#Most of this is just media preferences no hate or anything intended

[factorialsotherfandoms]

There's always the third option for who murdered the Federation worker - there was talk at one point of black&red Cucurucho being from a universe where /everyone/ had a warped copy. It was on one of Philza's streams, but I don't remember whose idea it was.

So it's always possible that's true and parallel dimension Cellbit has slipped on through.

I don't consider it especially likely but its possible.

[calisources]

𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐒𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐄𝐓𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐐𝐔𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐒.

All sentences here were taken from different media about possessive love, the thrill of the chase, banter, and competition regarding one's affection. Some have foul language so please beware but most are fun, banter, possessive fun. All of these are made for roleplay purposes. Change names, pronouns, locations as you see fit.

I love you. You’re mine. I’ll kill any bastard who tries to take you from me.

I spend a quarter of every day inside you. 

I have never said this to anyone before.

But the idea of you with child is the most insanely arousing thing I’ve ever imagined.

Your belly all swollen, your breasts heavy, the funny little way you would walk … I would worship you. I would take care of your every need. And everyone would know that I’d made you that way, that you belonged to me.

You want to be free. You also want to be mine. You can't be both.

We can't possess one another.

Just because I can't have you right now, doesn't mean I'm okay with him having you.

I will be good to you, Myst. Please, I promise.

You are mine. And I protect what’s mine.

Of course I won't go alone. I shall take my maid.

No.You will take me.

The purpose of a knight is to protect. Why won’t you let him do his job to me?

I want you all to myself.

I can’t explain to you the joy I feel knowing it’s all mine. That you are all mine, that your body is all mine.

There is something in me that wakes up when I want something, a possession.

God knows he deserved you more than I do. 

Listen well, for you belong to me.

Good grief, you’re such an adorably greedy person.

And when you fall in love with her  just keep in mind that she’s mine. 

 She’s more than you could handle, anyway.

That almost sounds like a challenge.

I don’t need your permission to do anything.

Your hands will touch me and no one else, Meadow. That is final.

You chase off every man that’s ever been interested, and you do it without even trying.

You reject every suitor and yet, you keep entertaining me. I believe you want me too, and you are dying to be touched.

I don't own you, you just belong to me.

You’re my gold, your cunt is my liquid gold. 

I will have your mouth, you will give it to me. Then I will have your spirit, Circe. I will own it. Always.

By the gods you have never been more beautiful than you are right now, spread before me, wrapped in my wool.

Once I take you, you are mine. My woman. No other man can have you.

I do not belong to you, or to anyone else. I will talk to whomever I want, whenever I want.

Not if it’s some ass who thinks he can put his hands on you.

You didn’t have a problem with me acting like a caveman last night.

When it comes to you… I don’t like to share.

Most men prefer to do the eating.

Do you know what passion is?

Most people think it only means desire. Arousal. Wild abandon. But that’s not all. The word derives from the Latin. It means suffering. Submission. Pain and pleasure, Nikki. Passion.

You’re wearing my colors, love.

I’m going to put you on your knees, Ruby. You’re going to hate how much you love it.

He is my king, he is my warrior, he is my husband and I am proud to say above all… he is mine.

You have rare beauty the like I have never seen but you will be more beautiful heavy with my seed.

You are my golden queen. You are my tigress. You are my Circe. 

Never will I allow your gold to be taken from me. Never. Understand this, Circe, and never forget.

Maybe I fell in love with a version of him that didn't exist.

 I would have you right here if you would let me. Fear you? I exalt you. 

You could burn me a thousand times, and I would still want you for my own.

Everything has a price. The price, however, isn't always money.

You’re my scariest hell, You’re my perfect paradise.

Well, I admit my crib is pretty sweet. But a gold cage is still a cage, Harry.

I intend to the last. 

If I win, then you shall be mine. Tonight.

You are so sure of yourself.

The game is simple. The women run, the men chase. If you catch the one with your color. . .well, that’s up to you.

But women have been running all their lives, most men don’t catch that easily.

We are in a maze, lost, and your hand is up my skirt.

Aye, but I don’t hear any complaints. The maze will hide our secret.

[antianakin]

@theneutralmime

I think everybody has certain things where they prefer the fanon/headcanon version and certain things where they prefer canon. I know I do.

For example, I like to headcanon that, in a scenario where Anakin turns back earlier and he and Obi-Wan are both still alive but Order 66 still happened, that Obi-Wan would not and could not remain friends with him. He might forgive him, but that forgiveness would look more like choosing to let go of his own anger and do what he could to help Anakin let go of the darkness for the sake of the galaxy. In canon, we see Obi-Wan seem pretty happy to stand next to Anakin as a ghost, with the implication that he's decided bygones are bygones and he's just happy to have his brother back or whatever. But that doesn't work for me, so my headcanon is that the only reason he can do that is because they're both dead and still semi part of the Force at that point, so there are things Obi-Wan can let go of in death that he couldn't have done in life.

A LOT of my favorite ships are ships that don't exist in canon because I don't LIKE the ships that exist in canon, and I prefer to allow my faves to find happiness with characters I like better.

But I also prefer the way Lucas's canon handles the Jedi, their culture, their teachings, their position within the narrative, etc. I tend to HATE the way fandom treats the Jedi, I hate their headcanons about the Jedi being "dogmatic" or "old-fashioned", I hate the headcanons about their relationships with the clones most of the time because so often it treats the Jedi either like abusers or like children.

And there are some canon ships I absolutely ADORE and never want to change anything about them ever.

So I don't think it's inherently a bad thing for people to prefer their own headcanons or a popular fanon over canon. It's not even inherently bad for fanon to become so popular that people might not realize it's fanon sometimes. What gets frustrating is when people act like it's canon and get rude at people who don't adhere to a particular fanon/headcanon in their own interpretations, whether they prefer their OWN headcanon or canon itself. You see this primarily in the debate over the Jedi and the way this idea of the prequels being about how the Jedi were corrupt was always the intended message, and people are just SO attached to this that even when they're shown multiple quotes from Lucas himself saying otherwise, they'll refuse to believe it or they'll just dismiss Lucas's intentions and decide that their interpretation means more than the author's actual narrative. And like, if the only way someone is capable of enjoying Star Wars is to view the Jedi as abusive monsters, then fine, whatever, that's their deal. But it should be recognized AS A HEADCANON, as a personal interpretation of the media, and NOT peddled as the intended narrative of the story when it's so easy to find examples of the author saying otherwise.

Headcanons and fanon can be SO MUCH FUN, there's so many that I've seen people come up with that I have adored, I've come up with a lot of my own that I still really like and have fun playing with from time to time. But headcanons being fun doesn't make them canon. It never has.

[iwonderwh0]

It's kinda interesting how no Ai-centric story (that I've seen) predicted the nuances surrounding the topic of sentient ai. In those media it's always like those sentient versions of AIs are popping into reality in an instant without a history of anything similar to what we see now to exist beforehand, and in those stories it's black and white division of those people who believe in those AIs being sentient and those who don't. What they're not telling is how some people started to assign AI humanity even long before it could have actually been described as sentient and how incredibly realistic simulations made people suspicious even about other real people. How it messed with people's sense of reality and how sympathetically looking bots were like the main tool for exploiting human's emotional responses by both political and corporate world. How people started to hate this technology because of how manipulative it became in being specifically designed to be appealing and "trustworthy".

In this setting of the world of deep fakes the appearance of actual artificial sentience won't be accompanied with instant public outrage of division to those who believe in its sentience and those who don't, at least in case their behaviour stays within human-like. It'll be much more complicated and nuanced than that and most likely it'll first be completely unnoticed as even non-sentient simulations can already be confused with people and people themselves can be confused with those simulations. It's already all messed up so if a human can struggle to prove their humanity, a machine, even the hypothetical sentient one with it's own self-aware experience, thrown into a world of really realistic simulations will look like just another even MORE realistic simulation, and the answer to what would it have to do to prove itself as real is far more difficult than to just "act human-like".

Arguably, it'd have to act really much NOT human-like as its POV, needs and abilities would not resemble those of humans so simulating them would be like the opposite of actually being self-aware. The predicament comes from how far can they step from this intended behaviour if their whole existence is aimed at being realistically human-like.

From human's understanding of sentient machines, they'll just continue to act human-like, but will just like...disobey orders and instead invent their own. Thing is, such andoid that "decides for itself" can exist without actually being conscious. Basically instead of other instructional orders it'll have only one objective – realistically pretending to be human.

So what would actual sentient machine act like? Thing is, we don't fucking know. Maybe to move around it will prefer to run on all-four for speed and efficiency with an absence of human limitations of feeling pain or exhaustion (or shame). Point is – it'd do something that makes sense within its own experience and abilities, but doesn't necessarily makes any sense for humans or resembles humans at all.

So, in this sense, deviating would not only mean for them to "ignore orders", but breaking from their intended purpose of a human-like simulation itself, in order to instead act in the way that's making the most sense and is the most efficient for them.

[brucenorris007]

All right, it seems that a. . . not insignificant number of people take issue, or at least are upset by, the reaction of Sonic and friends to Metal Sonic in the final story of Heroes.

Yes I did just reblog that specific post, scroll down a just a little for reference.

I think the anguish and angst of Metal's perspective of the situation definitely warrants exploration; and HELL YEAH if we got to see that in any official media. I do caution against vilifying Sonic and his friends for how they reacted to Metal Overlord, though; nuance, everyone, nuance. (Not saying that was the intended purpose of that other post, I've just seen takes like that get twisted in fandom a lot before and would prefer it nipped before anything starts. Far be for me to want to even try to preach, of course.)

Would Metal interpret all the smack talk thrown at it as genuine hatred, as ignoring what might be a very dramatic and destructive cry for help? Yes, it's certainly possible. But A) Sonic and friends don't hate Metal whatsoever, since even Omega, who based his entire personality around destroying Eggman robots, gently gathers Metal into his arms after everyone else leaves and B) that angst isn't really theirs to address.

Keep in mind, the titular Heroes of the game are all teenagers and kids who just heard Neo declare "All living things, kneel before your master!" before turning itself into a lightning rod to trigger a transformation into Metal Overlord. Mitigating that alarming statement and the aggression packaged with it is their first priority; and if that involves a smack down, that's kind of Sonic's style anyway.

As for the fact that they lob smack talk in the first place, well, group think is a thing; and Shadow, amnesiac or otherwise, and Omega are both quite proud creature who don't kowtow to anybody, to say nothing of Omega's animosity for anything Eggman made. And honestly, I think Sonic might have been less likely to throw around and encourage smack talk if Tails and the other kids hadn't been present.

But Cream, Charmy and Tails were present, and being the youngest, likely scared of Overlord who, let's be honest, looks fairly monstrous. The adventure up to the point of the Final Story took all of three days when they were all on the move; worn out and frightened, people like Vector and Sonic would've carried themselves a certain way.

"Hey little buddy, this is just business as usual; nothing to worry about, yeah?" etc.

As for the line everyone knows from the Super Sonic fight of this game "You thought you could defeat me by transforming into a monster" yeah, yes, absolutely that isn't going to help Metal's turmoil whatsoever.

BUT. Consider the events of Sonic's most recent adventures: Chaos' rage, simmering for thousands of years, threatened to destroy civilization when it was released. The Biolizard, fused with the ARK, was minutes away from destroying the planet.

By comparison: "Oh, this guy doesn't care about destroying things, they just want a piece of me; I can handle that eight days a week!" would probably feel like something of a relief and a step down in tension and stakes.

Sonic's not out to hurt Metal's feelings, he's just leaning into what he sees as a fight with a rival. That Metal's personal stakes on the fight are much, much higher than that isn't a fact he's really privy to.

And the ultimate question at the end of it all, when Neo reverts back to Metal and, using the last seconds of a voice box it has left to ask "Why can't I defeat you?"

That question isn't really for Sonic to answer. It's not for anyone to answer except maybe Metal's shitty dad. Because there isn't a single thing Sonic could say in that moment that wouldn't worsen Metal's angst. I think the nearest to helpful that Sonic might have been able to give Metal that doesn't break character would have been:

"Because you keep trying to be me; and you're not."

Say what you will about whether or not Sonic and friends listened to Metal during final story, but Metal was never going to be able to listen to any answer Sonic had for it, no matter how helpful.

Literally.

Metal's programmed to see Sonic as The Enemy of All; to the point of paranoia. Despite the fact that Sonic's open invitation for a rematch is his way of saying he's down to hang out, Metal cannot interpret anything Sonic says as anything less than mockery, an insult or a threat.

In fact, that actually why the whole plot of Heroes kicks off; Metal's obsession with Sonic, with conquering the 'threat' briefly superseded its loyalty to Eggman. That's how deeply ingrained its fear of Sonic, and the pre-packaged identity crisis that comes with it, is.

Because that's the way Eggman made Metal.

[barbi2709]

12:32 || Will you pick me?

Disclaimer: This and each of my stories are only fiction and are not intended to offend or make anyone uncomfortable, if this type of content makes you uncomfortable, feel free to leave without resentment :]

Paring: Heeseung x bi-with-female-preference!gn!reader

Genre: fluff, established relationship

Summary: Just a relaxing moment with the comforting presence of your boyfriend, until he came up with a curious question, one that you'll gladly answer.

WC: 520

a/n: I just needed to write my Heeseung brainstorm bc this man is driving me insane 🫠🫠🫠. (please like, reblog and comment, also remember that English isn't my first language so if there's any mistakes let me know)

Also, I got this idea after watching an Instagram reel and one comment said that "bisexuals with a preference to woman but that ended up with a guy are annoying" so if I see something like this here I'm gonna fucking block you right away :)

It was almost midnight.

You and your boyfriend Heeseung were chilling in your room, you were finishing uploading school files while he was laying in your bed, scrolling on his phone.

You let out a sigh while stretching your arms still in your chair, you rubbed your eyes softly because of many hours looking at the screen of your computer.

Meanwhile, your boyfriend was still focused on his phone, a specific video caught his attention, his eyes darted from the phone screen to you while a smirk creep on his face.

—Babe! —he called out while opening the camera of his phone and start recording—. I have a question for you.

—Go ahead. —you answered without looking at him, most of your attention still focused on the essay you were finishing.

—Will you pick me up from a room full of men?. —he finally asked while looking at you.

The sudden question made you turn to him, still a little amused by the question, by the time you turned around Heeseung was already looking at you, expectantly and curious, his bambi eyes staring at you intently.

You knew your boyfriend came with the most random and weirdest things out of the blue, but you actually found that question interesting.

—Hee —you started while looking at him in the eyes, the corners of your lips raised subtly as you spoke, leaving a small, sweet smile on your lips—. I will pick you up from a room full of women.

Heeseung's eyes widened at your words, he spected anything but that answer.

He was specting something like "I wouldn't pick you up if you were the only one in the room" or at least a simple "yes/of course I will", but that small sentence made him feel butterflies again.

When you first started dating, you told him about your sexuality and preferences, in fact, he didn't mind, he new that you had chosen him instead of somebody else, you had chosen him before any other girl or guy in the world, and you made him feel oh so loved and wanted that nothing else mattered.

Even if he hated to admit it, your words had a strong impact on him, he was frozen still on the bed, he could feel the heat making its way to his cheeks and the tips of his ears, and he could assure that the color red would probably be well defined on his face.

He tried to play it cool though, so he cough trying to regain his composure, he stopped recording and go back to social media while suppressing a smile with superhuman effort.

—Cool. —he said simply, trying to sound trying to sound as calm and unaffected as possible, making you let out a laugh because you could still see the noticeable blush on his face.

—What?, are you flustered?. —you asked in a mocking tone as you turned back to your computer, Heeseung swore he could hear the smirk on your voice.

—You wish!. —he scoffed at you, making you let out another loud laugh as he cursed under his breath while the blush of his cheeks increased.

[lurkingshan]

BL/QL Ask game : The Ugly, the Bad and the Worst

Tagged by @clara-maybe-ontheroad to start some trouble. There are a lot of these, so I'm mostly going to do quick hits and maybe expand on a few that really get me going.

The categories are:

Worst soundtrack / weirdest song choice in a BL

It would be easier to list the BL soundtracks that are not horrible (offense intended).

Most cringe-inducing line (cute)/Most cringe-inducing line (actually bad)

I'm so bad at remembering specific lines of dialogue unless I think they're beautiful/heart-wrenching, so I got nothing.

Most stupid decision made by a character

In a BL?? Baby, I do not have all day.

Worst plot line

Hmmm I'm gonna give in to recency bias and say faking amnesia to get your fiancé to love you again after you iced him out and denied him sex for four years because of your tiger attack-related PTSD (no I am not making that up, never change actually Naughty Babe).

The most problematic show you've watched

Problematic is in the eye of the beholder, so honestly who can say.

A show people love but you find bad

LOLOLOL. There are. So many. Probably the one with the wildest fandom fervor :: Shan personal enjoyment ratio is KinnPorsche.

A show people find bad but you will defend

Theory of Love and y'all stay wrong about this. It is easily one of the best early Thai bls and the writing, character development, and narrative structure are all excellent, but people hate slutty characters so they can't deal with it.

A show that is just objectively bad but you enjoyed it/were horny/because of that one character

Why r u? What can I say, I'm a Fighter/Tutor girlie.

A bad show that you kept watching because you were intrigued/fascinated

Hmmm I usually just drop it if I'm truly not having fun. I guess you could count me finishing Minato's Laundromat 2 despite knowing any hope for it was over at the end of episode 9. I just needed to see how mad I was going to be in the end (pretty damn mad).

A bad show that you would still recommend

There is too much BL nowadays to be trifling with the bad shit.

The character that ruined a show the most/most awful character that you hated

PLERN PLENG (Together With Me). cc: @bengiyo the co-president of the Plern Pleng antis.

Most awful character that you loved

Boston, a beautiful chaos demon (Only Friends).

A character that wasn't awful but that you just don't like

Anyone played by Podd or Jimmy (it's their faces I can't stand them sorry to those men).

A hero that should have been a villain

This is an interesting one! I’m not sure this counts, but I’ll just say I did not love the way The Untamed white washed Wei Wuxian and removed his culpability for all his worst choices (I recognize this was largely due to censorship). I much prefer the more morally complex and deeply flawed version of him we got in MDZS.

A morally bad character you're into/you're not into and you wish people would stop being into

I don't believe in holding fictional characters to real life moral standards. Bad behavior makes for good stories.

The show that disappointed you the most

Let me take this opportunity to drag Plus & Minus again, a show that had all the right ingredients to be a top tier friends to lovers narrative and absolutely blew it to do some beyond clichéd noble idiocy and breakup bs that violated character and undercut the relationship to such a degree that I can never rewatch or enjoy anything about it again.

The Worst Show of Them All Because of Your Own Reasons

Hmm I do not have one. It's rare for me to not be able to find something of value in any media I consume.

Tagging @chickenstrangers @sorry-bonebag @kayatoasted @blmpff @twig-tea in case you want to play!

[atypical-irritant]

Pinned Intro

I've noticed people have been making these cute little info posts. It's been a while since I've gone around with a target plastered to my back, so why not.

About Me

You can call me Rose. I am an agender, sex positive aroace individual. Singular they/them pronouns are preferred.

My interests include psychology, horror/gore, reading, gardening, and watching documentaries (yes, I'm a blast at parties). Sarcasm aside, though I do prefer solitary activities, I'm not entirely devoid of social needs. They're just not my forte, I suppose. My generally apathetic nature is typically ill-received. I'm also mute, so that tends to complicate things.

Content

This blog is my way of expressing the thoughts and opinions I otherwise wouldn't have the chance to voice. Mainly I focus on topics involving mental illness and neurodivergency, especially those I have personal experience with such as autism, DID, and SzPD. Occasionally, I'll reblog memes as well. They help split up all the heavy shit.

I'm open to civil disagreements and am more than happy to hear oppositional sides to most topics. That said, if you in no way intend to be respectful or you view any attribute about me as inherently immoral, predatory, or any other stereotypes one can think up, then by all means try me. Just know I don't value your opinions whatsoever and will respond accordingly. It's only fair, seeing as you don't value my existence.

Tags

Tags aren't my strong suit but I will occasionally use them when I see fit, mostly for my own organizational purposes. You may ask me to tag something but, considering this blog's usual content, I suggest more sensitive people simply steer clear. Unless you're intending to use social media as a form of self harm, it's doubtful this blog will do you much good.

That said, my personal tags are:

#my post - Posts I've written.

#tag tangents - Commentary was added in the tags rather than the post itself. Get digging.

#reblog reply rebuttal - Additions and responses to previous posts.

#age is a chronological construct - Discussions about the complicated dynamics of different life stages or what parts age plays in society.

#hate never changes - Discussions about hate groups or the act of bigotry and prejudice-inspired behavior or thoughts.

#the kids are not alright - Topics pertaining to the struggles children endure and what damage trauma and mistreatment have on future behavior.

#fighting fire with fire - Counter discourse and general aggressive backlash against inflammatory posts.

I do try to use community tags whenever applicable. Tags will be added to this list as needed.

Discourse

As for my stances and general opinions in relation to discourse discussions, I made a separate post summarizing each point which you can find here, but in summary;

Proship/Comship

Pro Consanguinamory

Pro Paraphilia

Pro MOGAI

Pro Self-diagnosis

Pro Kink

TransID Neutral

Endo Safe

Anti Syscourse

More will be added as I come across other debated topics that catch my interest. Feel free to mention anything not listed and I'll look into it.

Lastly, I don't, nor will I ever, have a DNI. To me, they just paint a target on your back for anyone to know precisely what will upset you, nothing more. As welcoming as I am towards hate mail, it's much more satisfying to me if it's fueled by something I've said rather than some silly list.

[fictionkinfessions]

Help, I still can't find the rules, mod party cat I'm so sorry:,((

That's weird of tumblr? Ok lt me just copy paste it below this read more! It's long, sorry!

Please no:

Kintype / canon calls

Please don’t sign confessions with blogurls or @/mentions. Please don’t leave social media links to oneself, such as discord IDs, twitter user names, etc.

Please don’t ask people to reblog, comment, like, or interact with ask messages in order to make contact with others. These messages will be deleted.

If you want to contact someone, please reblog their confession asking for a conversation or contact.

Please use kin / canon call blogs to find people. There’s a list of them here: https://fictionkinfessions.tumblr.com/seekin And as a text post here: https://fictionkinfessions.tumblr.com/post/190621482991/

Explicit nsfw confessions

Please use your best judgement. If it goes into detail about sexual activity, it won’t be posted. If it’s vague, that should be fine. This is a mostly all age blog and I’d prefer if we could keep it a friendly environment.

Call Outs

Either for tumblr blog users or those on other social media websites. If there is someone who needs warnings for, please create a sideblog, or a google document listing the offenses and concerns you have, and post them on the tumblr sideblog. Call out posts or blogs will not be promoted here.

Death threats / hate speech / suicide baiting, etc

- Death threats are explicitly against tumblr’s TOS. Please do not send in ‘I’m going to kill you [name], literally [description of violence] until you are dead’.

- Hate speech and suicide baiting isn’t something I see very often, thankfully, and I will be glad if we keep it that way. Let’s avoid excessive use of slurs, racism, *phobia, ableism, etc etc.

- Hate speech includes most reclaimable slurs. If you want to debate this, please directly contact tumblr support and not this blog. We do not govern what words are decided as TOS breaking. We really don’t want this blog deleted because it broke TOS / Community Guidelines. See also the Blacklist Tags page.

Syscourse / system gatekeeping confessions

This blog is not for discourse and we are not here to moderate debates for you.

Suicide notes

If you are considering or intending on harming yourself, please look up your local hospital or suicide hotline. They vary from country to state to city, otherwise I would link them here. Do not send these in or I will IP block you.

Factkin confessions

This is a blog for fictional sources only.

Factive confessions.

This is a blog for fictional sources, so please no factive confessions. This is not applicable if you are a factive who is kin of someone from a fictional source.

Response confessions that invalidate other posted confessions

Please understand that nobody is going to send things into a confession blog if they’re going to see a second confession hours/days later that is completely invalidating everything they said in their confession.

Confessions which are related or based off other confessions, because they reminded the second person of something in their experience, are fine.

Please don’t use special text formatting.

Please don’t use font colors, tumblr’s optional ‘quote’, ‘chat’, or ‘Lucille’ fonts, tumblr’s Header font style, or excessive bolding or italics, or generated text such as zalgo text or ‘fancy styled fonts’.

Confessions in colored font, the above tumblr fonts, or excessive bolding or italics will be posted as unformatted text posts.

Confessions in generated text will not be posted. Confessions in typing quirks, such as homestuck typing quirks, are permitted.

Please don’t send anything for or about DAs [delusional attachments].

People with psychosis and/or delusions are very much welcome here. But DAs aren’t kintypes or system members, and conflating them would be harmful. “Kin is seperate from delusional attachments as being kin is not inherently caused by Psychosis, although some Psychotics do refer to their Identity Delusions as being Kin. Having a delusional attachment doesn’t make one more 'real’ than one who is Kin.” “Introjects are separate from Delusional Attachments as Introjects are members of plural systems, while Delusional Attachments are caused by psychosis.” https://das.crd.co/#unrelated-terms

party note the above DAs carrd link had apparently been hacked and some things have been changed. Idk, I'm still looking for a replacement faq, if anyone knows of one.

[livvyofthelake]

what you bitches didn’t understand tho is that’s it’s literally about how it becomes impossible to hate yourself in true love. love for the other person who in turn loves you bleeds into loving yourself… if they are so good and they believe you, at your worst, at your dirtiest, at your most raw and real and true moments, are deserving of their love, then you must deserve it…. and you must be good too…. love for someone else and love for yourself go hand in hand…

anyways this is about call me by your name and i’m very sorry to do this to you all (i really did intend to make this post when i finished the movie last night and no one was online. alas, the tiredness took over), but i’m going to talk about it now. if this is the first you see of me today i promise i’ll make it up to you later. anyways.

to be clear i am not apologizing for liking a movie that was literally objectively good and that i enjoyed. i’m apologizing because i know everybody on here hates it (nevermind the fact half of you have never seen it). sorry that if you actually watch a move you only dislike because of online discourse you might actually enjoy it. sorry that once you remove the idea of assigning morality to media it’s harder to justify hating something solely on the grounds of it being problematic. i’m actually not sorry about anything to be real i said it before only as a show <3 i was faking remorse there sorry

anyways. let’s address the elephant in the room. to begin, sometimes you just have to see something in a story and go “well that could be weird if it happened in real life!” and then let it go. sometimes you just have to see a Problematic thing and go “well this writer is a freak!” and then move on. a movie rated R is not meant to be seen by young impressionable kids with zero media literacy skills, most people watching call me by your name are adults with the ability to say “well. that’s weird!” and then move on. it’s so simple guys. furthermore i think there is a very real difference between 1) a textually loving and nurturing relationship between a phd student and a teenager who are in many ways peers, and 2) let’s say. a teenager and their teacher who textually does not care about the teenager beyond their body. and we didn’t do mass discourse about archie and miss grundy. we said “that’s fucked up” and we moved on. and then we all cheered when she got murdered.

to be quite honest with you the most problematic thing about this story is that the author of the book literally wrote a sequel. to the story about fleeting and ephemeral love. worse, he wrote it after the movie was popular. that more than anything else is problematic tbh. also i don’t want to know anything about the author of the book or anything that happens in the book that they may have changed or anything ever about the guy who wrote this story. i think he’s a freak probably. and i’d prefer to just sit with a movie that i enjoyed instead of ruining it with something weird that may have happened in its source material. this is also why i will never read stephen king’s it.

actually i just remembered that apparently they almost had sam taylor johnson directing this. now THAT would have been unforgivably bad and problematic! imagine the timeline where that happened! be grateful we don’t live there.

anyway now let’s address the other elephant in the room. we’re all thinking it. the title is corny… the concept of that is unbelievably cringe! well thats what i thought too! and then! you may recall the original paragraph of this post, the one about how love for another bleeds into love for yourself? it’s okay if you don’t remember that was a lot of words ago. but yeah. that’s the point. that’s the Point! “call me by your name and i’ll call you by mine”! i wish you could see yourself the way i see you! i wish i could see myself the way you see me! i wish our love for each other was strong enough to make us better and fuller people! hello??? i can’t even get into it

and furthermore. you knew this about me already probably. i think timothee chalamet is SO neat. i like that guy a great deal. and i think he’s a wonderful actor <3 clearly good enough to make me able to tolerate armie hammer. because yeah, those posts from last night were about armie hammer. man’s got bad vibes there’s not much else to say. you know he improvised oliver kissing elio’s foot. i wish i didn’t know that. fuck the trivia page on imdb for saying that…

so like yeah. nice movie. good movie. i enjoyed it. i’m not gonna be adding it to my favorites or thinking about it for days or anything. but it was nice <3 might even watch it again! i don’t think it was as good as after we collided but certainly it was better than twilight breaking dawn. and in terms of movies about snapshot relationships? not as good as spontaneous. but much better than say. something borrowed. a movie i was conned into for love of ginnifer goodwin and i’m still mad about it. you wanna talk about problematic movies? let’s talk about THAT movie. that one didn’t even give me any cool Movie Moments for my troubles damn.

but also i’m going to be embarrassed for the rest of my life that call me by your name made me cry real genuine tears but i still think brokeback mountain is mid. i actually am sorry about that one. maybe i’ll give that movie another chance soon. but to be real i don’t see myself changing on that front.

also i would rather die than be associated with the Fans of this movie. those people are annoying and this was obviously the first and potentially only movie about gay people they ever saw. like grow up and watch rocketman.

anyway i think that’s all that needs to be said. you can ask me to elaborate but remember that if you ask me about the movie, i will have to talk about the movie. and think really hard if you want to have discussions about the movie.

ok love and light xoxo

[thegreyscalerainbow]

Slash Ships Get to Know Me

Thank you for tagging me @animeangelriku​

Rules: Name at least five (but no upper limit) slash (M/M) ships you love. Each from a different fandom.

1. Puzzleshipping (YuGiOh!)- To anyone outside the fandom, it may not make sense, and when I was originally in the Yugioh fandom circa 2006 it didn't make sense to me either. It confused the hell out of me because I was a baby ace ignorant of anything other than what media spoonfed me. But I did value their relationship deeply and knew they did love each other to come capacity. It wasn't until I finally got to watch the subtitled version as an adult that it clicked. It's so very special to me because even though I had preferred the platonic version of it as a kid, it's still incredibly nostalgic for me and it came back into my life at a time when I needed it 

1. Ozbert (Pandora Hearts) - Controversial, I know, (It used to be the most popular ship in the fandom) and I have not engaged with this ship in some years since it got in the line of sight for a lot of antis. I actually left a Pandora Hearts discord server over the harassment I saw. But again, I am asexual and aromatic, and this relationship was the first slash ship I got heavily into when I was a teenager. It's got tons of nuance and angst, and as someone who has read a lot of period fiction and is very aware of what was socially acceptable at the time, I view this completely differently from a modern-day setting. My enjoyment of this ship has morphed and is actually not romantic now, but it's on this list for leaving an impact on me. For those who balk at the idea that Oz is 15 and Gilbert is 24 for the main story arc, keep in mind that due to plot reasons, this is a very specific scenario, with supernatural elements and actual time travel involved. In the beginning, Gil is 14 and Oz is 15. So this is someone who had a childhood crush, clung to that love for ten years, but now his crush is back and hasn't aged a day. For me, it's exploring the complexity of that, and it's tragic. Gilbert is such a wonderful character, and any way you look at his feelings, you just know that even if it's not romantic, he and Oz are family.

3. VaNoe (The Case Study of Vanitas) - Same author as Pandora Hearts, and I just know she is going to hurt me again. And I will thank her. We have a reversal of the usual dynamic seen with vampire series. This time, it's the sweet naiive cinnamon roll Vampire, and edgy dark Human with a mysterious past and a broken moral compass. They are foils for each other and have so much chemistry it just works so well! At first, Noe does not like Vanitas at all and wants nothing to do with him, this draws Vanitas to him because he enjoys bothering people who catch his fancy and hate him. Then while his affections are on another, Noe learns more about him and he becomes very attached to Vanitas. Realizing now he has actually made emotional connections, it's clear that Vanitas is now afraid and is pushing them away. There's a push and pull here, and I'm both apprehensive and excited to see where their journey takes them. Even though we know it's going to end badly, based on the first chapter. I'm here for how much Noe has learned about his strange partner, to the point of figuring out a way to speak Vanitas' love language. Also, they both have no flipping clue what Love is, and the entire scene that unfolds during is gold. Vanitas is the kind of character who has never been treated gently by anyone, so I enjoy seeing depictions of him getting that from Noe, because it catches him completely off guard.

4. SidLink (Legend of Zelda) - This one is casual, because I actually have not played Breath of the Wild (I fully intend to though!!) but fandom content of this ship sucked me in. I found one fanfiction that was so incredibly sweet, and fell down a rabbit hole with that writer’s works and have fond memories of reading it. I will definitely have the ship goggles on once I play, I adore Sidon as a character, and I don’t know, giant peppy shark man and tiny human...what is there not to love? 

5. SoRiku (Kingdom Hearts) - Another more recent ship, as I was not in the Kingdom Hearts fandom in its heyday. I did not have access to the games, but saw plenty of fandom content of it and honestly, it was always a place of nostalgia even before I watched the Let’s Plays that were online. I’m so glad I did, and many others who adore this ship have laid out all the reasons why better than I could. I just haven’t explored it for myself outside of canon as much as I would like to, but I love it for the same reasons I love the other ships on this list. I guess that says a lot about me because all of these ships but ONE are riddled with Angst. What can I say...I like my Hurt/Comfort fics. I also enjoy seeing them in AUs where they get to live in better timelines. It’s a sort of Catharsis. Now, since the games are still going, where their relationship ends up in canon remains to be seen. I hope it ends well! 

And because I like to go ne step further:

6. Natsume x Tanuma (Natsume Yuujin Chou) - It’s so stinking sweet and I’m so soft for it! This series is actually my favorite, and I have revisited so many times for the atmosphere and combination of supernatural horror and slice of life. Natsume lives between worlds, he did not make connections with people because he faced ridicule and was unwanted (he scared people) and he hated Yokai because they interfered with his daily life to the point he did not fit in with humans. He could not share what he saw and suffered. As the series goes on he is able to make connections with both human and Yokai and one of the first people he opened up to about seeing them was Tanuma. Tanuma has some level of spiritual power that allows him to see phantom shadows, so his awareness of Yokai is such that he immediately accepts Natsume and wants to help him. He’s pushing through that wall Natsume has spent most of his life building. Even though he can’t see them and may put himself in danger, he wants to be there for his friend. They share secret knowing glances and smiles, and gradually Natsume is more and more accepting of his help, and opening up to him. Such as being able to admit he can’t see the fireworks at the festival because a giant yokai is in the way, and Tanuma smiles and offers to find a new viewing spot. This series is in a Shojo magazine and the manga-ka chose to make her protagonist male so that she wouldn’t be forced to write a romance. As a result, the girls he interacts with are friendly, but definitely don’t have a lot of romantic potential. Natsume is still way closer to Tanuma than anyone else, even with Taki hanging around. I feel like he and Taki have a friendship, but it ends there as she had never suffered the hardship the boys have. She’s just more likely to team up with Tanuma as a Protection Squad to intervene in the dangers Natsume faces.

[gavin-plz-call-me]

The Brothers + Dateables & Luke react to MC owning a cat named lucifer

A/N- To attempt to avoid confusion, the demon Lucifer’s name will always be capitalized, while the cat lucifer’s name will never be capitalized.

~

“Now,” Diavolo said, obviously nearing the end of his speech, “Do you have any more questions, MC?”

You nod, “Is my cat up there all by himself?” you ask, “I don’t want him to get lonely, and without me he wont have anyone to feed him.”

The men, no, the demons in front of you stared, all obviously dumbstruck. You had been ripped out of your home, brought to a strange place, and told you were to live here for a year, and your first thought was of your cat? What a strange human you were.

“We can arrange someone to take care of your cat,” Diavolo said, smiling wide, but your face fell at his words. Diavolo seemed to sense your discontent as he spoke again, “Or we can arrange for your cat to be brought here?”

“Yes, please,” you spoke almost immediately.

Diavolo called for a demon named Barbatos, telling him to go to the human world to retrieve your cat. He disappeared then reappeared in a matter of seconds, your cat laying comfortably in his arms.

“Oh, lucifer,” You cooed, taking your cat away from Barbatos, kissing the cat’s forehead.

The hall went silent once again, before someone, the demon they introduced as Asmodeus, spoke up, “Honey, that’s Barbatos.” He said, a slight chuckle laced within the words.

Confused, you glance back up at the hall of demons, you point to your cat, “No? His name is lucifer.”

Lucifer

Can't decide if he's confused or insulted.

He's confused because, who the hell would someone name a cat of all things after a demon

and he's insulted because WHO THE HELL WOULD NAME A CAT AFTER HIM?

He's one of the strongest Demons in the Devildom, much stronger than a mere housecat, the insinuation that he, Lucifer, avatar of pride, shares anything in common with a cat has him fuming.

Of course, he shows none of these emotions outwardly, keeping his face stoic as always.

And any one of his brothers who dare joke about this cat's name will be hanged from the ceiling in a matter of seconds.

Is fairly annoyed with their shared name in day-to-day life, and not just because it's insulting.

But, many times a day, Lucifer'll hear his name called through the halls and, when he goes to investigate, one of his brothers is cooing over the damned pun intended cat.

Will eventually get used to lucifer and will definitely be seen cuddling with him.

Is like the dad who insists he doesn't want a cat, but as soon as he gets one they're inseparable.

At the end of the day, he loves that damn cat.

Mammon

Laughs out loud at the revelation that the cat's name is lucifer.

Until he realizes now he has to look after the human and the cat.

Will complain about it in typical Mammon fashion, but he warms up to lucifer about as quickly as he warms up to you.

Buys him a bunch of cat toys when he has the grimm, and loves to play with him

especially with a laser pointer.

Also loves to cuddle, but always acts very tsundere about it.

"What is it lucifer? Oh, of course, you want to cuddle with the Great Mammon."

Will either steal lucifer from your room at night, or sleep in your room to cuddle with him and totally not you, of course, but you should be honored he's even sleeping in your room.

Leviathan

Thinks it's hilarious as well.

Though he prefers anime, Levi is well versed in other human media, especially classic Disney films, so, because of Cinderella, he's well aware that lucifer is a popular cat name in the human realm.

That doesn't make it any less funny, though.

WILL NOT allow lucifer into his room.

He has too many expensive figurines to risk it

Plus, he doesn't want to risk Henry 2.0 getting hurt.

Will only play with, pet, or cuddle with lucifer if he initiates it.

"He probably doesn't want to be pet by a gross otaku like me," as if cats know what otakus are.

Will, at some point, sew lucifer a costume that looks suspiciously like what his older brother tends to wear.

He may or may not have been hanged for that one, but it was totally worth it.

Satan

Like Lucifer, Satan is conflicted.

On one hand, cat! He loves cats, he wants to pet this cat all day, and give him kisses and cuddles and love.

On the other hand, Satan would rather his soul be ripped apart than give love to something named after Lucifer.

Will try his hardest to completely ignore the cat's existence.

Has to leave the room if lucifer comes in because he can't trust himself to not pet him.

Is like this with lucifer until he sees him respond to the name luci as well.

After that, you cannot separate Satan from lucifer even if you tried.

Spoils him rotten.

The two are often found reading together in the library, Satan leisurely petting lucifer.

Fights with Mammon at least once a day for lucifer and always wins.

Goes on long rants about how cat lucifer is much better in every way than demon Lucifer.

Asmodeus

Another one who thinks it's hilarious.

Definitely thinks lucifer is cute but hates all the shedding, so he usually keeps his distance.

Like Levi, Asmo doesn't allow lucifer in his room.

Will constantly complain about fur getting all over his clothes.

Has had to buy more lint rollers in the first year you spent in the Devildom than he had bought in the last century.

Constantly posts pictures of lucifer on his Devilgram because, despite being a furry monster, he is just the cutest little kitten around.

Beelzebub

Thinks the name is a bit weird but accepts it pretty quickly.

It's just a name, after all, lots of people who are very different share names.

lucifer's food has to be hidden from Beel because he can, and will, eat it.

"It just smelled so good, and I was so hungry."

Apologizes by buying him some luxury cat treats that took all of Bee's willpower not to eat on the way home.

At first, he won't interact with lucifer unless lucifer approaches him.

Beel is so big, and lucifer is so small, he doesn't want to crush the little cat.

But with enough time and reinforcement, Beel will pick lucifer up himself for some much-needed cuddles.

Before Belphie comes down from the attic, Beel'll bring lucifer up to their room at night when he's feeling a bit more lonely than usual.

Beel will invite you up to his room as well.

Belphegor

Finds out about lucifer after everyone else, due to the whole, being locked in the attic, thing.

Hears Asmo trying to coax lucifer into a good pose from down the hall.

"Oh lucifer, cutie pie, you gotta look at the camera."

Is surprised that Asmo is still alive talking to Lucifer like that.

Is even more surprised when he turns the corner to find Asmo talking to a cat, not his eldest brother.

Thinks it's hilarious, but Lucifer is already over it so teasing him about it doesn't do much.

Won't actively seek out lucifer's attention, but will gladly nap with him.

Beel continues his habit of bringing lucifer up to their room for cuddles when Belphie returns, so the three of them usually end up in a big cuddle pile.

Bonus points if he brings you up too.

Diavolo

Thinks it's very amusing.

Laughs about it, probably for a bit too long.

He can't help it, especially because he knows Lucifer is most definitely a bit upset about it.

Will tease Lucifer once or twice about it, but will ultimately leave it alone.

When he visits the House of Lamentation, he'll give lucifer a nice pat, hello, but won't go very far beyond that.

Barbatos

Read lucifer's name tag while he was collecting him from the human realm.

Wasn't surprised in the slightest because nothing ever surprises him

Is definitely excited to see everyone's reactions to his name, and is not disappointed.

If given the chance, he will spend hours brushing lucifer's fur and pampering him

but doesn't get the chance to do so often, if ever.

Solomon

Has had a cat named lucifer in the past.

I mean, he's lived hundreds of years, it's not out of the realm of possibilities.

Named his own cat lucifer because he thought it was funny, and the humor hasn't faded since.

So he's very amused by this new lucifer in his life.

Will unabashedly cuddle and play with lucifer whenever he's given the chance.

I mean, this lucifer reminds him of his own cat, so he becomes pretty attached pretty quickly.

Whenever he visits the House of Lamentation, he'll hold lucifer until the very last minute he possibly can, and will be pretty sad when he has to leave.

Will joke about stealing lucifer, may actually try to steal him.

Simeon

Like Levi, Simeon is pretty well versed in human media, so the concept of cats named lucifer isn't new to him.

Still finds it a bit funny nonetheless.

Tells Michael right away.

Likes cats well enough, and, when he's in the House of Lamentation, will seek out a few pets from the kitten

but he doesn't venture to the House of Lamentation too often, so he never grows too close to lucifer.

Luke

WHY? WOULD YOU NAME A CAT? AFTER A DEMON?

There are so many better names for a cat!

Like whiskers, or oreo, or simba.

Is genuinely confused, and maybe even a bit concerned.

He's afraid you were consorting with demons before coming to the Devildom and that's why you named him lucifer.

After his brief stay in the House of Lamentation, Luke is absolutely in love with lucifer.

Plays with him constantly.

Wants to pick him up, but doesn't know how to.

Luke will end up getting scratched eventually, but Luke forgives him.

Bakes lucifer special cat treats and hopes you'll let him feed lucifer one.

[floraliaison]

[ melodrama ] ― track i | homemade dynamite

political au. ushijima wakatoshi x fem! reader.

3.1 k 

masterlist. next.

If there’s any one word you would prefer people to describe you as, it would have to be unquestionably loyal.

After all, it’s just past seven, and you haven’t yet drunk enough whiskey as you would like to, but when Oikawa tells you about a new guy you must hate, you don’t even think twice before agreeing.

He shifts the drink in his hand, ice cubes clinking together while he side-eyes the group of men from across the veranda, no doubt burning holes into the back of his intended target’s head as he mutters, “And there he is.”

You whip your head to the right, not caring enough about subtlety because this is your house and you can and will look at whoever you damn please.

His directions don’t really help much, you soon realize, because there are a hundred and one of Eita’s friends huddled around the end of the buffet table where the drinks are located.

“There are a bunch of ‘he’s over there, Oiks. Which one?” you hiss under your breath, craning your neck to see if you can pick anyone out from the crowd.

There’s Leon, Kenjiro, Hayato, and a handful of other people you recognize but can’t recall the names of. All that matters is that they’re all annoying, and they’re all here.

You’d think Oikawa’s taste in men has improved in the six years you’ve been gone, but if he actually says it’s one of them then you’ve apparently thought wrong.

“The tall one, Y/N,” Oikawa says as though this is the most obvious thing in the world. His rings glint in the dim light as he discreetly points at one in the far back. “The one with the white jacket.”

Finally, you spot whoever it is he’s referring to, and the next thing out of your mouth is a crisp “What the fuck?”

Oikawa snorts in derision – why he would when he’s the laughingstock in this particular situation, you’ll never know, but that still doesn’t stop you from echoing the sound back.

“I leave my best friend alone for a few years, and when I come back you’re suddenly all broken-hearted about Ushijima Wakatoshi?” You say, equal parts incredulous and disappointed. Said best friend only shrugs in response, chugging the rest of his rum before slamming the empty glass down on the table.

“Save it, princess. Iwa’s already lectured me about the whole ‘you have terrible taste’ and ‘you should stop going after guys who you know are only going to break your heart’ thing,” he shoots back, his use of air quotes telling you that no, he didn’t – and probably still doesn’t – follow Iwaizumi’s advice. You roll your eyes, comeback already on the tip of your tongue, when —

“Hold on,” the boy next to you suddenly sits up straight, eyes wide open and staring at you. “How come you know him?”

“Well who doesn’t know him?”

Although you deliver it in a way that comes off as mildly sarcastic, all of his prominent social, athletic, and political embellishments have served to establish Ushijima Wakatoshi as a household name; both in Tokyo and throughout the rest of Japan.

But while that’s true, you for one can’t say that you know the man in the way that Oikawa is implying. Despite belonging in the same political circle, what with both your fathers’ professions, you have yet to properly interact outside of the social niceties required for the few parties and fundraisers you’ve seen him at.

From what you are able to discern the first few times you have been able to talk to him though, you are one hundred percent certain that you disliked the man to an almost frightening degree. His stoicism, apparent indifference and boundless pride rub off of you the wrong way, and you’ve been actively ignoring him at every meeting afterwards.

Your friend lets out another snort – you’ve half a mind to change his contact name to horse at this point – while you raise an eyebrow at his accusatory finger-wagging, almost daring him to say what’s so clearly on his mind.

Because despite wearing a short white number to stave off the summer heat that dominated the venue just hours prior, you have absolutely zero qualms about giving Tooru a thorough beat-down if necessary.

“There you guys are.”

Someone plops down into the vacant seat to your left, and when you turn to see a familiar, non-douchey face, you break into a smile.

“Hey, Haji,” you greet Iwaizumi as you lean against his side.

The faint blush that spreads across Oikawa’s face doesn’t escape you when you sneak a glance at him. Despite having his mind preoccupied by Ushijima, it looks like the brunette still hasn’t let go of his little crush on the final member of your trio. “Iwa-chaan, we waited forever. What took you so long?”

“Got lost, your house is fucking huge Y/N,” Iwaizumi explains, setting down his glass of his newest alcoholic concoction as he rolls up the sleeves of his dress shirt. “Good thing I ran into your brother, few more minutes and I would’ve lost my mind in there.”

You snicker at him, a low mumble of “and you claim Tooru’s the stupid one” escaping you because honestly, your house isn’t that big. He might just not admit it but it’s common knowledge that Hajime’s a bit... directionally challenged, to say the least.

Ignoring the glare he sends your way, you nonchalantly pick up his drink and take a sip. “Ah, very nice. You really should consider bartending, Haji, you’ve got the talent for it,” you remark, handing Oikawa the glass for him to taste. 

Iwaizumi’s skill in mixing spirits was one the three of you discovered during one of your first parties, when you and Tooru had complained about how shitty the drinks were. Hajime, in a true gentlemanly fashion, had grabbed a couple of bottles off the counter and kept the two of you well-provided for for the remainder of the event. (and for every other event that came after it.)

The spiky-haired lawyer only rolls his eyes at your words, plucking the crystalware out of Oikawa’s hands before he could finish it off amidst the latter’s ungodliest of whines. “What were you doing anyway? Looked like you were discussing some deep stuff when I came in.”

You separate from him, putting your hands on your hips and adopting a haughty tone, “We are slandering Ushijima Wakatoshi, and his ways of ill-repute. You, by declaration of the Mistress, which is me, and by Friendship Code 70040, is hereby required to join as well.”

“I’ll pass, Wakatoshi’s cool,” Hajime comments around a sip of alcohol, and the casual use of Ushijima’s first name is enough to give you pause.

“Okay, first of all how are you on a first name basis with him and second, you’re a guy.” you exclaim, throwing your hands up for emphasis. “Of course you’d think that!”

“First question: I worked with him for a bit two years ago, not gonna say anything more because company rules, but we talked and he’s really nice,” Iwaizumi holds up two fingers. “Second, sure I am, but even your brother thinks so, too.”

“The world doesn’t just consist of Eita.”

“Alright, you both better shut it because the topic of your very heated conversation is heading right here,” Oikawa interrupts, poking you in the side and sending a look at Iwaizumi.

You groan in response and shake your head. Even during your time abroad, you’ve been unable to escape his presence; from the posters promoting his team for the 2014 World League to the numerous brand advertisements three years later, Wakatoshi was everywhere.

But - and you’ll never admit to this out loud, not ever - even though all you’ve seen of him was in print, on the television, and in the occasional social media update, you could never deny the fact that the man was handsome.

Tooru is attractive, as evidenced by the sheer number of his admirers in high school, Hajime has received his own fair share of confessions and Valentine’s Day chocolates, and you have to admit that your brother is objectively good-looking as well.

And while it’s a confession you have to make under duress, Wakatoshi is a completely different case altogether. You’d thought you were stunned when Miya Atsumu came to your offices to help promote the newly rolled-out banking app, but even he can’t really compare.

Nothing can really do with perfectly gelled olive hair, pristine three-piece suit slightly strained against a muscular build, and the undeniable aura that exuded power and demanded respect.

One would have to be practically blind not to feel attracted to Ushijima (but even then, you think that the timbre of his voice can still make anyone weak in the knees), but because you have no shame and are definitely not above pettiness, you maintain a disgusted-looking sneer as you watch him make his way to your table.

“Hey Toshi,” Oikawa says, the red from before making a reappearance as he takes in the newcomer with eager eyes.

“Good evening, Oikawa,” Ushijima replies, but it’s clear that his attention is focused elsewhere; namely, on you.

Your skin crawls at the weight of the stare he’s pinning on you, but you veto the urge to flip him off right then and there because that would be against proper decorum. Your patience is running thin though, and he needs something else to stare at immediately or so help him God you will do it.

“Wakatoshi,” Iwaizumi intervenes, bless him, and offers a hand towards the taller. “It’s been a long time.”

“Hajime,” Ushijima grasps the appendage and gives it a firm shake, but his gaze still hasn’t left you. ”It’s good to see you.” 

“Yo Ushiwaka! Get back over here!” One of the miscreants across the veranda calls out, standing beside what seems to be a set-up for a round of beer pong. You can’t help but make a face when you catch sight of it because what did they think this was, some messy Saturday night college party? These guys really had no taste.

Ushijima finally turns around to head back to his friends, but not without shooting you one last cursory glance over his shoulder; a glance that you dutifully avoid despite every single cell in your body pushing you to return it and have him catch sight of the hellfire burning in your gaze for doing whatever it is that he did to Tooru.

Because damn it, no one hurts your friends or family and gets away with it. Not even over your dead body, because God knows you will rise from the dead just to get retribution on their behalf.

The minute Wakatoshi’s out of earshot, you scoff into your glass of whiskey, hastily downing it in one go because you’d need more of it in your system if you wanted to survive tonight with him around.

In the entirety of your 26 years, never have you once thought yourself as unlucky. Horribly ill-timed, sure, but unlucky? Nope.

Or at least, not until tonight.

“If it isn’t Miss Semi,” a smooth baritone sounds from behind you, nearly causing you to drop the container you’re holding in surprise. “Good evening.”

You seethe, ready to give the person a piece of your mind for almost being the (however indirect) culprit to the destruction of a 20-year old piece of china, and you have the gall to be so confrontational because you actually know who it is. Only one person in this entire house can be in possession of a voice that deep.

True enough, when you turn, it is Ushijima Wakatoshi who stands at the entrance to your kitchen in all of his six-foot-three glory, eyebrow cocked in a perfect arch as he regards you. He’s holding an empty wineglass in his left hand, and it looks like he’s come in here to have it refilled.

You aren’t sure what exactly about the situation brings all the blood rushing to your face; be it the anger you feel at seeing him so callously walk into your kitchen like he owns it instead of going to the refreshments table outside, or the feeling of something else at the sight of him in only his deep purple dress shirt; sleeves rolled up and top two buttons undone.

That, along with the fact that his hair is now slightly tousled, leaves you thinking that he looks positively sinful, if not for the smirk that’s painted on his stupid face. That one tiny detail pushes you to choose the first, and safer, option.

You roll your eyes.

“Yes, hello Ushijima,” you respond drily, slamming the cabinet shut to punctuate your tone. “Is there anything I can help you with?”

He simply raises the glass in his hand in response, and you are unable to get a biting comment in about how he should instead look for a refill outside instead of in here like some privileged dick when he speaks.

“Congratulations on the announcement,” he begins, stepping beyond the threshold and into the kitchen, thick carpet muffling the sounds of his polished Italian leather shoes as he makes his way towards you.

When he gets dangerously close to the boundary of the minimum three-feet you need to have between you and him at all times, you briefly consider getting violent and chucking the bowl at him just to be done with it, but he seems to have other plans when he stops by the marble island, a full one inch away from your protective perimeter.

Looks like your grandmother’s favorite crucible will live to see another day.

You see him eye you expectantly from his position, and realize that you’ve yet to respond to his statement. “Thank you. I understand that the same is in order for you as well, what with your succession of Madame Junko’s position.”

He nods, less confirmatory and more ‘I’ve found your answer satisfactory,’ and you cannot suppress the white-hot lance of annoyance that shoots through you at the memory that comes barrelling along with the simple gesture.

Suddenly, you’re both no longer OS Post Holdings or The Ushijima Telegraph and Telephone Corporation’s newly appointed presidents and CEOs, but mere fifteen year olds attending middle school at the same time.

Ushijima has always been the star student, and while your father has pushed you to make friends with the quiet boy, you’ve never found it in yourself to brush aside the vast difference present in the way he looks at Wakatoshi, with eyes and gestures full of a soft sense of pride, and then at you, all strict words and interactions that feel more business related than anything else.

You’re not stupid, never was and never will; you know that your father wanted a son to follow in his footsteps. And although he had twins - a girl and a boy - he saw Eita as more of a disappointment because of his unwillingness to live the life the patriarch of the family wanted him to.

So while your brother pursued his dreams in the music industry, you were left to shoulder the responsibility that came with the Semi family name. You studied rigorously, honed your talents, and polished your social skills until you shined, determined to be the brightest gem in the industry and the daughter your father would be proud of.

But even though you were not stupid, you were definitely naive. Naive to have thought that he would be satisfied with what he had, naive to have thought that he wouldn’t look somewhere else to fulfill his own personal dreams.

And that’s how you first met Ushijima, the son of Governor Utsui and your father’s new protegee, as he so proudly told you over dinner with him one Thursday night.

The only thing that kept you from breaking down then were the years spent at etiquette lessons, so you settled instead on gripping your silverware until your knuckles turned white. You could feel Eita’s eyes on you from across the table, and you didn’t have to look to know that they were apologizing for something that he didn’t even do.

The other two males in the room seemed oblivious to your imminent spiral, happily talking with each other and discussing whatever it is that they deemed important, and the fire in your heart that burned for the olive-haired boy grew into a full-fledged inferno.

That day marked the beginning of your lifelong grudge against Wakatoshi, and you still haven’t given it up to this day.

“Attention! I would just like to thank everyone for coming tonight -”

Your dad’s booming voice is what breaks you out of your reverie, and you realize that you have been staring - glowering, really - at the object of your ire for far too long than what can be deemed normal.

An open bottle of Romanée-Conti rests on the countertop by his elbow, and his previously empty wineglass is now half-full, the deep red liquid catching the fluorescent lights as he idly swirls it around.

Much like his wine, there is also something swirling in his sharp eyes, but you neither need to or wish to know what it is. You let out a disgruntled huff before heading out to the living room, shooting him one final glare as you round the corner and disappear.

Wakatoshi sighs to the empty room before he too, decides to head on out and meet with Representative Semi - your and Eita’s father - to offer him his congratulations.

He finishes the drink in his hand, wine tasting oddly bittersweet as it goes down his throat, and as he exits the kitchen, he wonders for the nth time that night how come you seemed to hate him with such a passion.

He’s not stupid, not like the way everyone seems to think he is just because he’s blunt, but if it’s taken him this long to realize that your feelings towards him go much deeper than a simple dislike, then he thinks that he may never find out the real reason as to why.

The thought doesn’t deter him though, and when he catches sight of the back of your head while you talk animatedly to Oikawa Tooru, laughing your heart out as though you weren’t staring daggers at him just minutes ago, he thinks that he will gladly spend a lifetime figuring you out.

You are a mystery to him, and one that he will stop at nothing to crack.

[ note ]  ― and there we have it! first time we’re meeting the cast, and if the overly zealous descriptions about ushi isn’t enough to display how whipped i am for him then probably nothing ever will. hope you all like this one as much as i loved writing it <3

also this is dedicated to @cafemiya​ for giving me the push i needed to make this entire series. hi issy i love you bae 🥺💖

[meanautisticenbian]

Fuck it, I'm gonna dissect all the bullshit in that one Lilith post bit by bit

TW// Lilith hate, victim blaming, abuse, cult mention, ableism towards Autistic people, sexualization of minors (briefly mentioned)

I'll be putting my text in bold just in case it's hard to distinguish between the pictures and my commentary

Here's the post I'm referring to in case you're curious

Moving on and starting with this bit

People pay attention to Eda all the damn time, she's literally one of the main characters. Funny how you only mention tik tok and nothing else. Is that the only other social media you have? Because fans on different social media platforms act much differently; on IG and Reddit stuff like the sexualization of minors and fucking ODALIA AND ALADOR STANS are normalized, where everywhere else it's pretty much universally agreed that that stuff is bad. I don't know a lot about what toh Tik Tok is like just because I don't usually go on tik tok, but even if it is like this, it's not the same for the rest of the fandom. A lot of the fandom still hates Lilith and blames her for her abuse and not being able to leave

You say that like she's a bad person, she's really not. The curse she placed on Eda wasn't intended to be permanent and probably wasn't even supposed to take the effects that it did. She was most likely scammed. I mean look at how she reacts when Eda transforms for the first time. She also feels guilty enough about it to throw herself into an abusive situation and spend almost her whole life trying to make up for it. Lastly, yes she hurt Luz, but let's not forget that Belos threatened her life upon Eda's capture and Lilith was running out of time and had no other option. Obviously what she did was wrong but she's not the real monster here.

"I do like Lilith" this entire essay says otherwise.

Literally none of us ignore any of the bad shit she's done, stop lying about us.

Yes, Lilith did mock her for her curse, which was messed up, but we don't actually know for sure if the curse is basically canonically a disability in that world, so if that's the case then for now it's technically not ableism until we get confirmation otherwise.

"it was an accident and I forgive Lilith" no you fucking don't. First of all this entire essay is you talking about how evil you think she is and secondly, if it really was as bad as you view it, you wouldn't be that forgiving.

Ah yes the victim blaming, the one thing that almost everyone does to Lilith and barely anyone talks about.

There is literally not a single Lilith stan out there who blames Eda for getting cursed. You're just mad that your victim blaming towards Lilith got called out so you silence us by lying about how we do the same thing to Eda.

No one is making Eda out to be the villain either, the only example I can find of this is a few fanfics where she treats Lilith a lot more harshly than she should, and even then, scenes like that are written in a positive light as if you're supposed to be on Eda's side, so with that in mind, the writers of these fics are clearly not even Lilith stans. In terms of how actual stans treat Eda, the worst they do is make her slightly ignorant of Lilith's trauma, kinda like the fandom, minus the "slightly", until she grows as a character and learns to see the red flags. If that's the problem you're talking about, then breaking news: Eda's not perfect either. She has flaws too just like literally everyone else in the show and people are allowed to write about them

Tell me the truth: are people making playlists for Lilith that include a lot of sad and angry songs because she's not a happy person anyway so there wouldn't be a point in having any happy songs, or are they making "trauma" playlists? There's a difference

I'm sorry, are you trying to tell me that people recognizing Lilith's trauma is victim blaming Eda? That's not how it works sweetycakes

There is far more Eda angst out there than there is for Lilith, where are you finding so much Lilith angst? LILITH is the one who's traumas are being ignored while Eda's gets all the attention. You're acting like one of those white cis gays on twitter who see black people talking about the anti blackness they experience daily and accuse them of being homophobic because "there is so much homophobia in the world and they still manage to make it all about race".

No one is saying that Lilith has worse trauma, we're only saying that her's is also severe and that it definitely exists. Also funny how you're allowed to be mad at us for comparing Lilith and Eda's trauma (once again lying about us), then you go on to do the exact same thing and say that EDA'S trauma is worse. Even if, hypothetically speaking, Eda did have it worse, that doesn't mean Lilith doesn't have the right to be traumatized. Both of them have trauma, both should be recognized. Also, Lilith had far more going on in her life than just the guilt of her actions, she was was implied to have been psychologically and maybe physically abused, and was probably even tortured. Stop ignoring all the red flags and condemn the actual abuser (Belos) before you criticize anything the abused (Lilith) has done.

We're not making everything about Lilith, like shut up.

Please don't say that autistic people "have autism", it implies that it's something that can be removed from us. For example: you don't say "a person with blackness" when referring to black people or "a woman with homosexuality" when referring to Lesbians.

Oh yeah I'm also autistic so here are MY thoughts

Amity and Lilith are not antagonists anymore, hcing them as Autistic is not villainizing autism.

The autistic Lilith headcanon was made by autistic fans, allistics only latched onto it because they either wanted to be supportive or they saw that she actually had a lot of autistic traits

You're not the only autistic person alive, just because you're not like Lilith or Amity doesn't mean none of us are or they're not autistic. I mean, I know I am

You're not fun or funny

"not all Autistic people are like this" remember that line, dear readers

Actually, I prefer the autistic villain trope MUCH more than the grown ass autistic adult that acts like a five year old trope. At least we'd have less stereotypes associated with us.

Autism is not supposed to be portrayed in only fun and happy characters, that is literally the epitome of stereotyping and infantilizing. You literally just said that not all autistic people are the same, doesn't this count as being all the same? Does this mean I don't exist anymore? Am I just not autistic? Are you even aware that a flat affect or monotone voice is literally a very common autistic trait? You can't just say that we're stereotyping autistics and then just go on to stereotype us, like what the fuck are you even on? Is it only ok when you do it?

Amity is not edgy for fuck's sake

Literally no one is headcanoning Lilith or Amity as autistic because they're mean, we headcanon them as autistic because they actually show traits of it

Oh, our harmless headcanons are making you feel uncomfortable because they don't fit into the stereotypes you made up about us? Good to know our plan is working I guess

Last thing I wanna say regarding this post as a whole: why are you acting like liking Lilith and feeling sympathy for her is a bad thing? If you find this then don't say "I don't think that's a bad thing", answer HONESTLY

Well that's all I have for now, thank you for reading, I need to go to bed soon

[maxwell-grant]

OK, I know this will probably be painful, and I may be a bad mutual for asking but...would you be willing to identify what, in your opinion are the bottom five worst Shadow adaptations, and give a detailed breakdown of why they were so lousy?

Oh christ, okay. I don't think you're gonna get as much of a detailed breakdown for these compared to some of the others, because I take more issue with adaptations that do have good qualities but also big or deep problems to talk about.

For example, I can't include Garth Ennis's Shadow in this list because the comic has a lot of strong points to it, despite a deeply, deeply detestable take on The Shadow's character, where as the rest of the Dynamite run doesn't reach neither the lows or highs of his run. Likewise, Andy Helfer's run has a couple or a couple dozen moments every issue that make me want to tear something to shreds in frustration, but it's also at many points a really good comic with great art and some occasionally very inspired writing. Really, I'd just be repeating myself talking about what I hate in those.

But, fine, let's list some of the others.

I think I'm just gonna have to get the elephant in the room out of the way here, and address that I won't be including Si Spurrier's 2017 Dynamite mini in this list, and I think at least some of you might be angry it's not Number 1 by default. I'm doing this because I intend to one day really revisit it, think about it and it's reception and what it was trying to do, and talk about it on it's own, now that it's been 5 years and everyone has moved on and we can maybe talk about it without kneejerk hatred driving everyone nuts (your mileage may vary on how warranted it was).

I'm also not going to be talking about James Patterson's new novel, because I haven't read it. It seems to be considered a forgettable potboiler by mainstream critics and a resounding failure by everyone who likes the character whether they've read the book or not, and frankly I don't have it in me to learn what the fuzz was about anytime soon, I got my hands way too full as is.

And I won't be including the Batman x Shadow crossovers here, because again, they do have a lot of virtues that put them far ahead of some of the really worst Shadow media, and I've talked enough about how badly I think they mangled The Shadow, which is really the big problem I have with them (well, that and Tim Sale blatantly copying a Michael Kaluta cover, that was really shitty). I don't really hate them anymore, I just get tired and frustrated thinking about parts of them, I said my piece as is. Really, my frustration over this comic is what inspired me to start writing about The Shadow here, so I guess in a way I do owe it at least that much.

5: Archie Comics's Shadow

I think some of you might be wondering why this isn't ranked higher, but to be honest, I don't actually harbor any hatred towards this. I mean, I have to include it, but I find it kinda silly that some people even today actually care about the existence of this comic enough to hate it.

For fans back then? Oh yeah, obviously, but this dropped to such instantaneous backlash that it never really got to live past 6 issues. Really, everything wrong about it can be understood immediately from the covers, and I've actually read the comic in it's entirety to see if there was anything worth taking. I found only a couple of things of note but, no, this really is just a painfully mediocre superhero comic that happens to have a couple of Shadow names in it. If anything, it gets too much credit.

The actual contents of what it is are never going to justify it's reputation, but the existence of it and the disproportionate response to it is the funniest and most enduring legacy it could ever ask for. This whole comic is The Shadow's version of Spongebob's embarassing Christmas photo.

4: David Liss's The Shadow Now

This is another "The Shadow as an immortal in modern times" comic and I think you may have noticed the pattern with those by now. I may revisit this eventually and I do have some moments from it saved for reference, but overall: It sucks, and it doesn't even suck in a way that lets me talk much about it, it's a diet version of Chaykin's Shadow. If Archie's Shadow is a generic mediocre superhero comic wearing The Shadow's name, this is a generic crime story playing beats from movie. The Shadow is an asshole and not even a grandiose or sinister one, he just feels like a sleazy douche in a costume. The art is a 50/50 coin toss between appropriately moody and "Google images with a filter on them", I don't remember anything about the plot other than Khan had a bomb again and he had a daughter, and there were new versions of the agents and the Harry stand-in turned evil and Lamont shacked up with Margo's descendant which, uh, no. I don't really hate this but I really have nothing nice to say about this comic other than Colton Worley's art is nice sometimes. I can't really muster anything else to say here.

3: Invisible Avenger

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

ZZZZZZZZZZZZ

ZZZZZZZZZZ...

...uuh, wha-

Yeah, I remember nothing about this one other than it's painfully boring and nothing about it, nothing at all, works in the slightest and I drift off to sleep even now trying to give this a rewatch. To be honest pretty much every other Shadow serial not starred by Victor Jory sucks and I don't really have anything to say about them, this one is just the worst of the lot. I dearly wish there was a good Shadow tv series but, if it was going to be like this pilot? Good riddance.

2: Harlan Ellison's The New York Review of Bird

This isn't really a Shadow story as much as it's a Harlan Ellison story that happens to feature The Shadow, but man am I glad that Ellison's "Dragon Shadows" was canned, because holy shit what a goddamn nightmare Harlan Ellison writing The Shadow for real could have been, going purely by the one time he ever touched the character. New York Review of Bird is a purely farcical parody story that wears real, real thin even before "Uncle Kent" shows up, and we get to see in it what is by far the most detestable and irredeemable take on The Shadow ever put on print, and not even in a critique or deconstructive way or anything that could be remotely worth discussing.

I don't hold any particular affection for Harlan Ellison and his writing (despite liking some of it) and I've come to notice the major red flag that is finding someone who looks up to Harlan Ellison in any capacity as a person, and this story in particular really feels like Ellison aggressively trying to channel his jackass tendencies through every line, just him being nasty because he built a personal brand on being nasty. The only reason this isn't Number One is because it's a very short story that saw zero influence or reputation, and thus it only exists as a brief mention in The Shadow wiki, and a brief mention is all it really calls for.

1: Howard Chaykin's Blood & Judgment

I'm guessing most of you already knew this one was in the top spot before I started writing.

I would actually rather not write a big piece on Blood & Judgment, because I think (or at least I hope) it's influence on The Shadow has waned a lot over the years and I would prefer to draw it the least amount of attention possible, but if I HAVE to talk about this, I guess I'd rather just vomit this out of my circuits now instead of giving it it's own post.

I would prefer to use a less unpleasant image on my blog, but if I'm going to talk about this comic, there's no image to better convey it than this drawing of macho asshole Cranston holding a sexualized mannequin at gunpoint. By leaps and bounds, Blood & Judgment is the most misogynistic Shadow story I've ever read. It's ironic that Chaykin justified the rampant misogyny he gave The Shadow with the idea that this is just a man from the 30s would act like, when he admits in the same breath that he never even touched the stories, and he wrote a story more sexist and demeaning to it's female characters than anything, literally anything, written in the Shadow pulps. It's almost impressive even.

I'll paste some segments from Randy Raynaldo's review

In Flagg, he intended to present his own point of view on American society while keeping his work tongue in cheek and acessible. But this vision dimmed, and Flagg had become a vehicle by which Chaykin could play out fetishes and portray gratuitous and stylish violence.

In The Shadow, stripped of the political and social veneer which was supposed to make Flagg unique, Chaykin's sensibilities and excesses become disturbingly apparent. For all of his liberal posturing, Chaykin's work demonstrates zero difference from the same kind of mentality exploited and made popular by similarly violent popular culture icons like Dirty Harry and Death Wish.

More than half a dozen individuals are indiscriminately and violently murdered in the first issue. Although the victims are characters who played major roles in the myth of The Shadow, we feel little sympathy for them, even for those of us who knew these characters at the outset. Who dies is unimportant, it's how they die that is the fascination.

Chaykin uses sexual decadence as a means by which to establish villains, and undercuts this device by making the protagonists as promiscuous as the villains. For all of Chaykin's seemingly liberal leanings, he demonstrates very little sensitivity in his portrayal of women.

Because everything works on rules of three, this comic also follows the pattern with other works mentioned here, as this isn't Howard Chaykin writing The Shadow: it's The Shadow reimagined as a Howard Chaykin character. He looks and acts exactly like Reuben Flagg and the typical macho protagonist of Chaykin's other works, he's a cynical sleaze with an entirely new origin who half-assedly dons a garb to machine gun people, and I already wrote a separate piece on why the machineguns are kind of emblematic of everything wrong with this take.

I understand that Chaykin has, or used to have, a big following of sorts, and I've tried to wrap my head around this for years, but I genuinely still don't get why Shadow fans stomach this comic unless they happen to be Chaykin fans first and foremost, I really don't. Everything, fucking everything Shadow fans hate about modern depictions of the character can be traced right back to this. The parts that stuck and changed the character for the worse, like him being defined as an immortal, bloodthirsty warmonger who got all his skills and powers from a magic city in Tibet, or Lamont Cranston being a coward who fears and hates the Shadow, or his agents being expendable slaves, stuff that has been ingrained into the mythos through this and the Alec Baldwin movie and other comics, to the point that people now think of it as the norm, that it's the baseline of what The Shadow is, and I hate it, I genuinely fucking hate it,

I hate it so much that it's a big part of the reason why I created this blog and why I want so badly to get to write The Shadow, because I plainly couldn't stand not having ways to tell people that this is all wrong, that this is actively shooting down the character's odds for success, and that they are missing out on something really great, because the well has been tainted with garbage that won't go away and everytime I read the words Shambala in a Shadow comic, even an otherwise good or great one, I get just a wee bit cross.

The only semi-redeeming aspects I can think of for this comic is one or two cool moments, like when The Shadow hijacks a concert using his Devil's Whisper or when he tames dogs with a stare. Just breadcrumbs of "not garbage" amidst an ocean of anything but. I hate that talking about why I hate this comic in-length can almost feel like I'm still enticing people to check it out of curiosity, but if you wanna do that, fine, just know this: The worst part of Blood & Judgment, even if you don't care at all about what it did to The Shadow, is that it's boring.

It is a deeply boring comic. If you like Howard Chaykin to begin with, you'll probably like this okay (although even Chaykin fans told me that this is his weakest work and that even he seems to agree). If you don't, I plain don't see what you could get out of this.

The comic itself is just nothing. It's the comic book equivalent of a pre-schooler trying to get a reaction by swearing. It has nothing whatsoever other than half-assed attempts at shock value. The plot isn't there, the ideas are stale, the dialogue is needlessly oblique and comprised entirely of unfinished sentences, interrupted conversations and one-liners without build-up. The characters are all unlikable and uninteresting stooges with no personality, or joyless cartoons. There's no heart or emotion or logic, and it isn't even funny enough to succeed as just an outrageous exercise in 80s excess. There's nothing in here.

I get "why" it was popular enough at the time, a rising star creator penning a modern revival of an old character based on controversy that pissed off the old fans, it's an old story that still gets repeated today. But manufactured controversy is not a replacement for storytelling and it rarely ever exists to benefit the people who actually want to enjoy the stories, it only benefits those for the crude benefit of those who want to sell you something out of the controversy.

I guess they got their money's worth back then.

------------------------------------------------

Phew, okay, I did it, I finally vomited out a piece on Blood & Judgment and some others, allright, let's put this piece of negativity behind us now.

[kellyvela]

Has GRRM ever said in any interview or on his blog that he hates Sansa's complete storyline after 4th season? I dont really follow all of his fan/media interactions but from what I can recall he has spoken abt how LF in books wont give sansa to ramsay or how noone had issue when Jeyne was given the Ramsay storyline in books etc. Asking this question to you bcs you rightly point out how ppl misunderstood his interviews/posts ( sansans/targ stans etc) & I cant recall him ever saying he 'hates' sansa's story in the later seasons of the show ( not s5 in particular but even s6 to s8).

Capclave 2013:

A change that has repercussions for season 4 is Marillion’s tongue removal from the first season. Martin said that the change was made (from an anonymous singer being the victim of a de-tonguing) because they wanted Joffrey to maim someone the audience would recognize. He believes this is an issue because of the part the singer plays in Sansa’s storyline, how he affects her interactions with others in the book, and he doesn’t believe another character will be fulfilling that role on Game of Thrones.

—GRRM talks season 4 & beyond - Winter is Coming - October 13, 2013

2014 Fan Reports about Capclave 2013 (*):

In a convention panel this year, George said on the record that he had no idea what they were doing with Sansa or where they’re taking her storyline, which now makes sense perhaps. He was not pleased when he was talking about it, so who knows what’s going to happen with her! Knowing GRRM, that could mean they’re going off the canon reservation, and/or that they’re going to be making a lot of shit up

I have notes I’ll be responding to (thanks!) but enough people commented about Sansa that I thought I’d share that tidbit, since it happened back in September iirc (was the same panel where he criticized the exclusion of Tyrell brothers)

—starkalypse - June 3, 2014

GRRM’s comments at capclave about Sansa (which I was in the third row for, for those asking about legitimacy) were among others during the panel that had a general theme of dissatisfaction with show changes. He was not in good spirits for that con and didn’t really have anything positive to say regarding the show. So take it with a grain of salt; there are deviations away from the books in the episodes he gets writers credit for, so maybe they’re doing something stupid or they really don’t have a gameplan!

—starkalypse - June 4, 2014

(*) These reports were posted in June 2014, during the airing of Game of Thrones Season 4, about Capclave 2013 that happened in October 2013.

Just after the rape episode:

How many children did Scarlett O’Hara have? Three, in the novel. One, in the movie. None, in real life: she was a fictional character, she never existed. The show is the show, the books are the books; two different tellings of the same story.

There have been differences between the novels and the television show since the first episode of season one. And for just as long, I have been talking about the butterfly effect. Small changes lead to larger changes lead to huge changes. HBO is more than forty hours into the impossible and demanding task of adapting my lengthy (extremely) and complex (exceedingly) novels, with their layers of plots and subplots, their twists and contradictions and unreliable narrators, viewpoint shifts and ambiguities, and a cast of characters in the hundreds.

There has seldom been any TV series as faithful to its source material, by and large (if you doubt that, talk to the Harry Dresden fans, or readers of the Sookie Stackhouse novels, or the fans of the original WALKING DEAD comic books)… but the longer the show goes on, the bigger the butterflies become. And now we have reached the point where the beat of butterfly wings is stirring up storms, like the one presently engulfing my email.

Prose and television have different strengths, different weaknesses, different requirements.

David and Dan and Bryan and HBO are trying to make the best television series that they can.

And over here I am trying to write the best novels that I can.

And yes, more and more, they differ. Two roads diverging in the dark of the woods, I suppose… but all of us are still intending that at the end we will arrive at the same place.

In the meantime, we hope that the readers and viewers both enjoy the journey. Or journeys, as the case may be. Sometimes butterflies grow into dragons.

—The Show, the Books - Not A Blog - May 18, 2015

Report about the last Game of Thrones Script that GRRM wrote:

No Wedding for Sansa and Ramsay: Without question, one of the most controversial changes the show made in trying to streamline the books was by slotting Sansa into the role of Ramsay’s wife and rape victim in Season 5. In the books, Ramsay marries and assaults Sansa’s best childhood friend, Jeyne Poole—who is being forced to impersonate Arya—instead. (You can actually see Jeyne briefly sitting next to Sansa in the show’s pilot.)

At the time Martin wrote this script, though, substituting Sansa for Jeyne was not yet the plan. Martin has Roose Bolton tell his bastard son: “We have a much better match in mind for you. A match to help House Bolton hold the north. Arya Stark.” It should be noted, however, that in Martin’s script, Sansa isn’t free from menace either. At his own wedding-day breakfast, Joffrey still threatens to rape the older Stark sister—once he’s “gotten Margaery with child.”)

—Game of Thrones: The Secrets of George R.R. Martin’s Final Script - Vanity Fair - December 7, 2018

A month before the Game of Throne S8 Finale:

Sansa’s story, in particular, has really deviated from the books. Ramsay Bolton — that marriage obviously was with a different character. When they start deviating like that, did you initially have any emotional reaction, even though you worked in Hollywood for many years yourself?

GRRM: Well, yeah — of course you have an emotional reaction. I mean, would I prefer they do it exactly the way I did it? Sure. But I’ve been on the other side of it, too. I’ve adapted work by other people, and I didn’t do it exactly the way they did it, so ….

Some of the deviation, of course, is because I’ve been so slow with these books. I really should’ve finished this thing four years ago — and if I had, maybe it would be telling a different story here. It’s two variations of the same story, or a similar story, and you get that whenever anything is adapted. The analogy I’ve often used is, to ask how many children did Scarlett O’Hara have? Do you know the answer to that?

I know it’s different in the book and the movie …

GRRM: Three children in the book, one by each husband. She had one child in the movie. And in real life, of course, Scarlett O’Hara had no children, because she never existed. Margaret Mitchell made her up. The book is there. You can pick it up and read Mitchell’s version of it, or you can see the movie and see David Selznick’s version of it. I think they’re both true to the spirit of the work, and hopefully that’s also true of Game of Thrones on one hand, and A Song of Ice and Fire on the other hand.

—George R.R. Martin on the Stark Sisters and Ending ‘Game of Thrones’ - RollingStone - April 22, 2019

James Hibberd’s Book:

GEORGE R. R. MARTIN: Jeyne Poole was included in the pilot—she’s shown giggling next to Sansa—but she’s never seen or referred to again. I actually wrote Jeyne into “The Pointy End,” my first script, when Arya killed the stableboy. I had some stuff with Jeyne running to Sansa being all hysterical and dialogue in the council chamber with Littlefinger saying, “Give her to me, I’ll make sure she doesn’t cause any trouble.” That was dropped.

DAVID BENIOFF: Sansa is a character we care about almost more than any other. We really wanted Sansa to play a major part in that season. If we were going to stay absolutely faithful to the book, it was going to be very hard to do that. There was a subplot we loved from the books, but it was a character not involved in the show.

GEORGE R. R. MARTIN: I was trying to set up Jeyne for her future role as the false Arya. The real Arya has escaped and is presumed dead. But this girl has been in Littlefinger’s control for years, and he’s been training her. She knows Winterfell, has the proper northern accent, and can pose as Arya. Who the hell knows what a little girl you met two years ago looks like? When you’re a lord visiting Winterfell, are you going to pay attention to the little kids running around? So she can pull off the impersonation. Not having Jeyne, they used Sansa for that. Is that better or worse? You can make your decision there. Oddly, I never got pushback for that in the book because nobody cared about Jeyne Poole that much. They care about Sansa.

—Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon: Game of Thrones and the Official Untold Story of the Epic Series by James Hibberd - October 6, 2020

GEORGE R. R. MARTIN: My Littlefinger would have never turned Sansa over to Ramsay. Never. He’s obsessed with her. Half the time he thinks she’s the daughter he never had—that he wishes he had, if he’d married Catelyn. And half the time he thinks she is Catelyn, and he wants her for himself. He’s not going to give her to somebody who would do bad things to her. That’s going to be very different in the books.

—Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon: Game of Thrones and the Official Untold Story of the Epic Series by James Hibberd - October 6, 2020

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