#and it IS a punishment/treatment bc he IS there to get better but also if he doesn't go he's on the street & disowned*

[bumblingbabooshka]

Tuvok's Rebel Catholic Schoolgirl to Head Nun pipeline - studying it in a lab as we speak.

[sad-scarred-sassy]

tamlin “trapped” feyre after all negotiations broke down with the certainty of knowing feyre would endanger herself and others temporarily

from the wu this fandom talks about it you’d think he’s mother gothel but like. it was only until he came back. it wasn’t like he had her isolated, restricting access to who got to see her. he offered to invite her sisters - she was the one who said no! i really don’t see how it’s comparable to feyre + the ic making nesta stay on a remote island for what it’s worth with two near strangers who she has little to no positive associations with if they can’t be considered the cause of all her trauma in the first place (in that they are fae etc)

whereas nesta’s sentence (bc let’s face it she was sent to azkaban as punishment with a fun caveat like “you’re free if you can cross the sea! and manage to maintain a sense of identity while around guards who remind you how terrible you are of course!”) is indefinite and it’s pretty obvious from everything that comes after that it’s just something she’s expected to make the best of as opposed to something that can get better with time.

and cassian being her jailer whose amicability she has to earn by performing rigorous physical activity she had no interest in even if she grew to love it.. i wonder if she’s had that experience before

sorry, i’m not disagreeing with you, i saw your post + i just die a little inside every time someone’s like “ew tampon” “wow i wish i had a cassian” like no. they’re not the same, you (not you, ily) just have the attention span of a gold fish on catnip

You know I restrained myself from posting more on this because I’m such a hater sometimes lol, gotta focus on more positive things sometimes but... I’ll get this out of my chest.

I wanna preface by saying I do not care if people like Cassian/Nessian, truly. I even like fanon Cassian and fanon Nessian. I also have seen very little people that like Cassian bashing Tamlin (probably bc of my filters and just the type of blogs I follow bc I do love them all) BUT☝🏼 what I do see is a lot of “Disclaimer: we know Tamlin is an abuser” on Tamlin neutral posts (when no other character gets that treatment) or using Tamlin as a cautionary tale of how he treated Feyre and then praise the other “mates” for being “the right ones” and treating them correctly or something, which does annoy me a bit, but alas.

In my opinion yes, you are right, what Cassian and the Inner Circle did to Nesta is a million times worse than what Tamlin did to Feyre, but nobody, nobody considers Cassian’s actions in Silver Flames as bad as they actually are. Nobody considers him an abuser like Abusive Tamlin™️. When talking about what Nesta has endured in SF people put all the blame on Rhys and Feyre (which yes of course) but they forget Cassian was also there, willingly.

I’ve seen people use the argument that both Nesta and Cassian treated each other poorly in their relationship, but I have to ask… what did Nesta do to him that’s worse than what he did… intentionally. She was mean to him and called him bastard like four times? And only when he trespassed her boundaries. Somehow this is comparable to him being her jailer, taking her to train in the middle of Illyria, being a dick when he knew she was struggling, telling her everyone hates her and he cannot understand why her sisters love her, controlling her food intake as if she’s a gym bro or something when she clearly had an eating disorder, not telling her that Feyre was not mad at her and letting her BREAK while making her carry a huge backpack and forcing her on a hike not talking to her for days, to the point she fainted and fell on her face near a cliff?? (this because she made Rhys mad). Anyway the list goes on.

And you know what I don’t care if people like this guy after all this, but it is just funny how somehow Neris shippers are the “morally dubious” ones lol (and don’t get me started on Tamlin stans aka the devil worshippers), because Nesta said she “deserved Eris” (as a punishment), babygirl your WHOLE relationship with Cassian has been a punishment, for what sins you ask? Being mean (as she should) and spending the High Lord’s coin.

And what makes it worse is that the narrative will always favor the Inner circle, Cassian will never pay for what he’s done the way Tamlin has (and still is) he will never even apologize because he was “holding out his hand” or whatever bs that was. (Honestly if I get proven wrong and he does pay and apologize then I may give him a chance, but I highly doubt it)

I won’t even pretend that I think Neris will be canon as much as I wish it was, even if I know that if SJM wrote it, it still would have had its problems but at least Nesta wouldn’t have ended up with the people who treated her like a criminal just because she wouldn’t kiss their ass. And on top of all, with a mate that doesn’t even have the balls to stand up for her. Holy shit.

Okay I got it all out of my chest I think, I’ll try not to hate so much but this shit bro makes me seethe. I’ll go touch some grass.

[an-idyllic-novelist]

Hi, could I request for a Lady Tamayo!Reader paired with Buddha?

This reader was revived by Brunhilde to be the doctor for the 13 champions and she's loyal (not too loyal) to her bc she saved her from her punishment from being a demon.

The scenario would be that they met when she treated him after his fight and they got to know each other after that?

Please and thank you

Here it is! Special thanks to @nixes-noxes for proofreading/editing to make sure that the characters weren’t OOC. Enjoy and have a lovely day/evening!

Warnings: manga spoilers

Buddha was…a difficult patient. Despite all of the odds that were stacked against him in his fight with Zero, he won. Yet his victory for humanity isn’t an excuse to sneak out of his room to bask underneath the canopy of his bodhi tree and enjoy a passing breeze with sun shining down from the sky.

That is one of the reasons why Brunhilde had summoned Lady [First Name] [Last Name] from Helheim despite being a demon; before she had been killed by Muzan after drugging him with an elixir during their confrontation in the Infinity Castle, Lady [First Name} had been a doctor. Together with her companion Yushiro, she helped as many humans as she could with their alignments,including those who had been afflicted with Muzan’s poisonous blood and became flesh-eating demons.

In retrospect, dying to give the Demon Slayers a chance to destroy the man who had ruined her human life wasn’t a terrible thing…but Lady [First Name] had not expected to wake up in a dark wasteland teeming with demons that were just as dangerous, if not more, than the demon king himself. It was through sheer dumb luck that she had survived for so long until the Valkyrie had brought from her ‘punishment’ and offered her the position of being humanity’s chief physician in the medical wing.

It did not take the young woman very much time to give Brunhilde an answer. At this point anything was better than being stuck in Helheim. Disinfecting wounds, monitoring a patient’s health, and making sure that they are being properly fed? Yes. She can do that.

But the demon did not recall that being the ‘chief physician’ also meant chasing after a stubborn god.

Shaking her head in disbelief, Lady [First Name] walked up the steep grassy hill as best as she could in her [Favorite Color] kimono and zori sandals till she was standing right behind Buddha, munching on snacks that she specifically recalled telling him to cut back on until he was ready for the next stage of his treatment.

“Why am I not surprised to find you here, my lord?”

“Should ya even be surprised anymore, doc?” Buddha snarked back, unwrapping a candy bar and throwing it in his mouth. “Besides, do you really believe I’d miss an opportunity to get some fresh air?”

She frowned. “I never said that there was a problem with being outside, Lord Buddha. In fact, it is supposed to improve your sleep, cognition, and overall well-being rather than being confined indoors all of the time. I did, however, say that you can but it would be in everyone’s benefit to inform myself or the staff that you wish to go outside instead of sneaking out. Lady Brunhilde was quite upset when she came to the medical wing earlier this afternoon to find out that you were…missing.”

“Bruni will be fine, she’s a lot tougher than she looks, believe me. Let her focus on the eighth round. I might have won but we still need more wins if the gods’ll leave the humans alone. More importantly,” He glanced over his shoulder, a single aquamarine orb staring right at her. “Do I even know you?”

Lady [First Name] tilted her head, staring at him for a moment before smiling softly. It appears that Lady Brunhilde was not joking when she had casually mentioned just how laid-back Buddha is…or simply doesn’t give a shit about anyone. The Valkyrie’s words, not hers, thank you very much. But being a doctor secretly researching demonic transformations or performing blood transfusions did not have its own issues. She also had to handle human patients too. Inhaling a deep breath through her nostrils, she calmed her anger before answering Buddha.

“All you need to know is that my job is to ensure the mental and physical health of all humanity’s champions, Lord Buddha. It goes against my oath as a doctor to force a patient to do something against their will. In this scenario, however, I offer…an ultimatum.” She paused, staring at the blonde-haired deity. Since Buddha didn’t interrupt nor look away, the demon took this as a cue to elaborate.

“I will speak to the staff and allow you to lounge outside here or in the greenhouse until a fixed time. When that time is up, you must return to your room and rest. Yes, this is a curfew, but this is the best that I can offer you right now. You may no longer be in critical condition, though there is a chance that your health or recovery might have some setbacks.”

She could tell immediately that Buddha wasn’t too thrilled with this restriction. No one likes having someone hovering over their shoulder or counting down the minutes until they have to go back to their room when all they want is a little time to themselves before running through medical tests for the nth time of the day.

“Is there any chance you can include snacks-”

“That will be taken into consideration once your bloodwork comes back, Lord Buddha.” Lady [First Name] chuckled, witnessing one of the most powerful gods pouting petulantly like a child. Shaking her head, she decided to do something that she hadn’t done in all of her years of practicing medicine: she sat next to him under the bodhi tree, paying no heed to getting grass stains on her kimono as she stared up at the floating islands of Valhalla in comfortable silence.

He did not say anything….that was progress. Maybe?

[nutzgunray-lvt]

Missed oppourtunities that I would haved loved to see in MHA:

- All Might getting on to Aizawa for taking out his disdain for him onto Izuku, bc that's the mark of shitty teaching and overall shitty behavior

- Mic having a backbone against Aizawa and calling him out for being a shitty teacher and shitty friend

- Bakugou at LEAST getting a detention for nearly killing Izuku in the Battle trials, or maybe even lobby for expulsion or suspension for using lethal force. To a lesser extent, have this alienate 1-A from him because it makes no sense that they go from begging All Might to stop the match to them being friendly with Bakugou

- Bakugou losing to Ochako or Todoroki in the Sports Festival and getting little to no internship offers due to his behavior. Also, introduce the fact that Bakugou is becoming a PR nightmare for UA here.

- More insight into the investigation into the UA traitor

- MORE. ACADEMIA.

- Have All Might (maybe Aizawa too, idk) realize they had Bakugou and Izuku's relationship all wrong during the Finals, because this was so obviously a one sided problem on Bakugou's end. Also have Bakugou fail the final, because there's no reason for him to pass while Sero failed for the same damn reason.

- Fuck, just have Bakugou getting detentions, suspensions, whatever more often by the other teachers.

- Maybe have Fumikage kidnapped as well, it was an interesting concept and imagine them having to deal with Dark Shadow in addition to All For One and the League of Villains. It also would have made criticism against UA even worse for having 2 students kidnapped instead of one.

- Have the media and public push back on Bakugou's behavior, pointing out that by letting it go unchecked for this long, it makes UA's image as a prestigious school look bad. Maybe even bring up Aizawa's explulsuon record and previous students, stating that keeping someone like Bakugou as a student makes him look INCREDIBLY bad as a teacher.

- Show more parents pushing back against UA's dorm situation, maybe even have some parents pull their children from UA due to them not trusting the school to protect their students.

- Don't have All Might feeling sorry for Bakugou's ass for starting that fight with Izuku (literally left Izuku's injured ass there so he could comfort Bakugou). Have Bakugou expelled, as this is one of MANY things he has gotten off scott free for. Don't have Izuku punished for defending himself, it still makes me angry

- Have Aizawa and Midnight NOT sit on their ass when Black Whip is going out of control

- More Izuku & OFA bonding/mentoring moments

- More Class 1-A bonding moments

- Just having Izuku grow out of his "Kaachan can do no wrong mentality" and allowing him to realize that the way he was treated was NOT okay

- Maybe show how Aizawa's negligence and "Rational Deceptions" have led to Class 1-A to not trust him outside of life/death situations

- Maybe show how Aizawa's overall treatment of Izuku has led to Izuku not trusting him outside of life/death situations

- Show All Might working to get his teaching license and improve his teaching skills

- Fuck, show All Might's backstory and give him a better support network

- More examples of Quirkism and how being Quirkless is essentially a societal death sentence (why else would the Aoyama's have sold their souls to All For One due to Aoyama being born Quirkless? Why else did no one do ANYTHING to stop the bullying Izuku went through growing up?)

Feel free to add more!

[wordy-little-witch]

I'm experiencing some Emotions atm so I'm gonna project on my little clown man -

TW for talks of periods

Trans masc Buggy who can't get cut/stabbed/sliced/diced. The availability of hormones and HRT is limited due to both canon scientific development and micromanagement from the government. He's a chemist, so he can synthesize his own HRT ((and has the survival instincts to know they NEED medical professionals, so he probably shares that info with them)), but it's not a one and done type of deal.

In Impel Down, he wasn't able to access his T. He was in there for a few months, so he was having hormone shifts there for a hot minute before finally being freed. It's one of the reasons he kept his stubble - it helped with the dysphoria.

He gets out, gets back on track, keeps the stubble bc it helped, he liked it, etc. He had a few times where he wanted to shave again but decided against it.

Now on to the Evil Polycule.

Crocodile and Mihawk's take over and implementation of Cross Guild came with some changes to the budget, including Croc just putting a full stop on Buggy's chemicals for a time. He decided to bite the bullet and send what he had to the pharmacists to keep them afloat bc he's actually a good captain. He just.. has limited meds for himself.

So it's a few months into the Guild, Buggy has been off T for a little while now, he's not having too many issues, they're all starting to get to an even keel, and they're even expanding the budget for the chemicals for the pharmacy and also his tools for his weapons. Things are looking up!!!

And then... Buggy starts his period.

And he is spiraling.

He holds up in his room, wrapped in a blanket cocoon, in the dark, curled up tightly against the cramps that are hooked into his abdomen and the sudden wash of dysphoria. He's usually better about this. He usually doesn't struggle this much. Somehow this is worse, he doesn't know why, but he is not okay.

He's not okay at all.

Mihawk and Crocodile are left waiting on him for a meeting. And when it hits a certain point, they're angry, annoyed, and they go looking for him (they are not concerned, they tell themselves, they're not-). They find Alvida, Galdino and Ritchie in the clown's quarters. Ritchie actually gives a warning growl, eyes lidded but sharp. Alvida pales but meets their gaze head on. Galdino is shaking like a leaf, but he doesn't back down.

That alone starts ringing alarm bells.

They ask, they get vague answers at best, and then Mihawk catches the scent of blood. He moves in a swirl of black-and-gold, straight to Buggy's room, straight to Buggy.

It's a bit of a hot mess, but there's an understanding that grows. Crocodile understands, sharing a vulnerability of his own, asks tentatively if Buggy has ever reached out to Ivankov.

Buggy curls up further - as much as he can, at least, with Ritchie pressed against his lap and tummy, purring a storm with kitty worship eyes - and admits that he has. Iva's hormone treatments are injections, and while some devil fruit abilities can circumvent others, that's not the case for him. They've tried. The only option to make it work is seastone or sea water on/around Buggy, which could impact the hormones or Iva's abilities as well.

Also, Buggy admits with grit teeth, Iva's tendency to force sex changes as a punishment rubs him the wrong way.

He tells the two dark haired men about his medicines, how he makes them himself and how his stash has been running low; tells them how he had thought he had enough until the shipment came in with the stuff for his weapons making and the pharmaceuticals; he tells them how he'd given his spare stock to the med tents when they joined because of the denial for the existing budget Buggy had in place.

They feel guilty with the realization.

They decide then that since their actions led to this, it is only fair that they assist. Mihawk brews a tea for Buggy's cramps, Crocodile uses his sand as a heating pad, cool fingers brush through Buggy's hair to help with the migraines, a warm hand and hook help support Buggy's weight when the pain crescendos and leaves him gagging.

Between them and Buggy's usual crew, it's the most cared for he's felt since before a booming laugh was cut shirt by swinging blades and a grin splattered messily onto cobblestone beneath sheets of rain.

[horizon-verizon]

https://www.tumblr.com/very-straight-blog/750648583572881408/it-really-tires-me-how-some-fans-try-to-make-aegon?source=share

What is your opinion about this? Personally, I don't understand why people are so diligently looking for something in Aegon that isn't there.

I wrote about Aegon HERE.

Of course he cares, that's literally the essence of his personality. He cares. He and Aemond both feel too much emotion, but if Aemond sublimates into self–improvement, trying to be strong, cold and detached, then Aegon is literally an open wound. I want to talk about this, also using Tom's interviews (yes, I think the actor's opinion is valid in this matter) and the few scenes that we have in the first season

Having emotion/passion =/= sympathy, caring about others, or altruism. sympathy, altruism, etc. can cause or fuel passion, passion can be the motivation to maintain sympathy/compassion/altruism. Dany is a perfect example caring in hand with passion. But this person conflated "caring" with "being emotional and insecure".

Aegon, bk or show, is emotional bc he doesn't want to expend much energy into doing the ambitious things his family wants him to do, except if it is him showing militaristic prowess to prove masculinity and dominance.

Yes, show!Viserys largely didn't give him the "attention" (more here later) that he gave Rhaenyra, but this neither shows that Aegon truly "cares" since he constantly rapes, has his own bastard kids fight each other when he could have easily set up much better living conditions or have them grow up well-off--as most European noblemen did in real life, even Henry VIII. Viserys not giving him attention doesn't excuse, erase, or undermine how Aegon freely chose to abuse others. Dyana didn't ask to be raped, no one does. Should we ignore her pain for Aegon's "microexpressions"? Daemon's mother passing doesn't excuse his treatment of Rhea Royce (whether he kills her or not, show or book...in the book he still is nasty towards her), while also not having ever raped or SAed women (or really, that being a apart of his character GRRM chose to highlight). Both are princes. And many other men choose not to sexually abuse women despite actual abuse at home -- Samwell Tarly. Who is also a pretty emotional but also actually caring individual. He is not a prince. Aegon doesn't need to be named heir nor will it have a positive effect on the realm if he was made king, like how Rhaenyra needed to be Queen bc it's setting a better precedent for female rulership not just for the throne, but for women/girls to be more included in noble lines of succession and/or to lessen the probability of attempts to unseat female heirs who ascend to their places (Jeyne Arryn). That how Rhaenyra, who had been slandered to be undeserving bc of her gender--something Aegon will never receive and is actual discrimination--also benefits to affirm her worth. Finally, Aegon had to start a war and kill thousands to get what he wanted; Rhaenyra would have peacefully housed him after her ascension. so there's that.

HotD is really uwuing this man, bc canonically he just sees the throne as his male-given right; it was never about "confidence in capabilities" or "who'd make the best ruler" for Aegon. Or the greens. It just never was. Even in the show, if you think for 2 seconds, the only logical reason why he would care so much abt Viserys's treatment of him vs Rhaenyra is abt the throne. Viserys didn't "like" him? Oh, well, maybe that is bc the writers decided not to include the fact that bkViserys spent a lot of time with Helaena and that his probable distance b/t his sons is precisely bc they feel that Rhaenyra, his chosen heir, should not be queen? And that is coming from Otto/Alicent coaching them that way, thus creating that divide?

Viserys actually doesn't treat Rhaenrya all that well despite her being his heir: forcing to marry Laenor, [show] punishing her or castigating her for feelings she rightly has towards marriage after he treated Aemma the way he did, reneging on his deal about Otto with he, etc.

bk!Aegon is threatening Rhaenyra before she gave her first terms, impatient to imprison Rhaenyra after the coronation before those terms, calls her a whore after hearing the terms, etc. He may feel bitter and sad about Viserys not giving what he thought was his "birthright", but I think the showrunners knew that this would not endear him to audiences or make them care abt his PoV, bc this is such a privileged sense of entitlement that is actually dangerous that goes beyond any slander against Rhaenyra's pride to be a female Targaryen heir. Viserys, as king, chose Rhaenya and that is well within his right as king, by these feudal monarchist customs. Female heirs have been chosen in Westeros. even with those girls and women having been chosen only bc there was no viable male candidate, or the ones there were too young, etc., they were still chosen and active in wars in different ways. Plus, if we actually care about victims, which a lot of those women were, you'd also see that having a female heir even with a male candidate, is a better step in the right direction of possibly minimizing that rather than to keep the male-preference primogeniture where the younger male is heir keeps going. Rhaenyra never victimized anyone at that point; Aegon had already done so to serving girls and that 12 year old. In the show, Aegon abuses Helaena by her own words about his sexing her only when he is drunk, but this is throwaway and we are not given a fuller picture (w/o actually showing us the sex, we can still witness their dynamic but as it is they have never been in the same room and we never saw them interact or try to, which HotD clearly takes advantage of bc a lot of people are not cognizant of this or care).

He "cares" about himself and pathetically whines about how he wasn't given or thought to be given what he thinks he deserves based on gender privilege. Boohoo. No one said he was emotionless in the first place! Should I feel bad for a man who doesn't get the expected privileges for being a man?

[ardentpoop]

I once saw a post headcanon that the spn finale was all just deans heaven, not sams. It was what dean wanted for sam, we don't even know if it was what sam wanted anymore. It would explain why we never got a clear picture of the wife or even saw her again after the blurry scene of her, dean would have only cared about sam and any children that came from him. In reality, maybe sam lead a very different life after deans death, and maybe that really was him on the heaven bridge to meet dean, or maybe it was just a projection of him that deans heaven conjured up

I do like this better than canon’s frankly very superficial and romanticized ending bc right, sam having a perfect “apple-pie life” with a perfect american wife and a perfect american kid he named after his dead brother is very much Dean Winchester Fantasy that of course could have never come to pass while he was alive - dean needed to die for that to happen, but it just… it simply couldn’t have been as rose-tinted as that montage made it seem, after everything sam had been through by the time dean died. early s8 was the last time sam tried fighting for a way out of the hunter life and he got punished for it over and over again. late-seasons sam is all “I realized how wrong I was every time I Ran Away” and “this life is Right for me but I can’t do it without my brother” - he stays tethered to it for dean and dean alone. once dean is dead for good (ultimately of his own volition might I add - it’s not even a question whether sam will try bringing him back against his will bc that treatment is reserved for sam whose body belongs to dean as long as he’s alive) it suddenly becomes acceptable for sam to live for himself as opposed to for their Heroic Mission.

ough the idea that the sam joining dean in heaven was just a mirage of him….. delicious. bc dean is happiest when sam fits neatly into the Baby Brother skin he mostly outgrew ages ago anyway!!!! however I also like the idea of actual sam joining him there but really not fitting into the whole bizarre tableau (john and mary are there too Jesus Christ) and reacting so badly that jack and/or cas have to step in. like, heaven is rejecting him bc he’s a foreign object type beat (cue sam’s old religious guilt)

I’m gonna wrap my head around it eventually! I get overwhelmed when I think abt it too hard lmao. TL;DR it makes me feel sick and I want to share that feeling w/ the class by exploring it thru fic 💕

[itoshi-s]

to cope today i am thinking abt sweetheart yandere rin rin. rinnie who is so whipped for u. absolutely the most down bad person in the history of ever- but he definitely doesn't show it, so ur just under the assumption that you're the one more in love but he just simply cannot say no to u. like he just can't bring himself to and when u look deeper and think abt it you realize how much rin does for u behind the scenes because he's just so whipped. u mention an ad for a movie is interesting? he's already reserved seats according to a time slot that works well for u (bc he remembers ur schedule.. he has EVERYTHING memorized. ur period schedule (he buys u pads n ur fav snacks a week beforehand) ur favorite flowers the type of jewelry u like the movies that make u cry and smile right after) think a song is cool? he hums it under his breath while he's training. is this rinnie out of character? probably.. but i just need something to get me through the day 😞

AAAA NONNIE UR SO GOLDEN FOR THIS . this is rin 10000% !!!!! he sucks at communication and can't ever find the right words to show his love for u, but he is still very observant . some would say he's nonchalant and doesn't care much, well yeah might be right about some people lmaooo but when it comes to you ??? you have his full attention, always, and whenever he's silent during your time together he still has his mind all around you. that's why he knows every little thing about u <3 memorizes it so well, you already forgot about one thing and then rinnie comes in and flusters you so much with how he remembered

him humming your favorite songs under his breath,, THIS IS SO CUTE :((((( he's very focused on his goals and training but you're a part of his routine now, soaked up into all of his synapses and cells,, it's like he doesn't have to put in any work whatsoever to think abt you. it's natural to him, very much like breathing. that's why he can keep u on his mind 24/7 and still give his best performance and keep his focus <3

but also think of how careful you have to be sometimes ajkfha one wrong wording and he has it memorized. he's as possessive as it gets, so if you're ever late after your plans ((which he also knows all about)) u better get ready for the silent treatment !! (he doesn't want to punish you or somethin. he just cannot bring himself to be honest and talk to you.) aaaa yandere rin......... i luv him my complex bby boy (>////<)

[unidentifiedfroggy]

this is not a new subject but it's one am and i have no better place to put my scattered thoughts on the topic. this is definitely something ive seen mentioned before but i think it's something worth repeating and fairly crucial to understanding the beta trolls and alternia as a whole, which is that alternia, as a society, ostracised and punished all of the troll cast we encounter. working solely off the text of homestuck we can't reliably extrapolate to how the "average" troll might be treated (hiveswap is a different beast), but i think it's valuable to realise that none of the beta trolls were in a healthy environment and all of them were victimised to some extent and punished simply for existing, simply as a mechanism of how their society worked. even equius, gamzee, eridan and feferi, who are at the very top of the social hierarchy and are generally subjected to much better treatment especially than the lowbloods, are still victimised and treated badly by alternia as a system and as a society, if to a lesser extent.

equius is explicitly stated to be "a freak", and is repeatedly referred to as off-putting by the narrative and other characters, and though he clings to the hemospectrum as a really shitty coping mechanism, to me it's a fairly reasonable reading that a coping mechanism is all it is. part of his development, if he ever actually got it, would likely involve letting go of his privilege as a means to make up for his personhood, and coming to terms with the realities of alternia as a systematically harmful society to him and the people he cares about.

eridan, too, clings to the hemospectrum to make up for the fucked up stuff in his life. he's a shitty guy, but he's also growing up alone on murder planet, and is expected to murder other kids' parents so his best friend's mom doesn't exterminate society. his genocidal tendencies are pretty clearly stated, i feel, to be hollow, and i imagine he would have similar elements in a storyline to equius. eridan's position as orphaner inherently ostracizes him, and we see that although he is absolutely privileged compared to the other trolls which should not be forgotten, he is still in a position to be victimised and punished by alternia for his deficiencies.

gamzee is a bit of a joke character before murderstuck, but we get repeatedly informed that he is actively nonconforming to society's expectations of the aristocracy, with a negligent parent. he is the model of what the aristocracy is not, a definite other on alternia, as exposited by equius a bunch, which makes it kind of ironic that when he snaps we see him exert his violence primarily through exploiting the existing class structures that permeates the trolls' relationships with one another. but, once again, gamzee is an isolated kid, and i think his active displacement from the traditional hierarchy and suffering at the mechanisms of alternia is a reasonable angle to understand his character.

going to wrap this up soon bc i need to go the fuck to sleep and this is way longer than i expected it to be, but even the highest of the high, feferi, is a relative outcast from alternia. something about her arc here sorry im tired.

my point is not to ramble about highbloods bc frankly i am a lowblood enjoyer but i do think it's worth acknowledging and understanding how all of the beta trolls were othered by alternia, even those who conformed the most to its systems, and what it says about alternia as a society and the beta trolls as characters

[cherubchoirs]

I had a funny thought, what if during the inevitable Gabriel vs Micheal fight, Micheal is winning, Gabe's on the ropes, helmet smashed open but during Mike's hate monologue the coin V1 flicked into the Gabe void flings out, terminal velocity, nailing Micheal and giving Gabe time to turn the tables and get his first real coin combo.

even better if this is like, decades later after v1 flicked it in there, where has it been? who knows! Anyway, how would the sibling scuffle work out anyway because the only way I can see Micheal actually listening to what Gabe has to say is after a beatdown so great that he cant run away from the truth.

UUGUHTHHUHGH THE COIN KNEW WHEN IT WAS NEEDED. and i love this bc i also definitely see gabriel adapting some of v1's strategies in his technique, the mannerisms just evolving naturally like others might copy speech or habits from their partner. he will utilize the hell out of that thing and be doubly grateful that he. now knows where it is lol but otherwise you're absolutely right in the sense that this is the only way michael could be reasoned with - he would need to be left so exhausted the meager threads of his light won't allow him to teleport in retreat. gabriel knows it's not the easiest solution since michael is just about as accustomed to loss as he once was, but he can't imagine any other way to get him to actually listen. unfortunately, he needs to be brought low before gabriel can make an earnest appeal - and he figures he has one chance to do it.

in all honesty, gabriel isn't hopeful about michael's reception to anything he has to say - michael became deeply ingrained in his ways a long time ago and his life has only served to solidify an unwavering adherence to god's will. gabriel knows, better than any of them, that he is fighting against the trauma seeded by lucifer's fall and now grown into the fruit of what michael's desperation has wrought in his decaying body. that's not. conducive to gabriel's position, because it has fostered a mental schema fortified against all collapse as that would destroy michael from the inside out. it MUST maintain, or everything he's done since the war in heaven to now tearing apart his own soul is rendered pointless in his eyes. but that's way gabriel deliberates on exactly how to approach it, and he digs deep into the messenger he once was. this was his job, to not just speak of joy but of so much evil too, and now it's imperative he frames the latter in a way michael can hear and let in. it's all been leading to this, he thinks.

so gabriel approaches him as the servant of god that he is, so staunch in his devotion that even other angels in heaven cannot understand him. he gave everything, his body and his soul, into service to the lord, and he loved so deeply that it devoured him whole. gabriel calls on him to stop his hatred then, to finally bleed the infected wound that's never gotten the chance to breathe because he so feared it would corrupt his mind. he has done enough, he has done so much more than anyone would ever even try - it's not his fault that god is gone, and it is not his fault he won't come back. michael did what no one else was willing to do, so the work is done. god poured so much of his wrath onto michael that in his return he forgot he could do so much more, and gabriel firmly reminds him of heaven's current status. he is not just some jailer, his entire existence isn't meant to be so wrapped up in the punishment of sinners and the demons of hell. michael sees souls upon their death and offers them a chance at repentance, michael is the prince of the angels and he leads their brothers in his fairness and wisdom. there is a heaven where he's needed, two remaining archangels that still look to him for guidance, and there can be peace if he chooses it. peace within himself. he is needed and he is loved, but gabriel demands that he must rid himself of all the hatred he harbors for his own sin and how it manifests into his treatment now of those in hell. because michael would HATE to hear it, but gabriel knows this is the most important point he has - his crusade now is not fought for god, but to preserve his legacy, to prove to himself and all others that he is still michael. it's a risk to shove it in his face so plainly, but gabriel knows he responds much better to tough love than walking on eggshells. and if one thing could FINALLY break him out of his rampage against hell, it would be gabriel, inhabiting the role of god's messenger, telling him in no uncertain terms that his motivation now are purely selfish. he has put god's name on a personal vitriol, and that would at least make him think.

[keepthedelta]

https://www.tumblr.com/keepthedelta/749632894793826305/wait-does-that-mean-mercedes-max-wouldve

wait i need u to elaborate on that last bit bc i am So Intrigued

i think that them being teammates is really the thing that broke them. because if they hadn't been teammates, even if they had been championship rivals (a bit like lewis and seb) they would have been able to maintain their friendship at least somewhat.

because one of the biggest issues for both nico and lewis was how the team treated them. some of this is down to bad management imo, but fundamentally there can never be true equality between teammates, because there will always be one person in front of the other. in races, the person in front will usually get preferential strategy (although mercedes didn't do this on several occasions and nearly fucked things up) but sometimes team orders force drivers to do things for the team that they would rather not do (see nico letting lewis through in monaco 2016, or holding position behind lewis even though he was faster in malaysia 2013, or lewis being told to let nico through in hungary 2014). if you obey the team it can have a negative effect on the driver because they feel like they're accepting the secondary place in a team, but if you don't obey the team they're less likely to help you out. nico has also spoken about having to force the team to treat them more equally even in regards to who got to out first for a lap in qualifying, because if you don't force it, the team will always take the easiest way out.

being teammates and rivals is a very specific pressure cooker. lewis was able to maintain a good relationship with valtteri, because valtteri never challenged him (although the treatment from the team was incredibly negative for valtteri). lewis was always the priority, so he had the full team's support in a way that he didn't when nico was there, because there was always half a garage full of people that didn't want him to win. it became so factional that toto decided to swap some of the mechanics around to ease the tension in the team.

the other major factor in this is the car itself. a championship fight between teammates will always be more difficult because they have the same car. when you're fighting someone in a different car, there are a thousand engineering factors that can affect your speed and manoeuvrability. when you're in the same car, the driver is the major factor. it's why lewis and sky and cultLH went so hard on the sabotage theories in 2016, because they didn't want to admit that nico was ever better than lewis, and in several very crucial races, he really was.

plus, when teammates collide, as championship rivals often do, stewards tend not to give as many or as harsh penalties, and teams will never fight for a penalty, because that's still their driver that they would be arguing against. when the two alpines collided in australia last year, it probably should have been a penalty, but the stewards let it go because it was french on french violence. if pierre had hit someone from another team, it would have been a penalty. equally, if nico had hit anyone other than lewis in spa 2014, or lewis had hit anyone other than nico in spain 2016, they probably would have received penalties. but because the team won't fight for that, all of the consequences and punishment has to come from within the team, and depending on how that is handled, it can very easily lead to resentment and accusations of favouritism.

so if brocedes hadn't been teammates, i think they would have been able to be happy for each other's success. if nico had won with mercedes for at least a few years (i still think he would have retired around 2016 to be with his family more) while lewis was at red bull or ferrari, they would have been able to stay friends. in any other universe, even if they had fought for a championship, i think they wouldn't have got divorced, because the thing that broke them was being teammates

[linagram]

akio: at the top of his class, praised; but is generally average; I think you mentioned that he forced his classmates to like him; wants devotion

aimi: at the bottom of her class, bullied; but has generally special treatment/position (rich and spoiled); failed at her attempts to force her classmates to like her; seems to be averse to devotion in a way (because of family situation?)

the 0102 parallels drive me insane every single day...

it's honestly so interesting bc it's like. if you think about it, akio kinda.. "won" here? he was able to make his classmates like him (or pretend to like him) at least until his murder happened, he got his right hand arm man his everything his confidant his best friend his silly rabbit (even though he lied to him about how they would kill chise </3) and his verdict allows him to go back to a somewhat normal life if he decides to move on and become a better person and his "average" position also lets him do more things without being judged meanwhile aimi sure can come back home, but not before she gets punished, she also wasn't able to make her class like her and she will still receive the same special treatment because of being the pretty little princess and it will most likely be even worse because of her punishment having at least some kind of effect on her. i'll try not to spoil anything but i only see two outcomes for aimi at the moment and both of them kinda suck.

and yep, aimi is a bit afraid of people completely devoting themselves to her because of the brother-related trauma. interestingly, she is perfectly okay with becoming obsessed with someone though! miki is the best example, haha...

[stranger-rants]

The Duffers seem to think that being a nerd makes you oppressed somehow. To the point, it looks like that's The Thing that makes you oppressed. I mean Lucas' being black and facing racism is portrayed as an afterthought. The situation that played out in S4 seemed like more of nerds versus jocks situation but in Lucas' case, there are more layers to that situation. First of all, he is a black kid, not just an 'oppressed' nerd. Like, people say that the duffers aimed for realism in portraying Will's 'unrequited' crush but where is the realism exactly? If realism is their strong part and if they truly aimed at portraying minority characters facing oppression of some sort, they would have actually given Lucas' character (and Will's) better portrayals of how they face racism and homophobia respectively.

It doesn't take a genius to think that Lucas would want to stop being a target of bullying not just bc he's a nerd, but bc he already gets targeted due to his race. Also him joining a basketball club would make it easier for him to get a scholarship for college aside from stopping his bullying. It is already hard to get one especially if you're a black boy in 80's. Heck, he made a friendship with another fellow black kid in the town; Patrick. And they didn't even do anything about that either. Imagine they bonded over their situation, and if Lucas talked about wanting to stop his bullying bc he's already targeted bc of his race (the writers literally made the bullies call him Midnight in S1... c'mon now), and he wants to go to the college to get further education and that's why he also wanted to try his chance at the basketball club aside from stopping his bullying.

See? That's what's 'realism'. If the duffers truly aimed at portraying such nuanced situations, we would have seen that. But Lucas is made out to be a 'villain' once again, and is pitted against the fan fav character Eddie, so you automatically are pushed to disagree with Lucas already as he's treated as some sort of a traitor for doing the things he likes. We are meant to ignore his real struggles and the oppression he faces and why it makes sense for him to stop his bullying specifically.

And Mike and Dustin not even getting Lucas' point is irritating. Are we really supposed to believe these are real friends? Their comments like ''have it ever occurred to you that we do not want to be popular?'' to Lucas.... yeah dude ofc you wouldn't want to be 'popular' or want to seem 'normal'. You are a white boy with a privileged family background while your friend is literally a black kid in 80's. Lucas's book touched on this topic which I really liked, but the show almost completely misses the point and it is frustrating.

The way they position Lucas is weird.

When Billy pushed him, that was really his first interaction with Billy. Yeah, Billy chased down the boys with his car, but again... this positions the boys as the bullied and Billy the Bully. Why? ... because they are 'nerds.' So when Lucas gets pushed against the wall, what is he supposed to think?

Then when a lynch mob descends on Hawkins, it is again to punish the 'nerds' for being 'different.' But. Lucas is the one to get cornered and almost killed for it... What is he supposed to think and feel? That he is being targeted because he's a nerd? His friends don't get nearly the same treatment.

Lucas is repeatedly targeted in this show, as well as repeatedly villainized for going against the whims of his friends and for what? If this show is celebrating those who are 'different,' why does it alienate Lucas so much and then punish him for feeling alienated by his very friends... who are white.

I firmly believe Lucas joining the team wasn't just about him wanting to be popular. I think his friends have been pushing him away. I think Lucas needed to be around people who understood him, because clearly his friends don't. Then he's the bad guy for wanting acceptance and validation?

Even in 'nerd' spaces, there is hierarchy. There is privilege. There is racism. Then when black or queer or female nerds are largely outnumbered by white cisgender straight males in nerdy spaces, that inequality is taken as proof that they don't belong which is how Lucas must feel.

All of this despite the fact that a lot of "nerd culture" has been built up by people of color, women, and queer people. I have heard good things about the book, but again it is written by a black author. That makes all the difference. The Duffers as white nerds can't be trusted with these narratives.

They make all these false equivalences between being bullied for liking nerdy things with racism and homophobia and systematic abuse and it's that which makes their writing weaker. It's no surprise The Wheelers are beloved by them while characters like Lucas continually get sidelined.

[wigglebox]

okay gonna type this out b4 the meds kick in and i’m pulled down into the emotional sadness of 1x04 for spnwin 

but like, i know i was like ‘omg fucking....john/carlos???’ last night but also with mary/latika lmao but like for real

i already started seeing some ‘but i don’t want the homophobic man to be queer’ 

and i just wanna say something? there’s no canonical evidence that john was homophobic. that can be your headcanon, your take on his character, whatever, but in terms of the actual TV show there’s no canonical proof that he was. i know someone’s going to mention that journal thing but that’s so quasi-canon to me and not really viewed at as actual canon, and also it has contradicting canon in itself from the show so i don’t count that.

so when you see things like ‘john winchester is homophobic’ just understand that it’s a reading and not fact. 

second of all, the reason why i love 1x04 so much is that we are seeing the ramifications of 

1) the culture of the time of young men, and in john’s case way too young, going into something as horrific as the Vietnam War was [on all sides] and witnessing [and in some cases participating in particularly] horrifying things 

2) this mindset of kinda toxic masculinity in the sense that men, and especially in this time frame, are expected to suck it up. his raised voice at carlos regarding therapy sessions reminded me of that, but also we have to keep in mind that john was on edge the entire episode and clearly quick to anger. but again, it’s 1972, and john’s a young adult, white male, in the midwest, veteran. i can see how he’s resistant to talking to people about his problems, especially if he just feels no better doing so [a common misconception that just one session of therapy and you’ll start to feel better], therefore it’s easy to associate therapy with feeling like shit and then avoiding it all together. 

and you combine john’s mental health issues, bc clearly he has PTSD [*note, not everyone with PTSD is angry, violent, or volitile. but SOME are. and clearly john is one of them, likely backed up by other issues throughout his childhood with the father issue] — with this queer...well i was going to say coding but that look he gave carlos and some other implications in this episode feels a little stronger than that lol — then you get an interesting situation. 

i think it’s important for us to not forget the nuance that SPN often undertook, and that the team at the helm of this show also aren’t unfamiliar with. this was literally the strongest episode so far, and i know usually episodes get stronger as seasons go on, but this was particularly strong. 

because — the nuance here is that not all queer people are good, kind, nice, whatever. queer people can be abusers, queer people can have anger issues, queer people can shun treatment for issues [with understandable reasons] and leave things to fester — 

queer people sometimes don’t come out the otherside of things in a good way. 

and i think it’s also important to have characters like that. 

*NOW please understand i’m not saying to revert back to Hollywood in the... idk 40s 50s and 60s? even 70s i guess. but there was really a run in movies where queer people were the predators the villains the — blahblahblah. essentially demonizing us in film. and then when Hollywood got tired of doing that to us, they’d just punish us and never give our characters a happy ending. 

But, much like with many things in storytelling, it honestly depends on the story and imo, the time period in which you’re telling it. 

Like i already said, the team at the helm of this show already know and understand’s SPN nuance and coding abilities. 

so to me, having a young adult, white male, who witnessed a horrifying tragedy [one of many he probably experienced but this one in particular], who doesn’t feel like he can get help, doesn’t trust the process, in the early 70s, who is about to be thrown into the ringer [he’s actually in it already] with cosmic forces, who’s literally facing down a violent god in this episode — who perhaps may be queer. 

this isn’t a show demonizing someone being queer and also being a neglectful and manipulative and emotionally, physically abusive father — it’s just the fact that sometimes, queer people can in fact be neglectful, manipulative, and emotionally/physically abusive parents in the future. 

and since it’s fiction we got cosmic forces mixed into the salad plot bowl as well.

honestly i’m really happy that they already showed that john’s issues do not just happen upon him when mary dies. that he’s always had this simmering anger. 

anger is a secondary emotion brought on by frustration, confusion, annoyance, fear, and all of that fun stuff. 

the winchesters isn’t going to be a lighthearted happy comedy. we know where john winds up. 

making him a more dynamic character in spn canon is fascinating, and since we already know where the ride is going to end up, no problem in encouraging that dynamic character building [while also wondering ‘what if’ a lot of the time like myself lol] 

[chaos-of-the-abyss]

random evening thoughts about zheng and his mother

one of zheng's meatiest character connections in the series is with his mom, imo. kingdom really did something special with those two because while bi ki's treatment of her son is inexcusable, it's also (much to my initial surprise) made clear that she's meant to be a character we have sympathy for. zheng is traumatized by her treatment of him and knows that they will never have a good relationship, and he also knows that she will never love him. and while he has every right to resent his mother for everything she's done to him, he understands how much she suffered because of his birth - which she never wanted - and has empathy for her. like it must be a double whammy for zheng, because bi ki loves the children she had with lao ai. she shows that she would be willing to give her life for them if she needed to. this is undeniable proof, right before zheng's eyes, that bi ki IS capable of loving her children - and yet she can't love him, yet she only has hatred for him. but, crucially, zheng understands that his mother had agency in the birth of her children with lao ai, while she had no such agency in giving birth to him. that's why, as hard as it must be to accept that his own mother will never love him, he doesn't begrudge her for it.

and interestingly, bi ki doesn't try to excuse herself either. she makes her hatred of zheng clear and she makes it obvious that she blames him - or rather his birth - for her shitty situation in the state of zhao, but she never acts like she has the moral high ground over him, or that he actively chose to ruin her life and therefore deserves her loathing and abuse. she's never apologetic to zheng and she never regrets that she treated him so horribly, but she doesn't act self-righteous about it either. and i think their ending is nice closure for both of them. there's no way that they can ever make up or truly be parent and child with each other, but they've at least accepted and tied off the loose ends between them.

not to mention, i actually really love how hara wrote bi ki. like in some ways it still falls into very typical "man writing a promiscuous female character" tropes (for example, all the fanservice she's used for), but the narrative still treats her as someone who's ultimately meant to be pitied. it's a far more complex depiction of a female character who is genuinely a terrible, abusive mother to her son, and who turns to sex to distract herself from her trauma, than i thought i would get from a male author. imo, bi ki is not slut-shamed and punished for her promiscuity in the way i would have expected from a seinen manga. unfortunately, though, the fandom is still misogynistic as hell towards her, vastly more so than the actual story is.

regardless, i absolutely adore how, in the end, even though she initiated a coup and tried to kill him, zheng still treats his mother with compassion and respect. and this isn't some sanctimonious "i will be better to you than you were to me because i'm a better person than you" schtick. zheng does not think that, because he knows that his mother suffered in a unique way that he, for all his own (also unique) suffering, did not. and he truly understands that his birth, which bi ki didn't even want, was ultimately what sentenced her to a life of misery and ostracization and years of trauma and hardship. his desire to ease his mother's pain, even though he knows she hates him, is genuine. at the same time it's not a shallow, hamfisted "you should forgive your abusive parents bc they're human too!1!!1" message, either. i do think that the story indicates that zheng sincerely forgives his mother, but the focus is not and has never been on him giving her "forgiveness" for her abuse of him. and nor is this forgiveness lauded by the narrative as some grand indication of his kindness and generosity and how much of a Good Person he is - because it would have been just as valid and understandable of him to not forgive her. he would have still been a good person if he didn't forgive her. zheng's forgiveness itself is neutral in the story; a choice that he made and had the right to make, but if he had chosen differently, he rightfully wouldn't have been condemned for it, either. rather, instead of forgiveness, the narrative focus is on the two of them finding closure from each other and the part that they played in each other's lives, and acknowledging that yes, bi ki is an abusive mother, but that doesn't negate the fact that she's suffered. and while they will never be close, zheng knows what his mother has been through, and he actively chooses, at every turn, to have compassion for her.

all that to say, their final scene together, when zheng asks her to take care of herself, to not let herself waste away - wow. i have feelings. let me go stew in my feelings.

[strhwaberries]

Hi Lucie, I saw your tags on my Xeed post and I decided to explain some things (and also because I'm a little tired about how NS is handling things, really 😩).

Basically Bao was on a livestream with some of his friends. One of them bad-mouthed the fans and Bao laughed about it instead of defending them. During the livestream, his friend mentioned RPF too. Bao at first denied the fanfics about them but, once his friend mentioned their existence, he reacted negatively about it. Last but not least, Bao mentioned his PTSD from recording songs in the recording studio.

Korean Greenies didn't like his behaviour during the livestream and Bao got forced to cancel his fancalls first and then posting an apology on the fancafè. Apparently he shouldn't have joined the livestream in the first place but I don't know if it's a speculation or something that idols aren't supposed to do. The only certain thing is that Bao should have defended Greenies from his friends and he didn't do it.

Bao then went silent on social medias (which is probably normal) but then ALL the members went silent. Fans speculated and started to think that the entire group got punished for this issue and started to mass mail NS about it. NS didn't answer but decided to let the members chat on Bubble at least (in fact they're heavily active there while being silent on their other social media except for a post or a random live from time to time. And the lives don't even last on their socials).

NS, ofc, didn't released any statement for clarifying everything as always and this is why I'm begging for a better PR management, because I'm honestly tired to see this company sweeping everything under the rug even for a simple issue like this. I've discovered all this mess thanks to some fan-pages who did some search in the Korean Twitter side of the fandom. If it wasn't for them, I would have made five posts in a row being worried about them.

A little statement telling us about Bao's or even the entire group's hiatus would have been useful instead of leaving us Greenies without any clue.

Now it seems they're coming back to a sort of regular posting (Jaemin posted a new reel after a while so maybe they'll post more? I don't know at this point 😩) but everything seems so uncertain that I'm a little lost about all of this mess.

Sorry for filling the ask box like this but I'm frustrated about this situation. We're already starving content wise, the socials are the only way where we're getting something and now NS decided to fuck everything up with a simple issue that could have been resolved more easily 😩

I hate this company with all of my guts and I want them under a better management but I don't know where they can go ☹️ I highly doubt they can re-debut again, so, idk, I think we should endure (?) all of this and hoping they'll release more in the near future.

oh well i don't even know what to say, idols are people and they can fuck up once in a while - who doesn't - and there have been so many other idols who said terrible things live and were never punished for it, why does bao and the rest of the group should be treated that way is beyond me

i just hope the situation gets resolved and we see more of them, i didn't really realize they were gone until you mentioned it, there's so many things that went on in my life in january and february, i hardly paid attention to anything kpop related, and with xeed it's always hard to know what's going on bc it's such a small fandom, but yeah i don't think they deserved that treatment so my only wish is for them to come back to us, hopefully with new music