#I should never be allowed to screencap things

[cuntressgoingdigital]

needed a break from writing serious things, so here's more mma! abby x model! reader shenanigans - pt 1 if you care

cw: alcohol ment., minor nsfw

srry this is pushing 1k i got a lil too excited

☆ being one of the hottest celebrity couples, you get invited to the met gala. this is by no means your first time in attendance. not by a long shot. you were expecting the call from your agent about the guest list, but this time she tells you abby is invited to come along. abby is hesitant about the whole ordeal, but ultimately concedes after weeks of begging. 

what you (purposely) failed to mention is that there are a million and a half fittings that she had to suffer through before the day came. she was a fighter, not a model. she didn’t even take fashion seriously until you started dressing her. this was her personal hell. 

when the day finally came she was antsy sitting through the hours long hair and makeup process. if you hadn’t been there to take her mind off of everything, she definitely would’ve left in a huff. 

“how the fuck do you do this all the time?”

you shrugged. “i love hair and makeup! are you not having fun?”

“absolutely not.”

her attitude changed the moment you two stepped on the red carpet. abby was dressed in a deep cut off white suit jacket embellished with silver flower detailing along the sleeves and hem. the pants were made of white satin, matching the train that sat beneath her jacket. somehow, the hairstylist had tamed her long blonde hair into a slicked back bun with the hair atop her head falling in ringlet curls. this was one of her first times wearing makeup to an event, the both of you wearing marie antoinette inspired looks, dramatic eyes, heavy blush, and lipstick in the shape of a heart. 

you’d trained her on how to pose, when to pivot her head for different cameras, and how to answer interview questions. like a lost child, she didn’t let go of your hand the entire time. your matching emerald jewelry caught the camera flashes with every snap of the shutter. 

as you moved along the carpet you gave her reassuring whispers with every step. 

“you’re doing perfect. i love you so much.” 

she was trying so hard not to stare at you the whole time. she couldn’t give less of a fuck about everything going on around her, she was in constant awe of your beauty. you two had been strictly instructed not to kiss each other or touch your makeup in any way, but if you’d been allowed she would have in that moment. 

one of the interviewers approaches the both of you. you had seen her in years past, so you had already established a rapport. 

“abby, how does it feel to be at your very first met gala?”

she awkwardly chuckles. “you know, i never expected to be at an event like this. i’m just happy to be here with my beautiful girlfriend.” 

there were many screencaps of that interview of abby looking at you longingly. the pictures circulated with different variations of ‘how i look at my girl when she–’ captions.

that night, once the professional photos went live on social media, you reposted one of them on your story with the caption

she looks so good i should get her pregnant

☆ you’re invited to a couple’s interview with a popular media journalism group. you’re answering questions about each other to see if the answers match up and it starts to get unprecedentedly competitive. both of you are sore losers and contest each answer. 

“what do you mean you spend most of your free time reading?” you were absolutely not having it. “all you do is workout! we had to put a little chair in our gym so i can sit with you while you’re in there.”

abby huffs. “i don’t count that as free time. that’s my job.”

you wanted to argue back, but unfortunately she had a point. 

when the interviewer asked “who does more chores around the house?” god you would’ve thought she was trying to instigate world war three. for the next five minutes (all of which were cut out of the video) you went back and forth about who was right. the argument wasn’t out of malice, but neither of you wanted to be wrong. 

☆ in a recently posted photo from one of your friends while on vacation, fans point out that your middle and ring fingers are lacking the acrylic set on the rest of your fingers. 

one fan tweeted : oh so they’re GAY gay

you quote retweeted with: hell yeah we take this gay shit serious…some of us like to go acoustic every now and again

☆ the closest thing to a controversy you had gotten into was at a celebrity after party. you admittedly had gotten a little too drunk and a man referred to you as “that drunk bitch”. so of course you rip into him. abby is near the bar, but was able to filter out the music to hear your voice from across the room. she rushed to your side and asked what happened. you’re still screaming and incorrigible. once abby gathers the summation of the argument, she steps in between you and the man. everyone is expecting her to try and defuse the situation, but she joins in. 

“what the fuck did you call my girlfriend? are you fucking serious?” 

unbeknownst to either of you, the whole ordeal is being recorded. 

“dude, get the fuck away from her or i will embarrass you in front of everyone.”

the man seemingly catches the hint. no sane person would risk being in a physical altercation with one of the best ufc fighters on the scene right now. 

you leave pretty soon after that and you’re immediately all over her in the car. between kisses you tell her “that was pretty hot.”

you have some of the best sex of your life that night.

i refuse to ever write descriptions of reader's outfits bc like.....what if you don't like the outfit i picked? use your imagination

tags: @modedelagauze

[transmascutena]

utena text posts part uh... 7?

[ID: a series of screencaps from revolutionary girl utena with text posts edited on to them:

Utena having just transformed into a car + "There is a massive problem with the body image issue. I remember as a kid having transformers and I hated myself because I couldn't morph into a corvette.

Touga and Saionji on their bike + "I do gay shit as a joke it's called irony grow up"

Shiori sitting in her room + an anonymous tumblr ask that says "Is it bad that I kinda wanna hit my crush with a car and then nurse her back to health like a baby bird or it normal? :)"

Nanami with her dueling sword + "i think i should be allowed to kill if im jealous"

Anthy crying on the rooftop + "not evil anymore i want to be loved now" followed by Anthy about to stab Utena + "evil again"

Utena sitting curled up in her dorm room + "we all have that one homie who never fully recovered from the incident"

Utena + "im basically normal if you really don't think about it"

Anthy seeing the cowbell on TV + "shoutout to girls who do not understand the difference between 'the bit' and 'waging psychological warfare'"

Touga and Saionji in the motorcycle and sidecar + a text conversation that goes "God I do not like a single thing about u" "Tell me more" "This isn't sexting" "It's better than sexting tbh"

/End ID]

[stardustneeko]

As promised, here's the process video for my YGO Rare Pairs Mini Bang piece. I feel like this event always gets me to push myself beyond my limits (or maybe it's Tealshipping ;-P). A lot of attention and care went into this piece, so I want to talk about it a bit.

(Extensive yapping under cut)

As with many of my works, it started with a song. Pretty much the entire aesthetic direction of this piece was inspired by it, specifically this lyrics video.

I started with a thumbnail with pencil on paper because I'm astonishingly near-sighted and can only determine a good composition at a very specific size.

Fun fact: This thumbnail was very likely jotted down on company time :D

Then I traced it onto CSP and started with the values sketch. Since the song/lyrics video provided a very clear vision, I worked out the light sources pretty quickly. Some things I kept in mind:

The elements in this piece should suggest that we are looking at this scene through Johan's eyes. That's why Ryo's eyes are closed, and Johan's seeing a different version of "himself" in the mirror.

Because of this, the lighting scenarios for the outside world and the mirror world are completely different: the outside world is hazy, sensual, the mirror world is stark and eerie. "Yami" Johan has sharper features than "normal" Johan, and he's cast in colder light. The "real" world, on the other hand, would have warmer tones. (I feel like I didn't push this enough tbh).

The main light source comes from windows off-screen. I was very particular about the way it hits Johan's face and cast most of it in shadow. In contrast, l wanted most of Ryo to be in the light. It's kinda unrealistic, but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The light from the windows also helps illuminate the background. Specifically it reveals the one piece of furniture necessary to deduce the rest of the story ( ͈ര ̫ര ͈) ⊹`𓈒

There is a rim light from a lamp hidden behind Ryo. This helps sets the characters apart from the dark background and suggest more depth, especially in the areas of darkest shadow.

The process I currently use is one I adapted from kuroshiro's, with a few tweaks. First, I separated the piece into parts, and coloured them on separate layers with their base colours. Then, I added new clipped layers to each part, set to Multiply or Overlay as necessary, and rendered on those layers. This workflow helps me think clearly about what I need to do next, and easily come back to fix mistakes later on. It also allows me to pause at certain points and play with different lighting/colour schemes, just to make sure I like the direction I'm going in. It's a labour-intensive way of working, with a lot of cognitive power expended on pre-planning and layer management, but it's very effective if you like to problem-solve on the fly.

This scar on Johan's neck has a lot of symbolic significance in the story of this piece (read the accompanying fic to find out why), and so does Ryo kissing it. I wanted to make sure the way I posed the characters + arranged the lighting would give it that prominence in the composition. I based it on ref photos of real electrocution wounds. (And that makes the second time I've put marks on Johan's skin for this event lol).

Occasionally, I'd screencap the image and save it on Discord, so that I could look back at it the next day and immediately notice anything major I needed to fix.

Fun fact: In my vision, the light-cast-from-window thing was mandatory, but I'd never drawn anything like that before. Reference photos were helpful for inspo, but I needed to observe how it works directly. So (after much procrastination) I decided to turn off the lights in my room and stood for a good half an hour watching the way the light hit my wall in the dark, brainstorming how to recreate this on CSP.

(The most painful part of this piece might be looking up hotel room interior refs and trying to design a bg that looks legit but not with the muted color schemes that seem to dominate luxury hotels use nowadays).

The mirror frame was one of the last pieces to be added, and then I exported the image and imported it onto a different CSP canvas. I added a layer on top the image to paint over any remaining mistakes . I also added some special effects (such as air-brushing Johan's breath). Lastly, I signed the piece.

Fun fact: The "pressed against the mirror" thing was another big challenge, for which ref photos weren't gonna be enough help because I had such a specific idea with the pose + lighting. One day, while I was wandering in a new bookstore and about to leave, the employee told me "We also have a secret room, would you like to discover it?" and she DEADASS pulled open a bookshelf to reveal a hidden chamber??? And inside were obvs more bookshelves but most importantly there was a large mirror on the wall EXACTLY like I needed. So I spent a good while in there taking reference photos using myself as a model hehehe. Thinking back on this experience now, I become more firmly convinced that the universe arranged things so that I could bring this Tealshipping image to the world. *^w^b

Overall, this piece took me literal months to complete (most of which was spent agonizing over whether I could pull off all of the aforementioned goals). I'm noticing some pretty big mistakes now that I'm looking back at it lol but it felt pretty rewarding to finish it at last. Do you think I managed to achieve my intentions?

[kafkaoftherubble]

Hi! I've really enjoyed your tags on the reblog of the screencaps of The Believers on my sideblog @nonkunchanon. I was wondering what are your thoughts on Monk Dol's next move now that he's been rejected by Dear, whether he would disrobe or not. And I think Pup will be back for The Believers Season 2 though, since at least according to this interview, it seems like Pup is ready to shave his head again to be Monk Dol. Also do you think Win has any feelings for Dear?

HOLY SHIT. With this ask you've basically allowed me to ramble about The Believers. THANK YOU THANK YOU SADHU X100 Also, Pup has an interview?! And he's ready to be Monk Dol again?!

SADHU X1000. Thank you for linking it, fella appreciator!

Okay. I'll tell you what I think, but you're gonna have to reblog this and tell me what you think too, because I'm also interested in your thoughts!!!

---

Monk Dol's next move

Okay! There are two perspectives I can go for: the showrunners' + actor's, and the character's. Judging from both Thai and international fans' reviews and reception, Monk Dol is a really, really popular character, isn't he (who can blame him)? Popularity usually incentivizes bringing a character back for Season 2, and Pup does seem pretty happy playing the character. All that means there are really good grounds to think he'll return, ahahhaha! I'm with you on this one!

However! From the character's perspective, it's a bit more nuanced, methinks!

I, uh, study Buddhist Philosophy for fun, so I can tell you that the biggest reason why I like Monk Dol is that every single dhamma talk/sermon he gave, as well as his character traits and personality, are aligned with Buddhism. In a show criticizing the commercialization of Thai Buddhism (and its relation with politics), Dol provides an example of what Buddhism "is supposed to be about."

I've been rewatching the series every now and then when I'm free, so I got to re-watch his scenes and Dhamma talks. The teachings are actually legitimately correct. Not even "Pop culture-diluted correct" or "I guess it's a correct interpretation," but befitting the dhamma as espoused in Theravadin Buddhism, which Thai Buddhism falls under.

That means Monk Dol's themes and character arc are deliberately woven with Buddhist philosophy, including concepts like anicca ("impermanence") and nekkhamma ("renunciation; letting go"). This makes it harder to write him back into Season 2 without hurting a little of the themes he's supposed to represent, you see?

In his letter to Dear, he talked about how, thanks to his love and attachment for Dear, he realized that "there are many more things about myself that I need to train on." It's a very Buddhist sentiment (the Buddha's last word before death/parinibbana was, reportedly, "strive diligently." You might also remember one of Dol's Dhamma Talks on the importance of self-effort over superstitious reliance on holy objects and the Buddha; it was his first talk since joining Wat Phummaram).

The way he exited the story was him practicing nekkhamma and the sort of "love" he talked about earlier. He also alluded to their interaction as remnants of their past kamma (this is how it's spelled in Pali; it's "karma" in Sanskrit) influencing their current lives.

Just a brief explanation in case you don't understand the "kamma" thing! In a supernatural reading of kamma, the effects of your actions in your past lives with other people can bring over to your current life. Therefore, Dol was saying that him falling in love with Dear/Dear unintentionally "charmed" him was no fault of himself nor Dear, but simply the effects of their collective kamma. He merely saw his experience—of falling in love and being rejected; of being conned and used because of said love; the general dukkha (suffering) of it all—as a lesson illuminating aspects of himself that he should overcome.

Dol recognized that he needed to let go of his attachment to Dear as she never belonged to him; previously, he explained that as part of the Buddhist doctrine of Anattā ("non-self") when he answered Dear's question about love. He also told her not to remember him, which to me, all adds up to him hoping this is it. He's hoping that the effects of their past kamma had burned out.

Now, if they want to continue the Buddhist philosophical theme undergirding Monk Dol's character, then the "good end" will be him not showing up in Season 2 at all. From a storytelling perspective, it makes sense too: his arc has a definite end already.

----

However, I can also imagine ways to pull Monk Dol back into the fold without costing his underlying Buddhist themes. For one, "kamma," to the Buddha, mostly means "action" when it's not "cause-and-effect." While Dol would like to think his kamma with Dear is over, it's also possible that his actions and interactions with Dear—and to an extent, Win and Game—have planted seeds of their own, with their own effects to be reaped. These effects can be explored in Season 2.

Where should he go? He has already exchanged his forest monk lineage for a city monk's, but his idea of Buddhism is embodied in the Thai Forest tradition, not the city ones. Can he return to his original forest temple, though? We saw that he was "punished" by one of the eminent temple monks when Win and Dear were trying to collect sacred ingredients for their amulet.

His changing of lineage was not without consequences, and it's a bit hard to imagine him being accepted back to his original temple easily. Thai Forest Tradition is a lot stricter than other schools in Thailand, and a monk who pivots from one school to another can be seen as wishy-washy, unreliable, lacking in discipline, and rather disgraceful by forest monks.

Hence, I would imagine that he either joins a very remote forest temple far away from Wat Phummaram and the show's central background region... or becomes a solitary monk.

No matter which way he chooses, though, I can imagine him being even more ardent in his practice, and perhaps rather avoidant of female laypeople. Even if he has no intention to discriminate, he might try to overcorrect his previous lapse with Dear by putting a wide berth between himself and other women no matter their intentions. I can also imagine him struggling with the actual process of renunciation, which is never as easy as it might sound. His experience with Dear is going to affect him a lot. Even dreams of her are possible.

And from there, I suppose there are two ways for him to join with the trio's Main Plot. Either he coincidentally gets roped back into their activities, or he deliberately looks out for any news about Dear and her gang because he still cares about her wellbeing.

If Monk Dol takes a more active role, he might gradually come into the line of fire by standing up against this sort of commercialized Buddhism. He might also try to help Dear (plus Win and Game; it's more understated, but Dol also cares about those two. We see it in the interrogation scene) to get out of their quandary.

I think Dol will be quite punished for his actions, though. As in, he'll suffer quite a bit. Not sure if he might die, per se, but I'll suspect something worse than what he got in Season 1. I hope he doesn't die, but that's only because I'm personally no fan of martyr tropes, ahahha!

There are also significant odds that Dol will manage to change Dear and Game's hearts through his actions and counsel once he rejoins the trio in the Main Plot. It will be harder to reach Win, I assume, because Win is the least receptive and warmed up to religions, and his attitude toward Buddhism has been very irreverent. Throughout Season 1, Win's attitude toward Monk Dol has been that of a tech bro looking at his most valuable asset.

Nonetheless, Dear and Game, being Win's friends, can bridge that gap along with Dol and Win's mother. Philosophically, it will exemplify paṭiccasamuppāda, "dependent co-arising"—causes are interdependent with one another as people are also interdependent with one another. Whether that's enough to change their fate in Season 2 is a whole 'nother thing!

That's as far as I can hypothesize about Monk Dol! I'll expect even more Buddhist-flavored character study, a psychological/philosophical arc, and if Monk Dol inclines, a more active counter-power to the corruptive political forces that have claimed Dear, Game, and Win.

Does Win Like Dear?

It's hard to say. I have to put out a disclaimer that I'm terrible at understanding human emotions and especially love because I... personally cannot feel it nor understand it! I honestly didn't even realize that Dol likes Dear until the Repentance Ritual!

I lean toward thinking Win doesn't love Dear or like her the way she—or us normal folks—hopes for a healthy romantic relationship. Win is a pragmatist who's pretty obsessed with "winning." He has a very strong ego; he wouldn't even talk to Game after the amulet business was booming, almost as if he's hoping to see Game climb back to him and apologize for being wrong and doubting him. He also saw no problem using Dear as an unwitting honeypot trap to control Monk Dol, despite Dear being someone who likes him.

I especially love the flashback scene to Dear's mother's passing. You can see Win's character in detail there; he engaged with Dear on a surface level, thinking it's enough to comfort her by telling her facts about death and failing to realize what she actually needed until Dear requested it upfront (it also served as a great contrast to Win's foil: Monk Dol interacts with other people differently. Dol always tries to address the underlying questions, takes time to listen, and only gives answers he believes are beneficial and helpful. He's like this to Monk Ekechai and even the cop who looks like fucking Robert Downy Jr.).

Win exhibited very little empathy for other people. Remember how he didn't help a granny with her bag until he realized he could talk to her while they walked together, so he could fish out any potential bait to lure Monk Dol into their scheme? If I were to describe this particular aspect of Win's character from a Buddhist perspective, I'd say he displays the near enemy of the concept of mettā, "friendliness." He is capable of caring about people only from an explicitly egocentric view, instead of caring for others for their own sake.

This hinders whatever he could have had with Dear, I think. Even if these two get together romantically, I honestly don't think it will be a rewarding relationship to Dear at all. Win is callous to everyone and is more obsessed with feeding his ego through perceived victories against the odds than anything else.

However, I don't actually think Win is incapable of caring about Dear, Game, or anyone else. I can't point fingers and tut-tut Win when I myself am also really low on empathy. In fact, from my own experience, I know that low empathy doesn't preclude apathy or an immutable lack of care. You can even catch a glimpse of Win's capacity for care in how he treated his cat.

Win also clearly suffers from trauma related to his father's disappearance. In true Buddhist fashion, there is an emphasis on cause-and-effect (i.e. kamma) in the show, telling us that he's the way he is precisely because of his experiences growing up.

We can also use his most obvious show of care as a comparison. Win is fiercely devoted to his mom and loves her deeply, and yet he's also dismissive of her thoughts, feelings, and sentimental offers to deepen their relationship. His care for her only showed when his mom was directly threatened, or when he believed his image in his mother's heart was close to being destroyed.

I think this allows the audience a bit of insight into how Win treats his loved one; he's also dismissive of Dear's feelings, thoughts, and needs... and yet that doesn't mean he doesn't care about her. There were times when he clearly cared and relied on her as a friend; he tried to call her near the end of Season 1 when he was feeling emotionally vulnerable as he was undergoing an onset of PTSD, for example.

Can that platonic care become a base for romance? I don't know. But to me, it really shows us that none of the trio are "evil," unlike what Cop RDJ insisted while interrogating Monk Dol—not even Win. In true Buddhist fashion, Win was just deluded ("moha," one of the Three Poisons) and merely needed more guidance.

Since his past is coming into the spotlight at the end of Season 1, going into Season 2, I think Win's character arc has only just begun. Dear and Game will play big roles in that as his friends and confidants, for sure, but this is also where Monk Dol's role in Season 2 can fit (as stated above).

I can't say if Win will end up falling in love with Dear for real at the end of S2 since it's not gonna be my personal subject of interest. But I'll love to see Win's striving in Season 2. As a certain monk says in his letter, I sure hope Win can also be free from his suffering, ahhahah!

Thank you for reading my ramble!

[confusedgoldenflower]

This. This is why if you’re not already there,

Stay. Away.

I’m honestly amazed they’re not all downvoted to hell. I’ve seen worse for much less. And idk if there’s any harrassment, I am not in the space to deal with the shit rn. Cue the flood of “pRoShIpPiNg Is AcHuAlLy…” and “cEnSoRsHiP-” 🙄

If anyone does see any harrasment there (I don’t encourage looking), please let me know. I’d like to gather solid examples <3 (Can tons of down votes count? It certainly has a psychological effect.)

‘Nother appeal. Any other examples of how minors are treated in this “movement?” Very appreciative of your truth or screencaps. Of course no pressure. You heal as you need to.

“Anecdotes are not data,” *slow white man blink.* The fuck? It very much IS! You’re hyper intellegent asses don’t understand history and primary sources?—The data of SEX OFFENSES HAS TO COME FROM ANECTDOTES.

https://www.reddit.com/r/AO3/s/FQ2VAfHuuH [Maybe just… don’t sexualize minors?)

https://www.reddit.com/r/AO3/s/HanM4Ij79F [Is everyone here pork addicts?] lemme tell ya, it sure feels like it. Especially when they jump on people for not liking or wanting smut.

https://www.reddit.com/r/AO3/s/JaAq97qqhz [What’s with proshippers and double standards?]

I also notice that many proshippers dont minds bullying children or people who are confussed/was antis in past. I feel like you can say "I was anti" and many proshippers gonna act as If you was bullying them in the past (even If you say you never do things like that). "We are the one who really care about children, but we also gonna hate you and bully If you are child and you tell us you was anti but run away from some toxic antis space"

OP’s account is now deleted. Y’all probably know the conclusion I’m drawing.

https://www.reddit.com/r/AO3/s/DdshVDigdG Wrow it’s almost like language changes (if “anti” ever actually meant what they all claim)

https://www.reddit.com/r/AO3/s/aNn9oykSDh [I really don’t like how some proshippers behave] great so how about y’all straighten yourselves out before interacting with anyone else please. Y’all do not have a good track record. Not a “cohesive movement” my ass, you all have the same regurgitations whenever you so much as “feel threatened.” (Gods, movement, you’ve had centuries. Actual centuries of that shit. It’s time for victims to have justice now damnit.) Then there’s “well they’re not real proshippers” ergo “I’m the good one” which is also something they complain about others doing.

Been trying to refind this one for a while. https://www.reddit.com/r/AO3/s/ZEcKruiEIG [what’s up with the proshipping support on here?]. Really ridiculous that the ARCHIVE OF OUR OWN subreddit is really just an echochamber. Fucking go off to r/proship. Go away. Some of us actually want decency. Yes, it pisses me off. Fuck I saw the first comment!

**Goes without saying, no find these ppl! Again, I don’t support harassment etc. Let’s just have fun and find comfort and spread safety by tearing their illogical logic apart.

No <3. Just no. The definitions are leaving your control and we’re defining you by your actions. OP is right. Sorry, OP. Really hope they weren’t pulled in by “kindness” and literal buzzwords.“Antis are just so dumb. But you’re smart, you’ll pay attention in class. I’ve been to college, listen to me”🤮. Most of it is just appeals to emotions, y’all see this too right??? (Can’t open OPs accnt, worried.)

https://www.reddit.com/r/AO3/s/Eti8zyO4bP [proship as a movement should be allowed criticism]. A call from inside the house! 🚨🚨 Aaand another OP deleted. I am having a feeling they’re not showing downvote numbers to not-your posts. Weird.

“cHilDrEn ArEnT mY rEsPoNsIbIlItY, wHeRe ArE tHeIr PaReNts🥴.” Now I’ve said it before but that’s what communities are; responsibility to everyone. And I guess these people are actually not smart enough to understand it’s no longer the fifties! Even if there’s multiple adults or even elder siblings, there’s simply no way to monitor a child’s online activity especially with the rabbit holes and pipelines. Why, it’s almost like children are SOCIETY’S RESPONSIBILITY.

Just admit you’re refusing responsibility for exposing children to this shit because you’re weirdly against proper tagging and post it accessibly. Put it behind some sort of gate or community-join-thing! And stop drenching fandom in it!

Y’all ever click something out of morbid curiosity or accident and get some sort of note like “I’m a mother, but I’m not YOUR mother. If you can’t handle, don’t read.” That literally doesn’t do shit especially if talking about children, they’re learning self control as is, how to protect themselves mentally, and curiosity will absolutely win out. Especially if they have *that one friend* that dares or taunts them to read it. Boom, trauma. Yes, you CAN be traumatized by written stories/fiction (and even hearing about a traumatizing event). Also, being an adult does NOT mean you’re some perfect, “rational” human; that’s so weirdly essentialist and ableist.

Also… if I learned my mother, or any parent or relative, wrote noncon content for fun🚩🚩🚩. Absolutely not. Nope. Disinvited from family gatherings or anywhere near my loved ones unless they get therapy. Actual therapy.

[theageofsims]

I feel like I'm afraid to open my Legacy Save, lmao. I'm just like... what else is going to take place?!

It's gotten so hard for me to remember things. I'm sure I've made a post like this once or twice before. I mean, I actually get a mild headache when I'm like wait... what's her face? What's his face?

And forget about the cats. I have to literally take a screencap and rename it while it's in the screenshots folder to the cat(s) name(s) otherwise I can't remember... especially when they all start looking alike with the same fur colors/textures and sometimes even the eyes or the eyes are the only difference and I'm like... my ass is too stupid at this point in life to remember them by eye color.

I also need to find a way to gather some of the sims back together -- bigger households is what I'm aiming for (as big as mccc will allow me because after trying to have 14 Sims and Sims pets in one house they were like NOPE).

Right now I've got two Sims that are a part of the legacy that are about to be forgotten if I don't move their asses into my more played household -- that's how serious it all is. I don't want to remember then when they're elderly or they've passed on because then I'm gonna be like wow -- I totally forgot about their asses this time, didn't I?!

I also turned aging off for like one game session and then turned it back on by the next one because I'm like, there's no literal way in hell I can find the time to actively play each household so that each legacy Sim gets their own storyline -- ya girl out there picking favorites at this point. LMAO. Trying really hard NOT to, but it's like... let's face it. When Taro passed on -- shit got nuts. I mean legit nuts... Lani should have never had FIVE children (and I say that like it was her doing -- she had one child on her own, it was me who gave her the other 4).

I still blame Makoto for the extra cats (who now have had their own kittens) and his daughter with Judith Ward. Makoto was supposed to be a playboy gay man who had a science baby with an older, gray haired man while he himself was in his adult phase when he settled down and found true love... WHAT HE DID INSTEAD... was NOT what I had in mind. The bastard. lmao.

I want them to do so many things on their own or in pairs/sets, but there's not enough time so I'm just gonna wing it but I have to be like alert and amped up on coffee in order to deal with that save, lmao. I need to nearly drug myself is what I'm saying lmfaoooo. Let me stop -- I'm in an extremely silly mood.

[hesitationss]

i do love yuji as a main character with all my heart, but even by the end of jjk, partly due to the writing getting worse and worse, yuji never fully developed past 'experiencing the horrors' and gojo became the main character. he had so much potential as a main character but gege did not do enough to develop his past or future, mostly just personality traits - which is not enough to drive a cohesive a story on. also there was that crazy uncle stuff... it felt like yuji was not allowed to exist as a character and was just a vessel to make these broader connections happen... but even then the idea of being a vessel for other people's ambitions was already something explored with other characters.

wow i was so into this series for a few years and arghhhh i just wish so many things were better and that gege akutami didn't write himself into a hole and fall out of love with his own the story for the last half of it. it started out so strong despite the pacing being kind if wild.

he and gotougue started out with such compelling shonens with hints of emotional stakes and just like are very obviously influenced by BLEACH but were missing different ingredients. gege with deeper emotional pacing and exploring a character's goals, intentions, and sorrows. gotougue having deeply emotional moments, but that plus the action feeling so off kilter from eachother... god where is that monthly girls nozaki-kun screencap where he's like "you should also read shoujo manga every once in a while and develop some emotions."

[uselessheretic]

weighing in on the "should you interact with anti izzy posts or not" because i love to talk to myself:

i don't think it's a black and white thing tbh. more than anything, i think people should seriously examine their motivations for responding to hateful posts in that at times it can be a bit self harming. especially if you find yourself seeking out conflict, or are spending more time in fandom responding to negativity rather than doing things that make you happy.

one thing i think izzy fans do well is maintain a balance of ensuring their fandom experience is predominantly focused on things that spark joy. which happens to mostly be sexualizing that old man. for a lot of izzy stans, if you scroll through their twitter/tumblr, it'll be more about liking him as a character than generic izcourse. when it comes to izzy discourse, it kinda has flashes across izzy side of fandom where people respond in short bursts before largely just moving on. can't say the same about izzy haters.

when it comes to responding to things, i largely think there's not a point in direct interaction, however, i wouldn't say it's completely without merit. sometimes i'll respond to long "meta" in the izzy tag literally just because if i have to see your bullshit take then you have to deal with mine as well. that's the tradeoff for being obnoxious in the izzy tag.

i think there can be value in correcting misinformation or refusing to allow the narrative to be controlled completely by izzy haters. "here's why izzy is racist" is annoying and i don't think the main people perpetuating this will ever admit they're wrong. Still, at the same time a lot of these posts are full of misinformation. this misinfo gets parroted throughout fandom and that's bad. "donkey is a slur against polynesians" is a good example. it's not. that was made up on tumblr. every polynesian person i've ever seen comment on this has all said that they have never encountered this as a slur irl. find me a single source outside of tumblr that says "donkey is a slur against polynesians" for fucking real.

the issue with this though is what constitutes as harassment. disagreement doesn't equate to harassment. responding to someone's meta isn't harassment. izzy haters purposefully position disagreement against them as harassment and instances of bigoted behavior. i remember someone once listing an example of how izzy stans are racist as "made fun of a post about how izzy is homophobic." the poster was white. the person who made fun of it was me, a black fan. this isn't racism. at most this is me being a bitch.

i don't think that necessarily means that you should never interact, disagree, vague, or screencap random bullshit. i do think you need to be intentional as well as firm. it will only harm you more if you concede to allowing people to describe your actions as abusive when you know for a fact that they are not. words like harassment, racism, homophobia, stalking, abuse, etc all have meaning. they have definitions and while there can be gray areas when it comes to certain things, the limitations for what constitutes as abusive does not change just because you've arbitrarily decided that you are the good guy in this interaction.

overall, i think there can be times when having conversation, even ones of disagreement, has value. i don't think everybody with a shitty opinion is a malicious actor who needs to be discarded immediately. that said, there are groups in fandom who have demonstrated time and time again to have zero ability to self reflect and are overall narcissistic, self obsessed, navel gazing folks deadset on defending their ignorance to the death. there isn't any use in direct engagement. all it does is feed a perpetual victim mentality and gives them the attention they so desperately crave.

also? while we're here? keep receipts. i'm not even joking. screencap shit when you do have a direct confrontation. if you criticize someone's meta make sure you have their exact words. when someone insults you keep that on hand. people straight up lie on here and when they do shit like say "izzy bought ed as a slave" or "you can go send izzy stans hate for all i care" or "i'm not being passive aggressive, i'm being aggressive" hold them to that. if not for any other reason other than the fact that it's kinda funny watching them lie on their mother that they never actually said this and clearly this was a misinterpretation that only occurred because they are 12 years old and super sleepy when they wrote this and didn't actually mean it like that :((

[furvillaconfessions]

Hi! This is the real Jayce, aka Pastel aka Bestest_Fox (attached proof of log-ins)

ID Verification: imgur.com/a/htd3n6b

First off, Yoshi, I HAVE to ask that the post about Lance and I gets deleted as soon as possible, this is EXTREMELY horrible to have on here about someone. Tagging it with "no definitive proof" is just a clear sign that you should NOT have posted this. The amount of shit lance has gotten from this blog is insane to me.

May I add from your own rules Yoshi:

 "4. Egregious claims must come with proof

the burden is on you— screencaps, archives, etc., whatever you have— so make it count. Otherwise, it’s deleted and that’ll be that."

Secondly, I have not been groomed. I do not shy away from talking about this, I would've preferred that OP just DMed me personally or something so I could explain and not have this public... This is something I've dealt ever since becoming friends with him. Lance is a very close friend of mine that has looked out for me for years now at this point. I don't owe the whole internet my entire life story, this is all very traumatic for me as is just because it brings back a lot of trauma from around a year ago when I tried to leave my unsupportive, transphobic, abusive parents and I had all of my property taken away from me (car, wallet, phone, computer, keys, etc.) and was basically trapped in my bedroom with nothing for a month. The only thing that helped me was being able to escape the house one night and walking to the corner of a street, waiting for my friend to pick me up. Just so I could leave and get on a plane to Lance and finally be in a supportive environment. I do not only live with Lance I also live on the same property as his father, step-mother, and brother. I have been thriving here, able to actually be myself and be happy, this past year has been the happiest I have been in ages and it's all thanks to Lance and his family. I don't know what other proof I can show you or give you to show you that Lance isn't a groomer/pedophile, its an outrageous claim to me to just toss out there. Adults are allowed to be *friends* with minors, ONLY FRIENDS.

...I was going to put something here but It ended up being way to personal and I really don't want to share that part of my life with anyone yet.. Just know I've dealt with a real groomer before when I was a lot younger. (11)

Lastly, I feel like I don't even need to explain this part but here we go... As for the FA and my art. As you have learned, I am 19. If you dug into my FA more you would realize that not only have I done paw art for Lance I've drawn actual NSFW for quite a few people. If anyone on FV wanted to go out of their way and dm me offsite asking for art of this sort, in my mind that is perfectly appropriate. I am an artist who accepts NSFW commission and I am not a minor, this is perfectly legal and in my mind its alright as long as I keep it in spaces meant for it. (aka FA) I'm sure you guys have seen your fair share of minors drawing NSFW... I have never draw NSFW as a minor, I always drew the line at that.

All this does is possibly ruin our lives and spread rumors that are actually damaging. This is something people get arrested for and is not something to be taken lightly. If you have any more concerns or anything like that DM me on discord or FV, I am a real person who is separate from Lance who has my own life, thoughts, and opinions. I don't know what else I can tell you all.

[jackietaylorsghost]

would you be willing to share some tips on gif making? your gifs are always so pretty i feel inspired to start making my own, but i dont even know what program to use 🥲 please master yoda, teach me your ways 🙏🙏🙏

ahhh thank you so much, that’s so kind of you to say. i can share some tips sure yeah! first of all i use photoshop, their most recent edition, I think it’s 2020. i pay for it cus i keep meaning to find a download and not doing so but you can find them sometimes in the tumblr tags but it might be an older version!

in terms of tips, the main one is to always use high quality clips when you screencap! you should be aiming for 1080 but if the scene is well lit then you can get away with 720. my top trick here is to use Firefox because you can actually record directly from proper streaming sites without it being blacked out eg netflix apple prime etc etc. On a PC you can hit the windows button + g and it brings up a control panel which allows you to screen record. I’m not sure how you do this on a Mac but I’m sure there’s a way. I never torrent episodes to gif, I always do it like this and the quality is extremely good. But if you’re able to torrent, that’s another option too.

mostly really it’s just about playing around in photoshop until you get comfy with how it all works. the more you play about in it, the more each adjustment you can use makes sense instead of being overwhelming. my way of making gifs is just using adjustments to increase/decrease brightness/contrast/colours until i like the way it looks and that’s really the most important thing, finding your style and what you like! i can honestly pick certain gif makers out without seeing a url by seeing how the gif is coloured and sharpened. for me, i really like strong a strong contrast when im colouring, so i play around a lot the brightness/contrast and levels adjustment layer to get the contrasts where I want them to be. the adjustment layers i tend to use the most are the aforementioned ones and then colour balance/selective colour/vibrance. really, just play around and it soon becomes less overwhelming and starts to make more sense. also if you’re ever stuck tumblr has a wealth of tutorials! I usually just google what I’m specifically looking for and so many come up.

in terms of how i make my gifs, i always load my caps (cap using potplayer and again you can find so many tutorials on how to do this and what settings to have but if you want I can share my settings when im on my computer next - just shoot me another ask and then load them in using ‘load files into stack’ in the windows menu in photoshop) and then crop, colour, sharpen. some ppl sharpen first and then colour - again it just depends on what you wind up preferring! for cropping, don’t use the change image size, always change the canvas size to what size you want your gifs to be being mindful of tumblr sizes (if you Google tumblr gif sizes a lot of templates will come up showing you what sizes to stick to but in general one gif should be 540 in width and if you want 2 side by side it should be 268). from there you can hit the shift + t button and then adjust your gif to how you want it to look without messing up the proportions.

always always sharpen your gifs! you can do this in so many ways and again it’s about finding how you like it to look in terms of what sharpening settings you use. again there are so many tutorials out there explaining how to do this and the different settings you can use so really it’s just again playing around until it makes sense and you find the way you like it to look! i actually use a sharpening action i found on tumblr that i use twice on all my gifs but i can’t find the original place i found it now but you can search ‘tumblr sharpening action photoshop’ and they will come up.

im sooo bad at explaining things which is why ive suggested googling for tutorials because there are so many people who have such useful and well written tutorials that helped me so much when i was trying to learn things on photoshop. i found it SO overwhelming at first but the more you use it, the easier it becomes like anything else, so my main advice would be don’t be intimidated and just play around and have fun. the more you play and click around with things, the more sense it will start to make and you will find your style and way of doing things!! if you have any other questions, feel free to shoot me another ask and i will try to help 🩵

[thiefking]

i'm autistic. hi. i am op and i have autism. i am not allistic. autistic people can have different preferences and opinions on things

i put that at the front in big huge letters so even if this gets TLDR'd the most important point is communicated as soon as, god willing, someone sees this in the notes BEFORE essentially accusing me of being allistic, which is something that has happened multiple times now and is very important context to this post and the points i will be making in the following text that is simply missing in the original thanks to that post being made, well... entirely on the fly with 0 intent or expectation for it to blow up.

my being autistic is precisely why i dislike tone tags; because it is a strange social rule i do not understand nor did i ever consent to, i understand why they are used but not the tags themselves, which is my primary issue:

why are other autistic people, who presumably should understand the issue with this, imposing on me some strange special social rule i apparently HAVE to study on my own to understand (or directly ask the person what they mean, which can be embarrassing to do, or possibly misunderstand what for example /gen means and assume i was correct when i wasn't), when they could simply type the entire word out?

to address the screencapped replies: i disagree on the comparison to lol and ttyl because those are not meant to be ACCESSIBILITY TOOLS, which are what people insist tone tags are. lol, ttyl, fwiw, etc, are all just quick, convenient internet speak abbreviations. it's fine to have to google those, because people do not brand these as a quick and easy way for autistic people to understand tone, and they were never meant to be that. a good tone indicator would actually be clear from the beginning without further questions necessary, the same way that, for example, a wheelchair access ramp should be a permanent part of a building's entryway, and not a detachable object that half the time or more you have to go ask an employee to grab for you, or even have to bring on your own. (knowing someone's tone on the internet is very obviously less dire than not being able to get into a building, i am comparing the accessibility aspect here and how a "constantly available and immediately effective at first glance even for a completely uninitiated person, and as a bonus even works for someone who may not actually need it" option is very obviously better than the "i have to ask for help or figure it out myself" option. yes, many things in the world are the latter, but if you have the OPTION of using the first, why wouldn't you? that's the same difference between "genuine" and "/gen")

returning to my disclaimer at the top, the amount of times people have decided i am not autistic just because i happen to dislike tone tags and didn't explicitly mention being autistic in the original posts (made on a whim, wasn't even that serious a suggestion mostly just me thinking about how funny using a bunch of parentheses is In General) honestly and genuinely bothers me. me disagreeing with you does not preclude me from sharing traits with you, firstly, but more importantly, while the initial post was just some inane rambling, i do firmly believe my points and even said inane ramble are valid, even if i weren't autistic!

tone tags would be easier to understand if you used the entire word/words; that on its own is as objective fact as it is to say that typing laughing out loud would be easier to understand than typing lol. it is also my own personal opinion that i would rather have someone specifically type out the entire word for tone indicators. and if you read the actual post i wrote, that is... exactly what and ALL that i said, barring the small mistake that i said "tone indicator" instead of "tone tag", which are two different things.

allow me to take a moment to just say this very loud and clear as well: SORRY GUYS! I FUCKED IT! I HAVE NO ISSUE WITH TONE INDICATORS, IT'S JUST TONE TAGS THAT I THINK ARE INEFFECTIVE! THEY'RE TWO DIFFERENT THINGS! THE PARENTHETICAL METHOD I SUGGESTED IN THIS POST IS ALSO A TYPE OF TONE INDICATOR!

anyway, again, literally all i said was "they're easier to understand typed out fully" and "i would prefer it like this". i didn't say "they're all always terrible" nor "you should not use these and it's bad to do that". "prefer it if _" is not a demand for someone to stop doing something entirely, it is a request for someone to not do this with or to a certain individual, one which i, personally, do not even enforce: i have never asked someone to stop using tone tags at all, let alone to use parentheticals instead. and, crucially, there is absolutely nothing wrong with an allistic person agreeing with this! even allistics can't read tone online sometimes, that's why the og </sarcasm> (its modern form is /s) existed, and it is completely, perfectly valid for an allistic person to express that they prefer the entire word to be used because it's clearer that way. but for the record a HUGE swath of people on this post who do agree are indeed autistic, it's not just me! turn on tag viewer and just scroll through!

i should also mention just for the record, i don't expect (and never expected) this method to solve the issues that tone tags have that are unrelated to them not being the clearest thing in the world for the uninitiated. stuff like the excessive clarification being taken poorly by allistic/neurotypical people who don't understand/accept that it's just how autistic people talk sometimes and other forms of stigmatism that crop up in response to just... Existing while being autistic, that's not getting resolved until ableism finally explodes forever (god willing [recreational agnostic use of phrase]). all i can say is i fully agree that it sucks

and finally, again. i do not care if you still prefer or use shorthand tone tags instead of extended ones. your life your opinion whatever. and indeed if you, dear reader, are not even a dear reader because you didn't even read all of this, idgaf if you didn't, really, i am just hoping maybe once in a blue moon someone will see this in the notes BEFORE they reblog and accuse me of being, saying, and doing a whole bunch of shit i am not over one (1) nothingburger post, and seeing it in the notes is basically the only way to possibly transmit that info cause i have had to explain basically aaaaaaall these points before but none of those spread as easy as the first two and boy is it ever a little late to edit the OPs, though i'm still considering trying it anyway. ok quick you have to look at that disclaimer from the top down here too, now you can't pretend you didn't see it: i am autistic i have autism this is the opinion of an autismhaver i made this post expecting like 5 notes from my mutuals it's not that deep you can also do whatever you want this is just my personal opinion & preference btw don't forget i'm autistic etc etc etc

actually you know what that's exactly it i would rather someone add 5 parantheticals after every sentence than use tone indicators it's 1. accomplishing SO much more in terms of clarity 2. extremely funny to look at depending on how they're used

[renapomissing]

Comic Sonic Study 4

Issue 12 hits, and

The buckle is gone again. However, it seems like the artists are now consistently drawing Sonic's quills correctly.

As someone who mostly just played the games for most of my life, one thing I do like about the Freedom Fighters is that they're allowed to get things done on their own more often than the non-Sonic characters in the games.

Admittedly, this was mostly off-camera, but it's an early instance of exactly what I'm talking about. It also happens in the girl power issue, but I can't remember which one that was, and it didn't occur to me to screencap it.

It's worth noting that there was a time in the games when this wasn't a problem. Then, people complained about characters who weren't Sonic, and we're only just now getting out of that era where Sonic was the only one allowed to be competent.

And now, for important note

There is a Jack Kirby dedication in the opening credits for Sonic 13. And that's just nice.

Imagine being a Sonic fan who only reads the comics, and you've never played the games, and that shield comes up. Tht's gonna make no sense. Especially since they didn't actually show Sonic getting it in the first pl--

Wait, did Tails just make an alcohol reference?

The problem with the first story of this issue is that aside from Snively and the SWAT bots, every character is from the games. Again, I mostly played the games for years, but when it comes to the comics, I'm also here to see those characters. Now, if this only happens every once in a while, I'll be fine with it, but I've been informed that by the time of the post-Super Genesis Wave era, I should get ready for a lot of that.

By contrast, in the second story, the Freedom Fighters are back, and they steal Robotnik's space ship that he's going to use to roboticize the planet from a distance, and they end up in a space chase with him. At the end of it, they fight him on one of the hundred moons that orbits planet Mobius.

...

What? I'm not sure when we got from fighting for the environment to this, but there's something I really love about this kind of balls-to-the-wall bizarre storytelling. The type of stuff where when you say it out loud, it sounds ridiculous, but in the story itself, it seemed normal, until you took the time to analyze it.

Issue 14 establishes that Sonic is the leader of the Freedom Fighters.

This is odd, considering that the Freedom Fighters were already established as existing before Sonic joined. Pretty sure this gets ignored later on, from what I saw while I was preparing to read all of this.

While reading issue 15, it occurs to me that nobody has made a weight joke to Robotnik for a while, so I guess that's gone.

After this, we'll be moving into the era where things are a bit more solidified, so I'll have fewer things to mention, until we get to the point of ongoing narratives besides Freedom Fighters vs. Robotnik/Eggman. I have vague memories of how the switch from Robotnik to Eggman played out, and man, I didn't expect that, but I guess they had to do SOMETHING. Still on the lookout for when Tails becomes smart, cuz that's gotta happen at some point.

[bewitched-bullet]

Good morning, Bewitched Bullet! Please do not take this the wrong way as writing doesn't always reflect the tone. I come in peace. I hope those who come forward as mods will verify their mod status with you behind the scene. Maybe with some screencaps as a proof of certain crucial conversations to support their claims. Because I have received anon asks claiming to be from the mods and they told a different story. The last thing we need right now is unsubstantiated claims to create more chaos.

THIS!

I answered this in another ask and I'll reiterate. As someone who has rplayed for years (online, D&D (character and DM), Larping, and I'll even include theater acting), allowing behind the scenes issues to be displayed in a roleplay is incredibly irresponsible, unprofessional, and dangerous.

All the evidence I have, I've gathered from public posts. All that proves is that behind-the-scenes issues have bled through to the rp and when the rp accounts have answered asks about it, deflection, avoidance, etc are used. I usually keep a neutral stance in these situations, regardless of my personal feelings about a thing. Not many can do this, and that's understandable. I have my life experiences and past work to rely on. For everyone else though:

There's a few sayings that I believe can help based from my years of dealing with he-said-she-said situations.

1) There's a grain of truth in EVERY situation. Even if it's a "this is a truth that this person has internalized." Doesn't excuse them of any destructive or harmful behavior. However, this helps in staying as neutral as possible.

2) If it isn't written, recorded, etc, it never happened.

This second one seems harsh, but that's how the legal system, government, civil issues, HR, employment issue, etc work. That's why you should recap what you've discussed with your boss and send them an email about it. That's why you recap what was discussed to a public school about accommodations and send them an email about it. Etc, etc.

Last point that's related in an adjacent way.

CYA = Cover your asses, y'all. With EVERYTHING.

This was a good ask!

[bip0lar-queer]

Imagine demonizing mentally ill people to the point of having an entire 40 minute video over everyone on the internet laughing at you? The fact that you screencap instead of replying really tells me what kind of person you are over this entire thing.

Let me break down why I'm speaking out over disagreeing to disagree with your take over the 'stalker' situation because, again, as someone with an ongoing stalking situation and the show actively glamrorizing at every turn that there are numerous sinner or hellborns that freakishly roam to harass and stalk without consequence 'because it's hell' so Stolas Rapes freely in series and gets away with it because he's a powerful royal??? The new music video really paints the light that stolas too stalks and obsessed over blitz so its not helping your case here.

Reversing this to be about the main point that this is about a crew that called out and instead of handling it like adults got egged on st the fact that there was someone at the time* stalking the crew and people close to viv and instead of taking the safety side or precautions with her team, she poked the bear and actively provoked the stalking to appoint them to be allowed so close to the team????

I meant the fact that she should have provided help is that she should have pushed him towards mental help or mental psychiatric health lines, there would be 100 different ways to handle this ONLINE stalker situation rather then simply blowing up about someone lying on their application to lie to people within the studio.

Get help. This fandom is so clearly pro-abuse and I hate it here♡

You are going at lengths to defend a script/show that actively talks down to its characters and its audience. Never again will I cast my critical opinion to hurt your guys' oh so pwecious feelings.

[harlivyanddansen]

Okay, so we see ONE section of plot-relevant dialogue and you just assume that they said nothing else? Also, ignoring nuance, because there is obvious fear and desperation from her mother in this scene. Doesn't look like they really want to do this, but they have to.

And what, you think if Kal-El never existed, they wouldn't send their daughter away from an exploding planet despite having the ship to send her in? Is that really what you think? The last heir to the House of El is just going to be allowed to die because there's no male to look after? Wow... okay...

Survivor's guilt is a powerful thing, and Kara is feeling all this from the perspective of 12-year-old who had a child's understanding of the situation. She's just repeating what she thought her responsibility was without taking into account what the purpose was behind that. Alex was right, and you're just being judgmental.

Okay, that entire quote was, again, Kara speaking from the understanding she had of the conversation that took place when she was a child. Her mother never said it was the ONLY reason she was being sent. The word 'only' never appeared in the dialogue. In fact, one can argue that with how it was phrased, this was Kara being asked to protect her much younger and more vulnerable cousin (he was ONE YEAR OLD, just as a reminder). Jumping to conclusions isn't an Olympic sport.

Yeah, the show sucked at giving Kara a real throughline, and also, her dad didn't say anything in the original scene, as you pointed out. Not onscreen, at least, because they only gave us plot-relevant dialogue. But notice how her dad said absolutely nothing about the mission she supposedly failed to accomplish, and neither did her mother. None of their dialogue had anything to do with her 'mission' at all if you paid any attention. They were just glad she was alive.

Funny how, once again, it's Kara's perception of her parents' wishes and not anything they actually said that trips her up. How interesting.

Again, the word 'only' wasn't in the plot-relevant dialogue. At no point was that what they said.

You still didn't answer the question. How could both kids be sent to Earth and Kara not at least feel responsible for her baby cousin? If they're both meant to survive, it makes sense that she would be put in charge as the older of the two.

Oh, thank you for those examples, neither of which actually mention that Kal-El was going with her. In the comic example, it actually looks like the familys are doing this independent of each other. In the screencaps, her mother still tells her to find her cousin, so she's still being made responsible for him. Not really shoring up your argument, hon.

Yeah, funny how families sometimes try to make decisions in tandem, and try to make one that's going to do the most good. Funny how they should care about both their daughter and their nephew. Seriously, did you try think about this from their POV at all, or did you just jump to 'horrible parents'?

Alura was on a chunk of her home planet with limited resources, hence their asking for help from Lena for the Huran-El. And how was she supposed to locate Kara on a planet of 14 billion people? I mean, Earth is a thriving planet full of other beings who are at least physically identical to Kryptonians in looks, having the same outward physiology, so it's not like all she'd have to do is look for the woman with the extra head. Not helped by the fact that she last saw her daughter when she was 12 and has no idea what she looks like as an adult.

Alura wouldn't have seen anything because they were still in the hanger at the time the pod got knocked off course, so I don't know where this part came from.

Ah, here we are. I mean, yeah, this has been used as a story beat, but that's not what actually happened. Besides, another good story beat is a character who has to find a new purpose after the one she thought she had was ripped away by fate, which was the one the show actually gave her.

If you want to show me where her parents were so disappointed she didn't wither and die because she didn't fulfill their original plans for her, go ahead. Show me that dialogue.

honestly, it's really crazy how kara's parents (in the show) saved her only so she can watch over kal. "you'll journey to earth to look after your baby cousin, kal-el.", "my father sent me to earth to take care of my baby cousin who went before me..." don't you just want your daughter safe? don't you just want her to live? is her life not worth that much to you? her happiness? why must she be spared only to look after some boy? why must you drill into the head of this young girl her life's worth it only if she's giving it away for others? are you not ashamed? ... fucking assholes!

[overthinkingkdrama]

I'm the kind of person who doesn't write a thing about what I'm watching, but, I have to say I love Money Flower, and I love every post you make about it. You're not alone (?) ;) As a spoiler but something I have to say, I'm dying with Boo Cheon going badly, and it hurts that what finally crack him was Pil Joo's betrayal. Jang Hyuk's final face was too much :v

Thanks for dropping by to throw some gasoline onto the fires of my own personal hell, anon. I think I spent 3 hours ranting to my BFF about this exact subject yesterday. I was trying to organize my thoughts to write a post about it but I couldn’t. I feel ya. Oh yea, you and I are in the same boat.

In all seriousness, I love it when I get anonymous message that give me an excuse to write about something I was already privately ranty about. So thank you, lol.

[Fair warning…I went HAM on my reply. Sorry?? Huge spoilers for the show past this point, y’all.]

It was hard watching my three crazy kids fall apart this week. Especially Boo. The turn his character took this week broke my damn heart. Full disclosure: Boo Cheon is my favorite character in this garbage fire of a show. Has been for weeks now. I feel like I’m pretty much alone in that opinion. My mind twin, agaggleoffandoms (for whatever reason tumblr is refusing to let me @ her) and I are on the same page, but for the most part people seem to really hate Boo. I don’t get it. I can’t wrap my head around how you could love and root for Pil Joo in this whole thing, and yet have no sympathy for Boo Cheon whatsoever. Like, I get it, but I really don’t get it.

Okay, so, I think Kang Pil Joo is actually Satan himself and this is why��

First, let me disclaim and say that I like Pil Joo as a character. I like him a lot. I like the way Jang Hyuk is playing him. I like his scenes. I like him because he’s twisted and terrifying. I like what a manipulative monster he is. I went into the drama expecting it and I was not disappointed at all. He’s every bit the sociopathic puppet master the poster promised me. I watch this show because it’s a crazy-sauce makjang mess. I enjoy the characters because of how insurmountably dysfunctional they are.

Additionally, this isn’t supposed to be a post to justify Boo’s actions, or claims that he’s done nothing wrong. Clearly that’s not the case. I’m just trying to understand the audience’s reaction to him. Why I find myself rooting for him so much, and other people have no time for him at all.

The first thing Boo Cheon does at the beginning of episode 17 is threaten the mother of his child making it clear in no uncertain terms that if she goes through with the press conference and torpedo’s his chances to be chairman she’s as good as dead. That’s monstrous. I make no bones about that. I would just argue that Boo is merely the monster that Pil Joo has made of him.

If we’re going to completely jettison the possibility of Boo’s redemption arc based on that scene, Pil Joo shouldn’t be getting a pass. In the moral landscape of the show, Pil Joo has done everything Boo has done, but three shades darker.

Pil Joo has personally laid hands on Seo Won not once…

But two separate times….

He has also directly threatened her life on multiple occasions. He’s the Jang family fixer. We know how dirty his hands can get. The show has shown us. And we can argue all day long that Pil Joo never would have actually harmed her. That he was trying to put the fear of god into her because he was also a victim of Jang family violence toward mistresses and their unacknowledged children…but does that justify it? Boo has also on multiple occasions attempted to remove her from the situation, and taken steps to protect her from his family by bringing their son to Mooshimwon. Seo Won is either too foolhardy or too determined to take the hint. She revealed herself to Mo Hyun with malicious intent and became indirectly responsible for the loss of his unborn child.

He goes to the hotel room to meet Seo Won because Pil Joo sent him there. He threatens her with a knife–Pil Joo’s knife interestingly enough–making good on his promise not to let anyone stand between him and the chairman position. Why does he even want the chairman position? Because that’s what Pil Joo groomed him to want:

Sure, Boo has said that he wanted to become chairman for his own reasons now. He is motivated to succeed so that Mo Hyun will praise him and feel proud of him. He’s motivated to do it because he’s developed a real affection for his wife. He loves her enough to feel jealous over the prospect of losing her, to go head to head with his mother over her, and even to put his own life at risk for her. Why is he even married to Mo Hyun? Because of Pil Joo’s manipulations.

Everyone is in the position they’re in because of Pil Joo’s manipulations. Look at what he’s done to Mo Hyun! He lied repeatedly, fed Boo lines, write apology letters for him, engineered situations to further the seduction plot for his own personal benefit. He has continually withheld crucial information from her in order to control her actions. Because it all forwards his revenge plot.

Furthermore, he resents Mo Hyun for falling in love with Boo according to his own plot.

This is a pattern we have seen repeatedly. Since as early as episode 4:

Pil Joo blames other people for falling into his traps. He doesn’t take responsibility himself. He is “unable to stop himself” so they have to be the ones to resist him. He merely writes the scripts, he sets up the pieces, but if you fall for his tricks then it’s your own fault. That’s the attitude we’ve seen again and again.

And sure, he’s in denial. He obviously still has feelings for Mo Hyun. But those feelings have always been subordinate to his need for revenge, and continue to be sacrificed in the name of his goals. Along with the people around him, their lives and their happiness. Whether they deserve it or not. Everyone is expendable in the name of revenge.

He sets Mo Hyun up to hear the ugly truth about their deception and her arranged marriage as though he’s about to tell her everything, but then he only tells her enough to break her and drive her away from Mooshimwon. He didn’t even tell her why he, the real Jang Eun Cheon, is hiding his identity and staying in that family. He didn’t tell her why he was doing what he was doing. He didn’t explain why he became the Jang family dog. He only told her enough to devastate her and driver her away. Let me repeat that: he didn’t even tell her the whole truth. His whole “confession” was just another one of his manipulations!

This has nothing to do with making a clean breast of it with Mo Hyun, and everything to do with the revenge plot. Pil Joo isn’t a martyr. He’s a monster.

Immediately after the confession, where is he? Planning his take over of Cheong A. He doesn’t even take a breath to recover. He immediately asks Yong Goo to go over the final leg of the plan with him:

After intentionally breaking Mo Hyun’s spirit and wrecking his supposed “friend’s” sham marriage of his own design, Pil Joo is right back on his slash and burn war path toward the utter destruction of Cheong A. We may want to attribute all these suppressed emotions and noble feelings to Pil Joo to try to mollify his guilt in some way. His mysterious friend/helper Yong Goo sure seems to want to. But you know what kind of person consistently suppresses their better feelings in the name of goal oriented, ends-justify-the-means pragmatism?

A cold blooded, sociopath. Which is what Pil Joo is.

By contrast, where do we find Boo after he threatens to kill the mother of his child in the name of his goals? Sobbing like a child in his car:

Where is he after his wife’s very understandable mental breakdown upon find out that the last five years of her life have been one long series of lies and manipulations orchestrated by and large by the man she loves? Watching over her as she sleeps.

Of the two of them, Boo is the one most visibly shaken and horrified by his actions. And it’s honestly a wonder that Boo isn’t more messed up than he is, morally speaking. Considering that he’s been physically and emotionally abused by his terrifying mother and manipulative friend for the past 20 years.

Oh yeah, remember how Pil Joo frequently uses violence with him when Boo doesn’t do what he’s supposed to do?

Boo still has a soul and is capable of feeling things like remorse and betrayal. Like the desire to protect his son.

While I feel terrible for Mo Hyun, because her life has been utterly and undeservedly wrecked by these people, I think she’s capable of recovery. After all, she already suspected what kind of people lived a Mooshimwon. She has had multiple indications of what kind of situation she is willingly placing herself in. Boo is coping with the shock that everything he believed about his life for almost 20 years is a lie. His sense of identity has been shaken–everything he’s wanted, everything he’s ever attained is part of this lie. He was forced into an arranged marriage that he didn’t even want at the time and now that he truly loves his wife, she’s calling out Pil Joo’s name in her sleep! He just found out that his only friend has never been sincere with him. Rather, he approached him maliciously with the intention of ruining his family and taking his place. Not only that, he’s found out that he’s not even the biological son of the father that he idolizes. Pil Joo is the true heir, here to take everything away he’s ever taught Boo to want.

Anybody would crack up in these circumstances. And he can’t even talk to anyone about it. He can’t tell his mother or confide in wife or the person who was supposed to be his best friend. He ends up going to his unacknowledged father (I think he knows, or at least strongly suspects who Driver Oh is) to vent some of his grief.

He talks about the truth of Pil Joo’s deception being enough to kill Mal Ran if she was to ever find out. But I think the same scene can be taken a different way. He doesn’t want his mom to find out the truth, because he doesn’t want her to feel the way he feels right now. Like he might die from it. Because Boo really loved Pil Joo, damn it! If we can say nothing else about Boo Cheon, we have to at least give him that.

Even if they intend to make Boo the antagonist from this point until the end of the drama, I just can’t bring myself to hate him. He’s too pitiful. Sure, he’s weak and selfish and entitled. But he is what he was conditioned to be from a very young age. His mother has treated him like an incompetent disappointment and Pil Joo has turned him into a puppet. If things had played out different, who knows where he would be right now? If not for Pil Joo’s interference, who knows what kind of person he could have become?

One big thing that the shooting range scene demonstrates (besides the fact that Boo has officially been driven around the bend) is that when he isn’t comparing himself to or being hopelessly dependent on Pil Joo, he can actually perform very well.

As much as I despise his cousin, I think Yeo Cheon was right about something:

Anyway…that’s why I can’t help but root for and feel sorry for Boo. I hope that he’s not past the point of no return. And I’m still waiting for Pil Joo to recognize the fact that a) Boo is a victim of this corrupt family as much as he is himself and b) he doesn’t have the right to manipulate and destroy other people’s lives like some kind of vengeful god. Even when the deserve it.

If it’s not evident from what I’ve written above: I really, really like this show. It’s mad entertaining, and the character arcs are as complex as they are tragic. I am still hoping for Pil Joo’s redemption, I think the man is utterly fascinating. I don’t see this train wreck having a happy ending. But I’m still waiting for Pil Joo and Boo to actually have it out about Pil Joo’s lies before someone gets shot or stabbed. I want to believe, even at this point, that Pil Joo really did come to care for Boo. Even if he started out hating him, I can’t believe all he feels for Boo is hate, anymore than I believe he really put a stop to his feelings for Mo Hyun. Forgiveness might not be possible at this point, but at the very least I’m hoping for closure. A lot can happen in 6 hours, so lets keep our fingers crossed.

Anyway, those are my TL;DR feelings about Money Flower. Raw and  unabridged. Thanks for your patience while I worked on your ask, and thanks for sticking with me if you read this far. Goodnight, my lovely followers. You’re all so beautiful.

Jona