#those instead of me seeking them out. do not skew this as me not also loving those styles of stories too. i adore them.

[thedevotionaltour]

tomorrow i will be soooo brave and show my fun dd acquisitions on the collecting subreddit. bc i want to play show and tell and have randos who also have this beloved hobby go that's awesome man bc it's fun for me and i dont have many friends aside from like one irl who have a similar comic collecting hobby (though he goes more for omnibus collections and such and tpb (but prefers omnibus formats) but i think he collects single issues too now and then too? but regardless in my realm of hobby collecting). to be clear i have many many friends who collect comics but its in a different realm its more graphic novel comics as opposed to serials (whether individual issues or tpb). so not quite the realm i exist in within comics. so for me. sharing with those who also are in my sphere of collecting very fun. i wanna have fun with them.

[meanbossart]

So, not sure if you've covered this. But I thought I'd ask. How do you feel about the durgetash subtext? Are you pro or against? How do you treat the "relationship" / "partnership" between them? I'm curious to know how their interactions would play out hahah. (Im very pro Durgetash, cause... well. Yeah.)

First of all, obviously I'm all for people interpreting subtext however they wish to interpret it, and I think there's more than enough in the game to imply a canonical romance between The Dark Urge and Gortash; some of my favorite artists on here delve into that and I think both their art and theories are brilliant. Especially as the canon stands now, I think it's more likely that they DID have something going on rather than not, though I doubt Larian will ever confirm it one way or another to allow the player freedom with their avatar's background.

That said, in the lore I decided for DU drow they did NOT have a romantic relationship, although they did have a complicated one. My first impression upon meeting Gortash at his coronation (this was long before all the dialogue Larian added) was of someone who wanted desperately to butter me up to get his plans back on track. Yes, I do think he was happy to see the drow, but that's because he knew DU drow would honor their initial agreement (had his memories not been erased, at least) and was indeed more reliable than Orin - who clearly wanted to achieve things on her own instead of entertaining their alliance even before betraying her brother.

I did a write-up a while back on what DU Drow's perception and plans for Enver were here, but I would like to make some additions!

First of all I didn't clarify this, but when I talk about "love" in that post I did not mean the romantic kind. What DU drow had for Gortash was a tenderness that he could not bring himself to entertain in earnest because of his profoundly skewed sense of empathy and emotions. He did relate to Gortash, He did admire how he had lifted himself up from nothing and how he easily brushed off DU drow's attempts to get under his skin. DU could simply never admit such a thing or even recognize it in himself - had he been a more sane man they would have been dear friends, and there would be glimpses of that could-be friendship in how they interacted before. Gortash was probably equal parts annoyed and charmed by the Bhaalspawn's high eccentricity, his gaudy style and extreme bluntness and shamelessness- he thought he was fascinating enough to put up with his attitude, not to mention that he was reliable and got things done when he set his mind to it.

(More under cut)

Alas, DU Drow wasn't raised to entertain friendship or tenderness whatsoever prior to getting a clean reset to his brain - this doesn't change the fact that he is, by nature, a very intense man, and those emotions had to come out in one way or another. Hence his weird preocuppation with Gortash and how he made him feel. He is primed to become extremely conflicted in his feelings towards anyone who sticks around in his life as anything but a pawn or a victim, and Enver constantly tried to pose himself as a friend - arguably a even more baffling concept to DU drow than if he wanted to be a lover - because then he would at least be seeking out sex from their interpersonal exchanges. This is also why a lot of DU drow's focus when insulting/trying to torment him would have been sexually charged, besides a simple desire to shock and objectify himself and others as sacks of meat to be fucked and killed.

But Gortash grew up in literal hell, I think his capacity to withstand abuse from others (and swiftly brush it off) would have been extremely well honed, especially if it will ultimately get him what he wants. He never flinched at the guy's constant allusions to perversion and cruelty, likely rolled his eyes at it even lol. This would have been very disarming to DU drow and kept him coming back for more, and fostered (along everything else I mentioned) the admiration brought up in-game in that one letter durge writes to Bhaal. That letter would have been a very rare moment of clarity and introspection between DU drow and his father - perhaps the only entity he could ever disclose this kind of conflict to, much like a man having a crisis of faith is still likely to turn to the very god he's doubting for comfort.

I haven't yet decided how Gortash felt towards him, though, besides the aforementioned fascination mixed with irritation. I do think that after being tad-poled, when DU drow shows up in his coronation room looking so dramatically different from the man he knew (hair unkempt, clothes reduced to their practicality, shell shocked stare, the absence of his usual, lecherous grin) he would have thought what a shame that was, that this relentless beast he knew would never allign himself with someone beneath his caliber, often to the point of being unreasonable, had squandered his own ambition and was now in such meager company lol like he's got this half-elf girl just short of hanging onto his arm, this squishy wizard that he would have chewed up like hide in his teeth once, and the smug little elf? That's just his type, but the man Gortash knew had eyes for no one but his sister - regardless of how often he tried to warn him of her duplicitous nature. Ohhh what a mess she made of him, he wishes he remembered anything so he could at least say I told you so.

[aortaobservatory]

would lovelovelove to hear ur take on the rage aspect in general.

You've actually asked me about my favorite aspect and I will GLADLY take this opportunity to ramble about it (and, I suppose, touch a bit on its inverse as well). I actually wish I was this aspect instead sometimes; I present as very punk in my offline life and every Ragebound I've met has always been the most delightful company I've ever kept. (I suppose that might also be a very Heartbound thing to wish for, to be of another aspect...)

Of the twelve aspects, I will argue that Rage and Hope are the most commonly and grossly misunderstood. When they are flattened into one dimensional concepts, they are flattened into words that are not even in the realm of correct. Because of what we see in canon, Rage and Hope tend to get flattened into the "angry aspect" and the "positive aspect". These are incorrect understandings. Hope is about ideology and the systems built by them (such as government, or organized religion). Rage is about activism and digging out the truth. It is a very active aspect.

From The Extended Zodiac, I pulled these keywords from the Rage Aspect description. These would be the "canon" traits; they are what I adhere to when analyzing, but it should also be understood that this concept encompasses much more to do with than these keywords. Its "vibe", if you will, is much more than what is written.

TEZ Rage Keywords: Chaos, contempt, truth-seekers, doubters, stubborn, volatile, unpredictable, original, revolutionary, fearless, (cruel, uncompromising, vicious)

The words I chose to represent Rage in my analyses of the classpects are "Skepticism, Truth-seeking, Rebellion, Stubbornness". Like the other aspects, Rage is not an inherently good or bad aspect; it is neutral in its purest form.

Rage is what brings change. It is rebellion against unfair government systems, it is breaking free of internal biases, it is going out and finding the truth outside of the propaganda you have been fed. Rage aligns with punk very well, and I would be willing to argue that many of those in the punk subculture are Ragebound or know several Ragebound, and this is because to be punk is to rebel against wider societal views. You'll find many queer people in the punk subculture, for example, even if they are not Ragebound, because of how wider society views queer people.

Not all punks are Ragebound, and not all Rage is punk (though, much of it is). Rage is also activism. It is organized rallies and protests. It is essays that carefully deconstruct internal biases and point out what is and isn't propaganda. It is not believing what you are told about something because you'd rather get first hand experience or research it yourself than hear it from the mouth of anyone else.

I cannot speak of Gamzee and Kurloz as they are presented in canon, because... their characters were either written very messily or just not written at all. They are both destroyer classes, which tends to skew the understanding of an aspect as well. However, I would think that Gamzee and Kurloz's arcs, if written out with intentions of having them be properly developed as characters, would include becoming aware that their beliefs were built on faulty premises, turning against their cult beliefs, and tearing it down; using Rage to destroy what had (passively or actively) destroyed them.

(I would like to joke that Gamzee and Kurloz had to be written poorly. If they were ever written as a fully realized Bard of Rage or Prince of Rage, Homestuck would have been over the moment they accepted their true aspect and began using it to destroy the Condesce and Lord English. Those two classpects are particularly powerful.)

[scrunglepaws]

So, today my brain said Knux/Tails swap au. Aka Knuckles is Sonic’s young sidekick and Tails is the last fox guardian of Angel Island.

- Design-wise, Knuckles is a bit smaller and pudgier. I actually find it kind of funnier to skew him even younger than Tails was- like 4 or something, and give him an even more baby-ish look. Pudgy cheeks, his half moon pattern is slightly obscured because of his more baby-ish proportions, making it almost look like a bib. But he can still easily just pick up Sonic and chuck him, smash through obstacles with ease, ect.

- Sonic knocks away some other echidnas that were bullying Knuckles… For his weirdass knuckles? I don’t think other echidna have those? I was going to say his tail, but I guess they all have that bent up funky tail. ((Can you tell I'm lore deficient on this subject,,, girl help)) ANYWAY- Knuckles is peeved because HE COULDA TAKEN THEM >8C and flies off after Sonic.

- Knuckles follows Sonic around to prove himself and acts all tough and Sonic’s just like: “Sure, okay. As long as you can keep up with me, kid. :D” And Knux is just constantly like I’LL SHOW YOU!!! WIPE THAT SMILE OFF YOUR FACE! >8C and is just a little firecracker.

vvvv Mucho ramblings under the cut!

- Ye, I guess it makes more sense for Knuckles to get bullied for his namesake, since Tails was bullied for his. … Does that mean Knuckles used to have some goofy pun name before Knuckles? Oh no. xD

- Sonic keeps having to fly his own plane because Knuckles can’t be bothered to learn to do that. So it’s Sonic flying and Knuckles hanging on the wing? How weird. xD

- Knuckles acts like he’s so tough, but secretly does look up to Sonic a lot and genuinely seeks his approval after a while. But even so, he never gets to the point of idolization that Tails does.

- They have more of a competitive brotherhood rather than the more complimentary one of Sonic/Tails. I feel like that’s just an innate aspect of their relationship due to their differences. There’s a bit less of Sonic rubbing off on him due to admiration (ie: Tails), and more of Knuckles staying true to his nature and being stubborn to purposefully clash and compete with Sonic. In a good-natured way, of course.

- Knuckles is uncouth, feisty and whatnot- but at the end of the day, still introverted and a loner by nature. He prefers to just hang with Sonic (or alone) rather than others. Despite tagging along with Sonic all the time and helping people, his social skills are basically the same as normal Knuckles (but also, he’s baby). He’s generally quiet and stoic around others unless provoked. Sonic just knows exactly how to push his buttons, so he can be easily riled up by him.

- Even though he’s glued to Sonic like Tails was, he’s more… Distant. When he’s not making a show of his worth/strength/ect, there’s a bit less of the… Idk, I guess sweetness between Sonic/Tails? It’s still brotherly, but like… Understated.

- He’s strong enough that he can glide Sonic around like how Tails would fly him around. It probably looks a lot more awkward. Especially since Knuckles is smaller now. xD

- Design-wise, Tails is just… Taller, and I guess a bit less bean-shaped since he’s a teen (16). I imagine him being taller than Sonic, actually. Maybe some goggles, different shoes. Give him brown instead of red so he’s less match-y with Sonic? Or maybe even silver/grey… Brown and silver? Idk, my brain associates Tails with steel for some reason, so.

- Tails grew up isolated on Angel Island.  He uses the whole island as a space to lay out his various inventions and stuff. Probably built a whole ass technologically advanced city up there. The master emerald shrine is decked out with defenses.

- Despite being older, he’s less confident and outgoing without Sonic’s influence growing up. Living alone for so long, he’s even more shy and reserved. But unlike Knuckles who was generally cool with the isolation, I feel like Tails might be kinda sad, or at the very least lonely? D: Maybe he built some robot friends to inhabit the city he constructed. Give the illusion of not being completely alone. And it helps… Somewhat.

- So when Eggman comes to dupe him the first time, Tails totally falls for it just because he’s so desperate for some real company. Also, he’d be just as naïve despite his intelligence, so yeah. He might even go harder into the alliance because he thinks Eggman is really cool for also being a genius roboticist. He might even be legit heartbroken by Eggy’s betrayal- thought he legit had a friend on his level of intelligence to hang with. :c

- So, Tails and Sonic would be rivals instead of bros. So weird. But I dig it. Sonic’s rival being similar to his main enemy (Eggman) is kind of interesting?

- Since Tails has built a lot of automated defenses, basically a wholeass fortress around the master emerald, maybe he can actually leave the island more often than Knuckles was able to? But… maybe he still doesn’t as much because he’s really shy and unsure of himself around other people. And feels like an outcast not only for his tails, but also for being the last fox. And that’s some whole character arc he has to overcome or something.

- I imagine he gets excited when people come to visit him though, and he wishes they’d stay longer. Namely Sonic and Knuckles. I feel like he’d still have some innate need to impress Sonic despite having a rivalry rather being bros. But I mean, they’re still BROS, just not /brothers/. Maybe Sonic visits a bit more frequently than he would have visited Angel Island otherwise because there’s no one he trusts more than Tails to maintain the Tornado. Awww, can’t escape the wholesome Tails/Sonic shit. =3

- … Augh, it’s so weird to imagine Sonic just having friendly fist bumps with Tails, rather than hugs. The hugs are all for his little pudgy echidbro, Knux. WEIRDDD. Unless, of course, Knux is in a tough guy mood and will only accept fist bumps. … I feel like Sonic would still hug him anyway. And Knuckles would be actually cool with it after putting up a fake resistance for a few seconds.

- Cream is Tails’ rival in the same manner that Rouge was to Knuckles, and thus… is… 18?? Or maybe his age. Idk. Either way, she’s a teen. She’s still generally very sweet and polite in personality. But, to put her on Tails’ level, the biggest change to her character is that she has a comparable intellect to him. But, seeing that canon Cream does not show any leanings towards this aspect, I’m going to say that it’s very different from Tails’. By that, I mean it didn’t initially come naturally to her as a kid and she really had to work towards it. Like, very studious and booksmart or something? She  just generally has a very different thought process on techie stuff to Tails- somehow like, equally genius, but opposite? I CAN’T DESCRIBE IT. >8C;;; ??? But it’s how she continuously manages to get past his defenses and be a thorn in his side. But then he can’t even hardly be mad at her because she’s SO GENUINELY SWEET DESPITE IT ALL? AND SHE’S REALLY CUTE AND EMBARRASSES THE SHIT OUT OF HIM BECAUSE HE SORTA KINDA REALLY LIKES HER? SHIT. Anyways, they’re cute.

- But yeah, she’s always… Uhhhh… Why WOULD she try to steal the master emerald? She doesn’t have a thing for gems- that’s still Rouge’s thing. REQUIRES FURTHER THOUGHT. But on top of that, maybe she just in general tries to make Angel Island more home-y in some way while she’s there and it further flusters Tails because it’s also kind of sweet.

- Okay, I got an idea for Cream and the Master Emerald. It’s KINDA SILLY, but oh well. No one said this had to be serious, just fun. :3 Anyway- since Cream is a sweetheart, empathetic, and whatnot: Maybe she feels a special connection to the emerald and can sort of... Feel its… feelings…? I dunno how to describe it. But basically, she feels that, despite appreciating Tails’ devotion and protection, being cooped up in a dark, secluded box is just a bit. Sad for it. So she’s trying to free it for just a bit so it can like, “breathe” so to speak. And Tails, being as practical and scientific as he is, just cannot wrap his head around it. It’s a rock. What is she even talking about? It’s safer this way! Stop busting down all of his defenses just to “be kind” to a nonsentient rock! Wtf!

- Speaking of Rouge, she is now a little kid. She travels around with her unscrupulous mother and they con/rob people. Rouge understands exactly what she’s doing despite her young age and loves it. Idk Rouge’s mom’s name, but they’re like anti-wholesome. And they’re awesome. Rouge does some solo stuff away from her mom also (namely, messing with Knuckles? :D).

- I imagine Vanilla still exists, too, but she’s less present because Cream is independent now. She still loves her mother and visits her often, of course! Always a good daughter in any universe.

- Rouge needs some damn reason to still be coming at Knuckles repeatedly, uh… Maybe he keeps some sort of gem accessory special to him that she tries to steal, but idk man. Kinda lame… I’m running out of steam! qAq And there’s still some goofy, kids version of the flirting sorta going on. But it’s very EW COOTIES and silly because they’re LITTLE.

Sonic: Dangit, I can’t figure out what’s wrong with the Tornado! And ideas, Knux? Knuckles: *gets frustrated very quickly and punches a giant dent in it* Did that fix it? Sonic: *SIGHS as a random unrelated piece comically falls off* I’ll see if Tails has time to come and take a look at it.

This is just pure, unedited brain leakage, so pardon the… Everything. ._. Just figured I’d throw it out in the void because I bothered to write it all down! I don’t think I’ll do anything with it myself, but it’s pretty fun. I wish I didn’t suck at drawing Knux because the lil pudgy version of him is so cute in my head. I also sorta dig this dynamic between Tails and Cream and am a tad tempted to maaaybe… Idk… write a little something for it. Probably not with all the other things I need to write first, though. :T

[sometimes-men-need-help-too]

Out of curiosity, why are you anti feminist? your whole set up here is kind of odd to me but this specifically baffles me (not out of hate or anything, just genuine ‘what is happening here’ energy). Feminism is just the supporting of gender equality so I don’t understand

-sincerely, some random feminist dude on the internet

Also, I hope your father is okay

Regarding my dad--thank you. The masses turned out not to be cancerous and he had his surgery and is all good now!

Onto the rest:

I'm curious what you mean by your whole set up here is kind of odd to me. Why is it odd?

Feminism is just the supporting of gender equality so I don’t understand

That may be what it technically means, but how people are upholding the movements makes me question it. And I'm not the only one. While I don't view all feminists negatively, I think quite a few have this distorted view of what equality is.

First off, I disagree that feminism as a movement cares about men's issues as much as they claim to. That's not to say that feminists as a whole don't care, because there are those that do and that's great. But they'll often say that feminism is for men too, that they've done more for men's rights than the men's rights movement has, etc. But then they'll immediately contradict this. Consider the reaction that you'll see if men's issues are brought up. If you don't have a problem with it, then you shouldn't be getting angry. But that's what happens. We're told that women suffer more on X issue (whether that is true or not, because sometimes the research is skewed) so they should be our priority. We're also told that it's not a woman's job to fix men and their issues. But that's not what majority of us, I'd say, are seeking. I know I want acknowledgment of these issues. I want there to be less hypocrisy and double standards. I don't think that's too much to ask for.

There's far too much pushback against criticism and questions. Now granted, this may not represent everyone's experiences and I get that. But it's been mine and it's something I've seen on various posts online. I understand that they probably get plenty of questions that are not in good faith, they probably get plenty of assumptions too. I get that. I've dealt with that as well. But there can't be this unwillingness to engage with people unless they agree with you. There can't be an unwillingness to answer questions because you* think it's not your job to educate them. You have to understand how that looks. It looks like you can't properly articulate your point, it looks like you don't have much of a point and it weakens your group and what you stand for.

There's a lack of accountability. I know that with a movement as big as this, it's not something that can be easily wrangled up and fixed. I'm not looking for perfection. What am I looking for more feminists to acknowledge the problems within the feminism movement. Oftentimes, this doesn't happen. I'm told that I simply do not understand feminism and what it's truly about. If I give an example of something that I find to be a problem, I'm usually told those aren't "real feminists." That just feels like a huge cop out. You can't just say that those people aren't feminists because it doesn't erase what's happening. It doesn't erase the terrible things they say. It doesn't erase what we're seeing on those social media pages. Those people will still see themselves as feminists. They'll still keep saying what they're saying while packaging it as feminism. Instead of trying to pretend that they're not part of the movement, there should be more effort in trying to combating that. Speak up. Speak up against the hypocrisy (example: body shaming is bad but penis shaming is different because with how you're acting, you probably have a small penis so it's okay. Or denying it altogether by claiming that only men care about their size).

I want to go back to my first point-I didn't want to make it too long. Men are told conflicting things about their own issues. They'll be told that if they want X issue to be discussed then they need to go make their own post instead of expecting feminists to do it. Okay, so they make their own post but suddenly that's not alright either. That's taken as a sign that they don't care about women's issues. For example, by talking about false accusations, you don't care about actual rape victims or you see all women as liars. That isn't true. And while I don't believe that false accusations occur as little as 2%, 2% isn't zero. There are still men that are suffering and having their lives turned upside down by those accusations. They don't simply cease to happen just because you don't talk about them. Talking about false accusations don't hurt rape victims. False accusations hurt rape victims.

I could go on. But I think this is enough. I hope this answers your question, though I can elaborate further if you wish

*I don't mean you. I just mean in general

[faustodisco]

Okay I think I’ve figured out why the pmg video - and especially its concluding point - isn’t quite sitting right with me. I will try to make this as coherent as possible.

I think the main problem is that they seem to have framed the entire situation as being split into two sides, ignoring that the main legal battles/questions are as such: were Kurvitz, Rostov and Hindpere unjustly fired and was the financial changing of hands done in a legal capacity?

The presented justification on one end for the firings is that K R and H were unfit to lead the project and detrimental to the other employees at za/um. This is where the employee statements become relevant. While I and I’m sure many others find this personally interesting and worth investigating in its own capacity, it bears no relevance to question number two, concerning the shady financial dealings of its main investors/producers. It therefore feels slightly strange that pmg seems to conflate the two issues, presenting the narrative of sides as something akin to K R and H against BOTH the investors and employees, helpfully lumped into the group of the za/um company.

I think it is a disservice to both the fired directors and the other workers expressing their opinions to use the interpersonal conflicts as a way to inflate the moral justification of Kompus’ actions in the eyes of those watching, in order to give the illusion of balance in the arguments put forward. While I agree that Kurvitz’s later statement on some of the more specific issues was insensitive and evasive, it’s worth considering his stance that those with financial power/benefit seek to drive a wedge between those remaining at za/um and those who aren’t.

Actually the framing of this statement is skewed: I find myself agreeing with him not in the idea of the rift being caused, but the one being closed between Kompus and the rest of za/um. When pmg conclude with the idea of two sides being fought, why is it that the personal conflict becomes melded with the financial one? Surely these are two different conflicts, with one holding a lot more legal implication?

It is also irritating that, because of this, statements made about the interpersonal conflict have implications for the financial one, in a way that seems to prevent resolution until the latter is solved. This only exacerbates the distance between the fired devs and those who remain, because how can they possibly be expected to have healthy correspondence with the weight of several millions of euros and what is, for many of them, their life’s work hanging in the balance? Yes, Kurvitz might be difficult to work with, but does that justify utilising this against him to create extra leverage for Kompus to continue to exclude him from the IP that he created, when the benefit of doing so seems to mainly fall into Kompus’ lap?

My point isn’t to make the sweeping statement that the personal conflicts have no relevance to the legal proceedings, because this isn’t correct. Rather, I would like to criticise pmg’s framing of the conflict as being balanced between the fired directors and both za/um and the investors - the splitting into two sides in this way only benefits Kompus and co, as they are the only parties without a significant emotional stake in the situation, and therefore best equipped to utilise the involvement of relationships amongst the legal fight. It would be a lot more helpful to frame the situation as between three groups instead of two, with the accusations between the investors and the fired directors given the greater legal emphasis and appropriate level of severity, especially when considering that the opposing position seems to be that Kurvitz was just a bad leader.

Anyway, I will continue to stand with Kurvitz, Rostov and Hindpere, but I will ALSO stand with those remaining at za/um. My belief is that without the financial battle and legal proceedings around it, a resolution between all the workers can be best reached, and that Kompus and co. are the primary obstacle to this. And that the world of Elysium cannot be lost to those who created it because of greed and misunderstanding.

[loversgothic]

Maybe you've done it already and I missed it, but what would Gabriel's two-week-notice look like in the Ultradanse AU?

This has nothing to do with any other comments you have made about feral Gabriel or any other desire to see how he changes from The Gilded Nightingale to The Nightingale.

:3c. OOOHH. WELL

ive been really trying to think about that hard, since comparing the characters to those in fairytales and ballets tended to skew the story a bit.

and uh... my descriptions wont be the best.. im not the best at explaining things in ballet terms moreso just based on my perception of the art form and what i see in it through my eyes.

also im gonna go off of the concept that ultradanse is almost like a stage performance, a show

the most i can do to describe how it looks is to compare it to my vision for the first encounter with Odile/V1... because of the way i designed his lil costume he has a sort of princely look, and even though hes yknow. out to kill V1 because V1 traversed past his warnings, his dancing with V1 then is much more... poised. it might feel a bit distant, maybe it might even seem like hes unsatisfied doing it, as at the time there is no personal connection with V1, no love nor hatred. its not romantic, hardly so. i dont know if this is a good example, but i was thinking abt Prince Siegfried's dancing in Waltz: Tempo di valse...

once V1 is pretty much responsible for his 2-week notice, i like to think Nightingale/Gabriel starts to match V1's high energy, his grace is kinda going out the window... itd be much more intense. if its a pas de deux hes probably getting his fucking hands all over them like hes about to tear them apart. hes abandoning that princely facade. i feel like though in the second half a pas de deux between them would make them slow their pace. now that both of them are dancing together and able to match intensity, it starts to slow down into something more... romantic? yeah :3 i like to think this, this is where any romantic tension starts

now about how he changes from the gilded nightingale to the nightingale. you see... after their second encounter, Gabriel is convinced hes going to die, after all thats what he was told. once he returns from heaven, he seeks out V1 to ask of one final request. he doesn't want to die lonely, and asks V1 to dance with him until the final hour runs out. V1 has no reason to accept his request, other than something pulling at it do so and the possibility it could take a little bit more blood before he's gone. dancing together, progressively Gabriel becomes weaker and weaker.

i REALLY wanted to keep this secret for a scene i wanted to draw but honeeesttlyyyy i dont think its too bad if i share it. after all, im not sharing V1's feelings here. im sharing Gabriel's :3

i had this whole.. plan

my thing abt pas de deuxs is that. i like to find symbolism in the fact that traditionally, the male dancer is supposed to support the ballerina to be able to perform moves she typically wouldnt be able to on her own without someone holding her.

towards the end of their dance, V1 switches positions to hold and uplift Gabriel instead, who has this entire time been in the place of the male dancer. in his approaching final moments V1 lays him down on the ground. he's hardly moving, and V1 holds onto him, finding itself not wanting him to just... disappear.

now im still figuring out HOW i want this to work. but i thought abt V1 in desperation, grasping onto the sides of his helmet and ripping his helmet in half being the symbolic thing that sets him free. the thing about the gilded nightingale, is that the armor is the bird's cage. Gabriel's design in this AU only really has the helmet and no other armor, so it just... makes sense to me. this is what sets him free. how the transformation works though? i am.. still thinking about it. you might need to give me a bit to think about that

[commiegoth]

Okay I finished the hbomb video and yeah yeah "not the point" but something that did strike me was watching it and realizing just how popular Somerton was and how many people were giving him money, and then getting to the section discussing his overt misogyny and insidious transphobia. Like how many people heard him go on rants about women in his videos, and still figured this is a smart dude whose "authority" on critical subjects (stolen work) they could take at face value and not look for more info on the subject, and even gave him money for it? Was his supposed "authority" on speaking for one marginalized group enough for that to be ignorable? Or was it just not something that registered as a bad thing to most people watching his videos? I don't really keep up with youtube, so I hadn't heard of him before this, but it seemed like a lot of the response to the video was people saying they had been a fan of Somerton's "work" before learning about the plagiarism. How much of his misogyny was ignored or absorbed before the blatant plagiarism became the breaking point?

But beyond that, I do think it's important to talk about Somerton's transphobia in particular too because it's not really the kind of thing that his viewers would be able to pick up on. It's not just the outright misgendering, but hbomb's video also brings attention to instances where he takes trans writers' work and passes it off as his own by erasing their personal experiences from the work and even changing passages that speak explicitly about trans erasure to say "LGBTQ" instead of "trans". This is particularly insidious not just because he's outright stealing the scholarship and journalism of the writers who actually put in the work, but he's going out of his way to change their work to decentralize transness from the points they're making in the first place! And as he's positioning himself as an authority on queer film theory in particular, he's skewing his audience's understanding of the topics he covers to be more cis-centric than it was ever intended to be while also disincentivizing them from seeking out other sources. Obviously the fact Somerton is actively contributing to the queer erasure he makes his videos about is The Point of the second half, but it needs to be understood how intentionally he's erasing those whose identities are too different from his own as well. I hope all the people who now want to branch out from Somerton's content realize how important it is to seek out essayists who are trans and/or women in particular so their perspectives are not erased.

[front-ill]

Not feeling heard, feeling invalidated, questioning if I truly have asd

To note: I am NOT diagnosed, nor have been evaluated yet for ASD. I suspect I have it, and suspect I am LSN, Level 1, High functioning

cw/tw: fakeclaiming, ableism

I originally reached out for an evaluation for a diagnosis, however I was instead given an evaluation for special ed./IEP. No one told me this, and I was mistaken and thought it would be for a diagnosis.

Anyway, regardless the meeting ending up being extremely invalidating because they thought I was actively skewing the results in order to be 'better fit for the evaluation.' I made eye contact for a little bit, and apparently when I stated I couldn't handle eye contact, I stopped making eye contact (I had a meeting over zoom with a psychologist who said this). They also said this for when I was rocking back and forward but stopped when I started talking to someone.

Then they decided that since they couldn't put the blame on those two things enough, they started stating it was just my trauma causing me this symptoms. While that may true, these symptoms wouldn't be actively still rampant and prominent despite my hardwork in therapy and being open in therapy.

Then one of them went on a tangent how me actively 'seeking out' a diagnosis and what 'I'm doing' isn't going on the right track. In regards to getting treatment. Felt so invalidating. Like they thought I was putting up a facade. It was a whole thing about how, 'statistically isn't possible for me to have all these disorders.'

I ended up breaking down from what they were saying, and it was just a bunch of adults saying they understand my struggle. I feel like they don't and want to push it off as 'normal'. Maybe I'll understand when I'm older I guess, but for now I don't. During the break down I started hurting myself because I struggle with handling my emotions when I break down, and they didn't so anything. They didn't check up on me when I went to take a break, nor were empathetic towards me.

I'm having every non-doctor (parents, special ed. teachers) say I'm not autistic. Even my general practitioner, who've I've only seen twice, said I didn't seem autistic since I'm, 'functioning enough.'

I'm really struggling right now because I've not only documented my symptoms for years now, but have been struggling so hard. From break downs, to overstimulation, to avoiding new hobbies and interests so I don't get hyperfixated on something, to inability to make and keep friends, to so much more. I just feel so lost. What of it isn't autism? What if it's something else? But, what? Any words, or similar experiences would be nice please.

I was looking to seek an evaluation for a diagnosis with Fraser in Minnesota, USA. If anyone has any experience with them, let me know please.

[codylabs]

Some people just think humans are hot

One of the people involved in designing this ship had apparently been a unique and revolutionary genius: the dance club had been installed almost directly above the starboard gravity RCS, and they'd run an intercom directly from the bar to the alignment control station on the bridge. So all the bartender had to do was call and ask nicely, and they would charge the dynamo up to about 5% power, lowering the club's gravity to the point where any species, even those without legs or the muscles to jump, could have a truly outrageous time. This did, of course, slightly increase the number of accidents and injuries on the dance floor and the immediate vicinity, but the clubgoers seemed to weigh this a reasonable tradeoff, and most nights ended with the bruises and spilled drinks outnumbered by the smiles.

For some reason though, Marshal suspected that the punch splashed all over Dunkalk's sullen face had been no accident. "Rejected again, huh?"

"At least she was frank about it." Dunkalk reached his mandibles up like windshield wipers to flick the liquid off his eyes. "I'll get the next one. You watch."

"Oh, I will." Marshal fished around his pockets for a hanky, and handed it over. "Need a wingman this time?"

"No, either they're into it or they're not." Dunkalk wiped around the base of his shell. "No middle ground worth mucking about in."

"Right..." Marshal pondered this for a moment. "So, Dunkalk, I have an genuine question for you."

"You should probably ask it then."

"I might."

"You should."

"I will."

"Fire away."

"WHY." Marshal pleaded. "Why why why do you always go after the human ladies, Dunkalk?"

"What?!?" Dunkalk sneezed in indignation. A little puff of dust escaped from his gills. "Why do you go after human ladies?"

"I AM a human! What's your excuse?"

"The answer to your question is threefold if not more." Dunkalk held up three claws on his left shovel. "Number one: they're soft."

"Agreed." Marshal nodded.

"Number two: they're tall."

"They are NOT."

"Human males are ridiculous giants; your perspective is skewed and invalid."

"Fair. So you like the tall ladies."

"I love the tall ladies. Number three: they're kinky."

"They are?"

"Yes."

"Kinkier than Kolokon women?"

"Not at all. BUT. The 8-12% of eligible human women willing to go out with a Kolokon will necesssarily be kinkier than the mean average. It's called the great filter, you can look it up."

"Let's cruise right on past the part where you break that down, so anyway do you actually... I don't know, like them better??"

"Yes? As I said?"

"I mean, if you were born 1500 years ago you wouldn't even know what you're missing. Wouldn't Kolokon women be more, you know, attractive to a natural and healthy mind?"

"What parts of 'em?"

"I don't know, the claspers and the cavity?"

"Do you find claspers and cavies attractive?"

"Well, with a few notable exceptions, generally no! Which is because I am a human, which is exactly my point, and the reason I'm confused why you would find lips and external teats attractive."

"Short answer: I have no idea." Dunkalk admitted. "Almost as short answer: I blame Kelsey Spencer in 8th grade, it's 100% all her fault. And also Bonnie Kirk and Sai Peng in 9th grade, even though I do recall that Sai Peng herself was actually a junior at the time. They did this to me. I lived in a society."

"Aha, mm-hmm. I see how it is." Marshal nodded sympathetically. "The middle school years are instrumental in forming a man's sexuality. The word for you is a furry."

"Incorrect, in fact the fur is one thing I could do without."

"Oh yeah? You like the ladies bald? Bald and smooth?"

"Yeah. Well, n-"

"You've been courting human women for so long that I feel bad introducing you to the thing you've really been seeking this whole time: an octopus."

"Y-"

"A worm."

"If I c-"

"A plate of jello."

"If I could as-"

"Steaming plate of pasta."

"If I could ask God to make one change to human women, it would be to give them a bunch of tiny barnacles instead of body hair, and some segmented plates down their scalp and neck and back. I think I would die. It would be the ideal lifeform."

"Cool."

"I would go blind from the beauty."

"That's great, Dunkalk."

"You get where I'm coming from though, right?"

"A standpoint of fantastical and perverted insanity."

"Yeah, you get it. Just Imagine it Marshal! Kelsey Spencer with a little texture."

"Nope!" Marshal turned up his nose. "I don't get it, I don't care to, you're crazy, I'm not. I think human ladies are fine just the way they are."

"No imagination."

"Could stare at one all day."

"Which one?"

"You pick one. It's called commitment."

"Ghastly."

"Don't you be dissin' the intended way."

"No imagination."

"So you'd give human women barnacles and a shell?"

"YES."

"Give her a cavity too?"

"Might look a little odd."

"We're already making a mockery of genetics and the periodic table, may as well go all in, right?"

"Okay, sure why not. Little cavity on her left side. Down low."

"Claspers?"

"Maybe."

"Shoveling claws?"

"Could take 'em or leave 'em."

"Do you like your ladies to have big wide sparkling eyes, or beady little human eyes?"

"Maybe a little bigger."

"So at this point you've managed to vaguely articulate what is essentially just a slightly taller Kolokon."

"Well if we rewind the conversation to before you started twisting my words, then no not at all."

"You could scuttle around on your knees so the normal ones look taller."

"Not the kink I want to filter for, unfortunately."

"You're one kinda guy, Dunkalk."

"Someone's gotta be." He took a long drink. "You know Marshal, I'm a human at heart. Always have been."

"Oh yeah? How's that?"

"I don't like it underground. Have you seen Brigg's quarters? Perfectly good bed, and she piles her laundry up underneath the mattress just so she can burrow under. And my mom did the same thing back when we had a human apartment. But me? Naw. I don't like the smell of dirt, I don't like the taste of worms, I like my veggies. I must be just about the tallest Kolokon on this ship, and I've got the calve strength to almost jump. When I was a kid I once climbed a tree. You know how many Kolokon starship pilots you see around? None. We all hate flying, but I prefer flying. I'm a human born and raised, Marshal. Capital-G made a typo, and here I am."

"You're just wired different."

"I'm wired like a human."

"Nuh-uh."

"Maaaan, you don't know what it means to be human because you are a human. You just think humans are normal."

"Humans are normal, same as Kolokons are. You'd just be different no matter what you are. You know most humans hate flying? And that most of them hate veggies? You sleeping in a hammock and you going after the kinky human ladies and you being the best pilot I've ever known isn't down to you being secretly human, that's just you personally and individually being a freaky little weirdo is all."

"You think so?"

"Yeah, man."

"Never thought of it that way."

They stood for a moment to watch the dancers. Dunkalk finished off the last of his drink, and crushed the can in one claw. "So anyway, back to the subject, why do you ask?"

"I dunno." Marshal took a drink as well. "I guess I want to see you happy."

"I am happy."

"It's just that your 'great filter' does a fine job of filtering out the decent respectable ladies, is all."

"I know."

"The ones that want a decent respectable guy. The ones that want to breathe your dust and have your kids."

"Ha! Me settle down." Dunkalk shook his head. "Can you picture that? Me down in some little old... Little dusty tunnel. Sanded shell, trimmed claws, helping some little screaming kid pupate..."

"You'd be a great dad."

"Being a dad is easy." Dunkalk chattered his mandibles together in annoyance. "I mean, mine scuffed it royally, but all you have to do is basically just be there and not kick at the larvae, it's not rocket science... Yeah, I could do it. I could do it well."

"You know, it could work out with the right human too. Remember professor Adams? He was always going off-topic in the middle of class to talk about his wife?"

"Yeah?"

"I saw him at the market one time, and she there, and she was this little Kolokon lady. Blind as a bat, and he wore this little leather guard on his wrist so she could hold on to him. They adopted like 3 kids."

"Yeah, there's an image." Dunkalk rolled his eyes. "But yeah, no. No. If I were to make a commitment, I'd take the time to do it right. I'd trim up my act, move back to the tunnels, go for some good respectable girl with a lumpy shell. You're right about all of it, Marshal, your only wrong part is thinking I want something that I don't. Maybe one day."

"Maybe one day."

"You'd be the first to know; you'd be helping me shop."

"I help you shop anyway..." Marshal took a casual look around. "Alright, don't look now, but I think that brunette to your 10 O'clock is giving you the eyes."

"Not interested." Dunkalk shook his head. "Blonde or nothing."

"Oh my god."

[shoichee]

ALSO CAN I ASK FOR SOME RANDOM GOM HCS U HAVE? like just random ones u have or if u want like some toxic hcs abt them :D

I’m assuming that I can include their negative traits of their personalities as well 👀 Also including Momoi in this… lots of analyzing for this hc, so I used my brain here pls appreciate AGAIN these are all headcanons/interpretations of possible toxic hcs about them and only a few are canon

[Headcanons]

Kuroko Tetsuya

Kuroko is the hardest person to find a “negative/toxic” trait in, and it doesn’t seem like he has any

kind, understanding, hardworking, and compassionate; he’s everything a good-natured protagonist is

but he’s only like this to people/hobbies he cares about/close with; anything else he’s quite apathetic and also very passive/neutral about

the biggest hint to this is when Akashi criticizes Kuroko for cherry-picking who the GoMs should “go all out against” and who to casually toy with

and Akashi is absolutely correct

most of the series is portrayed through Kuroko’s perspective, and Akashi is the first direct outside perspective who comments on his actions/attitude

it’s obviously not that Kuroko didn’t “notice”... he clearly sees and knows what these GoMs are doing; after all, he had a conversation with Aomine about how observant he is to everything around him

of course, if you were close to him, all your opinions and issues matter to him

it’s the fact that what’s not really important to him is suddenly now important just because someone he knows is involved

just an example: if someone was advocating climate change, he has no opinion on it until someone he knows cares about the issue

in other words, he has a subtle hypocritical view on things, especially when he interacts with others

another clear negative trait could be that he’s too idealistic or perhaps naive, seeing things in a clear black-or-white picture and not necessarily a gray area

WE know, as an audience, that the GoMs honestly needed therapy and a proper adult to guide their out-of-control talents

but Kuroko, in his eyes, had viewed them as “bad” and “evil” in their ways of basketball until they changed after their respective matches

he’s probably someone who doesn’t yield to other opinions once he forms his own, and this may make him unable to consider things in other people’s perspectives

which is again, ironic: someone who doesn’t have generally a strong stance but once they do, it’s very unyielding, which further proves Akashi’s comment about Kuroko’s tendency to nitpick which to care about

a final hc about a potential flaw he might have here in a different ask!

Kise Ryota

y’all… it’s as canon as day that he has a mean side

straight from the author himself, it’s confirmed that Kise is only kind to those who he respects, and to the rest, he’s cold-hearted

in the manga, it’s very clear that he’s super judgmental on every first impression on people he meets, boxing them into categories based on the way they look, act, and speak

only when they surpass his preset expectations (low or high depends on his preliminary judgments of them) is when he opens his mind to the rest of their personality

this is a very close-minded way of thinking, and I hope I don’t need to explain why LOL

this can be interpreted as him being two-faced by the majority of the people in his school

his way of speaking can definitely be very cruel and crass, and to sensitive people, his words can easily shatter hearts

Kise’s negative/toxic traits are pretty straightforward here, so let’s move on

Midorima Shintarou

his harsh words can be considered a “negative” part of his personality, but I think it’s a lot more than just that

it’s confirmed in the series that he’s a bystander and almost always minds his own business

on one hand, one can say he’s self-driven and that he constantly strives for self-improvement

on the other, it can be interpreted as him being very dangerously ambitious and selfish, in which most actions he takes are for the sole reason of self-improvement and not for altruistic reasons

for example, when he helped Kuroko and Kagami in the training camp, it was under the reasoning that them becoming stronger would be a good challenge for himself to test and learn

that’s not to say that he can’t have friends, but most friendships he’s built are with capable people who can potentially provide him with some new beneficial skill/goal to strive towards

after all, he’s only learned to trust Takao as a friend only after seeing him as someone capable

because he’s so focused on himself, he’s extremely likely to turn a blind eye to injustice, most also likely to use Oha Asa to justify their “misfortunes” as he continues on his day

he’s not cold-hearted, but altruism comes by Midorima a lot rarer than the average person

now, we know that his Oha Asa aspect is used to balance his serious side as the “comedic side” of him, but if we really think about it, his obsessions with the horoscopes could be a huge obstacle in the future, where he may refuse to listen/depend on others in favor of his own intuition and the stars; after all, no one knows everything, and depending on the stars as one’s next source of advice and guidance isn’t a sound decision to commit themselves to

he seems like the person who overthinks and jumps to conclusions when it comes to social situations, but instead of confronting the person, he turns to fate and fortune if Takao isn’t near to help

Aomine Daiki

I wouldn’t be surprised if Aomine had a skewed sense of beauty standards from all those magazines he consumed and from being around Momoi for the majority of his life

of course anyone can distinguish pieces of media from reality, but during the most impressionable years of life, without experiencing other types of people and physiques, he would have limited knowledge on what “beauty” is and whatnot

this probably would be more of a problem in his adolescence than adult

a very given negative trait is his short temper plus his tendency to turn to physical violence when someone nags him to a certain point, seen with how he’s treated Wakamatsu in the beginning (though this seems to almost disappear by the end of the series)

what I’ve noticed in every scene he’s in, is that everything seems to revolve around him and his hobbies of basketball and Japanese idols

what I mean is that everytime we see Aomine, it’s always Momoi approaching to Aomine or just him always being the center of attention; never once has he approached Momoi for anything and it’s always been the other way around

in other words, people have to cater to him in order to get along with him/be in good graces (additional example: Imayoshi letting him do as he pleases to get him to be cooperative and participate in the games)

we’ve actually never seen Momoi’s hobbies outside of being a manager for her basketball teams and just anything basketball-related

he can be quite apathetic, choosing to only pay attention and try in things he’s interested in… which is basketball and those magazines

he seems to mature in the Last Game though, so I’m not quite sure to what extent these headcanons would apply to older Aomine (these also don’t really apply to Puremine)

Momoi Satsuki

the author probably also included this type of anime trope as comedy, but belittling another female for her body is definitely a no-go in reality; I feel like this is something most people gloss over really lightly

her body comments on Riko are actually what made me skeptical of her character at first before the show really shows her entire personality

that being said, it seems that she always takes the opportunity to look down on other girls (especially to those she is a stranger to) as a sort of “competition” when there’s boys around

definitely at certain moments, she screams a “pick-me girl” type of person (real phenomenon, you can search this up!)

while Kuroko doesn’t seem to actively mind this, I think she also has no good sense of boundaries and what’s considered appropriate touch and consent; people can chalk this up to “oh it’s just infatuation,” but this definitely isn’t okay if we really think about this

her life also seems to revolve around either Aomine or Kuroko, and based from that, I’d feel like she’d have a difficult time forming her own identity/life separate from her “manager life,” especially once she graduates from Touou

can definitely be interpreted as too clingy at certain moments, while others may think it’s her way of showing that she cares

Murasakibara Atsushi

most people would chalk up Murasakibara as “lazy,” and on the surface level, it does appear to look that way…

I think his true negative trait is that he has a lack of intrinsic motivations to drive him to do things

it’s different from being lazy; someone can be lazy while still having a goal, and certainly someone can be lazy while they’re motivated by thoughts of “I want to learn more,” “I want to get stronger,” etc. (you guys, it’s me right now in college)

and he doesn’t have that

part of this was contributed to the fact that he’s already so gifted with genetics and thus, there’s never been a goal for him to have to work towards to when he’s already at the top

he doesn’t actively seek out, and while that may be a characteristic of sloth, it’s not exactly right either

he willingly does things if people around him give him the motivations/reasons to do so; a person of sloth wouldn’t do anything even with all the motivations and goals handed right to their face

snacks/food are examples of extrinsic motivations that fuel him to carry on daily life

Himuro is always the main motivator for Murasakibara to come out and watch matches, and he also does whatever Akashi orders in both Teiko and present days // a person who can give the giant the motivation to do tasks would get along with him the most

searching out for a challenge against his basketball skills is something that’s never crossed his mind

why? he grew to be like the way he is because of the lack of results from his “search” of a challenge throughout his games

again, it’s only when Murasakibara gets handed a silver-platter of a challenge, Jason Silver, that actively gets him pumped up and raring to go

as such, Murasakibara is equivalent to a rusty machine, extremely difficult to start up and find compatibility with, but very powerful and efficient once he finds that spark

Murasakibara finding any partner or friend in the future would be extremely difficult because he ticks a different tune from the rest

Akashi Seijuro

his entire Bokushi side was a giant-ass red flag for very obvious reasons LOL anyways, moving on…

it’s difficult to pinpoint a negative characteristic for Oreshi because he’s the pinnacle of a gentleman character… but that technically is also his negative trait

for him to maintain that perfect image for himself and others, he has always carried himself in such a way that doesn’t allow for errors or expressions of “weakness”

thus, bottling up his frustrations and emotions to the point of no return is something very familiar to Akashi, and I’d feel like Bokushi is the result of his overflowing emotions left unchecked in the first place

I also predict that if Akashi continues to carry himself without letting himself wind down and feel emotions on the spot rather than locking it up inside him, a day will come when he splits into two halves again with a “new” Bokushi to deal with his current life (and let the current Oreshi take a backseat in his psyche to take a break from the turmoil)

also will tend to overwork himself to manage people’s expectations as well as his own, and he’s not one to depend on people not because he sees them as inferior or incapable, but because he’s doing this out of habit from being in positions of authority and responsibility for much of his life

and so, he may tend to hide important things or just not speak about his problems in general to those close to him because he feels like he can do it all himself and spare everyone the work and stress associated with them (a leader mentality)

throughout the majority of his life being calm and calculated, his emotions would definitely escape from him in forms of uncontrollable lashes of anger… before he would realize what he’s done… that is, assuming that another Bokushi hasn’t form within his subconscious yet

[itsclydebitches]

Hey there! Admittedly I'm a little bit nervous since this is my first ask, but I'll try to not be too rambly.

So, recently the main subreddit, r/RWBY, made a ban on active users of the r/RWBYcritics subreddit. As a result there's been discussion around bad-faith criticism in the latter subreddit. What are your takes on bad-faith criticism?

For me personally, I think a bunch of people are misusing the term "bad-faith" and using it as a way to shut down criticism, but I'm curious to hear your thoughts on it.

Hey there, everyone! We woke up to some drama this morning, huh? And hello to you too, Tortoise! I'm so glad you decided to send in an ask, even if it's following some pretty tumultuous events...

Right, I'd like to start with a story. The story of how I personally don't spend time on Reddit, but I have plenty of friends who will occasionally cross-post something for me to see. Yesterday (or the day before? Idk time is meaningless) a friend told me about a post — which, significantly, I'm now having trouble finding — that covers RWBY's inconsistent writing and the fandom's tendency to try and explain away those missteps. They'd thought I'd be interested because I'd just had a conversation here on tumblr where I made that exact point to someone who, also significantly, vehemently disagreed with me, but in a very civil fashion. Given everything going on, I feel like this side point needs emphasis: we debated, we did so in a sometimes heated, but nevertheless respectful manner, it was clear neither of us was going to sway the other, and the conversation ended. The two "sides" of the community interacted without Armageddon coming about.

But back to the purpose of this tale. I went to take a look at this point and found that it no longer exists. There's just some vague message about it not obeying the subreddit's rules. "What happened?" I asked. "Why'd they take the post down?" "People were getting too heated in the comments," my friend replies. So, given that the comments were still visible, I proceeded to read through them, expecting personal attacks, slurs, harassment, etc. Any number of things that would justify deleting the post itself to put an end to such behavior. Instead, I found a thread of people having a conversation. Was the conversation heated at times? Sure. Did one or two individual posters edge into the realm of petulant, "No. You're wrong and stupid" responses? Yes. Was any of this remotely what I was expecting given the post's removal? NOPE.

"This isn't allowed?" I said. "Well then what is? People were being civil! Or at least as civil as hundreds of strangers ever get when discussing a series they're passionate about online."

Then, this morning, I hear that the entire critic subreddit has been banned.

So to answer your question, Tortoise, I don't actually think that "good faith" criticism exists. Meaning, it's not just that fans are misusing the term "bad faith criticism," but rather that there is no unified, agreed up method of writing criticism that will meet their standards. It's not possible and we know it's not possible because fans have been trying to meet those elusive standards for years:

A fan posts nothing but praise for RWBY until changes make them criticize the show as it is now. Their entire body of work is dismissed as the product of a "hater," despite the overwhelming gap between positive and negative reviews.

A fan posts a review that's a pretty balanced mix between praise and criticism. They're dismissed because it's still too much criticism.

A fan posts a review that's 99% praise with 1% criticism. That's still too much, with fans focusing on the single problem they had with the work and using it as an excuse to dismiss the entire review out of hand.

(As an aside, the argument that critics are "obsessed" with only saying negative things and that the only problem here is that they're "too" negative ignores the argument that... RWBY has a lot of flaws nowadays. Few are willing to acknowledge the possibility that it's not fans insisting on making things up to be mad about/ignoring the good parts of the show, it's the that show is, as of now, legitimately more of a mess than it is a praise-worthy product. If I'd been writing recaps in the Volumes 1-4 days, my work would have been skewed far more towards the positive. The critics' stance is that RWBY has gotten worse, which yes, results a higher volume of critical posts. To say nothing of how criticism takes far longer to explain, likewise resulting in posts focused primarily on that side of the divide. I really enjoyed the image of a crying Jaune reflected in his sword. I did not enjoy that moment's context. Saying that you liked an animation choice is a one sentence thing. Explaining the complexities of Jaune securing emotional moments, the problems with Penny's second death, the hurt many fans experienced watching an assisted suicide, etc. takes a whooole lot longer. Hence, you get massive, multiple posts about these nuanced topics and fewer, smaller posts about the details that are working well.)

A fan talks about a topic that has been metaphorically banned by the fandom as a whole. They have something good to say about Ironwood. They dislike something about Blake/Yang. They enjoyed Adam as a character. They have a problem with Ruby's leadership, etc. There's a whole list of topics nowadays that will result in an automatic dismissal, regardless of the point the fan is trying to make or how well they make it.

A fan talks about the minority representation of RWBY — its black characters, its queer characters, its disabled characters, etc. — and as a result has something to say about the biases and missteps of those writing these characters. This is considered an attack on the writers and, therefore, automatically bad.

A fan talks about how they enjoyed RWBY as it was years ago and is having trouble reconciling the dark, complicated story with the simple, hopeful one we started out with. This is seen as an attack on Monty's vision and an unwillingness to accept that "everything is planned."

A fan does as asked and ensures that their post is meeting all the requirements of "real" criticism. They have an argument to make. They have a point. They provide evidence. They recommend a solution. They keep their tone respectful. They don't attack the creators. They provide disclaimers in every single paragraph about how they do not hate RWBY. It doesn't matter. They're considered too negative.

I have, quite literally, seen every one of the above examples on multiple occasions. I have had many of the above accusations leveled at my own work. When fans say that they're fine with criticism provided it's not "bad faith" criticism, they don't actually have a specific post-type in mind; a checklist of behaviors another fan can emulate and, provided they do that, no hate will come their way. Or, if an individual fan does actually go, "Yeah. That criticism I'm fine with" that response is in no way universal. One person's "They make a good, civil point" is another person's, "Omg stop bashing the show!" Because "bashing" has come to mean everything from curse-laden insults towards everything RWBY has ever done, to posts that just happen to say something other fans don't agree with.

It's a rigged game. There is no way to post criticism about RWBY in an agreed-upon, appropriate manner. This recent ban is proof of that. I think it's incredibly telling that almost immediately after I was going, "Wow. A pretty calm debate about the flaws of RWBY in the main sub. That's great to see," all posters from the criticism subreddit were banned. The main sub literally just had the sort of criticism that they claim to accept — people respectfully posting analysis-based arguments resulting in calm debate — and yet they implemented the ban anyway. I'm not going to pretend that I've never gotten too heated on my own posts, never made snarky comments when I'm frustrated, never used exaggerated reaction GIFs that can come across as insulting... but I'd say on the whole my RWBY work is precisely the sort of "good faith" criticism that other fans are supposedly looking for. I never make an argument I don't think I can back up with evidence. I try to allow for the nuance and differing opinions of complicated topics. I try — even if I don't always succeed — to write in a clear, respectful manner. Yet none of that work has stopped people from telling me I'm a "bitter... raging asshole," a "deranged, delusional psychopath," telling me to set myself on fire, threatening to smash my head in, or just messages to straight up kill myself. If someone like me who legitimately works hard to create fair, defendable criticism and who only ever posts on a personal blog that people can easily block, who never engages in debate until someone else starts it first, never seeks out other fans I disagree with to harass them about what they like... if someone like me is still a "bad faith" critic who "deserves" that kind of hate mail... then what kind of criticism do people want?

Nothing. That's the answer. No criticism whatsoever, of any kind, no matter if it's delivered respectfully, is making a good point, whatever. That's why "RWDE" was created. That's why the critic subreddit was created. The community at large has demanded a complete separation between Praise and Anything That's Not 100% Praise, which has now resulted in this ban. Any other explanations we see are excuses, which becomes glaringly obvious when you look at the mods' supposed reasons for implementing the ban:

"Constant arguments with r/RWBY users" - As opposed to the arguments surrounding things like shipping that never, ever happen?

"Vote manipulation and comment brigades" - The subreddit with 3,000 participants, with around 200 on at a time, is manipulating the votes of a subreddit with 155,000 participants, with over 1,000 on at a time? Those numbers just do not check out. If a positive post is downvoted, or a critical post upvoted, maybe that's because large swaths of the community actually agree/disagree with that assessment, not because the incredibly smaller group is somehow manipulating things.

"Attacking and harassing those they disagree with" — Again, as opposed to those non-critics that never, ever harass people? This is an individual problem, not a community problem. Both critics and non-critics have their sub-groups acting in ways they shouldn't. If anything, the main sub will have more individuals harassing other fans, simply by virtue of being so much larger. As the above examples attest, it's not other critics who have told me to light myself on fire and, just to be clear, the asks I've responded to are a miniscule number compared to the amount I've received. I delete the lion's share for my own sanity and to save my followers from reading the really graphic threats.

"Months-long NSFL spam brigades" — I am, admittedly, not sure what this is referring to. Spamming of NSFW content? If so, that's also an individual problem.

"Homophobic, transphobic, and racist attacks towards our users" — See the above points. Again. If someone is being homophobic, transphobic, or racist, then yes please, ban them. Don't ban an entire community for the actions of a few. It's like walking into a store and banning a customer for causing a scene... but then also banning everyone else who happened to be shopping at the same time. It's guilt by association.

The silver lining to all this? The community as a whole isn't pleased. At least according to the main subreddit comments and a few individual voices like MurderofBirds. Despite the increase (from my perspective anyway) of critical voices post-Volume 8, criticism of RWBY is still very much seen as taboo. As this ban showcases. But it's really reassuring to see so many fans, critics and non-critics alike, going, "This was a mistake." A community is meant to include all aspects of engagement: praise, criticism, and the gray area between. If anything, fans like the mods of the main subreddit should be creating a separate subreddit that is specifically for praise. In the same way that there should have been a tag for RWBY praise, rather than trying to eliminate any and all criticism from the main "RWBY" tag. The majority of fans, even those who claim to hate critics and all they (presumably) stand for, recognize that a blanket ban of all criticism is not the way to go, especially when "criticism" has come to have such a staggeringly broad definition. If you want your RWBY experience to be nothing but sunshine and roses (ha), then cultivate your own internet experience to reflect that. Create your own pockets with rules about how this is the space for praise and if you're not up for praising RWBY right now, don't interact with us in this particular space. Don't try to make the entire community — the main tools used to discuss the show online — conform to your preferences. As established, there is no "good" criticism that everyone in the fandom will accept, which just leaves a fandom with no criticism at all. I'm glad to see I'm far from the only one who, when presented with that extreme, is going, "Nope. No thank you."

[life-rewritten]

WE BEST LOVE  (FIGHTING MR 2ND) ShouZhen and The Acceptance of Feelings, Love and Self

Warning this was really hard to write, I tried to be as sensitive as I could but if I have said anything ableist or wrong, and I need to be educated please let me know. I don’t mean to do that but when it comes to these two, I do have a degree in Clinical Psychology but there might be parts of me that are still ignorant, uneducated or insensitive to the community I don’t mean to be that way. So trigger warning(TW) for people, there are some ‘ableist’ comments or wording that I have to say when talking about a situation from someone’s perspective, let me know if there’s anything problematic about this analysis and I will try and edit and change anything that is wrong information, or offensive.

Oh god. This was a journey for me. This show like stuns me, I mean I’ve always known I would be obsessed with Xuan and Shouyi from We Best Love because they remind me of like a lot of couples I watched last year (Korean Psycho but it’s okay which kind of deals with the same themes in a different way, Flower of evil a bit more intense but still the same themes about society and ableism etc), so I’ve been waiting to write about them and discuss them in detail. Episode 3 just made me finally crack and start analysing them. I think the thing with We Best Love is that I am very surprised  by how this season has just been so good, and deep, and mature but at the same time it’s very risky what they’re trying to do. It can lead to backlash and offense caused if its not done properly. So take that with a grain of salt, as much as I am enjoying these choices I do know it could change in the last two episodes, I’m holding out hope though that this show will stay the way I think it’s going to go, I don’t think the writers mean to be problematic or insensitive I actually they’re trying to do the opposite but we shall see. Let’s get into analysing these two. I promise you this is worth reading despite the length. Let me know what you think 😊

So small summary we have Shouyi from season 1, he’s our cold hearted doctor, he is insensitive to people, he says things and does things without care about how it affects others, he rolls his eyes at Shide’s suffering with love because he thinks it’s stupid. He’s funny but there’s something missing for him, he can’t help but be drawn to someone who he thinks is a problem and wants to avoid but actually he also wants to keep and protect forever. And we have Xuan that person he’s someone who is autistic, he is smart, indifferent to people, he is in his own world and he is very set on Shouyi. Xuan has been chasing after Shouyi since high school when he first met him, and he’s determined to not give up on his love and determined to make Shouyi see that he also feels the same way. At first it seems like a typical unrequited obsessive storyline we see in BLs but there’s so much more to it than that and that’s why I adore this couple. Let’s break it down

As much as Shouyi is misunderstanding his heart, he’s also misunderstanding Xuan’s heart. He thinks Xuan’s feelings/belief of feelings is stemmed from his diagnosis of Xuan’s situation, so he thinks Xuan is ‘childish’ due his autistic tendencies, his other disorders, but before we go into more detail  on this base about why he refuses to accept Xuan’s feelings as real or long lasting, let’s talk about all the other reasons that others including Shouyi himself has given for why even though Shouyi and Xuan are two people who are in love with each other, (it’s a requited but they don’t know trope oddly even though it’s formed like a unrequited pining one sided love from Xuan to Shouyi), Shouyi refuses to acknowledge Xuan’s feelings and his.

 Logic vs Feelings

Teacher/Student: Morals, Laws and Age

Let’s first look at the first reason: the teacher/student issue that Shouyi used as an excuse in his head for why they couldn’t be together 15 years ago. A lot of people when trying to understand or form reasons why they thought Shouyi ran away from Xuan 15 years ago say that it’s because they were a taboo situation because he was essentially an older adult with a minor? A teacher student situation right?  So he felt logically and morally that they shouldn’t be together so they avoided crossing that boundary. This may be why he gave Xuan that ultimatum of finding him when he’s older and if they find each other again then Xuan can have a chance to chase after him though it’s a lie. And logically that makes sense, the teacher and student trope in romance love stories and BL can somewhat seem predatory and bring up those issues of consent, age and other topics. So normally it’s an uncomfortable thing to deal with, it does seem like Xuan was very young if we’re thinking he’s 30? Then he may have been 15-18 when they first met so there was definitely an age gap between them and Xuan was definitely a minor who probably shouldn’t be in a relationship with a teacher. It’s very good of Shouyi to turn away from Xuan at that time even if he did have his own feelings for him. Shouyi was a teacher figure, a protective guardian that Xuan kept seeking help and guidance from. My guess is that Shouyi saw how Xuan had transformed from the first time he met him to someone more healthier and better and felt uncomfortable when Xuan confessed how he felt and made it known that he wanted Shouyi to see him in a romantic way. So yes, the logical/moral reason for why Shouyi pushed Xuan away makes sense but I feel like there’s more to it than just that.

In the Taiwanese wiki because I’m not sure if this information will show up in the show anymore but Shouyi’s character was written as someone who was resentful to his parents because they forced him to do medicine. He ended up studying medicine but to spite them instead of becoming a doctor he actually chose to be a teacher/high school doctor which provided less money and skewed their expectations. Later he’d become a university doctor before finally quitting all that and choosing to run a bistro/café. Shouyi did not really mean to become a protective figure in his highschool doctor role, we see him as well in university he doesn’t do the role of a teacher/helper, he’s just logically following  the rules/operations that the medical occupation does. He’s also very rough with how he takes care of his patients and he doesn’t bother to make them feel safe/or cared for or whatever, he’s abrupt, rude and cold. But as we start to uncover when we finally go into the past so I will be also using their trailer/music video to analyse with this essay, , once Xuan came to Shouyi for protection and nurture, (latched onto him like a baby bird) Shouyi did offer guidance and care and knowledge to Xuan helping him want to do more, want to learn more, want to be more and grow so he did essentially without meaning to ended up in a teacher role for Xuan which is why he sees Xuan as a child in need of advice, guidance and immature/naïve. This is why even after they reunite Shouyi still thinks Xuan has the same characteristics and childish actions as he did when he was 15.

The Doctor/Patient Situation: Healing, Obligation, Protection

 The medical aspect of their relationship is important as well because both are connected to psychological disorders and Shouyi is again a guiding role and Xuan is a patient. Shouyi thinks because he’s studied medicine about the scientific explanations as a doctor about the disorders that Xuan has, what it entails, what it could lead to, how characteristics may be described and he rationalises and kind of judges/ stereotypes in my opinion ideas about why Xuan feels the way he does, or acts the way he does. So instead of seeing Xuan as more than a patient, his mind automatically sees him as someone with his condition rather just a person with feelings.  I’m not going to lie I think there’s a bit of ableism from how Shouyi treats Xuan because he doesn’t see him as someone able to function without his disorder, he kind of rationalises and only sees him as one static stereotype and is constantly diagnosing him. But I do think that’s something the show may want to call out, when they show how Xuan is treated by people or seen  by people because it does look like people automatically see Xuan as his disorder instead of just Xuan as himself. They blame a lot of things it seems on their mindset of what they think his disorder causes which is ableist. I think this is something Xuan has had to probably deal with since he was younger, and that’s why he’s so protective and adamant in letting people know he’s not sick he’s okay, he’s normal, he’s okay being himself, he’s not a threat, he’s not an issue etc. So I think we may have a commentary more on this in the subtext. But Shouyi is ironic when he plays a role in this because I think he is also someone who people are ableist to, I think he’s also like that to himself, because he also has a psychological disorder that makes people see him as that. Shide does mention how he should have known Shouyi won’t do anything for someone’s good, but for his own selfishness since he has his disorder in season 1, and I think just like Xuan this is something he had to learn a lot and accept about himself hence his issue with romance. So Xuan is an antithesis to Shouyi he’s more aggressive and protective and doesn’t like how society views him but Shouyi seems to have embraced and accepted his disorder and has a mindset that he’s exactly that and has also accepted  how people expect him to act.

Anyway because of how he views Xuan (like how others do) he decides that the reason for why Xuan is into him can be explained psychologically; he’s a child in need of a figure to latch onto he’s somehow attached himself to Shouyi (filail imprinting) because he was overexposed to him. There is so many psychological theories on attachment and imprinting, but this reminds of the baby duck syndrome. This is an effect when someone gets exposed to something/they learn about it, they immediately latch onto this as the best thing compared to anything else and thus can’t change or move away from it. Anyway what I’m trying to get at is that Shouyi thinks Xuan’s attachment to him can be explained by psychology because Xuan is like a child who has latched him onto him as his only comfort/hope/joy whatever, because of that Xuan is deluding himself into thinking that’s love. With this syndrome the duckling is willing to be obsessed, sacrificial, just determined to be near that thing that matters to them so Xuan’s focus and determination to be with Shouyi can be explained in his head like that. So he sees Xuan’s feelings for him is seen not as love but as an imprint seeing him as a guardian figure, teacher figure, father figure etc. Someone who can take care of him.

With Xuan’s actions you could see how Shouyi who has no idea about feelings would think so. When they first meet, Xuan was very protective and defensive hence quite violent in order to protect himself, he was even very scared and distrustful of Shouyi at first, (my theories is that he was probably defensive because he was constantly bullied and treated badly because of how some people saw his disorder). But somehow Shouyi manages to calm him down and show him care by taking care of his wounds etc, and it causes Xuan to notice that he feels safe and he cares about being with this person.

So with all that said, obviously again in Shouyi’s head there’s a logical/scientifical reason for why he doesn’t want to acknowledge or believe Xuan’s feelings as long lasting or real. Again it makes sense, a doctor/patient relationship again borders on a lot of moral questions and lines that need to be discussed with/dealt with before they can be together. Xuan was seen by Shouyi as someone unstable, violent, self harming, depressed, etc He was seen as a patient in need of help so as someone playing the role of his care taker/ doctor that’s the only thing that he should be to him. But again I think yes logically he thinks this way but I also think knowing Shouyi these are all excuses for why he actually cares for Xuan. There is definitely a difference with how he pays attention to Xuan despite acting like he doesn’t care, there is definitely more feelings of protectiveness and worry for Xuan, and although he complains about not wanting Xuan near him, there is a lot of feeling lack, emptiness and discomfort without him there which I think he’s going to learn more about this season when he finally truly pushes Xuan away. In season 1, all Shouyi did was pine and think about Xuan, he held onto Xuan’s items and refused to let them go, he held onto them like a memory and its odd, he also gets very angry when Shide takes some of those memories and gets rid of them (the noodles) and it causes him to be spiteful but Shide thinks he’s being spiteful because of course he’s spiteful, he’s Shouyi with an emotional disorder he doesn’t care. Shide didn’t understand what those memories meant for Shouyi which is important. Because Shouyi doesn’t clock that, that’s a sign that he does miss and does want Xuan by his side.

So in my mind he is in love/or did have those feelings even after episode 3 when they kiss. But he reverts to using logic to explain why it’s happening, he uses logic to remove the importance and sentiments of emotions and feelings concerning how Xuan treats him and how he treats Xuan. Why they are connected. So as a teacher the moral obligation to guide and teach and help Xuan is why he cares. As a doctor the psychological consequences of not preventing Xuan from hurting himself or going too far is the reason for why he must nurture, and protect him/carry him. And the thing is they both really again compliment each other though like I said even if they had feelings, they shouldn’t have crossed that boundary 15 years ago, but I want to explain why they’re a good couple and why they fit.

Love and Influence, Growth and Companionship

First of all they both have an influence on each other to be better/ to grow/ to learn. So from Xuan it’s clear there was a transformation from his 15 year old self without Shouyi to who he is now. I’m pretty sure his job interests, his ability to trust, and have hope for the future is connected to him discovering all that when he was spending time with Shouyi. Shouyi clearly made him see things differently, helped him with some lifestyle enquiries like he wanted him to be proud of him, he wanted to protect both of them so he took up boxing (we see him always constantly boxing in the office, he just learnt how to be more healthier (not because being autistic is being unhealthy but his actions were unhealthy when he was younger because he was self-harming etc). We also get to see how different he gets when he’s with Shouyi, he’s more confident, calmer, happier, just very lively and excited and it’s so adorable but also makes sense. Xuan is no longer hateful of people around him (not because of his disorder but because of how people around him probably treated him), or violent (he’s only violent for protection and defense) and actually we see in episode 3 him feeling very upset and guilty when he fights and Shouyi sees him because it seems like Shouyi made him promise to stop using violence as his first reaction to things, so he felt upset because he didn’t want to disappoint him. But we see in the future he’s not only better, but he works along Shide and he is a actually in a big role in the company he works for.

For Shouyi, Xuan makes him learn about his emotions that he thought he couldn’t have, Xuan leads him on a self discovery journey, to understand more about who he is and not what society thinks he is, or not what some diagnosis claims he is, and for him to know that he can have love and he can be happy. Xuan also represents to him ease, comfort and hope not yet but soon despite the fact that on the surface he tries to push him away, I’m sure this season we see him also relax, trust and just be more open to feelings the way he hasn’t been able to want to be because of others. They both have this message of making the other know that there’s nothing wrong with who they are, they’re normal and live a happy life despite what people have said or treated them as.

Deyi vs Shouzhen; Mirrors of Each Other

In a way Xuan is a mirror image to another character we know who he thinks has Shouyi’s heart Shide. Because the reason why Shide fell for Shuyi young, was because Shuyi was someone who he felt safe with, listened to, cared for, (same reasons why Xuan fell for Shouyi), Shide felt Shuyi led him to growth and purpose and determination to be strong and hope (again same as Xuan and Shouyi) and so because of his feelings he was determined to be near Shuyi and now in season 2, show Shuyi his devotion and love (again same  as Xuan to Shouyi). The love that they have for their person is automatic, uncontrollable, unconditional but also passionate and it makes them determined to be something to that person, to be with that person and to be in a position where they can protect that person. They both don’t mind if it’s one sided or if the love is more on their side than the other because the happiness they feel is by being with them and seeing them happy.

On the other hand Xuan and Shuyi struggle to actually realise their feelings that are also there just not prominent because they have a mindset stuck on logic, judgement but also on perceived societal opinions/rules. Let me explain so for Shuyi it’s because of his determination to not fall for men (because he had  internalised homophobia (IH)  something that is a theme that runs with him and Shide, it’s because of IH he automatically thinks Shide would choose a girl over him and get married and have a kid, it’s because of IH dealing with his father and the shareholders situation and the position of being his father’s heir that made him also say that he didn’t want to fall for a guy when he first realised how he felt for Shide), because of this he never saw Shide’s actions as romantic even when Shide was telling him/confessing to him in episode 2 in season 1, he always misunderstood Shide’s actions and intentions. This is the same as Shouyi who isn’t because of IH but because of ‘ableism’/raised with an ableist societal mindset  that makes him misunderstand Xuan’s actions  and also his own feelings and also it’s because of his own position (teacher/doctor role) that makes him also avoidant of dealing his feelings for Xuan in season 2.

Which is why I adore season 2, again in my previous analysis of this season, the aim of this season is to focus on maturity, real life issues, discussions and commentary on certain things because the characters in season 1 were more naïve, immature and starting out into the world, so its more prone to happiness, and love and all that (this is why season 1 was so light, and less angsty) when our characters grow older, the issues/topics that were hidden in season 1, (Shuyi and Shide’s miscommunication and misunderstanding about their actual feelings and their views on sexuality, Shouyi’s disorder and his mindset, etc) now have to be dealt with, discussed about but also fought with. Now every one has to fight for their path and deal with more serious conversations surrounding these things. That’s why it’s not a surprise season 2 is more angsty, more dramatic, more serious, it’s meant to be a mirror image of season 1, but just more elevated and deeper and more severe than what they had or what they knew when they were younger. That’s how life gets the more you’re older. That’s why I adore this show because yes season 2 is very different and more risky (they really took a risk with how they did season 2 as you can see a lot of people felt blindsided because they didn’t see the subtext and hints in season 1 when it was always there) but I like that it’s risky, I like that it’s tackling these issues, I like it’s more mature and serious but it still is We Best Love, it’s still a story about the innocent love going to passionate love before becoming the real pure definition of covenant love (unconditional, soulmate, growth, self love, self acceptance, communication and understanding). This is seriously why I love this show, I’m sad for the people who don’t see it as this because it’s always been the aim of the script writer to make it this way.

 Nature vs Nurture

Back to Shouyi and Xuan. Actually back to the funny thing about Shide and Shouyi. So Shouyi and Shide are cousins it’s been told to us but every time there’s a plot with their love interests there’s a misunderstanding that leads to a growth/elevation in their relationships because their partners misunderstand what they are to each other. In season 1, Shuyi’s jealousy about them makes him confess out loud he knows Shide’s feelings this leads to them finally dealing with the truth and coming out to each other. Shide does think Shouyi acted this way because he was angry but its actually because Shouyi is protective and caring to Shide in his own way even if he thinks he can’t care about people. The reason why he did what he did is because he wanted Shide to stop suffering in an unrequited love with Shuyi, he wanted to help but he used another excuse to explain away his emotions/feelings which is exactly his character and what we see he’s doing with Xuan. So with Shouyi he does care about people, he does have emotions but because of his diagnosis/ people told him, he doesn’t believe he does because I’m sure he struggles understanding what he feels.  But Yes so again with Xuan and Shouyi there’s a misunderstanding by Xuan that Shouyi loves Shide, which is going to play a part in their relationship, Shouyi uses this lie to push Xuan away and he thinks it’s a solution of making Xuan stop loving him. Because he thinks love is painful from watching Shide, he thinks the results of love isn’t worth it because he sees Shide suffer constantly because of his own feelings but I think he also envies them whenever they’re happy like we saw in the finale of season 1, he goes to drink looking contemplative and sad. He’s lonely. So again on the surface Shouyi thinks love is over rated and stupid but actually inside he feels empty and wants it but he thinks he’s unable to have that.

Let’s discuss Shouyi’s ‘disorder’ because it’s still very hard to process what he actually has. We know he thinks he’s emotionally defective like he isn’t able to feel emotions, or care about people. He can’t form emotional connections to people, he just sees them as nothing important. The only way I could rationalise or understand is to kind of group it with another disorder even I don’t know if it is that because I don’t think he’s a sociopath, but I see some of his symptoms close to ASPD? Or I guess I also think it’s just Alexithymia which is lack of emotional awareness where he doesn’t know what emotion he’s feeling but he does have it. Either way what I see with his symptoms is that he’s not unable to feel emotions I think he just doesn’t know or understand emotions/ feelings, so it’s like an obstacle or like it’s a challenge for him to fully come to terms with the idea of emotions and all that so he withdraws from that and sees himself as unable to feel or care.

This is my guess because it’s quite hard to understand his diagnosis when there’s not enough yet explained about what he does struggle with. Either way its either he doesn’t understand what emotions he’s feeling or he has lack of them. I think it’s the latter because I can see that he shows care to people and he’s protective and helpful to people he feels close to. (this is just what I’m seeing). Either way the similarities with Shouyi and Xuan is that they have both been born with something that has made them be seen in  a negative way or misunderstood way (as much as not everyone is ableist I still think that’s kind of the environment I’m seeing from the show about these two and how they’re treated. I could be wrong) and told different things about who they are and what they have. So for example I keep repeating that one scene but when Shide speaks to Shouyi angrily in season 1 in a very insensitive manner about his disorder, Shouyi is defensive and angry about the way he spoke to him, what he said about him, so you see there is annoyance when people say stuff like that about him even though it seems he also has embraced those ideas  about himself.

In his mind he knows what he has because it’s something he struggles with but I think it frustrates him that he doesn’t can’t explain why he’s the way he is, he probably tried to form attachments and feelings for people but couldn’t so he gave up on the idea of ever being able to do that. But I think it’s just because those people aren’t Xuan. I’m not fully sure about what kind of environment Xuan grew up in but if he was little and people made fun of him, or bullied him, or mocked him he would have struggled with knowing there’s nothing wrong with who he is vs a accepting what people said about him that he can’t ‘function’ because he’s ‘sick’ probably. Because he’s really defensive he does not like people telling him that there’s something wrong with him, that what he’s feeling is not normal or real, and he’s able to take care of himself and have a good life with who he is.  I think you see this struggle in him when he thinks Shouyi has feelings for Shide. Like he immediately once he gets caught fighting walks away sadly because you can guess what he’s thinking, it’s probably ‘Ofcourse it’s Shide he likes, someone ‘normal’ ‘stable’ etc” You can see him in my opinion regress with those thoughts which is why he turned away in shame and says to Shouyi if I was him you would care etc I think yes he fights what people say about him and he knows he’s okay and what he’s feeling but if people keep on making him feel like the opposite he will later regress and accept what they say about him. If he really does get pushed away finally by Shouyi I think he’ll finally really accept that mindset he’s been struggling to fight and reject that he’s ‘abnormal’ to society therefore he’s not allowed to have love because he’s an obstacle to himself and his partner. That’s something I think the story will show for them which is heart breaking. Sigh.

Taking A Risk

Before I continue, let’s pause because let’s discuss the trailer for episode 4. Because yes the trailer does make it look like Xuan hacked the computer out of jealousy and pettiness because of the Shide situation. I think this is a misdirect or a warning. I don’t think the writers will make him be the one who did that, by making him be misunderstood though as someone doing that, brings up commentary it brings up a discussion about how people treat him. So in my opinion there’s a difference if they make him the one who did that because of vindictiveness and resentment then that’s problematic but if they’re trying to show how people have been treating him all his life, I think that’s okay because that’s exactly the aim of the show, to show what he’s struggling with because of how he’s seen in this environment. I can see the characters thinking he’s the one, blaming him, being ableist and I think a lot of people are going to be sensitive and annoyed and I get it; it’s a very risky move by the script writer if she wants to go this way, for me I will understand because I get what the show is trying to say, it depends on the consequences if our characters do end up doing something ableist how do they get taught that they’re wrong and that’s the only thing about this risk that worries me she may not be able to fully make people accept the characters apologies/ flaws with this issue.

It’s so risky and this season has tried so hard with its risks to bring up stuff but I am really happy because we have an autistic BL character, I love it so much because I think it’s incredible. The fact that this season is tackling this conversation about psychological disorders; the fact that we have one character more defensive and determined to be taken more seriously because he’s learnt to love who he is and accept himself vs his partner who has never had that chance to think about what he wants, who he is, what he needs because he’s constantly thinking he’s prevented by his disorder  is something that’s very fascinating to me, and I’ve been so excited to analyse and see it play out on the screen by these brilliant actors. I have been begging for risks in BLs to be made, for more stories to be told that border on the line of sensitive topics and representation, these stories should obviously told by people who are representative of the characters but I also like that a writer took a risk to discuss it more and show it on the screen. I like that we have conversations about mental health on the screen and it’s important to see how another culture/country treats the subject of psychological disorders so we know what needs to be changed/ learnt/ discussed. However I do get that the autistic community and others could be triggered by things with this storyline so far I’ve spoken to people about how they feel about Xuan so far, and a lot of people from the community isn’t offended by him but that’s not a full population of people, but people did say they understood Xuan’s character. But I can’t speak for the community. But for me I just would love to have a whole BL season just for these two, because I really commend the writers if done properly on the risk they took to show this.

As you can tell from this essay I adore We Best Love, I know it’s a polarising decision because people seem to think this season is worse or whatever, but for me I love this show, I didn’t expect this show to be so deep and bring up these subjects it’s the reason why even when I could have written about season 1 since I noticed the themes that are more dealt with in season 2, I didn’t cause I thought it was just be me overthinking it. We Best Love didn’t promise to be the outstanding different BL, it really is simple in season 1, which is why I am surprised at the comments of people who say that they are shocked it’s just a basic BL, like what were they expecting the storyline is very easy to understand, and it does have tropes similar to other BLS, it’s just written better and has interesting characters and good acting. But season 2 is when they really go deeper and start to tackle really serious conversations and I understand that it borders on the line of toxicity, problematic content, questionable ideas but for me I’m so happy the characters are being shown as flawed and problematic. Like Shide and Shuyi weren’t healthy they won’t be until the end of the show that’s what the writer wants to achieve; they are going to end up growing and maturing together to finally get their happy ending, and that’s the same for Xuan and Shouyi right now because of mindsets, and misunderstandings etc they are going to be questionable but they’re going to learn to understand each other and show each other how they feel and grow together from their flaws. The characters are just humans, they make mistakes, they do things but they’re consistent with their character outlines and goals, the writer has never changed anything about the characters, she’s making them learn and mature and go through consequences for their flaws, and I think it’s really important to notice that. I think that’s enough reason for me to love this show because I really enjoy how she’s made a simple BL be very deep and realistic in my opinion about how people are when they fall in love. I also adore the whole team, the actors, producers, writer I think they have done such an amazing job and put so much effort, energy and hard work to tell this story when others don’t do that all the time. Anyway let me know what you think about these two, about the show, about season 2. I’m really surprised by the BLs we are getting lately I’m not goanna lie I am obsessed with every one of them and like just stunned by each conversation and analysis they bring. Absolutely phenomenal start to the year.

[cannibalcaterpillar]

This means Carole had 9 years to get to know her sibling. Instead of bonding with him she had imaginary cat friends. Not HUMAN friends CAT friends. That isn’t bad on its own, but it matters when it’s on a list like this.

Had no friends.

Has gone through 4 husbands and this one clearly KNOWS he’ll die if he doesn’t worship her.

She only mentions having a kid like twice in passing .

She was the aggressor in her past relationships seeking financial control with homicidal tendencies.

Says she left cause her parents are trash but in the end her dad was “def on her side”??

She lies CONSTANTLY

THE MAILBOX SNAKES‼️‼️ joe threatened to do this on his show, but it was YEARS before he mentioned “finally finding where that bitch lives” she doesn’t say that the snakes were venomous just that “the mailbox exploded with snakes” I think she lied about that all together to make joe seem crazier. Like how joe poisoned 23 cubs and burned 7 gators alive and blamed it on Carole or animal rights people. They do crazy shit and lie and say their enemies did it.

She mentions how she envies cats range because they can go from to content to murderous in a second. Most people are like that. But carol has to emulate her emotions so she’s jealous it’s not that natural to her.

I don’t believe her story about how she met don at all. Carole doc and joe all lie CONSTANTLY. Even just in skewed wording like how joe and doc always say “this liger was born right here” instead of “I bred this cat cause I’m still breeding and selling cats” doc says he’s single and his wives all have their own houses cause he’d get arrested for bigamy if he pulled a Kody from sister wives. Constant lies! Carole is no different.

THE FUCKING SARDINE OIL????

The scene where her and her husband are discussing sleeping with guns he says “I woke up and saw Carole with a gun and it ended up being 2” and she cuts him off quick to say “DAMN NEAR SHOT THE NEIGHBORS DOGS” *nervous laugh* I don’t think they were dogs.

Her next line is “I don’t worry about the DOGS that bark a lot, I worry about the quiet ones, those are the PEOPLE you have to watch out for” this could be a metaphor for joe, or she could have shot two people that night. I dunno the wording there just is not right and Irks me.

She needs her volunteers to be there for like 5 years before she even notices they’re there. People that are there working with her animals every day. She doesn’t interact with people. Even her staff.

She said no one can get near Mario right before the documentary does. Maybe SHE can’t get near him and knows because she’s tired to use him for hits before? He made it clear he thinks she did it and she’s trash. Probably because Mario is the only one who at least appears to love and respect his animals. Carole is letting hers rot. Literally.

I totally believe there could be shit behind the scenes of her and joe exotic trading or selling each other cubs. Everyone in this has shown to be two faced self absorbed and willing to work with their enemies one week and destroy them the next. I bet doc wasn’t the only receipt they had in that storage shed. Do you think the lions mentioned in that clip are the ones he got raided for in 2019? Him and joe talk lots about how they have the only ligers and the whole issue was that the ligers were thought to be related and the tests proved they were, but more distantly than previously thought so doc got away.

Something about joe pointing out how much money they made off of each other and labeling them like cartoon characters really made me feel like it’s been YouTube drama this whole time.

I’m sure she worked with Jeff more than she lets on. I don’t understand how the cops didn’t see that after 10 years of threatening and hating carol, nothing serious happened to plan a murder UNTIL Jeff got involved. He deserves to be jailed for a lot but not the attempted murder of an actual murder.

Carole is soft spoken to appear harmless and her constant laughing is because she’s nervous. There’s a big difference between her doing her own videos and being interviewed. It’s because she isn’t in control of how that footage is filmed and edited or what she looks like at the end.

I just really feel like she’s antisocial. She gives me HEAVY Kathrine Knight vibes. If ya dunno her look her up, one of the WORST bitches ever. But she’s got a real familiar thing goin on. Kathrine also killed her husband and he also tried to warn everyone and seek protection before she did it. No one took him seriously until he didn’t show up for work one day.

Carole got away with murder.

Edit: I just wanted to add that I’ve been looking up so much shit abojt this case and Carole. Shes described her first interaction with don and the gun as enticing because “well this isn’t boring!” And she wanted to be a vet but feared the boredom that came with being an adult with a house and career. Constantly looking for a thrill so you aren’t bored to the degree of putting yourself in dangerous situations (handling big cats or holding a gun on a stranger or killing your fucking husband) is also very indicative of an antisocial personality.

Edit 2: I just found out Carole learned to fly to keep them safe since don was “losing it” so that makes pushing him out of a plane seem a lot more likely. If I can find a screen shot of her saying that I’ll add it too. But I think it’s interesting no one close to him says that he’s EVER crashed or that anyone was worried about his ability to fly. More lies!

ANOTHER ADDITION!! Caroles father was also a pilot and a flight instructor. That throwing him out of a plane theory is starting to seem real logical.

Caroles mother notorizes all of her insane paperwork, her brother was in the police force that let her get away with it, the sheriff has a really nice house almost like he was paid off and her dad can fly planes and is on her side.

[openheartconfessions]

Do you remember the time when she got poisoned in Book 2 with Rafael? And the way Ethan got worried for her? God, I wish someone would get that worried for me too (apart from parents)

TLDR, you're never as alone as you think ♥️

Long story time.

My boyfriend and I have lived in a few countries and around ten weeks after we arrived in one I became seriously ill.

We didn't know a lot of people, and those we knew we didn't know well. We knew the people that we worked with and had been to dinner a couple of times with friends of friends.

I had been ill with abdominal pain for about a week, I never get sick so it was significant that I has been ill for so long, but carried on as normal and ignored it. Finally at the weekend my boyfriend forced me to go to the out of hours service where I was diagnosed with a stomach infection.

After an horrific night where I was throwing up dried blood (very bad sign, if you throw up fried blood, it looks like coffee granules, seek medical help immediately) my resistance was finally broken and I went to A&E in the morning. At this point I hadn't eaten, drank or slept in three days as I couldn't keep anything down. I was in really bad shape with a resting heart rate of 23 and couldn't stand up straight from the pain. I also developed jaundice and turned yellow in the space of a few hours as my organs were starting to protest.

Two hours later I was scheduled to have my appendix removed. My boyfriend was at work and I hadn't told him where I was at this point, and as he was a 90 minute drive away and wouldn't make it in time I was expecting it to be a lonely experience.

Little did I know that a troupe of my colleagues were on their way to visit, bring me treats and to keep me company before my operation. In truth the visit wasn't welcome as I looked and felt terrible but looking back it was such a lovely gesture. I also recieved a couple of telephone calls on the A&E telephone to check up on me.

After the operation I was kept in for a week as I was so poorly and had visitors every single day without fail. Colleagues and the people we had been introduced to by friends, visited everyday and I had my boyfriend by my side every step of the way.

When I was discharged I had four weeks off work and the same people visited me at home, and now added to this list was my boyfriends colleagues.

The people who made time to visit and check up on me became dear friends and made my experience so much better. I was fully prepared to be alone during the experience with my boyfriend visiting me in the hospital after work. Instead I had hardly anytime alone and the community of people I had met during my brief time rallied around me.

My point dear anon is that our perception of our relationships with others isn't always accurate. You don't know what impact or impression you have made on people and its easy to feel like you aren't well liked or cared about. People are inherently good and will show you that if you give them an opportunity.

For me I form relationships easily but rarely consider someone a friend until I've decided that I trust them. It usually takes a while for me to get there, this habit skews my perception on what it takes to form relationships and friendships but my experience opened my eyes to just how much people care and how my actions are perceived and accepted by others.

I realise that this isn't everyone's experience but I hope should the time come that you are as supported as I was anon. Hopefully this serves as a reminder ♥️

[jedi-order-apologist]

A Refutation of Telltale’s “Is the Jedi Order a Cult?”

I was directed to this video that claims that the Jedi Order is a cult during a discussion on reddit earlier, and while the person who linked it respectfully asked to end the discussion we were having, I figure the video is worth addressing on its own, separately from that discussion. So I’ve cleaned up the points I made over on reddit and stripped out the stuff relevant to that conversation, to explain just what I took issue with with this video.

To the video-maker’s credit, he does acknowledge that the Jedi are presented as correct within the narrative of the films. Having run into one too many “the point of the prequels was the flaws of the Jedi” across the Internet, I have to say it’s refreshing to see Jedi-critical arguments made without that assumption.

I still disagree with pretty much all of the points made in the video, and found it to be uncharitable, blatantly incorrect at times, and almost completely lacking in concrete examples and evidence of his claims, but he has a right to his own interpretations, especially in that he acknowledges that they’re not the intended takeaway. But I hope that my response will show that it’s not something actually reflected by the source material, and that the Jedi are not actually a cult, even setting aside creator intentions.

Disclaimer – I’m not familiar with this video-creator’s other work, but from what’s said in the video, it does seem that this isn’t his usual kind of material, and that he intended this as “lighthearted” video. With that in mind, its lack of robustness and misinformation is forgivable – this response is mostly meant as something for me (or you, if you want) to point to the next time someone brings this video up to support their position, not as a criticism of this video-creator or his work in general. If you choose to engage with the video directly, please be kind.

He begins his arguments by claiming that the Jedi erase people’s identities by having them block their emotions completely - this isn't true; what we see the Jedi say is "be mindful of your feelings" (Mace Windu, TPM), and "don't let your personal feelings get in the way" (Obi-Wan, AOTC), and "don't let your feelings cloud your judgement" (several times). All of that requires acknowledgment of one's emotions and dealing with them appropriately.

He then claims that those who leave are shunned - this is again, blatantly untrue. For instance, at the beginning of AOTC, Dooku is still spoken of highly long after he has left the Order - the Jedi are reluctant to even entertain the idea that he could be behind the attack on Padmé. The Sith are for one thing, not necessarily ex-members of the Order, and for another, they’re "shunned" because they're going around torturing and murdering people, not because of heretical views on the Force. We see in TCW that the Jedi Order co-exists peacefully with other Force traditions, even dark-sided ones like the Nightsisters.

Another claim he makes is "There aren't any checks and balances for the Jedi Council", which is again, untrue - the Jedi are accountable to the Senate, and, if anything, that arrangement is skewed in favor of the Senate, because the Senate is not truly accountable in turn. The Jedi Council is ultimately pressured into decisions against its will, especially as the war goes on – most notably, Anakin’s appointment to the Council in ROTS.

He is critical of the Jedi taking in children, but the same can be said of any adoption - simply taking in children is not, in of itself, cult behavior, or else every adoptive family is a cult. The approach the author of this video takes to this category is too broad and does not adequately establish how to distinguish cults preying on children from healthy child-rearing.

He then claims that Jedi are expected to obey unquestioningly – but I disagree that this is evidenced in the source material. The Jedi are expected to respect their elders but we don't see harsh punishment for disobedience or dissent, merely disapproval. For instance, the most trouble Qui-Gon, as a noted maverick, gets is some exasperated side-eye. Similar to the previous claim, the approach the author takes is too broad and doesn’t distinguish a cult’s expectation of obedience from a parent’s expectation of obedience.

He claims that the Jedi control clothing and hairstyle - this is misleading at best. While the padawans all are expected to wear the braid, the hairstyle isn't set beyond that (many species don’t even have hair!), and even with the Jedi sporting a traditional outfit, we see their robes and tunics come in many different shades and colors. Some forgo the traditional robes all together, such as Ahsoka Tano, Luminara Unduli, Aayla Secura, some of them even wearing the ornamentation of their homeworld cultures on top of that (again, Ahsoka, Luminara, and Barriss Offee, and Depa Billaba, and Shaak Ti...).

Sith are, again, not ex-members as the video-author implies, and again, the issue with them is the torturing and murdering and enslaving people, not simple philosophical differences. The Jedi are perfectly allowed to speak with outsiders and presumably critics of their Order; they just don’t want to let a bunch of genocidal despots have their way with the galaxy. The video also makes an unfair assumption that Jedi can't get information from outside sources; there is no evidence for this – in fact, we see in AOTC that Obi-Wan turns to an outside source when he can’t get the results he wants from the Temple droids, and even trusts that outside source over contradicting information coming from within the Temple’s information base (i.e., the existence of Kamino – he does not simply accept that Kamino doesn’t exist, he seeks further wisdom on the matter).

The video-author completely omits the fact that Palpatine is arrested not merely because of being "on the dark side", but because the man had orchestrated a war for his own sake and was attempting to turn the Republic into a dictatorship under his control. That is a very good reason to arrest someone.

Regarding the good versus evil section - first of all, the Jedi in the first six films never once refer to "the light side". Not once. I don’t recall if it came up in TCW (aside from the beings on Mortis, but they are not Jedi), either. Luke does refer to the "good side" in the OT but his teachers don't call it that. This point also goes against the visual metaphors that Lucas makes use of: “Color plays an extremely important part. The bad guys exist mostly in a black and white world; the good guys live in an organic world of browns and greens. Philosophically the bad guys live in an absolute world of black and white, where the good guys live in a more naturally nuanced world.” - George Lucas, the Making of ROTJ. The Jedi’s belief system is more nuanced than “this is good” and “this is bad”, and their rules and Code are not purely about morals.

The video goes back to the identity thing – but as I've already said, several Jedi are seen wearing the garments and ornamentation of their birth cultures. They also keep their birth names, and seem to value names highly given how they approach the clone troops under their command. Here’s a good post going into that even more.

The "Code" and swearing-in ceremonies he cites are not used in the films or TCW. I’m not sure where the swearing-in is sourced from, either, and the “Code” is a meditation mantra.

The things the Jedi say are not to stop complex thought – his example of Obi-Wan even at once point telling Anakin to “use the Force! Think!”, indicating that he would like for Anakin to think things through – he echoes this later in ROTS, trying to get Anakin to consider the Chancellor’s suspicious behavior. There’s also the fact that the way Yoda speaks is by George Lucas's own words, designed to get people thinking about what Yoda is saying.

Comparing meditation to hypnosis is...completely uncharitable.

And again with the emotions thing - at no point are any emotions labeled evil, nor do they avoid them - they are expected to be mindful (i.e. cognizant) of them, and to not let those emotions rule their actions. There is nothing to indicate that their teachings are the most uncharitable and extreme interpretation you can take from their words (as this video does) instead of a reasonable and healthy approach to self-control that is actually valuable psychologically.

His final claims repeat the earlier claim of “shunning” - again, there is no evidence for this behavior towards non-believers, especially as we see them having friends outside the Order. And at no point does anyone say that there is no happiness outside of the Order.

I hope I addressed all his points and sufficiently explained why they don’t match up with what we see in the source material. If you want further reading on how the Jedi actually function, with robust sources, I recommend checking out @gffa’s reference guide for the current continuity. There is also my “in defense of the jedi” tag, which collects my and others’ meta posts on the Jedi, their philosophies, and actions.