#from hating it to loving it. humans are complex!!!

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Tips for writing about dark romance and gothic romance?

Writing Notes & Tips: Dark Romance & Gothic Romance

Dark Romance - Another crossover genre, dark romance takes the feel-good romance genre and makes it horrific. While this subgenre can simply include morally questionable characters and a grittier tone than most romance, it can also include:

kidnapping,

forced confinement,

BDSM,

psychological and physical abuse, and

sexual violence or sex where there is no consent.

Bear in mind that it still needs to include the tenants of romance stories, though.

This genre can produce some very controversial books and themes, so it’s essential to proceed with caution – especially as a first-time reader.

Writing Tips: Dark Romance

Embrace the taboo (with trigger warnings). Controversial elements and themes, like forbidden love, obsession, betrayal, and manipulation, are common in dark romance books. Readers expect them and often seek certain character dynamics, so if you want to write a romance novel that goes right past sweet and loving into the downright taboo, do! Embrace the darkness. But handling these themes with sensitivity and respect is essential – and a fine line to walk in this specific genre. You can hire a sensitivity reader who specifically reads this type of romance or make sure your professional book editor knows about and considers these in their edits. 

Create complex, wounded characters. Dark romance thrives on complex, deeply flawed, multi-dimensional, and polarizing characters. You need complicated character motivations, inner demons, and personal struggles (that they often lose). They should be hard to like and easy to hate. It’s what makes for the dark content in the first place. If you want to know how to write dark romance books, you need to focus extra time on the character arc. We recommend using a character bio template to get this right. But keep in mind that you don’t want your character to necessarily “outgrow” the taboo or dark elements, as if they’re wrong. They can outrun their demons, but those demons don’t have to be the fact that they’re into BDSM (this audience in particular will not take kindly to the idea that BDSM is something to outgrow). The point of dark romance books is that these elements are the norm for these people.

Master the art of creating (sexual) tension. Proper pacing helps with this a lot, but the tension also has to come from plot devices. This genre especially uses the story’s conflict to create a sense of urgency and passion. You can do this for your book by including external obstacles like societal norms, family opposition, or internal struggles like emotional trauma, self-doubt, and conflicting desires. The push-and-pull dynamic between the protagonists heightens the emotional stakes and adds depth to the romance.

Invest time and thought in the setting. The setting of a story always plays a significant role in creating the mood and tone. The scenario or setting can often be what’s taboo. Or you choose a setting that enhances the dark and brooding atmosphere of the story, like a fantasy underworld, decaying mansion, a haunted castle, or a forbidden island, evoking a sense of foreboding and mystery. On the flip side, if you really want a challenge or to swing the other way, choose a setting like a beach or a ski retreat to set the story. You’ll have to work extra hard to set the tone, but the jarring nature of the story with a bright, happy setting can make your book more interesting.

Go into the deepest depths of human emotions. Emotions are confusing, can be contradictory, and sometimes completely unwelcome. This emotional intensity—delving into the deep emotions of love, lust, desire, and pain—is a primary part of dark romance novels. Take time to describe and highlight your characters’ raw and visceral emotions as they navigate their complicated relationship. The deeper you can go, and the darker, the more invested a reader will be in your character. Again, ensure you include any advance content warnings for the depths you’ll be exploring.

Make the plot purposeful. The real answer to, “what is dark romance?” means understanding and acknowledging the morally questionable subject matter while still recognizing that there is a plot. Sure, there are many books that are more smut than plot. And while some readers certainly enjoy this, others truly want a good story to go along with their dark romance read. It’s not just about the romance. To maintain the tone and genre style, focus on plots that explore themes that either go with or completely contradict the romantic content you write about.

You should be willing to push the boundaries of societal norms.

And be prepared for potential backlash.

For this reason, many dark romance authors decide to write and publish their books under a pen name or with ambiguous titles.

Including trigger warnings in your dark romance book

Dark romance books can be highly triggering and even traumatic.

Not everyone may know what your book is about by the cover.

So authors of dark romance should consider including warnings for sensitive topics and themes that may disturb or trigger readers.

We suggest trigger warnings for the following:

Graphic violence or gore

Sexual assault or abuse

Self-harm or suicide

Substance abuse or addiction

Mental illness or psychological trauma

Dubious consent or non-consensual situations

Depictions of unhealthy relationships or emotional manipulation

Explicit sexual content

Death or mortality themes

Themes related to abuse of power or control

Including trigger warnings allows readers to make informed decisions about whether the content is suitable for them and helps prioritize their emotional well-being.

Gothic Romance

Gothic Romance - a genre of literature that combines elements of both romance and horror, set against a backdrop of dark, often historical settings.

It's characterized by its use of gloomy, mysterious environments, supernatural elements, and complex, often tormented characters.

The narratives typically explore themes of love and passion intertwined with fear, mortality, and the macabre, creating a uniquely intense emotional experience.

The Gothic element of romance is the inclusion of horror, mystery, and the supernatural as central components within a romantic story.

This element creates a tension between attraction and fear, often exploring the darker side of human emotions and relationships.

Settings like haunted castles, remote mansions, and other foreboding environments are typical, serving to heighten the sense of suspense and emotional intensity.

Writing a Gothic Romance Story

Set the Tone. The atmosphere in Gothic Romance oscillates between the chilling whispers of dread and the warm embrace of passionate love. It is an exquisite blend of melancholy, mystery, and a touch of terror, creating a unique emotional experience for the reader. The genre's tone invites us into a world where the line between fear and desire is blurred, and where the darkness outside mirrors the turmoil within the characters' souls. This nuanced emotional palette sets Gothic Romance apart, offering stories that resonate with the complexities of the human condition.

Possible Themes to Include. The theme of Gothic Romantic literature typically revolves around:

the exploration of forbidden desires,

the conflict between good and evil, and

the psychological depth of characters facing extreme situations.

It often delves into the complexities of love, fear, death, and the supernatural, examining how these elements interact within the human experience.

Themes of isolation,

madness, and

the grotesque are also prevalent, offering a profound commentary on the nature of human existence and the boundaries of societal norms.

Character Archetypes to Include. At the heart of every Gothic Romance are its characters—each archetype playing a crucial role in weaving the intricate tapestry of the story.

The Brooding Hero: Often a figure shrouded in mystery and tormented by a dark past, the brooding hero embodies the conflict between darkness and redemption. Despite the shadows that cling to him, his deep, often hidden capacity for love makes him irresistibly compelling.

The Ingenue: Typically young and innocent, the ingenue is thrust into a world filled with secrets and danger. Her journey is one of discovery, not only of the mysteries that surround her but also of her own strength and resilience in the face of adversity.

The Byronic Hero: Charismatic yet flawed, the Byronic hero is marked by intense passions and a disdain for social norms. Driven by a troubled past, he challenges the ingenue and the reader to explore the depths of love, redemption, and the duality of human nature.

Together, these archetypes and the genre's distinctive tone create narratives that are as thrilling as they are emotionally rich, offering readers a deep dive into the dark, yet ultimately redeemable, facets of love and the human spirit.

Tropes to Consider. Gothic Romance thrives on a set of recurring themes and tropes that form the backbone of its narratives. These tropes, ranging from haunted settings to forbidden love, play a pivotal role in shaping the genre's distinctive atmosphere and plot dynamics. Below, we delve into 5 main tropes that are quintessential to Gothic Romance, exploring how they contribute to the genre's allure and depth.

Haunted Mansions/Castles. The setting plays a crucial role in Gothic Romance, often acting as a character in its own right. Haunted mansions and castles, with their hidden passages, secret rooms, and ghostly presences, are more than just backdrops; they mirror the complexity and secrecy of the characters' lives, serving as a metaphor for the human psyche's hidden depths.

Damsel in Distress. While traditionally portrayed as vulnerable and awaiting rescue, the 'damsel in distress' trope in Gothic Romance often undergoes a transformation. These characters evolve from mere victims to resilient survivors, challenging traditional gender roles and highlighting themes of empowerment and inner strength.

The Byronic Hero. A staple of the genre, the Byronic hero is a complex character marked by dark secrets, a troubled past, and a disdain for societal norms. This archetype adds layers of moral ambiguity to the narrative, compelling readers to explore the blurred lines between good and evil, attraction and repulsion.

Mystery and Suspense. The essence of Gothic Romance is sustained by an atmosphere thick with mystery and suspense. From the unraveling of family secrets to the discovery of forbidden knowledge, these elements keep readers on the edge of their seats, eager to explore the shadowy corners of the human heart and the unknown.

Love Beyond Death. Exploring themes of eternal devotion and the supernatural, the 'love beyond death' trope adds a poignant layer to Gothic Romance. It challenges the finality of death, suggesting that love can transcend the grave and bind souls across the divide of life and death, adding a deeply emotional and sometimes spiritual dimension to the narrative.

Together, these tropes weave a rich tapestry that defines Gothic Romance, engaging readers with their complexity, depth, and emotional resonance. Each trope not only serves to enhance the atmospheric tension but also to deepen the exploration of love, fear, and the human condition.

Quirks of Gothic Romance. These can include the pervasive use of symbolism—where storms, darkness, and decay mirror the tumultuous emotions of the characters—and the blending of terror with romance, creating a juxtaposition that heightens the emotional impact of the narrative. Another quirk is the genre's exploration of taboo themes, such as forbidden love or the supernatural, inviting readers to question societal norms and delve into the darker aspects of human nature.

Your Ending. The conclusions of Gothic Romance stories are as varied as the tales themselves, ranging from tragic to redemptive. A few common ending types:

Tragic Endings: Some Gothic Romances conclude with a sense of inevitability, where the fates of the characters are sealed by their actions or circumstances, leaving a poignant commentary on the human condition.

Redemptive Endings: In contrast, other stories may offer a glimpse of hope or redemption, suggesting that love and virtue can prevail even in the darkest of times. These endings often involve characters overcoming their inner demons or external challenges.

Ambiguous Endings: Gothic Romance also embraces ambiguity, leaving readers pondering the fate of the characters and the true nature of the events described. This open-endedness can add depth to the narrative, encouraging readers to engage with the story on a deeper level.

Sources: 1 2 3 4 ⚜ More: Notes & References ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs

You can find more details and book recommendations in the sources. Hope this helps with your writing!

[officialtwindark]

As much as I adore the domestic and romantic headcanons on soukoku; I feel that in the canon universe, something like such would be unlikely to occur.

I do think they had that ‘tension’ with each other while growing up, but it wouldn’t have been enough to be romantic romantic. As of their time in the mafia, I don’t think they would have engaged in that type of behavior with each other (kissing, cuddling, etc).

While they could’ve joked about it ever so often as teenagers (maybe even exchanging small displays of physical affection like resting their head on the other, linking arms, and so on) I don’t think it would’ve gone farther than that—and it honestly didn’t need to.

༺———————𓆩༒︎𓆪————————༻

Soukoku’s dynamic has a lot of depth and complexity, and unfortunately that important aspect is often not admired enough.

They didn’t need a big romantic aspect to their partnership, because they already had something that was so much more than just the stereotypical relationship.

They had an understanding of the others character that went far beyond what everyone else saw, which is honestly one of the most fascinating parts of their dynamic.

Since Asagiri hasn’t written any works surrounding Dazai’s POV, it’ll obviously be hard for anyone to say exactly what Dazai may feel towards Chuuya, but it’s clear it’s something.

༺———————𓆩༒︎𓆪————————༻

Chuuya isn’t afraid of Dazai. He isn’t afraid to call Dazai out on his unethical or insensitive shit, he isn’t afraid to put Dazai in his place if he needed to, and he isn’t afraid of the Demon Prodigy that everyone made Dazai out to be.

Similarly, Chuuya is a lot more than just a ‘source of strength’ to Dazai. Dazai does seem to genuinely care for Chuuya. As we saw in stormbringer (and the many other times Chuuya has used his corrupted form) Dazai refrains from manipulating or forcing Chuuya to use corruption, even with knowing the possible consequences. While it’s hard to figure out what Dazai’s intentions are, he doesn’t seem to want to exploit Chuuya’s capabilities.

They’ve seen the humanity that goes past the supernatural abilities they have been given, and it exposed a strange kind of vulnerability.

༺———————𓆩༒︎𓆪————————༻

Even if they can’t fully dissect every single part of each other, there will always be an underlying sense of understanding, trust, and maybe even devotion.

They could leave, they could be apart, they can claim to hate each other, but even after that—even four years later—They probably understood it would be impossible to forget someone who knew you so throughly.

They might’ve not kissed, cuddled, or shared some lovey dovey messages in the past; but they didn’t need anything overly sentimental to display their care for the other.

“Love is such a shallow concept, when I am with you”

༺———————𓆩༒︎𓆪————————༻

idk keep up the hc’s cooking though I live off them. Plus it distracts me from how miserable bsd is

[toweringclam]

Who is Kris? pt 2, Kris the Human

Kris is a human. They're the only human in the game. This is, unsurprisingly, very important to understanding their character.

So what does it mean to be a human in this world?

Well, we know that humans and monsters coexist. They were either never banished underground, or emerged a long time ago. Monsters in this world have Determination, therefore they would not be quite as vulnerable to humans as they are in Undertale. Still, there's an understandable fear of humans, to the point where one of Noelle's childhood terrors was a human under her bed.

There also seems to be a de facto, if not de jure, segregation between humans and monsters. Susie is implied to have lived with humans, and it was not a pleasant experience for her. Her piano story sounds like textbook racism.

So humans are racist against monsters, while monsters fear them. That makes sense. It also makes things difficult for Kris.

It's clear that from a young age, Kris had some sort of complex about being human. They cried when they found out they were never getting horns, but Asriel gave them a set of fake horns to wear. A sweet gesture that I think might have been misguided. Kris needed to be reassured about their humanity, not given monster prosthetics. Every other disability discussed in my previous post is not unusual for monsters, but Kris is still unavoidably the only human most monsters will see in their lifetimes. That has to have an effect on them. Does it hurt to be made of blood?

Yeah. It really does.

Worse, we can't ignore the effect of the prophecy on Kris. Even though most parts of the prophecy have been lost with time, and that parts that have survived have been retold and adapted so many times it's hard to tell what is even real, Kris must have known that they could have a role in it. Did they flinch every time the "human parts and soul" were mentioned in Sunday Saturday School?

It's no wonder they started to act out. They terrorized other children, playing up their nature as a weird and scary human. Noelle was a frequent target of their pranks and, though she came to enjoy it, sometimes they went too far.

Does this sound familiar?

This is very similar to how Chara behaved, terrorizing Asriel instead. Chara also was uncomfortable with humanity because, as loving as monsters were to them, they still feared humans. Both of Kris and Chara had the vague suggestion they might be some kind of savior hanging over their head, the one who could break the barrier or the cage with human parts and soul.

This is why Kris sometimes seems like a merger between Frisk and Chara: They are Frisk raised under the same circumstances as Chara. Of course the outcomes are similar, but there are still key differences.

For example, from what little hints we get about their backstories before falling, it seems like Chara suffered more abuse while Frisk suffered more neglect. As a result, Kris never developed Chara's hatred of mankind as a whole. Instead, they just came to hate their own humanity. The thing that kept them apart from others. And while Chara internalized the view of themselves as a potential savior of monsterkind, Kris clearly rejected the prophecy, becoming the monster equivalent of an edgy teenage satanist. They didn't want to be human at all, even if it meant being Jesus.

Next time, I'll get into some of the specific events that shaped them

[sixeyesonathiel]

Honestly I can't complain about Suguru because if we're being fair Satoru's decisions killed a lot of people too, if he had cremated Suguru's body like Shoko wanted Kenjaku wouldn't have been able to do the culling games and saving Yuji was what ended up killing him and everyone else who died because of Sukuna, and that's something I like about JJK all actions have consequences even the ones that are well intentioned.

It's very easy to hate Sukuna and Kenjaku and blame them for everything but the only reason they were able to do everything they did was because of Satoru's decisions. I love Satoru, he's my favorite character and I even have a tattoo of him but I think more people in the fandom should sit down and think about what I just said.

listen up and listen real close, because i am hanging on by a thread, and that thread is made of pure unfiltered satoru-shaped love, blind loyalty, and several decades of unresolved rage.

yeah, jujutsu kaisen is about consequences. yes, even the good intentions burn down the house sometimes. but if you’re gonna sit there and go “hmm satoru’s decisions killed a lot of people too” as if that’s somehow on the same tier as kenjaku’s full-scale war crimes or suguru’s descent into incel cult leader territory?? i’m sorry, are we watching the same show or are you just looking for reasons to blame the man who carried the entire jujutsu world on his six eyes and infinity-coated back??? be so for real. you're really going to put a man who wanted to break the cycle in the same bucket as someone who actively perpetuated suffering? GET A GRIP AND PREPARE FOR A WHOLE LECTURE BELOW.

first of all, suguru. suguru geto. i cannot express how much i loathe him without spontaneously combusting and launching myself into the sun. that man is evil with a skincare routine and a god complex so bloated it needs its own curse rating. he chose to become a murderer. he chose to kill innocent people. he chose to form a cult and feed off the admiration of the vulnerable while talking about “monkeys” like he wasn’t two brain cells away from becoming a reddit mod. and now you seriously wanna go, “well satoru didn’t cremate him so technically he’s responsible for kenjaku”? EXCUSE ME??? satoru was grieving. he stood over the body of his best friend—and in that moment, he broke. not because he’s stupid, not because he’s careless, but because he’s human. you really think he was sitting there going “ah yes let’s leave this body pristine in case an ancient sorcerer wants to play dress-up later”? NO. he was mourning. show some respect. show some human empathy. you can’t hold someone’s pain against them like that unless you’ve never lost someone you loved.

and now you’re saying “well saving yuji got everyone killed too”—baby, i’m gonna need you to pause, breathe, and reevaluate EVERYTHING you think you know. saving yuji was not some selfish power trip. it wasn’t satoru going “teehee i’m bored let’s adopt a sukuna bomb.” he saw a kid willing to die to protect someone else. a kid who took a cursed object into his own body not for power, not for glory, but because he wanted to save someone. and the higher-ups? they were ready to kill him without a second thought. satoru said no. satoru said, “maybe, just maybe, we don’t have to keep killing children to maintain this garbage system.” and you’re mad about that??? sukuna’s fingers didn’t vanish if yuji died. someone else would’ve eaten them. someone worse. someone who wouldn’t have fought back. but yuji did. satoru tried. and that’s the crime, apparently?? sparing a life instead of feeding it to a machine built to erase people like they’re nothing?? that’s what y’all are mad at??? girl, be serious. how can you look at a man trying to protect the only flicker of resistance against a rotten world and go, “actually this is his fault”?? 😐

yes, satoru is flawed. and THANK GOD for that. those flaws is what made him human. he was the only one trying to change the cycle. he was the only one out here fighting not just curses, but the entire system. he didn’t manipulate. he didn’t betray. he didn’t slaughter people because he gave up. he had hope. and if you can’t tell the difference between that and the people who actively made choices to hurt, then idk what to tell you. kenjaku planned this for centuries. suguru gave into his hatred. sukuna is a demon with no loyalty to anyone but himself. and satoru? he was trying to build something. protect something. save someone. that’s not the same league. hell, it’s not even the same sport. y’all are trying to measure thunderstorms and tsunamis with a rain gauge and calling it balance.

this whole “everyone has consequences” thing is true, but CONSEQUENCES AREN’T CULPABILITY. intent matters. context matters. if you think satoru being unable to cremate suguru in a moment of pain means he’s at fault for the culling games, then idk, should we also blame people for being scammed because they trusted someone once?? this is a tragedy. and you’re trying to turn it into a morality play where everyone gets the same sentence regardless of motive, regardless of pain. that’s not analysis, that’s moral laziness dressed up in edgy discourse.

and god, the way the system failed him. the whole tengen thing, the higher-ups, all the ancient rotten power clinging to relevancy—they made the world into a cursed pressure cooker, and satoru still tried to fix it. by himself. because no one else would. he was out here holding the sky up while everyone beneath him either prayed for his failure or stabbed him in the back. 

i love satoru. i love him to an unhealthy, legally questionable degree. i would gnaw through a steel beam for him. i would elbow drop god if god disrespected him. and if you think i’m just gonna sit here while people twist the story to act like he “deserved” what happened to him?? ABSOLUTELY NOT. satoru didn’t die because he was wrong. he died because he was right, and the world couldn’t handle it. they broke the only person who had the power and heart to change things, and now they want to blame him for their mess?? no. never. not on my watch.

satoru wasn’t the problem. he was the only one who ever tried to be the solution. give the man his flowers. hell, give him the whole damn garden 😠

[murasaki-cha]

Personal opinion, Cardan was not always in love with Jude!

My take on Cardan's feelings from the begining is that it started as interest (Jude being human yet trying to fit in and refusing to cower. Also he had always been interested in humans a bit so that also drew his eye).

After that it was jealousy (Jude being loved by Madoc and living with him, despite not being related. Meanwhile he was cast aside and hated and ignored by his own family. Also he was compared to Jude multiple times, which did sort of create an inferiority complex).

That curiosity kept growing but, unfortunately so did his jealousy and they formed kind of a twisted obsession. Add to the equation here the years of abuse he endured both physical and emotional that most definitely had an affect in his emotional and mental state.

As time went on this obsession did grow into a twisted kind of love, because despite everything and despite denying it himself, Cardan did admire Jude. He always thought she was beautiful, he was always drawn to her, he always noticed things down to the smallest bits and in a way he wanted to impress her, ex.: releasing the servants and gifting Jude the coronation dress.

Cardan, for me, is someone who did most of the acts he did in book one out of social pressure and the desire to fit in. Also, when you read back enough times, you notice that Cardan always did smth that would sort of be of help to Jude when they were picking on her. You also notice this when you see how much tamer he is with the Court of Shadows or when he is High King, he is cruel yes but not as cruel as he made himself out to be in the first book.

Cardan can love purely and deep deep down that love that was formed was simply that of a boy who was fascinated by a girl and wanted so badly to impress her, but he was never taught how to love in that pure way, he had grown up twisted and hurt and could only experience those feelings the same way, until both him and Jude learned through time and through each other how to love in that pure and healthy way.

So I don't think that Cardan "loved" Jude from the begining but he was always interested and drawn by her no matter the context.

[simptasia]

phew... that hit a nerve for me

[shorthaltsjester]

free my complex female character, she did the same thing as complex male characters but the fandom takes Any analysis of her actions/choices/motivations that doesn’t strip her of all of her agency in bad faith and claims that only misogynists would dare to critique the things that they’ve noticed in her character because she’s a woman, completely ignoring the over-presence of discourse about similarly traited male characters in their fandom.

[crustyfloor]

Previous anon back, thank you for explaining those other critisms. I really like Hyuna and feel like one of the main problems people have with her character is that... she didn't have the kind of reaction they wanted a victim of the things she went through to have. I don't think Wiege undermined her pain because I don't think you can understand Hyuna without acknowleding what has happened to her + what we are shown in Wiege. She has her worldview because she was able to reconcile humanity's ability to do awful things with the love she's always had for mankind.

Hyuna has never been vengeful or hateful even when it would have been justified for her to be. I get that it can be uncomfortable to see someone who has suffered the way Hyuna has not fully hate the person who hurt them but not all victims are the same. Hyuna doesn't forgive Luka, and her still loving him is not an endorsement of abuse or her excusing his actions; she just understands why he turned out the way he did, "Someone who only knows suffering and can only inflict the same." and feels sympathy for him as a fellow human who has suffered under the same system and because they were/used to be friends.

Exactly, Anon, exactly!!! I expressed this before in my og post but I have a little more, I also think many people are quick to assume the worst, because they have expectations or unbudging worldviews, it's okay that they had that, it's okay if they were potentially disappointed with HyunA, but I have a main problem with people who deem her a shallow character or generalize her because they can't accept that she's just a complex character, I've seen the way people handle specifically (female) characters who subvert from an typical standpoint in explorative medias like these, for instance one of my other favorite characters from Milgram being Yuno, to put a long story short she's had multiple abortions at some point in her life whilst she was a teenager participating in compensated dating/sex work, she's stuck in a inescapable jail-like system in apparently space called milgram for that "crime" where she would be judged for it (also a music-based media) and she has survived to the third trial but currently she's come to grapple with the fact that she's in milgram for that reason and she has complicated feelings about her abortion after some major events that caused shifts in her personality (ie. The death of someone she cared about, getting familiar with other murderers because there's nowhere else for them to go) , and you know what people do? They assumed the author wanted to push pro-life messaging through her because she wasn't adamantly confident in her decisions. And that wasn't the case, in the moments of her trial 3 teaser, they really disregarded the fact that she was an 18-year-old, who was in bad mental condition before the main timeline, and whilst she was a sex worker, getting many abortions as a result. And she lives in Japan (and Japan tends to have bad opinions about women like her, Yamanka intentionally wrote them so that their environment affects how they ultimately think.)

People are quick to assume there is an underlying message the author is trying to convey when themes like these are rightfully explored in media to their potential (And truthfully I understand where they're coming from, again, this happens) but really in these cases I appreciate that the authors are just trying to explore unique viewpoints, I believe to see these characters is to see them from an objective, understanding angle even if it's not something you particularly agree with, media from different people across the world is also there to challenge you right? (And to somewhat quote Yamanka here) Vivinos and Yamanka don't write these characters to say "This is how all people should be," but rather, "This is just how she/he ended up" in both series that aim to explore the humanity and complexity within characters that function as human as us, not all humans are going to apply to a certain formula.

And it really annoys me that the second HyunA didn't do what they wanted (ie. let luka die with a smile on her face because she's such a badass like that) when everything in her lore even before wiege proved she was nothing heartless and nothing vengeful, they automatically turned their back on her, disregarding the fact that all the characters of alien stage are portraying victims, she is still portraying a victim in a really really fucked up world, yet, this is just her emotional journey and how she ended up (even if I have certain reservations about both of them in that sense, I can appreciate the realism and the respect put on both of their stories)

(Funny thing is, both Yuno and HyunA were regarded as the girlbosses in their fandom before they had their huge development, now the fans are all over the place)

[bcbdrums]

Once upon a time, if a person wanted to communicate with another person, they picked up a telephone receiver and manually input a memorized or handwritten phone number. Then they waited as the phone rang. Sometimes a person answered, sometimes they did not. Sometimes there was an answering machine to leave a message, and sometimes there was not. And you may later hear from the person, or....you may not!

The internet and modern technology have created a massive, toxic lie.

You...yes, you reading this...do not have free, anytime access to people at your demand.

If you text/DM/email/call whatever a person, and they don't reply immediately, that's fine! In fact if they never reply, that's fine!

But, but — they posted on their social media. But but — I see their "status light" shows they're available online. But but — they spoke with someone else.

Does not matter. Their life is their life. You are permitted into it if and when that person allows.

That's it. That's literally it. There's nothing else to it.

[helloiamacashier]

It's a travesty that I can't reblog gifsets of books.

[k423s]

i do think the objectively correct answer to "who is the best hyv character" is kiana even if she may not be your favorite character.

[johnnyinmysilverhand]

bumble and anessa could have some side lesbianism going on if they weren't so focused on revenge and killing

[wiisagi-maiingan]

No citizens of any country are somehow inherently bad or evil because of their government. Full stop. That includes Russia citizens, Israeli citizens, Palestinian citizens, Chinese citizens, Iranian citizens, North Korean citizens, etc.

Everyone in this world is just living their lives, each with their own complex needs and desires and interests and emotions. They all have hobbies and friends and families and favorite foods. They all have their own motivations and varying political opinions and views on their governments. They all weigh the risks of standing out or speaking up and they all make their own decisions about that.

They all fear the same in times of danger. They all feel grief and pain and terror the same. They all love and hate and bleed the same.

They are people. They are no different from anyone else, they are not monsters or caricatures or nameless bodies in videos. Complexity and humanity are not exclusive to your country, to people like you.

[shallowseeker]

To clarify, I think this is lovely for Cas. It's what makes him such a hard-hitting, wonderful character. He lives with his guilt, and he tries to do better anyway. He's, to quote a friend, "the knife emoji trying not to be a knife emoji."

I actually like season 6--it shows that the angels have lasting psychological wounds from living under Heaven's brutal regime. And yet, remarkably, they all *try* to exercise their free will and do what they think is right.

For better or for worse, Uriel decides to stand with Lucifer. "Something is wrong up there, Castiel."

Anna tries to go back in time to prevent the Apocalypse. "Sam Winchester has to die. I'm really sorry about this."

Lucifer: "Let's walk off the board, brother."

Rachel gets intel about Purgatory and confronts her superior--knows it's too dangerous to undertake, "(You can't win the war) this way, Castiel."

Ion despairs and turns to being a double-agent, "Do you even know what the mission was? They've been in all our heads!"

Samandriel: "Listen to me closely. I've been there. I know! They're controlling us, Castiel"

Even Metatron: "You ran me from my home! Did you really think you could do all of that to me and there'd be no payback?"

Muriel: "Each side is rounding up those who try and stay neutral. Angels are being tortured and killed if they don't pledge loyalty."

Malachi: "Virtue is its own punishment."

I'm sure there are more. Everyone who lived under Heaven was affected. I kinda like that Cas had lasting effects from Heaven's war machine. Season 6 was him spiraling hard from the psychological wounds of Heaven, and it kept going well into the entirety of the series, all the way to Dumah's insurrection and manipulation of Jack.

///

This history is part of why I think Cas is so patient with others in his family (with Sam, with Dean, with Mary, with Jack!)

CASTIEL: Jack, I've killed people who didn't deserve it… my friends– I've killed people I loved. I wish I could tell you that it– that it gets easier, that with time, it hurts less, but that would be a lie because it– it never gets easier. And those moments, they never stop hurting. But that doesn't mean that you should stop fighting. Doesn't mean that just because you made a mistake – and that's what this is, Jack. It's a mistake. That doesn't mean that you can't– can't be better, do better. I believe that. I have to believe that.

Cas forgives others because he struggles to forgive himself. Cas killed people he loved: Balthazar, Samandriel, and countless others. He wants to believe that Jack can be better, do better. Because, as I said above, he wants to see something Angelic being a Good force for the world.

///

And yet, Cas seems to come to terms with being brutal, with being the knife. We see that on display so well in season 13. He becomes very comfortable with wielding his his violence during times of war to protect those he's chosen to be with.

We see him integrating his angelic brutality->when he mind-melts Donatallo, when he fights his way to Jack & Mary, when he tortures AU informants for information.

(It's illustrated beautifully in Meredith's script. "You're more than a weapon, Cas." "In times of peace, I can be.") But if war is coming, Cas will get in front of everyone he loves; he'll do the ugly thing. He's a soldier. He's good with that. To him, it's worth the cost. His morality is comfortably flexible.

His alternate version tells him that they're the same. Cas replies that he knows. He's under no idealistic illusions anymore. He's chosen to fight for those he is loyal to, knowing full well that righteousness and morality are relative to the locus you center it around. In this timeline, he's choosing to fight for the ones he loves. Familial blue collar soldier.

Why did Cas kill Balthazar?

Sometimes I chat with folks and we're surprised to revisit the fact that Cas killed Balthazar in a fit of cruel paranoia before he ever gulped in the soul juice.

Cas is incredibly paranoid when he kills Balthazar, and it was quite possibly one of his worst moments. It seems irrational and mad at the time, but Cas's psyche is actually very understandable. Cas was betrayed by Heaven numerous times from seasons 4-6. That set him up to be backed into a corner.

In early season 4, Heaven drags him in for torture for daring to even consider warning Dean about their corrupt plans.

Uriel tries to kill him and join Lucifer.

At the end of season 4, Cas gets brutally murdered for standing up for what he feels is right. Bazillions of years of military service and loyalty mean nothing to his superiors, and he's vaporized in an instant. He seems particularly betrayed by Raphael.

When Cas returns to Heaven post-Apocalypse #1, he's ashamed that they want to start up Apocalypse #2. He even stands against Raphael at first! Interestingly, Raphael doesn't kill him again but "knocks him into next week." I think this hints that Raphael was at one time fond of Castiel, or else he'd have simply killed him again.

So, angelic civil war.

Cas doesn't go to Dean or Sam or Bobby because he's ashamed of Heaven, and above all, he wants to protect them. Not to mention, he didn't want to make them a target because to angels, they're a relatively soft target. While he's in battle, he can't be there to protect them.

So away, Cas and Crowley go for a SuperMario power-up by tapping Purgatory's battery. Meanwhile, Cas convinces a team of angels to stand with him against Raphael.

Even with his "show of power" via the souls Crowley loaned to him (and I'm guessing Cas can wield soul power in a way Crowley cannot?), that's still a big risk those rebel angels are taking.

And Cas doesn't tell them critical parts of his plan. Because he knows his plan is wrong. He doesn't even tell Balthazar everything. But more importantly, he doesn't trust Heaven. Thanks to what Heaven has wrought, Cas doesn't even trust his rebel angels--the ones brave enough to take on friggin' Raphael with him.

I mean, sure. He was always going to double-cross Crowley, but it didn't even cross his mind to divvy up the soul power with Balthazar or his rebel angels. That's because he's paranoid of them turning on him.

And with what Heaven has thus far shown itself to be...why wouldn't he be?

[strangesmallbard]

“why are jews so mad about stuff that happened hundreds of years ago” it’s because the timeline of antisemitism on wikipedia looks like this:

some centuries have their own separate articles. here’s the decade leading up to the creation of the term “anti-semitism” from the nineteenth century article:

so like. i think anyone with a brain can understand why jews are pissed off. and if your knee jerk reaction to learning about the history of antisemitism is to ask “what did the jews do?” nothing. the convenient lie is that jews have been persecuted throughout the centuries because of some inherent malignancy or evil disposition. the truth is more simple: people hate jews. and the truth is also more complex: people would rather believe jews are worth hating than confront the shame they themselves feel upon learning about the long history of antisemitic violence around the world. and the longer that shame exists, the more corrosive it becomes.

and what do human beings do when they feel ashamed? they project that feeling onto others. they may even blame the source of that shame, even if that source wasn’t the cause. rinse and repeat. it’s a very, very old cycle. just like how antisemitism is a very, very old cycle. not sure what the exact point of this post is, but i would love to stop seeing goyim dismiss jewish anger and trauma and grief for five minutes.

[meo-eiru]

Since I'm busy working on a valentines day drawing I thought we could do something different until I'm done with that. Trivia night! I'll be writing what's basically a compilation of fun facts we've already established or haven't learned yet. We will also learn more about their backstories.

For tonight we have Silas

Silas has a mom and dad but isn't close with neither of them

As a child he was quite needy compared to other elven kids

Elves almost never stray too far away from the elven village but Silas liked to play in the depths of the forest

He learned about humans from a story book he found while playing in the forest

He was amazed by the colorful imagery and the familial relationship depicted in the book and wanted to have the same, which kickstarted his human hyperfixation

He's currently the most knowledgeable elf in humans within the village

His house is located quite far away from the village, he can still reach there by walking but it's not somewhere where the other elves can just stumble upon

He likes sweet things like fruits or honey but dislikes the taste of meat so doesn't feed it to you much as well

He, just like the other elves, while natural with most other living things, hates all demonic creatures

He's very nice and sweet with you but wouldn't glance twice at other forest creatures and is actively hostile towards demons

Of course he would never let you see him make that kind of face

He thought of using magic to make you live as long as he does but it feels like tempering with your humanity so if you die he's planning to die with you

He's actually not that good at magic compared to other elves, he just knows the basics and relies on books for the rest

He's average height for an elf

He doesn't like leaving bite marks or hickeys on your body because it feels like dirtying your perfect form

But he really likes it when you mark his skin, whether they are hickeys or wounds

While more compassionate than other elves, Silas does have a bit of a superiority complex like them

For example, unlike other elves he does see the intelligence of humans but would still say elves are smarter

He doesn't have any ill intentions with it, to him it's just like saying a unicorn is be better than a horse

He doesn't like eating carrots because he thinks they look like elf ears

He loves learning more about you but dislikes hearing about your family

He doesn't want you to have pets, only the two of you are allowed inside his house

He does have a bathroom in his house but it's just a replica of what he saw in books and isn't actually that functional

If you want to use the bathroom for your baths instead of the river like he does, he just carries the water from the river to his house then uses magic to make it rain on you like a shower head

Even if you don't allow him inside the bathroom he still watches from the window

He has a diary where he writes everything you do in a day, from what activities you did to how many times you blink on average

If you offered to live in a human city with him he would refuse, while he likes humans you are his utmost priority and it's better for you to be inside his house away from everyone's reach