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musashi · 1 year

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I’m Going to Change Your Mind About Manfred von Karma: An Essay

alright been a while since i was particularly autistic on here but I’ve been meaning to make this into a General Masterpost for a while so here we go.

Today on Autism: the twitter/tumblr AA fandom, manfred von karma, over-villainification, and why fanon manfred (fanfred) is in fact fanon and indisputably a freezing cold take.

alright, so first we have to define some things. first off: what the fuck am i talking about when i talk about “fanon” in relation to mvk?

specifically, i am talking about the interpretation of his character that i see mostly prevalent in tumblr, twitter, and AO3 as spaces. this interpretation pretty universally places him as an unrepentant child abuser. the extent of this abuse varies from fanwork to fanwork, most often it is verbal but occasionally it is physical instead or in tandem. usually this abuse is directed at miles but often bleeds into franziska as well, with some alternate takes proposing that one of them is the favoured child and the other is wholly disposable in manfred’s eyes. again, which is which can vary. i’m not going to go into explicit detail about this, but just for a quick visual aid, let’s utilize AO3′s tag filtering system.

as of this moment, if you go into mvk’s tag on ao3, there are 1102 total works that he features or makes an appearance in. ao3 allows you to filter out tags you might not want to see, so i’ve gone ahead and done that with all the child abuse tags i see used on the site, as well as a special custom tag the AA fandom has for mvk specifically. that should be the first indication that this particular interpretation about him is common. here’s my filters:

doing this knocks the work count down to 943. that’s roughly 150 works shaven right off the bat, and that is 1. only the works people bothered to tag him in and 2. only the works they bothered to content tag. there are countless fics about miles and franziska where he is not a central character, but his proposed abuse is a part of the narrative important to them as characters. so these numbers don’t even fully exemplify the problem.

having spent some time in multiple AA spaces, i have noticed this interpretation only really seems prevalent on tumblr, twitter, and AO3. in other fan spaces like discord servers, forums, on youtube, in twitch communities, i literally do not see this anywhere.

so. why is this the prevailing interpretation on these websites? well, that one’s easy for me to answer: miles and franziska are incredibly queer & nd coded. they are incredibly full of trans/gay swag and incredibly autistic, and miles isn’t just coded as neurodivergent, he very loudly very canonically has PTSD that causes him to struggle with everyday life. this is played straight and normalized in canon. there is no disputing this.

historically, queer and nd people are not treated very well by, well, anyone. including our own parents. we have sky-high rates of child abuse among us for perceived imperfection, and the rest really just writes itself. we latch onto characters that we see ourselves in, and we write what we know, and unfortunately what a lot of us know is heartbreak.

this is bolstered by something i noticed just anecdotally, having read through the entire mvk tag a million times: people who are attached to miles and franziska tend to write him as an abuser. people who are attached to any of the pre-DL6 crew (gregory, gant, & blaise) do not.

to get this out of the way, there is... literally nothing wrong with this. there is nothing in canon that contradicts that opinion about manfred. there is no problem if you want to write him that way, and if writing him that way is a form of healing for you, i want you to write it to your heart’s content. i want you to write and write and write until one day you feel better, and then i want you to write some more. listen. i love you. i feel you. i understand.

the problem is that this opinion has become SO parroted (hahaha, like the-- like in the game when--like wh--) that it has now been more or less canonized in the eyes of this swath of people. it is not canon. it is a headcanon. i will hereby be referring to this headcanon’s version as “fanfred,” because it’s fucking funny and my clown shoes honk and squeak as i move.

when challenged on this point (“what basis to we have for manfred von karma being abusive to his children?”) here is the one single piece of evidence that team fanfred brings to the table, these lines from case 1-4 of AAI:

here, manfred brushes off his daughter’s attempt to connect with him and calls miles worthless to his face. undoubtedly, and without question, there is no part of this that is not incredibly fucked up.

but... i do have some counterpoints, regardless.

point 1: AAI, imo, should be considered dubious canon. it was not written or directed by takumi and there are a lot of little inconsistencies in characterization that seem to fly over the AAI team’s heads--the biggest one for me personally is how in the AA trilogy, franziska never ever uses her whip on miles, except once in bridge when he’s having a trauma episode. this is a very small piece of characterization that means a lot to the people who notice it! but it’s ignored in aai, where she whips him nonstop like he’s an unruly showhorse.

all that to say, the aai team has their own interpretations of these characters. there are subtleties they miss, and choices made that might seem obvious upfront but fall apart under a microscope. this is kind of how i feel about mvk being kind of a shitty dad here, especially because...

point 2: this is ooc even for this game. reminiscence is a case i have memorized front to back, these lines come out of fucking NOWHERE. the tone set for miles & manfred’s relationship at the beginning of the case is not adversarial or unpleasant! they talk about the case with one another, very politely take turns proposing ideas and theories, and miles listens enraptured hanging on mvk’s every word. he wants to do good. he wants to be perfect. and mvk wants to see to it that he achieve that goal. if rell and faraday hadn’t gotten murdered, we would have gotten mvk as co counsel! every day i think about how we were robbed of that. nothing leads up to this line above. it is weird, confrontational, triggered by nothing, and way out of left field. not to mention directly contradictory to what mvk said at the beginning of the case, claiming to expect perfection from miles. it’s a weird fucking outburst, a sudden statement, which brings me to point three:

point 3: lead poisoning. more on that later.

[EDIT APRIL 2023: holy fucking shit. alright, nevermind, throw all this off the table: this line was a fucking mistranslation. as one of my youtube commenters pointed out:

‘The Investigations quote is actually a translation error. Karma didnt call Miles "Worthless" on the original JP version, he calls him "半人前" what means "an amateur / someone without experience" (what, for every single meaning of the word Miles actually IS in this case. It's literally his first case and he wasnt supposed to be anything more than a assistant untill like 5min before the game starting).

The translation put a really heavy amount malice on Karma's phrasing that simply doesnt exist on the original (and I actually got my DS the first time on years to confirm this). Maybe because they knew so many fans had this vision of Karma (or are "Abusive Karma fans" themselves), because there's no way this kind of translation wasnt done on bad faith... It's the worst option you could take (as in: the only one that wouldnt work in the context out of 10 others) and seems like a proposital Character Assassination on the translators part.’

so, holy fucking shit. i was right. it WAS ooc, because that shit was thrown in randomly in english for no apparent reason]

but even if we DO decide to consider AAI indisputable canon. then that, i feel, opens up a whole new can of worms. if AAI is canon material, what else can we consider canon material? because i’ve got quite a lot of material of one manfred von karma from other dubiously canon sources, and uh. the fanfred crowd is not gonna like it.

from the mangas we have manfred keeping no less than 5 photos of franziska on him at all times and showing them off to his opposing counsel with little to no prompting. we have him screaming at badd to keep a careful watch on his kids, not wanting to deny them their time at a real crime scene investigation but being worried to the point of seething rage.

(a bit more subtle, but from this same manga we have him getting his feefees hurt because kay calls him scary. i really love this because 1. it’s a parallel to pearl doing the same thing to franziska in bridge, and 2. it’s just really funny that von karmas want little girls to like them and view them as heroes of justice so bad but are constantly dissuaded by their resting bitch face. manfred has two daughters, he’s so used to little girls thinking he’s cool.)

in the live action movie, we have a beautiful scene where mvk and miles talk about the importance of not losing yourself in the pursuit of courtroom victory. i really love mvk in this movie. my friend once described him as someone’s grandpa who’s just lost in the mall.

in the anime! oh! the anime! let me count the ways i love thee.

in the aftermath of DL6 manfred comes to move miles out of his empty childhood home. seeing him balled up and unresponsive on the couch, mvk takes off the scarf he’s wearing and wraps it, tenderly, around miles before escorting him out of the house.

by miles’ own admission, he considers mvk the only person who was there for him after his father died.

sound the turnabout melody, an episode about miles’ life growing up with the von karmas, is my favourite piece of ace attorney media in the history of ever. it contains:

mvk asking and outright encouraging miles on the prospect of being a defense attorney

franziska, age 8, who has noticed that the new boy living in her home has never once smiled. she spends the whole episode trying to figure out ways to fix this. she demands (demands!) mvk

take them to a trial

take them to the mall

take them to fucking IHOP

and mvk complies with all of this. he buys franziska build a bear, and when she’s too sad for pancakes because miles has run off after his dog, the two of them go searching.

by the way he lets miles keep his dog, too.

the reason miles ran off is because he happened upon a criminal and saw through her lies. franziska and manfred fall back around the corner, watching him seek the truth and corner her. when she begins to get unruly, they step in, presence imposing as they protect miles. there is a lingering set of shots on manfred’s powerful finger snap, his eyes burning into her, and franziska with her riding crop, ready to fight a grown woman three times her size. miles is a part of their family. they love him.

miles apologizes for all the trouble. mvk says, let’s get pancakes. miles wins several thousand dollars in reward money for finding a dog and says, can i donate it to an animal shelter? mvk says, of course you can. it’s your money.

mvk was intending on only looking after miles temporarily as a foster parent. he states, outright, that he suspects this impulse came from guilt. he says, in few words, that he regrets what he did, and views taking on miles as his karma for it.

the episode is about miles feeling lost and alone, like he has nowhere, like he has no future. he doesn’t want to be a defense attorney anymore--it reminds him of what he’s lost. mvk watches him corner this criminal, and thinks, quietly, are you a prosecutor, boy? at the end of the episode, after franziska and mvk have solidified his importance in their family, manfred ties a cravat around miles’ neck. miles understands this gesture means he is a part of their family and, for the first time in years, he smiles with his whole face. the episode ends with him finally feeling as though he’s found his truth, his place in the world.

many people interpret manfred as losing respect for miles, berating him, or being otherwise cruel and abusive to him when he loses his first case in turnabout sisters. in the anime, he just seems perplexed!

he gives him some advice about not having feelings. it’s cliche anime villain, but fuck’s sake, it’s not cruel and unusual. today i experienced a fanwork where manfred slapped miles in the fucking face and called him every horrible thing under the sun.

in every single canon i can think of, there is more evidence that manfred was exactly as he seems--a stern mentor, who is cold and calculating and precise, but who has a clear charisma and functions as miles’ rock. in every single canon, miles loves and respects him. miles wants to be more like him. miles views him as an irrefutable part of getting through the trauma of his father’s death. franziska, too, talks about him with stars in her eyes in every canon. he is everything she aspires to be, he is her hero. fanworks where manfred forced these children to be mindless prosecuting machines pale entirely in comparison to what is in these ‘dubious’ canons, where they choose what they do because they want to stand tall beside him.

so. let’s talk about what manfred von karma is instead of what i personally believe he isn’t.

manfred von karma is a despicable fucking human being. he robbed two men of their lives. he ruined the life of every single character in the OG trilogy. do you have a character you like in the OG trilogy? manfred von karma ruined their life. every single horrible thing that has ever happened in ace attorney’s og trilogy happened because of him. and it didn’t even happen for a good reason. it happened because he was a petty, vengeful, impulsive coward of a fucking man who could not process or face head-on one single, meaningless imperfection. it happened because there was a gun at his feet and no one around to stop him. and he almost got away with it. he was so close.

he is a murderer. and a cold, calculating manipulator. he is both a fucking idiot and highly intelligent in covering his tracks. he is all these things.

so... why does he also have to be abusive?

isn’t... doesn’t that kind of... blunt the tragedy of it all?

what is a more heartbreaking story to you--

a monster of a man, imposing and cruel to his proteges, controlling and vile and unconvinced of their worth, exposed for the murderer, for the criminal he is? or...

or manfred von karma, stern-browed but loving father, who leads them with a steady hand and holds them when they falter, who was supposed to be their guiding star, and who turned out to be the monster in the shadows all along?

what is more compelling? miles and franziska finding out the truth, and shrugging it off with a, well, that makes some sense. or miles and franziska, curled up in one another’s arms in an empty house in germany, desperately combing their memory in tatters trying to look for a sign, any sign, anything they could have pinpointed that could have clued them in on the fact that he--

but of course there wouldn’t be anything like that. von karma is perfect.

turnabout goodbyes is certainly interesting. there’s a lot of really unhinged shit going on there. herr turkey vulture is off his fucking rocker in goodbyes. the level of premeditation is a very interesting contrast to the impulsivity of DL6. not to mention it’s just a very fucking random thing to do, framing miles for murder. it’s the one reason i can kinda see where the fanfred crowd is coming from, because it is just... pointlessly evil. what revenge is there left to get? gregory edgeworth is dead. he cannot see his son be jailed.

this brings me back to lead poisoning. i don’t really have anything more to say on that, or a big analysis to give. i just think maybe we should talk about the very real possibility that mvk is lead poisoned to shit. he acts kind of crazy sometimes. calling his kids worthless out of nowhere when 2 seconds ago they were all just talking normally. screaming in the middle of court cause his routine got interrupted. framing miles for murder in excessive detail. just girly things. i feel like his brain just rotted and rotted and rotted as the years went on until eventually he was like YEAH sure whatever i’ll really stick it to gregory, the corpse, by framing his son. that’s just my onion, though.

some other things that annoy me are when people make him transphobic, homophobic, all the phobics, again it’s all just so... excessive. but i get REALLY pissed off when people make him ableist. if you want to write ableism, ace attorney has a billion able-bodied characters you can use for that agenda. manfred von karma is disabled. in canon. i feel like it’s kind of a slap in the fucking face to erase that about him.

again, i personally find the story less compelling if he was abusive. i find it shallow. i would much rather read about someone loved and revered exposed for the monster they are. i want to read stories about franziska shattering to nothing and sobbing in his room when she gets the call from miles, trying desperately not to think about the way her father used to sing her lullabies and bring her sweets and teach her calligraphy. i want miles to be trembling in the defendant’s chair while that metal detector beeps, i want him to be staring at his shaking hands unable to believe it, trying to find any other line of thought. i don’t want their reactions to ANY of this to be ‘yeah, that tracks.’ i want denial. i want heartbreak. i want screaming in the detention center.

it is fine if that is not what you want, but i am tired of the reception my take gets in fandom. people on this website have not only forgotten the rule about not tagging your hate, but they are insistent that their interpretation is the only one. they act as though fanfred is the only truth. they act as though it is canon, and they call us abuse apologists for disagreeing. i once saw someone in the mvk tag saying if you liked manfred or kinned him you were a horrible person. i rather like my mvk kinnie friend. all he does is cry over seals, talk about thomas the tank engine, and come into the group chat where he then proceeds to tell dad jokes in character. he’s really good at motivating me to do my laundry.

if you need to process some shit you went through growing up, i love you. if you want to write what you know, i love you. but please understand that i, as an abuse survivor myself, am not compelled by narratives of abuse. i am not compelled by torture porn about the characters i relate to. i was not given a happy, loving home growing up. it’s for this reason that i want to give the characters i love and relate to what i was deprived of.

i want to change the fandom’s mind about manfred von karma. i want to shift the narrative away from this my way or the highway mentality. if i didn’t, that’s okay. but if i did for you, maybe give me a reblog, or come talk to me abt him :] he is my favourite villain in any series ever, i think. i’d love to hear what others think.

#pwaa #ace attorney #karuma gou #manfred von karma #wendy rambles #wendy rants #simmering sapphire

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dimepdf · 2 years

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WANNA BE YOURS. + THE RIDDLER

masterlist. / taglist. / any request? summary. Working the night shift in Gotham City, where sociopaths and criminals are constantly on the loose, makes you concerned about your own safety. Until you meet a dull man named Edward, whom you enjoy teasing during your work shift. What's the worst that could happen? author's note. hey horny people! porn this time!

[ ❥ ] pairing. riddler x fem!reader

[ ❥ ] word count. 5.3k sorry again

[ ❥ ] genre. +18, PWP

[ ❥ ] warnings. language, manipulation, musty ass reader, reader being a discord mod, obsessive behavior, bottom!riddler, dense reader, incel Edward, awkward flirting, car sex, slight hand kink, unprotected sex, choking, dense reader, unhealthy relationship, corruption kink?

[ ❥ ] You yawned into your palm, your fingers reaching up to subconsciously adjust the septum piercing that dangled from your nose as your fingers went back to finding themselves tapping against the keys of the overheating laptop that was nested on top of your hip bone.

Your head was angled to sit up by the excessive number of pillows at the headboard of your bed as your eyes were tiredly glued to the brightly lit computer screen.

You wet your chapped lips, your tongue dragging along your lips before taking your bottom lip in between your teeth as you scrolled through the discord channels of your active friend server.

You lived in Gotham your entire life. You were aware of the crime rates and all the bad shit that people would compare your city to, and honestly, you didn't blame them, as you were even too paranoid and filled with anxiety to leave your own house without being glued to the hip with your parents by your side.

You knew it was pathetic being a 20-year-old secret college dropout with a shitty night shift job at some diner just to help ease your subconscious mind of the seeping guilt you felt constantly mooching and freeloading off of your parent's funds. You were a grown woman yet felt so directionless, having graduated from high school.

You sort of realized that people didn't care what you were truly doing with your life if it didn't benefit them or serve any purpose of entertainment. In your extended family's eyes, you were just simply the quiet cousin/niece that just followed orders from everyone, the cousin who was too spineless to stick up for themselves or got picked on and called a crybaby.

But what they didn't know was that you ruled another world, a world within the internet.

You were a very niche true-crime Youtuber, gaining your following from true crime compilations and edited documentaries on the sociopaths that caught the light of fame because they lived in your city.

You were Gotham's most adored faceless source of information other than the corrupted aired news that was controlled by the city. What people liked about you was that you were real. You didn't care about higher-ups or give in to the bribes of rich people trying to hide the criticism.

You were just another victim of your city's shit system and had used your channel to voice it.

You welcomed the internet as your only safe space as the coded community welcomed you with open arms. You had actual friends and fans online and grew a pretty decent-sized community.

Of course, most of the "fans" were mostly just parasocial creeps with a fetish for criminals and tragedies, but it didn't matter because it wasn't like they could tell that secretly you were judging their lives since they didn't know your real name nor any information to discover your true identity.

You weren't undercover using an alias for the privacy of yourself and the safety of your family.

Aside from the caped Bat who roamed the streets locally, you demonstrated yourself to be the most polished detective in the city. Your fans admired your ability to work safely in the shadows. Many of your parasocial fans even went as far as funding your lifestyle. Of course, you took all the gifts and money as the donations were very lucrative.

The amount that your fans would give wasn’t enough for the end goal. You aimed to move out of Gotham City and into a safer city. Also, in terms of your bad spending habits, you would find enjoyment in doordashing food from the comfort of your full-size bed.

You could count on your fingers how many times you’ve left the house in the last month, blessing the subscriber that funded enough money for you to have the high tech laptop that you could complete all of your blogs and edit videos on.

Aside from your family and the small number of coworkers and customers you had to tolerate, you didn't have much going for you outside of the internet.

You have to turn on your mic just to have any sort of social interaction in your life outside of your parents asking you to come down to eat dinner because all your friends are voices hidden behind stupid usernames.

A hum left your lips as you heard the annoying discord ping notification spam through your laptop speakers. You had managed to complete a small group of people into a more inner circle using the superfans as content mules, as they would commonly ramble about gossip that happened in the city like they walked the same streets as you.

As you opened the group chat and read the chat logs of your friends spamming links of a live streamer in Gotham going on a rampage. You never disclosed a lot of personal information with your internet friends. As much as they liked to believe, you didn't trust them.

The creeping fear that they would piece too much of your privacy together and ruin the persona of your only main source of income makes you shiver just by the thought of it.

Your online username was gothicgrims, a play on words as your content was mainly about Gotham and its daily rising crime rate in the niche community of true crime.

You were the queen of the city news. Some of your blog posts even reached the modern news eye as they would use your blog as a credited source. Of course, the shout-out only made it harder for you to keep a low profile. You would take extra care that you wouldn't leave even the smallest traces of your identity anywhere in your words.

Folktales: check this fucker out he’s planning something insane!

Zobner: dude hes probably making a fucking BOMB LMAO

gothicgrims: how is that funny?

gothicgrims: he’s just another incel looking for the gotham news clout

Folktales: lol

Marzbarz: yeah but are you gonna do a video on him?

Marzbarz: asking for a friend :eyestare:

gothicgrims: giving me something actually interesting to write about :yawn:

Folktales: yeah but his voice tho :lipbyte:

Zobner: not you being horny for another musty masked man on main

Marzbarz: im tryna see what's under the mask :ughh:

gothicgrims: you all need serious therapy.

Though you were more serious in your comments, your friends were pretty dense and reflected most of your sarcastic remarks blinded by the power trip of you being a famous role model they looked up to, and you had admittedly gotten used to talking freely with your emotions to only the muggle group chat full of people.

cheeks puffed out as your cursor hovered over the highlighted link. You sighed, stretching your fingers before clicking on the link, waiting as your browser loaded the live streaming page.

Your brow furrowed at the contrast of neon green and dark background. You assumed the male was using his website to stream onto the platform, ticking off another mental red flag in your head as you quickly checked your VPN to ensure it was still active while logged in.

You sat up against your headboard, snuggling your back deeper into your pillows for a comfortable seat as the man on your screen seemed to be moving around as his camera shook the blur of his green mask, bloating the vertical screen as you pressed the volume key on your laptop.

Plugging in your old trusty head buds as you pressed the volume key on your laptop, bloating the vertical screen as you pressed the volume key on your keyboard, plugging in your old trusty head

The moment the man started speaking again, you tapped your volume keys a few more times to a higher volume as his gentle voice played through your headphones, a shiver of goosebumps running up your arms.

You placed a hand against your mouth, masking the embarrassed smirk from no one as you glanced at your bedroom door and jumped up from your mattress, shamelessly shedding your pants as you reached across your small bedroom and flicked the lock on your doorknob.

A sigh left your lips as you crawled back under your blankets and tuned back into the stream, or more so, the male's voice once more.

You could tell he wasn't used to being in front of the camera by the way he uttered, but what piqued your interest was the pattern in which he spoke.

Even in his own company, he appeared nervous, but intelligent in the subject he was attempting to discuss.

Wait, was a fucking masked dork talking about making a bomb was turning you on?

As you traced your hands down your stomach, your fingers hesitated as they reached the material of your underwear. A wave of arousal mixed with shame washed over you.

The light poured in through the window. He sat behind a white blare that ate up half of the screen since he had placed the phone on the floor. The male appeared to be sitting on the floor, droning on about weaponry you were unfamiliar with.

It wasn't like you cared as your fingers finally broke through the barrier of your waistband. Quietly finding the warmth of your core, a low whimper escaped your mouth as your other hand teased your clothed buds that peaked from the cotton lounge shirt you had been wearing for a week straight.

You would pleasure yourself without interruption to the man's voice all the way until your orgasm. As post-nut clarity settled in, you slammed your laptop shut hard as you buried your face into your pillows, the sound of only your muffled frustration bouncing off the walls of your bedroom.

Another message ping interrupted your pity party as you turned your head against your fluffy pillow. Your arm swung lazily to grab your phone from the nightstand, where you cringed as you read the message notification.

Bitch ass boss: short notice Pam is bailed.

Bitch ass boss: but need you to do closing tonight.

The message from your boss kills any remaining vestiges of your lady boner as you set a 6 pm alarm and then a 7 pm alarm, knowing you'd most likely hit snooze by accident, deciding to spend the rest of your free time before work cuddling into your blankets half-naked and falling down strange rabbit holes of YouTube videos you'd saved to watch later.

The diner you worked at was decorated in the classic 80s diner style, with neon signs, harsh counters, and strict musty costumes that featured far more skin than you were comfortable wearing while taking lunch orders from middle-aged couples.

When you first considered applying for the job, you were familiar with the drawbacks of working part-time for a boss who didn't care about his employees as long as he was making money.

Though your safety had never been in jeopardy, you had been working the same job since junior year of high school.

Dealing with rude coworkers and old creepy men who needed a strong reminder that they didn't walk into a Hooters and that groping you was not acceptable.

Your parents cared enough to buy you your own car, not wanting you to walk the few blocks at the break of dawn.

It was a peaceful night, well as peaceful as it could get in Gotham. As you walked past one of your coworkers taking a smoke break in the back of the restaurant, you locked your car and tossed your tote back over your shoulder, the loud clicking of your car keys in hand.

As you entered the building, you gave them a tightly closed mouth smile, instantly wincing from the bright restaurant overhead light beaming all along the kitchen roof.

You took a turn to the restrooms to change into your uniform, your back against the door just in case someone tried to open the door as you were changing.

You yawned giving yourself a once over in the dirty mirror, your hands reaching down to flatten the skirt of your dress as you wiped your nose with the back of your hand not bothering to wash your hands as you exited the restroom you locked your bag into one of the employee lockers or at least attempted too as most of the locks were busted from everyone always trying to steal from them.

You were wise enough to keep your car keys and phone in your pockets at all times, leaving only your purse and a change of clothes in your bag.

The restaurant wasn't busy, just a few lingering people sitting in booths talking amongst themselves already situated, you only assumed an earlier server got to them before your shift started as you exhaled plopping yourself in front of the cash restaurant and instantly taking out your phone, you decided now was the perfect time to do a deep dive on the male you were using as wank bank material earlier.

You rested your chin in your palm, your elbow on the counter, and used your thumb to scroll through the rest of his saved live streams.

You made the best of your repetitive shift. As you tapped one of the older streams, your eyes were glued to your phone. Looking up and scanning the environment, you quickly realized that no one gave a fuck that you were sitting there as you turned up the volume just loud enough to make out some of the words he was saying but not loud enough for the others across the room to hear.

They were pretty much all in the same format you would study, the male asking for help from the weird community of people that watched his videos.

You assumed it was some weird 4chan group wanting attention but the farther you scanned through his page the more you would realize how seriously dangerous his plans truly were.

A deep panic creeps up your skin as you were hung up on every word that came from the masked male's mouth. “Excuse me.” You slammed your phone down on the counter making the standing male across from you slight flinch, his nature instantly coming off timid as he gave you a feared glance you awkwardly chuckled off your frightened reaction.

Putting on your customer service smile trying to milk your way into getting milk with every opportunity, “sorry about that, can I get you anything?” you tone a falsely sweet tone as you slide your phone back into your pocket glancing at the man quickly you could already tell he was staring at your exposed cleavage.

His cheeks a pinch of pale pink as his eyes seemed to just fall into a trance of your boobs you crossed your arms in front of your chest the man looking up at you in confusion almost like he didn't even realize himself that he was staring until breaking away from from the trance.

His fingers fidgeted as he looked around the entire place, everything except the person in front of him. "Uh, I'm sorry…" his voice was gentle when he spoke almost like he was afraid that you reached over the counter and smack the shit out of him.

A smile couldn't help but to creep onto your lips as you only chuckled placing a washed mug in front of him, "awe man, it's alright as long as you're only looking and not touching we won't have a problem, you a coffee guy?" and from the one question that bloomed, you bonded with the man who would soon be your regular.

That made the closing shift not too bad with his constant bright and calm demeanor presence. In contrast to your highly sarcastic and blunt personality, you were surprised at how natural the friendship had formed between the two of you from behind the counter.

You grew so close to each other enough to know and exchange names with each other that you would come to realize that he was one of the first actual friends that you could talk to face to face in a while. Unbeknownst to you, Edward felt the same way, and that fucking terrified him every night.

You were the distraction he never wanted to come into his life at the worst time. He would constantly worry about you and his connection revealing the worst side of him.

The creeping fear that you found about his alter ego and dehumanizing him was one of his biggest fears as he would spend the late nights staying up just to talk to you on the same bar stool getting the same order every day. "You have to try the fucking pumpkin pie here. It's insane. It's like Sal sold his fucking soul for it to come out that perfect."

You would vouch for all the food he would order, though your conversations were always involved with him spending money, not to mention the times you would force him to tip you.

Sometimes your conversations would have him thinking about you for days, your words lingering in the back of his mind at the worst possible time. You'd often linger in these thoughts, his fist angrily tugging at his cock as he kneeled against his carpeted floors, his cock flushed with anger as his tip leaked cum right into his hand.

You two had one thing in common, both perverts with a knack for justice. Edward would instantly undercover your little YouTube channel even your full name and identity just in under the first week of knowing you.

He was not some silly 20-year-old with a hobby; he was a fucking sociopath with a plan, and that plan had taken him many years to develop since he stepped foot out of that horrible orphanage. He was angry nonetheless.

You had proved to be heavy destruction, a speed bump as he leaned his head against his wall for more stability. Edward didn't bother hiding his grunting and moaning as he angrily beat his cock to an image of you that was posted on your mother's Facebook.

It was your 20th birthday picture. The picture was taken at an upward angle as you stared up into the camera with big doe eyes. You had white frosting all over your face, having just had your birthday smashed against your face as a prank. After blowing your candles, your pointer finger rested in your mouth, your plump lips wrapping around the knuckle.

Your tongue stuck out from the underside of the finger. Edward imagines himself in your mouth, his big harsh manly palms caressing your cheek, his thumb brushing against your lips as you sucked his finger with the same flirtatious look; God, you were driving him insane.

Edward sat on his legs, his head leaning to rest his forehead on the same floor, as he came undone with the pump of his fist. His cum just rested inches away from his face, soaking into the carpet.

You had too much power over him.

He hated that his mind spiraled with every mistake, every fuckup that you would manage to cause by just existing, and then he finally decided... you had to go.

Your shift started like every other night, changing in the bathroom to having too much downtime. The only difference between today and yesterday was that Edward was waiting for you this time.

You moved behind the counter and in front of him, tilting your head and squinting at the man.

Noticing his pumpkin pie plate and a warm-looking cup of coffee in front of him. "You fucking cheater! I thought I was your one and only favorite waitress!" you exclaimed, crossing your arms over your chest.

Edward considered how well your arms pushed up against your breasts, how you managed to show off your body to him without realizing how much you were displaying yourself to him.

"Just wanted to try something new before it was too late." You were dense. Edward quickly discovered his words that held greater meaning seemed to just slip into your ear and go out the other.

It was that way for a lot of people he had met in his lifetime. Though he found your ignorance endearing, dotting the way your head would tilt in confusion when he rambled on about something you didn't understand or how you would always use your humor to hide how much of a dummy you were.

He wished he could keep you forever, preserve you from the harm of the world.

Don't get him wrong, he has considered kidnapping you from the comfort of your own home and dragging your body to his apartment, chaining your feet to the radiator in the corner of his apartment living room.

He would be able to control everything you did, but at least you were smart when it came to defending yourself.

You overpowered him in strength, no doubt. Edward, no matter how much height he had on you, was not the type to engage in any form of arm exercise, as he frequently defeated his enemies with weapons.

He knew that if he were to get into an altercation with you, you would manage to catch him off guard by using pure strength.

"What's one thing you always wanted to do before you died?" The question was unprompted as you simply glanced at Edward from your phone screen, your mindless scrolling on Twitter coming to a halt as you sat your phone down on the counter, starting to ponder as you bit your bottom lip.

Edward waited patiently with the same slight smile on his face. His eyes considered kind as his arms rested on the counter of the table. He was dragging his fingers along the mug of his coffee as he gave you his full attention.

You lifted your pointer finger in the air. "My first kiss, I mean, I want to have my first kiss, you know, like the whole feeling of fireworks and roses flowing around me."

The answer was not what Edward was expecting. As he lifted his brow, you quickly took notice of how he was staring at you. "What, you think you're the only adult virgin here, buddy?" You chuckled, your attention going back to your phone screen.

"I want—what if I could help you with that?" Your attention perched as you lowered your phone once more, a deep smirk setting on your lips as you used your elbows to lean closer towards Edward's face.

You were flirting again, an activity that would often leave Edward flushed pink and you triumphant as you had managed to fluster the man to the point of stuttering and stumbling. It was a fun pastime for you.

"You wanna kiss me, Eddy?" He hated nicknames, especially the times you would use them.

He just didn't see the point of you shortening his already short name. He liked the way his last name rolled off your tongue, almost like you were saying it just to tease him.

"If that's the only thing you want, I'm happy to offer your last wish." You thought it was weird how suddenly forward Edward was tonight.

You thought it was even more weird seeing him set a briefcase down on the counter before following you outside. But the fear instantly went away as he linked his fingers in between yours, giving you that same shy look as he peered up at you over his glasses.

You would admit how much you were a hopeless romantic as you clocked out for a break and led Edward outside to the front of the restaurant. Leaning on your car hood, as Edward stood awkwardly across from you, you reached your arms out to grab his wrist and pull him in between your legs.

"Don't get all shy on me now, Eddy." God, he really fucking hated that nickname. The way you smirked up at him with those big fucking eyes, he let his actions get ahead of his thoughts as his thumb traced over your chin.

He ignored your slight flinch reaction as his fingers seemed to study the structure of your face. He might as well soak it all in while he can.

"You're into some kinky shit Eds." You gagged, his pointer finger shoving into his mouth as his chest rose from the warm feeling of your tongue wrapping around the digit almost instantly.

Spoke in a slight mumble, careful to not bring your teeth down as you spoke. He still couldn't believe that he was getting away with the action as his other hand tilted your head up farther so you could peer up at him through your lashes.

The way your dark eyes glistened as you looked up at him expecting something made him remember what you would look like kneeling to the ground begging his name.

"I want to do more than kiss you." His confession was dull as he stared at your mouth.

The way your lips wrapped around his pointer, a slight chuckle making your teeth flash from your mouth as Edward looked at you looking for any sign of discomfort.

You pulled your head around from his hands, wetting your lips. As you leaned back against your hood, a groan left your throat as you buried your face in your hands.

Edward was ready to back out in an instant as he backed away from your hand and shot out to grab his arm.

"You're so fucking unbearable, Edward," you grumbled, yanking the male closer as your head slumped into his chest.

He quickly realized, looking down at you, that you were more embarrassed and nervous than him. Given the situation, he felt an even more flaming desire as he glanced at his wrist for the time being. He needed everything to go on schedule.

"Can we... do it?" You snorted a laugh into his chest, tilting your head up to look at him again for a second before pushing the male away to stand up ."Only if you want to." It was the first time he’d ever seen you so flustered because of him.

Edward nodded his head in approval the instant the question left your lips. You smiled at him, biting your bottom lip, unlocking your car as you both slid into the back.

Your skin was already hot as you were convinced he could hear the sound of your heart beating so hard against your ribs as you both sat in a minute of silence.

Edward sighed before grabbing your face and smashing his lips into yours. You hissed into his mouth as your teeth clashed together from the force.

But you both quickly recovered as you crawled into his lap, his hands finding your hips as he thrust up between your legs.

You trailed kisses against his neck. Edward leaned his head to the side to give you better access as you sucked a small trail down against his throat.

Your hands trailed down his chest and to the belt buckle that held up his jeans. As you fumbled to pull at the buckle, you groaned in frustration, your head snapping up to look up at him with concentration glistening in your eyes.

"Help me please." Edward was convinced that most of his blood had already made its way to his dick, as the simple request caused him to become dizzy, causing him to shift his hips up to unbuckle his belt and pull his jeans down to his thighs.

He hesitated before pulling down his boxers as well, exposing his cock as it yanked from the material springing to his chest.

You breathed out. Your legs spread on each side of Eds as you lifted yourself and pushed your underwear aside with your thighs.

While you gripped his cock and guided the inches deeper into your core, your stomach began to burn as you buried your face into the man's neck. You groan as you lower yourself further down.

Edward groaned, his hand resting on your hip as the other fisted the roof of your car, every twitch and groan melting him farther into you as he leaned his head back and let you set the pace.

As you bottomed out, you both groaned with his cocked buried inside. You paused to catch your breath, feeling yourself throb around his length as Edward whimpered. You pulled back your arm using the headrest behind you as your other hand rested on his chest.

Edwards squeezed his eyes shut so hard that he was seeing white spots. He was finding it difficult to sit still and not react to your cunt squeezing his dick. "If you cum in me, I'll fucking kill you," you grunt, pressing your chest against his as you slowly lift yourself, wincing as your body desperately tries to adjust to being fucked.

Your legs shook as you practically bounced against his dick. The air in the car is hot and stuffy as you both begin to sweat from each other's body heat, moaning into each other's mouths. His hands were trailing up your shirt, desperately groping your chest through your bra as you ground your hips into his lap.

All that could be heard was the sound of your skin slapping together along with Edward's low whimpering and your moaning. The car jerked every time you would slam down into his lap.

The more you got the hang of it, the more arousing it became as you wrapped your arms over his shoulder to hold yourself closer to him. Your legs began to tire as you sat in his lap and ground your hips to chase the new sensation building in the pit of your stomach.

Then Edward began thrusting his hip into yours as you leaned your head back and strung together moans. Your legs were shaking as you came undone.

Edward quickly followed your orgasm, raising you slightly to pull his cock out and onto the front of your dress.

"I have to walk back inside covered in cum now." You nibbled at his lip as you leaned down to passionately kiss the fucked speechless Edward, before using his shirt to smear some of the stains off of your dress and readjusting your underwear.

"What time is it?" You groaned, wiping the sweat from your forehead with the back of your hand.

You shifted yourself over to sit in the other backseat as Edward pulled himself together, tucking himself back into his underwear and pulling up his pants.

Almost fucking him dumb as he had almost forgotten to check the time on his wristwatch. The moment the question settled in his brain, he recognized the situation once more, the plan almost slipping from his mind.

"You should probably go back inside now." When he mumbled, fixing his belt and refusing to meet your eyes, you assumed the innocent reasoning and assumed he was the type to get nervous after inanimate solutions, so you followed suit to his request.

Leaving the man in the car as you went to clock back into work, you stayed in the kitchen of the diner for a bit, using a wet cloth to wipe any remaining stains from the front of your dress.

As you shuffled back to your usual spot behind the counter, your phone rested face down in the same spot you'd left it, and you pressed the power button, your lock screen flooded with notifications of missed discord calls to your friends messaging you. You quickly tapped on the Discord icon and scrolled through the messages.

Folktales: HE’S STREAMING AGAIN!

Folktales: our crazy hot mask bf awooga

Marzbarz: ours???? No mf YOURS

Zobner: where is he even at??

Marzbarz: looks like some shitty diner

Folktales: LMAO HES GONNA BLWO IT UP I BET!!

Zobner: LMAO

Marzbarz: wait.

Zobner: ???

Marzbarz: does that phone case look familiar to you?

Folktales: gothic has the same one

Zobner: thats her ringtone…

Marzbarz: guys something doesnt seem right

You frowned, swiping up and tapping on the Livestream notification link, your phone instantly redirecting to the familiar black and neon green page. This time the Livestream was the thing that caught you off guard, as it was a live feed of a security camera.

The camera was pointed directly towards you. As your head jerked in the direction of the camera mounted to the wall. You froze, your blood running cold as you tried to piece together everything. The only thing you managed to think about was how Edward still hadn't walked into the restaurant.

His seat was empty. The only thing occupying his space was the same strange briefcase. Your curiosity getting the best of you, you grabbed the handle of the case. You froze.

A loud beeping sound rang out throughout the diner as you quickly unclasped the case and yanked it open, revealing a bomb and a small note inside.

It's better this way; the world is too filthy for kindhearted people like you. I adore you too much to lose you by another's hand.

“Oh you fucking–”

[ ❥ ] taglist. @lluvin @lovemedaddy-666 @toy-cars-and-grape-juice

tap here to be added to taglist.

#[ ⇢ ˗ˏˋ ★ — t.wrks. ]#paul dano x reader #the riddler smut #riddler x reader #paul dano riddler #paul dano #the riddler #the batman #the riddler x reader #edward nashton imagine #edward nashton x reader #edward nashton

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frootietoots · 4 months

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PLUMMIE INTRO TIME !!! 🌈✨️

(figured i'd wind up making one of these at some point! i'd like for folks to know the clown behind the screen 🫶)

hi there !! i'm Plum, and this is my NONSEXUAL, SFW, PRIVATE vore blog !!! i mainly use this acct to share my voreesque interests and art, but i also might tend to go off topic from time to time simply bc i wld like for folks to know the lore behind the characters i post here :-]

when it comes to me, the clown running this page, i am an autistic demiromantic lesbian demigirl and your local Silly Clown Enthusiast 🤡!!! though i also dabble in horror media (analog horror, horror games, anything to do w body horror if i'm being honest, etc), video games (lethal com//pany, terr//aria, fear & hun//ger, un//dertale ... etc), and ... yes. i do RP. b4 you raise your brows at me, i am a Huge fan of role-playing w my characters in a Nonsexual fashion in the sense that i love to world-build n create stories w my friends !!! that is simply The Gist of it. occasionally i will RP vore, but i am terribly picky abt who i do that w bc of the icky yucky folks on here. if we aren't friends, i prolly won't RP w you.

as of rn, my interest in vore remains very specific. i like vore as a comfort, as a plot device, and as a concept to use in world-building. this is not a Kink blog. you will not find any of that here. i have my boundaries when it comes to how i like vore, and i can tell you that NSFW vore is not for me and will never be for me. i also am not the biggest fan of Fatal, Full-tour, Object, and Robot vore. my heart lies w endosama n exploration. when i was a kid, what Rlly got me interested in vore as a subject were the Magic School Bus episodes where everybody wld explore around a body. THAT is what i like! the thought of existing inside another living, breathing creature, observing every warm intricate detail ... i like that! it's so fascinating to me! but i wld be lying if i said i didn't like to turn off my brain n think abt curling up in a safe belly for a while. that's where the Comfort aspect derives from.

most of what you'll find on this blog will be my Clown Kingdom! i am currently collaborating with my lovely partner @clownking-aster to further expand this world :-]. i once considered it to be a simple sandbox world to dump my thoughts and interests into this project, but this story now has more definitive lore behind it. the two main characters as of right now are Maddie (the pink clown cat), and Aster (the purple raccoon jester). that's all i'll say for now ... wink wonk ✨️

if you're interested in talking to me or getting to know me, my discord username is plummers, but pls do be sure to lmk where you're adding me from! i get a lil nervous adding new folks bc i'm in a lot of big servers for the emojis n i tend to assume right off the bat that this is where the friend requests come from. i'm also in a few fairly small sfw servers, but i'm not the biggest fan of them mainly bc i prefer my own space where i can share my interests freely without worrying abt being talked over or judged. also, don't be afraid to send an ask or shoot me a message! i love getting to know you lovely folks :-)

(side note: if you know me outside of my vore blog, no you don't <3)

🚫 i don't have Too many boundaries, but one of my biggest is SEXUAL vore. if you are a SEXUAL vore blog, pls do Not interact. i will not hesitate to block you. i will also block IRL blogs or any other individual that makes me uncomfortable. i don't like to freely block ppl, but i will if i have to.

⚠️ anybody is ok to follow so long as you aren't one of the accts i mentioned above, but pls do note that i am very shy and my interests are very specific. my social battery is also fairly unpredictable most days, so if you message me and i either respond too quickly or not for a while, i'm not doing it to be purposeful! i do not manipulate ppl n i do not play mind games. if i'm not interacting with you or talking to you, it is bc i am burnt out from life or i am not available. if i don't want to talk to you, i promise i will tell you. (note too that i have a variety of mental issues n i am mentally disabled. i do ask of you to be patient with me, and i will do the same with you! thank you!)

✅️ that all being said, i am a very outgoing and excitable person most of the time and i love making new friends! do not be afraid to reach out whenever! the whole reason i made this blog was to interact w folks who have similar enthusiasm! :-]

that's all i'll share for now (i say as if i didn't just spill my guts out in a tumblr intro post. sorry lol!!) i look forward to getting to know you all!🌻

#sfw vore community #sfw vore #soft vore #extreme cuddling #plummie rambles

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sanderssideswriting · 6 months

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The fall of Sanders Sides is just depressing honestly.

I don’t consider myself an og. I joined the fandom in 2019 thanks to tiktok. I went to anime expo that same year as Janus.

I joined a small discord server for fans and speak to some of them every day still even though we’ve migrated servers multiple times and I’ve stopped talking to several of them.

Me and one of my friends met in a sanders sides rp server and created one just for the two of us that’s still in use and still used for sanders sides because anything else doesn’t feel the same.

I cosplayed on tiktok until like 2021 or not later. I had mutuals and followed so many people who did sanders sides content. They've either stopped making tiktoks entirely or have moved on. Of all the accounts I follow only one makes (absolutely incredible) sanders sides content.

In my closet is the jacket I hand stitched patches on for my virgil cosplay. Patton’s blue polo, Logan’s black polo and tie. My brothers old baseball bat I painted for Remus. Janus’s caplet, hat and gloves.

On my nightstand is a janus necklace that’s a little fucked up that I used to wear every day. In my junk drawer is Janus’s keychain that’s scratched up from being on my lanyard for months.

In a box are four of the sanders sides youtooz figures. In another is the box the jams came in.

I had one of the signed posters I waited months to get because they all got ruined and had to be reshipped. It left the box twice, nearly got thrown out and I sent to a friend because I never go around to framing it and hanging it up.

Remnants of Sanders Sides is all around me. It meant so much to me for awhile especially in 2020-2021.

And now the magic's gone. I fell in love with the fandom first and foremost. A fandom that's quiet until a new episode comes out then it gets resurrected. Only to slowly die again as the new video hype fades and the cycle repeats.

#ts crit #less of a crit and more of a ramble really but who cares #ts criticism #ts critical #sasi #istg every time I see a screenshot of Thomas being like 'I'm still writing! But I'm so close to being done you guys.'#'the finale will come soon I promise'#I just feel depressed because we've waited so long and it's not here #it's been three years #why would I believe that the finale is coming out 'soon' when you've taken three years to nearly be done with the script

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abyssal-ali · 7 months

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Hi, my friend is asking why there are so many maribat fics, and especially with DamiMari.

Maybe you know about the history of these crossovers in Batman Fandom?

Hi!

(Fellow Maribat fans, feel free to add your own commentary or correct any of my mistakes.)

So @/ozmav created the Damian x Marinette ship in 2018, I think? It was just a fun little crossover that blew up and became really popular. I was not around either of those fandoms at the time, so I'm not sure about all the details.

Daminette was the first Maribat ship created, so it was around the longest, and thus accumulated the most works.

Eventually, the other Bat Boys got their own ship, and now the Maribat (or now, more technically, DCxMLB) fandom has so many more ships and crossovers -not necessarily between the Bat/MLB main characters.

Some rarepair ships (any DCxMLB ship not between one of the four main Bat Boys and Marinette) include Konette (Conner Kent/Superboy and Marinette Dupain-Cheng/Ladybug) and Timdrien (Tim Drake/Red Robin and Adrien Agreste/Chat Noir), to name a couple.

The Maribat fandom also crosses over with multiple fandoms, like DPxDCxMLB or MCUxDCxMLB.

Some pure MLB and DC stans definitely dislike Maribatters, especially during the beginning of the fandom, when the tags for both fandoms were cluttered with DCxMLB content. Now that it's grown so much and has its own tags, I think the hate has calmed down somewhat. (Although, I prefer to keep out of fandom drama, so I may simply have missed the hateful discourse ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.)

Overall, the Maribat fandom has really grown from a crack ship to its own large, well-populated community. There are tags on Ao3 and many discord servers, which runs events such as "Jasonette July" and "Maribat? Get In! [a server] Civil War".

On a personal note:

As to my thoughts on the ships themselves, my favorites are Daminette (Damian Wayne/Robin and Marinette Dupain-Cheng/Ladybug) and Jasonette (Jason Todd/Red Hood and Marinette Dupain-Cheng/Ladybug). It's always fascinating to rotate a character or ship in your head like a rotisserie chicken, considering their Canon and Fanon traits and then exploring them in whatever medium you choose (my medium of choice is writing fanfiction).

For Daminette, the ship you specifically asked about, I am drawn to it because I find the differences between the couple adorable. I personally have a fondness for the Grumpy x Sunshine trope, a Tsundere male lead, and relationship/character growth. (Of course, sometimes it's nice just to read a cute 500 word drabble with no plot, no specific dynamics, and no development, where the couple is just cute and happy.)

I think that is one of the beauties of Maribat. With so many various ships and characters to choose from, there's something for everyone, and we can all bond over belonging to the same fandom(s). Some of us have joined from the MLB side, some from the DC side, some just got dragged in by a friend and have no knowledge of either fandom, and that's okay! With so much to explore in both fandoms, there is constantly new content* being made with love (and tears. And laughter, both evil and joyful. And hornin-).

I've made some of my best friends through this fandom, and I'm proud to be a part of it.

I hope this helps, and I apologize if my ramblings detracted from my answers!💜

*Yes, I am aware of the popular Tropes such as "Akuma Class Trip to Gotham" and "Long-Lost Wayne".

#Maribat #History of Maribat #DCxMLB #MLBxDC

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scratchwake · 7 months

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Hi Tumblr, made that Alan Wake and Control server I was talking about!!

Gonna keep this post with the link up for a few days before I remove the link. If you're seeing this after I remove the link, DM me for the invite! (Or, alternatively, if you know anyone already in the server, DM them for the invite, but I'm probably the quickest route lol)

To the people who showed interest in the notes and rbs of my first post about this server; Here ya go, @rabbitmagic @a-flappy-bat and @due-to-the-fact-that-im-a-slut. I did the thing.

Eat up Remedy fans

#alan wake #alan wake 2 #remedy entertainment #control #control game #control remedy #control 2019 #talking #discord server #discord

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am-i-the-asshole-official · 10 months

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AITA for calling out people for taking an exceedingly transphobic commentary personality's word as fact?

Alright, so. This happened in December in a community that has technically sprung up in 2007 despite the thing existing since January 2004. I was in the community since 2014 and one of the oldest remaining fans in the community. I was an asshole and very much disliked from 2018-2021, did some betterment, went to therapy, and asked different people who are very, very well known in the fandom if I was getting better, to which they said yes, from late 2022 to 2023 so this was in the middle of my Redemption Arc™️. I joined a discord in order to hope to find some obscure knowledge on the software i couldn't ask much of anywhere else in December 2022, after I was getting stalked and harassed by notable transphobic websites over being open about my depression in June 2022. One notable user of said sites made a YouTube video on me, who is openly transphobic, and as a trans guy, that was upsetting. Moreso upsetting, is that not only did the video get countless fundamental facts incorrect that were disproven in other videos, but her Twitter URL that's a play on the transphobic phrase "TTD" (total trans death, an obvious nod to our genocide) and said server used me for my art, then booted me, blocked me on Discord, and when I asked why I was banned from the server on Reddit, they spammed the video link and was insulting me and calling me "unforgivable." Keep in mind, that Discord server had a strict "no transphobes allowed" rule and several of the mods, albeit not all, were openly LGBT. A red flag off the bat of said server was that they had some stolen content, albeit said content was by a known predator. Another red flag was how many mods were under 18, side by side with mods in their late 20s. I called out these people for supporting an open TERF from a transphobic website shut down by cloudflare, and they started making fun of me and threatening to ruin me. I don't care if people hate me, but I do care that people get their facts right. Sort of off topic but they ended up being horrifically transphobic and go on misinformation campaigns to several other people, and the server died.

Was I the asshole for calling them out on spreading misinformation?

What are these acronyms?

#aita #am i the asshole #kiwifarms cw #at least i assume that's the site that was shut down by cloudflare?#idk i feel like there's a lot of context i'm missing here but at least that needs warned for i think

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nakanotamu · 1 month

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Alright so I finished watching a Stardom show and I had a lot of thoughts about it and stuff I wanted to say and normally I would dump this all in my discord server but rn I'd feel weird about spamming this in there bc of brain reasons so tumblr gets it instead. So here are my probably needlessly long thoughts about Stardom's 2023.09.09 5 Star GP show from Korakuen Hall:

Alright so just right off the bat I'll say that this show was pretty packed (~1300 people) and the crowd was very hot and that... did nothing for me. Moments that make me feel very alienated from what is apparently the average wrestling fan, let me tell you. People make such a big deal out of loud active crowds and idk I mostly just found this one annoying. There's something about them being so audibly almost exclusively men that is really not fun. Rossy spent 10 years being so bad at appealing to women that I think it's fair to say it just wasn't a concern of his at any point, and Harada was absolutely gunning for a product in that same vein and it SUCKS. Oh my god it sucks. idk why it bothered me so much on this show, it's not like it's anything new, but it was really getting to me. I'm looking forward to getting to the show from, I think late November, when Kid specifically commented on how many women were there and seeing if it feels any different. Shout out to the one very loud woman who was a huge Komomo stan though, mood.

This show was originally billed as the Generational Struggle Part 3, the culmination of the Generational Struggle stuff from earlier in the Summer, a storyline that nobody ever understood and none of the wrestlers had any interest in, ultimately just completely dropped by the time this show actually happened, really emblematic of Harada's era of booking. I think this show stands out in a similar way, a peak of popularity and hype during a period where the quality was already starting to steeply decline, but before people had really noticed in numbers and before things had really cratered, with the wrestlers still mostly able to cover up the increasingly obvious holes. As such I think it's worth talking about as a shining example of this incredibly weird and bad period for Stardom.

Lady C & Hina vs Miyu Amasaki & Hanako - I like the sort of QQ vs QQ feeling to this match, but iirc it was one of those matches that were frequent at the time that had to be changed at the last minute bc someone was hurt or sick. So idk it was a fine opener though, no strong feelings but like it's the first match it's fine.

Mariah May & Waka Tsukiyama vs Mei Seira & Megan Bayne - Okay I hate to say it but Megan is kind of growing on me. I still think the way they brought her in was all wrong, and trying to push her for singles matches again later was still a mistake, but I do think she found a pretty entertaining niche in these less important tag matches. A lot of it is everyone else figuring out how to play off of her, and I don't really think it's a *good* thing when one wrestler warps an entire match around her every single time like she does, but in a match that's not all that important so there's less to detract from, yeah it's actually pretty fun. I just like seeing Mei Seira get thrown you know? Or when Mariah tries to knock her off the apron and she just doesn't move. It's annoying as hell when it gets her title shots, but in contexts like this, it's a pretty good bit.

Natsupoi & Yuna Mizumori vs Syuri & Saki Kashima - I'll talk more about it later but this whole undercard felt really disposable to me, which is always disappointing, especially given how much character Stardom packed into even their smaller matches before this period. Yunamon was in the middle of her joining CA story (still, somehow) and Poi and Syuri are always entertaining together, and they still are here with some fun spots and stuff, but I just didn't care. Like I said though, broader issues going on during this period so we do know why it was like that and I'll get to it later.

Mayu Iwatani, Koguma, & Momo Kohgo vs Natsuko Tora, Fukigen Death, & Rina - Again, perfectly servicable undercard match that doesn't really have anything fun or interesting going on under the hood, but we know why now so I'm not trying to like, criticize, just saying yeah wow it was bad huh. This was Komomo's second last match before she got injured iirc which is incredibly depressing, I don't think she even tagged in once during this match so she was probably already hurt and I hate it.

Mirai vs Saori Anou - God, okay, this match was kind of the one that made me think about typing up my thoughts about this show. I did not like this match anywhere near as much as I expected to. It just was not clicking for me, like, at all. This felt like a very clear "first time singles match", especially between two wrestlers who I guess don't really know each other outside of wrestling and haven't trained together or anything. There's a reason first time singles matches are rarely actually all that good and I really felt that awkwardness and lack of chemistry here. Mirai and Anou are both good so it was like, fine, but I was really taken out of it and unimpressed after I had assumed this would be really good. I do like Anou winning the white belt, and I do think Mirai's run needed to end bc it was not... working, but man I would not have devoted like Mirai's entire Fall to this feud after watching this match. Shining example of why you should put wrestlers together with people they want to work with and not just whichever names you think sound good against each other.

Hazuki vs Starlight Kid - This match on the other hand totally lived up to expectations. Hazuki and Kid obviously know each other super well and are both freaks, it was great. Brawling through the crowd always gives me kind of, idk, a sort of secondhand embarassment feeling? It just feels wrong my brain doesn't like it but I still appreciated what they were doing with it, with Kid angry and desperate and trying to prove herself more intense and bad than Hazuki. Hazuki always looks amazing getting tortured in submissions, and Kid's whole gameplan being trying to build to the Black Tiger Leg Killer makes sense. I couldn't actually remember who won this so I was even biting on the near falls at the end and liked Hazuki's quick, desperate win. They're both so great and I liked this a lot.

Tam Nakano vs Suzu Suzuki - This was like, the exact opposite of Mirai vs Anou to me. It still had a little bit of that first singles match awkwardness I think, but the amount you would expect given that's what it was, and they both brought enough to compensate for that. Tam really does have the same chemistry with "mini Giulia" as she does with the big sis herself and this match was really great for it. Again exactly opposite to Anou vs Mirai, this match totally would have left me excited for a title match program between these two - which ofc unfortunately never actually happened. I think the booking was incredibly stupid though, because of course it was, but why give Suzu the win over the champ to build to her winning the tournament and... earning a title match she already earned with this match? I guess there is the possibility that as people seem to believe Utami was meant to win and Suzu was an audible when Utami got hurt, which would make some sense booking wise. I still think Utami winning would have been extremely nonsensical from a story standpoint, but all the rest of Harada's booking was disjointed and very obviously ignored story too, so it would be consistent in that way at least. But anyway, I really enjoyed this match.

Giulia vs Maika - Wow, man, I liked this match so so much more than I was expecting to. Idk why it quite feels like this because I haven't skipped any of these shows, but if 2023 was the Maika starmaking year, this was the match where her popularity really felt like it exploded basically overnight. Like she was already liked, but this match out of nowhere was where it was suddenly like, oh my god Maika is SUPER popular, god damn. I think all of Giulia's singles matches have some holes, like, I wouldn't exactly say she is "good" at "selling" even at the best of times, but Maika is really good at compensating for her weaknesses, and most importantly the match really really excels at her strengths, namely intensity and homoeroticism. Given the things I've heard or seen I think this might be the last Giulia singles match I really enjoy, uh, either in her time in Stardom or possibly ever, but still if it does turn out that way for me, what a note to go out on. Really really fantastic, I thought this match was great, even if the story stuff and the booking around it was extremely inconsistent and stop and go with a whole Giulia vs Maika storyline they teased repeatedly and clearly wanted to do and never actually got to. At least they got to do this one.

Which I guess brings me to how weird this period of Stardom was. There have definitely been times I've wondered myself why I'm so dedicated to not skipping anything even when I don't exactly think it's fantastic, but I don't know, I still want to see what it was like, you know? I want to see what the wrestlers cared about even when there was no guarantee at all the booker would pay attention to any of it. There are definitely still good moments, even if there are a lot of bad and a lot of it is disjointed and weird around it. I just want to see it for myself.

I did improv in high school, and I remember after regionals one year we tried to do our regular weekly practice the next week, and it was terrible. Everyone was just creatively tapped and needed to recharge too badly, but we didn't realize that at first, and there was just this feeling of like, "we're doing the same things we always do, why isn't this working?" A lot of stuff from this period gives me the impression that that's how the wrestlers were feeling during this time.

The next show, on September 10th, was Dream Tag Fes, which seems to me to sort of be when this era of Stardom jumped the shark. (And I say that as someone who used to be way too much of a nerd about sitcoms and is extremely specific about what that term means.) The one last truly top to bottom great show for this era of Stardom, amidst some decline already starting to show, before the management issues and terrible schedule would become too much to ignore and they wouldn't be able to reach those heights again. I mean I think they're already on their way back up, I'm glad Harada has already been fired and Rossy being gone too is a bonus, but for this period at least. I might skip some stuff in the future, I know at least the Money Ball Scramble that was a mess where they didn't even run by the wrestlers what was in the boxes for sure, but I don't know, I still worry about missing out on the good stuff too, you know? That's my problem with wrestling, I'm so quick to tell others there's no actual obligation to watch everything, and yet I feel it myself. But even if it was another one that was all over the place, I'm still glad I watched this show.

#kind of been missing talking about wrestling and blogging so ig this is a little bit to scratch that itch

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