#i'm sorry if i said anything you strongly disagree with lol

[khaire-traveler]

I'm a bit tentative to reach out to Hekate as my helpol friends have told me she's 'not for the naive' and that I should set up a protection spell beforehand. Is there anything in particular I should know? Sorry to bother!

Khaire!

This straight up sounds like gatekeeping lol. Every Greek deity has had some wild cult worship throughout history, so maybe this is what they're referring to, but it still feels generally incorrect. Granted, I don't know your friends, and I don't worship Hekate directly (I almost did, as she was reaching out), but every time I've interacted with her, she's been extremely friendly, kind, and welcoming; she's never given off a hint of malice towards me. The only time I've heard of needing to protect oneself when doing anything with Hekate is regarding esoteric practices; in no other context have I ever heard about some kind of necessity to protect oneself when interacting with any Greek deities.

In the recent past, there's been a lot of fear-mongering about needing to protect oneself from deities, but I personally believe deities are the protection FROM evil, NOT the cause of it. I don't think you need to protect yourself when interacting with deities in general; I feel it has the potential to come across as offensive and make a bad first impression. This is all my opinion, however, just as how your friends are of the opinion that you do need protection. I highly encourage you to make your own call. What do you feel is the right thing to do? How do you personally want to reach out to her?

Reminder that there is no such thing as a "beginner" deity, and that includes deities who are "not for the naive". I'm genuinely curious who your friends would consider being "for the naive", considering that children worshipped these gods and goddesses. There is no deity that's flat-out off limits within hellenic polytheism. I've met many people who tell me Hekate is motherly and sweet to them; I've had others tell me that they work with much more intense aspects of hers and have felt her presence more intensely, as a consequence. Experiences will always vary between people. This is to say that I disagree with your friends strongly, general speaking. To claim that any deity is "not for the naive" is such a strange take. I'm inclined to believe they're worshipping or working with her more intense aspects, which you do not have to do if you reach out.

Frankly, if you want to reach out to her, I say go for it! Just because your friends said all that stuff doesn't mean your experience with her will be like that. If you're really that nervous, I would encourage asking a deity you're close with to be with you. Just explain that you're a bit nervous and would like some support. I've asked Lord Hermes and Lord Haides to do this with me before, and all went well; just make sure to inform Hekate of the deity's presence once you invoke her, to be polite. I honestly don't know what the hell your friends are talking about lol. Best of luck to you. 🧡

-

UPDATE FROM OP

[creedslove]

SIGH.

Sigh. Sigh. Sigh.

Stupid fucking cowboy. I just can't feel bad for him. He did this to himself. Asking for forgiveness doesn't fix what he did wrong. It doesn't undo the damage. Even apologizing for his hateful attitude and cruel words in the last chapter kinda fell flat. So I for one am glad that Mom said no to them getting back together. Yes forgiveness is absolutely possible but it's like breaking a plate. It doesn't undo the brokenness.

I am curious where you're headed with her already having someone else in the wings. Clearly not someone Wyatt has met yet? Although I doubt that Jack will ever do anything to ever risk Wyatt's happiness. And he should be the one allowed to make his confession to Wyatt when he's old enough. That sort of thing is necessary in order to minimize the damage it might do to their relationship. Keeping it a secret would be wrong and a potential landmine.

I dunno if you've been paying attention to the latest drama in the fandom but some looney posted something on insta about being heartbroken by Pedro and it was so vague with so little detail as to how she and her friend approached him and how she was apparently rejected that I'm sure Pedro is in the right, but it makes me sad. I knew all those wild fan sightings and selfies and him saying how he likes it when people recognize him (admittedly this was in interviews before he got huge, it was Agent Whiskey days, lol) were going to come back and bite him in the ass. All the attention boosts his ego, he ate it up, he was so nice and accommodating and of course this attracts someone who thinks it's a good idea to cross countries and spend thousands of dollars on the outside chance she gets a celebrity encounter. But he didn't know all that background, he doesn't know her from anyone. And if she shouted it at him I'm sure it freaked him out. But anyway, the reason it makes me sad is because this is what happened in the last fandom I was in, and the attention pretty much poisoned that celebrity's relationship with his fandom and really ruined it. I really hope it doesn't happen to Pedro. Sigh.

Sorry to dump this on you, I don't really have anyone else to talk to about fandom drama, lol

Angst Anon (tonight the angst is self directed, apparently 😭🤣😏)

Aww Jack did so wrong with reader and Wyatt he still has a long way to pay and suffer the consequences of his actions. I think reader is really good for letting him in as the father of her son because as she said herself in the story, Wyatt already loves him, so she would be fighting a lost battle. Now, about their future is still uncertain, I don't think we will get to the point in the story where they will tell Wyatt what happened because that'd require him being older and I don't plan on doing time skips that could be that long, but I guess it doesn't matter who tells him the truth, it won't change the fact his heart will break. I also haven't thought much about reader's boyfriend, but that will be developed better in the upcoming chapters, that's for sure.

Now, about the whole Pedro drama from yesterday, I have to strongly disagree with you, anon. Absolutely none of that was Pedro's fault, just because he is nice accessible to his fans, it gives creepy people like that woman no right to treat him like landmark or object they can visit at any time they please. Honestly, I think Pedro is a SAINT for taking so much bullshit from people who claim to be his fans and won't respect him and the harassment of the media. But that woman, was another level. First of all, she started her text by stating she had traveled across countries just to see him, apparently she had a gift ready to hand him and she claimed to have painted her nails his favorite colors I mean please wtf and then, when people commented on her post, accusing her of being a stalker she got offended and contradicted herself by saying she was in Malta to visit friends. Her ~friend~ was a guy who had already taken a pic with Pedro there a couple of weeks ago, so they were obviously stalking him around the spots the guy knew Pedro usually hangs out during his free time.

Then, her claims of him being rude were absolutely ridiculous, whenever someone asked her how he'd been rude to her, or how she had approached him, she didn't explain at all, which is a clear sign to me that never happened at all or she was just manipulating the facts about how it happened.

I personally don't believe Pedro would be rude to her, because he isn't rude to anyone, I honestly believe she really thought she would have a fanfiction kind of experience and that he would flatter and flirt with her or something like that, and even if he were rude to her, I would totally support him because she definitely deserve it.

And then as if doing that to him while he was trying to enjoy his day off in peace, she tags him and his hair stylist (!!!) on a painfully embarrassing public post saying he BROKE HER HEART as if he were her cheating husband or something, and dude, that wasn't just a delusional teen girl, that was a DELUSIONAL WOMAN, who should have known better than to travel just to stalk a celebrity because she thinks she owns him

Apparently he had security guards because it seems it happened the same day he was seen with Joseph Quinn (? I guess that's his name? Anyway Eddie Munson from Stranger Things) so that's a relief because we never know what another person is planning, this woman was probably harmless, but we don't know anything about other people who might decide to stalk him. So I hope he stays safe and no other crazy person decides to bother him.

I really hope Pedro is able to handle this horrible side of fame with good mental health and patience, and I also hope people remember he's a human being who deserves respect ❤️

[optiwashere]

Opti, you said you were in fandom for a long time right?

What would you do if a show you're really into gets another season out of nowhere that you're excited to see but the fandom you were a part of actually was the worst (okay to be honest it wasnt the worste but the amount of disparity i see between content for the white characters and the non white characters makes me superimpose) and you're afraid of it reviving again?

Also tbh the shows not that good either it just gripped me in the special interest and now I can't let go

How to fix?

Heya anon!

First of all, I'm sorry that the fandom for this show was like that. There's definitely decades of history of fandoms hyperfocusing on white characters over all else, white men specifically, if there are even any non-white characters in the first place. That's awful, and I'm sorry you gotta deal with that.

Usually, my suggestion for that is to create that content you want to see. But I get that it's immensely frustrating when you have to do that because people are ignoring entire chunks of the original work. I also get if it's not something you've got the skills for. Fuck knows I can't draw for shit, so any visual art I would want out there can't come from me.

So as a general rule of thumb I always suggest the self-preservation method of fandom if you can! If you can carve out a niche of fandom that you can vibe with, not even necessarily agree with 100% of all topics on, then fandoms like that become infinitely more enjoyable.

I had to do that with all of my previous fandoms and I still do that with BG3. I curate everything I see really heavily by blocking anyone that worsens my experience on Tumblr/AO3/insert fandom hub of choice, blacklisting tags on those sites that would make my experience worse, and exercising some willpower in not trawling the general fandom tags*

Worsening my experience can mean anything from stressing me out about the type of posts they make or simply making me roll my eyes one too many times. I promise you they won't notice nor will they care. At least nobody I've blocked has ever cared because the feelings are typically mutual lol. Anyways, I strongly recommend getting well-acquainted with the block button.

So if you really want to enjoy this new season, watch it with people you like talking to if you can. Send anons to the people with the opinions you at least enjoy reading about (not necessarily agree with BTW) to stoke their hype and create that lovely feedback loop of fandom joy.

When you're in a fandom that you either don't enjoy or find yourself disagreeing with on major topics, you kinda have to curate it for yourself. I know it sucks to feel disconnected from the fandom sometimes. I'm a weirdly social creature with fandoms, so I really get that feeling of being completely and utterly disconnected from the greater whole (i.e., vampire man)

I can only suggest the above options for keeping yourself somewhat sane while also having fun!

Hope that helps 💜

*I fail at this too often for my own good tbh

[mysticmoondancer]

have you seen the recent tik tok posted by a user named darian batts about atticus mitchell cause ever since i saw it for myself i've been feeling sad disapointed upset worried and conflicted about having a celebrity crush on him and being a fan of him and liking his work cause i do

About the grooming thing? Yeah, I saw it. But I have some mixed feeling about it, though. Like, I know I'm probably gonna tick off a lot of people in saying this, but... I'm a bit skeptical to believe it because we really don't know anything. So, far, it's only her side of the story and it's not like any of us were even there when it all happened. I'm not bashing the chic involved in all of this or anything! I'm just saying, we really don't have all the facts or even what was going through both their minds when all of this happened.

It is possible that Atticus genuinely wanted to be friends with her at first or actually did like her but knew that they couldn't have a relationship due to her still being a minor. So, they just kept it as a friendship type thing for the time being until she was legally old enough for them to start dating each other. But once they actually started dating for a few years, things probably began to change between them and so they called it quits on the relationship. I mean, it is possible because being friends with someone is much different than being romantically involved with them. And sometimes for couples who first started out as friends before then later on deciding to become a couple instead, usually don't always work out in the end after a while. Not that I have any experience in the dating department, that is. Lol! But I'm just saying, it is possible though.

Now, there's still the possibility that she is telling the truth and that he actually did groom her, though. And if that's the case, then he's totally in the wrong here.

But I'm just gonna keep an open mind about it all before I decided to cast any judgement on anyone here. Like I said before, we honestly don't know the whole story because we weren't there and have only heard her side of the story, so far. We have no idea what was going through their minds at the time this all started, all the way to the time it ended. And if anyone strongly disagrees with that then so, be it. We're all intitled to our opinion and that's just mine on the subject. I just hope no one decides to post anything nasty about my opinion on it.

(Side Note: BE NICE! To anyone else who reads this and has something to say about it.)

But I am sorry that it's done made you question your fangirling status about him, though. It's hard when a celebrity you've always liked for so long now winds up letting you down in some way or another. But they're people, too. And just like us or anyone else in this world, they make mistakes, too. Nobody is perfect. Especially, celebrities. Don't we all deserve a second chance when we screw up for the first time? That's all I'm saying. But hopefully, you'll figure out how to feel about the whole Atticus thing, soon. Just remember, that you're not the only one possibly feeling this way after finding out about it. I'm sure a lot of Atticus Mitchell fans out there who saw the tik tok video are feeling the same way as you are, right now.

In the meantime, here's a little hug from me to you, to hopefully get you to feeling a teensy bit better about it. *hugs* ❤

[internetaddict104]

So, I'm going to preface this by saying that I'm a big fan of Amanda, but, you know, my two cents: I think its fine if her personality kind of grates at you a bit or you don't think her sense of humor meshes with yours. I'm sorry you were getting death threats, that shouldn't happen. You're right in the sense that you're allowed to feel that way and people getting mad at you for that doesn't do much.

That said I think if you're not looking to try to explain yourself/justify your distaste, you'd probably benefit from more explicitly tagging and curating the audience for your commentary. Like I dont think posting this in the "amanda lehan canto" tag on tumblr will get you the circle of people you want it to get to. I would strongly recommend, at least per tumblr culture, tagging it something like "anti amanda lehan canto" or something else, or at least taking her tag out. I dont know about the equivalent tagging culture on reddit. But in general if you go into a space with a lot of neutral to positive sentiment and drop a VERY strongly negative opinion, its jarring and can be off putting even if people might not disagree with specifics of the opinion. "smosh discourse" or "smosh negativity" might serve you better? idk.

(Also on a more general note, something that's helped me when I was frustrated with an online personality, beyind just disengaging, was just. Actively trying not to read their behaviours as intentional or malicious. When i was irritated by someone, looking at their behaviours (when not avoiding then entirely) through the lens of "ugh look at them doing x or y because of z" would always actively make me more angry or frustrated, be almost purely speculative, and seep into things that were probably actually innocuous, and with no benefit. Going "they're doing x" but actively avoiding speculating that it was for an intentional reason helped a ton with bringing "they're doing x and it fills me with rage" down to "they're doing x which is not to my taste but oh well". Like. You're allowed to be irritated and not mesh well with some online personalities you see, but I'd REALLY advise against assigning intention/malice towards these things that frustrate you.)

(I guess I could elaborate on why i think the pop culture thing is occasionally played up for the bit but is largely genuine- people exist online in DRASTICALLY different ways- but i dont know how much that actually matters to you, lol.)

On your first point, yeah I forgot the “anti” part of the tag. I’ll fix it, though it will still show up in her take since her name is in it.

And Reddit doesn’t have tags so I can’t really curate anything there, unfortunately.

And when I do see her in a video, I do try to not see malice in her actions, and I usually don’t, but it’s still too much for me. Like just her presence annoys me. I can’t help it, but even her just standing around bothers me. Like yeah I get that everyone else finds Sarah Christ to be the pinnacle of comedy, but I don’t get the jokes so I don’t find her funny. I get that she’s supposed to be funny, but I don’t see it. I don’t mind that others enjoy it, though. I mind that they’re gatekeeping feelings.

But thank you for hearing me out and being civil. Smosh Reddit is not as wholesome as they want to be (I literally have about 3 different people right now attacking my username on Reddit for commenting that I don’t find the “Amanda doesn’t know the internet” bit funny).

[wickymicky]

a month ago i watched every Twice video in order, some of them for the first time, because Twice was finally clicking for me and i was “getting it”. i wrote a little thing about which songs i liked and which i didnt, and i wanna expand on that cause my opinions have gotten more fleshed out over the last couple weeks of listening to them, and also some of them have changed. i just really like reviewing things, i hope that’s okay lol

so here are two or three sentence reviews of every Twice title track, in order

Like Ooh Ahh: i think this is one of their best songs, personally. it’s not as much of the bubblegum stuff they go for after this, but it’s extremely catchy lol, the “i just wanna fall in love!” and the “ha~~ ooh-ahh hage!” gets stuck in my head a lot. i just love the way this song’s instrumental sounds too, the aesthetic of it

Cheer Up: um okay so from hot to cold... this is my least favorite Twice song. i’m listening to it right now as I’m writing this, and I’ll listen all the way through, but i haven’t listened to it all the way through very often. i think the chorus feels out of place, so does the “be a man, real man” thing. i don’t like that. that ruins the song for me lol. i also don’t like the chorus much haha, it sounds like theyre saying “chore up” cause they went with 치얼업 (chi-eol/eor-eop) instead of like... even just “chireop” or “chi-eo eop”... they dont usually have ㄹ for an english r sound at the end of a word...

TT: ah okay nice we’re back on track lol, this song is fantastic and totally deserves to be their most popular song (at least in terms of music video views). when i first heard it i didnt like it cause i didnt like anything Twice lol... then when I listened to every Twice title track in order as i was beginning to “get it”, i liked everything except the “i’m like TT, ahhh, just like TT, ahhh” haha, i thought the fact that it was about the emoticon was weird and didnt fit the video, and the “ahh” was goofy haha. but now? god its so catchy lmao i always whisper-sing along to this part when i listen to this song haha. i love the echo-y reverb-y synths in the verse, and the instrumental in the chorus when paired with the vocal melody just makes it one of the best choruses in kpop lol. i think TT is their best song. the rap break doesnt feel like a rap break, it fits sooooo naturally in with the song, it’s so impressive. this song is so impressive

Knock Knock: initially i liked this song a lot, and i still do, but... this would be another group’s best song, easily, but for Twice... it’s a bit overshadowed haha. the guitar plus the synth is really cool though, its rare to hear a calming, sort of mellow, soft song with as high a BPM as this haha. one of the writers, Mayu Wakisaka, also was a composer for Loona’s Hi High and Fromis 9′s Love Bomb... and you can totally see that lol. all of those songs have high BPMs and are wildly catchy. still, idk, i like this song but i dont have a ton to say about it

Signal: this song is weird in a good way, i love really unconventional instrumentals. it sounds as alien and outer space as the music video haha. at first the “sign-eul bonae signal bonae” kinda annoyed me, but i got more used to it. i don’t listen to this song much, but i should change that, honestly. though another thing is that the music video has a lot those things where it adds sounds from the video that arent in the regular song, and has an intro i gotta skip every time lol, but like thats not a huge problem, i can just listen to the song elsewhere haha

One More Time: this song sounds like something you’d hear at a hockey game lmao. i dont even know really what i mean by that, i dont go to hockey games lol.... anyway. i like this song, but again, it’s kinda overshadowed. if i’m in the mood for the vibe this song has, there are other Twice songs that have it that i like more. it’s refreshing every once in a while though.

Likey: this song is so good!!! it didnt stand out at first, like, there’s not really a huge gimmick like some of the others... “likey likey likey” is kind of the same sort as the “just like TT” and “knock knock knock on my door” and stuff from other songs, but for some reason it feels less prominent in this song. i dont think this is their most iconic song ever, and its not genre-defining or one of the ones you’d mention first when talking about Twice, but it’s just a really solid song. one of my favorites

Heart Shaker: yeah, heart shaker is alright. it was apparently just a couple months after likey, and it feels like a similar concept? maybe it’s just the music video giving me that impression. it’s alright. the music video has the longest part with the distinctive way Twice shoots dance scenes... in that very nauseating way lol... but i don’t mind it lol i’m used to that by now

Candy Pop: so like, was this song sorta made for kids specifically? i guess i’m mostly just being influenced by the music video cause i’m watching it while writing this. i dont like the video much lmao it’s like a pokemon ripoff complete with Officer Jennies and Jin-young Brock. the song’s not bad though, it’s catchy but it’s a little too sugary sweet for me (which makes sense given the concept i guess). i like a lot of ideas in the instrumental though... because it was also written by the people who did Knock Knock, including the writer of Hi High and Love Bomb. 

What is Love: this isnt their best song ever, but it’s undeniably one of their most solid. i listen to it a lot haha. the music video has a cool concept, i like when groups do this kind of thing (interpreting scenes from movies or famous music videos or popular culture). i don’t have much to say other than that i like it a lot, it’s one of my favorites i think

Wake Me Up: okay here we go, this is another one of the three Twice singles I just don’t really like. it’s a fine song up until the chorus. i just can’t get over the shift upwards in.. uhh.. scale? octave? pitch? one of those lol, or something else, i dont really know music terms like that very well haha. yeah though i just find it offputting. 

Dance the Night Away: it’s alright. i’m pretty neutral on it. i was put off at first but i’ve gotten used to it. though still, i’m not that into it. i get that its a dance focused song and the choreography does look a lot more intense than their other choreos, and thats cool, but that doesnt make me like the music in and of itself. it’s a summer-jam type of song, and i’m not as into those anyway. there’ll never be a better kpop summer-jam than Red Flavor anyway lol

Yes or Yes: this is the other Twice that i don’t like haha. i just think the constant “you only one choice: yes or yes” thing is kind of annoying haha. also the chorus is catchy in a way that i dont think its especially exciting... it’s an earworm because i think it’s slightly annoying, not because it’s satisfying. of the songs that i’ve said i don’t like, this is the one i could see myself getting into the most. this might not always be in my “bottom three”. it is right now though

Fancy: this was the first comeback they had since i’ve been into kpop, and even though i wasnt into Twice at the time, i wanted to try it out just to see if it would change my mind, and it did somewhat.... sorta. it got the ball rolling for sure. it came out on my birthday, the same day as the Loona Fire dance cover haha, that was a good birthday. yeah this song is great, i think it’s better than any of their 2018 comebacks, personally. the concept isn’t all that different from normal Twice, it just appears that way cause the video is so lavish and elegant. it didnt convince me to be a Twice fan on that day it came out, but I liked what I thought made it different from the other Twice songs I’d heard. but now? what I like most about it is how very Twice it really is. the thing is, I wasn’t into Twice probably because the only songs i’d heard were Yes or Yes and Cheer Up, and those songs are still my least favorites lol. Fancy doesnt sound that out of place when you take into account their whole discography! i looove the video and i loooove the chorus so much, this song is great and i wonder if they’ll be able to top it if they have another comeback this year

Breakthrough: okay so in the last one i said i wonder if they’ll be able to top it this year, i meant in terms of Korean comebacks lol. cause in terms of just songs in general, if i include their new Japanese comebacks, they’ve already topped Fancy. this song is the one that finally won me over. this is the song that made me a Twice fan. now, this one is a little outside their typical concept, but they’re really really good at it nevertheless. i wonder if Twice is going a bit more in this direction? at least maybe half the time, alternating between the two styles now? cause Breakthrough continues a bit down the path that Fancy set for them. in any case, i love basically everything about this song, I’m so glad it got me to finally love their music

Happy Happy: so you know how I said that Breakthrough was a change from the bubblegum fun-fun style they’ve had and that move is what got me to finally be into Twice? well that made me think I’d like Happy Happy less haha, but actually I listen to it way more than I listen to Breakthrough, I like it more overall. this is a very Twice-style song, and that’s fine because it’s fantastic. this song genuinely makes me happy

oops didn’t i say i’d try to keep it to two or three sentences?

anyway yeah my favorite Twice songs are TT, Happy Happy, Breakthrough, Likey, and Like Ooh Ahh in that order i think

[infinitxes]

Anonymous said:

Okay so bear with me here please; i see people thinking that Gojo sleeps around because that's the only way he can feel human, and that he falls in love with every one night stand he has but cannot stay committed to them. And i think all this comes from when Gege said he can't imagine Gojo being faithful to any woman. I disagree with this take, strongly, if anything he most definitely first meant to be a troll by saying this and second, implying that Gojo just doesn't have the time nor emotional enough capacity to devote to anyone, not that he slept around alot.

Also the human bit, saying that he can only feel like a human implies to me that some people think he doesn't feel like himself or he needs a human touch to do that while it's exactly the opposite, Gojo is more than aware that he is painfully very human, but other people perceive him as a divine entity. The manga has done nothing to imply that he's even interested in such things let alone that he uses humans as a means to escape. He was taught from such young age to be on guard all the time and that he can't afford to be vulnerable under any circumstances, his sole power doesn't just serve to guard his emotions, but also himself physically too. The lack of understanding is what causes people to misinterpret him this way. And also thirst, people will thirst for him and they'd prefer it if their Gojo was an experienced lover boy who is gonna be all lovey dovey to them. I don't mind that, but headcanons are one thing, it's other when it's being treated as an objective fact.

I don't think that Gege will ever talk about his love life, but seeing as how he wrote him, i think that he definitely has that the furthest from his mind. Gojo is a person who seeks genuine human connection, but not necessarily romantic or sexual rather than a connection where people will understand him, time and time we got to see how he's extremely touchy around those he trusts (Nanami, his students, Yaga) so the guy obviously doesn't take down his infinity for just anyone, and while people think thay exposing himself to normal humans might seem harmless to him because they're just one night stand, then I'm sorry but it doesn't work like that, projecting from real life onto fictional dark fantasy world just don't mix.

Gojo wouldn't care less if someone thought poorly of him because he doesn't care about sex, or because he's possibly still a virgin, he is smart enough to understand how people see him, in regards of things that actually do hurt. I think the idea of Gojo being written as extremely powerful but at the same time lacking or missing out on certain attributes is a good and neat character writing. What do you think?

This got long. Venture below if you dare!

Ok I definitely don’t agree with the whole Gojo sleeping around thing lol. If anything, I hc him as a virgin lmao. Yeah, sex and romance doesn’t add to his character arc/story at all, so it just wouldn’t make sense to me for it to be shoehorned in.

This a nice spot to slip in a note about character development and relevancy! You don’t add attributes to a character just to make them ‘quirky’, ‘relatable’ or ‘multifaceted’ because that’s just lazy writing. I think that’s a common pitfall for original characters because people tend to want to change them as it suits them, and because we tend to draw on different media in our own creative processes. For example, It wouldn’t make sense for Itadori to be a stellar singer, a brilliant dancer, a god with the guitar, and an artistic prodigy. It adds nothing to his character and doesn’t fit in with the rest of what we know about him, nor does it contribute to his storyline going forward. What you end up with is a really unfocused character with nebulous goals. The plot becomes unpredictable in the worst way because nobody is consistent. Gege seems quite disciplined in this respect. His characters are just really nicely put together, and hold together very well.

As for what Gege said, I took it as I’ve expressed in the past- Gojo finds it hard to be faithful simply because getting close to someone else is really quite difficult (if not currently unfathomable) for him. Gojo doesn’t have any true ‘friends’ as of this point in canon, and I find it hard to see that he might entertain romance with this in mind. It’s also in direct contradiction to one of the largest cores of his being- his loneliness, and to introduce something like that would be to wipe out all the depth we’ve gotten so far.

Haha, balance is one of the most basic and fundamental aspects of character building. That you have to balance strengths and weaknesses is a concept that sounds really simple on paper, but frequently gets misconstrued. You can’t just say that your character has god-level powers but is extremely shy in turn. People pair that sort of thing often and think that it immediately disqualifies their character from being a Mary Sue.

Satoru’s juvenile characteristics make him pretty salient, but I’d argue that they really fall in line with his heavy precedence on making sure one’s childhood years are valued and enjoyed. It all links back to my headcanon that he didn’t have an adequate childhood of his own. Growing up in a traditionalist family with those powers, he was less of a child and more of a weapon to be honed.

I could ramble forever on Satoru’s loneliness and power, so I’ll try and condense it into a quick little summary. Satoru is insanely powerful, almost to a fault! Particularly, his Infinity and being literally untouchable is a really slippery chute that Gege has done spectacularly in not sliding down.

Okay! But regarding balance. Gojo’s solitude and isolation weigh heavy on the other side of this scale to level with his power. To be segregated from the rest of the world is almost a necessity, and this obviously impacts him psychologically (it’s why the ‘one and only’ line hits so much harder).

Plot-wise, I think there’s something poetic in Kenjaku saying that ‘Satoru’s weakness lies in other people and that he works best alone’. His curse so to say, is that in being so elevated and untouchable means that everyone else automatically becomes collateral by default. Kenjaku and co. use this strategy to essentially corner him in Shibuya, so it’s important to point out that Satoru is used to fighting alone, just as he’s become used to living in a state of isolation. Yeah he adapts, but the inclusion of civilians into the equation results in him becoming relatively paralysed. I think it’s a nice way of literally expressing the workings of his inner psyche.

He works best alone, but it wasn’t always like this! Maybe he’s convinced himself that he’s better off alone in the wake of Suguru’s death. Regardless, it’s a double whammy when that past relationship is brought up to catch him off guard, and when his solitude proves to be his downfall.

Yes and yes, I’ve said all this before! If you want to read more of my thoughts on this, check out my [analysis] tag! I try not to repeat the same content lol, and a lot of these asks are quite similar. I hope that makes sense! I tend to ramble and lose continuity.

[chihirolovebot]

hey venus, i hope you're doing well, and if not, i hope things get better for you soon. i'm here for you if you need anything, and remember to hydrate and eat something if you haven't already!

hmmm, an unpopular opinion?? ....i feel like. okay. i like kaimaki and kiiruma as ships in theory. the dynamics are cute and i think the characters could balance each other nicely! the way they're written in game though irritates me. i feel like kiiruma could've gotten sweeter moments together that kinda show that they care a lot sooner than...throwing the maintenance scene at us in chapter 3. ( which already makes me Squint ) and miu could've used more down to earth moments, as much as i like her. ( and i know part of it is. kodaka specifically trying to make her "everything someone would hate in a woman" which i don't like at all ) and i know kiibo brings up miu after she dies, but also it felt like none of the cast tried to comfort him and it annoys me. and then kaimaki feels like. "Oh I Harassed Her Into Liking Me" you know, the really not great trope you see in romance movies?? like i'm not opposed to maki opening up, i just wish she did it more out of her own volition rather than kaito having to pull a lot of it out of her. it also feels like maki didn't really get to be her own character after kaito inserted himself. idk, i might be stupid sndjdjdgs

god. i could go on about the missed potential with miu, kiibo, and maki. kaito is on thin ice though /hj

take care of yourself, vee. and have a lovely day, my dear <3

-☀️ sunshine anon

strongly disagree | disagree | neutral | agree | strongly agree

no surprise that rei would come in with the big brain takes!! i feel the same, though i definitely enjoy kiiruma and lot more than kaimaki. replaying the game they actually have a few subtle moments before The Scene, like when miu is rambling abt the computers used in chapter four and shuichi notices that kiibo is literally jealous. of a computer. i also noticed than during miu's trial kiibo was very focused and had zero comic relief moments, only trying to get to the truth of the case as quickly as possible, evidenced when he was one of the only people who stuck up for shuichi wanting to suspect gonta.

that said, yeah, they definitely weren't super fleshed out in canon. personally the concept of them / their fanon versions are what carries this ship for me. they're kinda very sweet to me, idkidk i know they're not objectively well-written but smth about them makes me squeal.

as for kaimaki. okay. i have a lot of thoughts on them but idk how to put them into words. like i've voiced my opinion to you abt kaito before and i think he's good for someone like maki in general, like, learning to open up and trust in others in definitely a valuable lesson for her specifically to learn. but yeah it does feel very, uh... tsundere-ish at times which is not smth i enjoy. i would've liked to see maki's development tied to maybe shuichi and himiko rather than solely kaito, her explicit love interest, idk. im not HUGE on maki or kaito as characters really, i try to scale them back a lil in my fic lol.

as for missed potential, dont get me started. i could seriously go for hours. miu is maybe the worst contender in v3. what little depth she gets is literlly AFTER she dies, when kokichi i think tells us abt her trust issues - or maybe it's even kaito lamenting what kokichi told him, so it's basically all through the grapevine. that could've been super interesting if they'd only. like. tried to explore it a little bit. i would've loved to see more of her relationship with kokichi, because it sounded like they spent a lot of time together behind the scenes. idk. love miu i just wish they did more with her in general.

how are you doing rei?? im sorry this has been fermenting for a few days. ive been spending a lot of time w my family :D

[ruby-whistler]

(quicksandblock) hi! I just left you a giant wall-of-text response on your Dream post, and though I think it came across well enough, I just want to state my lack of hostile intent over here as well lol. I know stuff like this that people feel strongly about can get very tense so I just wanted to make doubly certain you know I'm not trying to pick a fight or anything. it kind of sucks that I feel like I need to clarify that but that's fandom culture for you sometimes :P

also, I would love to talk to you about Dream characterization. I think I disagree with you on a lot of different points and I love his character, so I'm very interested in understanding your perspective!

hey, hello! found a c!dream enthusiast/enjoyer, that’s cool, hi! :]

[copied part i put in front of each reply, hence different capitalization]

Alright, so first as a quick disclaimer, I’m going to put a summary of the original post’s points, just to ensure that we’re on the same page;

The post does say:

- don’t dehumanize c!Dream because it continuously hurts people who relate to and/or sympathize with him, also dehumanization in general is an inherently wrong mindset

- don’t attack people who sympathize with him because he’s a victim of abuse besides other things

The post never says:

- you cannot hate c!Dream and not sympathizing with him is wrong

- the things c!Dream has done are to any degree excused

- don’t dehumanize c!Dream because he’s a good person

- people who dehumanize c!Dream are real life abuse apologists

If you read the post and didn’t get these points from it, i advise you to reread it as I made pretty much all of these abundantly clear.

[end of disclaimer]

i never said anyone could infringe on his human rights! i… literally never said that! i said “they ignore” when characters do it, but that was a run-on sentence, i get how that might’ve been easily misunderstood. but yes, he’s a fictional character, i’d never said people could actually hurt him or anything in that sense.

the thing is, i still find them saying they enjoy it… wrong? the people yelling in tommy’s chat for c!dream to hurt him more were freaking victim blaming pricks, and if what they did was the widespread fandom opinion it would be hurting actual people with trauma. i ask people to look at the c!dream situation with the same severity, because it’s actually happening and it’s highly disturbing, not just from principle, but because of what it leads to within the community.

sorry for comparing his situation to c!tommy, but narratively i believe the prison arc is a deliberate parallel to exile, and comparing his situation to someone they’ve not dehumanized seems to be the only way to knock sense into some people.

i am happy you don’t seem to be one of the people who dehumanize him. you’re not the target audience of this post - neither are abuse victims who project onto him. i know people who c!tommy reminds of their abuser (because of personality traits), or even c!quackity, that’s fine. they’re totally free to hate their respective character, of course, without being,, actually right about them. that being said, majority of this fandom is dehumanizing c!dream and being mad at people sympathizing with him “on behalf of the abuse victims”, not actual victims themselves, and by doing this they are unknowingly hurting other people rather than helping anything, and spreading misinformation as well as making a lot of fans in general uncomfortable. i believe this is something that needs to change in the community.

hating him is fine, but group-based dehumanization in my mind is not. if you go on twitter and search “c!dream” and see 100 people saying they wish the abuse victim you project onto is hurt more (this is not a twitter thing, c!dream tag is the same thing, a majority of the crit is untagged but it,, doesn’t really matter because even tagged hate riles up more people) that freaking sucks and is something that the community needs to work on, not shoved under the rug and pretend it wasn’t there because some people tag it.

“the abuse victims who are hurt by people saying they should be sympathetic towards Dream are in fact just as hurt as the abuse victims who relate to Dream and are hurt by people saying his evil.”

this is not wrong. it’s right actually, but i’m not talking about this fandom calling him evil/unable to be sympathized with/irredeemable. i mean, that’s hurtful dehumanization as well, but this community doesn’t “say he’s evil” it “says he deserves to keep being horribly abused and/or die”.

and… i wasn’t talking about/saying abuse victims should sympathize with him either? i’ve said like five times that people can hate him as much as they want, but dehumanization is another thing. it’s the majority of this community (this post wasn’t targeting abuse victims in the slightest) taking away his positive human qualities, hence believing he doesn’t deserve human rights, and turning him into some sort of punching bag or personification of evil, which i find deeply disturbing since he’s being related to by abuse victims, and also blatantly incorrect to the character.

so, you’d be right, if the situation was what you described. it… really isn’t. the dream smp fanbase isn’t populated by abuse victims in any corner. it’s two small groups, one of them hurt (undeservingly) by a few and the other one hurt (no more or less undeservingly) by a majority of the fandom without anyone batting an eye.

and this post isn’t even about abuse victims in the first place; it’s about dehumanization. while its impact plays a big role in why i wrote this, things like these being widespread in the fandom makes so many people uncomfortable or pressured not to sympathize with a recently made sympathetic character that they might (but could not) relate to. relating to him myself, i might not have a say in this, but my compassion in general made me switch over to the c!dream sympathetic people, not anyone in the community or projection.

the results i relayed here weren’t the only results of the survery. people mentioned pandora’s vault as their reasons for being dream apologists,, over and over and over again. a lot of them mentioned the fandom response specifically.

it’s making the fandom not only unsafe to a small group of traumatized people, but also fans in general, who are equally as important to feel comfortable. hell, the reason dream apologists are such a tight-knit community that accepts little to no outside feedback is because of the hatred that is endlessly nurtured outside, that makes people feel anxious or not safe just for sympathizing with a victim of abuse.

i myself find this a problem that people should attempt to change beyond using crit tags more. feel free to not agree with that, but a lot of affected people do.

i agree the disc finale was actually cathartic! well, that’s a lie, i used to hate c!dream’s guts before that but that was the very instance where i saw a person behind the mask and went “oh, this is a whole mess isn’t it”, but it was,, cathartic to a lot of other people that didn’t use to have intense empathy to inanimate objects as children djskdjsk (i was a weird kid and still am, don’t mind that)

do you know what is cathartic? when a dog terribly bites a child, gets kicked away and gets put in a cage. do you know what isn’t cathartic? …that dog getting repeatedly beaten, starved and abused while trapped in said cage. even in fiction, and i say that as someone who was terribly bitten by a dog.

i don’t mind fictional characters suffering - frick, angst is my jam, i’ll write a character dying over and over again and have fun, but people justify that or make fun of people who don’t by saying openly that they enjoy it,, because he’s done bad things.

here comes the double standard. the exile arc wasn’t cathartic just because tommy burnt down a house, because hell, that wasn’t fair retribution. same goes for dream.

there is a difference between enjoying dark media (something i do frequently and is something i like doing) and open dehumanization and often normalized harassment of people who don’t do the same or condemn that. that is something that in my mind shouldn’t be a mainstream thing in the community.

to be fair, people saying an abuse victim no longer being hurt is “bad writing” or “insensitive” as i’ve seen people say would probably piss me off, but i’m,, not going to harass them. maybe a passive-aggressive vague-post if enough big accounts do it, but i think that’s justified. feel free to disagree - i still respect abuse victims who wouldn’t like that, but people who just don’t want the writers to humanize a character they’ve dehumanized will probably grind my gears.

this community,, isn’t working like this. i wrote this because people are repeatedly being hurt by the community or feel bad in it because of widespread opinions and dehumanization of a character that is as of late written to be sympathetic to the audience. that’s not a disagreement, the people who are actually sympathetic are a minority in the fandom, which would be fine with me, if they weren’t constantly invalidated, triggered and harassed as a direct result of the dehumanization discussed in this post.

besides the fact that the principle of dehumanization applied to c!dream is wrong - and if people find themselves doing that, it’s good for them to find a way to realize that, such as this post, because projection =/= dehumanization, and this post is targeting one, not the other - this is why i wrote this post. i still believe my points are valid and important for this fandom to consider.

you know, we could talk about the characterization right now - but after this i’m going onto a two month long hiatus for the sole purpose of studying the character. i’m not joking, this is what i’m dedicating my summer to. since i’m also closing my asks because of this, i can write this down and @ you when i’m done? :D i’d love to talk about him but i’m going to have so much more evidence after this, so maybe we can put this off for a while if you don’t mind! of course feel free to continue the dehumanization debate in a string of reblogs since it’s pretty much a different debate entirely.

( @zrenia @caketexturepack just tagging some people who responded to your response and might be interested in the continuation of the debate - also curious anon i saw your two asks i was just busy djsjdks please don’t spam about people who replied to me, i have a bad memory but i write this stuff down, actually )