#don't ask me about the authors I dislike I feel like most people know why people dislike them anyway

[flowerandblood]

I don't like many of the authors' decisions here – sometimes their tropes, sometimes their choice of how they present events, dialogues, sometimes their characters, relationships between them or their appearance. It's not a bad thing. I have a right to feel this way.

But I would never tell them about it. Not because I don't have the courage to do it but because it would give them nothing, nothing good. You criticise when someone asks for it – when someone doesn't, then you should keep quiet.

Why? Because perhaps someone does not want this criticism and it's their right too. I, for example, don't care and I don't want to know how much someone dislikes something in my work. I don't need the fake appreciation of others, just as others don't need mine.

If I don't like someone's stories, I just leave them alone. God bless all of them! Write and be happy.

No one here is an oracle or judge, and some people feel that way. If you don't like what the authors are writing and their choices, give them a holy peace or else all you'll achieve is that they'll be discouraged from writing – they'll think: maybe nobody wants to read this after all, look at my characters, maybe it's pointless, maybe everyone thinks about me and my writing this way.

Sowing doubt and passive humiliation is very popular here for some reason and I find it incredibly annoying. People don't know when to shut their mouths and when their private opinion to which they are, after all, entitled hurts others, making them uncomfortable.

Our right to free speech should not cut someone's wings and mock them. This is an expression of disrespect and basic culture.

Not everyone has to want to change, to develop if it is not their profession but a simple hobby.

Anonymity does not make malicious gibberish sound any smarter, and a large audience or reactions under posts does not make anyone entitled to post an opinion in which they criticise works of others for their choices.

"Why do you write with only small letters? It's so annoying. This character would never do this, are you dumb? Aemond would never betray his family! Oh nooo, next Visenya on a big dragon? Why these OC's are so boring? Reader insert is just for you because you are desperate to fuck. Why do your OC is fat? Why do your OC is slim? Why do make your OC look like this, why won't you try something new? Why do you put Alys in your story as a third wheel when she is Aemond's real love interest?"

Shut. The fuck. UUUUUUP. GOD.

You say – you don't agree, don't read, I have a right to my opinion. Well, I say: your right does not absolve you from thinking about the feelings of others.

You are hypocrites. You cry and make a hiatus when someone sends you a nasty anon writing that you write crap, but you devote 2,000 words on your blog to why a certain trope doesn't make sense, why other authors don't have a right to make their OC's look the way they want.

What you write is not private, it's public. Who are you writing it to? Is it an expression of your frustration? Those you write it about can read it. They may feel very, very bad about it, they can think to stop writing at all or make themselves to do something against their will. But that's not your concern anymore, right?

Taking responsibility for your own words only when it's convenient for you is an expression of immaturity and that's what I see in this fandom – most people here are afraid of adulthood and the clash with it. Because in adulthood everything we do has consequences to face.

But it's easier to say that we simply have the right to express our opinion, no matter how hurtful and unfounded it may be.

I want to be clear – I will see anyone reblogging or write this kind of posts – I will block them. Even if I like you, if you are with me for a long time. I don't want to see this kind of toxic behavior on my wall ever again. Enough is enough.

[da-janela-lateral]

MP100 S2E01 under a writer's perspective

The Emi Fukami episode in Mob Psycho 100 was a beautiful display of Mob's character development in relation to his individuality and a earnest vision of emotional vulnerability, but I want to call attention to a single detail: Emi being a writer.

Out of all the secret truths that the cast masks during the narrative, Emi's must be one of the most mundane. She is writing a book. She doesn't want people to know about it, much less read it, as Emi was led to believe this hobby of hers was embarassing.

I find it very interesting that Emi, character whose focus episode revolves around vulnerability, has writing has her main passion. In a way, writing is one of the most revealing art forms that there is. Literary choices are a reflection of the author's context, beliefs, likes and dislikes, fears and dreams, even though many of these choices cannot be perceived in a sensible level. Even if I suddenly decided to write a tale about a random theme - you say, a blue-footed booby who becomes an architect while wearing ballet shoes - it would say something about me. It could be a preferred text type, my sense of humor or even my idea of what is "random". Word choices, rhythm, figures of speech, themes, narrative structures, spins on a literary genre's expectations - all of these and more consist of conscious or unconscious decisions made by the writer. Writing as an art form serves as a mirror to the artist's very mind.

As a result, a piece of text can be a very delicate thing. Many people would only reveal their works to a exemplarily trusted someone, or to no one at all. That's the origin and end of uncountable masterpieces. It is also associated to passion. Few are the writers who characterize themselves as such and don't feel a duty to write. Yes, duty. Not all pieces are a labor of love, but it's almost universal that they're one of resolve, as little as it might be. One can unlock a fundamental will to write something in spite of it being weary work. At this point, for many writers, it's not a simple hobby. It's a need. It's a compulsory manner of expression hardwired onto our brains; thus, it's an inseparable part of who we are.

So what does any of this have to do with Emi's arc?

S2E01 is all about being vulnerable. Even though Emi had only asked out Mob because of a bet and hanged out with him for a week, she felt safe enough to show him her book. Her own friend group didn't have an idea that she was working on one, and once they discovered this, they ridiculed Emi's effort and teared it to shreds. Emi tried to alleviate this rejection by affirming she didn't care for her work, while everything shown previously on the episode proved this was wrong. In turn, Mob uses his psychic powers to put back her text together - his first public demonstration of them since he was a child. Mob was honest about himself by revealing he was an esper. Emi was honest by wanting his opinion on her book.

Emi is a fourteen year old girl going through a confusing and ever changing phase of her life. After doubting on Mob's emotions, she tells him that she too doesn't know well who she is, and her actions around her friends prove how she was prone to peer pressure. Her mind and identity were on an uncertain state, and this would also reflect on her writing. Emi uses complicated words, perhaps to make her writing sound more serious. Based on a translation of her work "Adventure", she uses more of a stream of consciousness prose and ambiguous descriptions. She immediately decides to write something different after her experiences with Mob. Emi has a personal style! She has techniques and topics she enjoys and active choices about how she will employ them! Emi has a bit of her on her story and this was why she hid it so much: a mockery of it would be synonym of a mockery of herself.

This is what makes the plotline with her book so important to express the episode's themes. Emi felt insecure to reveal such an integral part of herself to the world until someone came and not only took it seriously, but appreciated it enough to make an effort to understand it better. It tells a lot how Mob's demonstration of caring made her leave the people who destroyed her work.

As a writer, this detail gave a whole another layer of significance for the episode. I've felt Emi's struggle in a very intense level on the past. Storytelling is something so dear to me I can't see myself without the adjective of "writer", but the acknowledgement of my work would be the same as exposing myself to the world. It can be scary at times, to divulge something so sincere to others. However, such is the writer's role: divulging. For reasons long unknown a magical excess of words was born to me, and this coincidence can't be supressed and abandoned on the dark. There is something I can offer copiously hand in hand and its words. Words. Words. Words... And the reflection of me resonates on others.

[this-is-a-podcast-fanblog]

welcome to night vale kind of sucks

I can't believe I'm doing this again but here goes: I'm writing a call out post for the behaviors made by my favorite podcasters. I love Night Vale. Let me make that clear. My whole blog is Night Vale. I've cosplayed Night Vale. I've been in this fandom for eight years, and I've been holding out hope that the show will become "good" again for a long time. I've been a fan while simultaneously acknowledging some of their very harmful behavior. But this last episode just really cemented for me how the issues with their writing are not just failures of plot and theme, they are actively harming the communities that support them. Night Vale has turned from the show that canonized a queer relationship in 2013 and celebrated its thousands of fans, to something devoid of passion and almost unrecognizable in its messaging. These issues have been present for a while, but now they are everywhere in the show. They're completely overwhelming.

Why did an abused person not only forgive their abuser and say that he was "doing the best he could"? No, really - we had an entire season about generational trauma, a deeply personal topic for many people, and then you paint an abusive father as "misguided"? It's a slap in the face. Why do prominent female characters, particularly antagonists, always get either killed off or written out of the story by... ascending into the stars I guess? (So Lauren's the most powerful foe ever but then she's defeated by six people telling her they don't like her. Cool cool.) Why did the writers deradicalize a Black woman whose original story was about her courage and opposition to authority? Why was Tamika's role this season to be a caretaker for The Boy instead of her position in local government? Why is there only one recurring trans character in the show?

The worst thing of all for me though is the partnership with Betterhelp. Betterhelp, which sells people's data and has been called out for it time and time again. There was no excuse for them to take this sponsorship, especially when, oh yeah people were calling it out for endorsing conversion therapy. There are doctors on Betterhelp who have OFFERED CONVERSION THERAPY, and that's who they're promoting to their majority queer audience. But there's especially no excuse for this sponsorship when BetterHelp is collaborating with the Israeli Occupation Force. When Betterhelp is publicly associating itself with the army that burns people alive, that bombs hospitals, and is actively colonizing Palestine.

And before anyone says, "Mercury, why are you only writing a call out for the Betterhelp thing now after you didn't like this episode?" Well, I've been publicly calling them out for MONTHS over this. I've replied to almost every episode's Q&A to tell them they need to stop this partnership as well as replying to them on their socials asking why they're still working with this company.

Plus, this isn't just me disliking this episode - I'm seeing posts on the wtnv tag from abuse survivors who got extremely triggered by this and it just breaks my heart. Genuinely, why did they do that? This arc had such beautiful and introspective writing about parenting and it feels like they just threw it all away.

I don't know what note to end this on. I really hope they take their hiatus to reassess some business practices and write a better season. And mostly that they stop partnering with Betterhelp.

@nightvaleofficial

[shuttershocky]

Do you have a dislike for media universes that "rewards" people for watching/reading all of it in general?

Or do you think there is one that executes that idea well?

I'm answering this 5 months late, but I'm pretty sure I still remember this ask being prompted by a post making fun of the MCU.

Do I dislike story universes that reward people for reading all of it? Not at all. I mean, I'm a fan of both Middle Earth and Star Wars, I fucking love big, big universes with plenty of stories in them. When they intersect in some small way it's a delight to me, I love those little personal winks from the author for having read their other works or recognizing the most obscure names only a nerd would know.

However, there's a difference between a little reference in a story meant for people who can connect the dots, and making something almost required reading for your enjoyment. It's the difference between an acknowledgement from the creators that you liked the setting enough to come back for a new yet familiar ride, and a company realizing they've found their cash cow and can't wait to milk it for all its got until it's dead.

And dead the cash cow will be, eventually. It's been said before that the reason why the Big Two of western comics have ceded more and more ground to manga over the years is that Spider-Man has 10 different starting points while Naruto starts with Volume#1. That's not just a funny joke. Onboarding new readers has genuinely been Marvel and DC's problem for decades, which is why it was both incredibly predictable yet shocking all the same that this is what the MCU turned itself into.

Sure, early on you could ask the audience to watch a couple movies before the big Avengers crossover, but now they've got all these TV shows on top of the movies that you have to watch in order to "catch up", and it's not even about the cool characters anymore. More and more of their fanbase is going to stop caring once the barrier of entry gets too high, and it's ridiculous to me that Marvel went this road with their movies when they know this is what happened to their comics first.

I mean, are you serious, their next big bad is Kang? I am not watching several TV shows and an Ant-Man movie that's somehow worse than the second one all to see how the currently left Avengers meet goddamn Kang the Conqueror. He's in both the TV shows and the movies, which means they're somehow giving Kang more buildup screentime than Thanos. Why? Either I've been extremely out of touch with Marvel comics or the MCU picked a wild choice to headline their next billion dollar franchise when Doctor Doom is actually available to them now and barely needs an introduction.

Sorry, got lost for a bit. Back on topic, yeah I know I know, all art right now exists under capitalism which means every setting that becomes a wider story universe is an author trying to milk their existing fanbase. Whenever a creator makes a thing that I like, and then announces they have a new thing set in the same setting as their first thing but isn't a direct sequel so they can keep gaining a new audience while keeping their existing one, I know I'm being suckered in.

Just, don't make it so blatant. And don't make it so hard. I am the exact target audience for these shenanigans and even I'm starting to feel like it's homework because it's all fucking required now.

If I, a lifelong Star Wars fan, want to watch the newest Star Wars thing, I have to see a hundred hours of other Star Wars media first. If I want to watch The Mandalorian Season 3, I can't just have seen Season 1 and 2, oh no, I have to also see The Book of Boba Fett too, because halfway through that show became The Mandalorian Season 2.5. Well I did see Boba Fett, and the combination of my dislike for turning it into required homework AND the show itself just being kinda dogshit meant I never touched season 3 of the Mandalorian. That show used to be so great because it wasn't tied down to any existing story arcs or characters, so it stood on its own and made for an amazing watch no matter how much Star Wars you've actually seen. And then it succeeded and so had to become the new spine for the entirety of Disney Star Wars afterward. Fuck. Now if I want to watch their latest show Ahsoka, I have to have seen the Clone Wars animated series AND Rebels, because the Rebels cast are in it too! I mean I did see Clone Wars and Rebels, but that still sucks!

That makes me worried now! Andor was also really fucking good and it stood on its own so hard you didn't even need to see Rogue One, the movie that introduced Cassian Andor in the first place. But now that season 1 was a success and everyone sang its praises, it certainly means season 2 is suddenly going to get real cramped with Ahsoka and Luke Skywalker and whatever guys are currently alive in its timeframe. Shit, they're probably gonna add Cal Kestis in season 2 of Andor. The Respawn Star Wars games are still doing their own thing which means it's time to connect to something else.

I hate what all this has become. It was fun to read the Silmarillion and see what kind of fuckery one family of elves got up to that eventually turned Sauron from minion to big evil eye parked next to evil mountain, but you didn't need to read all that before The Lord of the Rings. LOTR didn't assume you knew anything at all (and oh boy did Tolkien never miss an opportunity to explain shit).

Let me repeat. I am the target audience. I live for the ridiculously nerdy habit of reading things set in the same universe as other things and connecting all the dots. If /I/ feel like it's become homework, I can't imagine what the average person thinks of all this. Make it stop. Stop running everything I once loved into the ground in the name of endless profit. Star Wars was already doing this to itself before the Disney acquisition and yet it didn't feel this bad.

[not-poignant]

Can I ask, why do you love BL romance better than het romance? What makes them better? I did not mean anything negative, and I know everyone have their own like and dislike but I want to know your thoughts....

Also what do you think that made Asian MLM (BL manga/manhwa/manhua/ danmei) romances better than western MLM romances?

Can I ask, why do you love BL romance better than het romance?

Because I had no choice for many years.

Because that choice was taken away from me by a homophobic, transphobic, queerphobic, acephobic society. So all the romances I read had to be heterosexual, all the romances I watched had to be heterosexual, all the romances I heard of had to be heterosexual.

Because I'm not heterosexual.

Because I never saw myself represented in any stories ever, for over about 20 years (queer stuff existed, but where I was situated in Perth, Western Australia, meant that I was not seeing it).

Because I was force-fed allonormative, heteronormative, heterosexual tropes, bullshit, toxicity, misogyny, patriarchal culture, rape culture and more, and because everyone assumed that was normal, which made me feel isolated, marginalised, alone, and bereft, and cut me out of knowing what a life could look like for myself, and made relationships harder, when you don't have the words or stories to latch onto.

People like me couldn't even be erased out of the media, we hardly existed in the media, and if we did, almost never under our real identities, and almost always having to pretend to be something we weren't, for many people who hated us, or wished we were dead, or simply didn't care about us at all.

So, when I finally got a choice, I made a choice.

And I do not want to read heterosexual content anymore, unless it's queer (like T4T). The only place I actually willingly consume heterosexual romantic content these days is like 80s and 90s and early 00s romantic comedies. It's the only thing I allow through my filter, because so many of them have a really strong bent of hurt/comfort in them, and it's rare to find movies that have this in general.

But yeah otherwise het is just not a thing I look for in fiction. Literally a squick. Literally reminds me of 20 years of oppression in the mass media. It's not inherently bad, it just wasn't good for me personally, to never have a choice.

So I made one :D And my life has been so much better for it. I'm never going back.

Also what do you think that made Asian MLM (BL manga/manhwa/manhua/ danmei) romances better than western MLM romances?

It's just better for me, anon! I find a lot of western published m/m (so not like m/m fanfiction which I still read) often feels stifled and too short for me, and the characterisation doesn't get as deep as I want it to get. I often can feel the rigidity of the novel structure on authors who are trying to rapid release, and the depth I'm looking for is rarely there. Sometimes that's what people want! Sometimes they don't know there's other options!

Sometimes that's true of some BL manga/manhua/manhwa etc. as well. Tbh it's probably true of a lot of it! Serial format doesn't always allow for depth either. But I find the visual format easier to read as well. If I reread western m/m it's almost always fanfiction. And tbh, I'm sure some amazing m/m was published last year, I just get tired of having to wade through it all to find something I like. It got to the point where I was reading like 60+ titles just to find one average read, and I gave up.

The recommendation systems for BL tend to be better and more on point for me, I find most people who recommend published m/m to me generally always miss the mark (which isn't their fault - I'm particular, there's a reason I write what I write - because I can't find it to read!!), but close friends like @morbidlizard who recommend BL to me almost always hit the mark!

I don't actually read much danmei, but mostly because I haven't had time to really sink my teeth into it. Aside from MXTX, I haven't explored much further.

But yeah, hope that helps! :D

[philaet0s]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written then pass it on to at least five other writers (except me because obvs I have done it). Spread the self love ❤

Ehe thanks for that! I wouldn't know who to send it to and I get embarrased about asks so let's say I'm sending it to anyone who wants to do it lol

Now my 5 fav fics I've written...

The first one is, UNDOUBTEDLY,

1. Live and Die For Moments That We Stole 

My baby (literally, it took me 9 months to write it), my masterpiece. I love what I've done with this fic, I love the characters and the trajectories their lives take, I'm really, truly satisfied with this fic. Which is rare. Obviously if I rewrote it now I might change a few scenes, but as a whole, I love the fic and I'm very proud of it. It was a huge challenge because of the time period I set it in and because of the sheer lenght of that fic, but I did, I wrote it :)

2. Second Chance

I have a weird emotional attachement to this fic, I couldn't explain why but I reread it so often (because yes, I reread my own stuff, what's the point of writing stories I want to read if I don't read them?), and it always puts me in a good mood. I love the idea of a second chance, and of characters GROWING as people before they get that second chance

3. Woundrous and Mystical

I have to put it in the top three. Before I wrote Live and Die it was my favourite fic of mine, I'm just so proud of that story. Baz is my favourite character in this universe and the way that his trauma -psychological and physical- from the coffin is dealt with in canon is something that genuinely upsets me so for the longest time I wanted to write my own version of that, a version of the story where Baz gets to be affected by the fact that he was, you know, locked in a dark box for weeks without food. That story is very dear to me because of that, because it's centered around Baz and his trauma, but also because when I look at my fics as a whole, it's really with this one that I started to get a sense of how I wanted to write the characters and their relationships. The most striking example of that is Niall, the way I wrote Niall in Wondrous and Mystical is the way I've been writing Niall in my other fics since (except Live and Die, funnily enough), like Woundrous and Mystical really shaped my writing

4. The Ephemeral Nature of Flowers

Probably the fic of mine I've reread the most after Second Chance. I just love the vibes of that fic, I like the bittersweet ending, and I especially love the idea that a strong connection can be born in a very short time. Not in a 'love at first sight' kind of way because I don't really like that trope but in a 'we've had one real conversation and I feel like you and I connect in a very special way' kind of way

5. Thirteen Days to Fall in Love With Your Worst Enemy 

That fic was soooo much fun to write. Putting our Simon with a Baz that considers him their best friend, and our Baz with a Simon that considers him his best friend + non!binary Baz my beloved <3

Simon getting to see Baz for the person that he truly is and not this evil mastermind he imagines him to be is always my favourite thing to write in fics where they start out disliking each other, and this fic is literally just that, so

[doll-elvis]

What do you think about Cybill shepherd saying she taught Elvis how to eat pussy? Lol

NSFW: 18+ content

lord that woman gives me a headache I’m sorry- until I read hers I have truly never seen an autobiography in which the author seemed intent on making the reader dislike them 😭

at least she is self aware because she did indeed come off as self-absorbed and her book was insufferable to read ⬇️

(excerpt from “Cybill Disobedience” by Cybill Shepherd)

and her thinking that Elvis was stupid says much more about her than it does him 👀

she even said that in 1972 she considered Elvis to be “passé” (meaning out of date/ no longer “in”)… like are we talking about the same Elvis or ????

not to mention her saying that Elvis had “frat boy humor”, and was a “morbid cheese ball” because he liked to read spiritual books

And one situation that really showed what kind of person she was when, after he bought her a ring and set it on her nightstand, she took one look at it, deemed it to be "too hideous," left the ring in its’ box, and then left Elvis who was passed out from exhaustion after an performance, to fly back to her boyfriend...

Her book has the exact same tone as Albert Goldman's in that she clearly despised Elvis and wanted to make him look as bad as possible, such as implying that he was homophobic and made racial remarks such as saying that ‘white boys don’t eat p*ssy’, but all she accomplished was to make herself look bad

I’m sorry to ramble but I just cannot get over how horribly she talked about Elvis 😩

As for your question I feel like there are only two possibilities as to why she would say such a thing:

1. Elvis was humoring her which led Cybill to believe she really was the first woman he went down on

2. She’s straight up lying

(excerpt from “Cybill Disobedience” by Cybill Shepherd)

and my vote is with the latter… 20 year old Elvis never doing it before is understandable, however a nearly 40 year old Elvis never doing it before is in the realm of impossible, especially knowing that he liked to “give” rather than “receive”

(excerpt from “Don’t ask forever” by Joyce Bova)

and the excuse of “white boys” not doing it seems implausible as Elvis has never been quoted as saying anything even remotely similar

Based on a story told by Dewey Phillips to a reporter in 1967, I believe the first woman that Elvis actually went “down on” was Natalie Wood ⬇️

There is of course no way of knowing the validity of this story but it being told in 1967 certainly helps in my opinion

I'm sure Dewey still had contact with Elvis, therefore I don't believe he would tell a false story to such a highly-regarded reporter, especially one who was also interviewing people like Priscilla and Vester Presley for this specific article, knowing Elvis would most likely see it

In corroboration with Dewey’s story, we do know for sure that Natalie and Elvis were intimate as their physical relationship has been confirmed by several friends ⬇️

(excerpt from “Down at the end of the lonely street” by Pat Broeske and Peter Brown)

(story told by Lamar Fike in “Elvis and the Memphis Mafia” by Alanna Nash)

(excerpt from “Elvis: My best man” by George Klein)

A picture really is worth a thousand words… I’d be looking at him like that too girl 😩

Not to mention Alan Fortas, the Memphis mafia member who was entrusted with filming girls for Elvis, said this about how Elvis would “relieve” himself in the mid to late 60s🤭 ⬇️

“Sometimes, while either watching the girls in his bedroom or perusing the tapes I had made for him, he would get a most defiant erection, which he would relieve either by masturbation, or, if the girls were actually there, by going down on one his lucky guests or by dry humping one through his slacks or pajama bottoms”

(excerpt from “Elvis: From Memphis to Hollywood” by Alan Fortas)

and while Priscilla’s descriptions of their “love-making” in the 60s is extremely vague like “he fulfilled my every desire” and whatnot, I would assume that oral sex was the go-to as they did not have penetrative intercourse

so I definitely believe Elvis was “going down” long before Cybill came into the picture in 1972 🤧

and quite frankly, I’m glad that she flew back to her boyfriend because she honestly didn’t deserve Elvis or his generosity… I’m still not over her calling him a “morbid cheese ball”, take several seats Cybill

[khepiari]

I don't like it when it's in our world, I think there is a One Piece school manga where the ages are either the same or not as high, but when you apply the canonical ages, Law working and Luffy still in school, I don't let to think that I have to call the police or the psychologist and this is my problem, I know, but as pirates Law and Luffy are more equal than in our world (it still scares me sometimes, canonically it is not a problem but there is fanfics where even about pirates this is shady), but I always think that the problem is not always the ship, but rather those who write or draw

Well, when it comes to fandom, this is my personal rule: canon is reference material for me.

“Age-gap” trope is not new, it has existed since the beginning of the fiction genre to be fair. Because people have been marrying/living/romancing between large gaps for time memorial in real-life. Yes, in most cases, it’s young women and older men because of societal beliefs; young women are considered as limited shelf-life goods while men in possession of money are a catch. Age-gap relationships until the advent of modern society benefited off vulnerable young women who had no money or social security.

Historically, age-gap has been extremely common in queer relationships, we have had huge age-gaps too as well, one famous couple being Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy; 30 years. I know fellow queer people in happy relationships where age-gap is over 15 years, and I know fellow heterosexual couples with two years age-gap in miserable marriages. Who gets to be happy in their relationship is relative to contextual environment.

But I am digressing. Coming back to my OTP

As you said, Law and Luffy become a problematic romance if they are placed in a modern setting like High School romance and not the canon timeline. For example, they are put in the context of where one is still in school and the other is a functional adult. Your concerns are valid, but my concern here is; who is this age-gap romance about two 2D fictional characters written on a fan-run website in a tiny slash pairing fandom hurting? Because as far as I know no one is being made to read these stories as part of their school/university literature curriculum. A reader is choosing to read these stories on their own will. Someone might sent you the link, and you can click on it, but you still have to press the consent button to read it, right?

Law and Luffy to me have been equal, since day one both in “canon” and in my fics. Because I have never seen their age-gap as a power dynamic story. I am the person who wrote My Little Husband, I think that story has every trope, problem and issue that people who hate the age-gap associate with. Even in that story, Luffy is an equal, and the active agent in his story. So yeah coming back to what you ended the ask with.

You said about LawLu ship “problem is not always the ship, but rather who writes or draws.” I will simply disagree here. My main reason is that every fic author/fan artist has the right to write/draw/think about their ship how they want. Who are we as consumers of these stories to say “This is bad” and “that is good?”

Yes, your feelings of dislike/ick are valid. That’s why you have been provided with the options of tags, warnings and basic fic ratings.

In my fics, I add the tags and mark the sex scenes out, and if it’s explicit topics or scenes, there are reminders in the text that a reader can skip certain parts. What more can we do to protect the reader’s comfort?

Hence.

I refuse to endorse the idea that the problem lies with the creator of the ship. Just because someone writes something that makes other people uncomfortable doesn’t mean it’s “bad or wrong”. And just because something makes you comfortable because it aligns with your personal beliefs isn’t necessarily “good or correct”.

Engaging with fiction is a personal experience, so you have to curate what you are looking for. Do you want to be comfortable or do you want to be stirred with feelings? The choices are yours to make and you can indulge in all or none at all. Yet, no one has any right to call a fan creator, “You are the problem for creating something because it makes me feel uncomfortable.”

Will you like it? Let’s say— you go to a pot-luck party with a delicious tumbler of potato stew, and someone willingly tastes a spoonful/eats the entire bowl and then tells you right after that, “You are a bad person and cook as your potato stew made their mouth tingle because of the variation of spices you used for that person’s favourite vegetable?”

No, you won’t.

So my advice is simple: don’t interact with something that makes you uncomfortable and unhappy. Fandom is not the place to measure our morality.

The end.

[crisalidaseason]

Whenever I see people ask why The Kane Chronicles are so underrated I want to rant about it so here it goes:

Releasing it too soon. The Red Pyramid was released in 2010, only a year after The Last Olympian. After the success of his first series people were hungry for Percy Jackson. It did not help that it was announced a sequel so soon, with The Lost Hero programmed to release in 2010. Maybe if they did not announce the sequel of Percy Jackson so soon and pushed The Lost Hero for 2011, leaving 2010 solely for The Red Pyramid, the fans would feel more compelled to read the Kane Chronicles as a way to pass the time or maybe have a Percy cameo.

Writing style. Although I like the idea of multi-POV and the two siblings sending the author a recording, it felt badly executed at times. There were situations that I forgot it was supposed to be a recording and sometimes the change between Sadie and Carter broke the flow of the situations. I believe many people did not enjoy this style. I don't hate it at all, but it could have been better executed.

I know people won't like what I'm about to say, but I don't care. The initial dislike for Carter Kane simply for being black. Many people from the communities I participated in complained about Carter Kane. Saying he was not interesting, he was annoying or a cheap copy of Percy. But I have my suspicions people did not give the book a chance because most readers could not project on Carter. Carter is the first narrator we are introduced: a black teenage boy. Because of that, many people dislike the book from the start. Many white folks have a hard time projecting onto characters that are explicitly described as being POC. You can try to fight me on this, but it's the plain truth.

Egyptian mythology was not that explored in fiction. Unless you consider the Mummy franchise - which does not really talk about mythology - there was almost nothing regarding Egyptian mythology targeting kids/teens media. As a consequence, it made people not really interested in reading The Kane Chronicles in the first place.

Now, those are my opinions as to why this series has not received so much attention from the fandom, I am not saying this is the truth at all! You can have a different opinion and share your thoughts as long as you are respectfull - or else I'll block you.

[velmashaircut]

Here is a list of subreddits I don't like because this week is my six year anniversary on reddit. I should say I don't mind the subreddit itself, but I don't like it's members. Also I would like to say I'm not adding subreddits to this list out of spite due to being banned or because I lost an argument to someone on there.

opmfolk: most people on this subreddit dislike the changes made in the manga, which is fine. I agree with a lot of things they say. I dislike the sub because of the awful attitude they have; they act like Murata killed their kids because of the changes to the plot that began to appear in the MA arc. I don't know if ONE is also behind the changes, but if he is, no one on that sub thinks he should be blamed for it.

It's ironic the people on that sub hate the long breaks in between the releases of the manga chapters because it delays the plot, but seldom complain about the lack of updates in the webcomic, how many years has it been since the current webcomic arc began? They say Murata has gotten lazy and checked out of the series, but by their own logic, they should be saying that about ONE (I don't think either of them have).

I think too many of the members of the sub are bias and throw around childish insults, so that's why they're on the list. The concept of the subreddit is fine. I bet a lot of them will change their minds when the chapters they talk about hating get animated.

ao3: I like to start off by saying I read and write fanfiction. I think people on this subreddit are hypocrites, they love to preach 'don't like, don't read' but cannot keep the same energy themselves. Many posts in this sub consist of users screenshotting sections of fanfictions or fanfic blurbs or whatever just to complain about how they hate how it was written or when authors do this particular thing in their writing and so on. Going out of your way to take a screenshot of someone else's work to go complain about it in an echo chamber doesn't sound like 'don't like, don't read' to me. The users would go batshit insane if someone did that to them.

The sub also have a prevalent us vs them mentality, mostly towards tiktok fanfiction readers. They say they're more cliquey and rude, but I don't think the subreddit is any better in that regard, they love to dogpile just as much as tiktok ff readers. The A03 subreddit love to say 'I'm too old for drama!' yet there are always posts about them being caught up in drama in their respective fandoms.

They are also easily offended or seem to assume the worst out of comments. It’s so bad, some users post the comments they want to send to the author so the people of the subreddit can approve if it’s suitable or not, and they are often told to bulk up the praise. And if the writers of the sub themselves do receive a hate comment or a comment that isn’t overly positive, they feel the need to make a post to discuss it too. You can just block and move on if you're that upset. If you're not grovelling, their whole world falls apart. A lot of writers don't want interaction, but endless praise. I feel like many of them forget that readers do not owe them kudos, comments/ save. Writers can choose whether or not they want to publish their works, but readers can also choose whether or not they want to comment or kudos their fanfic.

They also humble brag by asking questions like ‘my fic has been up an hour and has 200 kudos, is that good??’ Like come onnn.

BridgertonNetflix: This applies to the smaller subreddits are created for the main couples. The Para social relationships on these subs are outrageous. So many of these people don't realise acting is a job, the way people reacted to Simon's actor leaving the show was wild, the actor still gets flack for it years later. I don't see what the issue is - his season was over, and he wouldn't have had a prominent enough role in future seasons to stick around. Loads of fans were upset because they blamed him for the lack of Daphne's appearances in S2 and her no show in S3, but you should get more mad at the writers if anything for not being able to write scenes where Daphne makes appearances without Simon, it shouldn't be that hard to do since the Bridgerton's are her family, not his. The hatred towards Simons actor is so unnecessary, and the snarky comments fans make about Anthony's actor being able to still appear despite his various projects are stupid as well. Anthony is head of the family, and the show is about his siblings, its expected that he's in every season. The same does not apply to Simon, it's not hard to understand.

Other weird para social relationships include the protagonists of Queen Charlotte - like stop shipping real people who are in their own relationships together. Beyond disrespectful and the fans made it seem like it was appropriate?

However, what I hate most about this subreddit are the Kate and Kantony stans, which sadly, most people in the subreddit are. You can make a post about how, despite all the excuses the show throws at you, Kanthony were still in the wrong for having an affair under Edwina's nose, or god forbid, point out that Kate is not perfect, and people in the comments will call you racist, sexist, trying to create discourse, having a vendetta against the actress...and multiple posts pop up to defend Kate. I wish I was joking but I've seen this happen multiple times, it happened today actually. A line her stans love to use is 'here we go again' when someone makes a post about disliking Kate, but if someone said that about the endless Kate appreciation posts they would accuse of creating a hate brigade. There's a reason why only so many posts about Kanthony get locked...their fans are crazy.

Any UK subreddits: So xenophobic and racist. This could political UK subreddits or casual ones - all are influenced by politics in some way which is annoying. I dread reading the comments on these subreddits but I still end up doing it. These subreddits usually have articles attached to the posts, but everyone in comments they're dumbass opinions based on the rage bait title instead of reading the articles contents. The jokes are so unfunny too.

Unpopular opinions: I've said this before but they just hate women, so many posts are like 'women are superficial' 'women online are awful' but one post making the same generalisation towards men and suddenly its 'not all men are like this' and ''sexist'.

Most unpopular opinions are not unpopular either, or are just factually incorrect. People use the upvoting system wrong here too, you're meant to upvote unpopular opinions, but basic and tame popular opinions tend to mostly be the most upvoted.

Sixth form and uni subreddits: I find the people on these subs annoying because many of these people worship STEM and look down on humanities subjects. Many people on these subreddits also believe any uni which isn't Oxbridge or a Russel group uni is awful. And I'm saying that as someone who does stem at a Russel group. For the uni subreddit especially, everyday there's a post where someone is upset they failed a year of university or got caught cheating and want a way to get out of trouble, but upon reading the post, you realise its 100% their own fault they failed. Like come on bro. I don't like other uni students at my university so I think I project my hatred and insecurities onto the subreddit.

[imoenhatesthis]

I saw Lily responded to only one part of my recent findings.

(Source; Red is real life images of authors and I don't want that on my blog.)

Each time she's responded to my posts, she's only talked about one part, the sections on Dale. So to address Lily directly: This section is not the most important. Dale's a piece of the puzzle but she's not the whole picture. If you "rather infamously dislike erotica," and don't like people fetishizing these specific topics, you're currently supporting an author whose doing those two things. Unknowingly or otherwise, that's what you've been doing every time you recommend the mod or say they write really well. You're saying to your audience, "Go read this person's work," with no proper warnings or any note of what they write.

If you want me to believe you're doing this all on accident...that's basically asking me to think you're stupid. Like, do you expect people to believe you scripted "Imoen and Gorion's Ward are hiding at Dale's house uwu so cute," and were then going to flash, what, a real life picture of T.C. Dale in your video? A very small self-published author who absolutely no one in your audience would know? I don't buy it, because I don't think you're stupid and just made a mistake. You specifically say Dale here, and not any of the co-creators, why?

In pretty much all circumstances, the simplest answer is most likely the real one. Lily's proven the fanfiction is easily Googled. She’s read the work of the mod’s co-author Israel B., who is also very small, Goodreads only listing about 60 ratings across their few published books. Combine these facts together, and I think the order of operations is that Lily liked the mod, Googled their work, and then at least interacted with Dale's writing. Lily then placed the cover on her channel to make a jab at other people’s writing skills. That’s the simple answer and the one that makes the most sense. So unless Lily can explain how her brain came to some other conclusion, my accusation still stands and I only view this as a distraction from my main points.

This response also doesn’t address the second part of my post, that we all know that she has played Aryana and Imoen on the Romance Path of her mod. She showed it on video. Here's another picture just for the record:

(Source)

To address a potential retort of "Oh but it's not canon to how I write Aryana and Imoen..." Personally, I don’t create an AU or play through my sibling characters dating each other if they’re supposed to be innocent friendly platonic sisters. I feel like that would sour the entire thing, no?

[butmakeitgayblog]

Just to throw in a couple points real quick (because I can never keep an opinion to myself 😔 sorry), I personally kind of dislike the idea of a male and female gaze — not because I disagree with the concept of fetishism and objectification existing, they ABSOLUTELY do, but because of what people, particularly online, have come to accept they mean.

There has recently been discourse surrounding Love Lies Bleeding, a film created almost solely by queer women, “catering to the male gaze” which… I’m sure I don’t need to explain how silly that is lmao. I think this new wave of leftists clutching their pearls over literally any sign of sexual attraction and considering it to be synonymous with objectification has distorted people’s views of what these terms actually mean and have resulted in their gross misuse. Not to make this about me 💅🏻 but I see a lot of this similar discourse about trans people BY CIS PEOPLE whom are trying to be good allies by basically claiming that any sign of sexual attraction towards a trans person’s body is inherently fetishistic which I can’t lie… I kind of consider to be transphobic itself lol? You’re allowed to be sexually attracted to trans people and express that, no matter how their bodies look! The point at which it becomes fetishistic relies primarily on the WAY you express that and the language used — and I think that can apply to queer people in general too. I personally (and others may feel differently!) have zero issue with cis people enjoying trans NSFW content, and I also have no problem with straight women enjoying MLM content; because most of the time, I can tell from the LANGUAGE they use whether or not they are fetishising.

Point being, fetishism and objectification can go ALL ways and I don’t think people need to give excuses as to why they enjoy a certain type of content as long as it isn’t actively harming anyone. But I obviously can’t speak for everyone (especially queer women, I only identified as one for a year or two when I was a preteen lol) and people’s experiences tend to shape their opinions on these things 😅

Right and that's why I firmly stand behind my initial post about how it's no one's job to police people for what kind of content they consume! Because we don't know their motivations for how ot why they personally are interacting/consuming the work. It's incredibly easy to write off all enjoyment of a specific brand of content as fetishizing or sexualization when in reality, for the consumer it isn't that at all. My only point on the last ask was that sometimes, sometimes, it's easy to actually be doing exactly that (fetishizing etc) and not realizing it.

Intentions matter absolutely, but they're not the be-all-end-all of reality. It's like if I as a white person were to say something racist without realizing it was racist. That doesn't negate the racism, and it doesn't absolve me of my culpability, because my ignorance to my actions doesn't supercede my impact. You can be guilty of something without knowing that you are, and that's something you as person have to evaluate and confront on a personal basis. That was my only point in relation to what that anon said.

Again to reiterate, that is NOT saying that everyone who prefers queer work to straight work is guilty of that, because they're not. Full stop. And that alone is why I don't think anyone has or should have the authority to pass judgment on who can and can't consume certain kinds of media. Because, like you said, then you start wading into the murky waters of painting everyone with a broad brush, throwing accusations around that are universally damning despite not actually being universally true. And considering we're living in a period where puritan anti-sex brainrot is on the rise (alongside a deeply unsettling culture of condemnation over every little thing), opening that door can become very dangerous very fast. We're seeing it already.

I will tack on just as a thought regarding the trans character issue, I think that's kind of a perfect example of all these ideas aligning. Just in the most bare bones way of putting it: there is nothing inherently fetishizing about a cis person enjoying work including trans characters. There's nothing inherently fetishizing about a cis person enjoying, specifically, smut involving trans characters. There is nothing inherently fetishizing about a cis person preferring trans character stories over other kinds of media. However, if all they as a cis person consume is extremely sexualized renditions of trans characters, if their only interest in trans characters is porn - generally mostly devoid of complex storylines that create a fully rounded character -, then yeah I do think that's something they on an individual basis need to evaluate about themselves, because it's the difference between having a sexual attraction to a subsection of people versus seeing those same people as purely sexual objects. Does that make sense?

Same can be true for any other queer content being consumed by people that aren't historically the target audience.

But again, it's not really anyone else's place to make that call for anyone else.

[angy-grrr]

hello!! about your post the other day on how people think bkdk is just another sns, do you happen to have the source for ‘horikoshi dislikes the ending of naruto’? its such an integral part of my bkdk worldview and why im so convinced theyre gonna be canon, but i cant for the life of me figure out where horikoshi mentioned that 😅

This is the link of a transcription of the twitter thread! This was from the middle of 2015, even before Katsuki got kidnapped and wasn't super clear whether he would stay in the hero or villain, so I think we need to keep it in mind when reading about this too.

To give more perspective, a reminder of what happened in that time: Bakugou vs Deku 1 happened in January, and this interview probably happened when the sports festival was starting (as we see it goes until August/September)... A year later we get Katsuki's origin chapter, two years later the second Kacchan vs Deku fight after the kidnapping and rescuing, and six years later we get the apology.

(Interview under the cut, the parts where this is discussed)

The interviewer asks what Horikoshi thought of Naruto and Sasuke's rivalry, and Horikoshi says it was frustrating. Horikoshi says he really liked the "Valley of the End" and thought that would be the end of the series. - Kishimoto notes a lot of readers though Naruto and Sasuke would make up after the Valley of the End and go back to the village together. But he made them fight. - Horikoshi continues that all the misunderstandings during the second part were frustrating to watch and when it all came together in the final fight he almost felt like a parent watching these characters he had grown up with, and he was rooting for them both. - Kishimoto says he's happy to hear that, he wanted people to be able to understand both Naruto and Sasuke's feelings. Horikoshi notes it was really emotional, built up over 15 years. - Kishimoto notes he likes Bakugo as a rival and found it funny how he's an ally almost like a villain, telling the main character "die". He thinks Horikoshi did a good job since you don't know if Bakugo will stay an ally or become an enemy. - Horikoshi notes Bakugo is horrible, but thought it would be more interesting that way. He says he wants him to be like Vegeta from Dragon Ball but doesn't know how it'll play out from here. Kishimoto says he thinks it'll be interesting whichever direction Bakugo goes.

I think this last comment is kind of a reference to what he planned for prototype Katsuki Gougou -he was a really nice guy who would insult ppl accidentally and be loud during fights, but he found it annoying. He probably thought and took inspiration from V*geta in order to craft a rude personality for the beginning, and as we know it wasn't clear whether he would even ever support Izuku in the first place or stay as an obstacle to surpass.

I dont believe we are reading into things when thinking Katsuki has become way more than another V*geta, and that his relationship with Izuku doesn't resemble the one he has with G*ku, as far as I know -cmon he is literally crying over feeling like he lost his chance to be by deku's side forever, while not caring about his own arm or possibility of not being a hero, I dont know about DBZ but I dont think something similar happened lol.

When we say he doesnt like it, its because he clearly states very bold declarations in front of the author -who is basically a sensei, a superior role than his and who he should always respect the most. So being critical about it makes it even more clear how much he truly disliked it -he was tired of the misunderstandings and hoped they would just go back together to the village. So, to say the least, he never really truly enjoyed the idea of a rivalry where the characters are so important to each other, but end up fighting for more unnecessary misunderstandings.

We can see how he took notes from the whole everyone coming together for the fight, and he likes that emotional aspect -also making tribute to DBZ with everyone cheering for the hero just like many ppl did irl. We'll have to see what happens, but I believe we'll see more of Katsuki and the reasons why he was able to survive this long and see vestige All Might

[drugstore-love]

The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived

so many people, including those who say they are fans dislike TTPD and refer to it as lazy but I find it to be some of Taylor's best work. I appreciate the metaphors and how vulnerable she is with the narrative. She's not hiding; it's poetry. It's about emotion and the musicality really does come second.

Here's my song by song break down of things that I enjoy (and don't like) about the album for my own future reference so that I do not cave into peer pressure and start to hate the album on principle. Here are my personal interpretations and what the songs mean for me.

In no particular order The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived:

I think people keep calling this album lazy because it's really about the ending of relationships and the changes that you go through personally when a relationship end. They may be different relationships but I think people wanted a narrative change and that's not really what most albums are about?? Like unless they are complete capitalist ploys (which.......I digress) and Taylor now has the fanbase and the freedom to write whatever she wants, so this album, to me, was therapy.

Anyway, this song is when you see a completely different perspective of a person and your relationship once said relationship is over. I hate the production on this song and I'm usually an Aaron girly but the drums and strings feel forced and while I appreciate them for production value within the Eras tour they felt jarring and misplaced during the album listen. I think that they were went to convey emotion and raise the listeners blood pressure so they also felt agitated with the subject but the way they fade out with the song leaves a lot to be desired and kind of feels like the author is fizzling out during what, lyrically, can be argued as the most empowering part of the song. They succeed in capturing the audience's attention after the lullaby nature of the rest of the song but honestly are a distraction from the lyrics. However, I love the piano, especially at the beginning where it's almost a staccato, until the notes are played rhythmically together, it truly feels like poetry set to music. Lyrically, I find this song to be one of the most honest and telling. It feels like a letter one would write to their former partner with no intention of ever actually giving to them.

Was any of it true?

Gazing at me starry-eyed

In your Jehovah's Witness suit

Who the fuck was that guy?

You tried to buy some pills

From a friend of friends of mine

They just ghosted you

Now you know what it feels like

It feels like you were playing me this whole time. All the shit you said, the way you looked at me, fuck even the way you dressed. I thought that I got to see the real you, I trusted you, I believed you and the way you left reinforced what everyone else told me about you that I wrote off as untrue. (Insert vampire by Olivia Rodrigo)

Also appreciate the dig about this person being addicted to drugs because I interpret that line as "Oh you got ignored when it came to something important that you love? Karma, because I loved you and you ignored me"

And I don't even want you back, I just want to know

If rusting my sparkling summer was the goal

And I don't miss what we had, but could someone give

A message to the smallest man who ever lived?

All the effort that was put into wooing the author and winning them over and learning them and "loving" them. It feels like everything was a game, a joke, a plot in a rom-com that the protagonist was too dumb to figure out at the time.

I could never go back to what we were and if I thought you'd listen openly and respond honestly I'd ask questions, but mostly I'd ask why

You hung me on your wall

Stabbed me with your push pins

In public, showed me off

Then sank in stoned oblivion

'Cause once your queen had come

You treat her like an also-ran

You didn't measure up

In any measure of a man

You made me feel like the prize but once you had me you treated me like shit behind closed doors. You made me feel like your insecurities were my fault but it was your choice to stop considering me once you had me. You promised me better than my ex and then didn't fulfill that promise and made it my fault.

And I don't even want you back, I just want to know

If rusting my sparkling summer was the goal

And I don't miss what we had, but could someone give

A message to the smallest man who ever lived?

This bridge is pure poetry.

Were you sent by someone who wanted me dead?

Did you sleep with a gun underneath our bed?

What was real? Were you just waiting for me to let my guard down?

Were you writing a book? Were you a sleeper cell spy?

What were your motivations? This is almost begging for clarification

In fifty years, will all this be declassified?

And you'll confess why you did it

And I'll say, "Good riddance"

'Cause it wasn't sexy once it wasn't forbidden

The only rationale I can think of is you got bored and I know I'll be better off without this but even 50 years from now, even when I don't care anymore I'll still read your reasons. Once again reiterating that I only wanted what you promised before we were actually together and once I was yours, it wasn't worth it to you

I would've died for your sins

Instead, I just died inside

I would've done anything for you, and you're the one who stabbed me

And you deserve prison, but you won't get time

You'll slide into inboxes and slip through the bars

The way you made me feel should be illegal but instead you'll continue on as you did before

(really driving in the feeling of inadequacy one can make you feel, especially when you're a person who people idolize and then are disappointed in when they meet the real you. this is exactly what happened here, taking out speculation what's discussed in the song is: before we got together you praised and complimented and lusted after me and once I gave my actual self to you and opened up it wasn't what you wanted and that is detrimental to one's self esteem)

You crashed my party and your rental car

Never having to take accountability for your actions, you ruined good things for both of us

You said normal girls were boring

But you were gone by the morning

You said I was what you wanted, that I was different and as soon as I gave in, you left (giving into the discord:this is exactly how H describes Matty so..)

You kicked out the stage lights

But you're still performing

You ended this, you wrecked us and yet you're still lying you're still placating and manipulating me trying to save your own skin

And in plain sight you hid

But you are what you did

You never disagreed with the rumors but you really had me fooled about who you were. However, at the end of the day actions speak louder and when a person shows you who they are you should believe them. I always should have known who you are

And I'll forget you, but I'll never forgive

The smallest man who ever lived

I'm gonna move on, I'm gonna grow, I'm going to be happy but it's for me and I'll never forget the way you treated me.

[jascurka]

I’ve been slowly influenced by your mob 100 art into maybe starting the anime

Do you have any facts or tips because I entirely only know what it is from you and like out of context manga panels

Hi! This ask made me so happy!! I absolutely recommend giving Mob Psycho 100 a try.

The anime is a mixture of funny and serious and will absolutely make your heart ache. It is a story about the life of a seemingly ordinary middle schooler, Kageyama Shigeo, who, except for his psychic powers isn't very special and blends into the background easily, hence his nickname - Mob. He works part-time at Spirits and Such consultation office for the greatest conman psychic of the 21st century, Reigen Arataka. The master and student are going on exorcism jobs, cutting to Mob's teen struggles, then also his inner struggles regarding his powers that he tries to keep control of. His power output (the percentage he reaches) is triggered by strong emotions he feels during encounters with not only evil spirits but also other espers (people with psychic powers).

The author of the manga, One-sensei intended Mob Psycho 100 to be a story about kindness. It's about changing people's hearts and showing compassion and kindness even to people you dislike or to ones who did you harm. I think most characters Mob meets on his path end up changed in some way. It's not your typical shonen anime for sure.

As for some fun things about mobsai, you might have noticed the original arstyle in the manga is probably not something you'd expect to see either but it's still fun and expressive! As it usually is, not everything gets animated or it's represented differently in the anime, that's why I also recommend checking out the manga at some point! There are also several short stories added here and there by One. I'm not sure if all of them are in the manga volumes but some are posted on the internet. The anime does it's best to stay true to One's style and implements a lot of fun and dynamic animation styles and techniques like paint on glass or sand animation. It's very expressive and dynamic. Sometimes shots look kinda "hald assed" and wacky for humour purposes too :]

As for the show's co-star, Reigen... Besides from playing a significant role in the narrative, he also had his own spin-off manga that has yet to be animated and once in a while people get all hopeful it's finally gonna get announced. I'd also like to bring back this funny thing:

also if you ever saw me talk about spiky eyebrow man on here, he's the main antagonist in season 2 and is basically another Gabriel Agreste and my beloved blorbo <3 Actually personally there is no character in mob psycho that I wouldn't like.

So! If you like a non-serious-serious-heartwrecking anime then definitely give it a try!! I'd suggest only being careful around fandom if you ever end up here, because there's a lot of policing going on in here. I've been here for a while, so the best advice I can give is to block mean people, mute tags of characters or ships that you don't want to see. Best to just find your people in this space and have fun in your corner :} Miraculous fandom was super chill for all I can remember compared to this. But it's just a general thing going on in most fandoms right now.

[syncopein3d]

Cheap Shot: A Friendly Review

Introduction and Format Explanation:

I've just finished reading Cheap Shot by @snaillamp. In the communities where I spend most of my time here on Tumblr, I see occasional recommendations but nothing I would call a review, so I thought I'd go into a little more detail about why I enjoy stories I read. This is my second friendly review after Smoke, Salt and Asbestos, and this story is in a very different genre from that one.

The reason I think a positive review might be useful to my audience is that, when people praise a story, they seldom give enough detail for me to know as a reader if I will also want to read it. These are stories I liked personally, and this means that reviews will mostly be of hurt/comfort stories with happy or at least ambiguous endings.

Ambiguous here means characters may part, or may have dangling plot threads for later, but they have survived and are in some way better or recovering.

This doesn't mean I disliked everything I didn't review; I read a lot of stories and can't review them all. This is just for stories that are completed according to the author (something of a rare category already) and that I thought deserved special mention.

Another reason is that the Tumblr writing format is more akin to the magazine serials of yesteryear than a novel. That's less applicable in the present case, because this is more of a traditional short story format and is reasonably complete in itself, even if there are other stories with these characters. I could imagine this as a Netflix or Amazon show. It would be inexpensive to produce and it has good characters, strong atmosphere, and intense emotions, and those are all good things from the point of view of producing a streaming show.

I'll attempt some light analysis, but I won't ask authors if I'm right about their intent first, so you only get my reader impressions on it. As such, I might be wrong about some or all of how I describe a story and its lore. I don't insist on death of the author once a review is up, so authors are welcome and encouraged to comment!

Summary:

Cody, a doctor in a small Canadian town, is injured in a way that kicks off a downward spiral in his physical and mental health.

Whump Vibes:

The reason I chose to review this story is that the vibes are simply immaculate. The author is so fantastic at building mood that I read the whole thing, even though real world stories aren’t usually my cup of tea.

If you want to wallow in that feeling of knowing you're making yourself worse but feeling helpless to change it, of well-meaning friends who don’t get it, of not quite fitting wherever you are, this is perfect for that. Cody knows on some level that he's doing it to himself, but he still can't help it. He's even alienated from chemical solutions to the problem - weed makes him nauseated, he doesn't really seem to like drinking, and a lot of anesthetics also make him sick. On a personal note, I liked seeing a fictional character with problems similar to mine about recreationals, since that's very rare to see in print.

If you’re also a loss of consciousness fan, as I am, there’s a fair amount of that scattered throughout, too, not just the inciting incident. There's a vomiting scene near the end that's fairly graphic, so emetophobes may want to skip this one, since it's an important part of the story's climax.

There are rotating caretakers as different people in this small close-knit community circulate in and out of Cody's life, helping where they can before they go back to their own friends, relationships, and lives. There are moments of comfort, but no catharsis. There are moments of connection, but nothing lasting. This is not just a way to introduce us to more of the cast, it's also a way to emphasize Cody's isolation.

Characters and Setting:

Here we come to the other reason for this review. I grew up in a dry town in Eastern Washington, not a damp and temperate Canadian town, but the feeling of rural inertia, of gradual slow degeneration, is the same: the one storefront that's always empty, the ancient public art fading on walls, the community's gradual drain of youth and talent as people who can get out, do.

This is a fantastic example of an author not using a modern setting to avoid worldbuilding, but instead using that base to build a rich, detailed world. There's nothing supernatural here, but everything feels haunted in a very rural gothic way.

Theme (Mild Spoilers):

I would say the principal theme here is decay. Cody's town decays, his hygiene decays, his physical condition decays as he fails to take care of himself and his injury. His relationships remain, but they are stagnant, the same as they've always been. The accident that opens the story is an example of Cody's attempt to find connection with other people causing him real and lasting pain. Connections form around him, even with his help and approval, but they don't include him.

The ending doesn't bring cleansing and relief. It hints at those things, but we leave Cody worse off than we found him. I sat with this for a while before I came to that conclusion, wondering why I felt disturbed when the characters' tone was always light and practical. This story is actually very dark. The characters just don't necessarily find that surprising or unusual. They live in the same world Cody lives in, and this is a mundane awfulness that doesn't really even provoke horror for them, just mild concern and practical action. They get the thing done and move on. Will Cody actually get better? Maybe. It's definitely not certain.

Final Comments and Recommendation:

I enjoyed this story, but I enjoyed it as horror, a new experience for me with whump content. It's not the horror of blood and gore, which you can easily find around here, including in what I write myself. Nobody dies or even gets permanently maimed. It's a horror of emotional detachment, spiraling inward, creeping dread. It held my attention because of the sheer strength of atmosphere, even though it's a very different approach from other whump stories I've read.

If you're ready for something deeper and darker, for some meaty personal drama and character study with your whump tropes, this is absolutely for you! Go read it right now!