it was explained that he experienced great hardship and his spirit was broken, it'd explain why he was so fixated on getting a wish. And Sakina's wish is never explained. She's probably the worst-characterized parent in a 21st century Disney movie, since she's pretty much just there. And Asha's father inspired her, but he isn't shown much. I'd have enjoyed it if the plot revolved around her trying to revive her father and it proves Magnifico's point that some wishes can't/shouldn't be granted.

5. She learns NOTHING. Her whole song is about "I've lived a lie" when that's not entirely true; she takes a very black and white view on the situation without ever trying to evolve her viewpoint via Magnifico's perspective, and the people of Rosas never stop to think "we shouldn't be codependent"; they just think "we shouldn't have let Magnifico lie to us." It's a giant avoidance of guilt on everyone's behalf, and since Magnifico is a villain, no one really cares that he has some semblance of a point. When you look at protagonists like Pocahontas, Judy Hopps, and Anna, you see how they learned a new way of looking at things, that they've suffered hardships (either through their own making or otherwise) and that they've grown from it.

6. She's "relateable." Disney's adorkable thing hasn't been too much of an issue for me up to this point; it was unique when Anna did it, and it never feels super cringey with Mirabel and Moana (though if Mirabel is cringey, it fits into the narrative). But now it's tired. I'd enjoy more mature leads like Raya, Tiana, and Elsa, rather than Disney trying to make a protagonist that tries--and fails--to be quirky. And I never really saw Rapunzel as adorkable as her later leading ladies. But Asha tries too hard; honestly that should've been one of her flaws in the film. Her desperation to meet everyone's approval would've been something neat (albeit familiar if we compare her to Mirabel) to explore in the film.

[kteezy997]

6 Months-Part One // t.c.

Information: this is inspired by the Netflix film 365 Days

Warnings: toxic premise (but hey it’s fantasy fanfiction!), cursing, mention of sex, abduction by sedation

Mature 18+ readers only, please

He had to have her.

It had been hours. Days. Weeks. He couldn’t go on like this. He needed to claim her as his very own. The only thing better than reading her words or seeing her face in his mind over and over again, was to have her right there, physically in front of him.

And she couldn’t get away.

He needed her in order to survive. She helped him. Without even meeting him, she soothed and comforted him more than anything, any person. No drug on earth could fill him the way she could.

Timothée was reeling from the disappointing reaction to his last film, Bones and All. Even though he'd been cast in a new movie about Willy Wonka, it had been hard to shake the feeling of defeat. Bones had been a passion project; it was his first producing credit as well. But it didn't translate to audiences or critics well at all. It threw him into a depression like he hadn't experienced before.

He moved to London temporarily to work on Wonka. After everything with Bones, all he wanted to do was work and fuck. And that's what he did. He did little else besides those two things. He had his roster picks of women flown to London for a rendezvous on numerous occasions while he was there. But there was no spark in his life. Nothing that piqued his interest.

His performance at work started to suffer. He wasn't immersed in it, and it showed, making other people take notice. He knew that he was becoming difficult to work with. He was ashamed but didn't know how to change it.

On top of it all, his grandmother wasn't doing well. Perhaps that was the main cause of his withdrawal from normalcy. All of it mixed together made for the worst year of his young life. This was supposed to be an exciting time. His career had been blossoming before Bones and All. And with Wonka, there was hope. But he remained practically catatonic.

And then she happened.

He saw her the day he heard the news of his grandmother passing. He passed her on the street in New York, he was taking a break from filming to be near his sick grandma. It was so random. He had no way of knowing that he'd be struck by someone's presence. As devastated as he was, he couldn't help but notice the glow around her. Like she was planted there just for him to see.

He couldn't get the strange young woman out of his head from that day on.

He saw her again, but it was only a photograph, a photograph on the back cover of a book in his mother's living room. She was an author, named Cameron Reese. He couldn't believe that it was really her, but he'd bet every cent to his name that it was the same woman he'd been entranced by before.

It felt like fate to Timothée.

He bought every book she had ever published. All seven of them. They were of the romantic genre, mostly. But the books were clever, and often sexual. Her stories really spoke to his soul. These were characters he could relate to in ways he hadn't felt before when he'd read books by other authors. She was brilliant, as well as beautiful.

He was able to do a Google search on her and found a couple of televised interviews she had done. He ended up falling even harder for her.

It was her voice, the way she spoke from her heart so endearingly, the way she pondered in her mind over every question, she was quirky but not in a 'hey look at me I'm so relatable' way. She was real, and unapologetically herself.

She wasn't vain or vapid like the women he was used to dating, or rather forced to be around for publicity reasons. She wasn't so much into fashion, or the beauty industry. She had more depth. She was able to joke without being mean or offending anyone. She was genuinely interested in what others brought to the table. She was a creative soul, he could tell.

She brought him back to his early days of wanting to become an actor, and how he felt back then. What it felt like to just want to learn and be better, to be an artist. That's what she was, an artist.

Timothee loved her. He decided that she would be his wife one day. She was the only person he could see standing next to him for the rest of his life. A real partner with a great head on her shoulders. His absolute equal. He also wanted to fuck her brains out, day after day, year after year, until the day he died.

.......

Everything went according to plan. She was there, in his L.A. mansion, still sleeping due to the heavy sedation. Now, Timothée just had to explain everything once she was awake.

He knew what he had done was terribly, morally wrong, but he was drowning. He was bound to grab onto someone as the sorrows became too much to bear alone.

.......

He waited anxiously for a few hours. In his head, he went over everything he wanted to say to her. He knew she would be afraid, as anyone would be in her situation. But he would try to soothe any worries she had. He didn't wish to harm her. He wanted to give her the world, to treat her like a queen. All she had to do was let him.

One of his guards let him know that Cameron was awake and was let out of her room. She remained in the den, waiting.

She needs to know what the hell is going on, he thought. The poor girl must be terrified. But she would soon be assured of her safety. Timmy made haste, heading to her location in the sprawling mansion.

Timothée stepped into the den; Cameron was standing in the middle of the room, as if she was in a daze. The sedative was still affecting her.

"Cameron?" he said as carefully as he could muster, so he didn't startle her too much.

She turned to him, she wasn't crying or anything, but she was scared, he could see it plainly. She blinked a few times, then her eyelids closed, and she collapsed.

Timothee reacted quickly to catch her in his arms.

A bad reaction.

@gatoenlaciudad @thebetawolfgirl @musicandbooksaremyhappyplace @softhecreator @tchalamss @chalametbich

*if you’d like to be removed from my tag list, let me know

[ystrike1]

Reforming My Regretful Husband - By Leeritae (5/10)

An extremely awkward, overpowered yandere. They aren't for everyone, but there is plenty of blood and drama in this reincarnation story. It is too stereotypical though. Neither of the main leads are relatable, and the art quality drops fast.

Corina is a pretty orphan protagonist with magical powers. One night she ends up in bed with a handsome Duke, who immediately becomes obsessed with her. He uses her possible pregnancy as an excuse to kidnap her, and declare her his fiance. Ertein Belcita is an incomprehensible man with way too much power. He often leaves his orphan wife alone, with his vengeful relatives. They obviously do not want their beloved genius war weapon to taint his perfect bloodline with...orphan genes. Corina is relentlessly bullied by everyone when Ertein isn't present. Eventually she has a miscarriage and she leaves him for the master of the magic tower, which makes sense because they are both passionate about magic.

Our actual main character is an unbearable fangirl who loves yandere red flags. She resents Corina for choosing a man she actually likes, and she wishes Corina toughed it out. Poor Ertein Belcita. He really did love Corina. He just wasn't what she needed or wanted...and that's totally Corina's fault...for some reason. Annoying fangirl gets the opportunity to become Corina, and she takes it.

She feels so bad for Ertein Belcita. He begged for love. He wanted Corina and nobody else, but he didn’t get rid of the literal pack of anti-orphan bullies in the house for some reason. Ertein Belcita qualifies as an idiot yandere in my opinion. He didn’t bother to romance the pregnant orphan he fell for. He just dumped her in his castle, put a ring on her finger, and he went back to work the next day. Totally oblivious to the fact that he lives in a bubble where he can do whatever he wants. Regular people don't have that bubble. Corina suffered horribly in his home, and his sweet love made it worse...but nope Fangirl is going to make their marriage work.

She genuinely hates Corina for choosing another man without psycho bully relatives. It's crazy. I could not believe my eyes. Fangirl loved watching Ertein Belcita get jealous. Like, crazy jealous. She never expected his crazy and childish jealousy to turn off the female lead. No. She was shocked when this story ended in divorce.

Nobody has a brain here...

The story begins again AFTER Ertein Belcita is already yandere for Corina. So Fangirl doesn't even have to try to earn his love. How convenient.

She is also most likely pregnant from DAY ONE as soon is she reincarnates into the story. This is so gross to me. I had the ick for entire chapters. I was frowning the whole time, but it keeps getting worse. This is fine as a train wreak, but I can't believe that I'm supposed to take this story seriously.

He shows up to take her away from her shack, where she lives in squalor. Poor Corina! She was poor and loan sharks harassed her daily because she's soooo pretttyyyyy.

In the original story Ertein Belcita was too busy being coddled to notice that his best friend Rebecca wanted to marry him for power. She was the leader of the bullies. Corina didn't speak up in the original story because....duh...

She's a penniless orphan with a rich man's child in her belly. Original Corina didn't want to end up on the street. She never dared to speak ill of Ertein Belcita's childhood friend, or his rude family.

Fangirl is different.

She's brutal, and willing to use Ertein Belcita. I'm not saying it's not entertaining. It's great, but Ertein Belcita and Fangirl are not fun characters. Ertein Belcita is a yandere with no filter. When Corina gets insulted he makes the perpetrator throw up blood with his magic. That's cool. Too bad the tone constantly shifts between "complete joke" and "yandere gore".

Fangirl isn't embarrassed by things like pregnancy tests and bullies, because she does want to be with Ertein Belcita...unlike the original Corina.

She's a total snake. Her story will end well. She'll have money, power, and worship from her favorite character. She'll get validation for being cruel, because everyone else is worse.

Stories like these actively make readers dumber, so proceed with caution. Treat this like junk food.

[helga-grinduil]

As a Deku fan who was looking forward to Deku vs Shigaraki, I completely relate to the absolute contempt and honest to god betrayal you hold towards the manga right now. I too have been doomtweeting, albeit on my private twitter account.

The most frustrating thing about how Deku vs Shigaraki ended was that horikoshi made it seem like chapter 418 was building up to something bigger, meatier, and ideologically compelling, with Shigaraki reiterating his resolve to be a hero for the villains and Deku’s heroic ideals being put to the test (and Horikoshi finally showing readers why he withheld Deku’s perspective for 100+ chapters) …….and then AFO showed up again and somehow we ended up with the shitshow that were chapters 419-423.

Deku’s aspiration of the kind of hero he wants to be after entering UA was made explicit in the Gentle Arc (“I want to be a person who can show a bright future to the people who have suffered!”) and I’m shocked and appalled that Horikoshi didn’t go down the route where Deku comes to the realisation that he and Shigaraki may actually want the same thing while fighting post-418. For Deku be the greatest hero on his own terms, I think victory has to come not when he physically defeats Shigaraki, or even when he saves Tenko in the shared AFOFA vestige world, but when he extends his hand and finds the common feelings that connects and unites them. It would have been a much more satisfying resolution to Horikoshi’s “battle of the egos”, to Deku and Shigaraki as foils, and what Kudou said about Deku in chapter 412, about his heroism being rooted in wanting to believe that deep down, everyone is human/has a heart.

Maybe it was never about saving to win, and winning to save, but about genuine understanding, connection, and bringing hope. Under that framework, saving and destroying might very well be two sides of the same coin. So much missed potential for an endgame and dynamic that could have been great.

You probably expect a long eloquent response, and you honestly deserve one, but I'm so mentally exhausted by all of this right now that I can't bring myself to answer properly. But I fully fucking agree. Subscribe to every word.

Them both wanting to be heroes was supposed to be a parallel that brings them closer to understanding each other and unites them, that helps Deku to talk Tomura down from his destructive path and consider that he *can* create and not just destroy, that there is a different way he can become a hero to his friends. Something that helps him recognise Tenko and his kind heroic heart in Tomura too.

Instead, it became an obstacle that cut off Tomura's path to being saved and that Deku doesn't fully understand, meaning he didn't understand Tomura at all either, which is utter bullshit.

[rosesocietyy]

Brilliant people have said everything that needs to be said about this much much better and I don't got anything substantial to add but I just have to get this off my chest cause y'all I'm still in disbelief

like this is a grown ass person btw oh I simply have to laugh😭

this perfectly exemplifies literally everything cringe af and wrong with these "assigned welcomers". this is just my scapegoat but there are way worse I've seen

First of all, get a job. how, at your fossil age, do you have time to spend all day scrolling through every single iwtv related post and arguing with people who say anything even slightly damning about lestat (which mind you, is literally just objective facts about things he did). I'll dm you a McDonald's application hell I'll even put in a referral for you out of the goodness of my heart.

Second, Lestat is not a real person. he's fake, a made up character, the figment of someone's imagine, non-existent, people hating him will not affect your life in anyway shape or form. He didn't assign you as his PR agent I promise you'll live. "They'll never accept him" ok and?!?

Question, and I'm genuinely asking, is this their first time in a fandom? why is someone having a different opinion about a character they love enough to send them into hysterics like?? 13 year olds on anime twitter have a better grasp on reality that y'all do get a grip!

And like the above posts have talked extensively about, I most definitely noticed whose posts a specific bunch of them love to go under to share their dog shit "explanation" that nobody asked for. When a black person sees Louis being brutalized by his white lover what do you expect their reaction to be? oaur wow this white french slut is so pussy cunt slay period queen? "but louis is flawed too" do you hear yourself? do you listen to yourself when you speak? can you activate the barest hint of brain activity to understand why we would react differently to what we're watching than you would and that knowledge of the source material has nothing to do with it? Just because you read those shitty books and posses no empathy for black people in media doesn't mean you gain some higher understanding of "gothic romance ".

"No but the thing is you don't understand this is a gothic romance and they're supposed to be monsters and lestat has suffered saur much and he's also the real main character so you must love him" so now how exactly does that negate their point about him being an abuser? quickly! sit the fuck down and shut the fuck up when black people are sharing their thoughts on the show cause who the fuck are you fr and what convinced you that you have the right to argue with them about THEIR experiences. that tweet that said white people act like God left them in charge, yeah.

Funny enough, half the people that are so gung ho about him now didn't even fw him at all when they only read the first book. wow it's almost like you were allowed to sort out your feelings about him on your own without insects disguised as people in your mentions calling you slow for not licking his feet.

I despise so much in this fandom. From the bottom of my heart I really truly do. I don't know what I was expecting, I guess more common sense and maturity because the average age in the fandom is quite high compared to other fandoms I've been in but nah, just mfs screaming and crying bc ppl don't jump up and down and scream yipee! everytime their white fav commits abhorrent, disgusting crimes.

I was so caught up in the euphoria of an anne rice property finally being given to skilled creators who'll pick it apart and say something poignant with it that for a moment, I forgot I lived in a world where majority of its audience would sadly be the anne rice crowd.

[scintillyyy]

anyways i *have* been keeping up with the firefighters & i have just not had much to say aside from "fun ep!" lately (and that eddie continues to get all the firefighter stories--wasting money on a bigass truck, cheating, former military->firefighter pipeline...). i do want to pop in and say amir is my new favorite character (honestly my list is amir, christopher, taylor, chim's brother, and that one extra from like the first season who was the only one who looked like a real firefighter. karen's on there, but honestly the, um. boundary pushing she and hen do wrt the foster system is thinning the ice under them for me atm.)

anyways i am very glad they they didn't have amir forgive him. and i hope he continues to not forgive bobby, even after bobby got to tell him that he's suffering every day as a result of what he did & he'll never get over it. because to me bobby is a good example of the ideas of restorative justice. because bobby, i don't think bobby deserves to be in jail or punished punitively forever for the things he did. the things that he needed to do was 1) get help for the addiction that caused the accident, which he did and 2) demonstrate genuine regret and reform and work to continue to contribute to society in a positive way and commit to not inflicting further harm, which he also did. and that's it, that's the point. the point is not and never will be about his absolution for the harms he caused or his feelings over the matter or his personal regrets--bobby ruined so many lives in a way he will never be able to truly fix or make better. amir never has to forgive him that. i know i don't. but forgiveness isn't the point, here. bobby's personal absolution is not the point or the goal. should some of his victims choose to forgive him, that is solely for the benefit of the victim to choose to show that grace & not hold that in their hearts, not for any absolving of wrongs on bobby's part. the point is that bobby made a mistake, and is working to never repeat that mistake again. and while i don't personally think bobby should be making his amends to society by continuing to be a firefighter (one, because i don't think he should have ever been hired as one again because when you're working in a public job there do need to be limitations on who gets hired because when you're doing a job by the city for the citizens, the city has a duty to their citizens to ensure that their workers are those that people would feel safe with. two, to me, his making amends to his victims would he recognizing that his continuing to be a firefighter is probably continuing to cause them harm & while his intentions are noble--wanting to save people, wanting to do his best to create good in the world after causing it harm--for him to choose to continue in a profession that is so directly related to the harm he caused his victims does show a lack of restoration on his part to me--where he isn't considering them & their ongoing pain & the ongoing way he might re-victimizing them and thereby continuing to harm society by choosing to continue to work in that particular profession) (anyways i will be popping a bottle when he retires)

bobby's childhood was a good look & interesting to see. i will note that the st. paul fire department is IAFF local 21 (i'm assuming everyone works for st. paul here), which means they were the 21st fire department in the country to unionize, and the IAFF started in 1918 & they had at least 100 unions within the first few years of this. so my guess is that they would have been well unionized by the time bobby was a 10 year old or whatever and his dad was passed out drunk on his off hours and a fire started there'd be no mark on his record for what happens in his private life. that's kind of illegal. the union would probably. have something to say about that. (though i guess captains/management aren't necessarily union, but still. they also have their own collective bargaining agreement with the city that would probably address these sorts of things (usually you can be as drunk on your offdays as you want. just can't show up to work drunk.) & he could fight a mark on his record from 911 getting called on his offday & easily win. will i ever stop dogging this show for being anti-union? no. anyways, the most that would happen is his coworkers would judge & tall mad shit about him. which they clearly did. so.

[tomurderornottomurder]

i don't want to talk; saul goodman

pair. saul goodman x gn!reader

summ. you and your boss are kidnapped cartel style and have a somewhat quiet moment after

gen. angst, hurt minimal comfort

wc. 1.8k+

tw. breaking bad related themes, kidnapping, guns, blood, descriptions of injuries, focus on mouth injuries, death mentions,

note. i still need to finish better call saul. old draft but i really like it.

Your wrists are freshly raw from the rope they had been bound with. You rub at them with your fingers as you twist them around, trying to massage the marks away. You sit in the arid desert on the dry, sandy ground. Your expensive, secondhand suit will suffer from the harsh minerals rubbing against the fine material. Your cheeks should be stained with tears yet none had come even face to barrel with a gun larger than the hand holding it. You were resilient in the moment, strong and silent, something you hadn't been able to be before, yet while facing death, you could finally be. Your disposition was for nothing though as you had made it out alive and yes, you were grateful but what's amazing about standing your ground and living?

The red marks on your wrists remain despite all the effort and you can only manage to sigh in disappointment. Footsteps sound behind you and you have to fight back the violent urge to turn and see who's coming. If it's your captors, goodbye; if it's your boss, well, who knows? Some would argue that it was his fault you were here but you know better, you always have. You didn't blame him and he shouldn't blame himself either, you doubt he would admit such a thing out loud anyway. You were kidnapped together, bound behind the back, bags over your heads; the whole shebang. Even behind you two, a grave dug just big enough to fit your rotting corpses but shallow so as to not show respect. What was respectable about either of you? There was nothing. There was nothing.

The footfalls stop just beside you and in a quick second, you hear the familiar groans of the older man. Saul Goodman, your boss, and he was sitting with his legs crossed like a kindergartener. You almost couldn't believe it but then again, Saul has done more unimaginable things. You look over at him, careful to not look anywhere near his face. You see his legs all crossed and his socks that peak out, you could laugh at them if you hadn't just been threatened with a barrel pressed against the roof of your mouth. You notice how high his pants come up as he sits like that, how his belt looks -too smooth to be real leather and too tacky of metal to be anything valuable. You notice the small scuff marks on his shoes that could only be from today and you wonder why his shoes are so nice and expensive but his belt isn't. You don't say anything though. (Why would you?) 

"Hey-" Saul tries to speak, genuinely too, you can tell.

You snap, "I don't want-" You lose your fire immediately, you can't even finish the damn sentence; he knows what you mean anyway. There's something in your heart that can't be mean to him. Not even now. Not after feeling the cool metal of your kidnapper's gun against your tongue and tasting your blood after your captor hit you with it. Not after sitting in the blaring heat of the sun in the middle of the desert in nowheresville USA with your arms bound behind your back and the heat weaving through your skin, waiting to coil up and take your life like the very snakes that called this place home. Not after all of that can you manage to be mean. 

You don't wonder if Saul feels bad. He does. Of course. He scoots closer, his arm touching yours. He doesn't want to freak you out. He doesn't care that much about you. You're his employee, not much more. But a shiny, purple bruise has a glare that some people -people like him- can't ignore. Right there on the left side of your face, surrounding your eye is the deepest purple Saul has ever laid his eyes on. Marks litter the bridge of your nose and it's starting to swell. Your mouth is worst of all. Blood will not stop rushing past your lips, there are cuts all over inside, a tooth was knocked out in the chaos, your tongue was cut (even just the littlest thing makes it bleed so much), and your lips are raw and scratched. It looks like someone let an animal loose inside your mouth. It's horrible. 

Saul watched it happen. Them, the people who kidnapped you both, shove a gun into your mouth like it belonged there. Twist it around and threaten you as Saul pleaded with them doing what he always does and striking a deal, persuading the audience, getting them on his side, trying to save someone; someone who he had gotten into this mess, someone he cared about -even the littlest bit. You got hit repeatedly, swung at with the gun or knuckles, a mix of the two, or a kick to the ribs. You didn't let out anything. Not a single word. You let Saul do the talking. You took the punches. That was your job in this little operation. Maybe that was always what was supposed to happen. 

You can't shake the metal that had been in your mouth. You can't shake closing your eyes and making peace and just being quiet and waiting. You don't even know what you were waiting for. Death or release or life after all of this? Freedom or pity or indentured servitude? Sweet peace or life-long guilt? It wasn't fathomable. It wouldn't be for years. 

You almost jump at the touch. Saul's finger graces your bruise. You hold back a hiss and you wonder what he's doing. There are things you know and there are things you wonder about. Saul's touch not feeling like fire against your skin is something you can only wonder about, you will never understand that -for lack of a better term- relief. You sit silently with your legs bent in front of you and your back straight waiting. For death, release, or sweet, sweet peace. You can't choose in this one. Freely, your fate is decided by one Saul Goodman. You trust him enough for that yet you wouldn't trust him with your car keys. 

You don't want to look at his face, especially not his eyes. You know what happens if you do. You can't deal with that right now. He makes that mission difficult. He takes his fingers off your bruise and places his thumb at your nose. In a strange way, it was like a medical examination or at least with the precision of one. Like he was assessing you for damage. Maybe not so medical-like after all. You wouldn't expect less from him. It almost makes you smile. He was tallying up his losses. Smart move, you think. 

He reassigns his thumb to swiping blood from your chin even as it still dribbles out. Your poor mouth; all beat up for the senselessness of it. He wants to examine your mouth, maybe see what exactly is going on in there but he finds himself at a loss (funnily enough). He can't see this looking very good. He can't imagine how you'd interpret it and he's at a crossroads. Maybe he should talk to you? But that directly disobeys your earlier word. But he's the boss? Who tells him what to do? You, you, of course. 

He's yet to see your tears from this. A normal person would be concerned. A normal person is no Saul Goodman. 

The blood seems to stop at least flowing out of your mouth but inside is a whole other story. He wipes his your-blood-stained thumb against his already bloodied shirt. His head turns as the wheels of your captors' vehicle squeak and kick up dirt creating clouds of shit he'd rather not inhale and neither would you. He flips open his phone, one bar, good enough. He flips the phone closed. He's not so scared anymore.

What you'll think of him he cannot say nor can he decide and maybe that's good. You should have your own feelings about him, he couldn't stand it if they weren't yours. Maybe he could for a while but that's not forever, it's temporary and fake; stale like potato chips that have sat in your kitchen for months now with the bag open and you mean to throw them out, you really do, but you never quite get around to it and they are always, always just left there in the end. Your feelings for him couldn't be stale potato chips. 

Maybe he should have thought it through better but those clouds of dust must have gotten to him because he presses his thumb against your bottom lip and he doesn't say anything or give you any sort of look, you just open your mouth. It's like an active warzone inside. There's blood here and a cut there, some deep indent northbound, and an empty space where a tooth should be. Your raw lip does not feel good against his thumb. He hates it actually but it stays there for a good long moment as he totals the loss of your mouth. It was like a bomb exploded and he was picking up the missing limbs. His mind entertains the idea of what you'd look like with a gold tooth, he doesn't like it. 

He lets his thumb off your lip like letting a foot off the gas and then there's eye contact. Yours meet his, his meet yours. You look empty. You look like you're about to cry. He couldn't blame you. He was probably going to go home and cry about all of this later. 

He pulls all of his limbs away from you and against himself as he sits at your side. He doesn't look at you or turn his head. He feels your head rest against his shoulder and it's like he's allowed to breathe. He lets out a deep sigh like he's been absolved of all sins. He's quiet. He hears your sobs. They are deep and powerful sobs that he can tell you need to let out. He wraps his arm around your back, maybe even holding you a little closer. 

The sun's harsh glare washes over you both. The air is dry and humid and the horizon is baking. It's like you're in an oven. You've been kidnapped and shrunk and placed in an oven with your boss because life is cruel and why shouldn't you be trapped in an oven? But you're not. Kuby is on his way to pick you both up and you're never going to speak about it again. Saul will not mention the gun in your mouth or the crying. You will not speak thanks to said gun in the mouth and you won't care to regale anyone on how you were kidnapped and beaten up and left to cry on your boss' shoulder because why would you? 

[ikamigami]

My thoughts on Eclipse

I understand that not everyone has to agree with me on this for various reasons. Also I'm not trying to condone Eclipse's abuse or bad actions. None of the things Eclipse went through justify the awful things he did - which I think that new version of Eclipse is aware of.

I think that OG Eclipse wanted to be better than Old Moon - better as a brother hence why the first thing he wanted to do upon meeting Lunar for the first time was to hug him.

Lunar ignored Eclipse then because he had games - this action hurt Eclipse so much because it reminded him of how it felt when he realized that he was abandoned by Old Moon.

I think that Eclipse was questioning why he slapped Lunar because he wanted to be better than Old Moon yet he did the exact same thing. But because he thinks that regret is a sign of weakness he decided to push these feelings away.

Also when Eclipse apologized - I think that Eclipse has a problem with sounding genuine when he apologizes because he doesn't want to seem weak so it results in the apology coming across as disingenuous.

I think that Eclipse didn't want to end up like Sun hence why he try so hard (too hard) to not be seen as weak.

Would OG Eclipse apologize to Lunar? I don't think so. Though I think that abusers can feel genuine remorse - Old Moon is good example of this yet he never apologized to Sun for all the shit he had done to him - and OG Eclipse is a parallel to Old Moon.

Also Old Moon also rarely apologized to Sun for his behaviour and even if he did it was coming across as disingenuous because he still continued to be abusive towards Sun.

We can argue if showrunners did a good job in showing that Eclipse cared but I digress because we see that now Eclipse is changing.

I think that Eclipse still was abusive towards Lunar more than that one slap. Lunar probably doesn't remember much things from that time in details due to trauma and death causing his memory issues.

I agree though that Lunar was too self-centered and that even if he saw exactly why Eclipse was the way he was he didn't do anything about it. Though it's dabatable if Lunar could've done more - it's not always that easy to say "yes" or "no" in these types of situation because it's not as "black and white" as people think.

Abuse in family is more often than not a very complicated matter.

I used to think that Eclipse is only manipulative and nothing more but I changed my mind upon seeing more of his perspective.

I sympathize with him but like I said I don't condone his actions and abuse. Though I don't want to force anyone to feel sympathy towards Eclipse. It's an individual thing.

Though like I said people are way dismissive to Old Moon's abuse towards Sun than to Eclipse's abuse towards Lunar.

Also Lunar doesn't have to forgive Eclipse and honestly I doubt that he will.

And slightly unrelated I like that new Eclipse is more understanding towards Sun hence why he tries to not be so mean to him and why he avoids him or at least that's what I think.

Slight rant under the cut

The only issue I have is that people were saying that they see that Eclipse cared and that he also suffers which turned out to be true later. Though majority of fans didn't see it like that at the time when it were just speculations.

But when I tried to explain that I see hints to Sun having depressive psychosis and being suicidal majority of fans didn't agree which is okay. But what's not okay is that some folks were bullying me for this and spreading lies about me.

And they say that show disproved my speculations about Sun with "Sun has a child" episode but the truth is that they not only didn't disprove anything which I already pointed out in my recent post about that episode but they also harmed not only me but also many other fans with mental issues as well by portraying Miku like that in that episode.

Also I don't like that people can freely relate to Eclipse and other characters but I apparently can't relate to Sun because I'll receive backlash for it.

I also don't like how Moon no matter old or new is always in the spotlight when Sun just gets mostly funny lore episodes.

Also I don't believe in Sun healing off-screen. And while I think that Sun is doing better compared to last year, I think that he's still not fine - he just either denies it or just tries not to worry others.

[somekindofsentience]

OCD in Hello Charlotte 3, or why Charles Eyler doesn't (necessarily) have Dissociative Identity Disorder

MAJOR SPOILERS FOR HELLO CHARLOTTE 3

CONTENT WARNING: Discussions of severe mental illness, including intrusive thoughts and psychosis. Please be warned if this may cause you to spiral out of control, and take care of yourself.

DISCLAIMER: A lot of this is coming from my personal experience and understanding of OCD. While I do not experience DID, I don't really focus much on it in this, more reframing Scarlett Eyler as a character. You can take Charles' experiences however you feel is accurate.

I feel like the fandom gets tripped up when Charles calls Scarlett Eyler a tulpa.

I've seen a lot of people state that this quote directly implies Charles has DID, and that's therefore canon. But I'd actually like to propose a different take, that Scarlett is a physical manifestation of Charles' intrusive thoughts.

First of all, a tulpa implies a sense of desire - it is willingly created through spiritual meditation. Scarlett is, in no way, a desired existence that haunts Charles. There is some debate as to whether or not the game was originally in Russian or English, but regardless, tulpa just may be what Charles refers to the phenomenon as. It's not as if this directly confirms anything, as we know in-game Charles is only diagnosed with autism, and takes medication for psychosis.

Charles experiences many symptoms of OCD, contamination OCD in particular. He is intensely preoccupied with purity and disease, insisting that the majority of the population has a "parasite", aside from a select few people (Vincent being one of them, and by the end, the only one).

OCD and psychosis have several unique overlaps when acting as comorbid conditions. It has a relatively high comorbidity, due to both conditions often suffering with heightened paranoia. I couldn't find any research which suggests it can cause the hallucination of intrusive thoughts, but OCD does make people more susceptible to hallucinatory disorders, and vice versa.

Many people with OCD, especially those who have experienced symptoms since being a child, start to conceptualise these thoughts as a being - appearing as imaginary friends which act and react negatively. It definitely happened to me - I genuinely thought I had DID for a year or so of my life, because I had this voice in my head that hated me, and it didn't feel like myself. As a child, it just felt like my own mind was trying to bully me, and I didn't understand why.

We know that Scarlett Eyler is the instigator of "punishment" for Charles' actions...

This sort of "punishing" is very reminiscent of OCD. The rule-breaking itself is confusing to an outsiders, and the punishments even more so. However, I find this rule-and-punishment system very relatable, and I'd argue that some people with OCD might have even more confusing rules and punishments - for example, I can't watch very specific youtube videos, I can't explain what the rules I have surrounding them are, and I have strange punishments for this (that which I will not disclose).

Scarlett also doesn't exhibit typical alter behaviour. She never takes over, Charles doesn't seem to lose time, she does little more than act as a harsh observer, and also physically threaten Charles. She seems very real to him, aside from the fact that he knows taking pills will make her "disappear".

For Charles, Scarlett is simply a being who threatens and instigates intrusive thoughts, but in a particular way. Charles still experiences other intrusive thoughts - Scarlett never discusses the parasites, even though that's a very prevalent fear of Charles'.

Scarlett is the manifestation of intrusive thought that Charles is a failure, rather than being a separate existence to Charles.

my little rat analysis lmaoooo. this was my first hello charlotte one, i've always loved charles, he's just peak gender in so many ways, incredibly relatable.

hope your little polycule goes well salutes

[inevitably-johnlocked]

I've seen a couple of posts from you and some other people that John might be homoromantic bi.

Is it because he's only went out with women in canon for sex and that he's had romantic feelings for Sherlock (and possibly Sholto in the past)?

I'm curious.

(He doesn't seem to be in love with Mary that much either.)

Hey Nonny!

Ah, it's a popular interpretation because of that, exactly. I personally read him that way, because, in BBCS at least, he fails spectacularly at forming any believable relationships with women (and don't get me started on Mary, LOL. I'm sorry, but I STRONGLY believe she trapped him with a fake baby – I think John only went with the marriage because he was pissed off at Sherlock for lying to him) but seems to form REALLY strong attachments to men in authoritative (in his eyes) positions. And yes I also mean Lestrade here too. You cannot tell me that John did put out his feelers for Lestrade when they first met, LOL. BUT John fell RIDICULOUSLY hard for Sherlock, and through context clues and the mirroring of Sholto-to-Sherlock, that John didn't fall hard for Sholto too. There's clues in the episode that their falling out happened after Sholto's accident.

I mean... John GRIEVED for Sherlock like a widower. He was "just getting over" Sherlock when he met Mary (who I think was a plant to get Sherlock to come back, by the way). That was THREE YEARS. John "grieved" for Mary for like... a couple months maybe?? Yeah, he didn't give two flying figs about her, sorry. EVEN IN CANON, Mary is RARELY mentioned and is speculated to have been a beard to keep ACD from suffering the same fate as his friend Wilde [THIS LINK ALSO].

This is a topic I love talking about because sexuality is so interesting to me, given my constant re-discovering of my own self. AND because the characters in the show grew up in the same period I did (early 80's and 90's, so Cusp Gen-Xers/Millennials), it makes SO much sense to me that a lot of John's anger and trust issues come from internalized homophobia and misogyny, and he really didn't open up until he became close to men in his life that he respected and admired and treated him with the in-kind respect and kindness. And I just really relate to them so much... it's probably why this show resonated with me so hard and absolutely why my scary journey of Sudden Realization™ happened hahah.

I genuinely believe that John wants to form a fulfilling relationship, but for him, his internal struggle is that he just CANNOT love women no matter how hard he tries – this is a lot of why people joke that John's a horn-dog... he doesn't care who gets his dick wet, just that he gets it. But at the end of the day, I think his internalized issues keep him from accepting that he LOVES Sherlock fiercely, and it's WHY he struggled so hard with Sherlock's death. I mean, after a certain point he gave up dating because Sherlock GAVE him everything he truly wanted. The women in his life were just to get the sex he wasn't getting from Sherlock, LOL. There's also a REALLY old speculation within the fandom that the trip to New Zealand that John took with Sarah went bad because he called out Sherlock's name during sex... soooo yeah.

Anyway, check out these meta from people who are on the Bi spectrum that can dissect John better than me. I recommend the MOST this thread about Harry and John possibly being twins, and how that is relevant to her being a mirror for John in BBCS. People have commented on it with anecdotes from other bi people about their experience with biphobia in the queer community and in the 80s and 90s, and how in this day and age people seem to forget that any smattering of being gay was met with disdain.

Meta Links to Prove John’s Bisexuality

Meta Links to Sexuality posts for the characters

Closeted John: Growing Up in a Homophobic 80’s/90’s (Not Mine)

is it any wonder John is closeted (Not Mine)

The Way John Looks at Sholto (John’s Bisexuality)

John’s Past and his Bisexuality

So Why Is John Gay when He Says He’s Not? (Irene Clap-Back)

Where Does “Three Continents” Thing Come From?

John’s Attracted but In Denial?

Did Sherlock Know John was Bi?

John Could’ve Been A Real Representation of Bi People

John’s Cheating

AND let's also not forget John's a military man, and while I'm not 100 on how the British military functions, I feel like they also had a "don't ask, don't tell" policy like the American and Canadian militaries did pre-2000's. So. Yeah. AND with the assumption John's parents were homophobic with context clues via Harry and the lack of his entire family from his wedding, a lot of Bi people in the 80's and 90's just "chose to be straight" to avoid being eviscerated. It's a horrific reality that still exists today, sadly.

I love my little bi-disaster John, and you can pry that headcanon from my cold, dead body, LOL.

[soleminisanction]

I love your opinions on comics and how sane they make me feel because we share most of the same opinions! I’ve come here to join the anon salty rants you get sometimes! Thanks btw for letting people rant to you about fandom salt! 🫶

To start this off, this is something I do to myself by going on TikTok to look for animatics. I genuinely enjoy them and won’t stop going through the cursed TikTok tags to find them but it does come at the cost of having to see some of the most annoying trends that get popularized on characters. Right now it became a thing for people to make videos on how awful “90s Tim” was and how poor Steph suffered SO much having to date that terrible misogynist. How people think Steph was anywhere near a progressive“girls girl” is beyond me. They’ll always vaguely talk about Tim being horrible and then never bring up the panels they are even talking about?! It’s the same in the comments of people just parroting what the video says without bringing up anything he said that was offensive. I know pretty much any '90s comic (and comics still today!) is going to be a bit misogynistic but I really don’t remember Tim being anywhere near the “raging misogynist” they think he is. He’s Helena and Babs little brother and he has a great relationship with both. There’s a Babs panel making a point of saying Tim was the only one who thanked her for all she does for the team. Kon even complained that Tim lectured him on respecting women. 😂

Thank you. I'm glad that you get catharsis out of reading the rants I throw out into the void. Which makes it a little hard for me to say this next part because I really, truly don't want to make you feel bad, I haven't said anything before and it's 100% not you, it's a me thing.

I need to ask that people not send me anything about what's happening on TikTok, ever.

I had the app briefly, years ago before the pandemic, and I deleted it for a reason. I find the environment on that app to be deeply toxic and unhealthy. I've never seen a comics take there (again, other than PandaRedd's) that didn't make me feel sad, lonely and angry over how much ignorant people love to shit on a medium and characters that I love. The only thing that thinking about them ever does is derail my focus for the rest of the day, and it's just not healthy.

So I really don't want you to feel bad, anon, but I need this to be the last TikTok related rant that ever lands in my inbox please.