#how dare fandom not cater to me specifically

[pandoratheprocrasticreator]

.

[lancermylove]

MC Loves Music

Fandom: Twisted Wonderland

Pairing: First Years x fem!Reader, platonic

Warning: None

Requested by: Anon

Prompt: Hello! I want to request (if you can do it) some platonic headcanons for the first year boys of TWST with a female friend Yuu who really likes music and asks them to recommend groups and different songs from the world of Twisted wonderland. She also likes to talk a lot about the music of her world.

———————————————

He doesn't really listen to music except sometimes when he is jogging. Even then, the music will be more instrumental than anything.

However, his siblings like to listen to music, so Jack can recommend the bands and artists they listen to.

You are welcome to talk about music with him, but it's not really his cup of tea. Now, if you want to talk about exercise, sports, or cacti, he will gladly have a full-on conversation with you.

He isn't familiar with the music in the city area as his town prefers to listen to folk songs and such. But if that's something you like, he can recommend it to you. If not, Epel can give you names of the popular songs that his dormmates talk about.

Like Jack, he will lend you an ear if you want to talk about music but won't be able to relate to your hobby.

However, if you want him to listen to music with you, Epel will gladly join you. Though, there are certain genres that he will not be comfortable with.

He will be more than happy to give recommendations to you and talk to you about music. If you truly love music that much, Ace will even send you songs he likes when the album or single is released.

Ace will also gladly listen to music about your world and how it differs from the music of his world.

If he gets a chance, he would like to listen to music from your world.

Ace also suggests you join the music club and talk to Cater, Kalim, and Lilia about music, as they could give you many more recommendations than him, especially Cater, who lives on social media.

Though Deuce doesn't keep up with new releases or go out of his way to listen to specific genres, he doesn't mind talking about music.

In fact, when you are talking to Ace, he is usually present and listens in on the conversation and the music you play for his redheaded friend.

Like Ace, Deuce would really like to listen to music from your world, especially if the music style/genres are different from his world.

How dare you even think he would have time to listen to music? Sebek tells you to talk to Lilia about it, as he is uninterested.

If you ask for recommendations, he will tell you to talk to Lilia. If you try to get him to listen to songs, he will get mad at you and tell you he doesn't have time for such triviality.

If you want to talk to him about music from your world, he is not interested. Now, if you get Malleus to listen to your favorite songs/artists/bands, Sebek will gladly join in.

———————————————

➣ Twisted Wonderland [1][2] ➣ Main Masterlist

➣ Buy me a Ko-fi? ➣ Commission: Open ➣ HC/Scenario Requests: Closed || Quick Ask Requests: Closed || GIF Requests: Closed

[harpoonsnotspoons]

Hey I'm one of the people originally here for adamsapple and I'm just cringing so hard at how people are talking to you 💀 like wtf you're not getting paid to make what you're making. It's a take it or leave kinda situation in fandoms and people have to understand this.

It reminds me of the Batman fans who shit on crossovers being popular because THEY personally don't like it and HOW DARE people make art that's not for THEM specifically and catered exclusively to their taste >:(((( (legit had someone tell me, in a conversation about AO3, "I shouldn't have to filter them out. They shouldn't be there in the first place" bruh)

Like demanding a certain type of thing from someone you're not paying to make it is 100% gonna make them make want to make less of it lmao.

Keep up the good work, draw and write whatever the fuck you like, ignore those people because they're just entitled and feeling empowered by the anonymity (I know I sound hypocritical here but in my defense I'm just nervous lol).

Uuuh also I don't know jack nor shit about Homestuck but I like your artstyle. Reminds me of Scott Pilgrim a bit. Real cool 😎 keep up the good work.

dude tysm 🙏🙏 im just getting so fed up with people rn 😮‍💨 its nice to know that most people are actually. yknow. decent??

[tiffanytoms]

Do you think one of the reasons why (the vast majority) of Jily fics consist of the same recycled tropes and characterizations is because the Jily fandom (or at least a vocal minority) is less receptive to anything different like fics where the characters are more morally ambiguous/not as perfectly brave+good as they’re usually portrayed?

Hello!

Okay, I am going to answer this question like it was asked in good faith and is not a trap - and really hope that one of the 50 trolls I've blocked doesn't come out of the woodwork bc their spidey-senses started tingling and they just can't wait to yell their Karen opinions at me (I've been traumatized... can you tell I've been traumatized? 🤪)

Yes, absolutely yes. And I would agree it is a vocal minority, bc my anon asks and reader stats have never been better than for my darkest fic. Even the ppl who ended up turning on it were some of the biggest fans/reviewers/ask-senders, etc, so, at the end of the day that's their problem with human psychology and not me.

Morally ambiguous content is DEFINITELY popular, but you got some really loud, obnoxious, morally-superior purity warriors who (can't read warnings and tags), I guess, are here to cleanse all our souls by chastising and bullying others (??) whenever they admit that they like anything different, and that (understandably) pushes ppl back into the shadows. You can one thousand percent enjoy something that you know is bad for you or that you shouldn't. (Hello, sugar? Alcohol? Anything fun? Hahaha) Guilty pleasures are not a crime and reading literal crimes is not a crime. Seriously. You can read about murder and no one has to go to jail! 😱

But let me explain myself further: do I think popular tropes are a bad thing? No! Obviously if so many ppl are writing them, ppl like them! I enjoy them too. I think that's great, write away, but I think there's a problem when ppl are actively trying to stop others from writing anything different bc it's not what they personally want to read. We don't cater to entitled narcissists around here. It's the internet. There's enough room for everyone and ppl gotta learn to share their toys, lol. It is really sad bc over the years I have seen other specific writers (weird that this seems to be a recurring theme...) bullying away several amazing, original writers and that's just all sorts of fucked up. You can't tout this perfect utopian community by ostracizing and lying about anyone who dares to think even slightly differently than the norm. It's dumb as hell, and really insecure on those writers' parts. And frankly, I'm pissed they keep getting away with it.

That being said, let's veer into less nefarious waters and say that these ppl didn't lash out due to jealousy and marking their territory, but bc ppl in general are scared of anything new and what they don't understand. Ppl are creatures of habit, so if enough ppl write Jily in a specific way, that way almost becomes canon. For example, I will never forget my complete 'HUH 🤔' moment when someone was sharing my non-problematic, canon story WAYDTM (so they were clearly a fan) and tagged it as 'OOC'. Bc in my head I was like............. how are they out of character? We literally only know xyz about them and THAT'S IT. But it was completely bc so many ppl had written Lily and James in that specific way that that was almost what was expected. Me making James actually be an asshole at the beginning was marked as 'out of character' even if it made complete sense for the way I told the story.

And to that I say, fuck that.

No one here owns Jily, no one here knows Jily, bc Jily does not exist, they are not real, so write them however the fuck you want. It literally hurts no one, it is a story.

If ppl read the story, cool. If they don't, also cool. But at the end of the day, this is fanfiction over fictional characters, and if you're not allowed to play, then what's the fucking point.

I think it boils down to 2 camps: ppl who want to read/write aspirational Jily, and ppl who want to read/write messy, real (sometimes bad) Jily. Both are completely acceptable and wonderful and AWESOME, and we can have both. We just need both camps to mind their own business (but feel free to travel between them! That's cool!) and live and let live and not pretend like either is better than the other.

It just gets so fucking weird when you have ppl trying to tell you what you can or cannot do. Cut that shit out.

Thanks for the ask 😁 Sorry I got a little heated, this has just been a lot.

[see-arcane]

this person who posted in the tags that you do "weird flanderization of Jonathan who suddenly is the most feral most strongest most specialest little boy who gets to meet all of the other characters." and that "he shouldn't be in the league at all" isn't because of your writing or anything but because they're mad that jonathan is taking up jekyll's spotlight in the league. i apologize on behalf of the j+h fandom they are notorious around here and now they have targeted you too.

I'll be honest, I seriously blanked on what post you could be talking about because my eyes kind of glazed over mid-rant when I was scrolling past it. (My pretty pink eye is always open but it doesn't always pay attention, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

On that note, I've mentioned before what my reaction to people/media being jerks about Jonathan Harker is *--

*Spoilers: It means I make even more gratuitously indulgent Jonathan Harker content. I'm making a whole monster AU sequel novel centered around the guy for crying out loud.

--and that was well before I started churning out fanfic for the LXGF comic that Does Not Exist Yet about the myriad public domain characters who are owned by no one, but who are, to the best of my knowledge, being written in a way that realistically grows from the canon of the books they come from. On that point, if their main issue is the League of Extraordinary Gentlefolk and my premature bootleg scribbling about the same, feat. Jonathan Harker? I guess it needs repeating (as it is made very clear on the comic's blog itself):

This is not Alan Moore's comic! The closest resemblance is the name! It is not, nor was it ever planned to be, a direct child of Alan Moore's work! Nor of any movie or musical or series or adaptation!

The characters and their potential adventures are based on what we can take from the actual books!

Which are being read en masse at this point by all the writers involved, as we love nothing more than inflicting book club after book club on ourselves. Anyway.

This isn't worth a meatier rant, honestly. Ditto for anyone's griping about how we're not catering specifically to their version of Jekyll and Hyde, or how they want the comic to be done, or how they want anyone who dares to write a story involving public domain characters to mimic their favorite adaptation or spinoff. None of the things they're complaining about are being made for them. They're being made by people who want those stories to exist for themselves and for anyone else who might like to see their stories. That's it.

I will say that I honestly hope they can get past whatever hang-up they have about these characters and their hobby of trying to shout or wheedle everyone else into playing along with their mean-spirited takes.

Because looking at the wider fandoms of all these classic literature and comic book fans? This person seems to be one lone sourpuss stamping their feet while everyone else is being chill or excited about their own stuff. Some have even done the easy thing and, you know, blocked the blogs/tags that upset them. I do it all the time. It's probably been done to me. I don't know and I don't care that I don't know.

I sincerely want this person to get to that headspace too. If only so they can find their way back to the point of being a fan, which is having fun with the content they enjoy rather than seeking out projects and people to throw bile at.

[astraltrickster]

Tbh that shit I was ranting about in the tags of that one post, about why I feel alienated from artist communities online, is a huge part of why I hate the way the word "entitlement" (derogatory) has no set meaning

Because on the one hand, in fandom spaces especially, there are a lot of people who act...for lack of a better term, super fucking entitled to an endless stream of free content that caters to their exact specific tastes and get really pissy if you dare to create anything for YOURSELF rather than for THEM and excuse you how DARE you make an AU or have a different headcanon--

On the other hand, holy fucking shit, online artist communities...I've been in and out of them for over a decade and the level of drama and blatant hypocrisy I've seen is off the fucking charts. Love how many FANartists are so aggressive about copyright that they'll accuse someone of stealing their OC for having a vaguely similar and very common color palette. Who will talk about all their influences and then stick "DO NOT TAKE INSPIRATION FROM MY WORK" on their profiles - and that's not hyperbole, I've seen it, verbatim! If I had a dollar for every fucking artist I've seen who thought they were the sole true owner of an extremely generic composition...well, I'd definitely have a nice set of ring splints by now. Dare I even mention the omegaverse lawsuit?

And the thing is, the people who take these attitudes to these extremes are a tiny, TINY minority - but...they're loud enough to have an impact on others. Even if it's not to such an extreme as "I can't believe I have to stop my pirated movie marathon to file another DMCA, how could this person really think they could get away with it, an OC with blue hair and angel wings is MY idea!" there's still a pervasive attitude of "copyright maximalism for me, but minimalism for everyone I can argue is Bigger than me" that really goes unquestioned in a lot of these spaces. Similarly, between that horrible loud minority in fandom and corporate Astroturfing fandom spaces, it really feels like a lot of non-fanartists see fanart as being part of the actual canon, that just springs forth fully formed from the ether, even in spaces where people...nominally know better

So some people will treat hobby art like a side hustle in the sense of "well with the state of the economy today everyone could use more security so if you're gonna act like I'm here to provide YOU a service, fuck off, pay me" which is honestly totally fair, and some will just be hopeful that people will be generous toward people who make them happy but not have any expectations or demands thereof which is also cool, and some will sell actual goods and services which is totally fine, and some people will press the fact that if you want other people to make fan work that caters to you personally then commissioning them will be a lot more effective than just complaining that you're right and they're wrong and just generally being a giant penis, which is also completely true and fair, but others will indeed have every ounce of leftism just leave their bodies when you point out that drawing blorbo from your shows doesn't make them uniquely MORE deserving of survival than anyone else/that the people they're complaining about "stealing [their] jobs" and even the "lazy consumers" need to eat too, or ask them to examine their beliefs about IP law for internal consistency and stop equating legality to morality whenever it benefits them, or even just come up with a meaningful set of standards for what constitutes small enough to be "sacred" vs. big enough that derivative work is inevitable (ask me about what I call the Mario Kart model of copyright, that I propose until art is no longer a Market under capitalism)

And some people will be critical of the Patreon/Ko-fi/etc. economy and the flaws of the culture in online artist spaces for those reasons...but others will be critical of it because they're really really mad that those uppity snobs don't know their place and need to just make pretty things for them to mindlessly consume without even so much as a moment of basic human connection beyond hitting a button, or that they themselves aren't popular enough on the internet to get any kind of mutual aid...in the kind of way where they'd throw everyone like themselves under the bus just as hard if their own internet identity became Marketable enough; the problem isn't that PEOPLE in general get left out of this "merit"-based model but the fact that THEY PERSONALLY do

And all of the above will call some or all of the attitudes across the gap "entitled" and from that word there's no way to fucking tell whether the complaint is rational or not

And it's honestly one of my least favorite things about internet culture

[the-proship-hellhole]

Here's a hint for y'all anons:

If you come at us politely and ask us to use a specific tag for y'all

We might be a little more willing to do so.

Just coming into our askboxes and going "uR a FuCkInG pEdO cReEp KyS i CaNt BlOcK u waaaaaaaah waaaaaaaah waaaaaaaah ur horrible just for existing how dare you use public fandom spaces waaaaaaaah waaaaaaaah your entire internet usage has to cater to me" makes us not give a fuck about you.

Well, even less of a fuck than we already give about you.

We are not your parents.

We are not responsible for you.

It is not our job.

So, you have two choices:

Shut the FUCK up and get off the internet until you mature enough to use it properly and take responsibility for your own experiences

LEARN HOW TO BLOCK AND FILTER TAGS! Quit your fucking bitching, pull up your training diapers and take some responsibility for your online experiences.

We. Owe. You. Nothing.

~ Mod Niecest

[mercyandmagic]

Is MXTX in Prison? A Fact Check

Final Update 11/05/21! In short: many more things have come to light since this was originally posted, updated here. I would recommend clicking on the link for the better, clearer, more detailed version. (Yes, I’m putting the update at the top now because people are gonna people).  

Online in the English-speaking fandom, you will find everything from “her arrest was confirmed” to “how dare you even ask the question?! You’re catering to antis and ruining her name.” But since rumors of MXTX’s arrest keep popping up and there’s been no direct word from MXTX herself for close to two years (and because I have anxiety) I decided to investigate and fact-check for myself.  

Let me start with this: I’m not interested in gossip and speculation. I’m a concerned fan interested in the truth. Going forward I will be explicit regarding what is fact and what is my own analysis. If you are an anti or someone who believes that the process of investigating rumors automatically grants rumors power, please spare yourself and stop now.  

I should also add a major disclaimer: ...I only know conversational Chinese and had to rely on several online translators for most of this. Yeah, I’m not the person for the job. I know. But since I didn’t know or hear of anyone else doing an objective fact check, I decided to try anyways. To this end, I have referenced all the facts I will discuss, so you can and should double-check my results yourself. 

Claim: MXTX is the ‘Yuan’ (袁) investigated in the 3.28 case concerning pornography and illegal business. She was detained in May 2019. The rumors surfaced with an announcement in August 2019, and the judgment was released on November 10, 2020.

For what it is worth, I will not be treating this claim as an all-or-nothing statement; I will be investigating with the notion that all, some, or none of it could be true. 

To start, is MXTX really surnamed Yuan?

Yes. The public judgment of a February 2020 copyright case involving her publisher, Jinjiang Literature City (JJWXC), proves MXTX does indeed have the name Yuan Yimei (袁依楣).1 

What is Illegal Business?

Illegal business in danmei circles often means publishing physical books for profit without going through an official publishing house. In May 2019, Professor Luo Xiang of China University of Political Science and Law described this illegal business as “normal behavior” for many authors in danmei. In other words, it’s a widespread practice and many authors have done it, even though it is technically illegal. As such, this has resulted in the arrest of several danmei authors in recent years.2 

What is the 3.28 Case?

On August 14, 2019, the Anti-Pornography and Illegal Activities Office announced that they had investigated many online publishing circles, including JJWXC, to crack down on pornography and illegal publishing in the online literature community. Ten criminal cases were opened as part of this crackdown, including Zhejiang Province’s 3.28 case (3.28 means March 28, the date the case was opened). The 3.28 case resulted in the arrest of three people, including “Yuan Moumou” (袁某某) for disseminating approximately 4,000 copies of obscene materials for a profit of over ¥500,000. “Yuan Moumou” was identified as a “well-known” writer for JJWXC.3 (Moumou means something like ‘so-and-so.’ In other words, this person’s last name was Yuan. You can consider it analogous to ‘Yuan Jane Doe’).  

Another case described as part of this crackdown was the 8.03 Wuhan case concerning Tang Mou (唐某) otherwise known as Mr. Deep Sea (深海先生). Mr. Deep Sea is a JJWXC writer confirmed to be arrested in December 2017 and convicted in May 2019 for illegal business.2,4,5 

With speculation growing that MXTX was Yuan Moumou, Beijing News contacted the CEO of JJWXC, Huang Yanming, for comment on August 19. Ms. Huang said that she had no idea who Yuan Moumou and Tang Mou were (“完全不知道是谁”, literally “completely do not know who [Yuan and Tang] are”).6   

When asked specifically about MXTX’s arrest, Ms. Huang said, “We have not received any news.”6  

JJWXC also put out a statement saying “Our website has never received a request from the management department to assist in investigating related matters, and the website and website staff have never actively or passively provided any so-called relevant evidence or clues. For this kind of rumors, the legal affairs have notarized the relevant defamation and rumors. Regarding the slander and rumors, the bad impact on our website and the author will be investigated to the end!”6

Analysis:

First point: the date, just so you know how thorough I intend to be. While it’s commonly claimed that ‘3.28’ means March 28, 2019, the official statement doesn’t technically say the year. In fact, for Mr. Deep Sea case, ‘8.03’ refers to August 03, 2017. Still, by contrasting the two cases, it does seem more likely that 3.28 refers to March 28, 2019 than any other year. 

For starters, the announcement opens by stating its focus on cases during “this year” (2019). The 8.03 case was mentioned because it was sentenced in 2019. By contrast, the 3.28 case is described only as investigated and resulting in the detention of three individuals in 2019. So the 3.28 case is almost certainly younger than the 8.03 case. While it’s possible the case was opened on March 28, 2018, the length of time between investigation and announcement renders this possibility unlikely (For instance, although there was a lengthy wait for trial, Mr. Deep Sea was arrested after only four months of investigation).

Ms. Huang’s statements must be analyzed one at a time. She provides a denial of even knowing Yuan Moumou and Tang Mou, and at first glance, this could be considered evidence against Yuan Moumou being MXTX. However, Ms. Huang also “completely” denies knowing Tang Mou/Mr. Deep Sea, but Mr. Deep Sea had already been convicted and sentenced by that time. In other words, Ms. Huang’s denial of knowing these people is not a comment on whether they are arrested or not.

Moreover, it seems improbable that the Anti-Pornography and Illegal Activities Office would mistakenly announce that a well-known writer surnamed Yuan from JJWXC was arrested. In other words, there was almost certainly a popular writer surnamed Yuan from JJWXC arrested; the unanswered question is whether it was MXTX or not. 

(It is also worth noting that the Yuan character is the 37th most popular surname in China as of 2019, and Tang is the 25th.7 Given that as of August 2019, there were 46,639 writers signed to JJWXC,8 it is quite likely there is more than one Yuan and more than one Tang under contract at the company. As for what the definition of ‘popular/well-known’ is, it’s a subjective adjective that cannot really tell us much. Does it mean anything that Mr. Deep Sea was not identified as the popular one despite having well over 100,000 Weibo followers?5 I don’t know; my feeling is that drawing such a conclusion is probably reading too much into it. There’s only speculation to be found here, so I will desist). 

Ms. Huang’s second claim, that she had “not received any news” on MXTX’s arrest, is also not quite a denial. Now, it’s reasonable to expect that Ms. Huang or JJWXC would have received news if MXTX was arrested, so the lack of news may indicate that the rumors are untrue. Unfortunately, Ms. Huang’s statements are not direct enough to completely refute the rumors – which does not inherently mean the opposite, mind you. Her indirect statements are not evidence for MXTX’s arrest; they’re merely not denials.

Lastly, fans like to say the statement by JJWXC is a denial, but it isn’t. JJWXC is very specific in that they say they have not assisted in the investigation, nor provided evidence. Their statement, like their CEO’s, says nothing about whether MXTX is arrested or not. 

It is fair to ask why JJWXC would not directly refute the rumors if they were untrue, but keep in mind that a question is a point of concern, not evidence itself. 

Did IRL Friends Say that She Was Fine, that She Was Just Taking a Break and Working on her 4th Novel?

Not quite.  

This statement is commonly attributed to Chongyang, an artist who has done many illustrations for the Mo Dao Zu Shi (MDZS) audio drama. I could not find any evidence for this. The closest I could find was his timely Weibo comment in August 2019 that MXTX’s side account had been unused for months before then. A fan responded to this statement by asking him to confirm the arrest or not, and Chongyang did not respond. However, the first person to respond to that fan said that a different friend, a producer of the audio drama who goes by Brackets-Jun (括号君), had indeed refuted the rumors.9

In screenshots of what appears to be a Weibo message, a worried fan asks Brackets-Jun if she can “contact her [MXTX] directly,” and Brackets-Jun responds with: “There is no issue, rest assured.”10      

Analysis: 

So... no IRL friends said “MXTX is fine, she is just taking a break and working on her fourth novel.” That level of specificity was either never said, or it is not easy to find after many weeks of searching.

Moreover, Chongyang did not deny MXTX’s arrest. Still, his lack of response to the fan’s question is not particularly meaningful, since another fan mentioned Brackets-Jun’s denial. Overall, Chongyang’s statements say nothing about her arrest or not.

Brackets-Jun’s statement is more meaningful. Yes, her denial is less specific than reported, but it is there. Now, if you consult the references, you will see that half of the fan’s question is blurred out, so we cannot know what else was said. It is also true that the question “can you contact her directly” is not as, er, direct as “is she actually detained?” That being said, given human nature and the seriousness of the issue, it seems unlikely Brackets-Jun was responding to anything else.  

The question that remains is whether Brackets-Jun is telling the truth or protecting her friend, and I’m not in a position to answer that.   

Final note: whilst I cannot confirm the veracity of the screenshot, to my knowledge Brackets-Jun has never refuted that she said this, and it’s unlikely that a fan would fake a screenshot with blurred information – it’s extra work and the blurred portions actually render Brackets-Jun’s statement slightly less certain, not more. 

What Happened in May 2019?

Let’s backtrack from August to May, the rumored time of MXTX’s imprisonment. On May 23, 2019, JJWXC had to close for 15 days and shut down multiple sections after the Anti-Pornography and Illegal Activities Office crackdown on pornographic content.11,12 Supposedly, MXTX posted her last update to JJWXC that same day (her Weibo had been silent since February13) – I say supposedly because although this date is mentioned in a number of articles, I have not found a timestamp for concrete proof.14,15 

The note reads: “In seclusion, please do not worry or conjecture too much” (闭关，请大家不要过多的猜测或担心啦).16 

(Which… I’m sorry, MXTX, I am worrying when you said not to ( ɵ̥̥‸ɵ̥̥)).

That same day, Tianya Entertainment’s Gossip Moderator 吃瓜群众CJ (literally “Masses Eating Melons CJ” – melon is slang for gossip) posted the following on Weibo: 

“Mo Xiang was really caught, let’s hope Jinjiang and Chen Qing Ling will not be affected” (墨香铜臭真被抓了，希望晋江和陈情令不受影响吧 ​​​).17 

Analysis:

First, is the ~May 23 update on JJWXC proof that she is not in prison? Not necessarily, since a friend could potentially be behind it (similar to how Mr. Deep Sea’s Weibo was active in February 201818 after her arrest in December 20174).

As for Masses Eating Melons CJ, his hope for Chen Qing Ling (CQL) not to be affected indicates that he’s probably not an anti taking advantage of the JJWXC incident to spread malicious rumors. But that doesn’t mean the JJWXC incident could not have influenced him to believe that MXTX was “really caught,” leading him to post out of worry or something else. 

Since he provided no further evidence for his claim, we are left with gossip only.

Basically, there’s a lot of rumors about MXTX’s May 2019 imprisonment, but nothing remotely concrete.

Did Anyone Else Hear from Her After May 2019?  Part I: The Thousand Buddha Caves Issue

In August 2019, in the midst of the “MXTX is Yuan Moumou” rumors, antis began to spread rumors that MXTX did not actually donate 1 million yuan to the restoration of the Thousand Buddha Caves under the names of Xie Lian and Hua Cheng. On August 23, the Guazhou Cultural Relics Bureau responded to these rumors by confirming that she had done so, and they added the following:

“During the period, due to changes in the progress of the project, the Guazhou County Cultural Heritage Bureau took the initiative to contact the donor to report the progress of the project, but they were unable to contact them” (因该项目工程进度有所变动，瓜州县文物局主动联系捐款者汇报该 项目进展情况，但都未能联系上).19 

However, just one day later (August 24), the Guazhou Cultural Relics Bureau responded to a similar inquiry with the following: 

“The construction drawing design plan (intensified design) was improved and submitted for review until a reply letter was approved for construction in July this year. As a result, the project could not be implemented as scheduled in the donation agreement. This situation has been notified to the donor, and the donor also expressed full understanding” (捐踣方也表示完全理解).20

At the time, Chongyang also provided evidence for MXTX’s donation, along with the story on how MXTX decided to donate to the caves. This story also details how social media attacks distressed MXTX to the point of disrupting her sleep and affecting her happiness.21 

Analysis:

If we had only the first statement or only the second statement by the Guazhou Cultural Relics Bureau to go on, this analysis would be clear cut. The first statement implies that MXTX had not been reached up until that point. The second states that she was reachable in July 2019, and presumably, being in prison means one is not reachable. 

The differing statements cannot be attributed to an initial failed contact followed by a successful one, as both Guazhou Cultural Relics Bureau statements came in August, and the successful contact is implied to occur in July. Clearly there was a miscommunication, but which statement is true? We have no way to know. 

To be frank, other than proving MXTX is a generous woman, there’s not much that can be ascertained from these contradicting statements. 

However, Chongyang’s post is worth examining. If MXTX was so distressed by social media attacks at one point that it disrupted her sleep and more, that is certainly a potential motive for an extended break. Of course, Chongyang’s story is not evidence that she is free either. It merely provides a potential reason for her silence.

Did Anyone Else Hear from Her After May 2019?  Part II: Teacher Zhang Zhen

On July 12, 2019, the audio sharing platform Himalaya FM launched an audio book of MDZS. The novel was read by the renowned actor Zhang Zhen (who also voiced Jiang Fengmian in the audio drama).22 Reportedly, MXTX asked him personally to do the reading. 

A fan reached out to Himalaya FM on what appears to be Weibo. The fan asked if it was really true that the original author had asked “Teacher Zhang Zhen” personally (这个是真的吗,是原著作者出面邀请的吗?) and Himalaya FM replied that it was true. The fan then asked if they could tell them the month, and the response was “around July” (大约在 7月).23

Analysis: 

There’s no reason to disbelieve that MXTX asked Zhang Zhen personally. The one issue is that the audio book began uploading on July 12, 2019,24 which does not leave a lot of time for Zhang Zhen to accept and to produce the first few chapters. So it seems reasonable that her request was earlier than July, though it could still be around this time. 

While it’s likely that whomever runs Himalaya FM’s Weibo is likely not the same person in the position to answer this fan directly, there is no reason for them to lie either. The employee could have simply asked those who would know, or stated what they’d heard through the company (I find the latter most likely, since the screenshots indicate it was a quick conversation. The reply from Himalaya FM began around 15:13 and the screenshots were taken at 15:19).23 Still, it is evidence that MXTX was available late spring or early summer 2019.

Once again, I cannot confirm the veracity of the screenshot, but Himalaya FM has not denied it either. In addition, the fact that they actually randomly advertise during the exchange (consult references) seems like something a fan would not bother faking.

Did Anyone Else Hear from Her After May 2019?  Part III: The Korean Award

In February 2020, MDZS was announced to have been selected for a “Rising Star Award” (뉴‎ 스타상) by ridibooks, the novel’s publisher in South Korea. Of the 30 novels selected, MDZS was the only foreign work. The blogger who made the announcement displayed a picture of the trophy and claimed that it would be delivered to the author.25 

Analysis:

“It will be delivered to the author” is not the same thing as “the author went to a ceremony to receive it, where they were seen in person.” This offers no evidence for her freedom or imprisonment.

Did Anyone Else Hear from Her After May 2019?  Part IV: The 2020 Copyright Case of JJWXC vs. Jianbo Library

To start, this is the case that proves MXTX does indeed have the name Yuan Yimei (袁依楣). This January 2020 case was uploaded on China Judgments Online in April 2020. It is a civil case involving JJWXC versus Jianbo Library, which infringed on copyright by pirating MDZS and other works.1 There are several facts that need to be discussed: 

Jianbo Library’s defense for piracy was that the MDZS had pornography and that MXTX was herself suspected to be in jail. Their evidence included the Yuan Moumou case. According to JJWXC, this evidence was “not recognized by the court.”26 However, while it is true the court itself reviewed MZDS and did not find it to be pornographic, a look at the judgment reveals that the court did not rule one way or another on the freedom of the author. They merely list the evidence provided by Jianbo Library, and ultimately side with JJWXC that Jianbo Library did infringe on copyright.1    

The court had this to say about the signatures of Yuan Yimei on the unnotarized "Power of Attorney" (to say that JJWXC could represent her in court, allegedly signed October 31, 2015) versus the “Film and Game Authorized Adaptation Contract” (also signed October 31, 2015) and “The Power of Attorney for Film and Games” (signed May 15, 2016):

“The signatures are significantly different, and the power of attorney obviously lacks the necessary requirements such as rights, obligations, and consideration; Jinjiang Company claimed that Yuan Yimei was its signatory but failed to provide evidence such as the author’s ID card and the signing agreement. The plaintiff presented a screenshot of the work involved in the case on Jinjiang Literature City. After investigation, "The Master of the Demon Road" is locked in Jinjiang Literature City. The plaintiff did not explain the reasons for locking the work involved in the case and the relevant facts. In summary, the court believes that the relationship between the rights and obligations of Jinjiang Company and Yuan Yimei on the "The Master of the Demon Road" has changed, and there are defects in the authorization chain of "The Master of the Demon Road."1

When the judgment was first uploaded in April, rumors began to spread once the signature issue was noticed. JJWXC subsequently published a Weibo announcing that despite winning the case, they had appealed this ruling in February in an effort to erase rumors against MXTX and their company. They insisted that they never signed in MXTX’s place, and that the Power of Attorney was an attachment to the other agreement signed October 31, 2015, when MDZS began serializing. During their appeal, they provided supplemental evidence for MXTX signing the 2015 and 2016 contract.26

In their Weibo, JJWXC pointed out two other errors in the judgment: 1) the misidentification Beijing Xinpai Media Co., Ltd. (北京新湃传媒有限公司, the company that made CQL) as Beijing “Peng”pai Media Co., Ltd. (北京澎湃传媒有限公司), and 2) the mixing up of the May 2016 media contract with the original October 2015 contract between MXTX and JJWXC.1, 26

The judgment of JJWXC’s appeal (the “second-instance” judgment) is yet to be published.  

Analysis:

On the surface, MDZS being ruled not pornographic in a civil case seems to be good evidence that Yuan Moumou is not MXTX. But 1) the work in question could be The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System (SVSSS), not MDZS, although the papapa ratio is not really higher in SVSSS than MDZS. And 2) an illegal business charge, which was the eventual charge in the November Yuan Yimei case, is not the same as a dissemination of pornographic materials charge. It is also pertinent to mention that Mr. Deep Sea was originally arrested for distributing obscene materials too, but after her works were declared not pornographic, her case was changed to illegal business.5 

And yet, none of this is evidence that MXTX is Yuan Moumou. This merely means that the civil court’s finding is insufficient proof that Yuan Moumou is not MXTX.

The signature issue is more problematic. Now, the explanation for “significantly different” signatures from the Power of Attorney to the contracts signed in 2015 and 2016 could be something as innocent as MXTX experimenting with her signature and the judge having poor eyesight. It could be as nefarious as JJWXC signing in MXTX’s place for profit while she is in prison. Or it could be that her attorney or someone else authorized signed in her place, that she is away taking a much-needed mental health break after seeing her name dragged through the mud over and over, etc. 

Now, there were two obvious errors in the judgment. First, there’s a one character difference in the misnamed media company, so this seems likely to be a careless typo. Second, the 2015 contract is originally described correctly, and then incorrectly conflated with the 2016 adaptation contract signed by MXTX, JJWXC, and Beijing “Peng”pai Media Co., Ltd. But while these mix-ups point to a lack of proofreading, I’m not sure they cast enough doubt on the judge’s competence to examine a signature.   

The fact that JJWXC appealed the ruling to counter the error is promising, but until the second-instance judgment comes out, the signature issue remains a point of concern – no more and no less. 

Did Anyone Else Hear from Her After May 2019?  Part V: TGCF Unlocking and Adaptations

Chapter 82 of Tian Guan Ci Fu (TGCF) was locked on March 12, 2020 and unlocked the next day. JJWXC responded to a fan’s inquiry to confirm that only the author could request a review to unlock it, which could not occur if MXTX was detained.27 

Furthermore, according to JJWXC, MXTX must authorize their company in writing to pursue adaptations.28 The Japanese version of the MDZS audio drama29 and the donghua,30 along with the TGCF live action,31 were announced in late 2019 or 2020, during the time of MXTX’s alleged detention.

Analysis:

Basically, whether one finds these developments convincing proof of MXTX’s freedom depends solely on how much trust one has in JJWXC. Until the second-instance judgment comes out regarding the copyright case and we have a second ruling on the signature issue, it’s premature to draw any conclusion based on this evidence. 

What Happened on November 10, 2020?

China Judgments Online uploaded a September 09, 2020 judgment entitled “First-instance criminal verdict of Yang Yang and Yuan Yimei for illegal business operations” (杨旸、袁依楣非法经营一审刑事判决书) from the Hangzhou People's Court of Shangcheng District, which happens to be located in Zhejiang Province. The verdict and other details were not disclosed due to “other circumstances that the people's court deems inappropriate to publish on the Internet.”32

I’m not linking to the self-righteous mob here, but Weibo erupted, with many declaring that MXTX had been found guilty and was going to prison. 

Let’s analyze the case itself first before we examine other relevant facts and responses. 

Analysis:

The charges match an illegal business case involving a person with the same name as MXTX, and the same surname and location as the Yuan Moumou mentioned in the 3.28 case. However, this by itself does not mean that this Yuan Yimei is Yuan Moumou. 

To start, Yuan Moumou’s case supposedly involved three people, and there are only two people mentioned in the case name. Still, one thing I noticed while searching cases is that more people may be tried than are mentioned in the case name. In addition, the third person could have been tried separately, had charges dropped, etc. 

But for what it is worth regarding a separate trial: I only found one other 2020 illegal business case with undisclosed judgment through the Hangzhou People's Court of Shangcheng District, and it involved two people, not one.33 A broader review of every criminal case from present day until March 2019 did not yield any single person judged with details matching the Yuan Moumou case.34 

But this isn’t the only basic people’s court in Zhejiang province. Far from it.

Zhejiang Province has 9035 basic people’s courts.36 Most of which handle hundreds to thousands of criminal cases a year. So we’re talking tens of thousands of cases.

But if one could search through all those cases and find a Yuan judged for illegal business or disseminating pornography during the right time period with details matching the 3.28 case, that could rule out the idea that this Yuan Yimei is Yuan Moumou. 

…

So, um, I did that.37 Searched for the case, I mean, because I am insane hyperfixated hard wanted to be thorough and find proof that my favorite author isn’t in prison. Just to be safe, I searched from present day to March 28, 2019, even though that is the date the case was opened and thus too early for a trial. 

During this time period, there were numerous Yuans convicted of illegal business and one of disseminating obscene materials. Most of these Yuans were easy to dismiss by reading the case details. There were only two cases that I could not rule out. Not because the details matched the Yuan Moumou case, but because the details for illegal business were not disclosed. One involved many people, and one happened to involve three people.

And yet, while this case could be the actual Yuan Moumou case, it is unlikely for the following reason: this judgment took place on June 19, 2019, less than two months after the opening of the 3.28 case. The case with many people likewise was in early April 2019, less than a month after the opening of the 3.28 case. 

(In fact, given that the announcement by the Anti-Pornography and Anti-Illegal Affairs Office announced occurred on August 14, 2019, I should have stopped looking after that date. Why? Because the 3.28 case is announced as resulting in detainment, while Mr. Deep Sea’s case is announced as “settled.” The wording by the Anti-Pornography and Anti-Illegal Affairs Office implies August 14, 2019 is the earliest possible date for judgment of the 3.28 case. My methods were flawed).

In summary, I couldn’t find any case in Zhejiang’s courts to disprove that the November 10 Yuan Yimei is Yuan Moumou.

Still, please take this with a heavy dose of salt. I’ve already told you one issue; have a few more:

Searching China Judgments Online is somewhat finicky. For example, entering ‘Yuan Yimei’ under ‘party’ or ‘illegal business’ under ‘cause’ will not even bring up the existing Yuan Yimei case! To find the case, you must either search the case name, or search ‘criminal cases’ and the court name. Moreover, there were cases I could not even find, including the infamous Tianyi38 case, despite knowing the case number, court, parties, and dates involved. What this means is… it’s possible (probable) that some cases were missed in this analysis. 

There’s also the possibility that Yuan Moumou could have been tried in an intermediate court (ranked above a basic people’s court),35 although this is unlikely given that the larger Mr. Deep Sea2 and Tianyi38 cases both went through basic people’s courts.

And to sound like a broken record: My inability to find a case matching Yuan Moumou does not mean Yuan Yimei must be Yuan Moumou, nor does it mean this Yuan Yimei is MXTX. A lack of evidence is not evidence in itself. Yuan Moumou may not have been tried yet (unlikely, but still possible), or her initial judgment may not be uploaded to China Judgments Online yet for reasons such as appeal, workload, etc.39

And then there’s the elephant in the room: presuming for analysis’s sake this Yuan Yimei is MXTX, what are we to make of the non-disclosure of judgment? As per China Justice Observer, a website dedicated to illuminating the Chinese court system to English-speakers: “the online publication of judgment documents should be based on the principle of openness, with non-publicity as an exception. Judicial documents involving national security, juvenile delinquency, divorce proceedings, support or guardianship of minor children, etc., shall not be made public. In public judgment documents, information concerning personal privacy, trade secrets, etc., other than the names of the parties, shall also be deleted from the document.”40

The Zhejiang’s Higher People’s Court provides examples of “other circumstances deemed inappropriate,” including “the disclosure of documents that affect the rights and interests of the parties, the judgment documents have lost their public significance after the deletion of case information, or the failure to issue judgment documents for oral withdrawal of a lawsuit.”41

I cannot imagine that illegal danmei publishing jeopardizes national security or a minor’s privacy. The question is whether “rights and interests of parties” could mean something like JJWXC, Tencent, and other adaptation companies’ financial jackpot in MXTX. I’ve found no precedent for such a measure, but given that these rulings inherently mean a lack of information, that is unsurprising. There’s a lot of questions and no real answers here. 

One additional note: while it’s impossible to know if this Yuan Yimei was convicted, China’s conviction rate was 99.965% in 2019,42 so her acquittal is, statistically, highly unlikely. That being said – say it with me – this fact says nothing about whether this Yuan Yimei is MXTX. 

What Other Evidence and Statements Do We Have?  Part I: The Screenshots 

Someone, somewhere, allegedly leaked screenshots of the undisclosed judgment and posted them to Weibo. According to the text, Yuan Yimei is indeed MXTX. She was detained on May 16, 2019 and will be released May 15, 2022. The crime was as follows: from June to November 2017, MXTX sold ~4000 copies of SVSSS with an extra papapa scene through Yang Yang’s Hangzhou Taobao shop, 说剑盟 (Shuo Jianmeng, literally “Say Sword Alliance”).43

Analysis:

First of all, I can’t find the source of the screenshots. This may be because, to my understanding, it is illegal to leak the sealed judgment – but this doesn’t mean someone didn’t. 

Still, take a look at them if you haven’t. They’re not photographs. It’s… very easy to fake black text on a white screen. I could write an entire judgment against my cat for attempted murder and format it to resemble an official Chinese court document. 

So, is there any way to verify these? No. Proof would be the court judgment properly released, or JJWXC or her friends and family confirming it, and that has not occurred. 

But we can examine the details included in the judgment to see if this yields any pertinent information – perhaps a discrepancy by which we can discount them.  

The Taobao shop in question, Shuo Jianmeng, appears to have been an official MXTX-associated shop. It closed before May 6, 2019,44 and all 375 posts on its Weibo have been either deleted or hidden.45 However, from what I could find on a website that appears to have saved its posts, Shuo Jianmeng’s last post was May 22, 2019. Their penultimate post was April 4, 2019, in which they announced an explanation that they were adjusting operations and unsure how long it would take.46 Given that post, I think it’s safe to infer that Shuo Jianmeng’s closure between April 4, 2019 and May 6, 2019 was unexpected.

A look further back at their 2017 Weibo posts reveals Shuo Jianmeng did indeed sell copies of SVSSS in June 2017,47 and the last batch was announced at the end of September 2017, with the last leftovers announced October 24, 2017.48 This is consistent with the dates provided in the alleged judgment. Moreover, comparing the covers, these books are not the official Pinsin Studios version,49 though this doesn’t mean they must be illegal and even if they technically are, it doesn’t prove MXTX is this Yuan Yimei.

It’s worth mentioning that as early as August 2019, a connection between Shuo Jianmeng and Yuan Moumou was made on Zhihu, a question-and-answer website comparable to Quora. A screenshot was posted of SVSSS50 sold at a price (¥112) that, if a little over 4000 copies were sold, would net the over ¥500,000 profit cited in the Anti-Pornography and Illegal Activities Office announcement.3 However, this screenshot was originally posted by a Weibo user whose account no longer exists, so there’s no way to find out any more information, like if they were an anti, a fan, etc. I personally think it seems a little strange to have saved a screenshot of a purchase from 2017, but that being said, it does look real (ads and other irrelevant pieces are also captured in the shot). But even if the shot is real, the price is the main point, and there’s no telling if the price was altered. And even if it wasn’t, it still isn’t proof.

The same Zhihu answer also claimed Hangzhou was the location of Shuo Jianmeng. Now, all we knew at the time was that Yuan Moumou was in Zhejiang Province, so this was posted before the judgment came from Hangzhou. Still, the answerer provided no evidence for Shuo Jianmeng’s location, not even a screenshot.50 Unfortunately, I could not find more information on this, due to the shop being closed. So on Shuo Jianmeng’s location, we are left with hearsay only. I don’t find hearsay particularly reliable. 

And still, despite dismissing the Hangzhou hearsay and even the screenshot of the SVSSS price, the seemingly sudden closure of the Taobao shop, the hiding of its Weibo posts, and the timing of everything associated with Shuo Jianmeng is a serious point of concern. But it is not in itself proof of Shuo Jianmeng’s trouble with the law, nor MXTX’s imprisonment. And it certainly is not proof of the veracity of the screenshotted judgment. 

It is also worth countering that as Shuo Jianmeng was one of the official MXTX shops, someone could have simply taken advantage of the shop’s closure to add it to their fake judgment. After all, it’s not likely a closed shop will sue for libel. This person could have also used the SVSSS dates to add more details to their fake judgment. Keep in mind that someone was literally willing to feign suicide to hurt MXTX in 2018;51 faking a court document because the name ‘Yuan Yimei’ came up is really not something I’d put past humanity. 

Unfortunately, without the actual judgment disclosed or MXTX coming out to refute the rumors, there’s no way to be certain. 

What Other Evidence and Statements Do We Have?  Part II: Other Notable Responses

After the Weibo furor, uncertainty spread again. We will limit our discussion to the most notable responses and arguments. 

The most prominent outlet I could find to report the news was Sina. Sina Entertainment’s Weibo claimed that Yuan Yimei was MXTX based on their “investigation,”52 and another blurb was posted in Sina Finance, claiming their conclusion was based on “public information.”53 In contrast to this case, the similar Mr. Deep Sea case was reported in-depth by the prominent news outlets Caixin Global4 and People’s Daily,2 and multiple articles interviewed Mr. Deep Sea’s own father.2,5 

Higga, an artist for many of MXTX’s works, spoke out the following day to condemn the “malice” of the mob, and added this: “Mo Xiang Tong Xiu has never done marketing, nor has she plagiarized, nor has she done anything bad. This is not to clarify, but to state the facts that I know.”54

Other verified IRL friends like Brackets-Jun55 and Chongyang56,57 remained silent on Weibo.

Fans often claim that if MXTX was Yuan Moumou, a verdict ought to have been given before September 2020 (16 months after the investigation began). However, the case of Mr. Deep Sea actually had a longer timeline (22 months from detention to verdict).2 

Analysis:

Sina claimed that their “investigation” and “public information” indicate that Yuan Yimei is MXTX. However, they don’t give any information on what this investigation involved. Was it merely the names matching? Was it the fact that the location matched the 3.28 case? If so, that is still only circumstantial evidence. And without Sina Entertainment providing details on their investigation, there’s no way to know if they found anything more concrete. 

Now, a lack of prominent, in-depth articles is not evidence against this Yuan Yimei being MXTX; it simply means significantly less was reported on this Yuan Yimei.

Higga’s statement does not directly contradict MXTX being Yuan Yimei; it is merely a defense of MXTX’s character. For English speakers like myself: “marketing” does not refer to illegal business, but to the anti accusation that MDZS did not get popular without employing backhanded means, such as data manipulation. Moreover, I could not ascertain if Higga knows MXTX in person or not. 

The silence of real-life friends does not inherently tell us anything. An anti will argue that their silence is proof, but a fan will say that after Brackets-Jun refuted it once, they may see no point in refuting it again, and there’s no way to know more. 

The potentially similar timeline of this case to the Mr. Deep Sea case is not evidence that this Yuan Yimei is MXTX. The timeline simply casts reasonable doubt on fan arguments that too much time has passed. 

Conclusion

Is MXTX the ‘Yuan’ (袁) investigated in the 3.28 case concerning pornography and illegal business? Was she sent to prison in May 2019, with rumors surfacing with an announcement in August 2019, and the judgment released on November 10, 2020?

The short: one big ?

The long: we cannot even confirm that the November 10, 2020 Yuan Yimei is the Yuan Moumou of the 3.28 case, let alone that they are MXTX. This Yuan Yimei is almost certainly convicted, but even that cannot be proven.

Now, there is circumstantial evidence to support this claim. Even if we dismiss all the screenshots and Zhihu answer as fake, the timing and circumstances of Shuo Jianmeng’s shuttering, combined with the SVSSS copies sold, is concerning. Moreover, JJWXC certainly has some suspicious issues with their handling of both MXTX and the 3.28 case, regardless of whether they are connected or not. MXTX’s works are extremely popular; if she was detained, would JJWXC cancel her works or hide her status to keep making money? I think it’s a fair question to ask, but it is not a question I am in a position to answer. We must wait for the second instance judgment of JJWXC vs. Jianbo Library for more information.

But.

There’s also cause to believe that a woman who has been shredded by Internet mobs accusing her of plagiarism and much worse, who had 2 of 3 works locked in January 2019 – while she was still editing the very-long TGCF and writing her fourth novel – may just need a break and more time to write. As she declared her desire to keep writing and make the necessary changes to the locked MDZS and SVSSS,58 that is four works that need her attention. Two years actually does not seem entirely unreasonable, but that is my opinion. 

Is there any more supporting evidence for this? Yes. When MXTX returned from a six month social media hiatus in fall 2018 to respond to the feigned suicide, she wrote that she had uninstalled Weibo for months to focus on writing. Her silence today could simply be because she desires to focus on writing. Moreover, during the same fall 2018 post, MXTX added that she did not think readers should try to clarify most rumors, as they may face attacks. The one time she attempted to help, her intentions were badly distorted.59 In other words, she may believe the refutation of rumors not worth the effort. 

Conclusion’s Conclusion

One quote I kept running into while researching this, mentioned by many Chinese fans, was the following from Wei Wuxian: “If they’re rumors, why the hurry to believe them? If they’re secrets, why would you come to know them?”

Basically, let’s follow his advice… even for the points we don’t like. Unless we have firsthand knowledge, let’s not dismiss and misrepresent points of concern to assume MXTX is fine because that’s what we want to believe. Wanting to believe something doesn’t make it true! But at the same time, let’s not declare that her detention is confirmed just because that aligns with a fear or bias… because it is, in fact, not confirmed. 

Above all, let’s keep in mind that MXTX is a human being who deserves to be treated with respect and dignity.

No matter what is going on, I hope that MXTX returns to her passion of writing, because in my opinion she is a rare genius. Until she returns, however, all we can do is thoroughly investigate new leads and try to refrain from spreading any rumors – whether negative or positive – as fact.

References

1. I am providing screenshots of China Judgments Online, as you need to sign up for an account to see the cases. But you are welcome to look this up for yourself: under 案件名称 (case name), type 北京晋江原创网络科技有限公司与厦门市简帛图书馆著作权权属、侵权纠纷一审民事判决书. 

2. Discussion of illegal publishing with focus on the Mr. Deep Sea case:  https://ishare.ifeng.com/c/s/7moDZcQIh8X 

3. The statement from the Anti-Pornography and Illegal Activities Office: https://weibo.com/ttarticle/p/show?id=2309404405213111910418#_0 

4. A very brief overview of the Mr. Deep Sea case: https://www.caixinglobal.com/2019-05-21/novelist-known-for-gay-content-sentenced-for-illegal-publishing-101418063.html

5. For a more in-depth and humanizing dive into the Mr. Deep Sea case: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/uKIM370CvYq05nW1tz9DIw  

6. Huang Yanming’s comments: http://www.bjnews.com.cn/finance/2019/08/19/617029.html 

7. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_common_Chinese_surnames

8. How many writers there are at JJWXC: https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_4068462 

9. Chongyang’s remarks on social media, including the relevant fan question: https://weibo.com/6775134089/I3gAImPCa?filter=hot&root_comment_id=4407801210024328&ssl_rnd=1612395655.7202&type=comment 

10. Screenshot of Brackets-Jun’s statement:  

11. JJWXC’s statement on the May 23, 2019 Incident: https://bbs.jjwxc.net/showmsg.php?board=17&id=827397

12. Twitter thread on May 23 2019 incident by a reporter: https://twitter.com/Lindadalew/status/1131587208362651648

13. MXTX’s Weibo: https://www.weibo.com/u/5907302111 

14. MXTX’s reported update: https://kuaibao.qq.com/s/20190523AZLEUC00?refer=spider 

15. Second report of MXTX’s update, with the top comment noting it was not like this two days prior: https://m.weibo.cn/status/4375185647931319?sourceType=qq&from=10A1295010&wm=9847_0002&featurecode=newtitle%20%E4%BD%9C%E8%80%85%EF%BC%9A%E6%A2%A8%E8%95%8A%E6%A2%85%E9%AD%82%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bilibili.com%2Fread%2Fcv4564132%2F%20%E5%87%BA%E5%A4%84%EF%BC%9A%20bilibili

16. MXTX’s update for your own view: http://www.jjwxc.net/oneauthor.php?authorid=1322620

17. Masses Eating Melons CJ’s Post: https://weibo.com/1885688010/HvxAZ83mb?from=page_1005051885688010_profile&wvr=6&mod=weibotime&ssl_rnd=1614543733.4172&type=comment 

18. Mr. Deep Sea’s Weibo updated after her arrest: https://weibo.com/cynosure416?ssl_rnd=1613253539.9731&is_all=1#1613253968171

19.  The Guazhou Cultural Relics Bureau’s claim that they did not communicate with MXTX in July 2019:

20. The Guazhou Cultural Relics Bureau’s response that they did communicate in July 2019:

21. Chongyang’s story that mentions social media attacks distressing MXTX: https://weibo.com/6775134089/I2XS4FHde?from=page_1005056775134089_profile&wvr=6&mod=weibotime&ssl_rnd=1614962156.8428&type=comment#_rnd1614962159082 

22. Screenshots of Himalaya FM’s responses:

23. The audiobook: https://www.ximalaya.com/youshengshu/25069034/ 

24.  The July 12 opening date: https://www.ximalaya.com/youshengshu/25069034/197143721 

25. The blogger’s announcement: https://weibo.com/1627499760/IsOa1fPd4?from=page_1005051627499760_profile&wvr=6&mod=weibotime&ssl_rnd=1614372192.0021&type=comment#_rnd1614372194274 

26. JJWXC’s statement on the copyright case and relevant follow-up comments: https://weibo.com/1732420735/IFxKZ190K?filter=hot&root_comment_id=4499012939603144&ssl_rnd=1613083993.1167&type=comment   

27. JJWXC’s confirmation that only the author MXTX could request a review of TGCF Ch. 82: 

28. The TGCF Live-Action announcement on December 9, 2020: https://www.bjnews.com.cn/detail/160748666115618.html

29. JJWXC’s declaration that they require an author’s written affirmation for a contract: https://weibo.com/1732420735/IuD2jh4xl?from=page_1006061732420735_profile&wvr=6&mod=weibotime&ssl_rnd=1614719049.287&type=comment#_rnd1614719052377 

30. The MDZS audio drama in Japanese began in January 2020: https://twitter.com/mimifm11/status/1217391009153204224 

31. The MDZS anime only joined Twitter in May 2020, and began in 2021: https://twitter.com/mdzsjp 

32. A screenshot of the case provided by China Judgments Online. If you wish to search, under 案件名称 (case name), type 杨旸、袁依楣非法经营一审刑事判决书.

33. Search terms for China Judgments Online: under 法院名称 (court name), type “杭州市上城区人民法院”. Search. On the left sidebar that appears, under 案件类型 (type of case), select “刑事案件” (criminal) and under 裁判年份 (year) select 2019 or 2020. Ctrl+F for “[不公开理由]” (reason for non-disclosure). 

34. Search terms for China Judgments Online: under 法院名称 (court name), type “杭州市上城区人民法院”. Search. On the left sidebar that appears, under 案件类型 (type of case), select “刑事案件” (criminal) and under 裁判年份 (year) select 2019 or 2020. Use Google Chrome or another translator to translate every case into English.Read.

35.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_administrative_divisions_of_Zhejiang

36.  A very basic overview of the Chinese court system: https://www.chinajusticeobserver.com/a/magnificent-four-level-pyramid-chinas-court-system 

37.  Under court name, write every subdivision listed in Reference 33, followed by 人民法院 (People’s Court). Search. On the left sidebar, under 案件类型 (type of case), select “刑事案件” (criminal) and under 裁判年份 (year) select 2019 or 2020. Ctrl+F for 袁 (Yuan). Repeat until complete. 

38. Tianyi Case: http://www.bjnews.com.cn/inside/2019/01/04/536523.html 

39. My correspondence with China Justice Observer on appeals (and struggling to find a judgment on China Judgments Online): 

40. Why judgments can be withheld: https://www.chinajusticeobserver.com/a/you-can-view-almost-all-the-chinese-court-judgments-online-for-free 

41. Zhejiang Higher People’s Court on the publishing regulations of court judgments:  http://court.sxyc.gov.cn/art/2019/7/12/art_1656909_35537733.html 

42. Chinese conviction rate statistics: https://www.chinajusticeobserver.com/a/what-is-the-conviction-rate-in-china 

43. The alleged secret judgment:  

44. Evidence that Shuo Jianmeng was closed as early as May 6, 2019: 

45. Shuo Jianmeng’s Weibo: https://weibo.com/crossswords?ssl_rnd=1614548790.0615&is_all=1 

46. The hidden posts of Shuo Jianmeng can be found here: http://peachring.com/weibo/user/6049110380/ 

I will provide screenshots as well; the last two posts are here:

47. SVSSS first sold June 2017:

48. SVSSS remaining copies announced September 2017, and a few leftovers announced October 24, 2017:

49. Compare covers – the first is Shuo Jianmeng’s, the second is Pinsin Studios’: 

50. The 2019 Zhihu answer: https://www.zhihu.com/question/325754159/answer/790229882  

51. A rundown of many incidents, including the feigned suicide: https://www.wikiwand.com/zh-sg/%E9%AD%94%E9%81%93%E7%A5%96%E5%B8%88_(%E5%B0%8F%E8%AF%B4) 

52. Sina Entertainment’s post: https://weibo.com/1642591402/JtmXorB4l?from=page_1002061642591402_profile&wvr=6&mod=weibotime&ssl_rnd=1614535894.5814&type=comment#_rnd1614535896854 

53. Sina Finance blurb: https://finance.sina.com.cn/tech/2020-11-11/doc-iiznctke0789301.shtml 

54. Higga’s statement:  https://weibo.com/3916811892/Jtr0bsp9N?from=page_1005053916811892_profile&wvr=6&mod=weibotime&ssl_rnd=1613272406.2074&type=comment 

55. Brackets-jun’s Weibo for November 2020: https://weibo.com/brackets?is_all=1&stat_date=202011#feedtop 

56. Chongyang’s first Weibo: https://weibo.com/u/6775134089?ssl_rnd=1614962031.7443&is_all=1 Last post was February 7, 2020.   

57. Chongyang’s second Weibo for November 2020: https://weibo.com/u/2459871273?is_all=1&stat_date=202011#feedtop 

58.  MXTX’s response to the locking of MDZS and SVSSS: https://weibo.com/5907302111/HceIRevNE?from=page_1005055907302111_profile&wvr=6&mod=weibotime&ssl_rnd=1614208256.7952&type=comment 

59. MXTX’s Fall 2018 post: https://weibo.com/5907302111/GxTjborqR?from=page_1005055907302111_profile&wvr=6&mod=weibotime&ssl_rnd=1614627010.6547&type=comment 

[choices-binglebonkus]

Do you think there's still hope for pb and choices?

I honestly have no idea. On one hand, they’ve created genuine masterpieces like It Lives, Endless Summer, and Blades. On the other hand, they’ve gotten considerably less adventurous and creative and have pretty much sold out at this point. Like, they used to have genuine potential and originality, but now they’re just another visual novels app that caters to the same old audience.

They used to interact with fans all the time, but now they act like the “I pretend I do not see it” meme. Their “diverse” representation has been adequate at best and completely performative at worst (yes, this is STILL a hill I’m willing to die on) and most stories that come out pander primarily to straight white women. They’re notorious for treating characters of color (particularly women of color) like lesser characters, sweeping them aside for white characters. Or more specifically, white MALE characters.

The Instagram fandom (which about 90% consists of 13-16 year old white girls, often straight with varying degrees of racism and homophobia) and the Facebook fandom (which is primarily middle-aged white women, usually stay at home mothers, who are almost always straight) stroke the hell out of Pixelberry’s ego and eat up whatever they churn out. I’ll never forget how overtly racist both fandoms were towards Zoey, Lily Spencer, Shane, and Ayna. Both of those fandoms are toxic as hell, but they’re all Pixelberry will listen to, or even interact with anymore. So…that’s just peachy.

And it would be a mistake not to mention some of the VERY controversial things Pixelberry has done over the years, such as The Freshman skin tone fiasco (my jaw DROPPED at that one), the frequent villainization of women (usually of color) for no purpose other than “we need a punching bag for the main character to put in their place”, the introduction of Ahmed as a Muslim character and immediate disregard of his alcohol-free lifestyle, the OPH gas attack plot, the lizard people conspiracy they keep bringing up in TRF (who the fuck greenlit this?), and more recently, the…ugh, I hate typing this AGAIN, the incestuous werewolf threesome.

The sad reality is that Choices will probably never improve. PB will keep pushing out cliched smut because it’s what keeps the lights on, and I really can’t fault them for that. I’m not happy about it, but they’re just trying to make a living.

The real issue is the pedestal straight white cisgender female players are placed upon while everyone else gets fucked over one way or another. Want to be non-binary? Too damn bad, you’ve got one (1) story where you can be an enby. Want better Black hairstyles? Nope, sorry, can’t do that, but here’s another generic blonde hairstyle for ya. What’s that? You want more character development for your female love interest? Sure! But you’ll have to pay 17-25 diamonds just to unlock it, AND we’ll get her pronouns wrong, because he—I mean, SHE—is male-coded.

I’ve brought this up many times, but Storyscape truly was a game-changer. Had Storyscape not shut down, I guarantee you Pixelberry would be shaking in their boots. Storyscape took risks, had GREAT female love interests, had better diversity in its casts and settings than Choices even though it had barely even had any releases, AND it was in the process of releasing a book with a NON-BINARY MC, years before Choices dared to give us this option in Foreign Affairs. Also, the art was…wow. I can’t really say anything about the art except that it blew me away.

So unfortunately, there is likely very little hope for Choices at this point, which is really sad. Back when it was still good, Choices releases got me through some very dark times just by being something to look forward to every Wednesday or every Friday. It may have actually saved my life. But it seems like the Choices we have now will be the Choices we’ll always have. Blades 2 and WTD truly are my last hope for the app. I wouldn’t delete the app because it still has old stories that I love on it, but I don’t think I’d ever play a new book ever again if things continue the way they are.

In storytelling, variety, player-staff relations, representation, and so much more, they need to do better. But we all know they’re probably just going to do worse.

[jellysharkbat]

I’m going to preface this with: I’m not a fan of call-out posts. I’m going to post on one topic in this post, and another topic in a different post. I put up a read more so you don’t all get slammed by a all of text. Because I like to think I’m polite like that. ;)

Adding a second preface: I’m probably going to reblog or like stuff from people you may not personally agree with. I’m liking and reblogging because I like the work, not because I’m in love with the creator. People still like John Lennon’s music and he beat women.

Anyways, here goes for anyone who wants to read.

Okay, as much as I hate confrontation and do my best to avoid it, I can’t let this one lay. It’s just unfair all so many levels. I’m going to focus on Cullen, since he’s one of my favorites, and I don’t know the other characters mentioned (and those not mentioned) as well.

My, like many others, blog is nsfw. It’s 18+. I’m going to assume that anyone who follows me is an adult. And I’m going to pretend that anyone who isn’t, doesn’t. I am going to post things that are violent in nature and- here’s the one everyone’s super focused on- sex. Because I’m an adult. If I want to read about sex, I will. If I want to write about sex, I will. Because I’m an adult. And there is nothing wrong with sex.

There have been some names named and shamed for portraying characters as “hypersexualized”.

I have one answer to that: so what?

It’s no big deal if Cullen is portrayed as virginal or a sex god. He is not real. I’m going to repeat that: Cullen Rutherford is fake. He is fictional. He does not exist. He, like everyone else, is a character from a video game. We love him, but he is not real. He doesn’t have thoughts of his own, he doesn’t have feelings, he doesn’t have a life. He is a work of fiction created by Bioware.

I’m going to say this one more time: Characters from Dragon Age are not real. Stop acting like they are real people.

The great thing about fandoms is that we can take a character we like, and do whatever we want with them. If we want to fix inconsistencies that the creators didn’t, we can. If we want to fill in the gaps about their lives, we can do that. If we want to pluck them out of their canonical universe and put them in a new one, we can do that. If we want to rewrite stuff about them, we can do that. We own that creativity.

One of the biggest reasons for this “outcry” is that Cullen Rutherford was sexually assaulted and/or raped.

As far as I am aware, there is no canonical evidence to support this claim. Please feel free to correct me if I’m wrong.

His sexual trauma is something we assumed happened. We imagine that a character from a video game was treated horribly. Is it likely that this happened? Sure. I think we can all agree that it’s probable that the desire demon did more than mess with his mind. The implication is there. But we can’t confirm it. We can’t look at something and point to it as hard-based evidence. Because there is none.

We made it up.

Just like Scout Jim, we created that trauma. We want that trauma to exist.

We created it, and we can take it away.

I’m also going to say this: even if canon supported our theory, it wouldn’t matter. As fanfic writers and artists, we can change whatever we want. We can portray Cullen Rutherford’s personality, and other characters, however we want. Because he’s not real.

But the sexual assault! What about that? 

You mean the sexual assault that never happened in real life? Because he’s not a real person? It doesn’t matter.

Should we approach the subject of sexual assault with respect to those who survived it? Yes. Because that is a real, traumatic experience a real individual went through. And their experience in such an attack should be handled according to that person’s wishes.

Does that mean the moment a work of fiction which may or may not involve it, it needs to be treated like glass? No. Because it didn’t happen in real life. And since it’s a work of fiction, we as creators don’t always need to pay attention to it or make it true for every single universe that includes Cullen Rutherford.

Some people might want to portray it as real as possible, others might want to eliminate it completely. There’s nothing wrong with either choice.

I’m going to assume that a most people have never experience sexual assault and/or rape. Have some people been harassed? Unfortunately, yes. But it is not true of the vast majority of us, and harassment (while a violation in its own right) is not the same as someone physically putting their hands on you. Most of us have no idea what it is like to be assaulted or raped. None. Nothing we imagine will ever compare to the real thing. We don’t know what it’s like, and therefore we will never portray it accurately. And quite frankly, I can’t imagine anyone who would want to know. I’m happy to keep the bad portrayals because it means no actual crime happened.

Even if we did know, real people react differently. Rape survivors do not all behave one way. They do not act one way, all the time. How they respond to anything will depend on their situation, their experience, their current circumstance, their comfort. You can stick two people in a room, have those people be raped in the same exact manner, and put them in a new situation which may or may not force them to think about what happened to them. And they’ll respond differently. Because they are different people. Sometimes they want no sex, sometimes they want all the sex. And that changes day to day, like it does for many people.

To tell them that they can never act any other way is an insult to them and what they survived. You should be ashamed of implying or outright stating that. How dare you slap them in the face.

That, however, is a real person. As I said, Cullen is not real. He is written and portrayed again and again by many different people. He is always going to be different from one portrayal to the next compared to his canonical, in-game self. Are there extremes? Sure. But I dare you to show me a fandom where there aren’t extremes. And in the end, it doesn’t matter if those extremes exist.

No one is actually being hurt (unless you’re a sick mofo and like writing your irl crimes…). It’s fiction. Fake. Not. Real.

If I want to write something about Cullen being violently raped, I can. If I want to pretend he was never abused in any way, I can. If I want to imagine him being sexually crazed, I can. If I want to rip off an arm and make him a eunuch, I can.

 Because it’s all fake.

The beauty of fiction is that we created ways so people aren’t surprised by stuff they may not want to see. We created filters. We created blacklists. We created tags. Did we have to? No. You don’t go to a library or a bookstore and expect to see tags or filters, do you? Because those things don’t exist for books. You would just pick up a book and accept whatever is written inside. We didn’t have to do that. But we did. Because we want people to be comfortable, and have fun.

If you don’t like the way someone is portraying how you think- ah. That bit is important. I’m going to repeat myself again: If you don’t like the way someone is portraying how you think they should, that is on you. You have the expectation of something. It is no one’s responsibility but your own to cater to that expectation.

People aren’t creating works involving characters like Cullen solely for your, individual pleasure. How arrogant for you to think so.We are creating many versions of a fictional person in hopes that someone else might like that version and will share their own. We should not go around pretending that only one version is the True Correct Version.

That’s the kind of shit religions do. They love purity crusades.And that’s exactly what this seems to be to me. It’s not outrage because of how people portray a fictional character, it’s an outrage because some people don’t want to admit that they have a problem with other people freely enjoying sex.

You don’t own any of Bioware’s characters. You alone do not have the final say on what happens to a character outside of canonical information, or how that character should behave 100% of the time. And you have no right to harass people because they don’t have the same Vision you do.

If something like sexual assault was truly triggering for you, and not just something offensive to your delicate sensibilities, I’m going to say you probably wouldn’t search for it. You’d find ways to filter it out. And you would accept that if something does slip through, it’s no one’s fault. People can write or draw characters in whatever situation they want. You need to acknowledge that sometimes there will be something that you won’t like and if you still see it, because no one is obligated to do anything for you.

But we will, and we try. Because in general, the majority of us care. We want to have fun. We can adjust some things if asked. Nicely. Because a lot of us realize that not everyone is going to like the same thing. People are different and will have different tastes.

One more, final point: What someone writes or draws is not indicative of who they are as a person. I write and think about a lot of stuff. I’m a curious person. I want to be able to imagine what would happen in whatever scenario I create, good or bad. I have favorite characters. Because I like those characters, I like sticking them in the scenarios I create because I want to know how they would react. It doesn’t matter if it’s something soft and sweet or a rape roleplay. What that is has nothing to do with who I am. That goes for everyone else.

So let me tell you a little something about myself, since you have no other way of knowing if I don’t specifically tell you:

I am shy. I am quiet. I don’t like picking fights. I don’t speak eloquently. I am a pushover.

And sometimes- a lot of the time- I want my favorite fictional character Cullen Rutherford to act out a “hypersexualized” fantasy of mine.

[pocket-luv101]

First Impressions // Chapter 2

Fandom: Servamp Ship: LawLicht (main), KuroMahi (side), Tetsono (side), Jekuni (side) Characters: Hyde, Licht, Kuro, Mahiru

Summary: After Licht meets the wealthy bachelor, Hyde, she was certain that she could never be friends with him. Their paths continues to cross and she slowly comes to know him. Licht wonders if she judged him too quickly. (LawLicht, Pride and Prejudice AU, Fem Licht)

Ch.1 // (Ch.2) //

“Mother made it clear that she believes Sakura is the only one of us five who will catch the attention of a Servamp. Why must we waste time at this party as well? I would prefer to be home with my piano.” Licht lifted her champagne glass to sip her drink. She was stopped when Mahiru placed her hand over the glass and gently forced her to lower the cup to the table.

The town was holding a public ball to welcome the Servamp. The family was known for their wealth and generous donations so the mayor couldn’t be happier to hear that they rented the Hanafield manor. Licht thought the party was disingenuous at best. She didn’t enjoy crowds but their mother forced her to attend the ball. Their mother thought it was the perfect opportunity to meet the family. She sat at a table with her sisters and watched the others dance.

“This night will quickly turn to ruin if you drink wine, Licht. Not a single person in our family can hold their alcohol.” Mahiru warned her and swapped her drink for tea. “I understand that you find this party troublesome but it’s rude to refuse an invitation from the mayor. Furthermore, we should be here to protect our dear sister. Who knows what troubles mother will create to match Sakura with a Servamp? Mother considers her the most beautiful.”

Licht knew how modestly Mahiru spoke of herself and she didn’t know if it was for politeness or an insecurity she felt. She wanted to encourage her sister. “Sakura is beautiful but you’re more so. Your appearance can catch a man’s attention but it’s your bright mind that will capture their heart. Though, I would miss you if you decide to marry and leave.”

“Thinking simply, I cannot leave my sisters either. I would worry every minute I’m away from our home. You and Mikuni would set the house aflame the moment you two step foot into the kitchen.” Mahiru meant to joke with her sister but she couldn’t bring herself to laugh. She lifted her drink to her lips and sighed softly. The mention of their home reminded of their father’s will and how they could lose everything.

Licht could read Mahiru’s thoughts through her brown eyes. Even she knew that the ball was no place to discuss such a private matter. Her grip around the cup tightened until her knuckles became white under her gloves. She wished she could help Mikuni find a way to keep their home. She wasn't as knowledgeable about business or laws since her passion was music.

In the corner of her eyes, she noticed a group enter the ballroom. The entire room fell silent in awe of the family even before the footman introduced them. “Presenting the Servamps.”

The footman listed the siblings’ names but Licht barely heard his voice. She felt as if she was once again plunged into the creek and he was standing before her. The blond man who helped her the previous day was a Servamp and standing in the opened doorway. The cold shock she felt instantly became a burning rage when she recalled how he mocked her sister. She jumped to her feet to confront him once more.

“Do you intend to courtesy politely as they pass, Licht? If not, it’s best you sit back down. Let’s not cause a scandal.” Mikuni whispered the warning to her. They had told Mikuni and Misono about the encounter after they returned home soaking wet. She never expected the two men were a part of the Servamp family. “You may dislike him but open hostility is only excusable for men.”

Mikuni understood Licht’s anger but she also knew how the party would judge her sister if she attacked the blond Servamp. She leaned back in her chair and watched the Servamps cross the room towards them. She didn’t know why they would approach their table when they were a modest family with a more modest rank. Her voice lowered to a whisper as she addressed Licht. “It is unwise to confront him directly but I imagine you’re smart enough to think of other ways.”

Mikuni stood as the Servamps stopped before their family. She took the edge of her gown delicately into her hands and then made a shallow courtesy to greet them. She kept her thoughts hidden behind a wall of politeness and rehearsed greetings. “Welcome to the countryside, my lord. I hope you find our humble town to your liking. I am Mikuni Alicein Eve. May I introduce you to my sisters?”

“My brothers have already met two of your sisters. Though, they weren’t able to exchange a proper introduction. We wanted to come and apologize for the rudeness. I am the youngest, Snow Lily Olive Servamp.” He introduced himself and bowed. Then, Lily stood and light nudged his brother forward. “This is my eldest brother, Kuro Sleepy Ash Servamp.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you again, Lord Servamp.” Mahiru greeted him politely and went on to introduce the rest of her family. Kuro bowed in return and Licht noticed how he had specifically regarded Mahiru with the gesture. “Thank you for stopping me from falling into the creek. Your brother saved my sister as well.”

“You may call me Kuro. I have so many siblings and our conversation will easily become confusing if you use our surname. I was never one for titles anyways.” Kuro told her. He hoped that he wasn’t being too forward with the offer. Often, only people who were close would casually refer to each other by their first name.

Mahiru appeared surprised at first but then her eyes softened into a smile. She held out her hand to him and said, “Then I insist that you use my name as well.”

“Mahiru,” He repeated her name. Kuro gently took her hand into his and lifted her fingers to his lips. The polite gesture left a lingering warmth on her gloved hand even after he let her go.

“Hyde, you should introduce yourself to the family as well.” Lily spoke to a shorter blond man. Mikuni interrupted them before they could speak.

“You’re the youngest of your family but remarkably polite and honourable. I would say that those are traits your older brothers have taught you. But, if your brothers knew their manners, they would have introduced themselves and apologized rather than having the role fall onto their young brother. As the eldest of my sisters, I would never ask them to apologize on my behalf.” Mikuni’s compliment to Lily was lined with barbed words.

“Mikuni, I think their good character was shown when they saved us.” Mahiru didn’t think it was fair for her sisters to antagonize the family after only one meeting. She understood that they mainly wanted to defend her honour and she tried to show them that she wasn’t affected by Hyde’s comment. “Kuro, I heard that your family will be moving into the estate next to ours and we will be neighbours. I would like to extend an olive branch between our family with a dance. Will you take a turn around the room with me?”

“It would be a pleasure.” Kuro held out his arm to her. She placed her hand in the crook of his arm and he led her onto the ballroom. Mahiru looked over her shoulder to silently speak with them. She mouthed for them to be cordial with the Servamps. Licht rolled her eyes at her motherly warning but she nodded in understanding. As much as she disliked Hyde for his comment, she wouldn’t make her sister upset.

Licht sat at the table again and only partially listened to Mikuni converse with the Servamps. She wasn’t as sociable as Mikuni or Mahiru and she found it difficult to join a conversation with strangers. She leaned towards Misono who sat next to her. “Both Mikuni and Mahiru are distracted. Perhaps, we can sneak into the library. I heard the mayor has imported a collection of Shakespeare plays.”

“They’ll eventually discover that we left the party and, no doubt, lecture us.” She whispered back.

“But we would already have our prize.” Her laughter was surprisingly light for the mischief she intended.

“Then, we must ask the caterer if they have sweets so we can return home with many treasures from our adventures.”

“Pardon me, Eve.” Hyde’s voice interrupted their conversation as he sat in the seat across from her. Licht was slightly irritated that his presence brought Mikuni’s attention back to them and they could no longer sneak away. He said, “I didn’t intend to insult your sister with my comment. But offense has been made and I would like to apologize. The next song will be starting in a few minutes. Do you dance, Eve?”

“Not if I can help it. Regrettably, I am not very graceful on my feet. I dare say that my dancing is barely a step above the way you floundered in the water yesterday.” Despite her comment, Hyde only laughed. She had expected him to be offended yet he wore an amused grin. “You don’t need to sit with us because you feel it’s the polite thing to do.”

“I find your family much more fun than the other guests here. I like that you speak your mind. It must be because you’re from a large family. We have that in common.” Hyde nodded towards Kuro and Mahiru dancing together. “They’re getting along. Our cross will pass more often if they truly become friends. Will you forgive me for my comment about your sister and forgive me?”

Her sister had already forgiven him and Licht didn’t have a reason to be upset on her behalf. Licht thought Hyde was rude but his family appeared kind. “You have four siblings. Even a large manor like Hanafield must feel crowded with so many people. Are you planning to live in the countryside? Wealthy folks like you tend to vacation here and spend the rest of your time in London.”

“There are actually eight of us all together.” He told her and her eyes widened. Licht had thought her family of five was large. Her reaction made him chuckle since he thought it was endearing and he wanted to see her other expression. “Three of my siblings decided not to come to the party. My brother, Doubt, has been working in this town for a while now. He said this is a quiet town and we decided to move here too.”

“Your family is rather famous so I’m surprised that we haven’t heard about a Servamp working in our town.” Misono said.

“He wanted to have a normal life so he changed his name before he moved here. We still keep in contact.” Hyde explained and Licht became curious about who his brother could be. From the way he smiled as he spoke of his family, she knew that he cared about them. “Doubt never enjoyed parties like this. Kuro doesn’t either but Lily convinced him to come.”

“Do you like parties?” Licht asked.

“With the right company.” He shrugged. “Though, this is the first time I’ve met someone interesting like you at a party.”

“Do you see Tetsu? I would like to ask him for another crab cake.” Misono asked Licht as they walked through the ballroom. She scanned the crowd and searched for the tall man. Licht knew that Misono’s true wish was to speak with the man rather than order food. Her sister could be shy and stubborn so she wouldn’t admit her feelings to others easily.

“Tetsu has many jobs, doesn’t he? He works at his family business, helps care for our horses and now he’s a waiter. He has a shift tomorrow but he’ll likely be tired after working throughout the night. You should talk to Mikuni and ask her to give Tetsu a day off. You and him can go horseback riding for fun.” Licht suggested and Misono blushed as she imagined it. It was clear to see that she had a crush.

“Do you think we’ll be able to convince Mikuni to let us ride into town? You know how protective she can be.” Due to Misono’s weak body, she could easily become sick and her sisters would fret over her. “I would like to buy a present for Mikuni. She has been stressed ever since she found Father’s will. The cakes that Eva sells always bring a smile to her face.”

“I can act as your escort during your walk with Tetsu. Mikuni can trust me to kick anyone who harms our precious little sister. Not even a giant like Tetsu is safe from a sister’s wrath. He might be a giant but we’re a family of angels.” Licht joked and patted her sister’s back. “I heard angel wings flutter when you dance with a person you love. You should ask Tetsu to dance with you.”

“That’s far too forward, Licht. I could never do that.” Misono’s face became red and she looked towards the ground to hide it. She was disappointed that she couldn’t dance with Tetsu because he was serving food to the guests. She admired how confident her older sisters were and she wished she could be more like them. They had always been supportive to her.

They stopped when they heard their mother’s voice. “Licht! Misono! I must speak with you two at this moment. Come with me.”

Their mother forced her way between them and took Licht and Misono’s arm. She dragged them to the corner of the room where the party wouldn’t be able to overhear them easily. Licht didn’t know why their mother appeared so frantic since the party had been uneventful. “Did something happen, Mother? I can find Mahiru and Mikuni if you feel unwell.”

“How could you not introduce your little sister to the Servamps when they approached our table? I heard rumours that Mahiru danced with Sleepy Ash. Do you know how sad Sakura was after she heard that? He would’ve danced with her if he saw how beautiful she was.” Her voice was a harsh whisper but it caused Misono to flinch slightly.

Licht stepped in front of her little sister to protect her from their mother’s glare. “Sakura was dancing and we couldn’t tell her immediately without being rude. I told you about my meeting with the blond demon who spoke poorly of Mahiru. He is a part of the family and I don’t think someone so rude will be right for Sakura. I’m certain that she’ll catch the eye of someone better.”

“You’re right.” Their mother nodded. “But I would still prefer to match Sakura with a prestigious family like the Servamps. She’ll be the one to save our family from destitution. Mikuni is much too focused on the business to find a family and Mahiru is such a wallflower. I doubt anyone will ask Misono to dance either.”

“Mother!” Licht yelled over her and her shout drew the attention of the entire room. She didn’t recoil from the stares and she kept her back straight. Even if she was her mother, she wouldn’t allow a person to insult her sisters. “My sisters are all brilliant and it’s a shame their own mother can’t see that.”

She turned away from her and pulled Misono away. Mikuni and Mahiru quickly joined them. She placed a hand on Misono’s shoulder. “This ballroom is too crowded. We should go outside for some fresh air.”

Before she could escape with her sister, Licht crashed into a person standing behind her. She felt something cold spill onto her dress and she looked down to see red wine staining her bodice. She looked up into eyes that were the same colour as the wine. Hyde smiled sheepishly and set aside his wine glass. “I’m sorry, Lichtan, I’ll pay for a new dress. For now, please take my napkin.”

“You don’t need to give me your napkin. I can wash this off better by myself.” She didn’t put much importance in clothes. She hooked her arm around Misono and walked away. “At least the demon gives us an excuse to leave.”

Licht held a candle close to the bookcase so she could read the titles of the book. After the scene in the ballroom, Misono was likely upset. She thought a book would help her feel better so she visited the library. Her friend worked at the library and he allowed her to search for a book to borrow. She walked around the bookcase and she was surprised to see a person sitting against the wall.

The lantern next to the man illuminated his face and she was surprised to see that it was Hyde. The library was closed and others shouldn’t be able to enter. He noticed her approach and he glanced up from the book on his lap. The room was dark with only sparse candlelight around them but he could see her shock. She had expressive blue eyes.

“I didn’t break into the library. I promised the mayor that I would make a generous donation to the library if he allows me to visit whenever I want.” He told her and closed the book. Hyde held up the library’s key to show her he was being truthful. “After a party, I like to read alone and a library after dark is the best place. Are you here in search of a book as well, Angel Cakes? I can help you find it.”

“I’m not much of a reader but my sister likes them. The only writers I know are the popular ones like Shakespeare. I wanted to borrow one of his plays from the library for her.” Licht ran her fingers over the spines of the book and she searched for the section that held the plays. Hyde stood and then he took down a few books.

“Shakespeare is famous for his tragedies but he has written a few comedies as well. They might cheer up your sister. Here, this is Midsummer Night’s Dream. She might also like this one.” Licht took the books from him and read the summary on the back. He mentioned that the book would lift her sister’s spirits and she wondered if he was referring to the scene her mother caused. He didn’t push the subject though.

“Thank you. She’ll like this one.” Licht slipped the books into her bag. Hyde leaned against the bookcase and stopped her from leaving immediately.

“I overheard your mother’s words to your sister. They were unfair. I planned to ask her to dance to prove your mother wrong but I ruined your dress instead.” Hyde had seen Licht defend her sister and he was impressed by her passion. “My siblings thought you sisters were wonderful when they spoke with them. You already know how great they are, don’t you, Lichtan?”

“I am an angel and it’s my duty to protect me sisters.” Licht’s voice was firm with her conviction. Hyde smiled at her declaration and he pushed himself off the shelf. He returned to the candle where he was reading earlier. He was much kinder than she first thought he was but she didn’t know if she should change her first impression of him yet.

[maoam]

I'm going to be real, I think people take shipping way too seriously, especially in the naruto fandom. A ship doesn't have to be perfect, heck it doesn't even need to have that much development for people to ship it. People can just like the idea of two characters together no matter their canon development (or lack thereof) and that's perfectly fine. And the reverse is also true, people can dislike a relationship despite it having a lot of development. It's no one's business to act as shipping police and tell people what to ship and what not to ship (unless it some pedophilic, incestuous shit, then yeah, people should get called out for shipping and supporting something like that). It's one thing to dislike a ship and criticize it and and completely another thing to generalize the entire fanbase of that ship and say they are all a bunch of this and that for shipping something you dislike (this is not aimed at you specifically, but I've seen a lot of sns shippers insulting all ss or nh shippers, and that's just not alright, can't we just be civil with each other regardless of shipping preferences?) Like yeah I personally ship SNS and dislike SS/NH but like... leave the shippers be? I get there are some obnoxious people among them, but so there are in the sns, ns and sk fandoms too. Most of them just mind their own business, I don't agree with people demonizing all of them and saying all of them are stupid and god knows what else for shipping it just because of the way some of them act, because you don't know what their reasons for shipping it are. I'm sure there are plenty of them who see the flaws in their canon relationship. Not all of them are rabid shippers that think their ship is perfect. Not all of them try to force their ship down other people's throats. Anyway I'm sorry for the rant. I just think people need to chill. I find insulting and fighting with other people over a bunch of dumb ships really stupid (again, this is not aimed at you). When people act like they are morally superior for shipping x ship instead of y ship I just... no words. What good is if people ship the "better/superior ship" if they're acting like shit towards real life people? When I follow someone it's because I wanna see nice SNS content, yet when after that most of the things I see is negativity towards other ships and people... It's just really disheartening.

To how many SS/NH have you send anon to tell them to stop being homophobic or stop calling sns shippers incest fetishists?

I made this blog for myself, to post things that I want to talk about, I don’t care if anti ss or anti nh posts are “too negative” to people. I’m not forcing anyone to follow me, I tag everything accordingly and people aren’t paying me patron money so I don’t have to cater to anyone. And no offense but I don’t really buy this isn’t at least partially directed at me. Pretty sure everyone knows when people complain about ss or nh they are talking about the stalkers or the homophobes or the ones who attack people when they point out their ships make no sense, or the ones sending “kill yourself fag” messages to people’s fanfics. I had people telling my friend she deserves to get killed when she dared to criticise their laughable ships. I know a nh fan and even when I think she has bad taste, I like her (at least she has the common sense to admit the ending made no sense) but I have yet to find ss shipper that isn’t revolting. The ones that were okay either dropped it during the manga or grew up and realized it sucks. And by the way, I criticise sns fandom all the time as well. I don’t ship sk but I have never seen the bullshit from them that I have seen from ss/nh.

Disheartening is to see that your ship doesn’t get even the basic amount of respect from a bunch of people just because it happens to be gay. Disheartening is to see gay people being told to kill themselves or being told they are “ruining the series” just because they ship two characters of the same-sex. We aren’t given even the basic amount of respect so why should we give it back?

[thejustmaiden]

Fiction and Real Life Go Hand In Hand

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

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

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

Allow me to elaborate.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[vipclifford]

A Sign Of Love

A/N: italics represent flashbacks

You watched your boyfriend’s band play from the left wing of the stage. Every bang of the drums could be felt in your chest, every strum of the strings brought an odd tingling sensation to the tips of your fingers. You pressed your hand against one of the pulsating speakers, a soft smile stretching your lips as you felt the rhythm in your bones.

Calum’s eyes met yours with a large grin on his face once the song ended, his hands quickly signing “I love you.” With a cheesy smile you signed the words back at the man, his lips blowing you a kiss in response before returning his attention back to the show.

Sunlight warmed the breeze that brushed past your skin, fallen leaves soaring through the streets. The park bench felt cold against your legs as you waited for your charming date to show up.

It was your first date. The first after the man tried to chat you up at a party weeks ago, only to find out that the loud music was not the cause for his words being unheard. This fact did not deter him as Calum still seemed adamant to talk to you, eager enough to swipe your phone from your hands and make your contact list grow. Eager enough to fill each other’s notifications with messages for weeks. Eager enough to ask you out.

Clammy hands held your phone as you checked the time over and over, a dictation app ready to be used. A rose suddenly hung over the screen, gaze rising to meet a smiling Calum who held the flower out for you. You noticed the notebook held under his arm.

You grasped the flower with a small smile and stood up to greet him with a quick hug.

“Hi,” you said, phone ready to catch the next words he spoke. Instead a look of concentration overtook his face as he slowly signed ‘Hello, you look beautiful.’ Heat rose to your cheeks as he grinned down at you, nodding as though to emphasise his point.

You just smiled and looked down at the rose between your fingers, excited for what the rest of the afternoon could hold.

A sweaty Calum engulfed you in his arms, still bouncing off of the adrenaline from the show he just finished. Your nose scrunched up at the smell though your arms still encircled his torso, holding him tight. Only when a water bottle was thrown towards him did he relinquish his grip.

‘You did great, baby,’ you signed after he downed half of the bottle in one gulp. His lips formed a ‘thanks’ with a joyful look in his eyes before grabbing your cheeks, pulling you closer to meet his lips. One kiss turned into two then three then four before you pressed your hands against his chest to push him away, his lips still chasing yours as you pulled back. ‘You stink, shower first, then we’ll see,’ you signed to your boyfriend who nodded in defeat before a mischievous look filled his eyes. ‘Join me?’

“Were you born deaf?” Calum asked one day as you laid side by side beneath the summer night, months of dating behind you.

In all of this time he had always been attentive and supportive, treating you as normally as he possibly could. You could tell he had been secretly taking a sign language course as his skills improved every week, your heart filling with something you had never felt as you saw how much effort he was putting into being able to talk to you. And yet he had never dared to ask the big question, too scared of offending or upsetting you by mentioning the disability that has shaped you into the person you are today.

You read the words as they came up on the screen of your phone, glancing at him briefly before turning back to face the stars.

“Nope. I mean, I was always deaf in my left ear, but I could easily get away with it and live life as normal, if anything sharing headphones was the only trouble. But then one morning I woke up and with a slight ringing in my right ear. A ringing that went on and on and wouldn’t stop. And I couldn’t stop it, no matter how strongly I hit the walls and anything around me, desperate to hear anything else. This obviously alarmed my parents who came rushing in but I didn’t even notice until my dad grabbed me by the shoulders to force me to stop. I watched as his lips kept moving but no sounds came out. Nothing, Cal, not even a whisper,” you told your boyfriend as your eyes welled up with tears. He noticed this and wrapped his arms around you to pull you into his chest, hand stroking your head comfortingly. “The next thing I remember was being in A&E for ages and a couple doctors testing my ears. Eventually one of them handed me a piece of paper that said ‘sudden sensorineural hearing loss.’ The cause hasn’t been identified, but basically there is something wrong with the sensory organs of my inner ear so they can’t detect sound. They said that it was good that I had been diagnosed early and that treatment with corticosteroids would be able to bring my hearing back, but I wasn’t so lucky. So no, I wasn’t born deaf, but that’s my story.”

Calum pressed a kiss to your head and took your phone-clutched hand, kissing it too before grasping the device. He returned it after typing a message and sat up in front of you. ‘Thank you for sharing that with me. I know it must have been difficult but I appreciate you opening up, and I am so incredibly proud of how far you’ve come since that fateful morning.’ A small smile sat on your lips as you read the text, sitting up to face him too.

‘I love you,’ he signed, vulnerability in his eyes as he awaited any kind of response from you. Your smile widened in joy and surprise at his confession. Hands reaching out to intertwine with his, you carefully uttered the words back. Hearing your words made him grin from ear to ear, hands squeezing yours before leaning forwards to give you the most loving of all kisses. His soft lips melted into yours as he reached to gently place his hand on your cheek.

The night was perfect. He was perfect.

Celebratory beers were passed around the backstage dressing room followed by what you presumed were cheers. You chuckled lightly to yourself as you watched the scene, thinking of how oxymoronic your relationship was. One who devoted their life to creating music and sound and the other who couldn’t hear. With a tap to the shoulder Calum refocused your attention to him, signing a ‘you alright?’ with a slightly concerned expression.

You nodded with a smile, looking down at the silver ring on your finger before signing back your reply.

‘I’m happy.’

A/N: I have written this piece for the project ‘DisabledSOS’ organised by @skinnylukes ! This project aims to support and spread awareness about 5SOS fans with disabilities, chronic illnesses, and other health conditions. Carly brought back this movement specifically to bring about more disability-inclusive writing to tumblr and our fandom as I know that most writers (including myself) don’t tend to cater our pieces to this audience. I was really excited when she asked me to join the event and I hope i did it justice! Be sure to check out the #disabledsos tag for other fics/blurbs like this!

Inspired by Season 5 of Skam France, which deals with a normal teenager who experiences sudden hearing loss and has to learn to adapt to his new life. You can watch without seeing the other seasons, each season is based around a different central character and you see everything through their eyes so most things that happened previously are not necessary to follow the show. I truly recommend it!!

masterlist

[twisted-wonderland-memes]

Twisted Wonderland Character Summaries/Impressions.

If you just came here for the summaries, you can skip the first two paragraphs so you don’t have to listen to this moron scream. However, there’s some good information in the paragraphs below so feel free to read and enjoy the show.

In celebration of Japan Disney’s new game, Twisted Wonderland, which my villain loving self has been preparing for since the announcement back in 2019, I have decided to make this lovely blog for you outstanding otome/rhythm players mainly to meme but also to share scream live reactions which will MOST CERTAINLY turn into memes and incorrect quotes because, let’s be honest, screaming about any game like this one results in the fandom meming the complete shit out of the characters. That sentence was longer than my future success but it proves my point of just how exciting this game really is.

When you first start the game, you are to choose one boy immediately which, for one, how heccin dare you Disney. The prologue comes after the choosing ceremony, along with being given the SR card of the boy chosen. Isn’t it funny? They actually expect us to choose ONE guy 5 seconds into the game. Bold of you to assume I have the capability to limit myself to one of the 18 boys given, and I wont make 18 accounts just so I can choose all of them even though it doesn’t affect your main game all that much. BUT THAT AINT THE POINT. In this house, we love all the boys *clicks Deuce*.

 So without further ado, here is my take on each character, starting with the Heartslabyul boys.

Heartslabyul

Deuce Spade

Deuce. My lovely Deuce Spade. For those unaware cough cough my profile picture, Deuce is indeed one of my personal favorites. He has been since his announcement because look. at. that. bitch. face. You already know this boy, excuse me, YOUNG MAN, is going to be telling MC to fuck off not really. He’s a good boy which is 100% what I like to hear. Deuce is a hardworking student who wants to excel in class, more specifically, as a wizard/magician. His grades are top notch and he’s constantly studying, minus the time where he’s throwing books at Ace WHICH WE WILL GET TO LATER. You meet Deuce pretty early on with Ace, a terrible mistake, and his personality is basically everything I just said. Hardworking, blunt, and above all, that beautiful bitch face telling you to bury yourself in a hole, after interrupting his studies.

Cater Diamond

The second character we are given is none other than Cater Diamond. The stylish mofo that keeps up with the kardashians all the latest trends. He has every social media platform there is to exist and is 100% himbo energy. He does, however, have a remarkable talent at reading the atmosphere and how others are feeling. This makes him somewhat a meditator in the group. So basically for Ace and Deuce. That’s what you’re telling me. Why else would he need to act as a meditator besides getting those two to talk it out instead of putting each other in a chokehold? Besides the fact that he can help calm things down from reading others, I can 100% see him pranking his dormmates. Just look at that little blep.

Riddle Rosehearts

Continuing on to the next boy, we have Riddle Rosehearts. I just want to pick him up and throw him into a lake, out of love of course. Riddle is the leader of Heartslabyul. He is incredibly dedicated to adheres to the rules given. He believes everyone should follow the rules which was, haha, a HUGE mistake. Sir, you are living with an instagram model, two banchees throwing punches and books at each other and a man who was just trying to bake some cookies but ended up burning the whole dorm down while trying to get Ace and Deuce to so throwing random objects at each other. You expect THESE *points to the others* to follow the rules? Maybe in a perfect world, but I’m sorry to say, this is the Villain’s World *finger guns* no pun intended. Back to Riddle though, he can be harsh with everyone but he means well. He also has excellent grades, which is not surprising. Still doesn’t mean I won’t throw him into a lake..... out of love.

Trey Clover

Mom. Good boy. Let him bake his cookies. Trey Clover is, what we like to call, a guardian angel. He’s technically the manager of Heartslabyul’s dorms and follows Riddle’s expectations while the others continue to cause chaos. A very good boy, indeed. He likes to follow rules but isn’t necessarily as strict as Riddle. He understands that people should lighten/loosen up a bit but has his moments of leadership and will straighten out these boys when Riddle’s short self can’t slap them over the heads. Trey has a gentle personality which is very refreshing in this group. You can find him downing another glass of wine water, complimenting his fellow dormmates to others while they scream in the background because something else blew up.

Ace Trappola

Chaos. Ace Trappola. Rivals with Deuce. Why, you may ask? No idea. He saw Deuce and his spade face and went full western, “This town aint big enough for the two of us”. Only one is getting out of here alive and it most certainly ISN’T going to be Ace. He would throw himself at a blade by accident 2 seconds into a match against Deuce and yell “ROUND TWO, COWARD” while Deuce sighs, wanting to get back to his studies. Other than being a complete idiot, Ace is very outgoing and has a bright personality. Because he is so outgoing, he may say whatever is on his mind at times and come off as someone rude. He’s trying his best. Is he, is he really? No idea! All we know is he big dumb babie. But no, he’s a good, competitive boyo.

Will be posting the other classes and their summaries too! You can find them on my blog or at the bottom of this post after I post the others~

[lord-squiggletits]

Watched this video and a short survey of the comments bothered me enough that I felt like making a rambling personal post about it.

It’s funny how much my perspective on G1 is similar to the situation I experienced in one of my previous fandoms, Star Wars. I left SW for specific and probably obvious reasons, but I’m going to be talking about certain elements of it as my personal interpretation/what I hoped for rather than what we actually got from it. Also, this isn’t some sort of formally researched thesis statement but rather observations based on my subjective fandom experience.

Both Star Wars and Transformers are huge science fiction franchises that originated from American creators (at least as far as the G1 cartoons are concerned). They even came out around the same time (in the 80′s) and both became extremely famous and well-liked in popular culture. Both of their original incarnations (A New Hope/the Original Trilogy for Star Wars, and the Generation 1 cartoon for Transformers) continue to be extremely culturally relevant and used as inspiration for new media despite being decades old.

In addition... they also have the same trait of... shall we say, having a large portion of the fanbase heavily focused on nostalgia for the original version?

Going back to my experience in Star Wars, the Sequel Trilogy was the first trilogy that was made during a time that I was old enough to experience it (I was barely even in kindergarten when EP III/the Prequel Trilogy was released). As such, since I had recently binged all of the OT and PT, I was really excited to get into the ST, because finally here was a Star Wars series that was made “during my time” where we were getting new characters and-- literally and figuratively-- passing the torch from the older generation of characters to another.

...Except the issue with the ST is that it was not only made with basically no plan for a cohesive story arc, but the people who made it-- and the fanbase!-- were so blinded by nostalgia for the OT that they cared more about their favorite characters being cool and beloved than they did about making a coherent, next-generation story with new characters. (And that’s only one of the issues the ST had!) For example, there was a TON of fandom hate-wank about “How dare Kylo Ren kill Han Solo!” because everyone was mad about their precious favorite being killed off, and even MORE hate-wank about “#NotMyLuke! How dare Rian Johnson write the Most Loving And Best Jedi Ever as being fallible and having moments of fear and weakness!” Any discussion about the narrative reasons for killing Han/making Luke flawed was constantly derailed by angry accusations of “ruining characters” as a personal middle finger to the original fans.  And then of course it culminated in the writers of TROS thinking “Rey Skywalker” was a good idea, as if the family name of Skywalker was nothing more than a toy to be bestowed upon a new character and not... A FAMILY NAME owned by the CENTRAL FAMILY who the entire Star Wars soap opera revolved around! Screw having your new generation character have her own identity (or making the actual Skywalker child Ben Solo get to reconcile with his family)-- let’s make her related to an old villain for no coherent reason and then slap her with the family name of the old heroes! Because being a carbon copy of the original protagonist (right down to being a desert orphan in white with a dark side parent) is the only way to make new characters cool of course!

(Deep breath) Anyways... the point that I’m trying to make is that the Star Wars ST-- a series that I had high hopes for as being a story for “my generation” where new characters would get to take the lead-- fell apart due to both the creators’ and fandom’s obsession with nostalgia and placing the “original” version of the media on a pedestal. The story was entirely catered to a middle-aged audience obsessed with the characters they loved from the OT. The characters were not allowed to be CHARACTERS, narrative devices that are subject to flaws and mistakes in the pursuit of a wider thematic vision, but PARAGONS. None of the new characters were developed to stand on their own, but rather to be cheap copies of the OT characters.

So...how does this relate to Transformers, and the G1 cartoon specifically?

Well... I honestly get the same vibes off of the Transformers fandom about G1 as I do from Star Wars fans about the OT. (Except at least the Transformers fandom isn’t as full of hate, nerd-wanking, and drama.) I always see people talking about G1 Optimus Prime as if he’s the best thing ever and how every other Prime is “boring” or “too stoic” in comparison, and I... honestly disagree with it?

It’s not that I think G1 Optimus is bad at all. He’s definitely fun and charming, and the G1 cartoon, for all its cheapness and painfully obvious flaws, is still worth watching even if all you’re after is some fun entertainment. The only thing that bothers me is just... the veneration for a cartoon that’s what, 40 years old or more at that point?

Sorry if I sound like a snot-nosed, entitled young brat who’s ruining beloved franchises by demanding everything cater to me, but... why? I get that people older than me watched different Transformers media at different times, but...why is the nostalgia for G1 more important than every other possible interpretation of Optimus, or the story in general, out there?

Let me just be frank. I’m a young 20-something. In this franchise that’s decades old, why must the “original” version always be viewed as best simply because of nostalgia? G1 isn’t “my” Transformers. A cartoon that came out 40 years ago with shitty production values that was basically made only to sell toys doesn’t represent the kind of media that I’m interested as a person living in current year. I understand why people would love G1, but... to say that it’s the best iteration of Optimus Prime or the franchise as a whole? Really? You want to travel so far back in time and put on nostalgia goggles so thick that you think a story from 40 YEARS AGO is the pinnacle of writing for this franchise?

I just... I don’t get it at all. Am I just “too young to understand it”? Am I crazy for thinking that we should be enjoying newer stories and creating new molds for the franchise instead of recreating/wishing for G1 over and over again?

I left Star Wars because I was tired of the shitty writing and tired of the shitty nostalgia bias in the fandom/among the writers. Yet it seems I have also joined a fandom that has the exact same problem with nostalgia and comparing everything to the original. Literally the only thing Transformers does better is that the fanbase is less toxic.