#and from a writing perspective portrays the hand of the author pointing and screaming Hate This Boy Hate Him Hate Him

[bucksboobs]

I’m the anon from the post before and I understand what you mean! I guess I just took differently when I watched the show. I don’t think Charlie or Nick was upset about Ben being closeted I think they (especially Charlie) we’re just upset how Ben treated Charlie the entire. Also I’m not saying this to be rude or start anything this is just how I saw it:) I think Charlie was angry (as he should) about how Ben treated him through out the relationship they had and not about him being closeted. Because I do believe if Ben just communicated better and treated him better and didn’t treat Charlie the way he did it could’ve worked out. I’m just saying that I didn’t see them bashing Ben for being closeted only bashing him for treating Charlie the way he did without acknowledging how it felt for him.

Yeah I don't think Charlie or Nick is mad about Ben being closeted but weirdly I think the narrative is and that's what irks me. All his issues and bad behaviors are because he's closeted (you said yourself that it's because he's closeted that he treats Charlie the way he does) but the story doesn't seem interested in exploring that so much as punishing him for it by having both Imogen and Charlie yell at him and then throwing him out of the series before he can improve at all.

And when this show is so renowned for it's love and celebration of queer experiences and identity it will always feel out of place that Ben was left out in the dust seemingly because he and his experiences were too complex.

[avenger-hawk]

Tagged by @altraes (thank you, it was fun to do this~)

List the first lines of your last 20 stories (if you have less than 20, just list them all). See if there are any patterns. Choose your favorite opening line. Then tag 10 of your favorite authors!

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(I wrote the first paragraphs because my first lines alone don’t make much sense lol)

1- ACQUIESCENCE (Minato/Itachi) my first fic ever. darkish but just a little, angsty. I’m proud of it cause another author wrote a sequel to it.

 to ac·qui·esce: to accept, agree, or allow something to happen by staying silent or by not arguing. A flurry of leaves, swept away by the autumn wind, caught the Hokage's attention while he took off his large hat. That time of the year should have been warmer.

2- THE WILL OF FIRE (Shiita, Danzo/Shisui, Danzo/Itachi) This was dark and shiita fans didn’t like it lol.

 Just like his owner, Danzo's studio was dark and dusty. The man didn't look as old as Hiruzen, but he was twice as scary; thus would think a boy of Itachi's age. Not him. He was not allowed to be afraid.

3- WHAT HE WANTED (Itasasu) Even tho I rewrote it cause I didn’t like how I initially characterized them and their dynamics this is my most popular fic. Maybe because it’s a post-ending, canon divergent, fix-it kind of story. Maybe because it’s Itasasu and I put so much love into writing their dynamics and, also, in giving Sasuke a good ending since canon didn’t do him justice.

Sasuke is where everybody wants him to be: in Konoha. With the battle and the arm he also lost the urge to fight. He's had enough of traveling. He's tired of chasing and being chased. So tired that even if he meant every word about starting a revolution, being the Hokage and build a new era, he had wondered, though only for a moment, if he would be able to really accomplish such tasks all by himself.

4- IN POWER WE ENTRUST THE LOVE ADVOCATED (Itasasu) THis is my second most popular fic. This one too was written after the ending and tried to give Sasuke justice. I planned to write a sequel but I got busy with other projects and lost interest in it.

The gates open, letting the shinobi in after a successfully completed mission. Being on duty the following day Sasuke declines his team mates' proposal to have dinner together, the reddish sunset light forcing him to squint as he walks towards the Hokage's office.

5- PRESSURE (Itasasu) Taken from In Power that can be read as a standalone oneshot.

Itachi wakes up to the sound of pouring water.

6- IN DREAMS (Itasasu, Izuna/Sasuke, DARKFIC). This is one of the darkest things I wrote. The Izuna/Sasuke crackpair was for @admiral-izusasu. The plot, the dynamics, everything has a double, or triple reading, plot related and metaphorical for other, real-life issues such as knowing people online, and emotional abuse from narcissistic people. I wrote it when I was fighting against one of these psychos, on tumblr itself, so this fic has a personal meaning for me. But also the plot and the canon divergent ending thing is cool, I think it’s one of my best fics, even though I coulnd’t care less about izuna.

They say that nature will always find a way. After the end of the war flowers keep blooming like nothing happened even if the light is fainter, filtered from the tall branches of the Shinju tree, now grown into a forest spread all over the world.

7- SOMBER CREATION PALE DESTRUCTION (Madara/Sasuke dom/sub-ish). Darkish? Who knows, I write darkfish stuff all the time. I was (and am) very proud of this fic, the canon divergent turn it took (who am I kidding, it’s really cool lol) and the weird relationship/dynamics these 2 created. So I didn’t update it anymore, because doing so would break their thin balance. Ssssh, don’t tell me it doesn’t make sense, I don’t believe you xD

History teaches that Madara Uchiha died at the hands of Hashirama Senju. Their statues were erected in the Valley Of The End where their battle was fought, where the shinobi god ended his best friend's life in order to protect the village they founded together. No one knows that Madara didn't die there.

8- IN THE DARK (kakashi/Sasuke, mob/Sasuke noncon). This is a very dark oneshot that I’m proud of, cause it ‘explains’ canon Sasuke personality in Shinden and later, and that I use as prequel for many fics, like WHW but also OFAF and Broken Things (see later for both).

Things never went as Sasuke wanted. After the war it's no different, although everything seems fine at first, Team 7 finally at peace with each other, the war ended and the village that Itachi protected, even as a dead man, safe. Nevertheless he is arrested when he's still in the hospital.

9- VICTIMS OF PEACE (Shisui/Sasuke dom/sub-ish) I am so proud of this fic, of its non massacre universe, of the dark-ish slow burn relationship between Shisui and Sasuke I wrote, tentatively at first cause no one did it or thought much about it, and because that non massacre filler was bad, but still it was inspiration. I know shiita fans hated me even more for this cause shisui is only paired with itachi, and also itachi/itasasu fans were disappointed but still. This is maybe the fic I’m most proud of.

If a traveler arrived from a random village in the Fire Country he would certainly notice how different Konoha was. He would not be able to pinpoint exactly why at first, because the buildings, houses and shops are similar, just like their gardens, fields and animals. Only after some thought he would understand that the difference is in their people: other villagers are relaxed and casual, even loud. Children run around the streets, chasing each other, playing tag or hide-and-seek. Their fathers bring them presents and their mothers buy them new clothes.

10- OF FEATHERS AND FANGS (DARK Narusasu) I received a lot of hate for this one, which makes me proud of it even more. so many naruto stans were butthurt by my characterization of him as a possessive not sunshine selfless boy and their dynamics as crazy.

Jiraiya used to complain that the first sign of getting old was waking up at night for no reason and not being able to fall back asleep. For Naruto, this only happened after the war.

11- BLACK ROSES (Itasasu, dom/sub-ish) Smutty Bloody Darky Hokage Itachi/Anbu Sasuke oneshot

Because of his farsighted politics, his loyalty towards his allies as well as his iron fist against his enemies, Itachi quickly became one of the most respected leaders in the shinobi world, and because of his unequaled diplomatic skills, along with his vast culture, impeccable manners and refined appearance, he became popular among nobles, including the Daimyo, whose official visits increased since the Uchiha rose to power.

12- NELL’IPOTESI GRANDE (=IN THE BIG HYPOTHESIS) (MetaMoro, not Naruto) I’m very proud of this one cause it’s a psycho-pass inspired longfic set in a retrofuturistic Italy with a totalitarian consumeristic regime. But that fandom is so shitty and they all hate me cause I called them homophobic fascists so no one cares. The excerpt is translated too.

He’s reminded of Pirandello’s* words as he’s riding the automatic taxi across the city, exiting the center towards EUR. COmpared to Milan with its skyscrapers, multilevel streets, automatic cars and incessant novelties, the capital is basically the same as it was portrayed in old illustrations: renaissance and 20th century buildings, seagulls, pines among the Roman ruins, sycamore trees on the Lungotevere, that was probably already busy with traffic when people travelled on horse carriages. (*an Italian writer)

13- DA UOMO A UOMO, MANO NELLA MANO (from man to man, hand in hand) (Metamoro) lol I was hated a lot for this one too. tbh the hate I received in the Naruto fandom is nothing compared to this other shitty fandom

For an artist like Fabrizio, mainly focused on expressing what he has inside, public relations are the hardest part of his job, especially when it’s about events where, instead of fans, of whom he perceives the sincere affection, other artists and professionals are invited. His experience taught him that most of them are hypocrites ready to jump on the winner’s bandwagon as quickly as to throw mud at the loser.

14- STRENGTH THROUGH WOUNDING (wip) (Obito/Sasuke, Obito/Itachi, dark.-ish) 

There is something nostalgic in the eerie way the boy's screams resonate through the dark cavern-like hideout, their pain bouncing from one curved wall to another, their anguish filling their crevices. It’s like hearing his past self from an external perspective, like Madara did. Which is fitting, for Obito is Madara now.

15- WORDS UNSAID (wip) (Kakashi/Sasuke) 

A black flame that cannot be extinguished: they had been warned about Amaterasu by Jiraiya, but seeing it was impressive nevertheless. The whole area was surrounded by black flames and the rain pouring hard could nothing against it. They found Sasuke there, surrounded, imprisoned by black flames that were extinguishing themselves, so they found a breach.

16- BLEEDING ME (Metamoro vampire/priest darkfic) No one can understand this in the Naruto fandom but it’s an AU interpretation of the Da UOMO A UOMO character dynamics where one is an emotional vampire-like person. I’m very proud of this fic tbh.

According to folk stories the forest was so big and full of dangers that God himself put a church where it ended, so that its priest would protect the people living nearby. It was a small, white building that didn’t match the typical stones and wood brownish ones of that region, with no stained glass windows or fancy columns, spires or gargoyles, only crosses with skulls and bones, and an engraving in an unknown language.

17- WILD CHILD (Metamoro cop/drug dealer AU). At this point I hate that fandom so much but I like my ideas and I write only for my girl whom I met in that very shitty fandom.

Everything seems bigger in children’s eyes. Like the playground in the courtyard of the church, with its slides and swings that for Ermal’s siblings were the setting of countless imaginary adventures which they told him in detail, enthusiastically interrupting each other, when he picked them up after school.

18- TRUE COLORS (Itasasu, dark, dom/sub) By now I’m only interested in writing dark IS and I enjoyed writing this one lol

"I knew you had it in you. You're a sadistic control freak. Even more than me." Orochimaru's voice resounded in Itachi's ears. Again.

19- OF FEATHERS AND FANGS 2: TO REPAIR WITH GOLD (Dark Narusasu). Cause I didn’t piss off NS fans enough I guess? lol this is ongoing and I like this idea so much

It's a rainy day in Konoha but no one seems to notice. Everyone is focused on the Hokage delivering his eulogy.

20- BROKEN THINGS (Shisui/Sasuke) My latest creation, I’m so proud of it cause it’s Shisasu again, my rarepair! and it was supposed to be a oneshot but it got longer because they have such a cool dynamic that things just happen and get longer.

In the Land of Water summers were hot and damp, autumn and spring were damp for the frequent rains and winter was no less, with its cold temperature and ubiquitous dampness. It wasn't a problem for Sasuke though.

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Tagging: @renamon15 and all the other authors I can’t remember right now and who want to do this, tag me back so I can read your first lines lol

[makeste]

BnHA Bonus Rant #4: Bakumom

Okay guys. This is my post about Bakugou Mitsuki. This is actually my third attempt at trying to write a post on this topic; I tried to do one back when I was getting ready to post the recap for chapter 96, but wasn’t able to coherently get across all of the thoughts I wanted to convey, so I ended up deleting it. Then in response to one of the comments on that recap, I ended up writing another post, and this time I managed to get out almost 1200 words on the subject! But during the editing process, I realized that it just wasn’t something I had the energy to discuss. The topic of “is this character abusive” is obviously a very sensitive one, and something that a lot of people have very strong feelings about, and I realized that my post wasn’t going to convince anyone one way or the other, and that it was more likely to lead to a discussion that I had absolutely no spoons for. Like, all my spoons went into the post itself, and that was it. So in the end I scrapped that too (and my apologies to @temperatezone, who made a very reasonable point very tactfully, which I basically ended up just ignoring because at the time I wasn’t ready to get into it).

Before we start -- regarding spoilers, I’ve done my best to keep this post spoiler-free so long as you are caught up with the anime (or have read up to the manga equivalent, which is around chapter 125 or thereabouts). There is, however, one manga spoiler in here from chapter 165 (which, if you’ve read the chapter, you’ll know why it was unavoidable, seeing as it pertains directly to the subject at hand). It is not in any way a plot spoiler; it’s basically a single line from one of the characters, and the details regarding where and when that line is said are irrelevant, so I’ve left that out. So if you are anime-only, it’s up to you whether you want to skip this post or not, but that will be the only spoiler in here.

So now that I’m on my third attempt, I’ve done a bit more thinking on how I want to approach this. Basically, I think the problem I kept running up against before is that as far as I can see, there are two ways to look at this. The first is by looking at the author’s intent. “Okay, the scene is clearly presented in the context of humor and is a classic example of the well-established Tough Love style of anime parenting (see also: Izumi from FMA, Reborn from KHR, Isshin from Bleach, etc.) and not meant to be taken in an overly deep way. The scene immediately afterward with her ruffling Katsuki’s hair and thanking Aizawa for his understanding and mentioning her worry and relief during and after the kidnapping and asking his teachers to help guide him is meant to serve as a contrast to the violence and shouting and insults to show that contrary to that initial impression, she loves and cares about him just like any other mother. The scene is meant as a lighthearted way of showing where Bakugou inherited his loud and angry temperament from, and kind of jokingly implying that he’s more or less just a clone of his mom.”

Whereas the other approach is to look at what the author is actually portraying. “It doesn’t matter if it was intended to be a joke or not; she is abusive. She smacks him repeatedly for basically no reason, and screams at him and insults him to this degree even when there are other people present. Perhaps more disturbingly, she implies that him being kidnapped was his own fault, because he was ‘weak.’ Later on we learn that he genuinely believes this and has internalized it, and blames himself not only for getting kidnapped, but for what it led to with All Might losing his powers as a consequence. Even further down the line, Bakugou makes a throwaway remark to the effect of ‘[violence is] how I was raised.’ This implies that it wasn’t just a one-time thing and that his mother is like this all the time, to the point where violence is basically the norm for him and he doesn’t even realize how fucked up it is.”

So those are basically the two perspectives here. And for me, I realized that the problem that I had was that both of these perspectives are valid. At least I think they are. If I were to try to argue the former -- which was my first instinct -- I would in all likelihood have to try and refute the latter. And honestly, I don’t think I would be able to do that, because that argument is a completely valid argument. Not to mention I don’t have much of a leg to stand on as far as trying to argue that Horikoshi’s intentions matter more than his end results, because if you’ve read any of my recaps, you know that this is basically the one and only time I’ve ever said that, lol. I’ve never particularly cared about his harmless intentions when it comes to Mineta, or overly sexualized teenage girls, or Ochako being comically poor, or any of the other topics I’ve occasionally bitched about. So it seems a bit hypocritical for me to suddenly start arguing that now.

So I won’t. Instead, I’m going to go ahead and acknowledge that it’s a valid interpretation. Regardless of what Horikoshi was going for, if you’re looking solely at the end result, then yeah. What he showed us can definitely be taken as abuse. I don’t think it’s an overreaction, and there is a lot to back it up.

That being acknowledged, what I’m going to talk about instead is why I have such a strong desire in this case to ignore the clumsy way the relationship is presented in canon, and to instead view the relationship the way I believe it’s intended to come across. Why do I so badly want for Bakugou to have a (more or less) healthy relationship with his parents? Why does the idea of him having a bad home life leave such a bad taste in my mouth?

And I think this is what it is: one of the key things that draws me to Bakugou’s character is that he doesn’t have A Tragic Past. There’s this tendency in shounen manga to give virtually every important character a sad backstory (looking at you in particular, Naruto and One Piece), with the level of tragedy gradually escalating as the series goes on, until you get to a point where the fandom is literally having debates over whose past is the most tragic. And this has kind of indirectly given rise to several beliefs that I often see articulated and/or implied in fandom:

That there must always be some observable external reason for a character’s personality and temperament, rather than that just being who they are.

That there is a direct correlation between the severity of a character’s past and the validity of that character’s actions. In other words, the person with the more tragic backstory has the moral upper hand in any dispute, simply because they’ve been through more bad shit.

That a character’s potential for redemption is directly tied to how sad their backstory is.

I see this all the time, and not just in shounen fandom for that matter. The basic idea seems to be that if bad things have happened to a character in the past, then it means any bad things they themselves have done are not their fault, and they should be forgiven and given a second chance. The thing is, I’ve always disliked this way of thinking, because to me it strays from what I think is the most crucial element of any redemption arc: taking responsibility. 

Redemption, to me, shouldn’t simply be about whether we feel sorry for the character, or whether they have suffered enough and been punished enough for whatever it is they did, or even whether or not they had a good reason for it. To me, it’s about one thing and one thing only: is the character trying to be better. Do they want to change? Are they making the same mistakes over and over, or are they actually learning and trying to grow? 

To me, redemption is an active process. It’s something the character has to seek out themselves. It’s not something that’s granted to them (key difference here between “redemption” and “forgiveness”), nor does it matter whether or not anyone else thinks they deserve it. For me, at least, it’s simply a matter of whether or not the character is willing to take responsibility for their mistakes, and whether they actually take action toward becoming better.

That being said, this is the main problem I have with the “Mitsuki is abusive” line of thinking: from what I have observed (and not always, mind you, but often enough), this headcanon tends to overlap with the idea that Bakugou’s violent behavior is not his fault, and that he’s only like that because of the way he was raised. In some cases I’ve seen it taken even further than that, with basically Bakugou’s entire backstory basically being rewritten to make him out as just a poor traumatized kid who would never have abused Izuku if it wasn’t for Mitsuki’s abuse, and so the blame actually falls on her and not him. And that, right there, is probably the biggest problem I have with this. That shifting of the blame. Making it so that Bakugou is absolved of responsibility for his own shitty actions, because it turns out that he was just a victim too. 

And actually, it’s even more than that: it’s also the implied suggestion that this is the only way he can be redeemed. That he only qualifies for redemption if he had a good reason for his actions. That we can only feel sorry for him if he’s not to blame for the mistakes that he made, and if it Wasn’t His Fault.

And damn it, but I just take so much issue with this. Because to me, ironically enough, this narrative robs Bakugou of the agency that I personally believe is key to him getting the redemption arc he actually deserves. Does that make sense? Basically, I want Bakugou’s mistakes to be acknowledged as his own mistakes. Because they are. I want him to be able to take ownership of them and to realize what he did wrong. I want him to learn from those mistakes and to grow as a person because of them. I don’t want it to be all “oh sweetie it’s okay, it’s not your fault.” I want it to be “oh fuck, I really screwed up, and I hate the way I feel now because of it, and I never want to feel this way again, so I’m going to do better.” 

Because that’s the only way that real change actually happens. When it comes from within, from the character’s own desire to change. I don’t want a “he was never really bad, just misunderstood” narrative; I want “he fucked up, but he is learning from it, and he is growing.” That’s what I want.

So that, I think, is why the whole thing bothers me so much, and why I just can’t get behind the idea. Again, I won’t deny that the evidence is there. I just choose to interpret it another way. And it is just that: a choice. It’s a conscious choice to read between the lines and to add my own headcanons where necessary and insert little justifications and explanations for things when needed. 

Because to me, Bakugou having grown up in a supportive -- if chaotic -- household is important. It’s important because it shows that even people who grew up in healthy environments with no obvious trauma can fuck up regardless. And those people are still worthy of redemption.

I hope that all makes sense. (Particularly since if it doesn’t, I've just gone and pissed a whole bunch of people off, probably.) Anyways. So with all that being said, I’ll wrap this up with a list of my own personal headcanons about Mitsuki’s and Katsuki’s relationship.

First and foremost, if any of you have ever seen Malcolm in the Middle, I can very easily sum this all up by just saying that Mitsuki = Lois and Katsuki = Malcolm, Francis, and Reese all rolled up into one. That’s it. That’s the dynamic, right there.

But if you haven’t seen MitM, basically what I’m saying is that Katsuki is a precocious little brat who’s headstrong and rebellious and extremely independent and prone to only learning things the hard way, and Mitsuki is the stern and stubborn mom who is still caring and loving but also overbearing and aggressive. The two of them are always butting heads because they’re both extremely prideful and view themselves as always being right, and because Mitsuki’s overbearing tendencies clash directly with Katsuki’s independent streak.

Mitsuki actually is right more often than she’s not, which only fuels her own stubbornness as well at Katsuki’s teenage resentment towards her. She spent a lot of time when he was younger just trying to keep him from setting the house (and himself) on fire, and because he hardly ever listens, the two of them end up getting into a lot of screaming matches with each other, and nowadays that’s just kind of their dynamic and they’re just used to it.

She doesn’t actually think he’s weak, and she only said that because she knows that’s one of the few insults that rankles him enough to actually make him listen, and she was trying to get him to hush up and be respectful to his teachers, who were guests in their home and also his teachers, one of whom just saved his life and the other of whom defended his honor in a nationally broadcast press conference. And also this was part of the whole Japanese culture of being overly humble, and since she knew he was never gonna do it, she was kind of doing it for him. You know, like “thank you so much for saving me, I apologize for inconveniencing you.” Even though it wasn’t actually his fault.

He didn’t internalize the guilt about All Might because of what she said. I honestly think he barely even processed what she said because they’re always just yelling bullshit insults at each other that don’t actually really mean anything. He’s always been terrified of being weak precisely because he never has been. It’s the unknown. He wouldn’t know what to do if he wasn’t strong. It’s a fear he’s always had, and one that had been secretly growing stronger since he first started at U.A. What happened to All Might simply exacerbated that fear. It was already there, and he’d just kept it hidden for a very long time. His mom didn’t put the idea into his head, and never would have said it if she had even the slightest inkling that her cocky, arrogant, loudmouthed, forceful son was secretly harboring insecurities about that very thing.

Any violence in their household is the comedic shounen type of violence where no one is actually hurt in any way. But mostly it’s just loud.

They are so used to this being Just The Way Things Are that ironically, Katsuki would have been much more unsettled if, after he returned home following the kidnapping, his mom had been tender and affectionate. Mitsuki, being a smart mom, picked up on this, so in an effort to make him less uncomfortable, she took deliberate care to behave The Same As Always around him so that he could feel more normal. In fact she was actually still very freaked out herself for days afterward, much more so than she let on (because she’s just as bad at showing vulnerability as he is).

It actually helped. He will never ever acknowledge this out loud, but he realized what she was doing, and he’s grateful.

And I could go on and on, but I think this more or less summarizes how I view the two of them. They basically have their own language by this point, where phrases like “fuck you too” mean “I love you”, and so forth. She loves him to death and worries about him constantly and is so, so proud of him. He loves her too and she doesn’t piss him off nearly as much as he pretends, and he would be devastated beyond words if anything were to ever happen to her. He actually thinks she’s the strongest person he knows, maybe even tougher than All Might, and he would never, ever say this out loud.

Sooo... yeah. I’m trying to think of a good way to end this post now, but I can’t think of anything lol. I think I’ve said everything I wanted to. Tl;dr, I’ve made a conscious decision to view Mitsuki as a highly combative but loving parent to her troublesome tsundere son because I want Katsuki to man up and take responsibility for his own shit, because I love him. The end.

[arkus-rhapsode]

Fairy Tail 100 Years Quest Chapter 12 Review

Oh my god... What the heck is even going on?

So our cover page is Natsu and Lucy, and Natsu I hope you enjoy that brain freeze.

So we open on Jellal confronting Touka. We learn like how Avatar was devoted to black magic there was a group devoted to white magic. Now this is cool, but literally if you watch the anime recently, that arc was done in 5 episodes. So this feels really odd on how much effort is being put into it.

Like if there was like something tying into Tenrou or hell edolas, that make more sense, given all thee time on it.

So Jellal describes White magic as a philosophy of nothingness, which that doesn’t make sense. Fans of yugioh gx might compare this the darkness and light in that series and how darkness led to creation while light was subjugation. But Black magic is clearly about ending life or manipulating life. I guess you could dumb it down to all life, but literal Ankherseram black magic is portrayed as nothing but death. So wouldn’t white be about life? I guess nothingness as life without personality isn’t wrong,  but this feels like a stretch.

Also, Mashima said anyone could learn any type of magic. So why is that an abnormality? Like if this was Black Clover where you are assigned a single affinity that be one thing.

Suddenly Laxus steps in, and want to make this clear. I don’t exactly hate the idea behind this. That Laxus wants to defend someonew ho is a part of his family, given his new found view on FT, and its using the family aspect of FT on its head. Someone bad could be using FT’s family mentality for personal benefit. Which is interesting.

Okay, well Jellal has a reason, she is  suspect and as a guild master he has authority to take her in. However, Laxus you of all people know that people in your guild will still harm it.

On the one hand im torn, the shounen loving half of my brain wants to see this fight. But the logical half says that these two are mature adults with enough common sense to take this to the run knights. And confrontation is over after this page.

Yeah for a chapter named after the two, its got very little to do with theem. Instead.... The worst thing in the chapter happens. We cut to Diablos’ ship and we see this.

Yes you are seeing this right. For people who were saying I was to harsh, calling this a submissive Erza fetish that Mashima is putting out, I ask you read this chapter.

You know I can’t tell if Skullion means this is temporary as in terms of magic, or temporary as Kyria will grow bored, but I do know that this is nothing but sick and tastess. Also props to Madmorel for having some class to be disgusted by the perv in the group. Like that is becoming a rarity these days.

We are guided down to the lower deck where natsu and wendy are being held, the motion sickness keeping them in check.

I’ve been putting this off long enough, its time to rant. This is bull shit. People told me, i was too harsh on mashima, but at the least I thought this was some sort of temporary thing that was meant so Kyria could get a win in a fight, but this might be some permanent magic effect feels disgusting.

Now, people say that this happened cause people would rag on Erza, called Erza fights awful, and that now Mashima is going in the complete opposite dirction. You didn’t like strong erza, fine! Here’s weak Erza, you happy cynics?

But that’s not the case. People didn’t like Erza because she was “too strong” she was someoone who went from this amazing badass female character, to this static friendship speech spewing tool that never truly got any development. Its painful for people to see a character like Erza not grow after she had developed so much in ToH, but it just was never followed through. All the times she won just felt like a poor spectacle without any character behind it.

Now you could say an erza who needs to get her strength back could be character development. No. Cutting away a person’s strength with “magic” is not character development, its forced regression. Its the author literally creating an unrealistic situation bcause he has no idea what to do with her  after ToH, hell he can’t even fully commit to a love story between her and jellal.

When Erza came onto the scene, she was cool, in control, yet could over react at times. To see her be pushed to her lowest by ToH and then recover and face midnight in OS, is peak Erza character shining through. That this is how erza’s development deserved to be treated. But Watching Erza crawl on the ground, be spanked, and cry for mercy like a hentai doll, all because of plot convince magic is so gross to me. Its ejecting the Erza that we all love and stripping her of all that personality just for this.

So if you blame this development on people who were too hard on Mashima about how he was writing Erza, I, a critic and very judgemental person, find this worse than any of the nakama power or skimpy armors.

Erza being trapped in Kyoka’s sex dungeon was bad, but you know what, EErza actievly resisted it. She didn’t want to be there aand tried to fight back. It wasn’t handled well, but that t least felt like whatt her character would do in this situation. But this was forced upon her and this is nothing more than an Erza made for this arc.

Also, lets step out of this and look at this from the meta perspective that this is also extremely lazy. In Eden’s zero there’s a villain who is all about subjugating women right now, and Mashima couldn’t be bothered to not let that bleeed into his other work. If that doesn’t scream creately lazy, than I don’t know what will. Also that frog thing in Eden’s zero is actuaally better giveen the fact he’s not mind bending away personality, he’s forcibly turning them in statues to do with what he pleases against their will.

Im not saying this cause im anti ecchi or that im anti  mashima, im anti such a hack story writting device that weather you stuck it out as a fan of erza’s till the end of FT or liked her at first but than soured on her, I ask, would you tolerate this? I’m not claiming ownership of the character of Erza, but I am asking do you think that this is worth a character arc because our author couldn’t think of anything better to do with her. You know if you knew Erza was so strong,Ad that in actuality she would sweep away most threats, why did you bring her? I honestly would’ve preferred Jellal and Erza being out of the action cause they had a kid or something. Erza having to pick between biological family and her guild family seems like a better direction to take her character in than this.

To see Erza cry because someone’s magic made her into a slave is so lacking in power than say the sheer emotional weight of watching simon die. Like this is shit is just awful.

We cut to Luccy and here is where I get to credit thee art. Sure Lucy is in a bikini, but what matters in frame is the wounds on her legs. Which is a nice us of having aa skimpy dress and not sexualizing it.

We get a flashback of Lucy realizing Kyriaa took her friends and this is where I give Caramille a big fuck you. Oh sure, this did happen after they showed up, but Diabolos clearly was going to find the place eventually and more importantly, you did fuck all. Like, go screw cause you have contributed literally nothing.

We find out that there is another ship in the area and that Gray is okay because he was saved by you can guess who...

Okay on the one hand, this definitely seems like Brandish’s kind of entrance, but on the other. Fuck you, Hiro. Like she just passed by and saved Gray? Hw? The entire ocean was either freezing or evaporating, what is your range? Also, who is in charge of Alverez? Yajeel? Oi...

Post Chapter Follow up: Its easy to say why I don’t like this chapter. I feel so sick by the sheer amount of laziness and disgust in the slave Erza plot. Like, my god this is so wrong. Not because of the subject, human slavery makes sense in a series aimed at teenagers, but the sheer disrespect that Hiro treated this character, made my blood boil. At the very least in Alvarez, Erza still seemed like she was the same character from beginning of the series.

People who follow me weekly on this review series are probably going to ask when I will stop harping on this Erza thing. Well each week, it  somehow get worse and more gross.  First time it felt like a cheap win, second it was bad use of domination, now this is full blown fetish material.

As for the brandish thing, I know why she is here, Lucy is literally not strong enough to handle 3 DE’s by herself with a few exceeds, and I’d accept that Brandish reentering the series. But maybe leave out Gray? I guess you could say that this is a subversion of the Musica captured by Doryu, but this feels lazier. You could’ve just made this a big “step up Lucy plot,” but no, had to save Gray, even though Skullion should’ve notice when his magic didn’t actually ash up Gray. Plus think about, if they save save Natsu and Wendy this arc and beat these three dragon eaters, wouldn’t some added bit of tension to the quest be finding diablos’s hideout and saving Gray from the “dinner table?”And I was cool with the kidnapped gray thing, but no, we had to have kidnapped everyone else.Also if he was made small how did he survive the water? Like he’s the size of a pin, he’d drown.

Now the stuff with Laxus and Jellal is actually fairly good Its an interesting take on FTs standards vs the consequences of their past when we are suppose to be rooting for Touka to be extracted. And involving two characters that really have been in the moral gray spectrum make them the most qualified for this subject matter. While i definitely didn’t like the Touka plot at first from how disconnected it was from everything (and it really is kinda shoed in on this point) it still is the more interesting plot. It has more intresting ideas than, “more dragons” and is involving the characters that come off as the most interesting.

Final Verdict: 3/10

There is clearly some interesting idea at work here

However, the way the plotline for the dragon portion of this arc has become a mess

I don’t use this phrase lightly, “Erza literally deserves better than this”

Plot convince playhouse at its finest

[flames-bring-a-ton-of-ash]

Writer Interview

I was tagged by the lovely @sherrybaby14 and @jeffreydeanneganstrash <3

1. What inspires your work most? (The show it is based on, the actor who portrays a certain character, maybe the character itself…? It could even be an experience.)

I would say the character and then my ridiculously active imagination. A character has to really intrigue me for me to want to write them, especially more long-term. They can’t just be amusing or attractive, they have to have layers to them, and live in shades of grey. I’m not much for the “good guy” or “hero” type, unless they’re really tortured (like Daryl), and prefer characters who come off as “villains” but who actually have so much more to them, and the lines are blurry of which side they’re on. Case in point, my love of Negan, Crowley, Peter Hale, and Severus Snape. They all have so much depth to them that isn’t necessarily shown in the show/book/comics, or if it is, it isn’t until the end of their arc, and they end up dying a hero, of sorts. I love trying to psychoanalyze those types of characters, and imagining what it would be like to put them up against a female OC that sees past their rough exterior to the man beneath, and how they would react to such a woman...and eventually fall for her. Basically, I write my own fantasies, of how I would love to be transported to that universe and interact with the characters myself haha. Hence, how ID was born.

2. What is your favorite fandom to write for?

It has most DEFINITELY been Negan’s Thirst Squad. I still can’t believe how far this fandom has come in the past year and a half. From literally only a small handful of fanfiction existing for him on any fanfiction site, to now multiple fics being posted daily; from a small handful of thirst squad members who huddled together against those judging us, to a huge thirst squad full of love and support...this fandom amazes me so much. It’s one of the most positive and supportive fandoms that I’ve ever seen on any site, and I love y’all so much for that.

3. Which perspective do you prefer writing in? (First-person, third-person)

I actually prefer second person now. I had never written in a “you” perspective until ID, but after creating a novel in that POV, it’s now become my default, and weirdly, even though it’s supposedly the most difficult POV to write, I find it the most enjoyable. 

4. Do you prefer writing reader fics or OCs?

Reader fics. With those, I can literally make myself the character, without having to name her. Reader fics are still an OC of sorts, it’s just that they’re typically unnamed and it’s a different point of view. It’s definitely not as easy when it comes to not giving physical descriptors and not using a name when interacting with other characters, but it feels more personal to me, and I enjoy that a lot. 

5. Do you prefer writing longer works or one shots?

Hmm...I guess it depends on the idea. The only longer work I’ve written turned into a BEAST of a novel, and I’ve really loved the journey of writing it, because it proved to me that I can indeed someday write and publish a novel someday, if I so wish. Writing ID has taught me a lottt about not only my writing, but about myself, cheesy as that sounds, and it has been so fun to finally write down one of the huge stories that I create in my head, because I create a lot of them lol.

However, there’s also something exciting to be said for those smutty one shot ideas. Once in a while, I get an idea so arousing that I’m literally obsessed with writing it down, and spend days totally focused on that idea and transferring the fantasy from my head onto paper (or word Document, I guess haha). And then, once it’s finished and posted, I get such a sense of accomplishment, and it’s like I can then purge that fantasy from my brain so that it doesn’t drive me up a wall anymore...plus I can then transfer the thirst to others, which is always fun.

6. Do you take requests?

I do not. I took commissioned requests once earlier this year, and while it was a lot of fun to expand my writing skills by forming ideas from others, it was also stressful. I realized that it’s much harder for me to be passionate about what I’m writing if it’s not an idea that I already created in my head. Luckily, the three requests I got were already fantasies I had considered before, so I was able to draw on that, but if I got requests that weren’t something I found sexy or fantasized about myself, I don’t know if I could do those ideas justice and write them properly. Or maybe I could write them...but I just wouldn’t enjoy it nearly as much.

7. Do you enjoy getting random Asks?

I do! I’ve gotten so many amazing random asks since joining this fandom, and I love them all (minus the hate). Anons have started topics on my blog that snowballed into these amazing conversations, particularly in regards to sexuality topics, and I LOVE those interactions with anonymous followers so much! My ask box is always open to y’all :) 

8. What inspires the names for OCs (or extra character names) in your works? Do you pick them from real life or just select them at random? A mix?

When I do have secondary OCs, the names aren’t really based off anyone I know in real life. For ID, I was trying to find names of characters that didn’t exist in the show or comics (which was why I was screaming when the show introduced a young character named Ben haha). And for Trixie, I tried to think of a name of someone who would be young and annoying, and that fit for me. Maria might’ve been subconsciously based off the old lady named Maria who lived above me in my old apartment haha, although I don’t think my OC Maria is anything like her. Basically, they’re kinda random but also names that I feel fit the vibe of the OC’s personality. 

9. If your story(ies) have OCs, are their appearances based on real people or celebrities? If so, who?

I don’t actually describe my OCs appearances in ID too much, because I want readers to make their own mental picture of what they look like. I realized that their personalities are more based off real people I know, even though I wasn’t consciously doing that in the beginning, but looks-wise they don’t remind me of anyone in particular. When I first created Ben, I saw him as a younger, blonder Jared Padalecki, but since they introduced TV Ben, I’ve kinda morphed him with Padalecki in in my head and created a totally new image. 

My first OC, in a Dean Winchester story I wrote years ago, I totally based off myself, though. That was my first time writing a fanfic, and I made the main character, Amy, look like me, and her friend, Robin, I made look and act a lot like one of my hometown friends. I think that’s why I stick to “you” OCs, because I know if I made an actual OC with a physical description, my vain ass would make her look like myself haha. I wrote the first chapter of ID with an OC character, who was going to be a curvy blonde (like myself) and named Lexi, but then I changed it to a “you” character at the last minute. It’s interesting though, to think where the story could’ve gone and been different, if I had stuck with that OC. But I’m glad that I made the switch.

10. How long have you been writing fanfiction?

My first fic was a Dean Winchester 2-chapter smut fic. I think I started writing it in 2013 and published it in 2014 (it took me forever to write). I then decided that was my one-time foray into writing fanfiction, and didn’t write any again...until April 2016, after the season 6 finale of TWD, when Negan showed up on my screen and ruined my life. So consistently, I’ve been writing it for a year and a half, minus that one story a few years ago.

If anyone actually takes the time to read these rambles, thank you, because holy shit am I good at rambling.

I tag (if you want to) @opheliadawnwalker3 @mamapeterson @faith-in-dean @winchesterswoonathon @kittenofdoomage @hannibalssweaters @bamby0304 @vizhi0n @wickednerdery @wheresthekillswitch @lucifer-in-leather @crzcorgi @purplemuse89 

(I tried to tag some authors I haven’t seen tagged for this yet, so apologies if you already did it!)

[roguepythia]

Meta: Characterizations to Cling to

rose-for-dead-alice replied to your post “Honestly though, I was a hardcore Spuffy shipper. S6 wrecked our shit...”

                       Honestly yeah as much as I kind of hate the loss of a potential canon gay romance on a hit TV show....At least it isn't like what Buffy did with that attempted rape scene, Buffy got way too sexual and I always felt so violated by that part of the show.                    

So many people felt the same! And “violated” is the perfect word choice too. It’s exactly how the entire fandom felt.

Putting this under a read more as I meta about Spuffy and Nygmobblepot characterizations, world-breaking, and fandom/show relationships. It’s a long one people, grab a snack first. 

BtVS S6 just got so dark, dealing with themes like self-hate and using sex as self-punishment. They had spent the entire season completely objectifying Spike and turning him into basically a giant sex toy. And made it seem all “a-okay” to do cause he’d had his own sex toy for awhile in the Buffybot. Plus, Buffy was the “hero” so she “couldn’t” do any wrong. It was all Spike’s fault that he was willing to put up with it. Either because he loved her so much he was willing to take on her pain or he was a monster that couldn’t tell the difference between love and self-hate therefore didn’t think she was doing anything wrong. Considering his keen ability to see through the bullshit my take was the first. He knew she was hurting and wanted to take that pain from her, if he got his leg over in the process so much the better for him.

And then they pulled the rug out from under us when all of sudden he attacks her. They completely ignore all of their world-building to make him out to be the bad guy that can’t see where the line is, when she’s been crossing it all season. Even though at his most evil self he had limits. And then it’s been proven that Buffy is 10x more powerful than Spike but because she got a little banged up earlier that night, all of a sudden he can overpower her? It was also so completely out of character for both of them. Buffy the “hit first, ask questions later” Slayer begging Spike “Love’s Bitch” to stop rather than just kicking him through the wall. Which she can do as she’s a Slayer. Which leads me to my next point.

The audience reaction. They didn’t make this show in a vacuum. There was an audience and a large fanbase. As a college-aged young woman watching this show, I identified with Buffy. She was for my generation what Wonder Woman is now to this one. We looked up to her. She fought the good fight. She stood up to right the wrongs of the “demons” that tried to take her power. She was a metaphor for girls to say to themselves, “I matter. I have power. I have a voice!” So of course when she gets attacked like that, by someone who claims to love her, we all feel attacked as well.

And the Spike fans were doubly betrayed. We identified with Buffy and Spike. The Heroine and the Outsider. They had been such a powerful team and Spike was on his redemption journey already. He spent the entire summer being The Protector to her younger sister and asked for nothing in return except for someone to buy him Wheetabix every once in awhile. Yes, he was still a demon but he was fighting his nature to be something better than himself. Even without a soul he was still trying. That character development was completely destroyed in one scene. The only way to reconcile what happened was to headcanon that even Spike was so appalled by his own behavior that he sought his soul. He basically said, “THIS ISN’T WHO I AM! Screw this, I’m outta here.” Which as noted by the below, might have been their plan.

The following quotes are from the wiki page on this ep and very enlightening as apparently the scene was shot in such a way as to evoke sympathy for Spike....while he was attempting to rape Buffy. Let that sink in.

In the DVD commentary, James Marsters said that filming the scene in which Spike attempts to rape Buffy was one of the hardest he ever had to do. He has since said that he will never do such a scene again. That scene has also generated controversy between fans and the writers,[2] but writer Jane Espenson says that moment was necessary to set up a powerful motivation for Spike's quest to gain a soul.[3] As James Marsters points out, "How do you motivate him [to] make a mistake that’s so heart-rending that he’d be willing to do that?"[4]

Marsters would later say in 2012 that he understood the idea to have come from "a female writer, [who] had a situation in her life where she was and her boyfriend were breaking up and she decided if she just made love to him one more time, that they wouldn't break up. She ended up trying to force herself on him and decided to write about that. The thing is, if you flip it and make it a man forcing himself on a woman, I believe it becomes a whole different thing... I'm not really sure it expressed what the author was intending and on that score it was not successful." [5]

In her essay on sex and violence in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Gwyn Symonds calls the scene itself "technically and emotionally intricate" in that, unlike most depictions of attempted rape, it "encourages a complex audience engagement with both... the perpetrator and the victim."[6] The action was "very carefully choreographed" according to James Marsters,[4] with the camera alternating between close-ups of Buffy and Spike separately to reinforce the audience's shifting empathy with both Buffy and Spike.[6] Writer Rebecca Rand Kirshner agrees that the viewer "could feel how [Spike's] very innards were twisted into this perversion of what he wanted," and she found that experiencing the scene from his perspective was additionally disturbing.[7]

The above makes it clear that the most egregious crime of that scene was against the fans. Not only was it bad decision making on several levels to portray an attacker as a victim but to also believe that you can swap genders in such a scene without a problem. But the most obscene aspect of all, is the world-breaking. In the Buffyverse, Spike is a Demon. Buffy is a Slayer. They are NOT HUMAN. They don’t live by human rules. But the fans are human and we do live in a sometimes ugly, cruel world. By making these supernatural creatures act within human boundaries, the analogies were broken. It was no longer a metaphor. This brought a show that wasn’t just steeped in supernatural elements but solidly based in them, kicking and screaming into the “real world”.

The fandom reacted. All of a sudden fans were labeled “rape apologists” or had to relive the most harrowing moments of their lives to explain how deeply the show had hurt them. Sometimes both. I don’t think the show or the fandom ever recovered. It was a breech of trust that the show writers could never mend.

Even now as writers for the show head other projects, BtVS fans know who they are and what they’ve done. When I found out  Steven S. DeKnight was taking over directing duties for Del Toro on Pacific Rim 2, I wanted to barf. Now the story I love about all of humanity coming together to fight a common foe; full of love and pathos, resolute in its determination to never give up, to go down swinging, to stand up and maybe even pay the ultimate sacrifice to protect those that cannot..... “Today we are cancelling the apocalypse!“ Now it’s in his hands. It’s now going to take a dark and twisted turn full of some type of self loathing and hatred, I’m sure of it. Ug. Fifteen years later and I’m still so appalled at how all this went down.

And if anyone is still reading this long essay at this point, (you get a virtual cookie) but I guess you’re wondering how this all relates to Nygmobblepot. Well, my main point of contention about the above is that they took the characters out of their world. They took supernatural creatures and made them act as if they were human. It wasn’t just that it was OOC for both characters, it wasn’t BtVS either.

The Nygmobblepot and Gotham fandoms are “alive”. Our feelings about the show, the characters, and the fandom itself shift with each new piece of content we receive. And unfortunately, we receive this content in a lot more ways now.  

When BtVS was around, we didn’t have “social media”. Facebook didn’t even exist until one year after BtVS concluded. There wasn’t a twitter page dangling our ship in front of us with colored hearts and cute images or coy phrases. There was an on-line presence, yes, but fans only really interacted with fans and fansites. We didn’t have a direct line to the creators and/or actors on the show on a daily basis like we do now. And maybe we were better off? It is a double edged sword. We can now make our voices heard so much easier but then we are subjected to constant pandering to get “all eyes focused here!!” so advertisers can rake in the money every time we click on a site.

But that isn’t part of the show itself. It’s not. It’s the social media arm run by the PR department, whose job it is to generate buzz and a “click this!!” mentality. And it works! Every time we get sucked in and think something said on those sites will have some correlation to what happens on the show. And that’s not the case. We don’t even know if the PR team knows what will happen in the episodes before they post. For all we know, they have no clue. Somehow we’ve forgotten they are two separate things and the creators need to be reminded of this as well. Because looking back through the social media posts is painful. And it didn’t need to be that way.  

The show itself has actually managed to do the one thing that BtVS could not, and that is to keep their world in tact. After everything that has happened to Oz and Ed, through it all, they have remained in character. The world hasn’t shifted out from under them, nor us. They are still who they’ve always been at their core. Even Ed, who is searching for his identify, has been handled in a way that stays true to his Gotham characterization.

There is a lot that can be said about how the story unfolded and how it didn’t go the way we wanted. Many sectors of the fandom are legitimately angry. Many of us, myself included, were casual viewers until this ship jumped off the screen at us. And it wasn’t social media that sucked us in. It was Robin and Cory’s portrayal of these two broken, damaged villains finding each other that spoke to us. Knowing that even if you are “irredeemable”, there is still someone out there for you. That there truly is a “lid for every pot”. It was that connection we fell in love with, romance or not. And now this beautiful friendship seems to have been ruined for little to no payoff. But at least the story line still all made some kind of sense. I think I’ll be more upset at this point over a lack of explanation for Isabella than anything else.

And the reason why, is that the show hasn’t broken my trust. Their social media PR team can kiss my ass. But the show stayed true to itself and therefore us. It made Oswald canonically gay but never made him into someone he’s not nor made him do things he’d never conceive of. And poor Edward, who falls so easily and simply can’t help himself at times, continued his decent into madness and villainy. Oswald and Edward remained Oswald and Edward, much to Ed’s consternation.

The show makes it clear that this isn’t “the real world” pretty much on an episodic basis. “This is Gotham” isn’t just a catchphrase, it’s a way of life for these characters. It’s how the show is able to make us care about serial killers and psychopaths that we would run from if we met in “the real world”. Their world is filled with color and flair and the characters continue to reflect that. For all of the show’s purported faults in the story line this season, failure to understand their characterizations isn’t one of them. They have not committed the ultimate sin. At least not yet, not in my eyes. I guess we will see what the finale and S4 holds for us.