#for just the minority of rich ppl with no idea what to do with their money

[rpgbabe]

what that post is saying is not that people with bbls and botox today are hypocrites for decrying corsets.. it's saying the people who should be criticizing current-era barbarisms (whether or not they engage in them) choose to focus on barbarisms of the past instead? we don't have to neglect the fact that corsets and in general the dress and treatment of women in the past was a problem.. but maybe we start with what's literally happening all around us and being pushed in our face 24/7 TODAY in 20 fucking 24. like how can we nitpick about the beauty expectations of women a century or two ago when we're arguably even worse now.... it's about the irony.... it's not saying you can't criticize corsets and equally criticize excessive surgery + makeup practices of today.. it's saying.. why would you pick one? and, at that, the lesser one.

[snekdood]

like i really dont think ya understand the severity of the abuse- even aside from the sexual abuse-

i have bpd and come from a home where im not validated very well (obviously, bc thats what makes ppl bpd in the first place). i meet this person who validates me in every way i could possibly imagine or want (love bombing). they pretend to like me so much that they start to become like me and pick up traits of mine they like the most. they know they have a hold over me and power over me bc i didnt know how to validate myself and they were the only source of validation i had. so then they go ahead and start invalidating me and acting like im less of me and theyre somehow more of me. i knew who i was deep down but suddenly i felt unseen again and silenced and pushed into a corner. and then they act like im a horrible person (discarding phase) and serve me an entirely different version of me thats not who i am, but bc i didnt know how to validate myself and was reliant on them (something thats particularly important for this type of abuse to work), it made me question myself and who i was and what i was like and what my intentions were and what my actions were and if i could even trust my own reality all over again when i really didn’t fucking need to since i knew who i was deep down, but they somehow convinced me they knew me better. because i was reliant on them. i dont think you understand how much that fucks with you.

[taintedcigs]

✦ STRAWBERRIES & CREAM | steve h. x reader ✦

wc: 2k+

pairing: steve harrington x fem!reader

warnings: 18+ !!smut, smut smut!!, MINORS DNI!! swearing, nicknames (sweetheart, baby, princess, etc.) p in v, praises!! lots of praises! degrading if u squint really really hard but not really!! slight dom!steve, but mostly soft!dom!steve, sub!reader, kind of a breeding kink, creampie, steve is v horny, aftercare!! shitty aftercare bc i suck at writing endings JUST OVERALL FILTH MINORS DNI!!!

summary: you make steve a strawberry cake, and steve wants to return the favor.

authors note: FIRST TIME WRITING STEVE SMUT IM EXCITED!! im so very sorry about the shitty ending and the shitty aftercare, i had shitty men so i cannot write good aftercare OKAY!!! nah im jk hope yall enjoy it, PLS PLS leave me some feedback they r my joy and hope!! ALSO COME TALK TO ME IN ASKS, OR SEND ME PM IM V FRIENDLY I LOVE TALKING TO PPL okay that's it enjoy!! mwah xo, em💌

steve loves it. he absolutely loves when you do something for him, he adores the pretty smile you give him when he tells you how much he loves whatever it is you did for him.

but he can't help but get horny, so fucking horny when you do something for him. anything. when you bring him coffee at work, he's hard as a rock. when you take care of him after a stressful day, he's grateful, so grateful, but his bulge is tightening his pants.

and right now, when he sees you in your tight little sun dress as you're holding out a strawberry cake, his favorite, he knows he's about to explode.

he groans, actually groans as you dip your finger in the frosting holding out your fingers in front of his lips, his cock is strained in his pants, he needs you, and he needs you now.

his gaze remains attached to yours as he sucks on your finger, the rich flavors engulf his mouth, and he makes a popping sound causing you to rub your thighs together with the way his gaze devours you.

'what d'ya think?' you give him a small smile, excited for his feedback as you spent the entire day working on steve's favorite cake.

'tastes so fuckin' sweet, darlin' he murmurs as you giggle, looking up to him all doe-eyed, and steve swears you're doing it on purpose.

'do you like my surprise?' you ask, your eyes are lit up with hope and steve is putty in your hands, he adores the way your face is covered in flour, and he's quick to swipe it away, admiring your features.

'i love it, baby, you made this just for me?' he teases, his soft hands cup your cheeks, and you nod quickly, melting into his hands.

'mhmm, just for you stevie.' you murmur as you plant a kiss into his palm, and it's so soft, so fragile that steve feels perverted by the way he's thinking about you.

but he's desperate, so fucking desperate that all he wants to do is bend you over the counter and thrust into you till you scream out his name, making you cum over and over again while he watches your pretty face contort.

'wanna taste some too, stevie.' you whine as you point towards the cake, steve's pants tighten at what you're insinuating and he bites his cheek, his fingers dip into the frosting as he holds it in front of you.

you are quick to take his hand in yours, licking the frosting as you suck on his finger, all while holding your gaze with his, and you can almost see his pretty chestnut orbs become dark and lustful.

'you have no idea what you're doing to me, princess.' he sucks in a breath, 'fuck.' he almost groans and you look up at him all innocently.

'my pretty girl.' he murmurs as his lips crash into yours, they taste like strawberries and cream, he's gentle but rough, and so very needy.

'need you baby, need you s'fuckin' badly.' he groans into your lips, 'stevie...' you whine, pleading.

'what does my pretty girl need?' he cooes. 'you. need you inside.' you whine, so needily, so prettily that steve has no choice but to take care of his girl.

before you can comprehend it steve is quick to bend you over the kitchen counter, pressing your head on the cold counter with one hand while the other one is quick to unzip his pants.

'i got you, baby... i'm gonna give you everything you fuckin' need, princess.' he flips up your dress, groaning at the sight as he gives you a rough slap on your cheeks, making you yelp.

'shh, princess... you can take it, mmm? my good lil' girl can take it.' he lays a messy kiss on your back, giving you another slap as you whine again.

'p-please... need more, need your cock, stevie...' you plead, and steve pouts. 'such a needy lil' baby, are ya?' he mocks, and you nod, you want— need him.

his tip is leaking with pre-cum as he gives it a few tugs at the sight of your ass cheeks being covered with his handprints, he smirks, smugly. 's'fuckin' gorgeous...' he murmurs, he tugs at your lacy panties, dragging them down your thighs.

he's slow to kiss every inch of your thighs, he spreads them apart, placing sloppy kisses in your inner thigh from the back as your breath hitches, 'stevie...' you murmur.

'you say my name so pretty.' he praises, 'tell me what you want, doll.' he's teasing now as his lips come close to your pussy lips, but never close enough that you get what you need.

'p-please, stevie, your hands, your mouth, your cock, anything...' you plead, doe-eyed, and steve knows he could never say no to you.

'pretty baby, you know i would never say no to you if you begged for me like that, hmm?' he cooes, standing up now, cowering over your figure, his eyes are glazed with lust, you can't see him with your ass pressing onto his hardened cock, but from the tone of his voice you know how worked up he is.

his fingers are rough as they pinch your clit, causing you to whine. he slips one finger into your soaking folds, going deeper and deeper as you cry out, begging for more.

'is this what you wanted, sweets?' he murmurs, his lips are on your neck, sucking, nibbling, marking you in any way that he can.

'yes, yes!' you whine, steve's fingers are fast as they work in and out of you, his mouth is on each part of your body, almost. you can feel his thick cock, pressing harder against your ass, and it is driving you crazy, you need him inside of you.

'n-need more, stevie. need your cock.' you plead.

'does my good lil' girl want my cock inside?' he cooes, mockingly, making you nod frantically, 'yes, please stevie, please!' you cry out.

'what my pretty girl want, she gets.' he murmurs as he lines his angry tip along your entrance. he holds his cock with one hand while the other has a tight grip on your waist, then to tease you further, he starts tapping his leaking tip against your aching clit, letting out a hum.

you whine at the movement, feeling empty. 'such a pretty fuckin' sight, my gorgeous girl.' mewled groans escape his pretty lips, without letting a whine escape your pretty lips again he thrusts his hips into you in a quick movement, causing you to gasp at the feeling.

with both of his hands, he grips your waist, sheathing his cock inside of you slowly and more steadily now, bending you over further as he works his cock inside of you making you moan and whimper beneath him.

'f-fuck, princess. i'll never get used to how well this tight cunt takes me." his voice is raspy.

"so fuckin' warm.' he groans, his head thrown back as you feel your tight cunt stretch with each of his movement.

he sinks deeper, and deeper into you, burying himself to the hilt, making sure that you feel every ridge, every inch of his cock.

he brings one of his hands against your head, pressing you further into the counter as he thrusts further into you, causing you to suck in a breath when his ridge pushes against your clit again.

'harder, stevie, p-please...' you cry out and steve groans at your words, the way you beg him for more makes him squeeze his eyes shut with pleasure.

'my needy fuckin' girl.' he groans as he removes his cock from your warm pussy, and it almost causes you to whine because of the emptiness, begging for him to fill you up, but before you can steve pushes his girthy cock inside of you again, deeper, and harder.

all the thoughts leave his head, the only thing he cares about now is how you are bent over beneath him, begging for more, crying out his name as your ass jiggles each time he holds a tighter grip and shoves his cock inside of your tight hole.

all he cares about is how warm and tight your cunt feels, and all you care about is how well he fills your hole, so big, and his cock is ridged in all the right places that make you scream out his name.

he's not slowing down as he keeps up his thrusts, he wants you creaming his cock, screaming out his name as he fills your walls with his load.

he wants to ruin you and put you back together all at the same time, he wants you desperate, begging to him to let you cum, over and over again, until your clit is so sensitive that you cannot handle it anymore.

the room is filled with steve's curses and his praises, 'takin' me so well sweets.'

'such a good lil' girl for me, aren't ya?' and the sounds of your skin slapping against each other.

'need to cum, stevie. can i please cum?' you plead, whining still, and steve tries to slow down to not let you cum, but he can't help himself, his movements are still quick and he cannot control his pace when you teasingly arch your ass against him, causing your tight cunt to engulf around his cock, he throws his head back in pleasure, eyes squeezed shut.

'f-fuck, baby, doin' so well for me, you can cum for me, babygirl.' he cooes as he bites onto your shoulder to hold himself from spilling his load into you. 'cum for me sweets, cream my cock.'

'i wanna feel you, princess. i wanna feel every fucking inch of this sweet pussy.' he groans as he strokes into you over and over again.

your warm cunt clamps around his cock, steve feels you release through his cock as you cry out for his name.

steve can't hold it in anymore, your pretty whines, the way you moan out his name, and the 'o' shape your pretty little lips take as you orgasm around him is enough to get him to empty his balls inside of you.

's-shit baby, can't hold it in much longer.' he curses.

'cum for me, stevie. wanna feel your warm load inside me.' you whine, praising him, and he groans loudly.

with a final thrust of his lips into your soaked warm cunt, he spills his seed inside of you. you can feel his cock pulse inside of you, it's warm and fills your hole to the brim.

steve groans loudly, and it's so blissful to your ears, he's so beautiful when he's loud and whiny, you think to yourself as your head is filled with nothing but steve.

he collapses on top of you, putting all of his weight onto you, hugging you from behind as you can hear his heavy breathing, still cursing as he praises you.

'my good lil' girl, pretty lil' baby.' he murmurs as he kisses your shoulders, when he's sure that every single drop of his cum is inside of you, he finally slips out.

he turns you around to face him, and you collapse in his arms, feeling dizzy, you hum. 'you're s'good, stevie.' you murmur weakly and it causes a smug chuckle out of steve, he gives your forehead a soft kiss.

'let's get you cleaned up, sweetheart.' you gaze up at him as he picks you up, carrying you with his strong arms.

his honey-glazed eyes are mesmerizing as they look down on you, you adoringly admire his features. he's so pretty after he cums, his beautiful hair lays messily on his forehead, and he has the most adoring gaze.

'wanna take a bath with me? so we can clean you up, pretty girl?' he asks, and you nod. 'mhmm, please.'

he carries you to the bathroom, and you let your hands run over his face, admiring his beauty marks and his always-perfect hair.

'so pretty.' you murmur as steve places you down, running the shower as he chuckles at your comment.

'thank you.' he hums as he places a kiss on your forehead, it's gentle and filled with endearment.

'for what?' you ask, confused.

'for the cake, for the coffees, for all the little things you do for me. and for caring about me, always.' his hands are soft as they cup your cheeks.

'i love you, pretty girl.' he murmurs.

'i love you too, stevie.' you giggle as your lips softly graze against his.

[shattersstar]

ok but we need to hear more about college dick now👀👀

hehe ask and u shall receive because ohhh myyy dick in college is such a messsssssss but like so pretty it’s almost unfair

—

i love the idea of dick and a bunch of his friends getting a house together with the intent of being Normal for the first time in a while, which means being absolute menaces as most 20 smth yr old guys are

very much known for being a party house bordering a frat but all the guys r so nice that it’s rlly hard to think of them like that. it’s a space where he can let go, feel like himself and with the encouragement of his friends, dick puts the brakes on like relationship hunting and just has fun..

he’s been in pretty committed relationships since he was old enough to be and has always struggled with casual dating let alone sleeping with people he barely know. but when dick learns there r ppl out there looking for the same thing and not everyone wants to b the next future ex mr/mrs. grayson it makes it a lil easier to be his charming self with no bounds <33

and then he mets you and it’s the usual routine, flirting you to his bedroom which is in the basement—of course—well alllllmost doing so until you vanish out of his grasp for reasons dick cannot discern (you weren’t here for him silly)

and while he’s not like one of those oh i wanted to hit and couldn’t so im gonna chase you types, dick does have to reconcile with the fact your friends with roy and spend a lot of time at the house now

which also means he learns how cool you r and how goofy he feels for just tryna sleep with you

and despite his friends vouching for him you really only see (and have heard the numerous rumours) dick as a rich playboy and that’s not for you. plus he’s def a business or poli sci major……….but with a psych minor bc it feels the most practical despite how boring dick finds most of his classes

though when he realizes your both in a psych elective together he’s all toothy grins and obnoxious air which isn’t helping his case but of course he’s a decent student and when you mentioned hating statistics—you were stuck with the worse prof outta the two—dick jumped at the chance to help

you were sooooooo skeptical and even though agreed you kept brushing him off until dick just started helping you when you were over to hang out. he drops a textbook in your lap while sitting in roy’s bed or starts reviewing your notes and adding examples while your hanging out on the living room floor building lego sets with everyone else.

and dick did that a lot—sure it was his house and roy was his best friend along with all of his other housemates but dick never hesitated to insert himself into whatever you were doing when you came over. and it shouldn’t surprised you but everyone being so..unbothered by it had you confused. like maybe that’s how dick is but it spoke bounds to their closeness and was the First time you actually saw a little more to dick than just some campus hottie douchebag who threw parties to get laid

and while you weren’t about to tell dick that, you did start coming over with the intent of working on stats together. it usually meant dick having to re-lecture whatever your prof barely managed to explain and helping you with the page long equations needed for assignments

and dick keeps it as platonic as possible, on a mission to prove he’s not the person you think he is and not only because he wanted to be with you—well yeah he does—but because dick cares what you think about him. he knows his friends care about you and value what you have to say and he wants you to know it’s the same for him

and maaaybe you see that too but dick needs to suffer a little more

—

bonus: you talk to dick abt ppl you’re interested in at some point (either genuinely or to mess with him) when he insists on always hanging out with you and roy. and while he gives advice with a smile, still trying to prove his capacity for mature, platonic relationships, dick screams into his pillow later that night when he goes over the convo again and again and agai—

bonus bonus: he’s probably on the school’s gymnastics team <3

[nerves-nebula]

a lot of my internal issues come from this idea that my parents installed in me that if you're dumb you deserve it when bad things happen to you. most ppl don't phrase it like that tho, they phrase it more like "a smart person wouldn't be in that situation" which is insane cuz like... even if we accept that premise as true, wouldn't being stupid inherently prevent you from having seen it coming? like wasn't this persons ignorance a clear and obvious factor into them being victimized???

it's just a really depressing mindset, made worse by the fact that it's incredibly pervasive no matter what side of politics ur into. in a kind of kneejerk "well what did she expect" way or something. my sister and i were talking about the Meghan Markle stuff years ago back when that was relevant and her talking about racism in the royal family or w/e and my sister kept saying like. well what did she expect its the british royal family.

and i was like yeah i know better and you know better because we're little freaks who are more into politics than most people, and neither of us even really cares about her cuz shes rich and successful like. she'll be fine. but that doesn't mean she somehow deserved racism or it's not important just cuz she supposedly should've known better?

and what does that even mean, that cuz shes not 100% white she should know all the things about race and history that white ppl get to ignore? that the onus is on her to anticipate every racist scenario and if she fails to do so it's her fault?

(side note that could be its own entire post, but i don't like the idea that ppl in a minority group are supposed to be especially well read on its history or w/e. not cuz i dont want ppl to learn their histories but because it creates a double standard where ppl in a majority get a pass for knowing the most basic things and ppl in the minority get harshly scrutinized for not knowing everything perfectly)

but my sister just kept repeating like. she should've known better, it's stupid that she didn't know better, and like yes it wasn't exactly fucking WISE of her but how is that in any way a response to what we're discussing here. you and i both know the royal family is hella racist, but you and I are not The Average Person and more important you and i are not Meghan Merkle. we dont know how she was raised or what she was taught or why she didn't expect the racism or maybe why she thought she could withstand the racism if she DID expect it. "I don't care that she experienced racism cuz she's stupid for expecting them to not be racist and she's rich anyway." is a wild thing to say but it's like. kind of an acceptable opinion on most things.

you see it with sexual assault obviously (what was she wearing, why was she in that place at that time, didn't she know that's dangerous?? etc etc) but if you look you start to notice it everywhere. about every single possible thing. even in circumstances where they could only have been victimized if they were ignorant on some subject or another- which inherently selects for people who are ignorant!!

am i making sense here or what. ok bedtime

[nightcolorz]

hey bro love your posts never stop entertaining us pls

random ass question whats your favorite minor character from tvc?

Thank u ❤️❤️ 😁😁

this is a touch question lol bcus I have so many favorite minor characters, I’m a tvc minor character fanatic. I can’t choose one so I’m just gonna list of all my fav minor characters lmao.

I love Khayman hes so real. He reminds me of a socially anxious large dog who just really wants to make friends but he keeps scaring them off 😭. That part in queen of the damned where he reacts to the popularity of vampires in pop culture like a kid seeing themselves represented in tv for the first time was so funny omh i was living. Vampire from ancient Egypt buys Dracula cosplay bcus he wants ppl to like him was a genius idea thanks Anne rice. Khayman just, his whole personality reminds me of a character who’d be in what we do in the shadows he’s so inspired. Omg remember when he was so excited to go to lestats concert and meet other vampires and then he’s inside for two seconds, instantly gets overstimulated, and then sits outside for the rest of the time 😭 Khayman might be me guys.

I also love Fareed and Seth 😭😭. I love that Anne rice casually wrote an ancient Egyptian vampire and a modern day Anglo Indian vampire falling in gay love with each other and funding an unhinged vampire mad science hospital, and the Egyptian vampire is AKASHA’S SON 😭😭. the reveal that Akasha has a living vampire son who has been quietly living under the radar for the entire book series just practicing science and pursuing his passion for healthcare alongside his long term partner had me clapping and cheering I stg. They also have sm personality 😭 especially Fareed he’s so iconic. This bitch tricked lestat into giving him his sperm for cloning experiments and he served cunt while doing it. I love that they raised Lestat’s clone son as their gay dads, just so much there. Fareed and Seth u will always be famous

BENJI MAHMOUD!!! I love him sm. I’m also a big fan of sybelle but Benji occupies my mind a concerning amount. Like what kind of character?? There is sm going on with him. First of all he’s Bedouin and Palestinian and then he’s human trafficked to America by an insane man who wants him to be the house slave and take care of his disabled sister second of all he’s twelve and he’s a canon genius and he chain smokes to cope with his insane life third of all he is turned into a vampire by Marius and grows up into an immortal child who’s unfazed by being twelve for ever bcus hes such a chad it doesn’t affect him and he becomes a rich and famous business owner who wears fedoras and runs a vampire podcast and he single handedly kickstarts the plot of Prince lestat and causes the vampire government to happen bcus hes such a good activist he convinces all the characters to be better. Anyways wtf. Also I love sybelle she’s such a darling ❤️ Benji and sybelle and Armand’s little family is everything to me.

DENIS??? Wtf even was that. On a similar note Antoine. I love them both bcus they r incredibly interesting and rlly sad and they reveal so much evil about my fav characters anddd they both happened to be unforgivably butchered by the amc show ❤️

andddd last and also least haha kidding, Benedict ❤️. I feel so bad for him 😭but he’s also so real. Ben was the guy who Magnus manipulated and pretended to be friends with and then he chained him up and forced him to turn him into a vampire 😰. I love the concept where he was the first and only vampire to ever be “raped” by his fledgling, and I feel bad that all the other vampires treat him like shit for it 😭. He’s just a little guy. He’s such a pillow princess also. I can’t count all the times in Prince lestat where Bens described as lounging gracefully on the bed or whatever. Forever twink and hashtag loving it. What a dude

[seongminiz]

dilf!minhee thoughts

minors dni ; dilf!minhee x fem reader ; ~438 words

warnings : age gap (not specified how much) , infidelity , reader is a homewrecker n they r both just not good ppl overall , little bit of a size kink bc ... yea , some jealousy n toxic behavior , breeding , unprotected sex , babytrapping , srsly if u dont like this kind of content dont read it ‼️

not proof read ! this might be the best thing i've ever written im giggling kicking my feet i just had a burst of productivity n started writing down things i dont even know if any of this makes any sense

being a homewrecker with dilf!minhee ? seducing him to cheat with the hot uni student who babysits his toddler . his marriage has been going to shit for a while now - mostly a marriage of convenience between two rich people - but u were just what he needed to ruin it to the point of no return !

just like he ruins u everytime his (soon to be ex) wife is away for the night - be it for work or because they had a fight . whining (bc he might be a dilf but hes also a pathetic man („• ᴗ •„) /pos) in ur ear abt how hes going to make u a mommy and breed u so full u won't be able to keep it in as he relentlessly pounds into ur overstimulated n abused hole ,, n u cant help but mindlessly nod at his words , not fully processing the consequences of ur actions when u r too focused on being fucked so so good .

n same goes for him , he should be the better person here , be more mature , understand that what u two r doing is wrong - keyword : should . he couldn't care less , all he cares abt is filling u up n seeing u struggle to take his cock whole bc hes just too big for u no matter how many times he fucks u , promising that next time it won't hurt as much , and when it does indeed hurt he quiets your cries down by kissing u , whispering against ur lips that he'll make it fit („• ᴗ •„)

n then as days , weeks , months pass without him actually breaking off his marriage u start getting impatient , jealous because he promised he would divorce as soon as he could . but his words r starting to sound more n more like empty promises , just like all those things he tells u abt having a family with you , they r nothing but words empty of value he says in the heat of the moment .

so , u do what sounds like the best solution to u . u get minhee to fuck u more than usual , riling him up with every chance u get so u can end up with his cock buried deep in ur cunt , tip brushing against ur cervix so well u almost forget abt ur plan , going as many rounds as u can n never letting him come outside , not even once . already relishing in ur victory , holding back a smile at the idea of putting on your best act once that pregnancy test will show positive and he'll have no choice but to be with you !

[time-to-write-and-suffer]

Ppl are (understandably) upset abt fae shit taking over YA/NA romance but I think getting mad at the very concept of fae and why it's popular won't really do much. Mainly because the "fae" we see in popular books are just the same flavor of guy, with minor variations based on author appeal. The "fae" are no different from the vampires back in the Twilight ripoff era (in fact they can be traced all the way back to Twilight itself), they're just using a different word for that specific flavor of Straight Romance Guy and his associated tropes, which is what you're really mad at.

Usually the main fae guy is a bigstrong man, there's some sort of mating system, potentially some gender essentialism, and everyone's a model. It's a generic but "appealing" (to mostly straight women) enough concept that it can be pretty much anything you want it to be, all while tapping into that high fantasy/"political intrigue"/enemies-to-lovers buzzword soup. I think the only reason this trope is specifically called fae and not elves is because you want to be darker and edgier, and elves have a cultural association with being more ethereal and sexless. So we have these guys, who are really just the same guy, who are really just elves who fuck, and we call it fae because it sounds more mysterious and, well, fey than elves.

(It could also be argued that fae and elves are the same guy also, but most girlies are not ready for that conversation.)

I think it's understandable that it became this way, as the concept of "fair folk" exists across different cultures and has fewer set rules compared to Tolkien/D&D elves. It has a bigger and more varied pool of inspiration for writers to take ideas from. However, instead of actually taking ideas from any folklore, a lot of the current fae shit is just repackaged vampire/werewolf stuff: these are guys who are better than you, they have superpowers, they fight and fuck like animals, and they claim your weak human body with their bites, and the ultimate upgrade is becoming one of them. It's the same old shit under a different name.

The reason it feels like an epidemic is because smaller authors are just cribbing shit from the bigger ones and using the same names for the same guys, the same tropes, the same plots. Like "oh this made me horny, so I'll just repeat it!" and this echo chamber has begun spawning its very own lore and mythology, and newer authors are assuming that this is based on real folklore and not some woman's personal wank bank, and don't bother to check because this is good and made them horny, so why change what works? Like, I've legit seen authors claim that SJM didn't invent fae mating because "it's part of the original mythology." Which, to be very clear and admirably restrained, is not the case. SJM didn't invent mating, but it's not becuse it's "original folklore." It's just the same old stuff but with a different name, and unfortunately, the fair folk and associated folklore is a lot more vague than, say, werewolves or vampires, and that's why these tropes are now becoming "canon" lore.

We've basically taken a vaguely defined existing concept, slapped its name on the old paranormal romance tropes of yore, and because there's no cultural understanding of fae the same way there was vampires, there's no "vampires don't sparkle" pushback, and we've begun adopting a few women's fetishes as the Universal Truth, and that's the part you hate. The part where it's the Same Guy again, but he's wearing a different hat.

And while I get why you'd be tired of this shit specifically (I am also tired), I think to dismiss fae in general is like dismissing vampires back when Twilight was popular. It's a type (or types, rather) of supernatural creature that has a rich history across cultures and it's a well of inspiration for writers that has been used before and will be used after. I think to blanket-dismiss the concept of fae in a book is counterproductive. You want to encourage writers to tap deeper into that well if you want that generic samey-ness to go away. What you want to dismiss are the tired tropes that are forced on otherwise interesting folklore/mythology that's open to endless different interpretations.

At the same time, I do fully understand why wouldn't want to do that, because as much as writers like to complain that readers just don't get their flavor of unique, sometimes there's just not a lot to get. It's the same fucking guy, girlies. You wrote the same guy again! To find one unique and interesting take on the fae, you have to sift through a thousand of That One Guy, and it's just not worth it.

(There are also and will always be really cool books about fae that aren't romance as well, but I'm specifically talking abt romance because it's infested with fae shit right now and I get it. I really do get it, I get both sides of the issue. I'm part of the problem, I wanna see cool fae shit with romance so I keep reading them, but it's the same guy again, so I'm writing my own, but it might be the same guy again because I'm also braindead!)

Anyway, I look forward to years from now when fae get their renaissance and we get wacky and interesting takes on them. First we had Twilight, now we get What We Do in the Shadows. First we got ACOTAR, and eventually we'll get ... ??? We'll see! We can only go up from here!

[magnoliamyrrh]

theres something deeply disingenous abt how whenever some issue gets brought up let's say abortion for example ppl on this website wanna pretend like white american women have nothing to say on it and wont be impacted and as if white american women have experienced like, no opression in america. as if till VERY RECENTLY they had no right to vote, to say no to sex in marriage, own a bank account, get abortions - hey, remember too when white women literally had to kneel in front of their husbands and beg their sins to be forgiven, and when they put those god awful mechanical cages on their faces to force them to smile?

yea. listen. i have my issues w many of them too for sure. but this sort of attitude is detached from reality

are we still aware Many white women exist in this country who are poor? like, poor as shit. who will Most definitely and Have Already Been impacted by the abortion laws bc they dont have the money to simply leave the state to another one to get an abortion (and also, bc the governments have made it illegal to do so). Can we not pretend that there arent white women who live in grueling poverty, especially in the rust belt and other such places where there are entire communities forgotten by everyone in deep poverty? can we not pretend white teenage girls dont get raped and forcibly impregnated? can we not pretend many of them dont come from very conservative families which either never gave them the education to know about sex and abortion, or would not allow them to get one? can we not pretend that white women arent still experiencing domestic abuse and rape and other forms of male violence in this country, also, one of them being being killed by men the moment they find out theyre pregnant?

even like "rich white women" in which case the conversation stops actually being predominantly about race but is now Actually about class status and yes, there are minority women w money. even rich women and them rich white women and Girls are susceptible to domestic abuse, rape, and violence, as well as having insane conservative families which would flip their shit if they found out they had an abortion. And yes, many of those conservative families Wont make an exception for their daughters and will absolutely force their little girls and teenagers, wether it be rape or consensual, to Not get an abortion and carry out a pregnancy till the end. Also, theres plenty of cases in which higher class women are so not because they have their own independent money but bc of their husbands money, which again makes the idea that they can just willy nilly skip town to another state for an abortion easily unrealistic and detached from reality. Yes. there Are Definetely cases in which economic status means a women in a place which has banned abortions will still b able to get one, absolutely. but its more complicated than what ppl make it out to be

like, this website going on for weeks about how american white women have like nothing to say on abortion and it being banned was insane and the peak of dumbass identity politics being taken to an extreme. the other part of this too people going "the handmaidens tale is so stupid blah blah there will never be a time when white women will be used as broodmaids" like..... yall are fucking stupid and have no idea, like clearly absolutely no idea of the history of america like At All, and because you live in a liberal area youve got no idea what conservative and rural america is like in the current day either

-_- this is way past the point of complains about white women. this is just stupidity and frankly fucking privilege lmao to not understand a series of things and its also another example of identity politics taken to a stupid level, being used to divide women, not being an Actually productive conversation, and also the erasure of class

[m0tel6mxzzy]

I'm watching the new GG and it's horrible but I still be watching. I am excited for the inclusion of a diverse cast, but I am also kinda concerned because as much as I honestly do want to see POC be rich and be assholes, there should be a point where they do talk about race. Even with the old GG, I wish they would've talked about race. There is a possible reality that Constance Billard was a predominantly white institution. There is a possibility that Nelly Yuki, Kati Farkas and Isabel Coates would have sadly faced forms of racism, even if it was mircoaggressions. Unless GG exists in a world where racism doesn't exist (I don't think this is true), then there is a possibility that some of the characters will face some form of being racialized. Their race will become apparent in some cases. I was excited to see Monet kinda hint at the possibility that the De Haan's still feel like they don't fit in. I honestly am really curious about Isabel Coates and what her life would have been like post CB, post BLM and going into adulthood. I know people hate making things about race, but there is a reality that we want to see consistently depicted. Maybe GG exists in a world where racism isn't apparent, and that's okay, but they would have to sorta explain that

anon i 100% am so glad u sent me this and i appreciate your ask. personally, i do think the issue kinda falls down on it being implied but not so much addressed. i think regarding monet’s talk w her mom, they are fully aware of racism they will experience as black members of predominantly white high societies that expect a sort of model minority standard to be respected. monet simply cannot get angry or emotional, hence she falls into the trope black women are often placed into as angry and erratic.

i think especially as a black girl watching, no matter ur wealth race just connects u especially in a setting like the us that has a complicated history w racism toward poc. i said in prev posts i see monet in myself the way i do ashley from fresh prince. in that show, which has an all black cast, race and it’s ties to black culture was always discussed and ashley played a part in it despite her wealth, bc at the end of the day she was a black girl and that cannot be separated from the attributes and experiences that make her her.

monet doesn’t really get much of this despite being a main character bc there’s so much focus on julien and zoya, who, despite being the only other black female mains don’t have race inferred at all, really. i see a similar issue w rue from euphoria, her race is never mentioned at all but being black as well as dealing w mental illness and drug addiction and not fitting the model minority in a family w a mom who has high expectations of her is bound to get to her. i have no idea what it’s like to be a biracial black girl, but i do notice when it comes to black female characters who are, their blackness is seen as sort of an afterthought??? it is just never addressed. and even w zoya and julien i find that strange bc when ur black in a predominantly white area like constance u just KNOW. lmao. u know. so it also pisses me off more when audrey is making classist comments on zoya when it’s incredibly possible her wealth could’ve been built of the backs of black ppl than when monet is. her only growth so far in my opinion is w makidrey and i get so annoyed seeing her belittle zoya covertly just bc all her friends are while claiming she doesn’t care abt the status quo (monet has to bc it’s her only way to further advance in a society that already expects so much of her for her race.)

i think that’s exactly why camille is so strict on monet—monet does not live up to that especially with her grades/bribery/scandals, whereas audrey and max simply do not have this pressure due to already being accepted for their race. they tend to be able to get away w a lot more than the poc in the group bc they were not raised to adhere to certain non-eurocentric cultural standards, they were raised to assimilate to preserve their cultures in high society. all characters like audrey/blair/serena know is high society w no negative racial connotation.

tldr: put black writers in the writers room and give the black actors more ability to add race into the context of their character and maybe we’ll get somewhere????

[genderisareligion]

I'm reading your recently asks and honestly, I can't help but think how post-modernism was so detrimental to prevent black women from developing their class consciousness around sex and race together. It's pretty clear how what support TRA ideology isn't only homophobia and misogyny but also racism, specially the misogynoir against black women. However, instead of us, black radical women, create tools to fight our erasure and the tokenization of our particular experiences, we just counterattack TRAs bs and that's it!

We need to recover all the knowledge women before us gave us and together with other black women, develop new insights. For example, femininity is often dismissed as a tool of oppression not only because ppl don't actually believe in sexism but also because they misinterpret black women's criticisms towards the prominent white lenses women's oppression are often discussed. So, if Black women and white women have differences, femininity can also be different to both and that's a very wrong way to see the whole thing. Femininity isn't only about look pretty, femininity is the social place of the oppressed, it's not a surprised how effeminate men are targeted of violence and how MOCs deal with their feelings of being “emasculated” trying to replicate the white patriarchal family, the prime example of masculinity and femininity(Some black radical feminists like Celestine Ware made very good analysis of this phenomenon).

Because femininity(instead of female emancipation) is viewed as desirable to black women reclaim their humanity in liberal perspectives(and unfortunately, they're very abundant among black women and I think we don't discuss it enough because we have this established idea that these things are “white women bs”, not a larger liberal tendency that is present in many movements, even socialism), we can't discuss let alone fight against misogynoir and the worst part of this is that now, our experiences have been stolen by upper class white men.

I agree that we need to gather together more somehow. Black radfems could really use another collective like this for example

And you're right about "femininity (instead of female emancipation) being viewed as desirable to black women reclaim their humanity." Unfortunately because of choice feminism/postmodern individualism it can be a self enforced prison sometimes among black women, holding ourselves and each other to impossible beauty standards and calling that liberation. I agree that we don't talk about it enough.

It's hard when these days you can be considered "self hating" or accused of having "internalized misogynoir" if you critique weave/makeup/plastic surgery culture too much (as if those things are inherently "us"). It's hard when a lot of the times the goal of embracing femininity as "praxis" is the for the roundabout or just straight up approval of black men, and heterosexual black women make up the majority of us and of course they feel pressured to keep up the look when the retaliation for not doing so is vicious misogyny and sometimes violence. It's hard when everywhere I look in the media rich and famous (out of touch) black women are encouraging younger women without their privileges and advantages to rely on external validation (often from men) which can be extremely dangerous given our rates of victimization

I don't think it's a hopeless situation though, even if sometimes it feels like I'm in a tiny minority these days because black gender believing liberals are so loud. But I know other black women who are disillusioned by femininity and our lack of sex class consciousness.

And it helps to read these anons of course 🖤 Whoever y'all are dropping these analysis bombs on me please continue lol

[princeanxious]

New au idea just dropped: abducted by aliens + found family; familial anadukeceit addition with a twist:

tw: minor abducted by aliens, mentions of illegal scientific experimentation on a minor, general au theme following the rescues of ppl getting abducted, those are the big ones, lmk if i missed anything!

Virgil and Remus are normal adult humans that are part of a galactic crew that specializes in rescuing aliens that were abducted for black market trade and experimentation purposes and rehabilitating them

Janus is a young teenage human who'd been abducted and experiemented on for two years before his rescue, leaving him half-covered in abnormally healthy scales, sharp fangs and coldblooded-like qualities, and without a way to talk like he used to.(he can growl and hiss and whine ect., but they mostly ruined his ability to mimick sounds without it being painful and thus he cannot actually try to speak without pain.) He's not seen another live human in years, and is way too young to know how to cope with it, so he doesn't trust anything anymore and often comes off as extremely violent because he doesn't know whats a threat and what isnt, and isnt honestly sure hes not experiencing a vivid nightmare half the time.

Cue this team getting a report from a different rescue group about requesting help for a specific rescue from their mostly human rescue team, this time its about a small earth-like dealthworlder that had been discovered and rescued as one of the few surviving aliens from an illegal testing facility.

Report lists it as extremely volitile and hostile, but only when provoked(see: any attempt to interact with it). If left alone, it simply cowers in a corner and cries. There have been efforts to get it to eat that have only been semi successful due to the poor thing seemingly not being able to digest certain foods, and they worry it will simply die of starvation, or loneliness, if they cant get it's condition stable.

The reason theyre requesting Virgil's team is because the original rescue has never seen this kind of alien before, but it looks mostly human and thats the assumption. Humans are known to have high-packbonding instincts, and that persistence for kinship is pretty much this rescue's last hope.

To the humans, its a bit of a far leap seeing as they arent provided with any clear pictures of the thing, but its their job and theyre getting paid to do it, might as well try.

They.. They arent prepared to arrive to the sight of a child. Well, sort of child. A teenager? Whose regardless way too thin and quite too small to look anything but vastly unhealthy.

From his one side of his ribs curled up all the way around one side of his face and down that arm are rich yellow scales, that perhaps look like the healthiest part of him.

He wears a blindfold from his previous containment, and word has it the first alien to try and take it off was met with the worst lash-out yet and was still in recovery. They had kept it on him because he wont let anyone near take it off. It keeps him calm to be sightless, and its unfortunately all they can do to keep him that way.

And well, while Remus has always been the best at taming some of the wilyest deathworld creatures, its actually Virgil who has skill in taming those few labeled 'deadly.'

He sees this 'dangerous' behavior for what it really is.

Fear.

This is a child who is scared, terrified, and lashing out at anything that doesn't feel safe.

So you can imagine the brief uptic in nervous alien chatter from the main observation room when Virgil decides to walk straight into the containment room with no gear, no food, nothing but himself and his jacket.

Its a little jarring to hear a teenager hiss angrily at you, but Virgil used to Be That Teenager, so he doesn't really react. And he can see it when he speaks, using a soft and comforting voice, the way this kid freezes at being spoken to. In a langauge he understands.

"Hey buddy."

There's an immediate growl of uncertainty, pressing himself further away. Disbelief. It cant be, right? It's been 2 years since hes been in a room with another living human, there's no way.

..Right?

"Cmon now, none of that. It's just me here right now. My names Virgil."

He doesn't really want to believe it, that hes hearing another human. But he cant help the instinctual need to turn and hide the scales, the thing that makes him a freak of nature, no human would want him after what had been done to him.

Its a slow back and forth, really. Virgil asking a mundane question and getting some cautious hiss or growl or click in reply. But slowly, ever so slowly, the boy is relaxing.

"Can I reach my hand out? I wont touch you, okay? I want you to reach out too, if you're okay with that. We can move at your pace, okay?"

And maybe he gets a slightly petulant whine, but theres no aggression. Just. stress.

He holds his hand out, palm down, and waits. And is rewarded with an extrsmely shaky hand reaching out and grasping his own with a little fumbling. And then theres a pause, where the boy is taking thw time to register the hand.

Human.

And then the boy is all but flinging himself forward, blindly reaching out with a sob. Maybe some aliens in the observation room tense, but the humans in the room remain completely calm.

And now Virgil has a lap full of entirely too distraught child and no say in the matter, but thats fine. Hes content to just hold the poor thing and let the kid cry it out, god knows he needed this.

They learn this kids name, Janus, through some shake tracing of fingers on skin, then pen to paper. He's barely 16, and was abducted at age 14.

They learn one eye had been tampered with as well to match the scales, but all that was successful was a color change to yellow. It fortunately affects Janus's sight very little, except when hes tired and finds himself with migraines from his eyes being tired.

Janus is a special case, because he cant go back home, not with the things hes seen and experienced, as the galactic rescue is still a bit of a secret to earth. But hes a minor, so he cant very well join the rescue yet, even if he wanted to.

So, Virgil and Remus adopt him. Janus is more than happy about it, despite his struggles to show it.

They have a number of humans and humanoids on their team, one of which is a therapist named Emile(human), and another who is their navigator and unofficial translator named Remy(half-human).

Janus p much gets unofficially adopted by them as well, standing in as the cool uncles most likely, but through them he learns to deal with his trauma, and gets to learn how to communicate via galactic hand-sign language.

Sometimes a family can be a Team Rescue Group Leader, his Danger Tamer Chaotic Boyfriend, and their Half Danger-Noodle Half-Sassy Human Son, and two fun uncles who collectively know how to heal trauma and 47 different ways to say 'fuck you' in alien.

[moonlit-imagines]

Headcanons for being Tony Stark’s stepkid

Tony Stark x Potts!child!reader

warnings: alcohol mention

a/n: i rushed these so bad i just wanted to post dhhshsnsna

prompt: y/n is pepper’s kiddo!

it was just you and your mom for a long time

pepper and y/n potts

she couldn’t keep up with you sometimes, too busy dealing with the manchild that was mister anthony edward stark

speaking of—

“uh, who’s this?” -tony, pointing at you

“mr. stark, i am so sorry, the school closed because some kid set fire to the science lab and i didn’t have time to find a sitter—”

“no, it’s fine, no need to apologize. hey, kid, you wanna sit in the boss’s chair? i’ll let you run the company for the day!” *cue you nodding* “sweet, would you mind that, ms. potts?”

“oh? no, not at all” *mouthing* “thank you”

“so, uh, what’s your name? no, don’t tell me: ketchup.”

*giggling* “y/n”

“no way! that was my second guess!”

tony wasn’t used to being around kids

he had no idea that he was actually kind of good around them

despite a few minor hiccups

“you sit in my chair and im gonna spin you around, sound like fun?”

he spun you around WAY too fast and you were diiiiizzy, also you fell off the chair

“don’t tell your mom that we did that. she may be my assistant, but she scares the shit out of me. also, don’t say ‘shit’”

dude he just thought you were a cool kid!!!

“hey, you know, ms. potts, you dont really need to hire a babysitter anymore. y/n’s doing just fine hanging out here”

“how am i not surprised you befriended an actual child?”

she still took him up on his offer, you seemed pretty happy

when your mom worked late, you passed out in tonys office

tony and you had your own little secrets (like falling off the spinning chair), tony showed you around stark tower, and you practically lived there

“i got you a happy meal from mcdonalds!” -tony every day after your school

in all honesty, you weren’t the “popular” kid at school...not even close

but tony made up for it

“y/n! i found this old racecar toy in a box of old stuff, you wanna hold onto it for me?”

you kind of grew up in stark tower tbh? it was pretty cool

and as you grew up, you started to notice more

“mr. tony, do you have a crush on my mom?”

“do i what? no, no, i do—who the hell am i kidding? you caught me”

“called it!”

after that you did everything to try and get them together

when your mom was talking to tony, you would stand behind her and wiggle your eyebrows and just taunt tony endlessly

no! tony cannot remember your mom’s birthday for the life of him! you are his calendar now

“dude, why dont you just ask JARVIS to remind you?”

“i may be a genius, but that doesn’t mean i have common sense”

“wise words, sir” -JARVIS

when tony disappeared for 3 months you were so sad???? like you were not okay at all

no

and when he came back, he literally exited the plane saying “WHERE’S ‘T-POTT??’”

(your wonderful nickname. ‘t’ for ‘tony jr.’ and ‘pott’ for ‘potts’)

“my mom missed you”

“oh, i bet she did”

“you turned my child into you, tony. i will never forgive you for this”

“well, at least y/n was here to fill in for me, huh?”

tony wanted to show you the arc reactor but he was actually afraid of scarring you lmfaoooo

but he did let you in on the iron man secret (he knew you wouldn’t snitch)

and just to make sure:

“if you dont tell anyone, i’ll buy you a car when you turn 16”

“man, that’s like, forever away”

“good, maybe you’ll forget by then”

ur mom kinda maybe sorta found out abt iron man :/ she told you that tony was a bad influence

“mom! no, tony’s cool! he’s like a superhero”

“no, sweetie, he’s a rich guy with issues. we’re leaving”

that didn’t last long

not long at all

and soon they FINALLY got together

“jeez, i thought you two would never stop pining after each other”

“couldnt have done it without my wingman” -tony *fistbump*

“as thanks can i have my own iron man suit?”

“yes.” *pepper glaring at him* “no.”

sooner or later your mom and you moved into tony’s house and you got a really big room!!!!

it was completely decked out

king sized bed, flatscreen tv, mini-fridge, microwave, computer, your own bathroom with a smaller tv, a poster of tony??? (you vandalized it and put it in his workshop), and more!!!

okay you were spoiled

“do you like it here? are you sure i made the right choice?” -pepper

“are you kidding, mom? this is awesome! plus, you’re happy, i’m happy, tony’s happy, i think JARVIS is even happy!”

“i am, mx. potts. simply ecstatic” -JARVIS

pepper was really happy!! it was a pretty cool family

you started giving your school tony’s number if you ever got in trouble, you knew he’d cover for you

“mr. potts, is it?”

“sure”

“your child, y/n, punched another student in the face today. we’re very disappointed in their behavior”

“why’d they punch the kid?”

“well, the other student punched y/n first”

“HAH! thank you for wasting my time. send y/n back to class and call me back if something important comes up”

he literally gave you a high five when you got home

“i gave him a black eye!”

“i couldn’t be more proud. i mean, i dont condone violence, but self defense is a whole other story”

a little help in the workshop, tony asks you to hold the flashlight

“why don’t you get one of your robots to hold this for you?”

“are you kidding me, you’re complaining? we’re having stepdad/stepkid bonding time! and dum-e can’t do anything right, i dont trust him”

youve had a few theme park trips as a family ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

also tony has 100% told you to wait in the car and then left you alone for 2+ hours

“i’m not like a regular dad, im a step-dad. want some beer? you can have a little sip. i’d rather you do it in the house”

your mother actually does love how he actually cares about you!

“y/n is 12% my responsibility” -tony

“tony, you are impossible” -pepper

no avengering for you! pepper said no!!!!!!

disappointed but not surprised

iron man 3: y/n potts is put through the wringer

Text Message to Mr. Tony: bro you better come get your girl, me and happy are watching this other guy flirting with her. he’s showing her pics of his ‘big brain’

Mr. Tony: HE WHAT

Text Message to Mr. Tony: Tony he looks creepy i don’t want him to be my new stepdad do something!!!

anyways ur house kinda blew up and ur mom and you kinda got kidnapped and u were right abt that guy being creepy and thankfully no experiments were done on you but like your mom kinda almost died and her and tony were fine!!! all good in the end

you met mr. col. james rhodes that day

“aw, you’re the kid ive heard so much about” -rhodey

“you mean the coolest kid in the world?check.”

“you cant tell me you aren’t tony’s biological child, good god”

you got to meet the avengers later on too! (you’d already met natasha tho, only briefly)

“i know it can be a little overwhelming, right? meeting all these heros, legends even—” -rhodey

“oh, my god, is that thor? thor!!” -you, leaving rhodey in the dust

literally why does pepper trust you around tony something always goes wrong there were literally robots attacking, you were only at avengers tower bc your mom was busy with the company and she thought you’d be safe with the avengers. the AVENGERS.

“please dont tell your mom that i created a bad robot that tried to kill us. the robot will be the least of our problems” -tony

he made happy pick you up and you had to miss out on FUN and it sucked a lot

“it’s okay, y/n! i’m fun, too!” -happy

then your mom and tony took a break and your life got mega-boring for a while, but they weren’t separated for that long. you try not to think about it. it was brutal

Mr. Tony: Does she miss me?

New Message to Mr. Tony: I think so. Either that or she’s crying and drinking wine in the dark for no reason.

Mr. Tony: Damn it, now I feel bad. I miss her a lot. Oh, also, the Avengers say ‘hi,’ I’m in Germany with some bad news, I’ll explain later if you don’t see it on TV first, and I found you the perfect friend! His name is Peter and I think you’d like the school he goes to, it’s in Midtown. Smart kid school.

New Message to Mr. Tony: I’ll look into it, thanks. Also, I don’t like how those all connect. Please update me asap

watching the news to see several avengers arrested, cap on the run, and more!

“maybe it was good i didn’t fall in with the avengers”

tony and pepper finally got back together and you actually transferred to midtown high! peter and his friend group accepted you quickly, it was great. you and flash unfortunately had the most in common

you’d literally text happy right next to peter and he’d immediately reply to you. it hurt peter’s feelings

Momma: Sweetie! I’m working in the office late, leftovers are in the fridge, hope you have a wonderful day at school! 💕

👉👈the vulture tried to kill you for being tony’s stepkid, tony made peter promise to protect you

“y/n, you gotta stay out of harm’s way. mr. stark gave me an actual mission and it’s terrifying, i have to make sure you stay safe”

legit why the fuck was this old man tryna kill you bro grow up

anyyyywayssss your mom and tony got engaged!!

“wow, i thought the day would never come!!” -you

ppl told you tony isnt your stepdad bc ur mom and him werent married but who tf asked

why is the earth always in fucking danger

you and peter were just vibing on the field trip bus and all the sudden: space donut

“go! i’ll cover for you...FRIDAY, call tony”

“...hi there, little one”

“what the fuck”

“oh, so you see the aliens, too? well, at least im not crazy”

tony stark has left the atmosphere

you and your mom were kinda......not chillin tho

she and you didn’t sleep for a few nights, then ppl just straight up disappeared

plot twist: you survived the snap and your family was lucky to be alive, you even got a little sister who became a big handful!

only bad thing was all your friends dusted and you were pretty lonely

but watching morgan grow up kept you busy

“ahhh, shes so big!”

happy times in bad times

bad times!!!!! bc after five years thanos came back as thanos from like ten years ago. outdated thanos. obsolete thanos.

but you made your first and only appearance in the suit tony actually designed for you many years ago

you should have just stayed home tho bc that fight didnt pass the vibe check

“please dont tell me he...no, no, no, no, no”

you and your mom latched onto each other in tears, tony was one of the best people in your life, he made you and your mom two of the happiest people on earth

best stepdad a kid could ever ask for

taglist: @alwaysananglophile // @rorybutnotgilmore // @locke-writes // @sweetheartliz07 // @queen-destenie // @natasha-danvers // @lokihiddles // @frostedgiantfavs // @emygirl // @lotsoffandomrecs // @johnmurphyisbisexual // @teenwaywardasgardian // @pappydaddy // @captainshazamerica // @freya-xo // @ravenmoore14 // @purpleskiesstorm // @ofthedewthesunlight //

[fandomfluffandfuck]

heyyy idk if you know this but sebastian is like, not that great? like he’s not evil or anything, just an ignorant rich white guy. but like his girlfriend appropriated asian? culture i think? and didn’t apologize when fans called them out seb(or his team, but either way:/) blocked ppl. that’s arguably not terrible, but he also mocked taking a knee to support I Tonya and his apology was kinda lackluster. he liked a post about how yt ppl should be able to say the n word and also made some kinda creepy comments about bucky and shuri(who’s yk, a minor) ik some ppl are also mad at one of his posts with the buddha, cuz they viewed it as him mocking that culture but idk about that one. anyways all these things aren’t awful, but put them all together and it shows he has a habit of being racist/ignorant or at least surrounding himself with racist/ignorant ppl, and just not apologizing for it or having rlly shitty apologies. ik i tried to ignore it but for me the post for his gf was the last straw cuz it rlly showed to me that he’s sticking by his actions and he’s not rlly gonna change or apologize. anyways super long ask, i just didn’t know if u were aware of this. (you could google these pretty easy, but if you want sources lmk)

Hello

Before we jump into things, this isn't me trying to defend Sebastian to the death or just making excuses because I'm technically a "stan" because I'm in the fandom, I'm just writing out a fairly lengthy response below the cut to organize my own thoughts (and possibly to clarify things if these are indeed someone's first time hearing all this). I'm thinking out loud, attempting to make discourse, y’know? But, it will come out bias, because, again, I do have a soft spot for Seb as you can obviously tell.

Yeah, I've often heard those things about Sebastian and, to be entirely honest, I usually don't look into it beyond surface level unless someone on my dashboard validates it / indicates that there might be truth to it. Not out of trying to be ignorant and shielding my eyes intentionally from his "bad side" or problematic statements/pictures/words/whatnot someone says is happening or has happened with him but out of avoiding *drama. I don't like drama, its not my cup of tea. (Which is coming from a place of privilege for me in of itself because unless he says he hates white men than it won't effect me.)

*I understand that it's more than drama too, I'm referencing the cancel Sebastian Stan stuff. Additionally, it's the only word I can think of it for now, unfortunately.

Simply because as I understand the Twitter World™️ lots of people make up shit and spread rumors or blow things out of proportion, y’know? And I hear lots of it comes from Twitter and that's just not my space. I dwell in the underworld of Tumblr.

Ignorant rich white guy, yeah... I'm aware of that. A lot of power and influence comes with white privilage, male privilege, money, and fame and I don't think Seb is immune to it. And, it's hard to grasp something you don't experience, for example, I can read and listen and research about what racism is like for POC to experience but I will never 100% know because I'm not part of that community and do not have to deal with it happening directly to me. He’s definitely not the worst, yeah, as you touched on in the beginning of the ask. But it'd be pretty impossible for him not to be touched/effected by those things too. So, yes, some blame.

Neither, yeah, is he immune to hanging around people who are racist or ignorant apparently. And I as a human being am inclined to see the best in people, especially people I've latched onto, and would love to think that it's because he's ignorant to their ignorance but... I don't know. I'm not Sebastian, I have no idea about his real life relationships with those people. I don't know if he knows (other than his gf, that'd be more than difficult to miss) or if he just tiptoes around those people with that issue so it doesn't come up but continuing to engage with them with or possibly without trying to change their minds. (Silence is still a side to certain issues, I understand. You can't just let bigots be as a bystander all the time.)

I believe the thing his girlfriend (a white woman) did was dress up as a geisha (or Asian woman as some articles I saw said) for Halloween which is way more than a little Yikes. Way more than an, oops, I was uneduacted. A culture is not a costume.

Having shitty apologies is shitty. Yup. But, unfortunately it's pretty common in Hollywood, so... I wouldn't expect better. There's my pessimistic side. I hope better for Sebastian but expectations are low. I assume it's difficult to really understand wrongdoing when it's separated through a screen in general- not specifically related to Sebastian. He, specially, could do better though, yes.

(Also I do believe his team at least has access to his accounts, if not fully putting up posts sometimes/at times so I again have no idea if he, himself or they, his team would've blocked people. Also, I don't have any clue as to whether or not people actually got blocked or not. So... yeah. That's all I've got on that.)

I, Tonya controversy: I vaguely remember hearing about this but I don't fully recall it because life was Chaos for me at the time haha. So I had to do some quick googling. Okay. Completely tone deaf meme. Ouch. Like- fuck. I don't like how his apology was worded, yeah, it could've been more eloquently worded (less excusing of himself) or seemed more sincere. Deleting the meme was good, obviously, and if he did end up doing his homework, then I think that's the second best thing. The first best would've been to have put more research into what was going on with the meme before ever doing anything with it or already having had his research done before. Having been paying attention, y’know?

The video on Instagram that Seb liked about non POC being re-allowed to say the n-word I recall being the opposite of what it actually was. Like the post he liked was in support of people Not being allowed to say it but it got misconstrued on Twitter / Instagram. And... upon, again, quick googling... I couldn't find a lick of information on the actual video besides it being what it sounded like. A comedian ranting and being racist. So I'm gonna assume that was my fandom sheltered romance of the video not being what it seems and excusing it altogether. Yuck.

Bucky and Shuri creepy vibed comments. I have no idea what this refers to, so back to Google for me... okay. No hits for something he said about romantic or sexual things towards Shuri from Bucky's perspective because it's all swamped by, thankfully, wholesome fan content or people making fun of Bucky, lovingly, for being a broken white boy. I, personally, again being bias, would assume that it came off as creepy because, yes, Shuri as a character is a minor while her actor is not and Seb and Letitia have a friendly, comfortable relationship so it could've seemed to bleed over from that when he spoke about it, not fully separating Bucky and himself, Shuri and Letitia. I.E. Chris Evans always jumping to defend Bucky like he really is Steve, half in love with my childhood best friend, Rogers. But, again, I cannot say for sure because I haven't a clue at what really was said.

I can't say if the picture with the Buddha was racist/offensive/ignorant or not because I'm not a part of that community and its blurry lines to begin with (not like the gf dress up shit), so who am I to weigh in on if it's offensive or not? However, I believe the broad picture concluded with that "scandal" was that it wasn't at all meant to be harmful, just a thing he did and people rolled it beyond what it was. People, I think, by large forgave him?? But I could be wrong, clearly it's happened before lol.

It is good to be aware of things.

And I can't say I wish he didn't handle those things the way he did. I, in fact, wish he had better apologies and showed more of a learning curve. I want him to be better. And I'm definitely gonna think about it more now. Yeah.

I don’t know where I'm going with this though because I know the power of headlines, clickbate, bias interviewers/reporters, and people hating to hate too. Which would feed badly into his own actions.

I don't now hate his guts. Just... more aware. Yeah.

Completely, I agree: there's a massive difference between a) messing up and apologizing and changing afterwards and b) messing up and not doing anything after an empty apology, just continuing on.

Sorry for the rambling! I hope you're not too put off by my response. I listened and responded the best I could <3

[t4tlawlight]

Occam's razor is the principle that, of two explanations that account for all the facts, the simpler one is more likely to be correct.

this post is going to cover traits specific to the manga and the television drama, since those are the best adaptations to showcase L’s autism. THIS POST is required reading before you read anything i’m about to type, because it explains what kind of character niche L falls into--an unintentionally autistic coded character. i’ll talk more about that at the end.

i’m going to talk about manga L first, since he’s the original version after all. i’m going to go in order of physical traits, to behavioral, to his character writing. also, tumblr eats posts that have outside links, so i’m going to have my non-tumblr sources in a separate post, here.

anyways, more under the cut!

MANGA/ANIME:

sitting with his legs up and spine bent / sitting on the floor

this is such a big one and its extremely common in ppl with autism. sitting in chairs normally is uncomfortable to outright painful w many ppl with these disorders, myself included. L sitting like that (which, to recall, is a blatant homage to sherlock holmes, another character that is so blatantly autistic coded you can find absolutely ridiculous amounts of writing on the topic) and being like "I HAVE TO SIT LIKE THIS TO THINK PROPERLY" is so autistic. like sitting in a certain way to give you specific sensory stimulus/avoid distracting discomfort and pain is a thing. i found this post (1) written by an autistic person on the topic of sitting in chairs being uncomfortable, and it says as much:

“I suspect that seating discomfort is common in autism (though by no means limited to autistic people). Many of us, particularly as children, benefit greatly from chairs designed to be non-stationary: rocking chairs, “fidget” chairs, and so forth. These can improve focus, compensate for proprioceptive hypo-sensitivity, and alleviate restlessness. In short, many “attention issues” can be fixed simply by providing a little motion for the person sitting. Small change, huge results. That's what accommodations do at their best. They make (often minor) adjustments that have profound impacts.”

so when L says that sitting the way he does, for a specific sensory experience, improves his ability to think, it’s perfectly in line with this idea. Also it’s a good pressure stim.

standing with a slouch / shifting his weight around

to begin: yes! it’s very common for autistic people to stand or walk oddly for a number of different reasons, from physical comorbidity to other issues such as dyspraxia (see: movie L). From an article by YAI (2), an I/DD (intellectual and/or developmental disabilities) community program:

“Kyphosis (a curved spine), collapsed chest, dropped shoulders and even scoliosis are observed in many of our patients. These myriad of postural issues may result from reduced strength, decreased biomechanical stability, or from a sensory impairment, such as apraxia. 

Depending on the scene, L has mild to severe kyphosis which is very common in autistic individuals. Other things mentioned in that article if you want to click on it is instability in standing, where you sort of shift your weight around a lot between your  feet or rest all of your weight on one foot, which L is literally doing the first time we see all of him.

speaking with a monotone voice.

i obviously can’t show a picture for this one and it honestly depends on the voice actor you find for L, but in the anime in particular L has a very flat tone. a lot of this is bc he has a dry sense of humor but. just know that it’s very common for autistic people to have a flat affect (or go the other way into being too loud/emotive).

his eating habits. 

a lot (a LOT) of autistic ppl myself included can only eat certain kinds of food for texture and flavor reasons. HOWEVER there’s a term in the autism community called “samefoods” which is really well put by tumblr users candidlyautistic and autism-asks: 

“Samefoods or samefooding is a community word to describe the autistic trait of eating the same food over, and over and over . . . It is part sensory, part routine driven in most cases. A lot of times we samefood because we need that particular mouthfeel / texture / taste, and a lot of times even after that need passes, it turns into a need for routine until you actively dislike that food again.”

“Samefooding on the other hand is closer to a special interest. When I have a samefood (chocolate ice cream, currently), I really, really want that food. I could eat that food endlessly and not get tired of it. I will get upset if I’m not able to have the food in a day. For me, it usually is kind of routine based as well. For instance, with my current samefood, I have some in the evenings and it’s become part of how I wind down from my day.”

we don’t know exactly why L specifically desires sweet food or if he considers it part of his routine, but what we do know is that he really wants to eat sweet food and avoids eating anything other than sweet food, so it could either be that he’s a picky eater and can’t handle savory or he’s samefooding on sweets!

wearing the same clothes

L wears the same clothes every single day. It’s also worth noting that what he does wear is baggy, too-big clothing, the kind that wouldn’t be tight and uncomfortable. once again, sensory issues are a huge thing for autistic individuals. one of my favorite aspects is that in no adaptation does he wear socks. even L wears shoes, he wears them like slippers, not putting them on all the way. people comment that he seems like he’s poor, but we know for a fact that he’s very rich and that wearing these clothes is a personal choice he made.

not caring for himself/outsourcing his self-care

i don’t think one day is exactly canon, rather it’s an exaggeration of what might actually happen--i.e. L doesn’t have a huge closet full of the same outfit, but he does have several versions of the same outfit on rotation; L doesn’t use a human washing machine, but Watari might help him/encourage him to bathe regularly. One Day is a parody comic, but it was made by the creators for a reason and that reason is that L pretty obviously relies on a caretaker (Watari) for his personal needs. Watari, in the manga proper, cooks and cleans and does most things for L. we’ll come back to this topic when we get to the drama though.

doing stimming behaviors

if you don’t know what stimming is, it refers to self-stimulating behaviors, usually involving repetitive movements or sounds. everyone stims to some extent, but in autism it tends to be more obvious, go on for longer, and sometimes be more disruptive to others. it’s often used to help deal with sensory overload, or used to express feelings--think of an autistic person being happy and flapping their hands in the air.

there are a LOT of instances of L displaying stimming behavior, from stacking his food or things on his desk, to spinning in his chair, to biting his fingers/using them to press on his lips, to wriggling and tapping his toes. here are some specific instances:

there are a lot more. i’ll talk about more when we get to dramaverse, but if you rewatch/reread death note it’s definitely worth noting whenever L does something like this!

detective work as a special interest

ok, first and foremost i want to establish what a special interest is. Tumblr user cartoon has my favorite explanation of what a special interest is that i’ve seen to date: 

“To have a deep, intense, passionate and incredibly focused / narrowed interest in a certain area of study, subject, topic or thing - to the exclusion of other interests. This interest is something that exists for the long-term, most often lasting for multiple months, years, or even you’re entire life “

L says that he only does detective work because it’s a hobby, and he finds it entertaining. We’ve also seen that he’s been at it for quite some time--if you take side content (the wammy’s house comic, LABB) seriously, then he’s been at it since childhood, with unwavering interest. it definitely comes across to me as L having a special interest in detective work, rather than it just being a normal hobby or a job for him, especially since he says it isn’t out of any moral obligation.

germaphobia

Germaphobia is very common for individuals with autism. a lot of the time it’s actually sensory issues associated with “dirty” things, and a lot of the time it’s because features of OCD are heavily comorbid with autism, including contamination OCD and such fears. regardless of the reason, though, L’s aversion to touching Bad Things is a very autistic behavior, and so is his resulting quirk that he tends to hold things in a very odd manner!

muted emotional expression

this is getting more into L’s character, but L tends to feel and express emotions in a very muted way. not to say he doesn’t have them, but for instance in the example above, L doesn’t have a solid grasp on what exactly he’s feeling. he thinks he might be acting irrationally and overemotionally because he logically should be afraid, but he isn’t sure, and none of these emotions present themselves visibly. 

i’ve also seen it said that Ukita’s death is another good example of his muted response to emotion--he tells Aizawa to stay rational and his voice doesn’t waver as he tells him as much, but he holds himself tightly. for someone with poor emotional competence, these physical signs of distress can be hard to read in oneself, but Aizawa (a man who is extremely in-tune with his emotions) can tell immediately.

high logic, low empathy

L is also a character who, like many autistic people, lacks a certain degree of empathy. it’s not that he doesn’t have any, but it’s limited enough--and he values logic over it enough--that he’s willing to make extreme decisions and take a “ends justify the means” approach (such as using people as bait.) in the example above, L takes a moment to work through what it must actually feel like, which rings as very autistic.

bluntness/not caring about social convention

there are so many examples of this i honestly could list them all day, but L is a character who is very to-the-point and doesn’t care about mincing his words. he can be outright rude to the people around him, especially if he considers them not worth basic courtesy. see: Matsuda. 

DRAMAVERSE

if you all knew me you should have known this section is inevitable. i’m not going to talk about every single adaptation because i do not have the time and the only other adaptation that is meaningful in that regard is the movieverse (i am fairly certain that movie L is dyspraxic) but on account of the fact that i don’t care about them i won’t subject you all to them here.

anyway, drama L shows much the same traits as animanga L above (they are, after all, technically the same character) but he displays them in different ways. 

he has a much more advanced degree of germaphobia, with Watari saying he’s sensitive to outside air and spraying everyone who enters his space with disinfectant, but not making them wash their hands or anything like that, so we can kind of tell that his issues are more rooted, again, in a fear of germs rather than any actual medical issue. he wants to feel as though he is clean, not necessarily actually be clean. this is very common in contamination OCD, which has a high comorbidity with autism. (my girlfriend has a very good headcanon post about drama L and OCD that isn’t so much analysis than just plain fun, but it’s worth a read!)

he stims, but he has a different array of stims than animanga L--he chews on his jelly pouch bottles, 

he tosses it between his hands, 

he kicks his feet,

and he bounces in his chair.

he still sits in an unconventional manner. he still samefoods, this time even more exclusively--he only eats Lucky Charge jelly pouches and nutritional bars. Watari onscreen puts his shirts on for him, as well as cooking, cleaning, and mending his clothes for him.

however, there are a few traits that are drama-exclusive that i think really add to an analysis of his autism!

social scripting

social scripting and echolalic scripting are both commonly described as “scripting,” but are very different! echolalic scripting is like echolalia, but echolalic scripting is the recitation of longer passages of dialogue from things the individual has heard before. but social scripting is when you memorize common conversations so you can rattle it off without worrying too much! this can be very handy, such as exchanging basic pleasantries or ordering food, but it can also backfire if someone responds in a way your script’s not set up for. you can find more information on the difference in this video (3). 

now, this relates to L in that there are two separate scenes where L says the same thing, rather inappropriately:

L: When I consider Kira’s personality, could it be that the strong-willed daughter is Kira? Or could that sweet-looking son of yours surprise us by proving to be him? You never know what humans are hiding beneath the surface... Soichiro: Enough. L: Sorry. It was just a joke.

-- Episode 2

L: Light-kun. Oh, I’m sorry... If I called you “Yagami-san,” it would be the same as what I call your father.  Light: That’s okay. Call me whatever you want. L: Then what about Kira? (silence) L: It's a joke.

-- Episode 4

one could say that L just has a terrible sense of humor--and, of course, having a poor grasp of humor is common with autistic individuals--but the fact that he says nearly the same thing as a defense twice makes me feel as though he has it rehearsed as a defense when people react poorly to things he’s said, which happens often.

mirroring and echolalia

echolalia was briefly covered in the previous example, but for those unaware, via wikipedia (4):

Echolalia is the unsolicited repetition of vocalizations made by another person (when repeated by the same person, it is called palilalia). In its profound form it is automatic and effortless.

mirroring, on the other hand, is explained as such, also via wikipedia (5):

Mirroring is the behavior in which one person unconsciously imitates the gesture, speech pattern, or attitude of another. Mirroring often occurs in social situations, particularly in the company of close friends or family. The concept often affects other individuals' notions about the individual that is exhibiting mirroring behaviors, which can lead to the individual building rapport with others.

both of these are very common in autism, and they’re exemplified while L’s character is established watching his favorite TV show, Owarai Paradise. On one occasion, he’s watching the show and this dialogue happens:

Hiroshi: Despite never telling her how I felt, I still got dumped. I am Hiroshi.  Watari: Who was this one again? L: He is Hiroshi. Hiroshi: I am Hiroshi. I am Hiroshi.

-- Episode 2

it’s important to note that in Japanese, “He is Hiroshi” and “I am Hiroshi” are said, at least in this instance, exactly the same, so L is echoing precisely what he’s heard.

On another occasion, L is again watching the show with a glass of wine (seemingly acquired simply to imitate the characters onscreen, as he never drinks it) and when the characters onscreen toast their glasses, L does the same, mirroring them. 

CONCLUSION

I linked a post at the very beginning of this analysis talking about how characters are unintentionally autistic coded, and it’s important to understand how this unintentional coding is different from a headcanon--i didn’t make up these traits. they aren’t something that only exist in my head that i ascribe to L for fun. 

i made this analysis both because i wanted to share L’s autistic coding in one cohesive place, because plenty of people have made lists before, but none that i could find that included so many examples with images and explanations--and i also made it because of the old ryuzaki persona “theory.” 

for those unaware, the ryuzaki persona headcanon suggests that L faked all of these traits in order to make people uncomfortable, to put them off-guard and better mask his identity. i’ve seen posts about people claiming that nobody could actually behave in these ways, that L would surely be unhappy and uncomfortable sitting like that, or eating like that, or engaging in any of these behaviors. I’ve seen some people outright say that L isn’t autistic, but his persona is--that is, he’s pretending to be autistic.

i named this essay “occam’s razor” because, to me, L being autistic is the simplest answer to account for all of these traits. claiming that an autistic coded character is faking it is ableist and it just doesn’t make sense with anything else we know about his character.

but if you want to know more about that, i recommend reading eyecicles’ first!L tag. it’s debunked it in more ways than i ever could.

anyways, in conclusion

[papers4me]

Fascinating concepts in Golden Kamuy Manga ( part 2)

In part 1, I listed 3 concepts that I find intriguing in Golden Kamuy ( GK), I provided short explanation of these concepts but due to issues of space couldn’t provide more examples. The previous 3 concepts were: (1). Broken men of war & death, (2) Fun dynamics & journey companion  does not equal close friendships, & (3) Perspective is where characters are truly at. In total I have 9 concepts but intend to post 3 at a time. So, here we go~

4. What breaks men of war: ( emotional ties)

in my previous post, I’ve mentioned that these men of war are not fazed by death & some are even obsessed with it. goldenkamuyhunting has kindly added that they are affected by the death of those whom they’re emotionally connected to, and provided examples. very true. However, I want to look at this concept from another perspective. As much as the constant brush with death has hardened their hearts & stole chunks of their humanity, all the characters are still human. Their humanity isn’t mostly displayed in how they treat strangers/ enemies, or men on the other side, it is presented on how easily they crumble down once you press the right button: their loved ones. They have strong emotional ties that can break them down, even now after they’ve become so drenched in blood. These ties are mostly connected to ppl who are the reason of their current perspective or their past selves. Sugimoto, the ruthless, breaks down in tears at the memory of toraji, at the idea of failing Yumi, at the thought seeing Asripa become like him: a killer. These emotional ties break him into tears & self loathing frenzy. Sadistic Nikaidou not only mourn his brother, but becomes a shell of a man, delusional, erratic, addicted to drugs & hollow. Tsukishima, Tsurumi’s right hand who kills with no hesitation, becomes all sorts of mess at the thought of Igogusa: anger, tears, loss, despair, explosive rage, self-loath coupled with low self-esteem. Tsurumi himself, the man who fondly remember running thro rain of blood, was so affected by the murder of his wife & daughter to the point of not being able to restrain himself. (many examples) but the point is, I applaud the writer for not going the path of writing these characters as emotionless hard cold blooded war veterans. They have emotions & can break into sobs. You might think they’re unable to form new emotional ties, but some can, sugimoto formed healthy independent ties with shirashi! But the issue is not the new ties. The real issue is these men of war not yet dealing with the old emotional ties from their past. Those ties are eating them from the inside. The pain is still raw!

5. Excellent portrayal of unstable psyche:

Some of these men, due to the past emotional ties, have developed unstable thinking & deep troubling thought process & reasoning coupled with the ugly brutality of war. Other writers will simply write men such as Tsurumi or Ogata as mad guys, crazy & lunatic. But Noda chose a deeper more logical & intriguing approach. Their behavior shows elements of unstable & deeply trouble thinking; little boy Ogata poisoning his mother & Tsurumi’s infatuation of being a soul snatching shinigami. What they have done is unexcused & cannot be corrected. However, they are not mindless lunatics. Both characters are mysterious & rarely allowed to have inner monologue abt their true goal. Both play on different sides & have gone through some personal journey to solidify their nihilistic belief. Both goes even deeper into the depth of seemingly unstable thought process. Ogata, lacking family love, questions the concept of pity, mercy & compassion. Embarks on a journey to prove that he’s not alone in feeling no guilt over human death. That his tragic thinking is not up-normal. Other ppl exist like me. ppl other than weird Usami. Nothing is wrong with me, so father should accept me. So tragic. Yet Ogata even with this unstable thinking is portrayed as smart with analytic thinking, skilled, seemingly not swayed by manipulators & very perceptive! Same goes for Tsurumi, extremely manipulated, cunning, intelligent & sweet talker, but was shown as a loving father as he held his daughter in his hand in most of his Japanese language teaching scenes with wilk in Russia. His family’s death deeply troubled him & changed him into the monster he’s currently is. Obsessed with their bones. Not mourning them yet. His position as the story’s villain adds to this but in a very balanced way. There are more examples, such as Usami & a number of the tattooed convicts. But the point is the writer treats the characters as human, who are capable of unstable obsession & thinking, yet can display normal behavior & excellent logical thinking as well.

( btw: I’m not putting any character with the same scale as the other, or saying they’re equal or identical. They are NOT.  I’m simply looking at a ting aspect from their behavior in light of the concept they share) 

6. No heroes:

I duno abt you. But I don’t sense that this is a story of a bunch of alliances saving the day against the big baddie. I could be wrong tho. But this story has sth that is lacking from most stories, which is: each side have winning points as much as loosing points. Meaning each side has arguments that can lead to their logical success as much as arguments that sheds some light on the holes in their plans. Even the argument that says minority groups should have their own land with their own culture, while very just in concept, the application is quite complicated. A group of ppl with no strong army sitting on a land of rich resources won’t be left alone by other nations. It never happened in the real world, & while GK is fiction, it is safe to say that Noda is aware of this as he made Tsurimi himself point this out in ch,271. Even if the minority groups get their land, they can’t preserve their own culture if they continue their old ways without adapting into new generations & without reaching out to the outside world. Once again Trsumi pointed this out while talking abt japan itself. I duno how Noda plans to solve this. But This is not even exclusive to the Auni/Japan/Russia situation. Again, the story itself is way bigger than that. Each character is not even the hero of their own story. Asirpa’s trauma of finding herself shouldering the burden of an entire culture while struggling to have a normal selfish goal like any normal girl. Sugimoto becoming her body guard while she solves an issue that he himself isn’t that much interested in! he just wanted her to be happy. More importantly he wants her to NOT be like him. Living thro Asripa while he should be trying to figure out his own path, rather than looking for salvation thro the innocent angelic Asipra or becoming a human skinning tool to get the money for Ume’s eyes treatment when she herself never asked him to! Tsukushima, desperately trying to believe that there’s at least some bigger picture good for following Trsurmi, that all the years of blood stinky hands can mean sth, somehow, in the future, so may examples. But I love the concept of grey characters so dearly, no heroes, no angels.

Disclaimer:

I know my explanation for each argument & each concept & the examples I provide can be misunderstood. But I assure you that each time I provide an example, I’m looking at a tiny aspect of a deeply complex & intriguing character that cannot be summarized into one or two concepts & is bigger than to be compared to other characters as well. Each concept is shared by a number of characters but with different approach, level & reasoning behind it. If I want to discuss a certain character in depth, I’ll do that in a post dedicated for them  alone.

Lastly, This is just a fraction of my personal opinion abt the story & characters. I’m not claiming this is how they are truly written or this how Noda intended it or even that you should share my thoughts. I just think this manga is so darn good & rich with fascinating characters!