#Then yeah OP would be valid in getting annoyed by that

[anti-dazai-blog]

I don't understand why fans in general are always so against critical analysis & always try to defend characters whenever someone points out bad writing. Bsd fans have huge issue like that I'm glad you're so vocal about dazai character writing tho cause lots of people just avoid it due to his fans taking it so personal

I think it’s mainly an issue of people not properly tagging their posts, so that when people search their favorite characters, they find negativity instead of the positive content they were hoping for. It makes sense why that would be annoying— but in the end of the day it’s everyone’s job to curate their own internet experience.

I tag all of my negative posts with #anti dazai, so it’s pretty easy for a person to just block that tag (or block this account), and so most people don’t have a problem with me. I’ve only run into any sort of problem with two separate tumblr users in the past (one of which is pretty infamous in these bsd tumblr circles)— so from my end of things, I don’t really see all the people getting angry about character-critical content. I know it’s out there, I personally just don’t come across it very often.

I also block very liberally, so that might be a contributing factor to why I don’t see that side of the fandom. But either way.

I’m glad you’re enjoying this blog!! For any given piece of media there will be positive aspects and negative aspects, and everyone can and should feel free to talk as much as they want about both sides. There also isn’t a single right answer— meaning one person could find a character to be written in a very compelling way and someone else can find the character writing shallow— neither person is wrong, so long as they can justify their opinions with textual evidence.

The only time a media interpretation is wrong is when it’s entirely made up. And I don’t mean “this person read the text and came away with a different conclusion than me,” I mean “this person is directly contradicting the text and is giving no reasons for why they might think the text is lying.” There’s always the concept of an unreliable narrator, but on tumblr, the website that’s infamous for lacking any sort of Reading Comprehension… yeah you’re not gonna get the brilliant literary debates everyone’s hoping for.

[olderthannetfic]

I agree that DNIs are best used as a boundary warning / "excuse" to block (not that you need an excuse to block someone, but you know).

Are minors physically capable of pressing a "follow" or "reblog" or "like" button on an account with "🔞 NSFW so minors DNI" in bio? Are antis capable of following someone with "antis not welcome i hate you" in bio? Yes they are, in the same way anyone is physically capable of touching the "do not touch" display in a museum or anyone is physically capable of cheating in a class with a zero tolerance for cheating warning on the syllabus. But once you do it, you have a "reason" to get expelled from the situation now. (yes i know none of these things are on the same level lmao dont worry)

Even then, the group being asked to "not interact" will likely have a miserable experience on the account if they DO interact, so what even is the point? if a terf follows someone who says terfs don't follow, the terf has no right to be shocked when the person starts posting pro-trans stuff. . .if someone hates otherkin and follows someone with an "anti-kins don't interact", and gets upset when that person posts about their kintypes, they only have themselves to blame. . .it almost has troll energy when you get to a certain point? A common thing I see in younger groups on fan twitter (not using younger as an insult nor even as anything to mean "ha cringe teenagers", it's just a genuine observation that this is most common in ~-25 people) is "DNI if you hate my fave (characters/shows/ships/etc)s." If I follow you despite hating your fave shows because I like another fandom you're in, I don't exactly have the right to get annoyed when you post about them. What I do have the right to do is mute the words or unfollow, or realize, "hmm, yeah, maybe that silly DNI i rolled my eyes at initially is there for my own benefit as well as OP's."

I think the only time DNI is a sorta weird thing to expect to be obeyed, is when your post "breaches containment" so to speak. "If you're anti self diagnose, don't follow my mental health blog"? Valid. "Anti self diagnose, don't interact" banner on your posts you post to that blog? A little bit cringe, but overall can still be an out for "I'll block you if I notice you're reblogging my posts and you hold this opinion." "Anti self dx don't follow" warning that's deep in your carrd, that is deep in your links page, that is deep in your blog's pinned profile? Yeah, I'm not gonna check for that just in order to reblog your funny mental health meme that you made. (I'm now realizing this is a bad metaphor as I'm not actually anti self diagnoses so I'd be able to interact with this guy i just made up, but whatever.)

--

I would like people to phrase them as "I will block if" and not "DNI".

[beanghostprincess]

What are you most controversial/unpopular OP opinions??? Sorry if it was answered before

You want me to get canceled so bad-- If I speak-- But idk, I guess I'll say the controversial opinions I can say publicly without a bunch of people coming at me!

Zo$an is a bit... Overrated? And by overrated I mean extremely/annoyingly overrated. I like the ship and its canon dynamic but I think at least 80% of the fandom portrays them in a very mischaracterized way. Not to say that... The ship is literally everywhere and the shippers always look for every little thing to prove they're canon, even if the "proof" has literally nothing to do with them. It's not that I don't enjoy the ship (although I must admit I prefer other dynamics a lot more) I just can't stand shippers that go to extremes. It's funny because I think Zo$an's dynamic is way more interesting and romantic in canon than it will ever be in the fandom. It's a bit sad, ngl. I liked them a lot at first but it got so tiring and now I am pretty exhausted from seeing it everywhere. The people force it to be more than it is when the canon is already pretty fucking great.

Adding to the Zo$san thing. I think that relationship would only work if Luffy is there somehow but it wouldn't last a day without him in the relationship. Unless there's like, a ton of character development most of these people don't make them go through.

One Piece Film Z is my worst enemy. It's such a boring movie. The only good thing is the soundtrack and maybe the suits but God watching that was torture.

Boa hate is uhhhh weird. I mean, I get why the joke about her being in love with Luffy might be annoying, but I think most of you need to learn to understand that Oda's sense of humor is sometimes a bit too exaggerated (and not funny) and it has basically nothing to do with the actual canon dynamics between characters. Boa likes Luffy because he's one of the first men who has ever treated her right, so of course she confuses that feeling with love. And of course, yeah, it isn't canon. Whatever. Just read between the lines, maybe? And also, stop using words like "pedo" to describe her because using that term so lightly about 1) a fictional character and 2) somebody who's clearly not a pedo is fucked up. Lmao. Do you even know what that word means???

Once again complaining about Pudding hate and saying that it's stupid. I won't overanalyze because I always do it with her, but the only reason people hate her is for misogynistic reasons and because they're babying Sanji. Evil male characters are okay and hot and very traumatized but the second it's a woman she's the most evilest person ever! Because God forbid they make mistakes! Suddenly their character development isn't valid because they hurt their babygirl!

Now that we're talking about my dearest Pudding. Not tagging anybody of course, but I saw this post with so many interactions of people agreeing about Sanji considering violence as a sign of love which??? Doesn't make sense at all?? OP said it was because he couldn't tell the difference between love/abuse because of his family, but that's just... Not accurate. That could only happen if they had manipulated him into thinking abuse is a type of love, but he had healthy love growing up. Even when he was with the Vinsmokes (Sora and Reiju, I love you). And yet OP said Sanji considered Pudding's behavior flirting (wrong) and that's why he let her attack him (nope) and that it was proof of Zo$an. And okay, it's not a hugely popular theory, but a lot of people agreed with it and it bothered me a lot because it's both out of character and also using Pudding (complex female character) once again to try and prove the canon of a ship (that doesn't have anything to do with WCI either???). It just bothers me. People can perceive the story however they want but... Y'know.

OPLA isn't that good. Or good at all? I only like it because I like the cast and it's funny seeing my blorbos irl. But the script is simple and dull and just stupid most of the time. The characters are either simplified, mischaracterized, or forgotten. And tbh most of the shots are very awful and could be a lot better. The directing is also nonexistent. It's 6/10 and 3 of those points are because both the Zolu and the cast.

Apparently this is a very common theory about Nami's origins, but, uh, I don't think we need to know? What else do you need to know about her? People say she's a lost princess or something like that as if we didn't have a lost princess already (Sanji ily). Repeating the same plot would be boring and underwhelming, but also? It'd be extremely useless for the plot and it'd go against everything about Nami's story and the way Luffy reacts to it.

Luffy isn't canon aroace. In fact, the reasoning people use for him being "coded" is the same Oda uses for Zoro too and Zoro is almost never portrayed as the "idiot who doesn't know what sex is" the way Luffy often is. If you're calling Luffy canon aroace for what Oda said about him being focused on adventures, the same goes for Zoro being focused on his dream. They could be coded arospec but there's nothing confirmed and the constant discourse about it is stupid. Attacking others because of their ships just because you don't agree with them and saying it's wrong using our identity to do it is very fucked up. Especially since most of the time people complaining aren't even aroace. The only reason people do it (attacking others saying they can't ship Luffy and that it's "weird" and "wrong") is that they infantilize Luffy/Don't want him getting in between their ships (<- aroace person writing this) (also, it's very ableist since people agree on Luffy also being neurodivergent coded and treating him like a kid bc of that but this isn't about that now).

Somehow this is very common. Some fucking how. I can't believe I have to say this. I'm tired of people blaming Usopp for what happened in Water 7. Or in general hating Usopp. Actually, he's one of the best-written characters in the whole show and he's so underappreciated it's so frustrating.

Sanji's perv jokes are annoying af and we all know that, but people who hate the character and consider him a red flag for that are missing the point completely. The point being "Oda exaggerates jokes to an annoying extent and most of the time they don't even reflect the character". I understand they can make you uncomfortable (same here tbh) but reducing Sanji to only those jokes is a waste of his character. You need to take jokes less seriously.

If I see one of these "red flag OP boys" TikToks adding Law/Ace/Zoro/Sanji next to fucking Doffy I will riot. Also, stop adding Crocodile there. He's a mafioso, there's NO way he won't be a sweetheart to his lover.

Baron Omatsuri's artstyle and animation is amazing and it fits the plot and aesthetic of the movie perfectly and people saying it's ugly will forever bother me.

"Usopp is suddenly hot after timeskip!" He has always been hot what the fuck are you talking about.

People reduce Nami to her "mean"/"sarcastic" personality a lot when she's quite literally one of the most kind-hearted characters of all. That being said, morally speaking she's probably one of the worst. I could explain how that works but I don't want to do it now, the point is-- Let the girl be sweet instead of making her mean all the time. And also, let her be mean and selfish without making it her entire personality. There's something called "balance".

Film Red was kind of bad. Like, the songs are amazing (thanks, Ado) but the ending is awful and the plot is very meh. I'm only here for Uta and Shanks but the rest of the characters are just useless. I do appreciate Sanji's hair in the movie, though.

[melancholic-entrails]

found this, felt wholesome, was about to reblog then saw the "proship fuck off thanks" so to respect their wishes, i am going to post a copy of their message here, because all of it was great except the end

( really, how do you say "learn to be a decent person" and then next sentence you say "proship fuck off thanks") i cropped out the username cuz i dont want someone to harrass them/anxious ( just in case). i copied and pasted the text to underneath the image!

[start of text description]

Shoutout to self shippers that don’t like sharing their f/o(s), there’s nothing wrong with feeling jealous, sad, possessive, some characters are very special to you personally, or you just feel so deeply and dearly for them, and that’s okay. I get it. Doesn’t matter if the character is extremely popular or completely unknown, you’re valid. Same goes for not wanting to see canon x canon ships with your f/o!

And if you’re only comfortable sharing with certain people that’s cool to!

Self shipping can be an incredibly personal experience, and there’s no right or wrong way to go about it, you’re not inconsiderate or greedy or annoying or anything for being uncomfortable sharing .

Your f/o(s) love you so much, always remember it’s okay to curate your experience selfshipping online, it’s perfectly okay to block tags and or blogs if you need to. Don’t make yourself suffer by continually exposing yourself to discomfort 👍

This post does not apply to you if you actively hate on / send hate / are shitty to other people that do share your f/o(s). Learn to be a decent person.

[end of text description]

i wanted to add on to their point, because everything they said was good, they were just being gatekeepy- which is their perogative, i just think positivity should be for everybody and i would like to make it accessible. op if you see this, please don't reply as a: i'm in your dni and b: i'm posting this for the sole reason of spreading positivity. so yeah, everything op said also counts for proshippers and profic peeps. <3

[damnfandomproblems]

737903141318770688

Let me get this straight. Some fic writers state a retconned, canon divergent aspect at the beginning of their fics, which is a common courtesy that fic writers do for the reader's convenience, and to help the reader judge if they want to continue reading the fic.

And the OP asker calls this "weird". For...being direct, for straight up saying "Hiccup still has his leg in this".

What? What?

No really, what does OP expect them to say instead? What would make it not weird? "Um...Yeah, so I absolutely must write him as not being an amputee because of these reasons: reason, reason, reason. I'm so sorry. uwu I know fics are supposed to be representation, even though canon is still there, even though I may have a number of good reasons for doing this canon divergence, and I feel awful, I'm so sorry, but I can't, self-flagellation, self-flagellation, apple in my mouth, roast me." Or...? And god forbid someone uses an exclamation point, especially when many HTTYD fans are teens and young adults who overuse the things, if that's another thing OP was referring to as being weird.

God forbid someone just doesn't want to write him with a peg leg. You're not entitled to anything, OP, it can annoy you, you're valid, but don't you dare go after people who are simply being good fandom/fic citizens and letting people know what their fics are about.

And from what I've seen, Hiccup losing his leg is one of the biggest canon divergences I know of in all the fics I've seen with him, save for maybe Stoic. If seeing divergent fics where the main character has a peg leg retconned bothers you that much, methinks you're in the wrong fandom because it will never not be a thing. And I say this as a canon snob who's not a fan of that retcon myself.

Posting since this is a response to a previous ask.

[thesinglesjukebox]

GUNNA - "FUKUMEAN"

From Daniel, a post-release single that reached the top 5 in the US (and #1 in *checks notes* Latvia?)...

[4.85]

Daniel Montesinos-Donaghy: I'll be honest, I really thought Gunna's career was over after taking a plea deal related to Young Thug's ongoing RICO case. Hip hop doesn't like the potential of cooperation with the law, let alone snitching, so we had several months of high-ranking peers throwing shots at Gunna and op-eds with titles like "Did Gunna's Plea Deal Get Him Shunned?" Regardless, "Fukumean' is the biggest hit of his post-"Drip Too Hard" career; whatever his billion-stream track with Nav sounds like, it doesn't have the narrative of overcoming struggle and shrugging off the naysayers. Which is hilarious because this is very much business as usual, a triplet-tripping filip with a genderless chorus of synthetic sneers every few beats: "FUCK YOU MEEEANNN?!?" I couldn't tell you a single memorable bar that Gunna delivers here, and yet this song has been stuck in my head all year. It's the least defiant show of public defiance in some time, the "Dust Off Your Shoulder" mantra as an eyeroll, a club-engineered megahit that doesn't tidy up click-clacking sounds of swaying jewellery or clinking ice cubes by the microphone. It's not laziness, or rebellion, or pretending everything's okay, but some weird amalgamation of the three and I don't know what the fukthatmeans. [6]

Oliver Maier: I've written before that Gunna's real strength is an ear for beats that suit his bleakly restrained style. That's true here: the "ee-yah" noise is an unlikely earworm that I can imagine other rappers instantly passing on, but this lacks the winning stupidity of "pushin P", the sugariness of "SKYBOX" or "DOLLAZ ON MY HEAD", or whatever "Speed It Up" has that makes me love it so much. [6]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: I still listen to Gunna in desperate hope that I can one day reclaim the pure glee I experienced the first time I heard "Drip Too Hard." This doesn't quite get there -- Gunna (understandably) sounds slightly defeated here -- a resolute figure of survival, but not one that's having all that much fun even as he talks about "shittin on all you lil' turds." And if you deliver that line deadpan I'm not sure we have the same musical goals. [5]

Will Adams: Three things: an annoyed and/or annoying "...yeah?"; the title hook, delivered as a schoolyard taunt; "shittin' on all you lil' turds". Even at two minutes, "Fukumean" is light on ideas, and the ones available are only kind of good. [4]

Ian Mathers: Some songs would get by on either the "fuck you mean?" bit of the "a-yup" bit, and they'd be fine. Using both well in about two minutes that also fits in a compelling performance from Gunna (lots of lines are just sticking with me, I've been muttering "I see the ho with precision/Get rich my only decision" to myself for a bit) ought to be gilding the lily, but it feels just about right. [8]

Wayne Weizhen Zhang: Every "eeeyahh" is methodical, consuming, and withering: "Fukumean" isn't an all out assault of swagger so much as a series of waves meant to drag you out from shore. [7]

Joshua Minsoo Kim: My immediate reaction was to think of the repeated squeaking in "The Box," but this is a track so deflated and bare that everything is reduced to a haze. The hook is so much of a non-presence it's hard to care -- it's sung with the insistence of children fighting sleep. [4]

Micha Cavaseno: Gunna's been boring before, so him half-heartedly going in over a particularly uninspired detuned piano loop here isn't a disappointment as much as it's further validation of how little he's ever had going on for him as a rapper. Hell, the best part of this song isn't even himself, it's the backing vocal chorus (which truthfully has nothing to do with him and might even overshadow him?). But yeah, Gunna remains one-note as ever though I'm glad he's separated himself from perhaps the most noxious legal trial to ever involve rapper(s). I'll take Atlanta's rap scene being unlistenable over their rap scene being mass incarcerated any day. [2]

Taylor Alatorre: Opinions may differ on this, but I personally don't enjoy being yelled at. I don't have this issue with Bone Crusher on "Never Scared" or Lil Jon on "Bia' Bia'," who are both much louder, but for some reason I can't help feeling that the Greek chorus (Atlantan chorus?) in "Fukumean" is shouting the title phrase at me specifically. Like, what did I do, Gunna? I mostly liked a Gift & a Curse! The song's official instrumental includes neither this hook nor the possibly Sho Madjozi-inspired "iyah" vocalization; going by the YouTube comments bemoaning their absence, it's these two elements that have most fueled its staying power. They do indeed make it memorable, and instantly recognizable in a public setting. Apart from those steady drips of attitude, though, there just isn't much to feed on here. [5]

Nortey Dowuona: "A music writer handed a Gunna song to discuss finds himself confronted by several problems, not the least which is the necessity of squaring with his conscience the fact he is discussing Gunna at all." -- mostly copied from James Baldwin on James M. Cain's The Moth in The Cross of Redemption, page 291. [0]

Brad Shoup: Might be the absurd amount of Post Malone I streamed this year, but I'm trying not to underrate the modern compact pop-rap single. But he doesn't have any lines better than the (very good) hooks. [5]

Katherine St Asaph: Rarely does one hear a track with such monumental determination to not bang. In a way, it's impressive. [5]

Alfred Soto: Dependent on its hook, this obscene banality barely exists -- a bit like Gunna himself. [6]

[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox ]

[cinna-bunnie]

To be clear in my last ask, I’m not trying to be mean or start drama or anything, I promise, I’m just so emotional, the quote below is from it’s pinned tab and I just want you to know that so many people are mean and hateful but that post isn’t meant to be anything other than caution and information, at the end of the day as long as you are happy and not hurting anyone that’s the point of life! To live and love and find joy however that is done. I am addicted to weed and probably will be for the rest of my life and that’s okay. I didn’t realize that till recently. I’m sorry if I don’t make sense

Here’s the excerpt from its pinned post

“☀️ i am intellectually disabled. i struggle to articulate my thoughts coherently and to communicate with words sometimes, so please don't make bad faith assumptions about me based on what's missing from my posts. i value kindness and compassion above all and i would appreciate a little grace in your responses to me. i'm also not a scholar - just a person who hopes to share something of value - so please don't treat my posts like solid resources. i always encourage fact checking my posts and reblogs, because like everyone, i am not immune to misinformation.”

^ yeah op seems nice and personally i like smoking cigarettes and drinking and smoking weed lol but like, I'm doing fine and life is fulfilling and enjoyable for many reasons outside of that. (i don't do all of those every day 😹 i do b smoking though!!)

but my y'all = everyone who reblogged it applies to, and generally just comes from how I've seen people be treated and been treated. it is a widespread thing, people are trying to get better about it but sometimes u just need to say it. i also literally Just woke up and it was one of the first things i read so i was extra annoyed 😹 sry to op but it's a controversial topic on a post that broke containment. people need to be normal about drugs, and stop defaulting to being more restrictive for no reason.

i think a post like that is extra complicated too and will always invite discussion bc ppl's feelings will be based on their own experiences. like if u lost someone or are dealing w someone who gets bad when they're not sober that's different and also 100% valid. otoh if people who weren't sober or smoked or had coffee w you were always angels you'd feel v differently.

there is a greater conversation to be had about it, is my point i guess

[jadedrrose]

I respect all ships in OP. Except the illegal ones, I've honestly seen Luffy x ace and/or Sabo, Cora X doffy, law X doffy, and Cora X law.

Like- they're illegal.

But there's one ship that doesn't sit well with me though, the robin X law shippers.

I mean, the two WOULD be interested in one another but on a platonic level, cause they both have goals in life and I'm sure they wouldn't. In my opinion at least, right?

But hey, I respect all ships because those are people's opinions. Unless they are illegal. Like who the heck ships brothers?

Anyway, all ships are valid except the ones that are illegal.

There isn’t a single ship I like in one piece at all…. But I also RARELY ever care enough to ship characters (from anything) together. So that’s why I never comment on it/post abt it. But Law and Luffy will always bother me, and the fact that if you say so (on Twitter) gets you harassed is straight red flags. You don’t even have to be aggressive about it, just being like “I personally dislike this ship” gets people screaming at you in the replies lol. I don’t understand why they get so pressed over you finding their ship weird/not entertaining to you? I’m sorry I don’t like a minor/barely legal person with someone in his mid twenties? (And also, the “but 13 is the age in Japan!!!” argument means nothing to me since that’s still disgusting and morally wrong. Plenty of things are legal but still wrong…) Also I’m 99% sure Luffy is canonically asexual, no??? Idk, don’t quote me on that one

And also I am in fact aware that I’m 19, and if a 26 year old was interested in me I would be running and screaming (in terror). Absolutely not happening💀 in fact I refuse to date anyone who’s even like… 2 years older than me (and nobody younger at all)…. that’s just my personal preference idk?? I can’t even explain it tbh lol

Anyway yeah I just try to steer clear of all ships, but when I’ve blocked the word/tag everywhere and still get the (overly sexual) content shoved down my throat on Twitter/Instagram it gets annoying… so that’s why I made the post lol. I think I’d only comment on it again if someone was actively harassing me with photos of it in my dms LMAO 😭 (please don’t do this 🥲)

(Nobody be mad at me after this post please I just wanted to explain 😔)

[acceptsonlynttnightwing]

Just wanted to say, thank you for your detailed defense of Elwing and Eärendil in some posts I've seen recently.

I've been going nuts listening to people bash them without really considering and or understanding what was actually happening to them.

These Fëanorian apologists, in their quest to find the tiniest shred of redemption in the Kinslayers, needlessly villainize their victims Elwing and Eärendil for the innocent and somewhat naive decisions they made under immense pressure in the worst of circumstances.

It's a relief to know I'm not the only one out there who recognizes that!

No problem, happy to help :) I think I know what post you're talking about - unfortunately the OP blocked me when after I said Maglor didn't actually save the twins so I don't think you can see it anymore. I'm planning on writing a full length post reconciling the different Silmarilion version and their contexts.

It really annoys me when people go "Yeah, Maglor had no choice but to adopt Elros and Elrond or they'd have died" and often imply (especially in fics and snippets) that Elwing and Earendil were such terrible parents and while the third Kinslaying sucks, the twins were better off because of it.

Like, how do you so massively leave out the fact that there were survivors of Sirion who were able to informe Gil-Gilad and Cirdan of the twins being, and I quote, "taken captive" (how would they know if the twins had been left alone to be "rescued"?). And, you know, Balar was a few hours away + Ulmo guarded the waters, safeguarding them from the orcs. The twins would have been fine had they been left with their people and even the biggest Maglor/Maedhros fan cannot say they were better parental figures that Cirdan.

Also, Tolkien himself said the twins were "taken captive" and had no further interaction between them and Maglor - as you might imagine there would be Elrond really considered him his true father. On the other hand, Elrond was proudly half-elven, appears to mention his lineage with pride and named his sons with the family -El (or just straight up "Evenstar" lol).

The - sadly rather common, I've discovered - idea that the Maglor found the twins abandoned in a cave is completely false and the result of what I assume was some kind of Reddit Chinese whispers. Tolkien wrote once in a LETTER that Elrond and Elros were so named because they were carried off by the sons of Feanor and were found LEFT in a cave. He later changed the origin of their names (to honour Menelrond and Doriath instead). There is no version whatsoever (trust me, I just went through every version of Quenta Silmarilion in History of ME AGAIN) wherein MAGLOR found the twins in a cave, only one where he left them in one.

Could/Should Elwing have sent the twins away as soon as the Feanorians found out the jewel was in Sirion? Yes, definitely.

But was she an idiot for not doing so? Not really.

The only place of safety left was Balar (Doriath, Nargothrond, Gondolin and the Fallas were all gone), a small war camp of an island barely a few hours away. It wasn't a leap to assume she could sent the twins away quickly if that ever became a necessity.

Did Elwing have valid reasons for not assuming they would attack immediately? Also yes. Maidhros sent letters of friendship and attacked even before Earendil could return - basically in the midst of negotiations. And while some may say "The Feanorians attacked Doriath! It should have been obvious they'd attack Sirion", Sirion was the first time the Feanorians had killed Noldor. Unto that point, the kinslayings had been of Teleri and Sindar/Falathrim elves - it was a decent assumption that they wouldn't attack their own people, especially not the ones ruled by the grandson of Turgon (their previous High King).

I think the problem is that a lot of people read LOTR and then skim the Silmarilion (fair, some parts can be a LOT) and get a lot of their information from online sites, which while super fun and informative aren't always the most reliable. Especially with Tolkien's work, it's easy to mix up the different timelines and versions of events, especially when you want things to be a certain way.

And since the earlier drafts of the Silmarlion (from before Tolkien even wrote or conceptualised LotR) present a far more sympathetic Maidhros and Maglor, it's tempting for fans to bring those versions of their favourites into the final version. The problem is, things were so different and so many characters didn't exist in the original that TOLKIEN changed thing - for example, there's a quote from the old Quenta Silmarlion that says Elrond stayed with Maglor for a while - pretty strongly in favour of happy kidnap family, right? Well, that version of Elrond was also supposed to become the high king of the Noldor! He was also a single child since Elros didn't exist - neither did Gil-Galad, Galadriel, Celeborn, Thranduil and Celebrimbor (Cirdan went missing and was presumed dead after the Havens fell to Morgoth). Elrond and Maglor were basically the only elves of any note left in ME.

It's pretty inaccurate and kinda dishonest to mash that version into later, more fleshed out ones.

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

Don't get me wrong, I like Maedhros and Maglor (mainly Maglor actually), but I also like Elwing and Earendil and Gil-Galad and Cirdan and I'd like if we could not shit on the later characters and their relationships.

I, personally, prefer to think of the twins and Maglor loving each other but having a very complicated relationship - one that acknowledges the messiness of the past and doesn't try handwaving it away. Especially because the twins weren't with them for long enough to really move past that past - ten/fifteen years max (and that's only if the Feanorians didn't fight in the war of wrath - again, unlikely, because they were part of the camp when the war ended - so it's probably closer to 6/7 years).

[kokikwii]

I know this is like, the most non-issue possible but it's beginning to really bother me how people use the tumblr aita blog. There were always fake posts on reddit, but I feel like I either didn't see them as much due to its moderation and also downvotes that it was easier to avoid fake ones. It really annoys me to see how many people are either 1) fandom posting 2) posting from their cat's pov (it was kind of cute/funny the first few times) or 3) not seemingly really understanding how to use aita. To be fair it's always been a place where people go for validation and would refuse to see how they're in the wrong even through a million comments, but even then there was that pinned mod comment that had OP explain why they thought they could be in the wrong. (If you just KNOW you're nta, why bother posting something?) Plus there was this rule of no violence on reddit that I think people should probably know about on here. It was seen as both above reddit's pay grade and also often can get into legal territory pretty quickly. I don't think ANY of this is the fault of the person who runs that blog btw, I think they're doing an awesome job especially bc I think it is only one person who has to sort through all of these themselves and probably has to deal with a lot more bullshit than they'd like. Anyways yeah idk

[dav3katz]

Hello ! Nice to see a new homestuck blog. This fandom dead as shit lol. Do you have any just general hcs for what it’s like to date dave or dirk?

Dave relationship hcs

- Dave is pretty new to relationships, but he tries to be as cliche and romantic as he is able without letting his cool guy act be sabotaged.

- but at the same time .. he is like.. a huge fuckin dork lmao like overly sappy and just .. my god this boy is actually a mess

- he makes raps for you, yeah how original OP. Listen..!!! I know.

- but seriously yeah makes you raps and then wants your opinion.. he’s dying inside waiting for your reaction to it, but he’s happy when you say you like them :))

- he craves validation, especially for his raps tho.

- but sometimes he gets up in his feelings and wants you to validate him as a whole

- which he will deny getting up in said feelings

- teases you a lot

- he’s also always blushy around you .. blushy boy ..

- so like any affection he gives .. big blush on his face

- likes holding your hand a lot (and kissing them)

- likes sitting in your lap as well, doesn’t matter if he’s bigger than you or not

- goes “mwah mwah mwah” everytime he kisses you

- draws dicks on you while you’re minding your own business . He does it to karkat too tho

- doesn’t matter if he’s taller, when you kiss he wraps his arms around your neck, with your hands on his waist

- he likes his hair being played with but he won’t tell you that ;p

- likes you wearing his shades btw . He thinks it’s cute he dies inside whenever you do

- rambles to you a lot.. big surprise .. but he will ramble to you about anything and everything and appreciates you listening to him

- he rambles about you to rose a lot, well just anyone really? But mostly does it to rose, John, karkat, and kanaya.

- are you actually strong enough to carry him? Or is he just floating? The world may never know..

- he’s clingy and is always with you. On the off chance he isn’t you’re send a million “mwah” “love u or whatever” “<3”

- he can only keep the cool guy act for so long okay .. but he can be lame and sappy… just for you..

- but at first he’s awkward about his feelings he has so much he wants to let out but he’s trying so hard not to be a complete dorky loser in front of you so he’s so weird at first about affection and just.. a lot of things.. when he finally lets loose he’s fine

- he’s annoying and likes annoying you >=)

- “babebabebabebabebabebabebabebabe” “WHAT” “hi”

- the only reason he confessed is rose ? Like tbh . I think he would repress his feelings for the rest of his goddamn life . Especially if you’re a dude cuz holy shit

- but yea he spends so much time trying to not let his whole heart out, he can’t help but wanna express himself with you (when he’s more comfortable).

- kanaya and rose find it funny to just make you nice outfits so that Dave has like a heart attack <33

- “Dave look at this new outfit kanaya made me!” “Dave your face is redder than usual are you ok” “yes just having a heart attack is all.”

- the first time you you kissed him, he’s red in the face and just starts randomly beatboxing bc he cannot handle how cute you are and how great that was

- likes just chillin and listening to music with you

- loves cuddling you to sleep!! Usually likes being the big spoon . He likes the idea that you’re safe in his arms

- but like? Also likes being the smaller one when he’s just tired and sad and just .. needs to feel safe for once

- but if you try to enforce being the big spoon it takes some getting used to but he likes it so =)

- you guys got your own language at this point, communicating random shit with your hands.

“WHAT THE HELL ARE THEY SAYING NOW. IS THAT HUMAN SIGN LANGAUGE?” “Definitely not.” “Yes I’m Not Sure What They’re Saying Either” “oh! They’re saying how karkat is really fuckin stupid! Haha!” “John why do you even know that” “WHAT THE ACTUAL SHIT. WHAT.”

- carries you bridal style while he’s like flying.. just like.. looking down at nice views with him and shit.. so long as you trust him enough for that lmao

- he’s a dork and gets you flowers when you go on dates =) he refused to when you started dating so now he uses every opportunity he can

- also he’s very chill, like goes wherever you want to and it’s very hard for you to upset him

- likes neck kisses of any kind . Receiving or giving

- just stares at you .. a lot .. usually you can’t tell because of the shades but if you pay attention to the way he smiles you would be able to.. he gets this warm smile when he looks at you

- he just loves looking at you.. all the time… in a non creepy way ..

- he does worry a lot, so he does get a bit protective at times. Given everything he’s gone through, naturally he fears something could happen to you.

- he wants to be able to keep you safe and he fears he can’t do that. + he just fears the day you’ll die . He’s just . Rlly scared for all of that and thinks about it a lot and sometimes just needs some reassurance

Dirk relationship hcs

- oh boy

- well, he’s extremely grateful you’re dating him, he’s pretty self aware that he’s not dating material. Or at least, thinks he isn’t.

- of course, there will be some problems to work through in your relationship, he needs somebody who can get him to open up and talk about his emotions. It’s hard but he can succeed if he tries at it.

- he would hesitate for a long time to tell you how he felt about you, but I think his friends would be really encouraging about it.

- plus yknow… Hal … would probably do something

- speaking of, Hal does a lot of things to embarrass dirk and expose him for his affections to you, even while you’re dating.

- “he totally lovesssss you” “no I don’t” “he wants to kisssss youuu” “shut up”

- it takes awhile for him to be affectionate, and to truly express emotions very freely. However, when he does, he does.

- he won’t get too sappy on you, but he’s a lot better at expressing himself than at the beginning of your relationship. If you say “I love you” he says it back, and may even say it first on days he’s feeling particularly softer than usual

- he typically likes buying you things, it’s mainly how he shows affection

- he gets awkward at first with physical affections, but he grows to love it. Never initiates it though, even though he wants to.

- just kinda acts all tsundere abt it tbh

- but he loves it :)

- usually the most cuddly when you’re both sleepy and tired

- he likes being picked up, wrapping his legs around your waist and his arms around your neck :D

- that goes for while kissing too

- likes touching your face

- speaking of touching loves being touched now and is low key clingy af he just doesn’t wanna show it. Cant blame him tho he hasn’t been touched like almost his entire life

- he also teases you a lot, more than dave would though

- it’s how he shows affection <3

- you play with this hair and he goes >:( he takes too long to do it everyday ok . Don’t play with his hair unless he’s gonna sleep

- usually likes control in what you guys do for dates, but doesn’t care if you come up with plans sometimes

- he likes watching anime with you

- he gets kinda blushy and flustered.. quite a bit.. especially when you’re being touchy

- likes wearing your clothes, or you wearing his but it usually leads to more NSFW thoughts so I will not go too into that LOL

- big on cuddles, number one way to get him to be very touchy with you and affectionate

- likes putting his face in your neck when you cuddle, or when he’s feeling cuddly and affectionate in general

- when you cuddle he clings onto you like some koala

- when cuddling he tends to be more open and vulnerable so sometimes just vents about shit

- or like mumbles in your neck about how much he loves you and he’s sorry he doesn’t tell you it enough

- when you text him he gets all giddy and shit . All excited like “Omg haha what do they want”

- likes just listening to music with you and vibing

- cursed hc but he listens to blink-182 with you

- also . Yes bad at expressing himself at times but do not doubt his affections for you . You are quite literally his world and he will defend you through thick and thin

- touch is his love language now BTW . Kinda your fault tho :)

- tends to pay close attention to you, just little things he notices about you that even you don’t notice about yourself

- he’s not trying to be creepy promise he just likes looking at you

- which means though that he noticed your behaviors and habits

- and tends to copy them without meaning to

- like if you tend to say “like” a lot, guess what he says it a lot now.

- do you make specific hand movements when you talk? Well .. so does he now

- roxy is your guys number 1 shipper btw . They think you guys are just the cutest

- but absolutely teases tf out of dirk

- also Jane is the fucking “lesbian bullies gay man” meme but with you she’s like “hello sweetie honey baby Angel”

- Jake loves you guys too =)) he always asks dirk how you’re doin

- imagine a double date with John and Roxy. “I’m cold” “here you go Roxy! :)” “I’m cold too.” “Well damn y/n I can’t control the weather.”

- he is a good bf tho . Promise .

[hopefullystillatheatrestudent]

this might be a weird thought but the way jensen performs masculinity (and i KNOW it’s a performance cause like, have you SEEN the mockumentary?) is just.... so inherently queer to me lmao

ok. okokokokokok. you asked for this. i have a LOT of thoughts on this. it’s gonna be under a cut because i’m gonna be annoying and psychoanalyse a celebrity i’ve never met(and hope i never do) but trust and believe when i tell you i know what i’m talking about so

you want my opinion? here goes. there is absolutely no way jensen ackles is straight. i hear you, ‘how do you know that he’s bi? that’s invasive and creepy’ but may i counter that point by saying how do you know he’s straight???? why is the default for everyone heterosexual? that’s a toxic mentality to have; ‘oh you don’t know for sure so just treat him like he’s 100% straight just in case’ like....what? heteronormativity drives me wild i’m sorry

and also, um, just to, um, prove my point that this man is decidedly not straight™(i really don’t want to do this but like it has to be said) we KNOW he’s not straight because his d*ck has spoken for itself around misha, like, four times. I HATE SAYING IT!!!!!!! but, um, straight men don’t get aroused by men. ...do i really need to explain myself further???? that’s what i thought(and don’t give me the ‘it could have been for unrelated reasons’ or ‘that wasn’t a boner!’ crap because um good lord yes it was and misha caused every single one so no it wasn’t a coincidence i’m gonna move on before i collapse into myself like a dying star)

anyway, on to the topic at hand which is jensen and his performative masculinity. and it’s a juicy one.

after the unconscious amount of hours i’ve put into watching and subconsciously judging jackles, i have come to the conclusion that like, 90% of how he presents himself and talks and even moves is an act. it’s a facade. it’s a shield. he is not that person. it actually seems exhausting, because he tries to compose himself in this macho, manly, confident and effortlessly cool way, but he’s not that person he desperately wishes he was and wants to be perceived as. he’s on guard every second, even the slightest tilt of his head is like, pre-meditated in some way? if i’m going FULL body language analyst mode, i’ve noticed he has a certain posture he always shifts himself into, and it’s very ‘pursed lips, stoic faced, gruff voiced, square-shoulder, broad and manly’ but, not to be rude jensen, it kind of reads as a little kid imitating the adults he thinks are cool? oof i am going IN huh(it’s out of love though i promise)

he is trying to be this person at every second:

because that’s who he wishes he was, because that’s how he gets validation from the people around him that he looks up to; straight white guys. but to me, who he presents himself to be at conventions is just as much of a performance as this whole eye of the tiger bit is.

oh i should mention i know his body language isn’t naturally like that because how he naturally carries himself is actually pretty flamboyant? like he seriously must be toning himself down HARD

examples:

there’s no tension in his body here as opposed to the eye of the tiger gif. i’d describe it as...generally loose and free? he’s at ease when he moves like that and you can see it.

oh and dude!!! DUDE!!!! how could i not mention the fucking SPECTACLE that is his voice??? jensen. i watched season one. i know where your voice naturally sits. THAT IS NOT WHAT YOU SOUND LIKE. and there have been so many accounts of fans visiting jensen in his trailer and being surprised that his real voice is two octaves higher. again, his performance of masculinity is all encompassing. he can’t even talk normally because, in his mind, that’s a chink in his armour.

and, like you said, anon, this whole smokes-and-mirrors gong show of ‘i am the cool texan man’ is inherently queer. who are you trying to impress??? guys??? that’s pretty gay dude.(btw: gay[honorary])

i feel like i’ve already read this man for filth but i have to keep going bc i have so much to say

ok next thing i’m gonna talk about is how jensen says one thing but everything else about him tells us the exact opposite. another HUGE element of performative masculinity, ONE THAT DEAN WINCHESTER IS A MASTER OF. have i mentioned how dean and jensen are like mirrors of each other when it comes to their sexuality and queer identity??? because it is fascinating how everything i say about jensen also directly applies to dean.

allow me to introduce the grumpy face™. as in, the face he glues on when he’s enjoying doing something but doesn’t want to let anyone know it. and it’s ALWAYS when he’s doing something that could be seen as unmanly in any way. (and when i say manly i mean the ‘ideal’ version of manhood that doesn’t really exist but that jensen seems to be striving for[and dean too])

prime example is this video he did with daneel. the grumpy face™ doesn’t budge the whole time as he’s like,,,,playing an instrument and acting like he doesn’t want to bc i guess that’s too girly??? but i also find this video fascinating because the joke IN it is kind of that they’re both poking fun at him for being so insecure about playing a freaking flute. because, i mean, he gets into it, but he wants you to think he is not.

also this picture.

what is this. i hate them. jensen is smushing himself into misha’s forehead but noooo his face is telling us ‘i hate this’ because CLEARLY he does. also misha’s so happy ew gross

he does that face in photo ops with misha ALL THE TIME but how many times has he also literally asked the con goers if he can also have those photos on his phone too? because of course he actually loves touching misha and is actually a sentimental fool but he tries so hard to hide it and fails so spectacularly.

oh and this. and of COURSE this. actually let’s talk about the hitch kiss for a hot minute because it’s a perfect example of exactly what i’m talking about

(he is so transparent guys. he tries so hard but he’s so obvious.)

1. misha was never supposed to be onstage with him. so it’s a boldface LIE and OBVIOUS PLOY TO GET MISHA TO KISS HIM when he says ‘they’d like us to make out now’. but of course the way he says it is ‘oh my god can you believe what these crazy panel people are making us do haha but i mean what they say goes amirite’. same energy as ‘oh my god did you just dare us to kiss rn???’ ‘....no i didn’t’ ‘oh my god i can’t believe you’d ask that haha but i can’t say no to a dare lol’ it’s the SAME THING

2. the fact that he was in the worst mood before misha came onstage and FAKE KISSING HIM made him feel...SO?? much better? like not just a little better a lot better like, again, that says a lot, because if they weren’t dating he would not be in a better mood if misha kissed his cheek unprompted. bc that cheek kiss wasn’t a joke it was a genuine sign of affection and AHHHH

3. after the kiss happens. you know, the one that jensen actively leans into and is smiling like an idiot the whole time through and is quite clearly having the time of his life during....he says ‘well, that was uncomfortable’. .......my guy. um. i don’t know how to tell you that i do in fact have eyes and you are NOT pulling the fast one you think you are

like i’m so sorry jensen but i have you pegged. it’s literally no use.

god there’s so many instances of him doing this with misha specifically. the whole ‘ew gross lol’ but then everything about him tells us the exact opposite. like this(i hate this. how dare he say ‘he has though, hasn’t he?’ LIKE THAT?????)

so yeah my point with that is he really wants us to think he is one thing when he is the antithesis of what he’s trying to be. he really likes those things that he talks down about, and everything he’s loudly projecting is all to hide how he really feels. he went to a gay bar with daneel, for crying out loud. he wants to play a role in drag. he’s queer and he likes it. pov: you’re jensen ackles train of thought: ‘ok so i really like this thing that people might make fun of me for or call me gay for liking so if i just say ‘lol as if’ and make a grossed-out face they will be FOOLED. i am a genius. hey misha wanna blow on my ear lol i meAN GROSS EW’

i have two more things i want to talk about when it comes to this topic so PLEASE bear with me anon this is why you took so long to answer clearly lmao

ok so we’re now going to go over my favorite hot take of all time. which is ‘how do we know dean’s performing masculinity? because sam isn’t.’ only replace dean with jensen and sam with jared and oh my god do we ever have a case

jared is as STRAIGHT as they come. he is secure in that knowledge. and that’s why he is perfectly comfortable treating misha like this:

and not try to scream ‘i am not enjoying doing this!!!!!!’ at us. because he doesn’t care what we think of his sexuality like jensen does(because he has nothing to hide whereas jensen DOES)

something i found the other day that no one has brought up but i SCREAMED upon finding it is this one clip THAT I CAN’T FIND OH GOD but i promise i’m not making it up. i can’t believe i can’t find it guys it is gold. i need need NEED to talk about it. and if anyone knows what i’m referencing and can apply links in any way i will love you forever but here’s what happens off the top of my head:

ok so i’m a bit too braindead to explain it perfectly but um basically it’s a j2 panel and someone brings up magic mike and i think jared says ‘yeah i didn’t watch it’ and then jensen says ‘all the way through’. stupid joke. whatever. the joke is that jared is gay for watching magic mike.

and then i literally kid you not. jared gets this like ‘jesus christ ok dude? lol’ look on his face and then goes ‘projecting much, mr. ackles?’ and jensen gets a guilty look on his face and walks away. and jared did not say it as a joke. he was being dead pan and earnest. and jensen knew it too, he knew he was projecting. i wish i could show you guys the clip i promise if i ever find it i’ll link it but IS THAT NOT SO DAMNING FOR JENSEN????? like come ON. also proves my point that when you compare how they feel about watching magic mike. jared doesn’t care bc watching it just doesn’t interest him, but he also thinks that just watching it in itself doesn’t make you gay. jensen however.......has a different mindset, clearly.

‘projecting much, mr. ackles?’ is actually a great title for my next and FINAL section(we’re almost there folks) which is how jensen projects his insecurites about his own sexuality and relationship with misha onto misha.

i hope by now we’ve all seen this video of jensen impersonating cas. it is a blatant microaggression on his part. and like obviously homophobic. it’s like in his mind if he makes fun of them for being gay it makes them both less gay somehow??? it’s self-deprecation in a way??? let’s just tell it like it is: that impression was just jensen’s overt internalized homophobia rearing it’s ugly head. he does it a LOT too when it comes to misha.

i mean:

and that whole mess where he’s making fun of misha for being a bottom in their panel in 2016? ‘so you’re saying, like with football terms, there’s a handler and there’s a receiver heheheehe’ jensen you’re not exempt from being gay just because you know football terms lmao

oh and his OTHER impression of misha where he mocks him for...bicycling...because it’s not a manly enough sport??? jensen NO ONE else has ever thought this hard in their lives about what constitutes as masculine enough to be a sport before. that’s all you bud. we don’t find those jokes nearly as funny as you do. you are reaching, sir

the good news is that misha thinks it’s hilarious and knows it’s projecting on jensen’s part and will tease him endlessly for it. many stories come to mind, like that one photo op story where they’re literally dressed in rainbow banners and pride stickers but when misha goes to hold his hand jensen said something like ‘no way’ and then misha stepped back, put his hands on his hips and went ‘that’s the part that’s too gay for you???’ and jensen LOST it

or when that whole underwear thing happened(messy messY MESSY BTW) and then a fan asked a question about what dean and cas would do in rome and misha just said ‘when in rome’ and jensen makes a face like ‘are you serious’ and then misha says ‘you can’t look at me like that anymore, because of what you did!!!!!!’

OH and that whole story about when misha suggested they put jensen in the closet for that cat video....yeah um

and then when jensen was asked to do bisexual finger guns for a photo op and the con goer said ‘he looks bisexual here’ and misha literally said ‘oh he definitely looks bisexual here. i would say he’s actually closer to the gay side of the spectrum’ so..um...make with that as you will

OH MY GOD i’m finally done. wow. WOW. that was a lot. i hope i’ve blown your minds. ty anon i really wanted to talk about this and i hope you’re happy with the outcome!!!!!!

[sapphic-sasuke]

Hello, how are you doing these days? I'm back with another ask. Since we see the term 'potential' being applied to characters a lot now, do you think Itachi had any 'potential' to be an interesting character? It is a bit later that he became a mess of theme- and plot-related mistakes, but do you think in there's any basis in canon for him to have been a decent character? One that, if not complex, at least made sense? Thank you and have a great day!

OMGG HIII FAV MUTUAL i been okay these days so busy w my new job but good. howre u? 

I think Itachi had the potential to be an interesting character. Itachi’s character could have been extrapolated in so many different ways that seeing him shoved into a corner just ARGGH. there’s not much depth to him despite popular belief.

It’s crazy to me because part 1 Itachi HAD SO MUCH POTENTIAL ARGGH. It’s like.. man the fear? The way all of the jounins and konoha just couldn’t match him at all! That build up was so nice. His confrontation with Sasuke where he chokes him. It’s so good!!!

I think the reason Itachi’s character fails so spectacularly is because of how the narrative wanted to warp him into someone who “wasn’t that bad” or “had good intentions to save the village but his method of action was flawed” (i see this argument a lot honestly) this argument is reiterated by obito and later naruto and kakashi. because itachi committed genocide to save konoha, he’s seen as morally grey despite the fact that the village he’s saving is highkey fascist and fucks over so many smaller, weaker villages (case in point, NAGATO!) konoha is LITERALLY a military dictatorship. there’s absolutely nothing good about that awful village and itachi killed his family for it

okay now back to my initial point, itachi killing the uchihas for konoha is fundamental to his character, it shapes him... but my god he would have been sooo much better as only an antagonist instead of someone in the middle. I understand that he was manipulated by the elders but Itachi as an antagonist would have still worked even after the plot twist of killing for konoha. He fails because his character sort of stretches out to shadow over everyone else. he’s painted out to be unbelievably strong and infallible even in death to the point it’s just laughable and it isn’t done well either because there’s no purpose to it. it does not forward the plot, it just feels like fanservice. he doesn’t fit into the story with the characters at all. it feels so forced, grating and awkward. suddenly these characters established to be the best of the best are tripping over their feet over a sick shinobi with eyes that are almost blind

His character isn’t that developed; his persona of being strong, deadly and calm is never questioned or challenged. He’s either this loving brother full of guilt or a perfect shinobi. It’s boring! Sasuke loves him when he finds out the truth, the hokages call him a hero and... that would have been a really good point to show how corrupt and horrific the shinobi system is but Itachi’s actions are never questioned! there’s nothing in the narrative in shippuden to make you believe that Itachi was wrong other than his regret (this is mainly because of how the Uchihas are viewed by everyone) And his regret is targeted more at making sasuke suffer than the killing of his clan.

Making Itachi a compelling character could have been done in so many ways so long as there wasn’t this suffocating attempt to justify him in the manga.

And I guess properly flesh out his motives. He kills his clan for konoha for Sasuke. Okay. He joins the Akatsuki to spy on them for Konoha. How would that have worked? If we’re going along with him being a spy, maybe we can be shown how he gradually loses all his morals, finds killing easier. Maybe there’s a moment where he’s surprised at how easy he finds it to fit in with Akatsuki. It would explain his torture of Sasuke more if his default reaction to anything that isn’t entirely numbing is violence. Maybe instead of everything being some greater manipulative bullshit, moments where he harms Sasuke are genuine lapses in control. He’s so obsessed with Sasuke he can’t even rationalise his actions.

(I’m still of the belief that him joining the Akatsuki as a spy was an awful plot point. It would have been better if he only joined the Akatsuki to amplify his villainous persona so Sasuke feels even more inclined to kill when he’s going around terrorising people. I feel like Itachi after killing the clan no longer caring much for Konoha, only Sasuke and a weird obsession for peace because that’s what he also did all of this for, would have been a far more interesting twist. He’s a very selfish character that gets interpreted as selfless for the “sacrifices” he makes because the shinobi think he’s right.)

We need to be shown just how horrific Itachi’s actions are the same way we were shown in part 1 Naruto. And other than the physical consequences, the mental ones too.

I guess what would make Itachi more interesting as a character if we went along with his canon actions would be to see his thought process more. This guy killed his entire clan—show us how twisted his mind can be. Show us how the guilt/self hatred/anger/apathy destroys himself until he’s quite literally begging Sasuke to kill him in his mind.

Rather than having his machinations work out, what if he fails? What if it goes wrong? We need more moments where he’s failing. Not beating legendary characters like Orochimaru. There’s no satisfactory release to Itachi, even in his death. It’s very bland.

I don’t think the plot twist of Itachi killing for konoha in itself was bad, it’s more the execution that was bad. Because we’re already shown in part 1 that Konoha is corrupt. The plot messes come from 1) the urge to make Itachi out to be infallible and righteous but deeply troubled and 2) the narrative trying its hardest to paint the uchihas out to be inherently evil and 3) the lack of accountability placed on individuals and more on “the cycle of hatred” ignoring that it’s these Kages in power who were perpetuating that system.

Okay so I will forever be salty at the direction Itachi’s character took. They took a mysterious older brother and turned him into a plot convulted mess with the worst fake deep quotes and annoying op attacks pulled out of his ass. almost damn well ruined Sasuke’s character too smh. So yeah bestie Itachi had sooo much potential. He could have properly been used as an instrument to show shinobi like the protagonists that Sasuke’s anger is valid and that the village they fight for is evil and not worth it or to properly allow the Uchiha to receive justice but nooooooo guys he felt bad :( and he loves sasuke :( and he was a spy for the village all the protagonists are from fighting terrorism in the shadows :( and the uchihas deserved it for rising up against the village that was discriminating against them :( clearly state sponsored genocide isn’t that bad :( yeah he tortured his brother and his spying did nothing to stop akatsuki but he tried :(

[sokkastyles]

So a while back I saw this pretty inaccurate and by inaccurate I mean mind-numbingly stupid take that’s been grinding at my gears ever since I saw it so I’m just going to rant about it and then ask you what you think.

So, you know when Toph first joins Team Avatar, she’s having a hard time fitting in with the group, and Katara tells her that they usually all set up camp together, and so Toph tells her that she “carries her own weight” and would prefer it if she could just do the work she needed to do for herself and everyone else also do all the work they needed to do for themselves instead of everyone doing all of it together? This is pretty understandable considering that she not only grew up an only child (and as an only child let me tell you that a lot of us do prefer to work by ourselves a lot of the time and can get stressed out doing group work) but was essentially locked away in her own home and never allowed to socialize with anyone, period, let alone make friends her own age and learn how to collaborate with others. The only thing experience she had talking to other people besides her parents would be from the Earth Rumble, and needless to say what’s essentially the Avatar equivalent of WWE isn’t the best place for a 12 year old to build her social skills. Then there’s her fierce independent streak and aversion to accepting help from and feeling dependent on others, something instilled in her due to how her parents treated her because she was blind.

So this person claimed that the reason why Toph did not want to help Katara and the others set up camp was not, in fact, due to these reasons but rather due to her “classist belief that she did not have to do any work and those of a lower socioeconomic background than her should be expected to serve her.” (And just you wait, this isn’t even the worst part of the post, there’s way more.) First of all, Toph was HAPPY to do work, she just wanted to do her OWN work and have everyone else do THEIR own work too. It’s not like she made everyone else set up camp for her. She set up her own camp and let the others set up theirs. She didn’t expect anybody to serve her, that’s just blatantly untrue. This person made it sound like she was bossing everyone around and calling them “peasants” or something. They claimed that there’s apparently “a lot of inherent classism in the way Toph interacts with the rest of Team Avatar.” No? There really isn’t? AND ALSO SHE LEARNT HER LESSON BY THE END OF THE EPISODE AND STARTED WORKING AS A TEAM WITH THEM!!

They also claimed that the reason why Toph was initially annoyed by Katara was also due to her supposed “classism” as well as her “internalized misogyny.” First of all, the reason why Toph was initially annoyed by Katara was because she projected her strained relationship with her overbearing mother onto her due to the fact that Katara is the de facto caregiver of Team Avatar. That’s it. That’s the 100% canonical, undisputable, undebatable reason. They literally spell it out for you in the episode “The Runaway.” I’m not saying it’s okay for her to do that, but that is the reason why she was sometimes annoyed by Katara, not because she was “classist” or “misogynistic.” I also believe that her distaste for conventional femininity probably stems more from the way she associates it with the life she ran away from as well as the fact that it’s largely inaccessible to her due to her blindness. This person literally said, and I quote, “Toph is being classist, misogynistic, and homophobic here.” My god. I guess I can see where you get classist and misogynistic from even if I don’t quite agree with it, but homophobic? Come on. Homophobia is the hatred of gay people. Show me ONE instance where Toph expressed a hatred for gay people. Oh wait, you can’t, because that never happened. Stop throwing around buzzwords just because you can, it lessens their significance and seriousness. Also, KATARA AND TOPH ARE FRIENDS THEY’RE VERY CLOSE FRIENDS AND EVERY TIME THEY FOUGHT THEY MADE UP AND APOLOGIZED AND CHANGED THEIR BEHAVIOUR BECAUSE THEY’RE BOTH GOOD PEOPLE WHO CARE ABOUT EACHOTHER MY GOD DID YOU EVEN WATCH THE SHOW BECAUSE YOU ENJOY IT OR DID YOU JUST GO INTO IT PURPOSELY LOOKING FOR THINGS TO BE MAD ABOUT?

So yeah. I love Toph, I love Katara, and I love their friendship. They’re both huge comfort characters for me. That post was 100% grasping for straws and really rubbed me the wrong way because it almost felt like the OP was willfully misinterpreting Toph and Katara’s dynamic because they were looking for woke points and liked the rush they get out of going “popular thing bad, actually” and it felt very disrespectful to both of their characters and their friendship.

I absolutely agree with you about people being contradictory for woke points and I have seen these takes before. Tumblr social justice circles are also in general really bad at acknowledging ableism in general and misogyny against girls and women who don't perform traditional femininity and Toph lives at the intersection of both and is a wildly popular character. And as a disabled woman I find these takes to be really off base. As you said, Katara and Toph are friends and they worked it out in the end, and these issues canonically stem from both Toph's experiences of abuse because of being a disabled girl and Katara's need to mother other people because of her own trauma, and both of these perspectives are sympathetic and they both had to adjust their worldview a little bit. I identify a lot with Toph's desire to be taken seriously both as a person and as a woman, the latter you do see in "Tales of Ba Sing Se." Toph very clearly does not hate femininity, she wants to be seen as pretty and looks to Katara for validation because Katara is a feminine girl, but she also struggles with being able to perform femininity. She also is just not that comfortable with it, and that's okay. Like Toph, I can sometimes enjoy getting made up but it's not something I can do every day without help.

I love her and Katara's Ba Sing Se segment because it shows so well the kind of misogyny Toph experiences. The reason the other girls make fun of Toph is because she very obviously did not do her makeup herself, and this reflects on her performance of femininity. Women are supposed to perform femininity in a way that it is both perfect and appears effortless. When I go and get my eye makeup done because I can't see well enough and don't have a steady enough hand to do it myself, you can tell that I didn't do it myself. I look like Toph. I love that that episode affirms both that Toph is pretty AND that she doesn't have to be.

And Katara, the "Runaway" pretty clearly validates Katara and shows that Toph appreciates Katara's "mothering" and that she looks up to her. As younger girls are wont to do with older girls. And Katara is right about Toph missing her mom but she also realizes that Toph needs that older female figure in her life.

It also really bothers me when people pull the classism card to talk about disabled characters. I have seen it elsewhere and I have seen it in atla fandom with Toph and Zuko. Both also are fiercely independent because they struggle to be taken seriously by abusive families. To see that struggle reduced to "Oh, they just don't want to work/are ignorant because of classism" feels very ableist. People will belittle the accomplishments of these characters because they're privileged. Which, yes, they are, in some ways, but privilege is not a dirty word and you also have to recognize what privileges they lack. And in both cases, their class privilege was actually tied to the way they were abused. If Toph wasn't born into a wealthy family, she might have been subject to other forms of abuse. And Zuko...it's a miracle that Zuko survived to see his teen years considering the household he grew up in.

As for the issue between Katara and Toph, Katara has also made comments towards Toph that could be interpreted as ableism and misogyny, but like you said, at the end of the day, they are friends who deeply care about each other, so pitting them against each other like this over issues that are complex and also resolved within the series seems like just grasping for something to start discourse about.

[nitroish]

red, blue and green can see the minish, while vio can't. if co-fronting with one of the others, he can, but if they shrink as a whole, he'll be kept from the front/consciousness [basically he'll just pass out], and he can't when he's the main one fronting. he doesn't know if he couldn't from the moment they drew the sword and split, or if he lost the ability somewhere along the way, but whatever it was he can't see them now. it makes him sad, yeah, but at least he can see them sometimes, with the others. green knows his time is limited, he knows he won't stay a child forever, he knows someday something's going to push that innocence over the edge and not even the magical connection they have with the minish will be able to stop it, and he'll look to the grass and an entire world will be lost to him, and that thought terrifies him. it hasn't really donned on blue. he doesn't consider himself to be childish or innocent anyway, if he was gonna lose the ability he would've already. maybe he's just special, and he'll just continue to have the ability for life! they are heroes to the minish, after all! it'd make sense! he teases vio about not being able to see them sometimes. it doesnt seem to bother him too much- for the most part. red is...purposefully ignoring that thought. for now he's going to just enjoy whatever time he has! no use fretting over something that hasn't happened yet! they've got plenty of time, and blue's right, they are kinda special after all! worrying about something that might not even happen won't do any good!

anonymous asked: oh a note i felt was necessary to add to one of my previous asks [the one about the minish] because i thought of this and it was bothering me, i realize that "he teases vio about not being able to see them sometimes. it doesnt seem to bother him too much- for the most part." could come off as blue being an asshole and purposefully making fun of stuff people are sensitive about, and that's not really what i was going for. it's more meant to be "blue tends to make fun of people as a way of joking around, but isn't aiming to upset anyone genuinely and will try to avoid doing so if he thinks it'll hurt anyone [though he sometimes doesn't realize something will be hurtful until it's too late, and when that happens, has a habit of being defensive rather than apologetic because it's sort of human instinct to make ourselves look good, and he tends to deflect anger outwards to avoid feeling guilty]", if that makes sense. he's not trying to make jokes at other people's expense.

hope u dont mind i put these two together like this!! im gonna answer under a readmore so it doesnt take up a ton of room and i dont annoy ppl KJFGJHFD

I TOTALLY GOT WHAT U MEANT THO i understand blue isnt rly Just A Fucking Dick kind of character! i totally get what u mean. op all these thoughts make me so so fuckin happy i . love these. i love four swords so fucking much.

im glad vio still gets to see the minish sometimes when hes co-con !! at least he has that, thts nice? "hes sad but at least he can see them when the others are fronting" Exactly is my thought on it sjghfdg hed just be kinda glad he was able to see them sometimes at all? its better than never kinda thing, ykno??

blue is straight up vibin and sometimes to take a hit you need to joke a bit ohh that rhymed KJFSHGKJDHFG. green has so many thoughts about everything i hope he takes a break soon jdsghdkjfhgd hes so busy in his head and i love him for it but i can hear the gears turning.

god i love blue. i 100% get blue and hes really valid and youre RIGHT. blue is just? hes not a straight up dick and people that depict him as such are ~ wrong ~. thats not what hes trying to go for? when hes talking and joking to people some of his jokes just land wrong/hit too hard or close to home but it isnt like he. purposely did it knowing it would hurt op. he doesnt plan on the other persons downfall when he says shit. and u r so right?? defensiveness comes from the fact its hard to just accept that it was hurtful when he had good intentions and meant for it to be a joke? "it was just a joke" but its genuine and not "i knew what i was saying was gonna hurt u and im gonna say it was just a joke to fuck w u"? KJFHGKJHFD IDK IF THAT MADE SENSE BUT I HOPE SO. he did not mean to and <3 guilt is a gross emotion (is angry instead)

the colours my beloveds. i fucking love them. four swords is one of my favourites,,,,

[bigskydreaming]

In a mood and I’m trying not to be, but oof. Not easy at the moment. Real life stresses are kicking my butt and I’m decidedly limited in resources for addressing that at the moment, so might as well get this off my chest, lol. Already lost the usual fifty followers or so I lose every single time I post about stuff the way I did the other day, so what’s some more, y’know?

So earlier today I tried to get my mind off things with some fic, and happened across one I hadn’t read before that promised Jason and Dick talking things out and bonding. Halfway through I sighed and went oh, this is familiar, and skipped to the bottom to check the end notes and comments to see if there was any mention of this next part, but nope. The reason for the sigh was it took me about halfway into the fic to realize that it was blatantly inspired by my post about what if Jason was missing some memories from his death/resurrection and the Pit, like specifically the ski trip they took, stuff like that. Now I’m not so egotistical as to think nobody but me has certain ideas, but its fairly easy for me to recognize when someone is basing something off a post of mine because of specific turns of phrases that I use and like, they hit ten or so bullet points from my post without missing a one. Like, there’s parallel evolution and similar ideas, and then there’s going down a check list, y’know?

And don’t get me wrong....I don’t mind people basing stuff of my posts, being inspired by them, etc. I WANT that. I’m GLAD to have that happen.

The part I mind is the way this all ties back into my interaction with fandom as a whole....and this fandom’s interaction with me. Which I don’t tend to hear NEARLY as much about as I tend to have people giving me shit about my impact on fandom....but ONLY the negative impact.

In the four years or so that I’ve been active in this fandom, I can think of only three people who have given me some kinda shout out for being the basis of one of their fics. Three people. And in that time I’ve come across literal dozens of fics that I am almost certain can trace their way back to popular posts of mine. There’s the post about Jason’s memories and the ski trip for one - this fic isn’t an isolated occurrence, I’ve found a good half a dozen or so I feel fall into the same pattern. There’s fics based off my posts about how fucked up the blame Dick got for Spyral was, with my certainty based on the fact that I know I’m the only fucking person who ever brought up various key phrases like “Bruce not having an extraction plan for Dick’s highly dangerous undercover op, leaving him stranded when Bruce got/(chose) amnesia.” I made a big deal about that in a few posts because of the fact I NEVER saw that particular element raised in any fics, and a couple months after I started including that bit regularly, I was seeing the words ‘without an extraction plan’ in every other new post Spyral fic. That’s not a coincidence.

There’s been stuff that included bits and phrasings from my post about Dick and Jason being partners who focused on helping kids who had been abused specifically....oh wait, no, my bad. The two fics I’m thinking of there lifted straight up entire lines from that post but just made it about Jason and TIM doing that instead, despite like.....the entire basis of that headcanon stemming from Dick’s juvie origin but whatever. There’s been stuff based on juvie posts of mine, stuff based on posts I’ve made about Mirage, there’s been stuff based on the post about Jason looking into why Dick was undercover as a mob enforcer and then Renegade, there’s been stuff clearly inspired by my headcanons about Jason calling Dick for advice after the Garzonas case. I could go on. There’s a fucking LOT.

I don’t try to give myself too much credit but I’m not unaware of being a loud voice in this fandom and that having an impact. And like I said, I’m not adverse to inspiring people to make their own stuff based off an idea they initially saw me present. That’s fine. People should feel free to do that. My problem is that none of this exists in a vacuum. It exists in a fandom where I regularly get people lecturing me on my presentation, people hyping up how negative I make fandom, my condescension, my anger, my hostility, etc, etc. 

But the thing I never see is any awareness whatsoever that like....dudes, I’m literally just a guy on the internet. And that goes two ways. Yeah, I have an impact on people, but they have one on me too. And I’m tired and frustrated by it being acted like this is a one way street and everyone is just helpless victims of my bullying, while meanwhile SOME OF THE EXACT SAME PEOPLE GIVING ME CRAP FOR MY NEGATIVITY are ACTIVELY adding to their own fics with stuff that I JUST posted about.

And like, I see people vagueblogging about the negativity on their dashes and its impact on fandom right after I have a Dick Grayson rant blow up and get a few hundred notes......but its acted like I DID that to fandom, that’s my negativity and mine alone when its like....y’know, if you’re not following me yourself, and this stuff is still on your dash, you uh....have to be following people who reblog my negative posts for some reason or another. And given that there are obviously reasons you follow THOSE people, maybe instead of worrying about what I’M doing all the time, you can spare a thought or two for the fact that I don’t have any power to make people reblog anything, and for whatever reason, something about my oh so negative post resonated with those people reblogging it onto your dash, which also kinda suggests it wasn’t negative in THEIR eyes, but was actually a kind of validation of thoughts or feelings they already had?

Trust me, there’s no mind control ray at work here. This mood is also brought to you by the cricket sounds that come every time I fucking BEG people to reblog and signal boost posts I make about rape/abuse fandom trends and depictions from my POV as a survivor, specifically. Like I mentioned, I LOSE followers every time I bring that stuff up. It doesn’t benefit me in any way whatsoever, in fact my notes tend to go comparatively radio silent for a good couple weeks after I go off on one of those jaunts, because idk, people don’t want THEIR mutuals and followers to think they agree with some of my oh so controversial stances?

Actually, I say idk, but I do know is the thing, because people actually go on anon and tell me they appreciate me posting stuff like this, and its like.....that....doesn’t actually make me feel good? Because I never expect any single person in particular to reblog me, but when I say crickets after I post on those topics, I mean CRICKETS. I’m lucky if I can get five reblogs on those posts in total, and those are usually all from the same people. It actually kinda sucks knowing that people agree with me and what I have to say there, but they won’t put it on their own blogs because this fandom is so fucking STEEPED in its views, they don’t want to risk their friendships or back-and-forths with certain popular fandom authors by rocking the boat.

Because meanwhile I’m making myself target practice for the people who really would like me to shut up on certain topics but are too cowardly to ever confront me directly about why they dislike what I have to say there, in the vain hope that other people might finally even just START to pass some of that on even for consideration....because I can make waves by myself just by being loud and consistent, but I can’t do shit to actually make CHANGE without other people agreeing in PUBLIC so that fandom is forced to confront the fact that no, certain opinions aren’t just one loud asshole being annoying, there’s an actual viewpoint here that people actually have in greater numbers than we realized and we DON’T have as much of a monopoly on this topic as we thought.

I have anons who give me shit accusing me of driving off certain authors by making this fandom not fun for them anymore, when like, I never even fucking INTERACTED with the authors in question. Some of the names I’m accused of driving off I don’t even KNOW. I’m called an ‘abusive survivor shaming cunt’ with zero irony or self-awareness that they’re literally doing the exact same thing because they don’t like the stance *I* take as a survivor posting about how ‘some survivors use dark fic/rape fantasy to cope’ shouldn’t be treated as a monolithic defense of such things if it leads directly into the same kind of survivor shaming other people view criticism of such fic as being in the first place.

I’ve had to unfollow mutuals because I post about how reblogging posts about purity culture is a direct fucking slap into the face to people like me whose stances on fandom culture are directly based on our own personal experiences and the intersection those have with various popular fandom takes.....like you don’t have to agree with all my takes obviously, but if you can’t see how framing a naive pursuit of ideological purity as the only possible reason people object to certain fandom trends when I’m literally standing right here saying no actually, the way these fandom trends impact me is the reason for me saying the things I say when I say “here’s how this fandom trend impacts me”.....like.....c’mon. 

And I’ve had mutuals unfollow me because despite following me because they liked my takes on social justice issues THEY care about, I just ‘post too much about what’s really just a personal issue’ and has no larger social relevance whatsoever, obviously. LOL. (Oh and this of course has nothing to do with them getting friendly with various popular authors on discord, who happen to be vocal about ‘disapproving’ of any fic criticism whatsoever. Just FYI, there’s a reason I haven’t followed anyone new or made any new mutuals in like....a year. I have my reasons for being....not quick about that).

I get condescended to constantly about not minding the tags, and then radio silence when I list literal examples of ways in which people haven’t tagged things correctly, tagged things at all, or literally used the tags in an attempt TO trigger people they just don’t like. 

And meanwhile, allllllll of this keeps happening while the general narrative is I’m this loud asshole guy with zero concern about anything but his own personal likes or dislikes and who makes fandom a negative place that’s unwelcoming in general. And with basically zero mention of all the ways in which I’ve contributed to this fandom, the amount of content I’ve made that has DIRECTLY inspired people, and the productive conversations I’ve started which have resulted in people actually changing the way they approach various characters or dynamics in fics.

Its THAT part that bugs me, specifically.

Look, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again now.....I’m not anyone’s victim. Negative fandom interactions are negative fandom interactions. All this complaining I’m doing here - lol, that’s all it is. I’m venting. I’m pissed off and I think its relevant to a greater fandom dynamic or tendencies a lot of people unknowingly or consciously reinforce, and so I’m just fucking SAYING it because while its not something I EXPECT this post will do much to change, if at all, I would still like it to change so any effort towards that end is still better than no effort at all...hence, my posting this rather than bottling it up so at least people have it to consider. 

If you don’t agree with it, if you don’t like that it exists at all, if it ruins your day to have to consider whether or not you or people you know or even like are active participants in what someone else is describing as y’know....fairly day-ruining in its own way? Hit that unfollow, that block, that make new text post button of your own and have your own rant about what a douchebag I am.

Literally all I’m trying to express is like.....fa*ndom’s got a lot to say about the stuff I have to say about fandom, but like....this is a two way interaction. A lot of people make a big deal about MY impact (again, JUST the negative though, lol) but I don’t ever see anyone ever addressing anyone else about hey maybe you could spare a thought or two about YOUR impact for a change as well.

I mean, what if....just maybe...what if.....a lot of my behavior or attitude has a lot to do with how people approach or talk about me BEFORE that display of attitude or certain behavior? Weirdly....I feel like maybe something that could then have a transformative effect on the kind of behavior or attitude people dislike from me....is.....them acknowledging or addressing things they might have done to prompt certain responses from me?

I don’t actually like being whiny or negative or down in general, just to be clear? If I see something I have a problem with or think could use change or improvement, I say so - but I pretty much always put an effort into expressing both WHY and HOW I think possible change could look - because I’m not generally interested in being negative for the sake of just being negative. I just....want things to be better. That’s not an obsession with purity or perfection, btw, I will NEVER understand how people think that survivors of rape and abuse (which include a lot more ‘antis’ than anyone else seems to want to acknowledge) and the like EVER expects perfection or thinks that the world will ever produce that - lol no I’m actually pretty clear that things being perfect is pointless, I’m just interested in BETTER.

But I mean, I like being goofy and silly and also analytical and contemplative and also creative and spontaneous. I like lots of things. I like lots of moods. I like producing, creating, generating, interacting, engaging, I like a million things more than I like THIS kind of mood, THIS kind of post.

But I’m just not someone who is content to sit and stew in that sort of thing when I know full well that the problem does not actually stem from something broken or flawed inside of me, because I’m also someone who does believe very strongly in periodic bouts of self-reflection and honest self-assessment.....so that I can change things about myself when and where I feel necessary. But this also has the effect of me also being VERY aware of when the problem is not internal, but actually just me having a perfectly valid reaction or emotional response to outside stimulus. Aka fandom’s interaction with me, every bit as much as my interaction with fandom.

So....posts like this. I’ll do my usual rituals, get myself back onto my preferred trains of thought soon enough on my own, because ultimately that is all I can control and just because I make posts like this doesn’t mean I ever EXPECT any specific result - or a result at all - to come from it. 

But, y’know, sue me for being hopeful.

I know. What an ass am I?