#and it makes it more 'valid'. another word I hate. as if ppl would judge less if we cope

[lord-squiggletits]

Fandom posts about Megatron's trial/him being put on the Lost Light that frame Optimus as the bad guy are always so fucking funny to me. And it's almost never "Optimus putting Megatron on the Lost Light was an abuse of authority and unfair to Rodimus and everyone else on the ship" which is an actually valid critique, but I often see it from Megatron fans who are somehow convinced that Optimus was like.............unfair to him?????? By "making" Megatron join the Lost Light? Or by "forcing" him into doing things he didn't want to do?

There's the people who think that being put on the LL was a punishment for Megatron where they were constantly putting him through moral tests designed to make him fail which is.... literally where, where did you get that. The LL was just a random cruiseship of misfits who didn't even ask for Megatron to be on the ship with them, where are ppl getting this idea that Optimus/the LL crew were in some sort of Machiavellan plot to torment Megatron and rub in how he's so evil he'll never be accepted?

Or like the fact that wanting to join the LL in search of the Knights of Cybertron was literally Megatron's own idea and the whole "only the Knights of Cybertron can judge me" thing was a legal loophole that he only pulled out bc he was mad about Starscream publicly humiliating him during his trial? And that if Megatron really didn't want to agree to the terms of his parole, Optimus was just going to keep him in prison until the LL came back with the Knights rather than immediately executing him?

Oh but Optimus made Megatron drink Fool's Energon. Ah yes, it's so evil and unfair of Optimus to make Megatron (one of the deadliest fighters of their entire race) drink a substance to make him weaker due to the fact that in far space, there's no one to enforce Megatron's parole or to stop him if he was lying and really just wanted to kill everyone. And btw Fool's Energon was a placebo the whole time, so Optimus' gay ass couldn't even poison Megatron properly. It was entirely a token gesture made for appearances only.

What about the part where Optimus made Megatron denounce the Decepticons, you cry? Well if one were to actually read the entire speech instead of taking screenshots out of context (something this fandom loves to do), the "we were wrong to assert ourselves" comes directly after a statement about technoism and subjugating organics; in other words, "we were wrong" is referring to the whole colonialism and genocide thing, not saying "we were wrong to rise up against Functionism." (Which btw Optimus was literally a fanboy of Megatron's and agreed with his writings, and pre-war OP did his own undercover work to foil the Senate's plans, and they overthrew the previous Prime Zeta together, so idk where people are getting this idea that Optimus hates Megatron for being a meanie revolutionary that didn't play nice >:((( ).

And given that the Decepticons attacked Megatron's trial to try and break him out, and that there was a splinter faction of Deceptions under Galvatron that were trying to invade Earth again, I think it's pretty fucking reasonable that Optimus would go "So before I very indulgently grant you the rank of captain and let you go on a random cruise ship for your journey of self-actualization, would you mind making a speech to deradicalize the Decepticons? I'm trying to keep society from not descending into another civil war and you helping by telling the Decepticons to Fucking Stop is the least you can do in exchange." I mean if Megatron cared so much about the Decepticons he could've said "No, I'm not going to give that speech, in fact I'm going to stay on Cybertron and speak to the Decepticons my way" but he didn't bc he decided that going on his personal quest was more important than sticking around to integrate the Decepticons back into society.

But somehow, Megatron choosing to make that speech so that he'd be allowed on a ridiculously lenient parole is the big, evil Optimus' fault, and Megatron has nothing to do with how poorly the Decepticons are treated post war, he had no power to stop that apparently.

Like it's just so incredibly weird to me that Megatron fans villainize Optimus for, of all things, letting Megatron join the journey for the Knights of Cybertron. Optimus' decisions were almost entirely driven by personal bias towards Megatron where he abused his authority as Prime to defy what quite literally everyone on Cybertron (and possibly the whole galaxy) wanted, which was Megatron's immediate execution for his crimes. He lets Megatron free of prison with almost no oversight, grants him captaincy of an Autobot ship, gives him a freaking placebo instead of actual weakening energon, and the only thing he demands from Megatron in return is a speech to make the remaining Decepticons who were still fighting (which wasn't even all of them) understand that the war is over. And Megatron accepts all of these terms because the whole thing was his idea that he wanted to be allowed to do. The only reason Optimus' indulgence didn't go badly is bc Megatron wasn't lying and actually meant his heel-face turn.

But somehow all of this makes Optimus the bad guy who's being unfair to Megatron???? Never mind Optimus' flagrant disregard of the law in favor of granting Megatron's personal wish??? Never mind the fact that the conditions for Megatron's parole were incredibly lenient to the point that one of them was a placebo and not hurting Megatron in any way??? Never mind that the speech Optimus made Megatron make was entirely for political reasons to try to stabilize society again and not bc he wanted to humiliate Megatron or something ridiculous like that???

What I mean to say is it's very confusing to me why the discussion of Megatron's trial is "Optimus is so mean/bigoted for making Megatron do what he did and forcing him to live under such strict conditions" and not, idk, "Megatron chose to abandon the Decepticons and publicly denounce their cause for the sake of getting to go on his own personal journey" or even "Megatron was initially going to just submit to trial, and the Knights of Cybertron excuse was something he pulled at the last minute because Starscream made Megatron look like an idiot and Megatron decided he wanted a more Grand and Important legacy than that." Or even "If Megatron cared about the Decepticon,s he would've just refused Optimus' deal and stayed in prison on Cybertron rather than trade the dignity of their cause for his own freedom." Nope. It's all Optimus' fault. Poor Megatron was forced onto the Lost Light and this is such a horrible and unfair punishment for him.

People want Megatron to be a poor downtrodden victim of the Ebul Autobots so bad, when the reality is that post-war/early MTMTE Megatron is nothing more than a dethroned tyrant, severely in denial of of his own shittiness, going on a journey solely to benefit his own ego, and all of MTMTE/LL is about him trying to get better from his stupid pride and self-centered behavior.

[avenger-hawk]

Hi Hawk, I've been following your blog for a while. I'm also a writer with an interest in "problematic" subjects, some of which come from personal trauma, others just because I find them hot. Who knows why we like the things we like? The point is, I'm very disturbed by the social justice trends in art and creativity. In a real world scenario, if we can't write about things that aren't "approved of", then we're all fucked. It's hard enough to make art without fear of censorship. 1/2

2/2 I’m worried about the repercussions of this type of thinking. If you take away problematic subjects, what do people expect stories to be about? The real world is extremely problematic. This just shows me that most of these "woke" people are very young, but unfortunately their morals have a real-world impact on the kind of media we consume. I’ll end my rant now. Thanks for defending your right to like whatever you want. I hope you can keep writing, because your prose is very beautiful.

                         **************************************************

Hi and thanks for appreciating my writing.

I think that this moralistic trend in fiction killed fandom culture already. These ‘woke’ fans are young, yes, and extremely ignorant. They ignore that not only the real world is very problematic so with certain things they’ll have to coexist with and with others they’ll (we’ll, as humans) try or should try to change things but it’s impossible cause decisions are in the hands of corrupted governments and dictators who don’t give a shit about human rights or environment, so in this shitty world we live in, where people get killed for the color of their skin, where people are killed in shellings because their country is invaded with a pretext, fiction, be it problematic or not, doesn’t matter anything, even less than in a peaceful world where things are all ‘unproblematic’.

Because it’s fiction and fiction should be a safe place to explore things we are interested in even if (or precisely because) they’re dark and dangerous so we wouldn’t do them in real life, or to elaborate certain things, traumas or whatever, or to just enjoy weird stuff.

It’s extremely offensive imo to start moral crusades against a pairing or some fanwork, or to have all these long ass discourse things about some injustice in the fictional world, when in the real world real injustice happens, real r*pe, real genocide happen. And now I feel this even more and I hate fandoms even more because they’re disconnected from reality, or, they engage in some online activism thing abt the current trends, because there are trends for activism too, and they apply them in fiction. Idiots, just do some real activism in the real world instead.

For me it’s too late for everything, because when I was younger and not active in fandoms I remember how much ‘problematic’ stuff there was everywhere and how people either enjoyed it or ignored it. btw I hate the word ‘problematic’ so much, and only now I’m starting to use it, and this is a victory for them too. I remember how when I started being active in the Nar fandom there were little little problems about this, and I see how it is now instead, where people self-censor themselves and their creative works so the 90s% of content is boring and stupid, 5% is ok and 5% is ok but the author apologizes so much that makes it less cool with their words. I see how my fics in the beginning received positive feedback, then less and less, with more hate because how dare I, or with justifications for liking them, as if it’s not only a guilty pleasure but a real sin to atone for.

Like you said, their ‘morals’ have an impact on the media we all consume, so we’ll have more and more ‘wholesome’ boring flat stuff...about s*x and relationships (especially when it’s about lgbt+ fictional stuff...I get that maybe for some life is so shitty that they want only ‘wholesome’ content but for others it’s ok to consume different stuff? I speak for myself and my gf for example, but there are more like us), while violence is always ok. So we’ll keep on having serial killers crime stuff because for some reason they are never included in the problematic stuff even if they indulge in problematic stuff but in the end they catch the bad guys (like Criminal Minds, which idk if it’s still ongoing. I kinda like the characters but I find the way they show serial killers/s*xual maniacs things very disturbing) or those shitty super violent things like The Walking Dead, which was so disgusting but somehow it was ok? Idk. As long as there was no ‘age gap’ or ‘problematic relationship’ cannibals and extreme violence is ok.

I think there is no turning back, not for now. Our generation of fan creations is fucked. We can continue writing, drawing, whatever but we’ll have less and less appreciation because the trend is against us. I can keep on shamelessly admitting what I like but I’ll be more and more cornered in a pit of shame and immorality by puritans. Until I, we (not you specifically but we creators of problematic content) will get tired, bored of this and we’ll grow out of the fandom. Also because like you said they are very young, so they have more time and less ideas of their own, their biggest pasttime in fandom is not creating anything, it’s politicing creators, who, on the other hand, have less time because they are older and because they spend it creating stuff.

It’s a lost battle.

[papers4me]

Fruits Basket, Se03, ep10 (part 1)

“ What to do? & how to do it? the answer & the method are so simple, so simple but difficult as hell. it was hard for me to get them, & that’s exactly why I treasure them/ makes them valuable”. kyo~ This is my favorite quote in all anime.

How many times a domestic abuse victim was told just leave this abusive partner? report them? easy. just make a call. Report your abusive parents? tell someone. easy. Just speak up. It is true. It is easy but difficult as hell. To believe it is your right to fight. No, to believe you deserve to fight. to Live. This abuse is not a punishment you must endure. Hope is not dead. How simple yet so difficult to do that. ugh! my heart!

- Seeing Death vs Facing Death: ( The abuser who was stopped):

Abuse is a form of slow death. An actual intentional murder of an innocent soul. Abusers suck the life out of their victims & kyo’s biological dad is the poster monster for that. His appearance:

thin deathly demeanor, lack of nourishment, excessive drinking, lack of desire get out of the abyss, wide eyes, tiny pupils, manic laughter. shaky body movement. pathetic outlook at things.

heavy breathing, lack of logic & distorted facts, blurry speech, bizarre mentality, toxic behavior, tendency to hurt, injure, both physically & verbally.

inability to grasp reality, desire for inflecting pain on others, finding joy in that as it justifies his entire toxic mentality.

Fear of being hurt like he hurt others & being paranoid since he KNOWS he should receive punishment.

Kyo stood watching this man spit, rage, shake, scream. The man from his past, the authoritative figure in his early tender years, the person who must always be right: a parent. Facing his dad, Kyo’s entire gradual change was fantastic:

Kyo went from feeling utter fear from this man, hatred towards him, grief at the loss of a father & a mother, to force himself to stand his ground & not leave” easy but difficult as hell“ , to talk ” easy but difficult as hell“ , to announce that isnt gonna die ” easy but difficult as hell“ to say I’m loved & I want to to be with someone ” easy but difficult as hell”

to then realize the source of his mom’s misery isnt him after all, but this jerk! & not crumble at this realization ” easy but difficult as hell“ to grief over his mom’s tragic life & still announce again that he’s anit throwing his life away ” easy but difficult as hell“ to still look at his dad with pity rather than immense hate & anger ” easy but difficult as hell“ to remove his hand & leave him behind in the past while he moves forward ” easy but difficult as hell“ to say “ i’ll come visit again, cuz I anit afraid of you anymore, I’m not running, but I’ll try to extend a hand if you wanna do the same one day. It is your choice to be the abuser who must be stopped or the one who is atoned! you can choose, dad! We heard his choice as kyo was leaving, didn’t we? locking himself in an eternal cage that he made for himself. After all, he is the monster in his own story by his own choice.

-Seeing death (1): Kyo watching his mom’s suicide is a traumatic experience especially considering she chose such a graphic way to exist this world. Kyo once said to tohru “ mom went flying”, he now said“ mom threw her life away” very graphic ways to explain her death both literally & figuratively. This alone coupled with his father accusing him, resulted in a 4 year old screaming” I’mma yuki & kill myself, this would make you happy, dad”. This explains kyo’s 2 meetings with yuki as kids“ I hate you” at the sohma estate, the 2nd meeting “ I hate you” at the street. Mimicking the toxic behavior of the dad. Why didn’t kyo mimic kazuma? cuz trauma doesn't work like that. Kids can live safely for time then one traumatic experience shatter their self-worth into an endless cycle of self-hurt, low self worth & anger issues or withdrawal. The writing that set kyo/yuki against each other is perfect.

-Seeing death (2): Kyo watching kyoko’s death hammers all the insecurities of child kyo deep down into teenage kyo. Kyoko too, went flying, blood everywhere. too much pain happening again, crashing hope & killing his fighting spirit over & over. Be with tohru? why? to kill her, too?

-Seeing death (3): Kyo watching tohru’s injured body. Yup. You caused this. not by pushing her or failing to catch her. No. but by hurting her with harsh words. by forcing her away from you.

-Facing death (1): Kyo facing his dad, the symbol of deadly-abuse. To stand & announce to live is huge. -Facing death (2): refuse death: being caged till death, -Facing death (3): To say, I wanna be loved & love someone, life is not just being outside, heck! kyo was outside for 17 years! life is abt being with those who give it meaning! -Facing death (4): To not demand others to die as a punishment. Walking away from his dad without igniting the cycle of revenge & hate. ahhhhhhhhhh~~~  Chef’s kiss!

-Seeing eye to eye: ( I don’t need to be you, but I appreciate you):

Kyo & yuki toxic relationship has been ongoing since their birth. The moment kyo’s dad was dismayed that he got the cat of all zodiac & the moment yuki’s mom was delighted she got the rat of all zodiacs. From that moment it became: look how lucky the rat parents? You shamed me? Look how pitiful that cat? eww! stay away from his filth. The explosive nature of kyo’s tragic fate tainted him with the blood of his mom & the daggers of his father’s hateful words, while the nature of yuki’s sheltered & locked fate tainted him with fear & isolation. They meet & both carry out the feelings of rejection & hate all while envying the other. The toxic nature of their relationship consist of fights & condensing words. Tohru connected both. Through her, they became civil. Even talking abt perverted shigure. Now that she is hurt, they are lost without her. Their lives are empty.

Yuki’s “ kyo has his own pain & reasons”  (to not see tohru) is my fave line! even better than all the epic lines after they confess their feelings. cuz this like happened before they connect. it shows that, I see his pain, I get he has his reasons. But whatever issues he have shouldn’t hurt tohru. this is when yuki interferes in kyo’s choices. For tohru. This is also when kyo really allows him to. For tohru. Had tohru nor be part of the fight, kyo wouldn’t even engage in it & yuki wouldn’t initiate it.

-“I wanted to be you!” : Kyo said it first. I loved this so much! Cuz kyo said I hate you first! it is so fulfilling that the truth is now out. From kyo first. Cuz really... that hate was all toxic inheritance from a toxic father & a toxic system.

- “Why do you have to say it firs!” Yuki was mad, cuz he was struggling with it for the longest time. to be kyo. He even mused on how kyo interacted with ppl in school, got himself his own mini kyo. lol. studied how kyo filled tohru’s world just by existing. yuki can't do that for tohru. he looked for someone whom he could do that for! yuki/machi scene at her house paralleled kyo/tohru scene at her room when she was sick (se01, e023) & when they eating the somen together (se02, e02), yuki/machi chalk scene paralleled kyo/tohru scene at the beach where he coaxed tohru to tell her mom’s story (se02, e07). Yuki really was having a hard time finding his true self & accepting it without needing to learn from kyo. It is hard to say “ i admired you” after being rejected by you! so kyo saying it first helped yuki say his after. Also, both boys were hella shocked they admire each other. Like both were deeply shocked! stupid boys! XD

Side Notes:

Kyo’s confrontation with his dad is furuba’s most powerful scene & most well-written one! From the fear of facing him, to talking to him with low voice, to physically stopping him, to the exposed last piece of locked memory abt the mother, to the freedom gained by walking forward! Heck, even how it was weaved psychologically to perfectly mimic children’s self-defense mechanisms & children copying their parents theme. The realistic depiction of abusers both in their most powerfully menacing moment & in their weakest cowardly moment. Top-tier writing! Hands down my fave furuba scene! Can’t ask for better! Can’t even imagine better! genius- writing Takaya-san!

The boys had a necessary fight & confrontation & the yuki’s entire speech was valid & perfect speech. However, as usual, I’m not a fan of how violence is depicted in furuba. I was actually “warned/ ordered” by an anon to not “ sh*t” on the boys fight scene. I don’t know why someone who’d read my reviews would think i’d have anything but love for both boys. I criticize the writing not the characters. Also, furuba fans have always been good to me, I state my opinion frankly & they talk to me! “ talk!”. You don’t have to throw virtual fists over different perspectives on fiction. Talking kindly does magic, also having different opinions is natural & normal for humans.

I love yuki so much, he’s one of my top faves in furuba & I get why the boys would quarrel & throw fists. I get the history between them, the current state of mind, their emotions & mentality & I get it’s fiction & drama that needs its “ OMG” moment. However, I cringe when I see violence used as a bonding moment in fiction in general. That’s just me. I wish the fight was done in a more artistic style without showing that scene where yuki corned kyo & punched him in full view of the screen. (again not hating on yuki nor the fact that they needed to fight). I’m jus saying I didn't need to see a one-sided beat up from a character I love to another one I love. That’s just me again~ feel free to enjoy this moment to its fullest. It’s fiction & I’m not judging anyone at all, nor hating anyone from real life or fiction <3<3<3.

Yuki’s last piece of character development is in my part 2 review! Along with machi. Also, yuki’s Japanese VA was awesome!!

Also, let yuki have deep various facial expressions!!!! ugh! In the fight scene they did yuki so dirty with his hair covering his eyes all the time! then followed by low quality shots of him breathing! Why?! The voice acting sold the entire excellent emotional rage more than the animation! Yuki can look pretty even when mad, heck! screw looking pretty! just give him deep facial expressions to mach his feelings! boy was hella mad like he never was his entire life! always forced to wear a mask or be diplomatic! now he’s screaming his lungs out, you hide his face??? really?? Sigh~ the anime always do this wit yuki, replace facial expressions with hair on eyes or having his eyes without light. I wanna see them expressive eyebrows so bad!!!

Another powerful VA performance was both kyo’s dad VAs! both the Japanese (with his excessive breathing) & the English VA (with his range). They sold the mad abusive character! they gave me chills!

Also, I sound like a broken record, but kyo’s both VAs did phenomenon in the dad’s scene & tohru’s scene. Honestly, I only watch the dub to hear Jerry! I learned his name & would watch the dub for him!

Akito, Arisa, Kureno in part 2 of my review as well.

Shigure/yuki returning home scene is call back to ep1. Ok, everybody loves a call back scene & the full circle thingy. but C’mon! you dont have to copy everything! the walk, the scenery, its purpose, dialogue & all! The anime really took advantage of kyo being missing. XD

Tohru’s dress/top color matches the color of kyo’s old hat (The hat). symbolic of him finding her? As if he did find her when they were children? cool. I love this detail. But i do NOT love this color on tohru at all !! lol. it is so dull on her. The dress style/ design mimics her same dress in se01, ep26 as she was talking to kazuma & kyo fought him. Their first intimate moment after nearly loosing the other. Heck! tohru was even hurt on her hand as well. but the color was a nice pastel yellow. It suited tohru. The hat’s bluish-greenish color matches tohru’s own pajama at home!!!! & kureno’s hospital pajama! T_T... why couldn't the hat be red!!!! a color that both represent kyo & yuki! both were compared to red before~ oh well~~ minor issue~

[kendrixtermina]

Sorry but hearing ppl say “I would like CF more if Edelgard was either treated like a full-on villain or as a manipulated groomed victim of TWSITD who had no choice” and just generally seeing ppl trying to shoehorn her into one of those two takes,  it’s hard not to think the words “Madonna Whore complex”

I kinda abhorr the latter more than the former (Not the crowd calling her Hitler and clown-emojis, but I’ll take someone who considers something she actually did a moral dealbreaker over someone who defends her because “she’s just lashing out cause she’s traumatized”.. That’s Dimitri. you’re describing Dimitri.) because it goes against everything her character is about, which is mostly: 

a) A tendency to think in the big picture, focussed on mainly the end result, especially on the temporal axis (”The nobility system has only existed for 1400 years”, “This is all part of the ebb and flow of history”, “This is the path that leads to the least casualties in the long run”)

She’s always playing the long game - so dealing with the Agarthans later (once the church is taken care of) is the same as dealing with them now. She never went against the church instead of them, she’s playing them against each other. 

b) A rejection of tradition as a reason to keep things the way they are

c) An emphasis on self-reliance and proactivity instead of surrendering yourself to your circumstances. See the speeches she gives to Petra and Lysithea. 

She generally believes in ppl’s agency, she gives everyone an out, and likewise her generals and the non-recruited ppl are all shown as believing in her cause (Something even Seteth notes) - they’re fighting to abolish hereditary Feudalism and clamp down on corruption. You’re fighting a bunch of people who wanna abolish Feudalism and Theocracy. 

Claude wants the same but he’s hiding it because he thinks he can avoid confrontations that way (There’s pros and cons to both their approaches, and I’m not saying that Dimitri or Seteth are bad, either, especially not in the context of the world they live in) 

She’s basically a Nietzschean Superman but in the original sense not the cheap bastardized version mixed up with pseudoscientific misunderstandings of evolution: Someone who proactively lives according to their own beliefs regardless of the mainsteam in greater society. 

And herein lies another factor, I think,like I’ve often noticed a tendency in modern fandom that people can’t seem to emphasize with anyone who isn’t in some way marked as an underdog -  Leading ppl to argue that characters who are definitely not underdogs like , say, Tony Stark, are definitely underdogs. 

Of course in reality things aren’t so simple that you could make a clean split into “underdogs” and “not underdogs” - Some ppl clearly demonstrably have it harder than others but ppl can have it hard in one way and have it easy in others. (Dimitri clearly struggles alot  - but he’s also a king. One doesn’t negate the other.)

There’s nothing wrong with underdog stories, they can be very inspiring and cathartic - but they shouldn’t be the only kinds of stories. 

Even the most powerful  can see themselves as victims because we’re all just squishy meatsacks who can still be hurt, and even the most powerless might see themselves as in-control if that helps them feel better. 

It also goes into the trolley problem and the human illogical tendency to view harm done through action as heavier than harm done through inaction. A tendency to not want to rock the boat, to confuse stability with peace. 

There’s no difference between harm done through action vs inaction. 

It’s at best, a failure of object permanence - to understand that things still happen and change even if you dont act  - and at worst selfish pride and ego (I want to keep MY hands clean I don’t care if people are suffering and dying as long as no one can say it’s my fault... the counterproductive puritanical idea of morality as “good person vs bad person”)

This leads to this attitude where if they can think of someone as a “victim” then it doesn’t matter what they do, because, after all, it was just circumstance, but the moment someone makes an active, deliberate choice, all empathy goes out the window and they’re held to some impossible standard. 

For the opposite extreme, see Dimitri (mind you I’m not saying he should be judged either im saying that mindlessly hating both is equally nonsensical... the dimitri haters are fewer but they do exist), or worse, Rhea... who regardless of her backstory has objectively been in a position of power and privilege for a literal thousand years.  You know Dedue and Seteth are right there? )

Something similar is to be said about ppl who call “bad writing” or “waifu-ism”, or consider her a “manchild” because she... opens up around people she trusts? Expresses relief when an ally validates her in a moment of self-doubt? Gets into comical situations in everyday life? That’s just kinda consequence of living in close-quarters with her. 

“How dare you not fit into “misguided victim” vs “ridiculous bitch” dichotomy don’t remind me that some character I don’t like is a human being” 

They pressed that any deviation from that is “ridiculous” or “extreme”. Tell me again that someone who’s consistently calm, collected and intellectually-inclined is a “manchild” for telling her closest ally that she would like to take a day off sometimes and liking stuffed animals.

I for once really like that she’s tough and proactive and makes decisions that really impact the plot without being a flat over the top amazonian stock character with no emotion other than “grrr! men dumb” which is then never taken seriously as a threat. 

Actually this part alone would not even preclude her from being a victim even Osama Bin Laden had a favorite color and liked disney movies. Hitler liked his dog. Stating this is just acknowledging simple facts, not saying that you should have sympathy for them (which for the record, you shouldn’t) - I think a work geared at ppl over 15 shouldn’t have to explicitly remind you that “this is an evil person” every time one shows up, people can distinguish for themselves, and those who can’t won’t be convinced by a video game. No one can “make” you like or empathize with a fictional chracter peeps. 

[thesunnyshow]

Name: leyna

Age: 1X

Writing Blog URL(s): @jensungf​

What fandom(s) do you write for? nct (dream)!

Nationality: american!

Languages: english, vietnamese (spanish??? very bad)

Star Sign: capricorn sun!! 

MBTI: enfp-t hehe

Favorite color: lavender

Favorite food: beef chow fun/noodles

Favorite movie: our times!

Favorite ice cream flavor: chocolate chip cookie dough

Favorite animal: cats! 

Coffee or tea? What are you ordering? hmm i’m not a big fan of either tbh but vietnamese iced coffee with a LOT of condensed milk is super good 

Dream job (whether you have a job or not): honestly idk! maybe an editor or professor who knows

Go-to karaoke song: “gee” by snsd or “if it ain’t you” by alicia keys

If you could have one superpower, what would you choose? vocal-induced manipulation or basically power of persuasion with my words hehe

If you could visit a historical era, which would you choose? maybe the 90s! i really like the vibes and aesthetic

If you could restart your life, knowing what you do now, would you? no bc learning is a part of life!

Would you rather fight 100 chicken-sized horses or one horse-sized chicken? horse sized chicken hahaha bc horses are wild

If you were a trope in a teen high school movie, what would you have been? drama queen LOLL

Do you believe in aliens/supernatural creatures? to an extent yes! 

If a genie gave you three wishes, what would they be? world peace, equality for all, and hmm true love in every life i live

Fun fact about yourself that not everyone would know? i have 3k followers on pinterest hahaha weird flex

When did you post your first piece? april 2020!

Do you write fluff/angst/crack/general/smut, combo, etc? Why? i write most fluff and angst or a combo! with some crack bc who doesn’t love some humor hahah

Do you write OCs, X Readers, Ships...etc? i write reader inserts

Why did you start writing on Tumblr? ive been writing on tumblr since 2015, just for diff fandoms bc i always loved reading fanfics and i wanted to become a better writer

What inspires you to write? other writings, real life experiences, dreams, basically anything!

What genres/AUs do you enjoy writing the most? i find fluff easier to write than angst but i like a good balance of all the genres! i rly like writing soulmate!aus for some reason or just some domestic fluffy established relationship stuff

What do you hope your readers take away from your work? i hope they can actually feel the emotions i’m hoping to convey from each character (referring to my more angsty works) or their sweet tooth gets satiated hehe

What do you do when you hit a rough spot creatively? i try to read other stories or talk to my moots to help me!

What is your favorite work and why? Your most successful? i think my fav has to be only forever because it’s something that i feel like is really cliche but it actually represents the meaning of young innocent first loves. i reminds me of what someone’s youth should sort of feel like. my most successful has been jsmr: sugar and spice because who doesn’t love jsmr!jeno and some sweet fluff and a spicy make out scene 🤭

Who is your favorite person to write about? jeno or jaemin tbh

Do you think there’s a difference between writing fanfiction vs. completely original prose? there is a slight difference because fanfiction provides you a sort of foundation with characters but to be honest, i believe that if you just switch the names and perspectives for most of the stories on here, it would become a bestselling hit because it conveys the same emotions and it’s just as enjoyable to read. the writers on here are truly exceptional. 

What do you think makes a good story? i definitely think little details and the nuances that add to the plot development and character development. most importantly, if a story evokes emotions from me and i can feel the story then i think it’s beautiful in itself. 

What is your writing process like? for me, i can come up with an idea based off of anything that might inspire me. like watching something, reading another story or just a dream i have. then i like to outline my stories by bouncing ideas with my best friend and from there once i figure out all the points i wanna hit i start writing! or for spur of the moment fics i deadass just start writing

Would you ever repurpose a fic into a completely original story? yes, most likely. 

What tropes do you love, and what tropes can’t you stand? i love fwb to lovers and enemies to lovers! also soulmate!aus / tatbilb tropes cus i’m a sucker for cheesy stuff. i’m not a big fan of cheating/parent/apoc!aus or love triangles. oh and i can’t stand slow burn 😭

How much would you say audience feedback/engagement means to you? as someone who lives off of validation, it means a lot and motivates me to write my stories and post them! we put so much hard work into our stories, so feedback and engagement is honestly the least you can do 🥺

What has been one of the biggest factors of your success (of any size)? i think just being in a community with other talented writers has taught me a lot!! and of course, having people read my work.

Do you think fanfic writers get unfairly judged? yes! all the time. 

Do you think art can be a medium for change? yes, maybe not on a macro scale but personally definitely. 

Do you ever feel there are times when you’re writing for others, rather than yourself? sometimes, but i always try to pull myself back into why i really started writing. but writing for others helps motivate me. 

Do you ever feel like people have misunderstood you or your writing at times? not on a serious level! it’s more so how details and events are interpreted but it’s fun to see how ppl have different perspectives on own piece versus your own vision.

Do your offline friends/loved ones know you write for Tumblr? yes!! not my family ofc but my close friends do and support me 100% and i’m forever grateful for this

What is one thing you wish you could tell your followers? thank you so much for everything you’ve ever done for me no matter how little or small it may seem, it means the world to me. 

Do you have any advice for aspiring writers who might be too scared to put themselves out there? i think you need to realize why you’re writing and it’s because it brings you happiness, and you’re sharing your beautiful work out there and it has the possibility to change someone’s life whether it’s bringing them a little bit of joy or helping them feel emotions. you might discover things you never knew about yourself as well. 

Are there any times when you regret joining Tumblr? not really! as of recently i’ve seen a lot of changes with the platform and although it’s a big struggle, i can’t regret it because it’s brought me so much.  

Do you have any mutuals who have been particularly formative/supportive in your Tumblr journey? i’d hate to pick and choose because all my mutuals have really helped me in some way whether or not they know it because they inspire me, motivate me, and are just genuinely amazing people to talk to. but honestly talking to mary / @neostains​, nana / @nanasarea​, anie / @mjlkau​ have helped me open up from being shy and i appreciate them a whole lot. 

Pick a quote to end your interview with:  “to burn with desire and keep quiet about it is the greatest punishment we can bring on ourselves.” - spanish poet federico garcia lorca

[soccialcreature]

Why you (I) did not like Rise of Skywalker

I’i wish i cud just tell ppl that i simply did not vibe with rise of skywalker but everyone just says “oh, youre just a hater” or “youre so cynical” so im going to put into words Exactly what i didnt like about tros so ppl cant say that i just hate it for fun? i guess? or to b cool? idk. under the break so that i dont annoy casual scrollers. and of course u can like it if u want i rly do not care.

The stakes were too high

If our characters failed, then we would see essentially the destruction of the entire galaxy. Or at least, that’s what they made it seem like. Because of this, you knew that the characters were going to succeed, but it was lowkey really stressful, and NOT in the fun, tension-y way. I felt like I was just sitting there thinking “get this done already!” And I just felt annoyed (again, not in the fun way) at every setback. 

I know this is lowkey how every story works, so I’ll give an example of a piece of media that DOESNT do that and it’s going to be clone wars because I’m always thinking about clone wars and im such a clone wars hoe im sorry.

In The Clone Wars, the stakes were much lower. It was always something like, keep this planet from Separatist control, or win this battle, or make this political step. And sometimes, our characters failed. Deathwatch burned down the village, or they just lost a battle to the Separatists and had to retreat, but it was never such a crushing defeat that there was no hope afterward. Watching the show, you didn’t know if they were going to win or not, and you wanted to see what was going to happen and HOW it was going to happen. It made it really fun to watch. Another example is the Mandalorian. Low stakes, but we still care (do not TOUCH baby Yoda or I will LOSE IT).

We didn’t get any time to get to know our characters

This one’s pretty self-explanatory. There was so much going on in the movie and so much that needed to happen to reach the climax that there was no time for character development. This is where the “I wish there was more sitting and talking” comes in. The characters stayed stagnant the whole time. Their views on things didn’t change, and they learned nothing. This was one of the biggest issues with Force Awakens, too (which I liked a lot! Who didn't?), that the characters were essentially being dragged around by the plot with no agency of their own. It was just them moving on to the next plot point and then the next, etc. What’s supposed to happen is that the characters are put in a situation and then they get something out of it that they didn’t expect to. Instead, we didn’t have time for any of that and just moved on to the next plot point.

Again, I’m gonna use the prequels as an anti-example. The whole trilogy was about Anakin’s character arc and his fall to the dark side. What came with that was his relationship with Obi-wan, and Obi-wan’s character arc, etc. The clones in TCW are also perfect examples of good characters.

No themes or morals

Frankly, it was just kind of a bummer. For a happy ending, I walked out of the theater feeling pretty defeated. It may have been because Ben died, but I’ve never really been a fan of Kylo Ren. I know this is so so contradictory because I’m a prequel hoe and the prequels had the most depressing ending ever and no one was happy, but I mean let's be real. It kind of had to for the original trilogy to happen. And it showed a lot about being human and love and anger and corruption etc etc. The issue with this trilogy’s ending, though, is that there was really no reason for it to be sad. It didn’t show anything, and there were no underlying themes of the film at all.

I’ve really had enough of Palpy

Sorry, but we did not need to bring him back. There was no reason for him to come back. It just ruined Anakin’s sacrifice in Return of the Jedi and honestly, this is the worst of Palpatine. What made him interesting was watching the way he would manipulate Anakin and the rest of the senators and the Jedi as a secret Sith Lord. And I didn’t need to see him do the exact same thing that he did to Luke in Return of the Jedi to Rey. Villains where the description is just “the most powerful being in the galaxy: impossible to defeat” don’t really interest me.  

I’d rather be at home watching Clone Wars

I know this is essentially what happened with people who grew up watching the original trilogy and why they didn’t like the prequels, and it’s really not fair for me to judge this piece of Star Wars media based of off how it holds up to this other part that I’ve held so dear for so long, but hey. I think that’s perfectly valid. It’s fine if you don’t like the prequels because they’re not as good as the originals. That’s just how it happens. Sorry sequels, it’s really not your fault. It’s my fault for watching TCW and the prequels first. Don’t get me wrong, the prequels had their issues. There were some annoying characters, bad dialogue, weird choices for who the movies would focus on (Obi-wan should not have been such a side character in Phantom Menace), but the goal and ideas of the prequels were really good. I didn’t get any of that in Rise of Skywalker.

In conclusion, you can totally like the movie if you want. I really wish I did like it. And I didn’t hate it, really. There were a lot of cool parts like the scene of Luke training Leia to become a Jedi which I think was super fun. And Kylo Ren/Ben Solo at the end using a blue lightsaber was cool and again, fun. But ya. I doubt you read this if you liked TROS but. People should let people like what they like, and also let people not like something just because they don’t like it. We shouldn’t make people have to justify or argue everything, but I’m just doing it because my family’s been calling me a hater because I immediately went home and turned on Clone Wars. And also I’m majoring in Screenwriting at college next year so I feel like I should sort of know how to write good stories and characters. Or at least try to figure out what works and what doesn’t. Thanks! <3

[edwardsvirginity]

a short(er) twilight-themed guide to my dissertation on memes

for anyone who wants to know why and how i wrote 8k words of academic theory on memes, but doesn’t actually want to read 8k words of academic theory on memes

so to begin with, a meme is really hard to define. this part is pretty boring if you don’t care about linguistics, so just take my word for it. i ask a lot of questions like “is a meme still a meme if” (no one shares it, no one makes different versions of it, there’s no standard format for it) and the answer is “sometimes! but we can’t tell you when!” and i also ask “how do you know when you’re looking at a meme?” to which the answer is “you just do! except when you don’t. that happens too.”

so basically, memes are like porn, you know them when you see them

then i talk about why it’s hard to study memes. this is fairly obvious if you think about it. imagine trying to find out the source of a random meme. and then every iteration of that meme anyone has ever made. then how popular each iteration got. how one iteration inspired another. how many times each iteration is reposted by someone else without credit. THEN, attempt to do that for every meme in existence. actually, just try and get a definitive count of how many memes exist. then, realizing that’s impossible, attempt to choose a “random” selection of memes to study not influenced by your personal online world. attempt to study memes that you don’t even know exist bc they don’t exist within your highly-customized online world. basically, memes are a rabbit hole and i don’t even pretend to do any sort of formal semi-comprehensive study, because i do not hate myself.

ok, moving on. i’m actually trying to write this post based on what I remember from my dissertation, which i haven’t reread in... a while. but i like to think i have a fairly good grasp of it bc i wrote it.

so basically the most important part about memes is that they function on at least 2 levels. let’s say there’s an active level and a passive level. the active level is the conversation you THINK you’re having when engaging with a meme. the clearly stated point/idea of the meme. the passive level is all the assumptions a meme is making in the background that, if you are not actively challenging, you are endorsing.

let’s see some examples.

this is a meme *i* made, so i’m gonna put myself on blast here

So the active level of this meme is the text/the point i’m trying to make, which is basically that bella is horny. but like, so horny that she’s willing to throw everything else in her life under the bus for some sexual satisfaction. i feel like this is fairly clear and most people interacting with the meme would consider that what the meme is about. we’re having a conversation about bella’s insatiable thirst for sparkling penis when we engage with this meme. 

sort of an in-between level that provides us with further information about the point i’m trying to make is context for the meme/meme format. this meme format is about someone choosing between a good thing and a bad thing. they’ve got the good thing, but they’re tempted by/indulging in the bad thing anyway. it’s fairly reasonable to come to the conclusion that i’m judging bella, when you combine the meme context with the actual text. i’m not only interpreting bella’s behavior here (she eschews her loved ones for sexual gratification), i’m also giving it moral value, labeling yeeting herself onto that dick = bad, building/maintaining relationships with friends and family = good. however, if you’re not familiar with this meme and it’s format, the fact that i’m throwing shade at bella is less clear, even if you understand how i’m interpreting her behavior. 

now on to the passive level of the meme. this meme makes some ASSUMPTIONS, and in engaging with the meme you’re validating those assumptions as “how this thing is/how the world works”. so here are a FEW of the assumptions this meme makes: 1. this is a man with his girlfriend checking out another girl. 2. the girlfriend is angry/jealous of her boyfriend expressing interest in another woman 3. everyone in this photo is heterosexual 4. men are always checking out other women/otherwise unfaithful, and this is normal/funny 5. this “couple” is monogamous 6. the “boyfriend” is relatable and we understand and condone his actions 7. maintaining a relationship with the “girlfriend” is a good decision and pursuing the girl in red would be a bad one

these assumptions might seem fairly clear, obvious, and straightforward, but they are ultimately, assumptions. we know NOTHING about the people in this photo and are projecting relationships on them. and clearly, we’re projecting some pretty intense gender and relationship roles on to them. and it’s necessary to accept those gender and relationship roles as “truth” long enough to understand the meme, because otherwise the meme wouldn’t make any sense, because the person who made it (me) made it with the understanding that you would be operating with the same set of assumptions about these people and their relationships as I am. understanding of what i’m trying to say with this meme is dependent on understanding and accepting the assumptions i’m handing you with it. 

and again, these ARE assumptions. take away the text, and there could be plenty of things going on in this photo. it’s possible none of these people are in romantic relationships, and this is a guy with his friend/family member, and they like to hold hands. this guy could be whistling at a dog he sees on the sidewalk because he wants to pet it, and the girl in blue is mad because they’re in a hurry. the girl in red could be his ACTUAL girlfriend, whose self esteem he’s boosting, and the girl in blue could be some random girl who wants his attention. this could be a couple in an open relationship, but the girlfriend is in the middle of an argument with this guy about something else. the guy could have shoulder checked the girl in red and is looking back to say sorry, and the girl in blue is mad bc shoulder checking this poor girl was a rude af thing to do. 

the reason why we don’t think any of those things ^^ upon seeing this meme is bc we live in the patriarchy. however, unfortunately, by sharing this meme uncritically, we’re also reinforcing the passive ideas within it, that men are unfaithful and it’s no big deal, that women are always competing with each other, that heterosexuality and monogamy are standard and correct. 

let’s look at another meme.

i didn’t make this one, i found it on a really cringy list of (old) twilight memes

active level of this meme: kristen stewart never smiles

in-between context level: this is the “most interesting man in the world” meme, where, bc he’s so interesting, he rarely has time to do normal things, and when he does them, he does them in a weird way. so according to this meme, kristen rarely smiles, and when she does, she does it in a weird way

passive level: kristen stewart SHOULD smile, and the fact that she doesn’t is weird/bad. WHY she doesn’t smile, and WHY she should, is left to viewer interpretation, but the implication is she’s doing something wrong. this meme wants you to fill in the blanks with the idea that kristen stewart is a bad actress because she doesn’t smile. it also reinforces the idea that women are SUPPOSED to smile and not be serious all the time. you could even go so far as to assume this meme is condemning bella’s character as a whole for being overdramatic and not smiling, playing into the narrative that women are hysterical and get upset about things that aren’t a big deal, and we shouldn’t take them seriously. personally, i think kristen’s acting in twilight was spot-on and super nuanced, and it was true to bella’s character that she didn’t smile often. i also think that kristen as a person smiles a reasonable amount and is only criticized for not smiling bc ppl so heavily associate her with bella. but if i were to share this meme uncritically, i wouldn’t just be reaffirming the (false) idea that kristen stewart doesn’t smile, i would also be reinforcing the idea that women SHOULD smile all the time, kristen is a bad actress, and bella is a bad character. i could go further into the sexism of all that but this is already long. 

HOW DID I GET AWAY WITH WRITING ABOUT THIS FOR MY MASTERS DEGREE?? 

basically, while you think you’re engaging in a conversation on one level with memes, you’re actually engaging in a lot of conversations. when it comes to political memes, often the “passive” levels of the memes come with a lot of ideas about how the world is or should work, which you reinforce when engaging with those memes. these passive assumptions shape the conversations we’re having, and the kind of policies we’re willing to support. memes come encoded with opinions on gender, relationships, race, sexuality, class, etc, and and make declarations about how these things DO or SHOULD work, shaping our own personal understanding of them. a meme that makes donald trump look stupid is advocating for different policies/political decisions than one that makes him look dangerous. and if all of our memes about trump focus on him looking stupid, we put more political effort into addressing that problem than the problem that he’s dangerous. memes can be used to challenge norms/question widely accepted ideas (here’s an example i literally just made):

but they can also be used to help people internalize ideas/messages that they wouldn’t be willing to accept uncritically if those ideas were presented in a different format. sometimes this is good, if you use memes to help people internalize good messages, like self-love. however, unfortunately in recent years this has mostly been used to radicalize lonely men, who internalize increasingly more hateful assumptions in memes and don’t realize that they’re doing it, because those messages are not explicit. just look at how pepe became a hate symbol. if you laugh at enough memes that operate on the assumption that women are sluts, you’re gonna start believing women are sluts, and are gonna be more likely to laugh at memes that imply that women are bad because they’re slutty, then that since they’re bad they don’t deserve rights, etc. 

basically, memes shape our understanding of how the world works because they make assumptions about how the world works that we have to agree with in order to understand the meme. when these assumptions involve identities or politics, they affect how we understand those things, and what conversations we have about them.

and that’s basically my dissertation on memes, minus a lot of other discussions about pop culture, humor, and group formation. 

any questions??

[6ad6ro]

let's talk about this idea of incels for a sec. i'm gonna do my best to not make a single insulting remark here. and i'm oversimplifying gender and sexuality like crazy since incels tend to be cis men. so anyways incels are ppl (men) who wanna have sex, but believe women just won't let them, right? they feel somehow their personalities make them incompatible with girls. okay.

most ppl? just view that rejection as a period of loneliness rather than defining themselves by it. when you grow up, you realise that most ppl want romantic partners. or at least an emotionally comparable variant. it's rly not hard to meet ppl. you just get out there. be nice n considerate. honest. accept things don't always work out and realise it's not the world against you. you just keep looking. meet people and let things happen naturally.

TLDR: incels are just toxic, extremist versions of the guys who used to bring up "friendzoning", and fz was never real. girls don't actually have an easier time dating than guys. it isn't women doing this to you, but rather the fault of patriarchy and the dudes in charge. you can change! just stop with this silliness because it's making things way worse for you!

i'm not particularly attractive, especially now that i'm older. i don't have a lot of money. i'm rly not interesting. i have a ton of personality baggage and flaws. hell, i'm agoraphobic and sorta like a western hikikomori. it's rly hard for me to meet people even online. and yet, when i DO get out there? i wind up in relationships or flings or flirty friendships. bc that's just how it works.

you have to meet ppl and develop a relationship to have... the physical parts of a relationship. life isn't porn. or harem anime. people have brains and feelings. and everybody has preferences. that person who you think is perfect for you? maybe they just weren't looking for someone like you. it isn't cruel of them to have their own opinions.

i mean honestly i don't think a single one of you incels would fuck just anybody. you guys have preferences too. are you sure if you didn’t open your eyes a bit wider that you couldn’t find someone? bc there are tons and tons of lonely ppl out there! the majority of ppl, actually. it's insane how many ppl are out there, right at this moment, who wish they had a sexual partner. go find them! be willing to have broader preferences! stop looking for someone who is "perfect" and look for someone who you can just be happy with!

okay so fine you say "well i'm ugly from societies standards". but... then why are you going after people who follow society's standards. as someone who constantly feels outcast in your life, shouldn’t that experience SHOW you that popular societal opinions are mostly frivolous? standards of beauty are fake? so if someone rejects you purely on that front (and this is a stretch bc everyone has valid personal pref), why isn't that a GOOD thing to you!? you aren't wasting your time on someone who harshly judges you based on unimportant things! you're filtering incompatible ppl out that way! it's all very natural.

okay lastly... i'm gonna bring up a part that could make me look bad. but i wanna be rly honest here. so women? do seem like they have an easier time meeting men. SEEM is the key word here, bc they actually don't. not really.

but girls who are willing to severely fall into the gender roles that patriarchal society forces upon them? yeah. they do. as long as they're fairly "attractive". and willing to spend a ton of time TRYING to be attractive. ESP if they're a bit aggressive themselves. thanks to awful patriarchy, typical gender roles have men chasing women like predators after prey. i won't get into ALL the extensive, rapey issues that involves bc that isn't my point here.

tho i mean how is that any different than a guy doing similar role stuff like "working out/making money/acting cool"?? if you really wanna meet the kinds of girls who fall into typical gender roles, you gotta do the same thing? i don't think this will make ppl happy... but if you wanna play games with ppl, you gotta play within the same dumb rules!

but back to my point, girls that let themselves be chased easily find themselves with guys more often. bc in patriarchy typically the guy has to initiate. girls like that are being reactive. so from a naive male perspective, it can look like "they get any guy they want". no. they're just saying yes to the guys they like of whatever pool of guys who are going after them. if they aren't chasing guys directly, how can they be directly rejected out of the gate?

let's look at it this way: a guy chases after 20 girls he kinda likes over a few years. 5 respond positively back. it prob seems like he only has 25% success w women and is usually failing, right? whereas a girl gets hit on by 20 guys over the same period, but says yes to 5 of them. so she's getting an "100% success rate" there, since she only wanted that 5. she wasn't chasing anyone. to guys it looks like they WORK for women, but women just win the lottery with guys? no. absolutely wrong. that is objectively incorrect.

you aren't incorporating all the guys they rly want. or how often they just "go with it". how often do you hear stories of girls wanting a guy and winding up w their friend instead? girls actually typically play within a pool of disappointment rather than chasing ideals. it's not literally disappointment tho? it's just being realistic. they play with the cards they're dealt.

there are TONS of girls who don't wanna spend so much of their lives playing that game tho. who DON'T wanna live within the confines of being a trophy. or if they aren't naturally lucky enough to be "pretty" by default, who aren't willing to spend 75% of their day compensating for that. those girls? aren't surrounded by guys. often single. often lonely until they get older and find someone they're mutually compatible with. bc that's another thing most guys don't see?

the only girls "worth" going after are the "appealing/easy" prey. or "white whales" where they just hope they'll get lucky. men aren't aggressively going after the chubby girl who wears reg clothes and doesn't actively try to look "sexy". they aren't drawn to girls who aren't giving them that playful "come get me" attitude. to them, they see that girl as "just a friend". or a " last resort". or "maybe a lesbian". it's fucking gross.

you might be like "well i know girls like that who have TONS of sex so"... have you seen the levels of desperation stereotypically "unattractive" girls like that have to stoop too? let me tell you, i meet these girl's bf and they're often total scumbags. they're scraping the bottom if the barrel. are you sure these girls haven't stooped to total desperation due to so many years of being overlooked when they acted normally? or ask yourself, were they ever TRULY "unattractive/unappealing" in the first place? u sure you don't just have weird standards??

btw can i point out? the tradeoff? the utter lack of power and choice girls have in this system? girls have to be born pretty and actively attractive with a sexy personality at all times. guys just need to have a moderate amount of money and be occasionally considerate. girls have to be sex objects whereas guys can be just people. bald, fat, somewhat unattractive guys are seen as normal but if a girl looked like that? she'd be perceived as a monster.

as a male working within gender roles you have the freedom to go after as many girls as you want without issue or disrespect. nobody is gonna call you a "slut" for trying to meet many girls. the list goes on and on. why are you mad at girls when you were "born winning"? you are more likely to live a happier life being alone than a girl would constantly being with someone. you should be grateful you aren't them... not mad at them.

but anyways... all this stuff? is super gross. weird toxic shit. it makes sense you would be lonely and angry when you don't wanna play by these rules. or change yourself to be more "appealing". but... why are you getting mad at girls?!?!? why blame women?? shouldn't you be mad at the source? patriarchy. society. gender roles. capitalism. look at who's running the show. bc it isn't the women you're mad at. or "the sjws". it's men in power.

you're seeing your lawn die in the summer sun and getting mad at the grass for daring to dry out. so you go out and stomp on the lawn. instead of using that anger and that energy to water it or give it shade. what are you thinking!? use that "logic" you guys are so proud of and actually try and solve the issue instead of throwing a moral temper tantrum. you talk about girls "bein so overly emotional" but what the heck do you think you're doing here right now?? stop trying to find an easy cheat solution and FIX the problem!

nobody should resort to violence about this stuff, but if you WERE gonna get violent, why isn't it at the people who structured your sexual prison? rather than the girls you wanna convince to fuck you? do you really want a world where girls fuck you out of fear? bc that's rape. would YOU be happy being raped? don't wish for an even rapier world. don't be so stupid and naive. rapey patriarchy is the cause of all your issues to begin with. this is the exact opposite if what you want.

honestly this incel thing just seems like an extremist offshot of the old "friend zone" argument. very similar to how gamergate warped into literal alt-right nazis. it's gross and absurd and you depressed, confused guys are being manipulated. you aren't thinking. please seek therapy or a wider perspective? if you hate feeling lonely and ashamed, why would you wear that shame like a badge of honor? just stop. spread happiness instead and you'll start to receive it back. you can change! it's that simple! it's okay!!!

[fyodorsuggestions]

Tagged by @fy-soukoku

1. How did you come up with your username and what does it mean?

My A03 username, and main blog and twitter and facebook and freaking discord and literally every single thing is Darke_Eco_Freak either with hyphens, spaces or underscores and basically I was an edgy 11 year old who loved Jak II and the concept of the evil version of the protag Jak. Only I wanted to be extra Edge™ so I added an extra E to dark.

2. Which fanfic of yours has the most feedback? (bookmarks/subscriptions/hits/kudos)

Hits: Sex Pollen isn’t a real Thing (it was one of the first smuts I wrote and it’s kinda bad now whoops)

Kudos: Sex Pollen again

Comments: T(w)o Me, Fo(u)r Us, or as I call it 2/4

Subs: 2/4

3. What is your AO3 profile icon, and why did you choose it?

It’s been Virus from this piece of art for some months now. Why? Because Kat made it and I love it a lot so you know

4. Do you have any regular/favourite commenters?

Um damn, I haven’t gotten regular comments in a few months except from my friends whom I spam with my many many fics. I’m actually in another fandom I made another archive account for because reasons but yeah. My friends are my fave

5. Is there a fanfic that you keep going back to read again and again?

I haven’t actually read fic in a while, there’s one or two Daredevil ones I think about but I don’t go back and re-read, my attention span’s been pretty shit for a while.

6. How many stories are you subscribed to? How many do you have bookmarked?

I’m not subbed to anyone but I have bookmarked 6 fics

7. Which AU do you find yourself writing the most?

None really. My latest fandom isn’t really open for AU’s, well written Au’s at least and yes I’m forever salty over that. Hmm, if there’s one I like to toy with though it’s Evil AU’s, you know the villain turns bad AU? Love em

8. How many people are subscribed and bookmarked to you in total? (you can view this on the stats page)

Subs: 465

Bookmarked: 2133

I don’t really care though because A) I’ve been in a lot of fandoms since 2014 and I know most ppl are here for the porn as per comments on said porn.

9. Is there something you’d like to write about but are afraid of people judging you for it? (Feeling brave? If so, share it!)

Idgaf. I’ve written necro, cannibalism, torture porn, self-insert stuff. Honestly I dump most of what my other fandom wouldn’t accept on this one. Plus Fyodor is a very easy character to manipulate for me so it’s always fun.

10. Is there anything you would like to be better at? Writing certain scenes or genres, replying to comments, updating better, etc.

I’d like to be better about my chaptered fics, not abandoning them and things like that. Also, action scenes, I want to get better at those.  

11. Do you write rarepairs or popular ships more often?

I multiship myself to hell. For this fandom I write whatever catches my eye because I don’t know the characters all that well? The running meme of me not watching the show is still a thing. In my other fandom, I’m one of the few writers around and I write every single ship I can think of cause I can.

12. How many stories have you posted on AO3 to this day (finished and unfinished)?

One my darke account: 73, on my other account; 10 but I post a lot to tumblr and don’t really cross post all that much.

13. How many stories do you have saved in/with your writing program?

I can’t tell you that because I just keep huge word docs around but for the year I’ve written about 600 k so that’s cool.

14. Do you write down story ideas, or just keep them in your head?

I just write off the top of my head most of the time, I’ll talk out a plot with a friend sometimes but otherwise it’s just whatever I feel as the day goes.

15. Have you ever co-authored a story?

I have, two, soon to be three.

16. How did you discover AO3?

I think I saw someone on ff.net mention it and I started looking at the site.

17. Do you consider yourself to be a popular or famous author in your fandom(s) on AO3?

Fuck no lol. I’m here writing the rarest of pairs and writing oc/characters, not to mention in first person sometimes and those tags alone mean ppl won’t read. Eh, I’m just posting to archive to bolster the number of fics a character has tbh. (this is for BSD fandom but I’ve never been a popular/famous author in any fandom)

18. Do you have a nickname or fandom name for your readers?

Umm, half the time I’m not sure I have ppl beyond friends who read my fics so yeah.

19. Was there an author who inspired or encouraged you to write?

I’d say Lakshmi Persad, a local author. Mostly because I hated having to do that book in lit class and wanted to do better than her.

20. What writing advice would you give to a beginning author?

If you want it, make it. I’m serious, don’t count on anyone to make the content you want to see, do it yourself and people might follow suit, if not, at least you made it. Hella.

21. Do you plot out your stories, or do you just figure it out as you go?

I finish stories and still have no idea if I figured them out or not.

22. Have you ever gotten a bad comment on a story? If so, what did you do?

I’ve gotten a few, mostly I ignore them. But there was this one fic, it wasn’t for anyone but me and I shouldn’t have posted it at all but I did and someone told me that the characterization was completely wrong for the character I was writing and I ended up leaving the fic alone for months and months. I got back to it eventually but I’m not sure if I’ll ever finish that fic tbh.

23. Is there a certain type of scene that you have a hard time writing? (action, smut, etc..)

Action gives me joint pain. I just how do you make it flow?

24. What story(s) are you working on now?

I want it All

Deathless Sleep

Missing Pages

Five times he fell

Divine(d) Visions

2/4

Many lil drabbles and sexy times.

25. Do you plan your next project(s) before you finish your current ongoing story(s)?

I can’t plan to save my life

26. Do you have a daily writing goal set for yourself?

It used to be 300 a day now it’s 2k because apparently I hate myself. Most of the time I meet it, between the two fandoms I write for daily so yay.

27. Do you think you’ve improved as a writer since you first started?

Absolutely.

28. What is your favorite story that you’ve written?

Step back Through Time and Remember my Touch, definitely those two. One’s the original fic and the other is the sequel. Best things I wrote all year

29. What is your least favorite story that you’ve written?

Maybe Gone, that’s a really old one but god the cringe.

30. Where do you see yourself (as a writer) in 5 years?

Hopefully I figured out those damn action scenes.

31. What is the easiest thing about writing?

I think bringing the characters to life in my own head is the easiest thing.

32. What is the hardest thing about writing?

Not letting lack of feedback get to me cause I’m not writing popular shit, I don’t expect it but god damn it gets discouraging as fuck to see something I worked hard on just kinda flop and drown.

33. Why do you write?

I can’t do anything else and crave validation like the attention whore I am.

I’m tagging @chuuyasuggestions @kyusakusuggestions um idk who has archive shit. If you follow me and you see it, you have to do it okay? 

[therewas-a-girl]

promeytheus replied to your post: would you believe that there are literally zero...

AhahhHhahahahabah. 

Can u believe every time I want to see a diggle meta it turns into an ota/olicity thing

Yes. yes i can believe that. easily. 

can you believe that i want to punch someone every time i hear him called Yoda. serious question here, but am i really the only one bothered by this. idk, its not teh name per se but just the feel of it. i cannot put it into words, but it bothers me cause it feels reductive. john is not the holder of some great truth and universal wisdom. he is a wise man, its tru, and very good at balancing his issues out, but i feel like every time someone calls him ‘yoda’ it nullifies those issues and therefore, his depth? 

idk its a weird feeling

Is it me, or is it not okay to want a meta that everything to do with diggle and not somehow be tied back to ota or felicity or oliver

it is not you. 

it most definitely is not fucking okay. it’s tiresome. its bothersome. if you wanna blather my ear off about ota and how important it is - and not mean it as an exclusionary term the way so many mean it -  then lets give all the characters involved their own importance and standing. diggle doesn't only matter when he’s propping up the other two white faves. like, please, he is his own person with his own life and i wanna talk about him a while and how he came to be this person, and where this wisdom in him comes from, and the sadness in him comes from and how come that he is so well balanced and how hard he tries, to look that way. if he fails, and breaks sometimes and how he puts himself back together. 

or if he’s not the type to do that at all!

maybe john is with himself the way he is with everything else. maybe he is the kind that feels conflicted and is in great pain and lost when he doesnt know what to do, how to solve a problem. but once he makes up his mind, that’s it. he will be unshakable from then on, and he will force everything to make sense because he has already decided and THAT is where this sense of certainty and security that he gives off comes from

but tho i have these thoughts i would love to compare them to other people’s. i would love ot hear more talk of john, of the workings of his mind, expand my own understanding of him. i cant do that if everything circles back to the two assholes in love he shares a tea with. 

or if you wanna play it like that, then make it an OT3 and we’ll all be happy. 

but no, that’s not okay is it?

Like ke where are my metas about his relationship with lyla and what it must be like to have a son but know he had a daughter.

Yes where? how did john and lyla fall in love? who fell first? why does john love her? why does she love him? as in, what are the traits that one is most drawn to in the other? what are the things that they appreciate the most? are attracted to the most? you have one of the greatest, best love stories of Arrow here - these people fell in love when they were at war. 

how did that fail them? how does it feel, when love fails you? how does it leave you? how does it change you? how did it change john and Lyla? what did they do differently the second time around? do they think about the mistakes they made, do they knowledge  them. how do they deal with the things that never change: their pov-s about the world, about right and wrong, means and the ends. how do they deal with their differing ideas on necessity and morality? at the end of the day they must agree with each other on at least a part of their worldviews. 

who is this man anyway? how does he like his coffee? what smells can’t he stand? is he the kind that does spring cleaning? who, between him and lyla, goes grocery shopping more often? how does he like to be kissed, touched? how do john and lyla prefer to fuck? these are all valid questions! who is the one between them with a real taste for pretty things (i think it’s john); who likes to go shopping for tickets? both, neither? who goes to war and comes back with souvenirs? what cant they stand about the other? the little bits of irritating habits? do they ever laugh about those? what does a fight between them look like?

how did it feel when John left for the army again? what did they talk about? what did lyla feel? what did john feel? how would it hurt them to see their marriage flounder so dangerously for the second time. they are both matter-of-fact people but they are both people who love with their whole hearts. how many times can the two same people break each other’s hearts? and yet they keep loving each other. i mean - come on! 

can john imagine having a daughter? he’s the realist, the practical person. to him a never-there daughter is imaginary. but he was still very upset when he learned what barry had done. does he think about her? does he talk to lyla about her? does this sara they have never met come up when tehy talk about having another child? does it scare them? 

Or about how he went from seeing Andy and literally was having hallucinations and then his story was just wrapped up.  Since his s/l was my favorite last season it disappointed me so much how his s/l this season played out. So much potential wasted.

OH ANDY. people talk about oliver’s sacrifices a lot but imagine for a moment of oliver had to kill thea with his own hands. because making a parallel with the white male fav is the best way to get ppl to stop and think, so yeah i went there. 

imagine sara having to kill laurel, felicity having to kill her mother. 

john was so shaken, so traumatized that he doubted his whole world. he didnt know what was right and wrong anymore and for a man who relies so much on those set definitions that is like having him continuously tumbling down a rabbit hole. 

he sought some steady ground in a structure that he knew, that he had relied on before: the military. he wanted the simplicity of being a soldier again. of not having to decide right and wrong, of just following orders. he wanted to detach himself from people he had failed, from the normal life he couldnt adjust to, from the every day responsibilities because how could be fulfill them when he couldn’t judge anything right. which is very important for someone like him. he needs a structure, clear lines that he needs to keep himself within. he believes those clear lines will keep him from making huge mistakes in judgment - he told this to oliver in s1 when oliver started fucking around with Helena and making excuses for her murderous streak. 

this is literally like when oliver went back to lian yu after season 1 man. 

the military failed him. he coudlnt rely on anyone thinking for him, making decisions for him. maybe it was also a kind of punishment though - going away. 

no, it was. he hated himself so much over what he’d done that Deadshot - a man he’d hated for years - came to keep him company. which means that john hated his own self about as much as he’d hated Deadshot. which means that he really wanted to give up. john diggle wanted to give up on himself, to find some kind of atonement. or maybe he was just so tired and didnt believe he was worth it. 

oliver got him out - john went back to his family. how did he and lyla reconnect? what did they talk about? how did he explain himself to lyla? did he? what exactly changed - how - in him, that he went from the man happy to rot in  a cell to the man that wanted to fight for himself. was being with his family what changed him? was the team? oliver? lyla? was feeling how loved and dear he was to everyone whose life he’d touched what brought him back to some semblance of the man he was?

these are all things worth discussing.