#content that caters specifically to myself and literally no one else

[ivyithink]

i am forever thankful that in tlk religions and beliefs seriously influence actions and views of the characters, but all seemingly mystical and supernatural things have logical explanations, making the world grounded in reality and viewing experience a lot less confusing

that said, i am a complete hoe for some scary supernatural religious horror imagery, so yeah

[hydrangea-mon-amor]

Yandere Vampire

Yandere Male! x AFAB! Reader

Trigger warning! Yandere behavior, obsessive behavior

A/N: Okay it’s been like…a couple of months since I last updated a fic (sorry about that) but I couldn’t help but write this idea down, it has been plaguing my mind ever since I had thought of it. (Which was literally a few hours ago…) anyways, no official title because I’m not sure if this will be a permanent character but please do enjoy the story. (If you can)

Summary! You acted stupid and went into the only Forest you shouldn’t have gone into, to your luck (if we can even call it that) you ran into the Duke Osborne who has insisted you stay the night in his manner lest you be a pray to the creatures roaming in the forest. (He is the creature btw)

Side note — if you read the trigger warning and still were triggered by the content (or any that I’ve wrote) please message me ASAP and tell me about it. I DO NOT condone this behavior.

Duke Osborne sits in front of you,

You mentally curse yourself, you just had to have ignored your fathers wishes and ventured pass the safe grounds of your home. The breath you wish to let out protest against the folds of your lips. You expected some sort of activity to occur in the forest, but you hadn’t expected Lord Osborne to be there as well.

his hands lay comfortably on the table, you sat in apprehension.

“I hear you are the Barons offspring? Such a shame I hadn’t been blessed to see your visage sooner.”

“Duke Osborne—“

“Please, no need for civilities here. Address me casually, just Aloysius is fine.” He tosses a smile, the dazzle of his eyes gleaming down at you. It is peculiar, you don’t think he looks at you as if it were antagonistic, but you couldn’t help but feel cornered.

“Aloysius…you are very kind to allow me a room at your estate for the night, I appreciate it very much.”

“Do you now?”

You gulp.

“Y-yes, since I am the offspring of only a Baron and nothing else, I am not used to, nor think, that I am deserving of such catered treatment.”

The Duke frowns.

“Not deserving?” His query comes out like that of a saddened child, you fiddle with your fingers, unsure of how to answer such a tone.

“Well I…” you straighten your posture. “I don’t mean to speak negatively about myself, but it is common knowledge that the power a Baron or Baroness holds is not that of a Duke or Duchess. I know my station in society, and know of the role I must fit into to adequately play it. It is of no inconvenience to me, so really, a Duke such as yourself shouldn’t be worried with frivolous matters.” Aloysius twirls the spoon in his tea. He has a specific analytic gaze to him, one you feel positively scanned by.

“Is that all? Don’t you feel some sort of resentment for the way society looks down on you compared to other nobles?”

“I do not care for that lifestyle, if I can be happy in life, then that is all I need to be contented.”

“Even if you were as lowly as the offspring of a bastard.”

“Even then.”

He takes a minute to compile his thoughts, but as quick as one would imagine, he resumes his air of chivalry and charm.

You jolt, not expecting for the Duke to clasp his hands quite loudly that it echoed throughout the dining room of his estate.

“Very well then, you amuse me Y/N.” You look at him quizzically.

“Apologies, I don’t think I ever gave you my name.”

“You didn’t have to, I know the names of every resident in this estate.”

“Resident? Pardon me Aloysius, but I am merely a guest.”

“Of course.”

The Duke continues on with his meal, glancing at you a couple times to make sure you had your fill. You can’t say you quite enjoy the Dukes presence, but you do appreciate his effort in assuring your comfort.

This quiet would not last.

“I wonder, do you know of the tale spoken for the Forest of Naught?”

You chuckle uncomfortably, “how could I not?”

It was impossible, you thought, for a child of this kingdom to have not heard it. It’s rhymes are Ingrained to the child it passes over to, until it passes on to the next, and then to the next and on and on it goes.

You can recite it by heart.

In a forest called Naught, where darkness reigns,

Existing creatures man cannot rid nor tame.

A plague they are, with fangs as sharp as knives,

Skin pale as moonlight, eyes aflame with red.

Their feast, the tender essence of your blood,

Teeth sinking deep into sweet flesh so raw.

No care for you, they crave the crimson flood,

Their only longing, for your lifeblood's draw.

These creatures possess powers to deceive,

Morphing their form to appear just like us.

But in reflection, true nature they conceive,

A ghastly visage, causing hearts to fuss.

They shun the light, abhor the sun's bright beams,

Yet thrive by night, fulfilling their dark dreams.

In shadows deep, their wickedness takes flight,

Within the veil of night, their hunger stirs.

No mercy shown, no solace in their sight,

They prey upon the innocent, like curses.

“What is your opinion of it?”

“My opinion?” You take a while to form an answer you’d think he would respond best to. “Well, I think it is definitely something the children could be frightened by—“

You believe you are dreaming, the Duke, Aloysius Osborne, is laughing.

“The children? Truly, a forest as mysterious as this and you think of the children?” You do not think the Duke capable of shedding tears, but here’s he is now, wiping away the tears forming at the baseline of his eyelids.

“I stand by my statement.” Your arms press forth on the table. “Those creatures, whatever they may be called, it’d be horrible if they feast on innocent children.”

“I suppose so, but not every child is innocent.” Aloysius makes motion for a glass of wine to be brought, and it is like magic how a servant is already to his aid. You watch tenderly, eyes fixed at the action in hand. In your opinion, the wine looks a little distasteful. Too red, you thought, but you had not the reason to speak it aloud.

“I would offer you a glass but this wine isn’t any that you have tasted before, I can assure you this.”

“Really now?”

He inclines his head to a nod, “not as sweet as regular wine, tastes quite like iron to the normal civilian, but what can I say? I have an expensive taste.”

You shift in your seat “Well, Duke, my interest is piqued.”

“No civilities!” He whined, almost knocking the glass in the process. Having realized what he had done, he is quick to manage himself. “Apologies, I as an individual simply just abhor honorifics.”

Liar.

“Please just address me by my name, it’ll please me greatly.”

“Excuse my negligence, I’ll keep that in mind for the future.”

For the remainder of your meal, you dine uncertainly. The food you taste is exceptional in taste, but it almost feels bland. You can’t say you would feel any better with the Dukes gaze looming over you like a watchful hawk. Can’t to think of it, why did the Dukes eyes appear more red than his normal chestnut hue? You can’t point the science behind it. And perhaps it is just your wishful thinking, but you never noticed, or thought, the Dukes skin to be so naturally pale. Frankly, it’s color is akin to that of moonlight.

What an odd thing to note.

You say not a single word to him, growing apprehension if he’d take the word and turn it into a working conversation. Even though you are the child of a Baron, and have been educated, you still are not quite adept to socializing compared to your peers.

That is until you start to feel drowsy.

“Please excuse me, but I fear I am succumbing to sleep. Could you please walk me to the room I will be sleeping in for the night?” Without a word, Aloysius rises to his feet, discarding the remainder of his meal. It is odd, for such a lofty meal he managed to finish each glass of wine he obtained.

You wondered why he hadn’t touched the garlic at all…

“Of course, follow me.”

You stand, dusting off the dirt that remain on your clothes. You look at him, and take note of how precisely he is gazing at you.

You shake off the feeling.

You arrive at his side, and generously, he leads you without a word. But you must be honest with yourself, the whole time you ventured through his walls it had almost felt like the phantom touch of a hand was latching onto you.

He yawns, you believe sleep has anchored him too.

“It’s such a shame.” He whined. “I would have loved to dance with you in my ballroom.”

“Aloysius there is no need—“

“I protest. You know full well that my family, Osborne, has danced with the guest of their house before they leave for the night or leave for home. I’d be disrespecting tradition if I hadn’t had even one dance with you.”

Flattery will do you no good.

“I have never been instructed.”

“Pardon me?”

You hesitate, “dancing, it has never come naturally to me and my family hadn’t harbor the sufficient funds to acquire a teacher. But considering my prowess regarding the art, I don’t think I’d be of any good even with the paid help.”

“You can always learn.”

“And with what help, if I might ask?”

“With mine, naturally.”

Your cheeks dust red.

“I cannot trouble you like this.”

“It is of no trouble, please share just one dance.”

In high society, people would think you frivolous if you were to refuse the good natured will of a Duke, considering your title as the child of a Baron, you have no societal standing to reject him. In other words, you are completely and utterly trapped.

“I suppose one would do adequately.” The Duke smiles at you, and perhaps you hadn’t seen him enough in all the parties you were fortunate enough to attend, but he didn’t look as happy and content as he did now.

Oh.

You squint.

Why did the front of his teeth look more like protruding canines instead of regular molars?

Whatever, forget it.

He leads you to his ballroom, the scenery draped in blood red curtains and the floor a sinister black. The area exudes a treacherous aura but you’d be lying if you said you weren’t enticed.

It is practically instantaneous that music started to flow into the room. You can only guess that he intended for this to happen from the very beginning and had a servant stationed here for the time being.

“Do you mind if I call your name with a term of endearment?”

You’re startled.

“Your pardon?”

“You know, how wedded couples address each other. Love, darling, sweetie?”

Dread builds in the pits of your stomach.

“Please—I must protest! We have only been acquainted with each other for a few hours!” The Dukes lips purse into a frown.

“Is this your rejection to my proposal of us becoming friends?”

“My Lord—I mean, Aloysius, you must realize that friends don’t simply just refer to each other with such…compounded words!”

There seems to be a looks of realization smearing onto his face.

“Ah, so you mean to tell me that only wedded couples do so?” You exhale, relieved that he is starting to come to sense.

“Right then, apologies with my forwardness.” He hasn’t looked sympathetic at all.

“It’s quite alright.

Aloysius seizes the lead, you think it abnormal, how elegantly he moves through the dance. His long and graceful body forces you to admire it.

“I must confess I was lying.”

Your eyes widen.

“And what what would that be, exactly?”

“I lied to you when I eluded to the fact that I never got the pleasure to see your face. In actuality, I have seen it quite a few dozen times.” You try not to make the stilling of your body too noticeable. “My sister, Duchess Akosua, you may have heard of her, has helped me greatly in seeing you.”

You try to be careful and strategic with how you phrase you sentence.

“In what way, if I may ask?”

“You sleepwalk, Y/N. On many occasions you would wind up in the heart of The Forest of Naught.”

Now, you do not care if it is obvious of your body stilling.

“Of course, you must ask why I had been there too, especially since you sleepwalk quite often.”

You gulp. “H-how often?”

“Ah, I’d say three a four times a week.”

Impossible….

“Y-you were there? Every time?”

“Yes, yes I was.”

You start to hyperventilate.

“B-but why?”

Aloysius looks at you, and it is the kind of look most similar to that of admiration.

“You are just too adorable.” He adds, unable to contain his smile. “But if I were to answer your question…” He leans down, his head level to your ear, and his lips level to your neck. “It is because I am one of the creature of the forest.”

You cry in pain as he bites into you.

You wake in a soft bed, your neck throbbing and your body in only undergarments.

Your eyes widen.

By your side is Duke Aloysius Osborne, his eyes a chilling red and fangs protruding from his lips.

“Ah your awake, how splendid!” He speaks to you as if you are a revered treasure. “For a second I feared I drank too much blood from you, good to know that it was just enough.

“I…I…”

“You must be too frightened, considering your incapability to speak. Don’t be worried, I have decided that you are too precious to discard.”

You force yourself to answer.

“W-what—what do you mean?”

“I mean that I am taking you as my spouse.” He smiles kindly, lending a hand to caress your cheek.

You shiver.

“No need for embarrassment my darling rose, I intend for us to be deeply aquatinted with one another.”

—

A/N: okay, I hope this story was enough to suffice for the next couple of days before I release the next one. I do intend to come back and post more actively, sorry for the long hiatus. Also the poem from this story was generated from an ai (lmao) have a good day my loves.

[help-i-need-a-cool-username]

Its the end of the year! Which means its time to post the

Tags That Made Me Smile 2022

The following are a collective list of tags, author notes, and fic names that i saw on ao3 and tumblr that made me either laugh or smile. Ive separated them by fandom but a good amount arent actually fandom specific. Ive added the character names or fandom at the end like {name} to clarify who the tag is talking about

[2021's list]

Author Specific / Non-Specific

i saw canon; acknowledged it; And promply burned it in a dirty trash can thanks; Have this instead

Give me pain I need to feel something

this is self projection thank you coming to my ted talk

Whats that?? Overused tropes that everyone has seen before????? Pfffffffft. This fic is literally just a big mess of "how can I cater to myself and myself only"

you ever just look at your life and wonder how you got here; bc that's what this fic is for me

Don't underestimate me I DO NOT know how long this fan-fic will be

can you tell my target audience is myself

this is content specifically catered to me and no one else

these characters are my landlords and i pay them rent

P O L Y A M O R Y   I S   M Y   P O L Y J A M O R Y

cheek kiss warning

kidnapping isn’t sexy don’t do it

i've never read the archie comics but that's not gonna stop me {archie sonic}

not me writing a whole fic for a ship only i care about; that like maybe two other people ship; rowing this boat is hard but someone has to do it {scourge x fleetway sonic}

ankles don't heal this fast but fuck it i do what i want

no beta we die like men; or rather we drown like the sad shipper with a pool noodle we are

I'm afraid of the Danimals mascot and you should be too

if you're getting flood warnings, don't worry. It's just MY TEARS!

me at every character: anxiety be upon ye

Me (Grabs canon and runs a marathon with it)

Quote: Do you think God stays in heaven because he too lives in fear of what he's created (Spy Kids) {tmnt crossover}

Alternate Universe - Monty Python and the Holy Grail

contains dangerous amount of bed based snuggling

(kind of its a very short very homosexual fight scene); and then they kiss.

Hostage situation takes a romantic turn???? Not clickbait????

enemies to frenemies

Improper Use of Pool Noodles

stone cold stoicism meeting determined stupidity

Star Wars

Kanan Jarrus: The Daddening

platonic love is what healed his lonely existence {din djarin}

when in doubt: road trip with the besties {din, boba, fennec}

Soul Eater

found family at its finest {kid, liz, patty}

The Witcher

wife (platonic) {yennskier}

at first I was like haha geralt and Istredd should kiss as a joke…. but bro I don’t think it’s a joke anymore….

Sonic the Hedgehog

Movie!Super Sonic is made out of LOVE no one touch me

Sonics gay awakening I guess

sonic movie 2 made me make an ao3 account lol

Sonic was made to love people

Two Bros Chillin’ in an ER Five Feet Apart ‘cause they’re not gay {sonic x shadow}

the most dangerous thing is to love {shadow}

Trapped in a small box with just enough room to face some feelings {sonic x shadow}

the R in rivalry stand for romance {sonic x shadow}

The L in Rivalry Stands For 'Love' {sonic x shadow}

A Largely Platonic Cave

i love boom!shadow so naturally i made him even more insufferable

Sad-ow

Wachowskis holdin it down in the bg; Absolute champs

I love how Shadow is just so mindbogglingly utterly done with reality

Knuckles is a guardian of all things great and small

“Would you kiss a worm?" “If he was cute as fuck? Yeah.” {wade x stone}

"What is this made of, bendable titanium?!" "INCORRECT. IT IS MADE OF THE FRUSTRATIONS OF MOTHERS EVERYWHERE." {team dark}

featuring a scourge that trips far too much because it's my fic and I said so {scourge x fleetway sonic}

no thoughts just soft hedgehog moments

listen if im going to die at the hands of injured lancelot shit i might as well take advantage of it

Everyone has a crush on Lancelot and I'll die on this hill

fairy Lancelot Fairy Lancelot FAIRY LANCELOT!!!

TMNT

Slow Burn; mostly on april's end of things; casey and donnie are basically on fire right off the bat {tmnt 2012}

Rise!Donnie and 2012!Casey be out there committing arson together for their first date >.>

Please enjoy Casey, the fool, realizing his feelings for Donnie, another fool {tmnt 2012}

Draxum and Splinter are the turtles' dads (it's a reluctant partnership)

just two absolute powerhouses holding each other gently {raph x mona}

“There’s nothing wrong with the way you love, Dee. Goodnight.” {rottmnt}

Wondering what to do when the apocalypse happens? Easy: fly across the country and get Vegas-married. That's definetley an appropriate reaction that won't involve your complicated feelings towards your roommate at all {hypno x warren}

Look rise are weapons of war 12 were accidents and I play with that HARD in this fic

"GET IN THE TURTLE TANK BITCHES WE GOING TO FAMILY THERAPY" {rottmnt}

Donatello is now Dad-Atello {rottmnt}

The other [Casey] is out on a beach in Tahiti; It's what he deserves after surviving the Krang {rottmnt}

Leo is now actively being hunted for sport; (the only sport Donnie is good at) {rottmnt}

These turtles can fit so much trauma

2018 Karai lives because fuck Nick; Casey x Donnie x April are a healthy ship and also fuck nick again

I cant be the only one pissed by Leo's and Karais 'love interest plot'; Leonardo's weird feelings were simply gender envy...Yes that is canon now {tmnt 2012}

What happens when two "dudes" call each other 'girlfriend'; Transgender activities, that's what! {tmnt 2012}

splinter is twice divorced and never married {rottmnt}

Papatello / Dadatello {rottmnt}

draxum's gone from dadxum to grand-dadxum good for him

HOLY FUCKING SHIT YES YES YES YES; GRANDPA BARRY COMING IN CLUTCH

draxum just be like gramps still got it; and by 'it' i mean a complete lack of forethought for care when creating random children

Puts the Bi in Bitchless {rottmnt leo}

its because ninja turtles

feral mamatello {rottmnt}

Marvel

it's the anguish, the self flagellation, the audacity to love the man who annihilate ur nation and killed ur mother; your m o t h e r {black panther}

[laurasbailey]

original anon here, i'm real grateful to you and everyone else for taking the time to respond and share your input!

i'm usually better at distancing myself from online spaces, i've just kinda "relapsed" lately and went on a self-destructive deep dive ☠️ like..."i've been checking reddit", kind of self-destructive. what a long break does to a mf, i guess

i do agree with what you've all said & I'm aware that it's basic common sense in fandom spaces and beyond - if i've been enjoying c3, there's no reason to let someone else's opinion bother me. i think one of the issues is…if there's stuff that i've been enjoying less on my own, and then i see negativity around that same stuff, my brain tends to take it as confirmation that it's true lmao and i find myself suspecting that i would enjoy a sandbox-y vibe a lot, but that's not happening with the characters and story that i've been invested in since the beginning. am i making up problems in my head? definetly, and i'm actually a bit ashamed to admit that, but hey

all that being said, i absolutely love those same things you've mentioned (the focus on the ladies, this romance, the high stakes and having ashley full-time) and more, even as i have less context for it being unusual since it's my first campaign! and i obviously agree that it's not anyone's game but theirs. i wouldn't wish for them to cater to anyone's desires but their own and i'm 100% sure that what i loved from the beginning is common in every campaign - the joy and fun we get watching them enjoy themselves

truly, the negative thoughts are more related to getting too bogged down thinking of the story itself, in a way, and wishing i could see these specific characters chill a bit and explore…so basically the ticking clock problem haha i generally worry they're never gonna get to talking or resolving interpersonal issues before the campaign's over and they're not the main party anymore

sorry for the lenght of this and for bringing it to you out of the blue haha i've been overthinking on loop and since literally no one i know watches the show and i don't want to be annoying to them, i'm annoying on the internet. again, thank you so so much!!

i think i get where you’re coming from and i think you’ll enjoy c1 and 2 if that’s the case! there’s definitely a lot more meandering, and c2 doesn’t even start tackling what i would consider “the main plot” until like 50+ eps in lmao. meanwhile c1 has the high stakes of c3 but the main plot starts early and stretches for a long time.

i think since i’ve experienced both of those campaigns already, c3’s shortcomings don’t worry or bother me enough to care too much. whether the plot “sucks” or it’s “too fast” is really not that deep to me bc i just love the show in whatever form they’re willing to give it to me. it’s still funny, emotional, well-acted, etc regardless, and that’s the reason i watch to begin with, which could be different for you! also i’ve made my peace with the fact that we probably won’t get a ton of character focus this campaign, and while that is disappointing, i think being realistic helped me be chill about it all.

for other people, it’s the opposite and they expect every campaign to be like the one they like and they throw a tantrum when it’s not. if people are content to do that, that’s on them! c3 might not be for you, or you could have more of an appreciation for it after watching the other campaigns. it seems like you’re going to keep talking yourself into not liking it, whether it’s true or not.

you could always try watching another campaign and take a break from c3 stuff? it might be helpful to engage in something else if you’re stuck in a spiral of searching for the negativity. and if you do end up hating c3, it’s not a big deal either. it’s the people who don’t shut the fuck up about hating it that are annoying as hell lmao

[shesjustanothergeek]

Requests are now open in celebration of my lovely followers!

I just looked at my follower count, and the last time I checked, I had 13. Tell me why I have 852 of you amazing little creatures now. Like I am just blown away that many people decided to follow a literal nobody.

Most of my following was generated from my Aegon fanfic because that's the only thing that garnered any attention. I'm planning on doing a celebration for having so many people.

I am officially opening my requests for the first time ever in honor of all 852 and counting of you! However, this is for a limited amount of time, and there are some guidelines I will put in place just to make things easier for both of us.

Here's a little bit about that:

My requests will be closed once I reach 1k followers (I will be doing something else for that. I still haven't decided tho.)

The requests can only be about fandoms/characters/people I am familiar with. I want these stories that I publish to be perfect and cater to your interests, and if they are about something I need to familiarize myself with, I'm afraid of producing something that we both might not like.

It'll take around a week for me to write the specific work (depending on the length) because I do work full time and also have other projects I'm working on. A week per request.

I'm willing to write about pretty much anything and everything content-wise, including kinks. The ones I am uncomfortable writing for are scat play, specifically degrading a reader's/character's body, omegaverse (only because I don't know much about it), and race play. Please message me directly if you have any questions about other things I don't have listed.

I will only accept one-shots or drabbles, nothing that would be over 13k words. However, if I get into the groove of things and it flows naturally, it could be over that.

Also, if you want to remain anonymous, I'll stick to that, and if you'd like the request to just be for you and not be posted, just tell me. Otherwise, I will dedicate that work to you and publish it.

Well, that's the end of that. I feel like a self-important celebrity and I hate it. Feel free to ask me any questions in the comments below or privately. I'll be more than happy to answer. Once again, thank y'all so much for supporting me! And to the sex spam accounts that follow me, I hope both sides of your pillow forever remain hot.

[emcscared-whumps]

WiJ 2023 - 17: What Inspires me to Create Whump Content?

WiJ 2023 Navigation Post

Well, I create whumpy works for one very simple reason

Myself :)

As you well know, I can get VERY picky about the whump I enjoy-- needs to have this, needs to have that, the already obscure whump type needs to have hyper-specific stupidly rare tropes in it...

And, well, at the time of creating Pete and Shifting Phases, I had just never come across anything that satisfies my thirst for whump, I barely even knew or understood that I had a taste for whump, or how I did it until I created my perfect whumpee who was by design extremely angsty, cute, and tragic.

I just knew I wanted a certain flavour of angst, and often in life, my solution to problems has been 'do it myself.' If I ever thought I could get or do the thing by any other means, I usually end up going, 'well, this sucks and is disappointing, I might as well have just done it myself, never mind, I'll forget ever asking again.'

So, when I have specific wants which no piece of media I was able to find satisfied (and I was already stupidly bad at finding media), I had this approach, a very literal, "Fine, I'll do it myself :)"

While technically, I was inspired by the likes of H2O and Aquamarine, probably also a bit of Cyber Girl and the 2010 Astro Boy movie, Vampire Knight, and maybe some other stuff I can't think of, especially anything else that had even a HINT of mer or fun non-human secret were my original inspirations, I was inspired more by the lack of what they did, where they fell short, and what they could have done with their lore.

They never put their characters (who were barely even my taste anyway ^-^') through straight up hell lmao

To summarise, what inspires me to create my whump works is the total lack of media that caters to my stupidly specific tastes, and my strong internal motivation fuelled by whumperflies to get that hyper-specific whump :) I'm addicted and obsessed, what can I say? And then ofc when I ramble on and on and on to all of you lovely people about my various ideas and plot bunnies <3 You listen to me and encourage me and I love u for it <3<3<3

I love the satisfaction and whumperflies for myself, and I love inflicting my blorbo upon anyone foolish (affectionate) enough to let me even speak to them <3 The sharing brings me joy :)

[rose-from-ashes]

By the way, I don't have the energy to go into my rules and add it now, but I'm adding two new, soft rules, not so much rules as "if I softblock and disappear after a while it might be due to this":

- If your blog is multifandom and contains a lot of content for fandoms I am not familiar with. I know this is hypocritical as I have a multifandom myself, but it's hard specifically with stuff like other final fantasy games on ffxiv blogs, where it's often treated as if I'm expected to know. This doesn't apply to any mutuals I currently have, I have some mutuals that are ENTIRELY fandoms I don't know, but for new mutuals, I may be reluctant to follow. This is NOT a dni, this is a "don't get your hopes up if you follow me because I really don't want to disappoint but by god my brain space is very little". Not super relevant, but it's happened once or twice.

- Much more relevant, I might softblock if I see a lot of takes that bring my mood down. This is NOT "if I disagree with you, you're out". You're allowed to disagree with me and most takes that conflict with mine are not ones that will upset me. But there are a couple that will due to me having severe rejection sensitive dysphoria. This rule is specifically about things that will almost invariably trigger that rsd.

Specifically, referring to Zenos as annoying frequently or saying you hate him will bother me as I read him as neurodivergent and desperately trying to find someone, anyone else who thought the same way he did- it hurts to see people dismiss him. They're allowed to, anyone is allowed to dislike any character, but my dash is my space, and it's okay for me to cultivate that space. A softblock from me is not a fuck you, it's a "it might be best for me to step away and that's not your fault.

The same follows for excessive criticism of Emet-Selch (you can criticize his actions. I promise you can. He's a dipshit and he sucks, criticizing that isn't what upsets me, it's when people call him overly emotional or incompetent or ugly, insults that are either subjective, patently false, or rooted in homophobia as I've discussed before), and claims that Hydaelyn was right to sunder the world or that the unsundered should just get over the trauma of losing everything and everyone they've ever known.

I know that it is irrational for me to get upset in the defense of fictional characters. Especially villains. But I am, unfortunately for everyone, actually literally diagnosed mentally ill, this is my space, and I want to feel safe and good here despite having symptoms of that mental illness, so I'm going to cater to those vulnerabilities until some of my emotional delicateness has passed (since I'm much worse than normal this year due to being physically ill as well). Before anyone gets nervous, none of my mutuals have upset me. It's just on my mind for unrelated reasons. Love you <3

[withleeknow]

11?? publicly posting that?? oh I do feel like a gma + I have so many thoughts on this particular kpop gen. - it's the same niche of stans who restrict idols from living life bc they feel like they have ownership of them like?? there's having fun with the content out there (literally look at tumblr my asks ahem) and then there's living real life where this shit does not matter at all

(ryan is so darn cute but it's so hard to get my hands on line/kakao here in the UK - next time I travel to asia a plushie will be coming back with me 🫡)

o_o if you started writing 🐈‍⬛ I wld shortcircuit a little. even if it was super-unedited late-night brainrotting hcs to indulge in (absolutely not a request, just understand the impact this wld have on onigiri the microwave can only take so much ygm)

+ speaking of microwave, did you survive skz at gayo daejeon today? specifically tinyurl.com/3aadwd8p he. is. insane. like how?

+ this edit had me crying laughing vm.tiktok.com/ZGenaGYHx/ god I do have a type and it's paboracha-esque crackheads and if gyu's the prince then dk's the king

lastly this is completely non-kpop-related but had to send this to you speficially - it just popped up on my feed + I audibly laughed at the caption/content like “who's spying on me” tinyurl.com/rfrskxd2 literally 🍙 in the wild, ngl I wish I was here rn

back in our golden days (lol i sound like a certified grandma saying this) i used to keep up with most groups back then, but since i came back to kpop i’ve kept it to a limited few (it was only bts until late last year, then txt and skz and now mayhaps enhypen too) so i’m generally pretty clueless about everything else lol. but yeah i agree fans these days are so much more restrictive (they would not survive gen 2 when everyone was dating left and right and both male and female idols were publicly friends with each other). i do firmly believe it’s bc companies keep feeding fans’ delusions and market the idols as always available to cater to the fans’ every whim. jype really took it up a level with the skz lips cards - those are genuinely quite disturbing to me lol. but yeah, there are already so many weirdos out there we don’t need to breed more 🥴

i would def be v interested in (trying to) write for 🐈‍⬛ heheheh that kind of personality is my favorite to write for and i think that’s why i enjoy writing mimo and seungmin sm. dude with the cold exterior but deep down is actually the biggest softie <3 superior in this household lol

did anyone really survive gayo daejeon? he is disgusting he is an awful man who makes my life a living hell every day and i just have to deal with it 🫠 not to mention hyunjin. god, that was equally as awful. i also indulged myself in a little enhypen at gayo daejeon and i was properly looking at heeseung oop

LOL I SAW THIS EDIT TOO. he really is a god tier crackhead lmao. there’s a reason why he’s one of my favorite svt members 🤣

AN ONIGIRI SHRINE 🫨 bookmarking it as we speak bc i HAVE to see it when i go to japan 🤣 that’s amazing lol i can’t wait to get a little onigiri to carry with me wherever i go 🥹

[romansdrawerofhorrors]

replying to your tags (this is @transfemcastiel here)

1. dean as objectum is .. not sure if id call it a common headcanon but its certainly there. even if people don't use the term objectum they do acknowledge theres Definitely something with dean and baby

2. even if no one else thought he was objectum dont fear being called weird or whatever. live your truth. anyone can be objectum. i think multiple spn chatacters are objectum. peace and joy on planet earth

OH YIPPEEE THANK YOU god bless people can see the Something going on w dean and baby ...... i am v new to the fandom (started watching spn literally like . In may lol) so I was worried of how it'd be recieved but you're very right PEACE AND JOY !!!!! I will create objectum content specifically catered to Myself once I actually finish the series . Thank you kindly <33 !!

[dancingisdangerouss]

2) It's our job as privleged people to help stop perpetuating media that excludes poc's. I just don't see how you're the victim, I'm so sorry

So basically, I’m wrong for also making it a female reader because that not does include men? If you want to read something that is entirely non-specific as far as the Reader goes, that’s fine, and you don’t need to read my content or engage in it. But no, it’s not my job to write things specifically for the sake of being inclusive. Do I have content that is different than that? Yes. Do I have one self-indulgent fic wherein my Y/N is white? Also yes.

Additionally, I specifically tagged it as Caucasian Reader because I know how frustrating it can be for POC readers to open a Y/N fanfic and then see stuff like “her skin flushed red” when not all skin types do that. So instead of misleading anyone or making them upset by my including lines that mention blushing, I figured it would be best to just tag it from the get-go.

And perhaps I should have just called her “OC” instead, but I shouldn’t have to apologize for writing my characters as I please. I’m not being paid for it. It’s literally a fanfiction. So no, I’m not a “victim,” but I am 100% done with people like you demanding that I cater to everyone else, especially when I write any requests I am given as they are asked for, without getting anything back.

So if you don’t like my stuff, block me. Ignore it. Find someone better. But don’t come harassing me about things I write for myself.

[satorugojjo]

I find it difficult sometimes to reconcile the role of billionaires/companies/consumers/governments in the late stage capitalistic world that we live in.

On one hand, I “understand” the capital and manpower restraints of publicly funded social reform, climate change policy and business law but on the other hand, I find it totally irreconcilable with the way the world has been structured over the last 150 years, but especially so in the last 25 years.

Consumers are constantly and unendingly fed a barrage of marketing and product pushes that are designed specifically for us to spend the little we make in our paycheques on the latest trend. The latest trends these days are the fastest possible fixes for clothing, delivery, food, furniture, media, content, everything we can possibly think of, and this was never our outright choice. It was a steady stream of supply that catered to where our needs might evolve into that morphed our choices and our way of interacting with the world. While I understand the fundamental capitalistic nature of supply and demand and the bittersweet relationship we have as consumers with companies, I can’t help but feel the futility of existence when I look at the wealth gap of billionaires/companies versus the common people.

But in a world where no one, not even “rich” people like Taylor Swift or Beyoncé earns enough to compete with the Richest of the Rich, it makes me really question how much a consumer can do without being given alternatives that don’t compromise how we fit in with the modern pace of the world.

Like, we constantly police each other and say that consumers can stop using fossil fuels and plastic and save energy and start recycling and all that, but I firmly and strongly believe that consumers can only do that with financial privilege, time and the opportunity of choice. That choice needs to be created by the perpetrators of the problem (e.g. packaging companies should do recycling initiatives that are easy, energy companies offering comparable clean alternatives, tech companies taking accountability on moderation and filtering options) and the choices have to be recognized, advocated for and implemented by governing bodies. The problem with late-stage capitalism and the way a few companies own so much of what we eat and use and see is that it grew unchecked due to the economic benefits and it moves at a pace that government and policy either is incapable or unwilling to keep up with.

I work for an energy company (oil etc) and I work on sustainability initiatives and am “doing my part”, but mostly I am also earning a normal person salary. With climate change, I can really rag on XR or Greenpeace for not understanding that climate change reform will take time and the pace will never be as fast as they want but actually, my main beef is with the unchecked expansion of fossils in the first place that make fixing the issue so difficult and convoluted. “Fixing” it outright strips away a lot of the advantages western economies had when there were no regulations that allowed them to skyrocket to first-world development from developing and third-world nations who need the cheap options western economies had. My bigger beef is with the system that allows oil companies to destroy the environment with one hand and then be the saviours in their own narrative because there is literally no one else to do it, and no one can or will develop the expertise in time to change the world. Companies do evolve of course, but governments do not move fast enough to recognize and do anything about policies such as these. Meanwhile we spend 100s of billions on the military in razor quick decisions.

Billionaires, and especially someone like Jeff Bezos who is a trillion-aire benefit from the creation of monolith organizations that have literally obliterated small businesses and don’t do anything actively or materially enough to help or give back. (Charity contributions are also tax free and none of them pay taxes enough to give back to local governments who struggle to build affordable housing or schooling). It’s not just the employees of Amazon who struggle, it’s the businesses who are forced to drop their prices to compete, it’s the demands on cheap and unsafe raw materials, it’s packaging and delivery and contract business and aviation and city pollution from drivers and the institution that has allowed capitalism to thrive.

So many issues are at play here and smarter people than me have talked endlessly on this. Billionaires especially benefit from a system that allows them to amass that kind of wealth on the backs of ordinary workers who in a worst case scenario have so much institutional debt, are fighting the constraints of social and political restrictions like race/class/gender and are probably juggling multiple jobs to make ends meet. I consider myself privileged as I don’t have debt and I can save at least 10% of my paycheque and even then, I may never be able to stop working to retire comfortably and I may never earn enough to own a house as big as the Boomer Gen.

And yet, I as a consumer am PLAGUED by guilt in what I can possibly do to help and while I agree we should do what we can to be comfortable with, I don’t agree that the burden should shift to consumers solely to solve the world. This was a world that was created by governments in conjunction with monolithic organizations, and we should recognize our privilege but also exercise our rights to demand accountability from organizations that have created the system we live in. Accountability starts with ourselves but it absolutely does NOT end with us.

So, when we say “Eat the Rich”, it means “down with the system that puts 99.9% of the world at a disadvantage living in a world that is owned and ruled by the 0.1%”. And I think that’s a very valid thing to say.

[ampintherain]

I’m Yours:

Charlie Gillespie x Reader

Chapter II

Y/N is Kenny Ortega’s ‘niece’ after going through a rough breakup, Kenny decides to fly her over to stay with him, will her broken heart mend?

(Female Reader, NO SMUT, Romance, Friendship, THIS IS MY FIRST EVER FANFIC/IMAGINE, I hope it’s good, Kenny is lifelong family friend so reader calls him Uncle Kenny. I’m British so the writing is going to be British so like ‘mum’ not ‘mom’ yanno?)

GIF by Oeuvrs

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I gazed out of the airplane window, stuffing headphones into my ears, I couldn’t wait to see my Uncle Kenny finally, even if it took me waking up early to catch my (almost) 3 hour flight, I fiddled with the hem of my shirt, flying always made me so nervous, I just hated the way the plane shook as it took off or landed, it never made me feel safe, even though I knew that it was a rare occurrence for the plane to actually crash.

I took out my headphones as the flight attendants went through the pre-flight demonstrations, telling all of the passengers about the fire exits and what to do in case of an emergency, I flipped my phone over on my leg nervously before rolling my eyes to myself, stop being so silly, you’re nineteen, you shouldn’t be nervous all the time. I thought to myself, although it’s easier said than done, the attendants finished up their demonstration and the plane proceeded to take off, the familiar shaking throughost the plane shot itself through me as I took a deep breath in, I placed my headphones back into my ears and closed my eyes, pressing my head firmly against the back of my chair and gripping onto the arm rests firmly, Uncle Kenny knew about my fear of flying and thought that it would be best to get me a seat on the plane nearer the exit door, luckily for me nobody else was sat next to me as the plane was quite empty.

Once the plane was firmly in the air, I decided to scroll through my playlist and find a specific song that I wanted to listen to- Good Day by Surfaces, as the song began to play, I gazed out of the window and watched as the clouds floated past, I rested my head back against the headrest and closed my eyes, feeling my heart rate slow back down to the original beat, I settled further into my chair and saw the seatbelt light flicker, allowing me to unbuckle myself and curl my legs up along the seats, shuffling slightly to rest my head against my neck pillow and on the window, I sighed in content and felt myself slowly slip into sleep.

꧁꧂꧁꧂꧁꧂꧁꧂꧁꧂꧁꧂꧁꧂

I awoke to the plane shaking slightly, feeling myself panic I sat upright and quickly buckled myself back in, I glanced back outside of the window and saw what could only be Vancouver as the plane was begin to lower, I smiled to myself, thinking about how it wasn’t long until I got to see my Uncle Kenny. I removed my neck pillow from my body and fastened it to my rucksack that was placed on the floor by me, I turned my volume down on my phone and watched in excitement as the plane landed on the ground, the pilot steering it into its final bay, I waited a little while longer before having to exit the plane, placing my bag over my shoulder and shuffling out onto the aisle of the plane and exiting out of the door nearby.

I had just finished going through security and collected my suitcase, shuffling through the fairly large crowd, searching for my favourite person on the planet- “Y/n” I heard in a singing tone, I glanced over and smiled widely at my Uncle Kenny holding a sign with my name written on it with purple glitter and stars, Kenny was dancing a small jig, waving the sign from side to side in a Jazz dance like motion, I rolled my eyes and laughed at my uncle, “you’re an idiot!” I said as I made my way closer to him, he opened his arms and stood still with a calming look on his face, there was no sympathy and no look as if I was going to break if he held me too much, it was just- Kenny. That was one of the things I loved most about him, no matter how hurt or how sad I was, he never changed his attitude towards me, it was always the same, calming, compassionate, loving but never pity, he never felt sorry for me in a way that seemed patronising.

“Come here” he said happily, beckoning me into his arms, I pulled my suitcase closer to the man and snuggled into him, Kenny always gave the best hugs, as his arms wrapped around me I could feel an overwhelming sense of emotion- I think it was a mixture of missing my uncle and the sadness that I was trying to hide from the literal heartache that was consuming my entire being from what happened a few nights before, I guess Kenny heard my stifled sniffs as he began to lovingly rub my back, he rocked me back and forth slowly, “sh sh I know darling, I know” he whispered, “come on, let’s not have you crying in the airport hm?” I nodded, looking up at him and wiping my tears away, I leaned back and grabbed the handle of my suitcase, following Kenny out of the airport and into a black Range Rover,

“Thank you for this Uncle Kenny” I breathed out, looking over at him with a smile, “I’ve missed you” I admitted whole heartedly, he took a quick glance over at me and switched on the radio to play the soundtrack from Hamilton, my favourite.

“I’ve missed you too Kiddo, more than anything” he replied, “I hope you don’t mind but we’ve got to go to set after you freshen up” he continued, I nodded in agreement, “I knew you’d understand, you excited to help me out?” He asked

“I can’t wait, thank you again Uncle Kenny, for flying me out here, for letting me help you with the show, I hope I don’t let you down” I admitted, looking over at him once more,

“You..” Kenny started, “Y/n, you could never ever let me down” I smiled over at him once more and rested my head on my arm as I looked out of the window.

꧁꧂꧁꧂꧁꧂꧁꧂꧁꧂꧁꧂꧁꧂

We eventually arrived at Kenny’s apartment, I hopped out of the car and ran to the back to grab my case by Uncle Kenny was already on it, dragging the suitcase behind him as he walked past me, “come on, Star” he said, giving me one the nicknames he’s called me since I was little- he called me Star, Sun and Moon, for reasons I do not know of completely, I was aware of the meaning behind Star (he always thought of me as a star, destined to shine) but Sun and Moon, I have yet to discover, he always told me that I would find out the meanings as I grew older but it has been lost on me. I followed after the man, still in awe of the surroundings around me. Vancouver was beautiful.

“And here is your room” Kenny said as he finished up the tour of his apartment, he opened the door in front of me and I was greeted by a white room with two large windows on the furthest wall, placed strategically to allow the resident of the room to see the beautiful scenery around them, Kenny had added some plants, fairy lights and grey and dusty blue blankets to make it more homely, “blue and grey are still your favourite colours right?” He questioned,

“Been the same since I was eight Kenneth” I replied, “this is amazing” I continued, entering further into the room and placing my case lightly on the bed,

“Alright kiddo,” he said, “here’s your en-suite” he knocked on the door to my right “and the door next to it is your closet, I’ll leave you to freshen up and I’ll see you in 15 minutes?” He questioned, I nodded and smiled at the man as he quietly closed my door, humming to himself.

I turned to my suitcase and quickly started to unpack, placing everything in the correct spaces, I opened up my closet and was greeted with a walk-in wardrobe, nothing too extravagant but also nothing that I’ve ever had before. I left out an oversized top and leggings with my pair of beaten up Vans so I could have something to wear to set. I quickly jumped into the shower and freshened up before brushing my teeth, I towel dried my hair before letting it just dry naturally, I then applied some light makeup and got dressed before coming out of my room, I quickly turned back around on my heels and placed my suitcase into my closet, I then grabbed a few hair ties and rolled them onto my wrist before leaving my room for the second time.

As I walked into the hallway, I saw my Uncle Kenny singing quietly to himself and dancing lightly around the den, I laughed at the sight in front of me.

“I’m ready” I sang, distributing my uncle, he span around and smiled at me, “sorry to interrupt your little dance session” I giggled, Kenny shook his head at me and joined in with my laughter, “right, shall we go?” I questioned, he nodded as I followed after my uncle once again.

꧁꧂꧁꧂꧁꧂꧁꧂꧁꧂꧁꧂꧁꧂

“Don’t be nervous” Uncle Kenny smiled as he parked up his car, how did he know me so well? I breathed out slowly and nodded, jumping out of the car and headed towards the set with him, “they’re all really lovely alright?” He continued to reassure me, “let’s introduce you to them yeah?” He finished, wrapping his arm around my shoulders and tucking me in close to him.

We walked quite a short walk before entering the catering tent, there sat the cast of his new show Julie and the Phantoms, I twiddled my thumbs as I walked slowly towards the long table, I scanned the heads of the people, my eyes lingering on a certain pair of green-blue eyes, they seemed almost hazel, one of his eyes seemed to be drowning in blue, in short, they were beautiful, I quickly glanced away and continued to look briefly at every person at the table. “Is this her Ken?” A blonde boy spoke, smiling over at me, I lowered my head out of pure anxiety,

“It is. Everyone this is my niece- Y/n” Kenny introduced, “I’m truly a lifelong friend of the family, she grew up calling me Uncle Kenny, so she is my niece” he explained, clearly due to the slight confusion written over a few members of the cast.

“Hi” I said, finally mustering up my courage, I smiled at the blonde boy who sat directly in front of where I was stood,

“Hey, come sit, I’m Owen” he smiled, shuffling over and patting the spot next to him, the group of people went round introducing themselves, in order it went- Owen, Jeremy, BooBoo, Madison, Jadah, Savannah, Sacha and Tori, lastly was the boy with the beautiful eyes, he seemed a little older than me, I did find out that Owen was my age, as was Savannah, Tori was one year younger than the three of us, Madison was 14 and Jadah was 13, Sacha was 15, Booboo was 25 and Jeremy was 22.

The only person I hadn’t yet been introduced to was the guy with the beautiful eyes, he was sat directly across from me, and any time I glanced up to him, I could feel my cheeks redden, I tilted my head and smiled at him, ignoring the heat rising in my cheeks “and you... what’s your name?” I questioned,

“I’m Charlie” he replied, “nice to meet you” he smiled back at me.

💜𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑘 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔💜

♡︎𝑇𝑎𝑔𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑡: @thesweetestsinner , @ifilwtmfc ♡︎

[those-merry-married-mediums]

So, over the past few years I’ve been doing a lot of introspection/self-analysis (ok, more than usual, and I usually do that a lot). And some of the big things I’ve struggled with became quieter and easier to manage. 10+ years of deadening depression? Managed. Anxiety and self-doubt over capabilities? Working on it. Disordered eating? Pretty much resolved. But even with all these big things being managed and mostly quiet, something still felt different. Something that was being hidden under everything else. I thought that was because I was queer. I thought the things I still struggle with are a punishment for my sinful inclinations. Maybe everything stems from the fibromyalgia diagnosis I got when I was seven. (Fibro is mostly a diagnosis of elimination, and the doctors did not try to eliminate anything, so is that even a real diagnosis??) but again, none of that seemed quite right.

For background: I grew up with twin younger sisters that were hyperactive, rambunctious, creative, and deal with auditory processing disorder. In comparison to them, I was normal, smart, didn’t need extra care/attention/effort.

My life has been marked by comments such as, “you’re so intelligent, you have so much potential, if only you would apply yourself!” My third grade teacher would lock me up in an empty room for most of the day (on nearly every day of that one school year) because I was, “lazy, stupid, rebellious, hell-spawn, refused to do what I was told.” When I was just struggling a little on my math and needed someone to help guide me. I fell into a deep depression that year, and my self-esteem was ruined. All I wanted was to be a good girl. My father was a bit of a perfectionist, and had a specific view on what a good kid was, and I wanted to be perfect. I didn’t fidget, I didn’t talk out of turn, I didn’t make weird sounds, I smiled, I didn’t explode when something was overwhelming, I made eye contact,,,,,, or at least I tried. I tried to control myself to be perfect, and often fell short. These failures continued to hurt my self-esteem.

I spent a lot of time either reading or daydreaming or doodling (sometimes both at the same time) I’d forget to write down assignments, forget where I wrote down the assignment, or forget to do them. I totally forgot to study for the SAT, and got an excellent score. I barely graduated high school. I tried to make it in college, had a free ride, but could not force myself to muscle through. Had a breakdown before the end of first semester. Tried college again, but less classes. Still didn’t work. Had a major panic attack in the basement of the library.

I finally sat down to figure out what to do with my life, what kind of career did I want? What skills of mine did I want to use on a daily basis? What kind of money or job stability did I want? And most importantly: how could I get it without going to school?

Four years later I am doing a job I love, something that caters well to how my brain works and sees the world. But, to be able to make a better paycheck I need a bachelors degree. My work gives me some nice tuition assistance, so I would basically still have a free ride, and over the course of my career that one degree could earn me 2 million dollars (or more). There is literally no reason for me not to get a college degree, but I’m frozen. I have performed so poorly in the past that I am afraid of experiencing any further failure. I am not bad at learning, I am not unintelligent, I am not incapable of critical analysis, I just don’t function well in a standard academic setting.

Over the past several months I have been researching how to make this work. Alternative study habits, how to make myself do tasks that make me freeze up, how to be a gosh darn adult! And I ended up consuming content made to help neurodivergent people study/live/work/cope. I continued to educate myself about brains working differently, and eventually came to the “adhd people need to stop being so relatable (or I need to go get checked out)” conclusion I have seen online so many times.

Even though I acknowledged how “relatable” adhd experiences were, I refused to acknowledge that it might explain a lot about myself. I kept thinking “but the twins and mom are like that too, so I’m probably just blowing this out of proportion.” I was afraid to be one of those neurotypicals who wants to feel special and says, “I’m a little adhd too!” I continued to research inattentive adhd, and the more I looked into diagnostic requirements and comorbidities, personal experiences, etc. I finally came to the conclusion this was me. This fits like a glove.

I am still undiagnosed. I am trying to figure out how to go forward from here. If I use my healthcare from work, it will be in my file and it could be used against me. If I pursue a diagnosis outside of my healthcare, it will cost far more, and if I need to be medicated my healthcare has to be the prescriber. Being medicated could make it easer to lose my job… I don’t know what to do. I rarely post anything, let alone long winding rants. I’m trying to find the best way forward and needed a moment to process. I know the above text doesn’t perfectly sum up the adhd experience; it wasn’t meant to. I just needed a moment to process.

Ps: on an unrelated note, every medicine ever seems to make me drowsy and I am so over it. Caffeine doesn’t even counteract this mess.

[cardentist]

this isn’t a proper discourse post, I Agree with a lot of what the op said but there’s specific things about it that get under my skin in a way that makes me want to talk about it, but I don’t want to engage with that post both because I don’t want to speak over the point that’s being made and frankly because I don’t want to be misinterpreted because of the point that’s being made in it.

so for context, I’ll just say that it was a long post about how a lack of engagement with women characters in fandom spaces is tied to misogyny. just be aware that I’m responding to something specific and not criticisms of this in general. (feel free to dm me if you want to see the post for yourself)

the rest of this is going to be rambly and a bit unfocused, so I want to get this out the door right at the top: it is not actually someone’s moral obligation to engage with or create fan content. all other points aside, what this amounts to is labeling people as bigoted for either not creating or engaging with content that you want to see, and while the individual may or may not be a bigot it’s not actually anyone’s job to tailor their fandom experience to cater to you. 

fandom is not activism. it’s not Wrong to point out that a lack of content about women in fandom is likely indicative of the influence of our misogynistic society. and suggesting that people examine their internalized biases isn’t just fine, it’s something that everyone should be doing all the time. but saying that it is literally someone’s “responsibility” to “make an effort” by consuming content about women or they’re bigoted is presenting the consumption of fan content as a moral litmus test that you pass and fail not by how you engage with content but by not engaging with all of the Correct content. 

judging people’s morality based on what characters they read meta for or look at fanart for is, a mistake. it Can Be Indicative of internalized biases but it is not, in and of itself, a moral failing that has to be corrected.

if you want more content to be created about women in fandom then you do it by spreading content about women in fandom, not by guilting people into engaging with it by saying that they’re bigots if they don’t. you encourage creation Through creation.

okay, now to address what Mainly set me off to inspire this post.

this post specifically went out of it’s way to present misogyny as the only answer for why this problem exists in fandom spaces. and while I absolutely agree that it’s a Factor, they left absolutely no room for nuance which included debunking “common excuses.” which, as you can probably guess, contained the things that ticked me off.

first off, you can’t judge that someone is disconnected from women in general based on their fandom consumption because the sum total of their being is not available on tumblr. 

people don’t always bear their souls in fandom spaces. just because they don’t actively post about a character or Characters doesn’t mean that they see them as lesser or that they don’t think about them. the idea that you can tell what a person’s moral beliefs are not based on what they’ve said or done but based on whether they engage with specific characters in a specific way in a specific space can Only work on the assumption that they engage with that space in a way that expresses the entirety of who they are or even their engagement with that specific media.

what I engage with on ao3 is different from what I engage with on tumblr, youtube, twitter, my friend’s dms, and my own head. people are going to engage with social media and fandom spaces specifically differently for different reasons. you can’t assume what the other parts of their lives look like based on this alone. 

second off, there can be other factors at play that influence people’s specific engagement with a fandom.

they specifically brought up the magnus archives as an example of a show with well written women. which while absolutely true, does Not mean that misogyny is the only option for why people wouldn’t engage with content about them as often. for me personally? a lot of fan content is soured because of how it presents jon. I relate to him very heavily as a neurodivergent and traumatized person, and he faces a Lot of victim blaming and dehumanization in the writing. sasha and martin are more or less the only main characters that Aren’t guilty of this, and sasha was out of the picture after season 1.

while this affects my enjoyment of fan content for these characters To Some Extent on it’s own (I love georgie, I love her a lot, but I can’t forget that she looked at someone and told them that they were better off dead because they couldn’t “choose” to not be abused), the bigger issue is fan content that Specifically doesn’t address the victim blaming and ableism as what it is, even presenting it as just Correct. 

this isn’t exclusive to the women in the show by any means, this is exactly why I avoid a lot of content about tim, but it affects a lot of the women who are main characters. that isn’t the Only reason, there’s more casual ableism and things that tear him down for other reasons (the prevalent theory that elias passed up on sasha because he’s afraid of how she’s More Competent In Jon In Every Single way. which comes with the unfortunate implications of jon being responsible for his own trauma because he just wasn’t competent enough to avoid it) but that’s the main one that squicks me out.

of course not all fan content does this, and I Do engage with content about these characters, but sometimes it’s easier to just stick with content that centers on my comfort character because it’s more likely to look at his character with the nuance required to see that it is victim blaming and ableism. 

it’s not enough to say that the characters are well rounded or well written and conclude that if someone isn’t consuming or creating content about them then it has to be due to misogyny and nothing else.

there’s also just like, the Obvious answer. two most prominent characters are two men that are in a canonical gay relationship, which draws in queer men/masc people on it’s own but the centering of their othering and trauma Particularly draws in traumatized queer people that are starved for content. georgie and melanie are both fleshed out characters in and of themselves, but their relationship with each other doesn’t have nearly as much direct screen time. and daisy and basira have a lot more screen time together and about each other, but their relationship is very intentionally non-canon because of its role as a commentary on cop pack mentality.

people are More Likely to create content for the more prominent relationship in the show and be drawn into the fandom through that relationship in the first place. I have no doubt that there Are misogynistic fans of the show, but focusing on the relationship and the characters that make you happy isn’t and indication that you’re one of them.

which brings us to the big one, the one that sparked me into writing this in the first place (and the last that I have time for if I’m being honest). the “common excuses” section in general is, extremely dismissive obviously but there’s only one section that genuinely upsets me. 

without copying and pasting what they said directly, it essentially boils down to this: while they recognize that gay and trans men are “allowed” to relate to men, they’re still Men which makes them misogynistic. Rather than acknowledge Why gay and trans men would engage with fan-content specifically that caters to them they present it as a given that it’s 100% due to misogyny anyways. they present queer men engaging with content about themselves as them treating women like they’re “unworthy of attention,” calling it a “patriarchal tendency” that they have to unlearn.

being gay and trans does not mean that you’re immune to misogyny, being a woman doesn’t even mean that you’re immune to misogyny, but that’s engaging in bad faith in a way that really puts a bad taste in my mouth. 

queer men aren’t just like, Special Men that have Extra Bonus Reasons to be relate to boys, they’re people who are more likely to Need fandom spaces to explore facets of themselves. and while you can Relate to any character, it feels good to be able to explore those aspect with characters that resemble you or how you see yourself.

when I first started actively seeking out fandom spaces in middle school I engaged with content about queer men more or less exclusively. at this point I had no concept of what trans people were, and wouldn’t begin openly considering that I might be a trans person until high school. I knew that I’d be happier as a gay man before I knew I could be a gay man, and that’s affected my relationship with fandom forever. 

I engage with most things pretty casually, reblogging meta and joke posts when I see them, but what I go out of my way to engage with is largely an expression of my gender identity and sexuality. I project myself onto a comfort character and then I Consume content for them because that was how I was able to express myself before I knew that I needed to. it’s not that girl characters aren’t “worthy” of me relating to them, it’s that I specifically go to certain fandom spaces to express and work through my gender and sexuality. that’s what I use those fandom spaces For.

I imagine that I’ll need this crutch less when I’m allowed to transition and if I ever find a relationship situation that works out for me. but also like, why should I? it’s not actually hurting anyone for me to explore my gender and sexuality through fanfic until the end of time. nor does it hurt anyone for me to focus on my comfort characters. 

fandom is personal comfort and entertainment, not a moral obligation. people absolutely should engage with women in media and real life with more nuance and energy than they do, but fandom spaces are not the place to police or judge that. 

[thejustmaiden]

Fiction and Real Life Go Hand In Hand

This blog goes out to all those pro-Sessrin fans out there who refuse to acknowledge the very real effects fiction can have on our world and vice versa. I highly encourage other Inuyasha fans who defend/enable these shippers to read this, as well. I assure you, by no means are my intentions here to stir up trouble. Honestly, I just want some good healthy discourse for once if that’s not too much to ask. If you do decide to engage, please be mindful of that and treat others with respect and I will do the same in return. All in all, the goal of this blog is to exercise my right to speak out and be critical about content I believe to have very potentially detrimental repercussions. I ask that you not attack me or insult me simply for stating an opinion. Thank you! 

It’s like the title says, meaning fiction does matter. Where do you think we get ideas for all the stories we tell? Where do we draw inspiration from in the first place?

Real life, that's where! And yes, always with a touch of imagination! Long story short: fiction matters because real life does.

Allow me to elaborate.

Shippers of the Sesshomaru x Rin (Sessrin) pairing say it's not fair of us to throw around serious accusations or use certain deragatory terms that suggest such awful acts like child grooming or pedophilia because of the harmful implications. One of their reasonings being that some people IRL have actually lived through these traumas, so we shouldn't dare to assume they're comparable since one is just fiction and the other is not. But this isn’t about which is worse than the other, because they’re both super problematic. All we’re literally doing is making a link between grooming in real life and grooming in fiction. They mirror each other. Same issue; different mediums. We’re not undermining any one’s past experiences with grooming or the like, nor are we prioritizing fiction to diminish real life abuse. They’re both awful in numerous ways and that’s all we’re trying to say. In fact, if anything we’re attempting to demonstrate just how crucial this correlation is between them. In order to protect past victims and prevent future ones, we must remain vigiliant of the content we consume, and yes, sometimes that means we have to challenge it too. Just because it’s widely-viewed does not make it widely-accepted or well-received. It is paramount that we educate ourselves on how to be more critical of some of the harmful tropes and images that are still way too prevalent in mainstream media. Sexualizing young and pre-pubescent girls is way more normalized than some of us even realize. It’s sad but true that Sessrin is just one of many examples. I know it feels like society has failed us in a lot of ways, but it’s never too late to re-evaluate and re-learn better and more improved ways of viewing and processing information presented to us.

Our mission: Let’s not show our kids that grooming or any other form of abuse are acceptable if they may ever come to experience or encounter it themselves. Be it the real world or on screen. Deal? 

There have been a number of occasions where real life victims do speak up against the Sessrin ship and express how extremely uncomfortable it makes them feel by what it represents. The problem is that it’s becoming more evident now that many of their fans will dismiss anything purely on the basis that we pose a threat to their ship and nothing more. What it comes down to is they have no real leg to stand on and cannot possibly top any of what we have to say so instead they simply disregard it. Our inconvenient truths don't fit into their ideal *cough* OOC *cough* narrative so they just choose to be willfully ignorant. It conflicts with their fantasy, so rather than present a sound argument of their own, they flat-out reject it and offer no plausible back-up behind their reasoning besides "I don't interpret it that way." GUYS, CHILD GROOMING IS NOT UP FOR INTERPRETATION.

Just because you so desperately want your ship to come true does not mean you can up and decide to redefine a word so that it caters to your stance. Remind yourself that these are complex AND objective terms that we have no right to fiddle with to serve our own selfish purposes. This is why we can conclude that there's no debate about Sesshomaru's actions towards Rin embodying child grooming.

I apologize if any of my words are triggering by the way, so please feel free to take a break and return later if that’s more suitable for you. it's just really important that everyone in this fandom comprehends the extent in which Sessrin going canon is catastrophic. And no, I'm not exaggerating; I'm simply speaking the truth. Shippers justifying these horrible acts- yes, even in fiction- is usually due to the stubborn refusal to hear us out. No offense to anyone (just stating facts), but more times than not antis like myself feel as if we’re talking to a brick wall when we interact with Sessrin peeps. They go in circles and never expand on their perspectives. 

Just a head’s up: THIS GETS LONG. Stick with me. :p

Just look at their take on the Inukag vs. Sessrin relationships for example. This isn't a question of age gaps, this is a question of physical/emotional compatibility. Inukag are the same age mentally wise regardless of one being demon and the other not, whereas Sessrin is not and never will be, and yes, even once she's an adult. The thing is we have debunked this time and time again, because they’re not the same and therefore not comparable, but for some reason these fans won’t drop it. Nothing has changed in their argument, yet they’re persistent in bringing it up. I choose to not go into more detail, since like I said, you can find it around everywhere. I just wanted to touch upon it briefly to prove a point. Maybe it will come up again later in my blog though! 

Where was I earlier? Right, child grooming! Haven't you guys realized that what you’re doing is precisely what child groomers do to make excuses or deny any grooming took place at all? (FYI: I’m not accusing you of being child groomers yourselves.) “They reciprocated so the feelings are mutual" is a typical groomer response, but of course it varies. More often than not, victims of grooming aren't even aware they've been groomed until much later. That's how manipulative groomers are that they can legitmately convince you that maybe you're wrong in questioning their motives. Perhaps in the victim’s mind that because one huge indicator of grooming never actually took place it technically cannot constitute as grooming. They start to doubt themselves even though their intuition is telling them something’s off. They should just ignore it then since it can’t possibly be grooming if that one particular thing never happened, right? Wrong, grooming isn’t strictly this or strictly that. It's much more complicated and multi-faceted. This is why the “but Sesshomaru left Rin in the village” point upsets me greatly. HE WAS STILL INVOLVED IN HER LIFE, Y’ALL.  

On top of that, are you aware that this is the exact same kind of predatory mindset pedophiles use to describe their infatuation with children? They'll say things like, "I don't see them as an adult and a child. I see them as two people with a soul connection." Okay no joke, I wish I was lying, but that is literally a point one pro-sessrin fan on here recently used to defend this ship. It both astounds me and terrifies me that they don't see the glaring similarities they share in common with actual pedos.

Alright, I want to quickly return to what I was saying earlier about fiction's impact on real life. (Sorry, I’m a bit of a scatterbrain!)

The characters and their worlds in our stories that we dream up and bring to life are nothing short of awe-inspiring and magnificent if we so choose them to be. If it wasn't for our imaginations, stories like Inuyasha would have never come to exist. Fiction provides us an amazing outlet where we are given the opportunity to express ourselves and explore its infinite creative possibilities.

But strip away all the demons and magical components of this show we all love so dearly and what are we left with?

At the very core, Inuyasha is a story that's very reminiscent of the human experience: love, camaraderie, a sense of purpose, and much more!

So perhaps we got a full-fledged dog demon like Sesshomaru, but does that necessarily mean we can't relate to him or understand him simply because dog demons don't exist in the real world? Well, I hope that's not how you view it or else you're missing the whole point of why humans create stories to begin with. We create them to make better sense of and thus connect with the world we live in. And when you really think about it, our stories are just a celebration of life- both our struggles and our triumphs. Now I'm no philosophy professor, but I'm pretty sure they'd say I hit that nail right smack on the head. ;)

All shitty jokes aside, the whole reason I’m mentioning this specific example in the first place is because this recently came up with another Sessrin supporter. That supporter tried to defend the ship by stating that we aren't allowed to use Sesshomaru as an example to judge by since his kind don't exist in the real world.

Now if it isn't evident already, this "it's just fiction" argument is a popular go-to stance many Sessrin fans will resort to once they've run out of ideas and are metaphorically backed into a corner. The funny/sad thing is that they seem to sincerely believe this is strong enough evidence to defend their ship with, but per usual, they fail to see how hypocritical that would be. I’ll clarify soon down below. 

Seriously, since when did we decide that fantasy- or any story genre for that matter- stopped reflecting the real world we live in? I mean, we humans are the ones writing these stories. Our human influence is bound to make an impact in some capacity. In fact, we want it to!

Obviously none of us have ever met a dog demon like Sesshomaru, because how could we? Let me tell ya, this is gaslighting at its finest! This is a fictional story with fantasy elements, so of course there will be beings and creatures in their world that don't exist in our own. Does that somehow translate to the fact that nothing from the story of Inuyasha can be applied to our own personal stories or that there aren't meaningful messages to be taught and learned?

So on the flipside, if they're not screaming at us "it's just fiction" for the hundred billionth time, then they are, believe it or not, doing the reverse and comparing it to real world history. One instance of this is how they tell us we're making a big deal about something that isn't real, but go right ahead and use the history of feudal Japan to support Sesshomaru's decision to court (aka GROOM) a young girl because that's how it was done back then. And so, your point being?? It wasn't right then just because it was legal, and it's most certainly not right now. This is how all of their arguments go by the way, where you'll constantly witness a cherry-picking approach. It's agonizing to endure contradiction after contradiction in their arguments filled with nothing but holes in their logic.

I'd just like to add that if we're overreacting to this fictional ship like they love to say we are then technically so are they. They tell us things like "grow up" or "nobody is telling you to keep watching," yet fail to realize they're reacting just as fervently as we are but just on the opposing side of the same damn argument. I find it interesting how they're as invested in this show but pretend they aren't then STILL have the audacity to say it's only us who care this much!? So thank you Sessrin shippers for further proving our point that fiction is more than capable of affecting reality and the people- YES, US- who reside in it.

It's insane that people act like pedophiles and other creeps don't enjoy entertainment too like the rest of us. Believe it or not, they look just like you and me most of the time. Yes, that means they can easily pass as a “regular guy” if they so wished to. My question to you is how do you think pedophiles will take it when they discover others- underage fans more specifically- who dig the same kinda media they get off to? Maybe not in the exact same way, mind you, but there's a thin line between them when you really think about it. I mean, what other explanation is there for why literal pedos on the internet have been known to sneak into pro-sessrin group chats here on Tumblr before? (Thankfully, they were later kicked.) I know that for a fact! It's almost as if the universe is trying to tell them something they refuse to listen to elsewhere. Hhmmm I wonder what that may be. 

I imagine it’s possibly one of the hardest things to admit out loud and to themselves, but I can almost guarantee you that most of these Sessrin shippers who are victims of CSA and who still see no issue with Sessrin must be living with some sort of unresolved trauma caused by the very abuse they claimed to have undergone. It's been proven that victims who do not seek or properly receive the help and treatment they need in order to address and live with a traumatic experience such as this are more likely to perpetuate that very same abuse themselves in some way, shape or form. What if in this case fiction is enough for them, but who's to say it won’t eventually manifest itself in other more dire and far-reaching ways? It's not like we haven't seen this vicious cycle before, and I can promise you that Sessrin won't be the last. LET'S STOP NORMALIZING & GLORIFYING THE ROMANTIZATION & SEXUALIZATION OF CHILDREN. Fictional example: Usagi Drop. Need I say more? Real world example: Woody Allen. Again, need I say more?

Bottom line is that Sessrin shippers don't want us to think too critically about this ship of theirs, because if we dig too deep then they're forced to face the very troubling implications this pairing really stands for. Of course they'll never admit to them, because instead they rather double down and grasp at the same old straws as long as it means their precious ship is protected at all costs. Screw everyone else if that's what it takes, because they'll threaten to burn down legit buildings in real life if that ensures Sessrin goes canon! (True story, this happened on Twitter.) They’ll taunt and bully anyone who disagrees. Even if all you literally say is that you don’t like the ship, they’ll gang up on you. Tell them about your past experience with being groomed? They’ll laugh in your face. I wish I was kidding, but I assure you I am not.  And they say we're ridiculous and taking this way too seriously? Yeah...

The typical behavior of a Sessrin shipper demonstrates an overly aggressive front since they're usually on defense mode anyway. They only want to ship their sick ship in peace in other words. But just because neo-nazis have a right to spew their bigoted ideology, doesn't mean we don't got the right to punch them! Freedom of speech doesn't equate to freedom from consequences. And Sessrin shippers wonder why they got so many haters. Just sayin'.

Their presence on other platforms like Twitter and Reddit are some examples of how delusional and unstable some Sessrin fans are capable of becoming. Even recently, an anon here on Tumblr sent Richard Ian Cox (English VA for Inuyasha) a totally uncalled for ask telling him that "sessrin is love and there's nothing he can do about it." (That's not verbatim, but if you're interested I'll link you to it.) It appears they discovered that he didn't like Sessrin based on how he had been replying to asks, and just for that reason alone they thought they had the right to harass him. For simply stating his opinion, y'all. They didn't even have the decency to show their face either. Talk about immature and cowardly! 

Just yesterday (or was it the day before?) a fanatic Sessrin user on Tumblr- who’s also been known for hateful remarks on Twitter but those tweets have of course been deleted since then- went out of their way to not only lurk in a group chat they don’t belong to on here but to then proceed to harass a few of us in there. They had the guts to take screenshots from that group chat, tag us in posts on their page regarding what they read in there, and without our knowledge or permission went ahead and actually blogged them?? I mean, who calls out people behind their backs while they're just minding their own business?? It worries me how unhinged and out of touch with reality some Sessriners are. Not all of them, but a whole lot of them. 

It seems all they are doing is looking for trouble, as they just can't stand how much we hate this ship. So it's more than okay if they love on their ship but it's not okay if we don't and we should just keep our mouths shut. But since when do Sessrin fans have authority over our opinions? Even if they were officially canon, nothing is ever gonna change our opinion. Now when they actually do decide to participate in discourse with antis, you'll see them fishing for excuses to bow out. How they normally go about this is by fabricating a way to blame us antis for their exiting a conversation as if we're being the irrational ones here.

There’s no denying that some antis can also be overly blunt or aggressive (nobody is saying we’re perfect here), but speaking for myself, I know I would never make such nasty comments about other fans and their personal lives. And honestly? It would make me feel like shit talking bad about someone I don't actually know. Nah, I won't stoop to that level or give haters that satisfaction. I may not attack them as people, but that doesn't mean I can't attack some of their messed up ideas that threaten to distort how we should or shouldn’t perceive certain dangerous situations and events. Seeing as how for me this is more than just a matter of opinion- it's a moral responsibility and even an obligation.

I know it's difficult to remain civil when things get heated and people start taking things personally- yet more proof that fiction impacts our lives- but that's the only way any of us will ever have constructive discussions about serious topics like this. Unfortunately, Sessrin shippers, from what I can tell, are incapable of engaging in real discourse for the most part. They may be vocal but that doesn't mean they can pack a punch. I’d really love to be proven wrong someday.

Okay, moving on! If they're not involved in some big-time gaslighting then they're using their infamous strawman argument approach.

Sessrin fans’ sole purpose isn't really to defend their ship, per se, but rather to deflect and antagonize. They like to mislead in order to shift the focus/blame onto their opponent or something else that's not related so that they can stray from the main point. 

Take the drama CD for example. It's officially NOT considered canon, right? But that hasn't stopped many fans from referencing it anyway so let’s too consider it for a moment. The point is that they use its "existence" whenever convenient then deny it or downplay it whenever it’s not. So on one hand, it's plain as day that they celebrate it as proof of a romantic future for Sessrin. But then later once we point out to them that Sesshomaru is essentially confessing to Rin that he will wait for her until she's of age, they'll brush it off and quickly add that they didn't interpret the scene that way and leave it at that. I mean how else would you interpret it? And if it's not a proposal of sorts then why exactly are you bouncing off the walls about it to begin with?? If that's all it means is nothing then why are we even talking about this?! You see what I mean here??! And somehow we're the crazy ones? 

Let me to be frank with you. If you haven’t listened to it already, this proposal he offered her sounded like a declaration of love in a multitude of ways, which is wildly inappropriate since Rin was only 12 at the time. Signifying that Sesshomaru was/is indeed grooming her. Well, that is if you choose to recognize the drama CD. Nevertheless, whether you do or not, I personally hate that this non-canon satire is even associated with the Inuyasha name to begin with. Ugh. 

Intentional or not, Sesshomaru made a deliberate decision in that moment to tell a little girl- and not just any little girl mind you but a girl he's taken in under his care for a good year- that he would wait for her if she so chooses once she's old enough. 

The issue is that it isn’t only age of consent we’re concerned about regarding this pairing. What Sessriners fail to see is that this grown male authority- her vassal, her guardian, her adoptive father, or whatever you wanna refer to him as- is basically making a move on this girl he had in his company for quite some time. There's no sugarcoating that. Us antis call it how it is, and I'm sure as fucking day other people who don't watch the show would most certainly agree that the Sesshomaru/Rin bond is filial. Set aside those rose-tinted glasses of yours, and going by everything we’ve been delivered in the manga and parts of the anime (and NOT the drama cd), there are literally no hints that indicate a blossoming romance between this adult male demon and this small human girl he’s taken under his wing. You can imagine them all you want if it pleases you, but that doesn’t mean they’re there. Adult!Rin is a figment of your imagination, nothing more. The idolization of this pairing is pretty disturbing seeing as all we have to go off of in canon is Child!Rin. There have only ever been sweet and innocent moments passed between the two, which is why I’m positive that an unbiased viewer or an outsider would state their dynamic resembled something akin to a father-daugther relationship. I would bet a shit ton of money on that, believe you me!

Rin's inhibitions are low because children are naturally naive and don't know any better. Remember, she adores and trust this man with all her heart, so why would she think any of this so-called grooming is not normal behavior. (I only say “so-called grooming” because I don’t think Sesshomaru bringing her gifts in the village has to be a romantic thing.) Or how would she ever be able to understand that she’s being taken advantage of if she has no previous experience with it? Maybe if she was present for that time Inuyasha and the gang scolded Miroku when they had learned that years previous he had supposedly proposed to this young girl in the village they were visiting, then Rin would. And he didn’t even assist in helping raise her but look at how they reacted! How is this any different than Sesshomaru hooking up with Rin later? It’s actually worse in Sessrin's case. Do you honestly believe that Inuyasha and the others would take kindly to this?

It's not uncommon and considered harmless for young children to have crushes on adults, after all, but the adults in these scenarios should never resort to using and abusing the position of power they held or continue to hold over this child for any reason whatsoever.

What I'm trying to get across here is that no matter how you spin it, Sessrin can NEVER be deemed a morally acceptable pairing. Like ship what you want, we're not saying you can't ship Sessrin. What we're saying is this:

STOP referring to their bond as "pure" and not expect backlash for your grossly inaccurate statements. Just admit it's toxic, because it's extremely harmful to many viewers- and not just victims- to pretend and suggest otherwise.

Please remind yourself of the very real canon fact that Rin traveled with Sesshomaru and they established a bond all while she was just a girl. Oh, and he saved her life too many times to count, not to mention brought her back from the dead TWICE. This is why I don't care much for your counter argument "that dynamics can change over time," because although that's true, like with everything in life there must be standards we adhere to. Exceptions to rules, if you will. Our own basic morals demand it.

For instance, it’s normal that some childhood friends begin to like each other as more than friends years down the road. Nothing wrong with that, because that's a natural and healthy occurrence. Now you cannot apply this to an adult and a child for obvious reasons, but what you also cannot do is apply this to an adult who met and knew another adult while they were still just a child. Why? Well, because it'd be like betraying and perverting that former child's view of you. They were never your equal because your established dynamic resembles that of one an adult posesses with a child even once they've grown up. Think about it this way: it's in the same bracket of family members or family friends who've watched you grow up and mature into an adult. Then later just because they're all grown up, does that mean that those children "are not off bounds" - that's quoting a Sessrin shipper by the way- to these certain family members and family friends? 

If you're still struggling to grasp this, I urge you to take a moment (or all the time you need!) to really put yourself in that child's shoes and self-reflect. Would you truly be alright with a family friend you haven't seen in years (but sorely missed because they used to occasionally babysit you) just someday coming back into your life and then very inappropriately flirting with you or even making sexual advances on you? (Sorry for the run-on!) Or even worse, can you picture this happening to one of your own children??! Seriously, ask yourself that and sit with that for a while and really take it all in. It’s not fun, I know, but if that’s what it takes to help you finally understand then please try and practice more ways to utilize your self-awareness in the future. It’s for everyone’s benefit, not only yours, I promise! You'll also find it makes it tremendously easier to empathize with others.

I got news for those fans who don’t view Sesshomaru as a father figure to Rin. The title we give him doesn’t hold as much weight as a lot of us are making it out to be. Let’s try to be neutral here and stick to the hard facts, shall we?

*Sesshomaru is an adult male authority whose protection Rin is under*

*It’s safe to assume that Rin has grown attached to him and maybe even looks up to him*

*They care about each other and the other's well-being*

*He has has played a crucial part in her supervision and care for a significant period of time (yes, even if it’s just passing a message along to Jaken)*

Not so random anecdote: In an Inuyasha episode I recently revisited, Sesshomaru had just rescued Rin from Kohaku who had been possessed by Naraku and was ordered to kill Rin. Anyway, at the end of their scene you can hear Jaken ask out loud, “what should we do for dinner, Lord Sesshomaru?” And that’s about the most domestic thing I’ve ever heard come out of his mouth. They’re such a family dammit and nothing will ever change that!! <3

This is precisely why I could never in a million years view those past students of mine in a romantic light. I don't care how many years have passed, it's just not possible for me. Just the idea of pursuing a romantic and/or sexual relationship absolutely repels me.

Speaking as a former teacher, you don't need to be a parental figure who's around all the time in order to have great love and affection for a child. I would've done absolutely anything in my power to protect them even though they weren't my own. Then again, I did consider them my children in a way even if wasn't in a familial sense. Does that make my love for them any less unique? No, it's just different but not inferior. When you stop to think about, it really doesn't take as long as you may think to establish rapport with a person, particularly children. Connecting with a child is almost instant (but of course some are more receptive than others), and once you do make that special connection one can only make with a child, a strong and overwhelming need to guide and protect them kicks in almost automatically. The unconditional love an adult feels for a child is powerful and constant, and nothing should ever change that. As much as some of you really want to believe otherwise, that feeling doesn’t just go away because they turned 18. In your eyes, they’ll always be that kid.

I get it, sometimes when we escape into these fictional worlds of ours, it's difficult not to project our own wishes and desires onto certain characters. I don't blame fans for picturing themselves with Sesshomaru- I know I did haha- but never once did I self-insert myself as Rin. I know she's one of the biggest catalysts for his character growth- if not THE biggest- but how and why does that need to turn romantic? There are other antis who I have spoken with on this. They informed me that they used to live vicariously through Rin and ship them together, as well. As they got older, they later learned how weird and twisted this ship actually was. That's what's supposed to happen, y'all, you're supposed to grow out of that fixation. 

Now take your mind out of the Inuyasha universe for a second and hypothetically (or not hypothetically if you have kids) answer me this: if and/or when you ever have a child, would you genuinely be comfortable with the idea of them dating and eventually marrying their father’s best friend who was also there to witness them grow up? Be honest please. 

I highly doubt you would want that- or at least I hope not. You see, that's another MAJOR point I've made a few times already and yet you Sessrin shippers continue to avoid the question. It's pretty obvious it hasn't been rhetorical either. Ignorance is bliss?

Finally, I’d like to address one more point. It seems there is a HUGE misconception and I'd like to clear it up real quick. That is Sessrin shippers misinterpret one of the issues we have with this ship. They chalk up our complaints of Sessrin being canon (which is a LIE, nothing has been confirmed yet) to us just being salty because that somehow means our ships aren't or won’t be. I assure you, readers, other antis and I will attest that this ain't about dumb shipping wars, this is so much bigger than that!!!

I noticed recently that some Sessrin fans have even begun calling us Karens lolol like if anybody is a Karen it's them! This ain't about some mere difference in taste, this is very likely to have LONG-LASTING NEGATIVE EFFECTS. Sessrin going canon is a very harmful message to send viewers and children/teens especially. So if anything, it’s these shippers who are being the entitled ones here thinking that the fact we don’t support their ship is the worst thing in the world. NO, THE REAL PROBLEM IS CHILD GROOMING. GET OVER YOURSELF.

Out of nowhere, some of them even started assuming all us antis were white, which in their books is also equivalent to Karens or even white supremacists somehow?? Those aren't one in the same, but it's easy to make it appear that way when the US is currently tackling major systems of oppression and racial injustice. Because to them, all antis must be from over here. (Yes, I'm American. But no, I'm not white.) How else can anyone explain not shipping Sessrin, right?! Somehow they have it in their heads that ALL of Japan and surrounding places are super approving of this ship, and that everyone else isn’t because of their upbringing and “Western way of thinking.”  

To give you an idea of what I mean, look back at what I talked about earlier with their incessant mention of Sessrin vs. Inukag. Because THIS is another popular example of how these shippers present their side and then ignore all the facts. Many fans have already proven how fucked up and inaccurate it is to label whole countries and cultures. It’s like they simply think mentioning it makes it count even though we’ve discredited their points over and over. Nah, you got to back it up with good reasons that support your side of the argument. That’s How To Have An Argument: 101. So at the end of the day, all they're actually achieving in doing is making dumb and entirely unrelated accusations based on nothing just to lead to deductions that are equally unfounded. Nothing at all is accomplished but more gaslighting and hurling of insults on their part = a complete waste of time for antis = an excuse for them to peace out early from the conversation & that’s what they wanted all along

We’ve reached the end (finally! sorry for all the rambling!), and I hope those of you who stayed till the end or read enough can take something positive out of this. As many Inuyasha fans are aware, there will be a livestream with the VAs for Sesshomaru and Rin coming out within the next few hours. We don’t have all the details yet, and afterwards we probably still won’t. I’m not just talking about Sessrin here but about the sequel in general. Whatever happens, please just remember to be kind to one another. If you don’t think you’re capable of doing that, then it’s best you vent and fume elsewhere. Easier said than done, I know, but just try. Throughout this blog, I admit there were moments where I got frustrated and took some jabs at Sessrin shippers. Please believe me when I say that I do not and would not ever wish any of you ill will. 

Inuyasha was such a huge part of my childhood, and I’m not gonna lie, I’m anxious as hell that Sunrise will ruin one of the best things I loved about this show. So pardon me if my reactions are too visceral for your liking. haha Also, like the movies and the drama cd, this sequel is not in fact canon. Therefore, for those of you who disagree or who still plan to enjoy this new series, respect the fact that some of us fans will definitely “cancel” it if we feel that’s what we have to do to come to terms with it and move on. Fans have that right, after all. Why should we get on board with something if it’s so uncharacteristic of and unrecognizable from the original source material? If all this is some sort of cash grab of Sunrise’s doing, then count me out. I truly hope that this sequel turn outs being a lot more promising than a lot of us are expecting. I’m begging you, Sunrise, I wanna believe you’re better than this. Please and thank you!   

By the way, if you’re interested, feel free to check out my two other blogs on this same subject. Click here and here. The last two screenshots do not come from something I’ve written myself. If you’d like to read more from where those came from, let me know and I’d be more than happy to send you the links. Okay, bye for now. Peace out and stay safe, everyone! 

[c-c-cherry]

Things I think about when writing

Momther Cherry is currently fic-writing! I’m here as your designated parental figure to share with you some shit that I remind myself whenever I’m stuck!

 I know some of y’all need to hear this. Yes, even you in the back. I know you’re forgetting at least ONE of these things right now.

-Your time will come. I know it seems hard when people post stuff and you’re scrolling through their comment section and see all this praise and love and then you realize that—shit— you haven’t posted in a week and your other stuff isn’t currently being loved as much in this very moment. We all do it. I do it all the time without thinking. Sometimes it can spark something that makes us want to do better, but sometimes it just makes us feel bitter and then we feel guilty for feeling bitter about it. Try to love what other people create without comparing it to your own. Trust me when I say that if you learn to love big, you’ll receive it back when the time comes. 

-Not everything will work out as you want it. Sometimes posts flop. Sometimes there aren’t as many likes on it as there should be or as you want there to be. That’s fine. :) Let it go. You might feel discouraged because of how much work you put into it, but sometimes it just happens. Don’t let that stop you from doing what you love.

-Comments and kudos are not your only worth. Please don’t rate your self-worth based on others’ approval. You are your skills and passions are worth so much more than that. Trust me when I say that all of that stuff feels great. It feels amazing when people gratify your work, but don’t do it specifically for that. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, if you rely on approval and praise as your only fuel for creativity, you’ll fall hard once you hear an ounce of doubt or negativity.

-Think about what you want. I find myself staring at a blank doc for days because I keep overthinking everything I write. Would they like it? Does that sound too self-indulgent? Will anyone read it? Would this get me more attention over this? Channeling other suggestions and criticism into your work is a great thing to do, but in the end, the writing will always flow better if you actually want to write it. I’ve had to completely drop entire prompts before because of this issue, but I feel like its worth it in the end if I’m actually enjoying the writing process rather than catering specifically to other people’s wants! :)

-Don’t treat it like something academic. Are you defending your thesis statement? No, you’re writing a hurt/comfort fan fiction (or whatever the hell you’re writing currently). Before I post something, there’s always the fear in the back of my mind that someone is going to comment some long, judgemental paragraph on “what could be approved” in my writing. I can’t exactly say that this hasn’t happened before (because it probably definitely has lol) but sometimes I’ve just gotta step back and tell myself that this isn’t meant to be harshly judged, its meant to be read. Most people who read it will have nice things to say about it because that’s the purpose of reading and writing fics!

-There’s no race and no competition. Unless of course you’re participating in a challenge with a time limit, you don’t have to rush your stuff in worry that people will be angry if you don’t post or update. They’ll be happier in the end if you post something that you worked harder on or wrote when you were in the mood or mindset to do so. You don’t have to post just because everyone’s posting! There’s no comparing works and there’s no rush to please people!

-Taking a break is good. It’s inhuman to not get burnt out once in awhile. Take advantage of it and try doing something else until you want to write again. I always work on headcanons or watch ✨Gordon Ramsay✨ whenever I don’t wanna write. Try not to feel miserable about not constantly making content! Everyone needs a break.

-Negativity?? Never heard of her. I’m actually very lucky not to get a lot of negative comments on my stuff. Most of it are people who are angry/disappointed on how I ended The Storm or want me to write a sequel where certain characters get what they deserve. If you do get something inherently mean or rude, try not to let it get to you. Most of the time, its for no  reason at all and the commenter is insecure. Maybe they’re just bitter??👀 Mmmm??👀👀👀 *cough cough see my very first jot*

God,,,y’all,,,this last one is the most important and literally goes for everything you’ll ever do:

-TAKE GODDAMN CARE OF YOURSELF!!!!!! Because of quarantine, I used to just—forget to eat all day because I was so sucked up in the writing void. I’d go to sleep at 6am, wake up at 2 or 3pm and wouldn’t eat anything until around 8 or 9pm because of schoolwork, write until it was 6am again and repeat. Yes, I updated a lot. Was it worth it?? Uhhhhhhh,,,,no??? I didn't do ANYTHING but write. People were happy for updates, sure, but if they knew that my dumbass was fucking myself over like that?? I get asks all the time being like “DRINK WATER SLEEP EAT PLEASE” and I’m always like “how the hell do they always know??”

Take care of yourselves first or else I’m gonna break into your home and make you drink water and eat chicken nuggets or like,,,vegan nuggets (even you vegans can’t escape my grasp)

Writing should be a positive or freeing experience! Whether its venting or creativity or any kind of expression, its very easy to get sucked up into a certain mindset that can negatively affect your process or inspiration. FEAR NOT, CHILDREN! If you try to consider the things I’ve told you while staring at that empty doc, just know that I’ll probably be doing the exact same thing right after I post this. 

Happy fic-reading/writing!! <3