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slaaverin · 5 months ago

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I came across an old post the other day, about the nature of Jikooks relationship, this post was circa April 2018. The op said they thought Jikook had a special relationship (baring in mind this is after GCFT), but that they did not know if it was 'romantic' in nature. The post I was reading though, was about JM himself, and how he is a flirt. To summarise the view of the op - he is just that, a flirt, flirts with anyone, but this is not necessarily romantic either, just his nature, and the way he communicates/puts people at ease. To be fair, it kinda made sense what op was saying - ba I think we all know, JM loves to be loved, and loves to give love. Op then added on the end that bs of JM's endless 'flirting with everyone and anyone he encounters, it is hard to know when he might have a different interest in someone (I think they were truly referring to the members here, and ships).

However, what struck me reading it, is that, if that is the case, if that is how op/and others see JM, how is he ever meant to show romantic interest in someone? If he is only seen as an endless flirt, and reduced to that, how could someone differentiate between platonic/harmless" flirting and ‘romantic flirting'. It made me feel quite indignant about how JM himself might perceive that.

I say this also because if op decided that in their eyes jikook have a special relationship, but one which might not be romantic in nature. Because their own personal relationship is like that… typical lmao. But using jikooks bond as an example - how would one then decide whether it was indeed 'romantic?

So, if we think about jikook up until mid-2018 - and all the things they actually did up to, and during that time, that make their bond stand out - what more could anyone want? We're talking about, as I said above, post GCFT, post BV3 (filming at least, b I can't remember the dates), etc, etc.

And this got me to thinking what it would be like to actually date one of these boys. especially Jikook.

How in the world is one meant to think that JM is into you, if all he does is flirt with others? How would you feel special? How would you navigate a relationship with JM/JK, when they seem hell bent on dedicating time solely to each other. Would said person not feel left out, upset/angry? If I was with JM or JK in 2023 for example, and said bf decided to hop on a plane and fly 15 hours to go see his bft whom he had drifted from apparently, and film a show where they ended up in bed cosy and slapping ass, and then travelled again, and again, lastly to romantic and snowy Sapporo. I mean my bags would be packed sooner than you can say boo to a goose.

Or, hypothetically, even as a prospective future partner, even googling content like that would probably spike jealously in even the sanest person - because logically how would one ever feel comfortable letting them be around the other? What kind of sane person would put up with that? Where is the self respect! I mean that seriously.

Because to me, all these boys have ever done (esp in recent years) is single themselves out as something, and I would eat my own arm if that something is not 'romantic' in nature, because otherwise what is the point, truly. BTS are the biggest band in the wsrld, they do not need to do FS, they do not need to make up elaborate lies to sell themselves. Nothing about likeeks relationship actually sells with the fandom at large anyway, lets be honest, so there is no need for them to do what they do. Unless that is, they want to, and they cannot help it.

Objectively then, since ops post was mid 2018, 7 years has all but passed. We have had many, many ‘moments' that stand out, we all know them, I won't list them. Then we come to 2023, and we have the show, and the enlistment. I did wonder for a brief second what op might think about that, since they stopped posting in 2019, but then I thought, who cares, because honestly, to me, that sort of narrative is tired, and then some.

Jikook have singled themselves out as a duo to be reckoned with, in the charts and in life, and contrary to what those with views like op think, they have done that with purpose. Again, they didn't have to, they chose to, and to me that means something. I am not talking about how Hebi and JM have a really close relationship that the fandom acknowledges, or that vain are 'soul mates', or JK and Jin are close, or JK fell in love with Joon's thighs and has a man crush on him. This is different, markedly so.

But going back to JM and his 'flirty' personality, is it me or does JM do less of this in recent years? He was an extraordinary performer in LYS/SY era, he really did have an outgoing flirty persona on and off stage, but the JM of 2023 at least, did not ts me. He seemed shy, reserved, giggly sometimes, but also not always, by the latter half of 2023, more assure of himself. For example, he treated Sophia with upmost respect, he didn't flirt imo. His female dancers too, although solos go gah gal over their ‘interactions' (be they are hetro losers) he was literally just being professional. I call this maturity, and him coming into his own. Him letting some of that overriding need to be loved, or to be loud go, almost. If that makes sense?

This brings me to another thing the op said in a different post, but linked to the original, in that JM the flirt king' was simply that with JK at the start, just flirty and not in a romantic interest kind of way, and that JK (a baby gay), confronted JM about this eventually, said he likes him, and that JM replied with '1 don't like boys like that'. So not only did OP in their 'wisdom' confine JM to a flirt, but also a queer baiter of sorts? And that JK is happy with that because at least he gets JMs attention...I mean what the heck is that?!! The OP said it would not surprise them at all because JM flirts with anyone, that he is indeed straight. Well, I guess we do not know, but since said post, the portfolio was released, and I will leave that up to others interpretation. But I will say, to me JM has shown us part of who he is, and he is not a queer baiter like op suggests.

All this to say, that my overriding thoughts when reading opinions like that of op, or even recent ones of some of his solos, is that everyone pigeonholes JM into what they want him to be, maybe that is because he is an Idol, it's the job description, but he is so much more than that, much more human and much more nuanced. I mean what would such as op think a 'romantic' relationship looks like - the sheer love that excludes from these two, the way they look at so, the way JK sucked JMs ear in front of thousands, a romantic travel video with a love song bought for exclusive use, the sheer devotion you see from them, the domesticity, the companionship, they are the best of friends, the support they give, the laughter, the quiet moments, the commitment they showed when enlisting together, travelling together? What more could they do honestly?

As I said above, I wouldn't want to be in a relationship with either one of them, given how they are with each other... that would be a hell no from me.

Anon, this is a lot to unpack.

(I want to preface and for reference for future posts, that I am an INFJ, so I can be somewhat analytical but I function and communicate primarly with emotions and intuition, so I can only convey my feelings to you, and it is very unlikely I will bombard you with any type of facts, dates ect. Due to my spiritual journey many memories from the past are also erased as soon as they enter my mind, due to focusing mainly on the present moment. So I usually can't tell you "yes but this happened at that moment!", the only thing I can truly say is my feelings about a situation, and the perceptions I had/have of it because from the memories that's the only thing that truly stays with me. Just so you know this is a particular way of answering asks and it is not my intention to stay vague but this is how I usually communicate. I'm ok at conveying feelings but that's about it lol so bear with me)

Look, I kinda hate this "Jimin is a flirt" narrative going on, even back then.

You know why? Because people take a statement such as this, and you know what they do with it? They make a generalization out of it, they reduce Jimin to it, they try to label him, and put him in a tiny box, which IS NOT how real people function. Jimin is a real complex human.

Did Jimin flirt? Yes. Sometimes more, sometimes less. Did he always do it? No. But the most important thing is HOW he flirted with everyone in contrast to Jungkook.

Because this OP reducing him to an endless flirt who couldn't tell when he had romantic feelings, it is just a load of crap to me.

There always has been A HUGE difference in how he flirts with other people vs Jungkook, and you have to be a fool not to notice.

With other people it's playful, it's cute, it's harmless, it's just for fun, IT HAS NO WEIGHT.

But with Jungkook? Cheesh it's a different story entirely.

I will put it simply: with Jungkook, Jimin cares. It is not for fun. It can be playful, but there is a tension, there is a weight, their is a different level of emotion that comes out from Jimin. It's in the body language, it's in the voice, I don't even know how to explain this, you just see it on his face, and feel it. It shows. And I know it is stupidly vague and subjective.

But even back in the beginning, when Jimin had a crush on Jungkook and was bodly showing it. Your OP might say it was all for fun, he was teasing, which he was. But behind the laughters there were repeated actions and words, their was a fucking intent behind all of this, and you can't tell me this intent this OP could not feel it.

The intent, the crush, the desire, the love, however how innocent it was presented, was real. It was real. It was Jimin's true feelings.

The difference is that when Jimin flirts with Jungkook vs other members or anyone, there are always a depth of feelings behind that flirting. Which he doesn't show with anyone else. How can people not pick up on this?

With Jungkook there is more. It's not all fun&games, in truth it looks quite serious at times, like this has an affect&effect on a private level we know nothing about.

With other people Jimin doesn't care and he does what he does because he wants to. I've never seen this side of him being immature in any way, but more of him being his loving self. It was harmless after all.

(Except with Jungkook)

Because I need to remind that he has never done the things he did with Jungkook with ANY OTHER MEMBER or anyone for that matter! Once again this is not the same levels of flirtations!

Jimin has never been a queerbaiter, he hates fanservice, so the only logical explanation is that his feelings have been true from the start. Even if on stage he has a persona, he often shakes his head when other members do fanservice, he disapproves. Why? Because the moments he has with Jungkook, they are real, the other stuff are not.

The moments with Jungkook have nothing to do with his persona, it's specifically for jungkook & their relationship, it's playing in front of millions but it's not about us at all, it's their own private moment that we just happen to witness, because their relationship is an alive ongoing thing that doesn't stop and continues with every one of their interactions, whether on stage, backstage, in interviews, in reality shows. They are constantly living it and it is ever enfolding. They are not gonna suddenly stop just because we happen to see it.

That's why they also have been so open about it, in a way they don't have much of a choice.

Unfortunately I think over time, circumstances of fame hardened Jimin in a way, he is more private now, more closed-off.

In recent years I have very few memories of him flirting with anyone but Jungkook. He has been nothing but polite and professional and caring with everyone he meets.

So the "Jimin is an endless flirt" doesn't sit right with me at all. He CAN flirt he HAS flirted but not all the time and he did it especially with Jungkook more than everyone else since debut.

Isn't that good indication whom he has romantic feelings for? If that's not enough idk what people want.

I wish people would stop reducing the members to cartoon cliché unidimensional characters they made up in their heads because that's not how humans work. They are not "just this" or "just that", they are layered and changeable and ever evolving. Do you know how complex we are as beings? Anyway.

So no, even when Jimin flirted, I never ever saw him as "nothing but a flirt" in my mind. That's not true, and it doesn't feel right to think it. Because I don't know him intimately enough to pass any kind of judgement like this. One of my favorite saying is "To define is to limit" so I tend to not do this with other people. Because once you made a definitive statement like this it opens the door to any kind of shortcuts, easy and lazy pathways to try to comprehend someone. But people are not easy to understand, and most people don't even understand themselves that well. So please, can we not do that? It's not that simple.

I agree with you. I couldn't date any of them with the other in the picture (I mean I couldn't date any of them period lmao). But yeah how can any other bond compare to jikook's bond, anything else would pale in comparison, they have more than 10 years behind them, bonding life experiences they won't be able to find with anybody else, a connexion so deep and fluid and easy and loving, how can you compete with this?

Since they met I don't believe there has been anyone else serious.

Idk, am I crazy? Does this post makes any sense to you? Am I the only one understanding it this way?

Anyway anon thank you for sharing this reading of yours which was like?? Weird but ok

Feel free to send me your thoughts anytime I will gladly read them 💜 and answer when I can

Take care 🥰

#jikook #kookmin #jimin #jungkook #ask

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lilithofpenandbook · 7 months ago

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you mentioned lucius malfoy/james potter parallels in the tags of a post... would you be interested in elaborating? 👀

Gladly!

This is more of a vibes thing, really, and a sort of train of thought based from the original message of Lucius Malfoy (or that I took from him anyway).

You don't need to be a good person to love someone.

James Potter was, objectively speaking, not a good person. His entire school life was spent in him bullying people and hexing them if he didn't like them, and it's on official record that he used an illegal hex to swell someone's head up to twice its size (along with Sirius Black). The more you look into him, the worse he looks. Unlike Sirius, who was just as bad if not worse (see: werewolf prank. At least James drew the line with death... which shouldn't even be the bare minimum, dear goodness), James does not have the claim of 'childhood trauma' (even Sirius' claim of childhood trauma may not be as severe as fandom likes to believe) to explain why he's so horrible and give him any sympathy, as oppossed to Severus, who's so traumatised that practically all his characteristics are trauma responses at this point. James had everything he wanted, yet still chose to be a horrible person. His 'maturing' means nothing too, as that's entirely inaction, deciding not to be an arse. Not very difficult for him, you see. And considering the way Sirius was behaving in his mid thirties, especially regarding Severus Snape, and how the two are paired by the narrative, and written as very similar to each other, I do believe James's 'maturity' was limited to him just not actively hexing people (especially regarding Severus, Sirius outright admitted Severus was a 'special case').

Along with the 'not a good person' part, the other thing that aligns James with Lucius is him mirroring Draco. This has been mentioned by many people before, but to summarise, James mirrors Draco almost word for word in his first meeting with Severus and Lily. Insulting Slytherin, with an 'I would rather leave', just like how Draco said 'I would rather leave' about Hufflepuff. There's also them bullying the poor kid (Draco insulted and belittled Ron, and James did the same to Severus) while the other kid stood up to them (Lily stood up to James, Harry stood up to Draco). Both these scenes mirror each other so well they cannot be coincidental- James is intended to be seen as another version of Draco . These mirroring scenes are supposed to establish that without having to go into far too much detail about James.

Okay, so we have James canonically being an awful person, and James canonically being a mirror of Draco. But that's Draco Malfoy. Why then, do I think that Lucius as a parent is what James would have been as a parent, where their parallels come in?

It's in Lucius's message. You can be an awful person yet a loving parent. And while I am firm on the fact that James Potter was an awful person, and I rather obviously do not like him, I also acknowledge the fact that he did love people. He did, after all, welcome Sirius into his home at the age of 16 and was his safe space, and he and the others did become anamagi for Remus (however I can't be sure on how entirely selfless that was, I rather suspect they realised how much mischief they could get into and how much fun it would be for them to run about with a werewolf), and although he was apparently sneaking out when he should have been in hiding with his wife and baby, I don't doubt that he did love them, and I don't doubt that he truly was in love with Lily (even if his methods of courtship were from questionable to downright harrassment and creepy at points). So here we have James Potter, awful person who did love people, a lot like Lucius. That's how I thought of the parallel, as they essentially have that same message of how awful people can still have geniune love for their family.

And I do think if James raised Harry, he would have been a parent like Lucius- or to be more accurate, Harry would have grown up to be like Draco, who is undoubtably the result of Lucius and Narcissa's parenting. And no, I'm not talking about the obvious closeness between Draco and Lucius (although that would also be true) where Draco was comfortable enough to tell his father everything and Voldemort, despite not understanding love, knew that using Draco would hurt Lucius.

What I'm talking about is the arrogance. The entitlement. The way Draco does bad things to people he doesn't like. The spoilt bratty behaviour. That is what the parallels are between Lucius and James. James Potter would have completely spoilt Harry, just like Lucius spoilt Draco. There's also the impression Severus has of Harry; he thinks he's reckless, arrogant, and spoilt, based on what James was like. Again, to me that suggests that James would have raised Harry to be like himself, which is a lot like Draco, who is a result of Lucius's parenting.

So, yes, I do believe Lucius could be what James Potter would have grown up to be as a father, especially in how their sons were raised, with the exception of the blood-purist beliefs. Of couse, James as a person is also a lot like Sirius, but then again perhaps Sirius and Lucius aren't entirely unlike either. They are the same type of people, after all, raised in the same environment, and Sirius's proud pro-muggle beliefs mean nothing when you look at his action. And both Lucius and James do embody the same thing: awful people can be loving parents. Sirius, in a way, does also embody this however he also shows that love isn't enough. Specifically, love isn't enough to be a good parent. It's undenaible that he loved Harry. However that didn't always mean he was the best to Harry (I'd argue he was cruel at times and Harry had to be the adult in that relationship- if Sirius had raised Harry, Harry would have been parentified in my opinion at a very young age- but that's a whole other can of worms, haha). Both love and selfishness can exist, and Sirius was selfish more than not, and love isn't enough to make you a good parent. Nor is being a good person enough to guarantee you're a good parent, as we see from Molly, who loved her kids dearly and was incredibly kind to Harry however she didn't always make the best choices for her children.

And neither is being an awful person a bar to being a loving parent.

But a loving parent is also necessarily being a good parent is debatable too. Considering Draco was still arrogant and bullied other people and looked down on muggleborns, perhaps once again love isn't enough to be a good parent for entirely different reasons than Sirius's love not being enough to make him a good parent.

#lucius malfoy #james potter #james potter critical #anti james potter #<- not especially but he doesn't look good here haha so just to be safe #harry potter #draco malfoy #answered ask #the sort-of contradictions these characters embody make me so feral!

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eueuphoriaz · 1 year ago

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Levi's Heart (Part 3)

I realised doing this analysis is slicing my heart over and over again. Just have to get it out so I can move on with life.

So, in Chap 139, we have Levi, having a monologue at the end of the war with the vets before they fade away.

Hange's importance in this scene is already mentioned here.

But I want to link back to the Hearts, and why it mattered that the word is placed directly over Hange.

No Regrets- Levi's understanding of Hearts is a very personal and emotional one. He does not talk about it, mention anything about dedicating hearts because it is something he does not want to have an attachment to

Chap 132- His first and only time, saying Dedicate your heart to Hange. In a life and death farewell situation, he finally allowed his deepest emotions and feelings be expressed out.

Chap 136- His monologue when the Alliance is able to have a goal on what to do with the Rumbling. What else is left of him- Kill Zeke. At the last moments, he thought about his strength, his purpose, he connections with the Survey Corps and the meaning of dedicating hearts had left of him.

Chap 139- his last monologue is simple.

He summarised the result of the Survey Corps dedication of their hearts. I feel that it is a closure to his monologue in Chap 136, that their sacrifices are worth it. But the personal emotion that he had declared his dedication to, the one and only time he said to dedicate your heart, is only reserved for Hange.

Also, I just want to think about his salute here. He had saluted with his right hand towards the Survey Corps. He had saluted with his left hand with Hange's heart in possession in 132.

Caution: some talk about spirituality here.

In my own training in tarot reading, my teacher had told me to use the left hand to take and read the cards because the left hand is supposedly the intuitive hand. Some people also say that the left hand is the receiving hand, while the right hand is the giving hand.

-----------------------

Whatever it is, Levi has Hange's heart in his left and dedicating his heart to the Survey Corps with his right. So I think that the placement of the whole Hearts above Hange, makes it complete for Levi, completing the idea of sacrifices and dedication, but not without emotional sacrifices on his part.

And because he has dedicated his heart emotionally to Hange, the emotional pain he felt as the story comes to an end is still there. The draft for Levi's last panel was supposed to talk about the pain. But that was changed in the manga eventually.

---------------------------

Another sidetrack

I am always curious why Moblit is in this panel. Because he had almost zero connection or interaction with Levi at all in the story. Definitely lesser connection/ interaction than Miche.

Probably it is because Hange has to be in the center of this view and Moblit cannot be far from her. If there is anyone else, other than Hange, that had to occupy the center position, i guess the composition could always be arranged differently.

Also an interesting thought. I like how Sasha just appeared in front of Connie and Jean at the final farewell too. It shows that the "ghosts" can decide who they want to appear in front of. So, does it mean that Hange, in her haste to check on Levi, "rushed" to the front, and poor Moblit is behind her to ensure she is not reckless? And her look of concern when they met with Levi, and when Levi also focused her as the center in his perspective.

Levi's Heart [Part 1][Part 1.5][Part 2][Part 2.5][Part 3]

#aot #attack on titan #hange zoe #shingeki no kyojin #snk #levi ackerman #levihan #manga analysis #levihan analysis #hange analysis

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y1naho · 1 year ago

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Edogawa Ranpo- Puer Aeternus

I was just doing random stuff at 4:36 am when I came across this thing called Puer Aeternus during a psychology knowledge hunt and figured it really suited Ranpo.

Puer Aeterus, more commonly known as Peter Pan Syndrome, is a popular psychological expression describing people who find it difficult to grow up. Puer Aeterus means 'eternal boy/child' and came from the mythology of a god who is eternally young, as you can tell by the name.

Before I dive into my analysis, there were qualities of men with Puer Aueterus I found that I thought really described Ranpo. They are usually very attractive and influential, want freedom in their actions and live in their fantasies. Most of the time, the reason they dislike, or refuse to accept, the idea of growing up is to not be like 'boring adults' like how they should be. That's pretty Ranpo, right? There was also a description of them being immature, impatient and usually cannot bear the consequences of their own actions.

One of the symptoms of Puer Aueterus was seeing the world differently from others. With the 'elephant snake' scene of Little Prince as an example, we could see how an adult and a child see things differently, with the child showing more creativity and imagination. The further explanation is that Ranpo does not want to be living in the same way as boring adults, and therefore remains a childish personality. And Ranpo constantly sees the world differently from others emphasising his symptoms of Puer Aueterus.

Some other symptoms of Peur Aueterus also include fear of challenges that they couldn't solve, being dependent and being attached and dependent on a close person. (That is clearly Fukuzawa) They really suited Ranpo, so it is almost certain he has Peur Aueterus.

People with Peur Aueterus also have trouble with relationships, and common issues were abandoning close relationships to salvage dying ones. This is only worth a little mention, for it does not really affect Ranpo.

So to summarise, Peur Aueterus is basically describing people who:

~Refuse to grow up and prefer to live in a more imaginative way (Ranpo Season 1 to Season 5)

~Constantly dependent and have trouble with attachment issues (Fukuzawa and Ranpo's relationship)

~Scared of the consequences of their actions (Not scared, but Ranpo really shows how the consequence of his actions affect him)

~Troubles with relationships and feelings (Ranpo was at first reluctant to save Atsushi in Season 1)

Personally, I thought that really suited Ranpo. But just as a clarification, this is just my own analysis and research and I am not an expert in Psychology. So think of this as some sort of reference and don't completely rely on this post. Also, Peur Aueterus isn't a mental illness/disability, it's just a psychological trait found in some people.

#bsd #bsd ranpo #ranpo edogawa bsd #ranpo #character analysis #bsd analysis #ranpo and fukuzawa #puer aueterus #peter pan syndrome #ranpo character analysis

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dailyanarchistposts · 1 year ago

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Section G — Is individualist anarchism capitalistic?

The short answer is, no, it is not. While a diverse tendency, the individualist anarchists were opposed to the exploitation of labour, all forms of non-labour income (such as profits, interest and rent) as well as capitalist property rights (particularly in land). While aiming for a free market system, they considered laissez-faire capitalism to be based on various kinds of state enforced class monopoly which ensured that labour was subjected to rule, domination and exploitation by capital. As such it is deeply anti-capitalist and many individualist anarchists, including its leading figure Benjamin Tucker, explicitly called themselves socialists (indeed, Tucker often referred to his theory as “Anarchistic-Socialism”).

So, in this section of our anarchist FAQ we indicate why the individualist anarchists cannot be classified as “ancestors” of the bogus libertarians of the “anarcho”-capitalist school. Rather, they must be classified as libertarian socialists due to their opposition to exploitation, critique of capitalist property rights and concern for equality, albeit being on the liberal wing of anarchist thought. Moreover, while all wanted to have an economy in which all incomes were based on labour, many also opposed wage labour, i.e. the situation where one person sells their labour to another rather than the product of that labour (a position which, we argue, their ideas logically imply). So while some of their ideas do overlap with those of the “anarcho”-capitalist school they are not capitalistic, no more than the overlap between their ideas and anarcho-communism makes them communistic.

In this context, the creation of “anarcho”-capitalism may be regarded as yet another tactic by capitalists to reinforce the public’s perception that there are no viable alternatives to capitalism, i.e. by claiming that “even anarchism implies capitalism.” In order to justify this claim, they have searched the history of anarchism in an effort to find some thread in the movement that can be used for this purpose. They think that with the individualist anarchists they have found such a thread. However, such an appropriation requires the systematic ignoring or dismissal of key aspects of individualist-anarchism (which, of course, the right-“libertarian” does). Somewhat ironically, this attempt by right-“libertarians” to exclude individualist anarchism from socialism parallels an earlier attempt by state socialists to do the same. Tucker furiously refuted such attempts in an article entitled “Socialism and the Lexicographers”, arguing that “the Anarchistic Socialists are not to be stripped of one half of their title by the mere dictum of the last lexicographer.” [Instead of a Book, p. 365]

Nevertheless, in the individualists we find anarchism coming closest to “classical” liberalism and being influenced by the ideas of Herbert Spencer, a forefather of “libertarian” capitalism (of the minimal state variety). As Kropotkin summarised, their ideas were “a combination of those of Proudhon with those of Herbert Spencer.” [Anarchism, p. 296] What the “anarcho”-capitalist is trying to is to ignore Proudhon’s influence (i.e. the socialist aspect of their theories) which just leaves Spencer, who was a right-wing liberal. To reduce individualist anarchism so is to destroy what makes it a unique political theory and movement. While both Kropotkin and Tucker praised Spencer as a synthetic philosopher and social scientist, they were both painfully aware of the limitations in his socio-political ideas. Tucker considered his attacks on all forms of socialism (including Proudhon) as authoritarian as being, at best, misinformed or, at worse, dishonest. He also recognised the apologetic and limited nature of his attacks on state intervention, noting that “amid his multitudinous illustrations … of the evils of legislation, he in every instance cites some law passed ostensibly at least to protect labour, alleviating suffering, or promote the people’s welfare. But never once does he call attention to the far more deadly and deep-seated evils growing out of the innumerable laws creating privilege and sustaining monopoly.” Unsurprisingly, he considered Spencer as a “champion of the capitalistic class.” [quoted by James J. Martin, Men Against the State, p. 240] As we will discuss in section G.3, it is likely that he would have drawn the same conclusion about “anarcho”-capitalism.

This does not mean that the majority thread within the anarchist movement is uncritical of individualist anarchism. Far from it! Social anarchists have argued that this influence of non-anarchist ideas means that while its “criticism of the State is very searching, and [its] defence of the rights of the individual very powerful,” like Spencer it “opens … the way for reconstituting under the heading of ‘defence’ all the functions of the State.” [Kropotkin, Op. Cit., p. 297] This flows, social anarchists argue, from the impact of liberal principles and led some individualist anarchists like Benjamin Tucker to support contract theory in the name of freedom, without being aware of the authoritarian social relationships that could be implied by it, as can be seen under capitalism (other individualist anarchists were more aware of this contradiction as we will see). Therefore, social anarchists tend to think of individualist anarchism as an inconsistent form of anarchism, one which could become consistent by simply logically applying its own principles (see section G.4). On their part, many individualist anarchists simply denied that social anarchists where anarchists, a position other anarchists refute (see section G.2). As such, this section can also be considered, in part, as a continuation of the discussion begun in section A.3.

Few thinkers are completely consistent. Given Tucker’s adamant anti-statism and anti-capitalism, it is likely that had he realised the authoritarian social relationships which contract theory tends to produce (and justify) when involving employing labour, he would have modified his views in such a way as to eliminate the contradiction (particularly as contracts involving wage labour directly contradicts his support for “occupancy and use”). It is understandable why he failed to do so, however, given the social context in which he lived and agitated. In Tucker’s America, self-employment was still a possibility on a wide scale (in fact, for much of the nineteenth century it was the dominant form of economic activity). His reforms were aimed at making it easier for workers to gain access to both land and machinery, so allowing wage workers to become independent farmers or artisans. Unsurprisingly, therefore, he viewed individualist anarchism as a society of workers, not one of capitalists and workers. Moreover, as we will argue in section G.4.1, his love for freedom and opposition to usury logically implies artisan and co-operative labour — people selling the products of their labour, as opposed to the labour itself — which itself implies self-management in production (and society in general), not authoritarianism within the workplace (this was the conclusion of Proudhon as well as Kropotkin). Nevertheless, it is this inconsistency — the non-anarchist aspect of individualist anarchism — which right “libertarians” like Murray Rothbard select and concentrate on, ignoring the anti-capitalist context in which this aspect of individualist thought exists within. As David Wieck pointed out:

“Out of the history of anarchist thought and action Rothbard has pulled forth a single thread, the thread of individualism, and defines that individualism in a way alien even to the spirit of a Max Stirner or a Benjamin Tucker, whose heritage I presume he would claim — to say nothing of how alien is his way to the spirit of Godwin, Proudhon, Bakunin, Kropotkin, Malatesta, and the historically anonymous persons who through their thoughts and action have tried to give anarchism a living meaning. Out of this thread Rothbard manufactures one more bourgeois ideology.” [Anarchist Justice, pp. 227–228]

It is with this in mind that we discuss the ideas of people like Tucker. As this section of the FAQ will indicate, even at its most liberal, individualist, extreme anarchism was fundamentally anti-capitalist. Any concepts which “anarcho”-capitalism imports from the individualist tradition ignore both the theoretical underpinnings of their ideas as well as the social context of self-employment and artisan production within which those concepts arose, thus turning them into something radically different from what was intended by their originators. As we discuss in section G.1.4 the social context in which individualist anarchism developed is essential to understanding both its politics and its limitations (“Anarchism in America is not a foreign importation but a product of the social conditions of this country and its historical traditions,” although it is “true that American anarchism was also influenced later by European ideas.” [Rudolf Rocker, Pioneers of American Freedom, p. 163]).

Saying that, it would be a mistake to suggest (as some writers have) that individualist anarchism can be viewed purely in American terms. While understanding the nature of American society and economy at the time is essential to understanding individualist anarchism, it would be false to imply that only individualist anarchism was the product of America conditions and subscribed to by Americans while social anarchism was imported from Europe by immigrants. After all, Albert and Lucy Parsons were both native-born Americans who became communist-anarchists while Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman only become anarchists once they had arrived in America. Native-born Voltairine de Cleyre moved from individualist to communist anarchism. Josiah Warren may have been born in Boston, but he developed his anarchism after his experiences in a experimental community set up by Welsh socialist Robert Owen (who, in turn, was inspired by William Godwin’s ideas). While Warren and Proudhon may have developed their ideas independently, American libertarians became aware of Proudhon and other European socialists as radical journals had correspondents in France during the 1848 revolution and partial translations of radical writings from Europe appeared as quickly as they could be transmitted and translated. Individualist anarchists like William Greene and Tucker were heavily influenced by the ideas of Proudhon and so imported aspects of European anarchism into American individualist anarchism while the likes of the French individualist E. Armand brought aspects of American anarchism into the European movement. Similarly, both Spooner and Greene had been members of the First International while individualist anarchists Joseph Labadie and Dyer Lum where organisers of the Knights of Labor union along with Albert and Lucy Parsons. Lum later joined the anarcho-communist inspired International Working People’s Association (IWPA) and edited its English language paper (the Alarm) when Parson was imprisoned awaiting execution. All forms of anarchism were, in other words, a combination of European and American influences, both in terms of ideas and in terms of social experiences and struggles, even organisations.

While red-baiting and cries of “Un-American” may incline some to stress the “native-born” aspect of individualist anarchism (particularly those seeking to appropriate that tendency for their own ends), both wings of the US movement had native-born and foreign members, aspects and influences (and, as Rocker noted, the “so-called white civilisation of [the American] continent is the work of European immigrants.” [Op. Cit., p. 163]). While both sides tended to denounce and attack the other (particularly after the Haymarket events), they had more in common than the likes of Benjamin Tucker and Johann Most would have been prepared to admit and each tendency, in its own way, reflected aspects of American society and the drastic transformation it was going through at the time. Moreover, it was changes in American society which lead to the steady rise of social anarchism and its eclipse of individualist anarchism from the 1880s onwards. While there has been a tendency to stress individualist tendency in accounts of American anarchism due to its unique characteristics, only those “without a background in anarchist history” would think “that the individualist anarchists were the larger segment of the anarchist movement in the U.S. at the time. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The collectivist branch of anarchism was much stronger among radicals and workers during the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century than the individualist brand. Before the Civil War, the opposite would be true.” [Greg Hall, Social Anarchism, no. 30, pp. 90–91]

By the 1880s, social anarchism had probably exceeded the size of the “home-grown” individualists in the United States. The IWPA had some five thousand members at its peak with perhaps three times as many supporters. [Paul Avrich, The Haymarket Tragedy, p. 83] Its journals had an aggregate circulation of over 30,000. [George Woodcock, Anarchism, p. 395] In contrast, the leading individualist newspaper Liberty “probably never had more than 600 to 1000 subscribers, but it was undoubtedly read by more than that.” [Charles H. Hamilton, “Introduction”, p. 1–19, Benjamin R. Tucker and the Champions of Liberty, Coughlin, Hamilton and Sullivan (eds.), p. 10] The repression after Haymarket took its toll and the progress of social anarchism was hindered for a decade. However, ”[b]y the turn of the century, the anarchist movement in America had become predominantly communist in orientation.” [Paul Avrich, Anarchist Voices, p. 5] As an added irony for those who stress the individualist nature of anarchism in America while dismissing social anarchism as a foreign import, the first American newspaper to use the name “An-archist” was published in Boston in 1881 by anarchists within the social revolutionary branch of the movement. [Paul Avrich, The Haymarket Tragedy, p. 57] Equally ironic, given the appropriation of the term by the American right, the first anarchist journal to use the term “libertarian” (La Libertaire, Journal du Mouvement Social) was published in New York between 1858 and 1861 by French communist-anarchist Joseph Déjacque. [Max Nettlau, A Short History of Anarchism, pp. 75–6]

All this is not to suggest that individualist anarchism does not have American roots nor that many of its ideas and visions were not significantly shaped by American social conditions and developments. Far from it! It is simply to stress that it did not develop in complete isolation of European anarchism during the latter half of the nineteenth century and that the social anarchism which overtook by the end of that century was also a product of American conditions (in this case, the transformation of a pre-capitalist society into a capitalist one). In other words, the rise of communist anarchism and the decline of individualist anarchism by the end of the nineteenth century reflected American society just as much as the development of the latter in the first place. Thus the rise of capitalism in America meant the rise of an anarchism more suitable to the social conditions and social relationships produced by that change. Unsurprisingly, therefore, individualist anarchism remains the minority trend in American anarchism to this day with such comrades as Joe Peacott (see his pamphlet Individualism Reconsidered), Kevin Carson (see his book Studies in Mutualist Political Economy) and Shawn Wilbur (who has painstakingly placed many rare early individualist and mutualist anarchist works onto the internet) keeping its ideas alive.

So like social anarchism, individualist anarchism developed as a response to the rise of capitalism and the transformation of American society this produced. As one academic put it, the “early anarchists, though staunchly individualistic, did not entertain a penchant for … capitalism. Rather, they saw themselves as socialists opposed to the state socialism of Karl Marx. The individualist anarchists saw no contradiction between their individualist stance and their rejection of capitalism.” She stresses that they were “fervent anti-capitalists” and thought that “workers created value through their labour, a value appropriated by owners of businesses … The individualist anarchists blamed capitalism for creating inhumane working conditions and for increasing inequalities of wealth. Their self-avowed ‘socialism’ was rooted in their firm belief in equality, material as well as legal.” This, however, did not stop her asserting that “contemporary anarcho-capitalists are descendants of nineteenth-century individualist anarchists such as Josiah Warren, Lysander Spooner, and Benjamin Tucker.” [Susan Love Brown, pp. 99–128, “The Free Market as Salvation from Government”, Meanings of the Market, James G. Carrier (ed.), p. 104, p. 107, p. 104 and p. 103] Trust an academic to ignore the question of how related are two theories which differ on such a key issue as whether to be anti-capitalist or not!

Needless to say, some “anarcho”-capitalists are well aware of the fact that individualist anarchists were extremely hostile to capitalism while supporting the “free market.” Unsurprisingly, they tend to downplay this opposition, often arguing that the anarchists who point out the anti-capitalist positions of the likes of Tucker and Spooner are quoting them out of context. The truth is different. In fact, it is the “anarcho”-capitalist who takes the ideas of the individualist anarchists from both the historical and theoretical context. This can be seen from the “anarcho”-capitalist dismissal of the individualist anarchists’ “bad” economics as well as the nature of the free society wanted by them.

It is possible, no doubt, to trawl through the many issues of, say, Liberty or the works of individualist anarchism to find a few comments which may be used to bolster a claim that anarchism need not imply socialism. However, a few scattered comments here and there are hardly a firm basis to ignore the vast bulk of anarchist theory and its history as a movement. This is particularly the case when applying this criteria consistently would mean that communist anarchism, for example, would be excommunicated from anarchism simply because of the opinions of some individualist anarchists. Equally, it may be possible to cobble together all the non-anarchist positions of individualist anarchists and so construct an ideology which justified wage labour, the land monopoly, usury, intellectual property rights, and so on but such an ideology would be nothing more than a mockery of individualist anarchism, distinctly at odds with its spirits and aims. It would only convince those ignorant of the anarchist tradition.

It is not a fitting tribute to the individualist anarchists that their ideas are today being associated with the capitalism that they so clearly despised and wished to abolish. As one modern day Individualist Anarchist argues:

“It is time that anarchists recognise the valuable contributions of .. . individualist anarchist theory and take advantage of its ideas. It would be both futile and criminal to leave it to the capitalist libertarians, whose claims on Tucker and the others can be made only by ignoring the violent opposition they had to capitalist exploitation and monopolistic ‘free enterprise’ supported by the state.” [J.W. Baker, “Native American Anarchism,” pp. 43–62, The Raven, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 61–2]

We hope that this section of the FAQ will go some way to explaining the ideas and contributions of individualist anarchism to a new generation of rebels. Given the diversity of individualist anarchism, it is hard to generalise about it (some are closer to classical liberalism than others, for example, while a few embraced revolutionary means of change such as Dyer Lum). However, we will do our best to draw out the common themes of the movement, indicating where certain people differed from others. Similarly, there are distinct differences between European and American forms of mutualism, regardless of how often Tucker invoked Proudhon’s name to justify his own interpretations of anarchism and we will indicate these (these differences, we think, justify calling the American branch individualist anarchism rather than mutualism). We will also seek to show why social anarchism rejects individualist anarchism (and vice versa) as well as giving a critical evaluation of both positions. Given the diverse nature of individualist anarchism, we are sure that we will not cover all the positions and individuals associated with it but we hope to present enough to indicate why the likes of Tucker, Labadie, Yarros and Spooner deserve better than to be reduced to footnotes in books defending an even more extreme version of the capitalism they spent their lives fighting.

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estbela · 1 year ago

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pleaseeee elaborate on your robul marriage post bc i've been thinking about this concept all day....!!! i need a full length post 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

I'll try my best but I am terrible at explaining myself sometimes but I will for you anon!!! (and also because RoBul has been consuming my thoughts lately)

(Also this post is a mess and I probably got some info wrong i'm sorry)

First of all, before actually talking about RoBul I do need to mention the history behind the proposals!! So during the Middle Ages, you probably know that Bulgaria was an empire, twice! And At times, Wallachia & romanians(who were called vlachs at the time alongside probably othee ppl who were also called vlachs, which yes, makes it confusing to research.) were part of it. The guys who founded the second bulgarian empire (Asen & Peter) were also probably vlachs, so there was cooperation between the bulgarians & vlachs in the empire.

This was one of the reasonings for the union essentially, that bcs they worked together well in the past, they would also work well tovether now, and together be pretty strong. Bulgaria especially would have had a lot to gain through the union(it wasn't independent and had only recently gained some autonomy from the Ottoman Empire), which was the reason proposals mostly came from the bulgarian side.

Anyway yada yada yada all the proposals for the union were fruitless, because of a lot of factors, which could be basically summarised like this: Neighbouring countries didn't want this to happen, and both Bulgaria and Romania had different goals and plans, sometimes that contradicted eachoter.

But if somehow they had succeeded to unite, well, that's certainly an interesting scenario. And now I will mention the union of Moldavia & Wallachia, which would form Romania. You see, those two principalities weren't allowed to truly unite by the powers of Europe, but they had not said that the danubian principalities could not elect the same leader to form a personal union, which led to Romania.

During the reign of king Carol I, he had considered doing this, aka being elected by Bulgaria too, to form a union of this king, but this was strongly opposed by Russia & Austro-Hungary, so yeah. But if he had somehow done this & Austro-Hungary & Russia didn't like...attack...uhmm...Romano-Bulgaria (I GUESS???) immediately, I guess Robul would officially be married!! Let's say they unite in like the 1880s.

Which comes with a lot of questions, obviously, that I will gloss over and just focus on RoBul. Thing is, I think Ro & Bul have somewhat different opinions on marriage. I mean, I see Bul as being way more keen on the concept of marriage than Ro is, so like Ro isn't very into marriage I guess? I see him aa someone who really values his freedom and independence, and isn't very willing to tie himself down, thought he'll do it for someone he loves. And that someone is Bul in this scenario.

Honestly...I think at first it is alright. I think Ro would have more control thought, similar to Austro-Hungary in a way, since from what I read, it would have been a similar kind of union to this one. I think Bul would be fine with this tho, especially at the start. He trusts Ioan(my human name for Ro) and his judgement, and Ro would also seek his opinion on things. Ro is happy about having control on some stuff.

But they do clash, quite a lot. Their personalities and view on things and their friends are different. Serbia is Ro's friend...while him and Bulgaria often don't see eye to eye. Russia and Bulgaria as well...yeah. Ro does not like Ivan very much, and Tsvetan also has conflicted thoughts on him, but veers towards liking him.

And also!!! Unless Bulgaria somehow achieved independence, Romania qould go back to being a vassal. Which well, I doubt Ioan would be fond of that. Honestly, I cannot say if being an union would help Bul achieve independence sooner, but it is not that important I suppose.

Also the capital of such a state would probably be Bucharest, like how the capital of Austro-Hungary was Vienna.

And to continue, as time goes on, I do think all these factors, including the political and cultural differences do put on a strain on their relationship. I cannot say if they would even enter the Balkan Wars, but this would also be a reason for fighting between them. Romania tends towards being neutral and really thinking things through while Bulgaria does tend to act based on instict and feelings, so I can see them participating in the first balkan war, and when Bul does not get what was promised for him, I can see him wanting to start the second balkan war, while Ro is trying to stop him from doing so, because it would be pointless in his opinion (as he was less focused on Bul's goal to unite with Macedonia and more focused on Transylvania and Moldova, which was definitely something they argued about!)

But I think they do have good times, really. I mean, being together like when they were children (in the middle ages) is wonderful for both of them. I think they can be very sweet together, and being marriage would def appeal to them because of being almost always together.

And now I am gonna stop talking about alternate reality and focus on their relationship more(because I suck at alternate history). The thing is, as I already said, where Ioan thinks, Tsvetan feels. And I think they do appreciate eachoter for these qualities, but in the end when you have different opinions about a lpt of things it's very hard to be in a marriage, especially if this marriage holds the fate of a country. I think they'd try to pretend those problems aren' there, thought, until they eventually have to face them with no way to run away from them. Alrhough I see Tsve as more willing to talk about things, while Ioan wants to pretend nothing is wrong and is non-comfrontational unless he believes talking will help him.

So at the end, things are...bad. towards the first world war, their relationship is already standing on it's last leg, but WW1 in this reality is what kills it truly. They each become their own country, like Austro-Hungary, and just, not talk to eachoter for a long time.

Althought...there is another scenario, in which they unite in the communist era. So like, everything happens the way it did in actual history until the communist period, where somehow those 2 manage to unite. I guess they'd fight for different reasons then, as again Bul kinda likes Russia & Ro Does Not. They probably separate in the 90s.

Also in these scenarios RoBul 100% has a way more complicated weird relationship going on and they do make it other people's problem.

#just talking recreationally #hetalia #hws romania #bulgaria #aph #hws #robul #Asks

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sapphicriv · 2 years ago

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Welcome!

Hi! I'm Remi! I'm 20 and I decided to restart my queer tiktok account and with that decided to make a Tumblr account. I have a very complicated identity with a lot of uncommon labels that aren't very well known, so I'm going to explain them. Source links will be in my next post

Firstly, my pronouns, as well as they/them, I also use:

ae/aer/aer/aers/aerself

ve/vem/ver/vers/verself

ve/vem/ver/vers/vemself

shey/sher/sheir/sheirs/sheirself

shey/shem/sher/shers/sherself

shey/shem/sher/shers/shemself

shey/sher/sheir/sheirs/sheirself

xe/xem/xer/xers/xerself

xey/xem/xer/xers/xerself

xhey/xhem/xher/xhers/xherself

GENDER:

This is very much still a work in progress, but recently there've been some major developments. I started using xenogenders!

The xenos I currently use are:

messgender: a gender in which someone has almost no idea of what their gender could be, or keeps finding terms that almost fit, but not quite, causing them to jump from label to label. They can’t tell if their gender is fluid or not, how many genders they have, or if they have a gender at all.

keysmashgender: a xenogender that one can only describe through a keyboard smash, such as afkjbdfvbkxfd. It feels chaotic, confusing, and unable to be described by normal words.

chaosgender: a gender identity where one's gender does a lot of confusing things and doesn't make sense to anyone, even to the person themselves. It could be thought of as a very complex gender, a very fluid gender, a gender which is difficult to understand or a gender which is hard to describe in one word.

staticgender: like TV static; fuzzy and incomprehensible. This gender may feel complicated or confusing. It may also feel fluid and everchanging.

blurian: a xenogender identity where one's gender feels blurry. One knows that the gender exists. but cannot figure out what it is

(QUESTIONING) blurgender: a type of genderfluid where one doesn't know what gender they are, because all the genders they are fluid between blur together and become indistinguishable from one another. Someone who is blurgender sort of knows what genders they are fluid between, but cannot tell the gender they are feeling at the moment.

The non-xenos I use are:

(QUESTIONING) Abinary: refers to genders that are completely unrelated to maleness, masculinity, femaleness, or femininity, and is nowhere in between, being completely away from the binary, whilst still not always being genderless. Abinary genders may describe feeling any strength of gender whilst still being unrelated to the binary genders. The term abinary can be summarised as any gender that is unrelated to the binary.

Genderfade: a gender characterized by an individual's gender only being present when they are thinking about it, and their gender fades or melts away when they are not thinking about it.

aegogender: is the feeling of disconnection or separation of gender from an individual. This term can be combined with another gender, or it can be used on its own. My personal aegogender experiences are

Being genderless but having a vague or abstract connection to some gender.

Having a gender, but feeling disconnected or disassociated from it.

Quoigender:

a gender identity and umbrella term for those who do not fully understand, or want to define, their gender. My personal experiences with quoigender are:

Finding one's gender too confusing

One questioning their gender for so long that their questioning starts to become part of their identity

Not understanding gender at all

AROACE SPEC:

Aegosexual: a disconnection between oneself and a sexual target/object of arousal, I don't wanna get banned right off the bat, so I'm just gonna say I relate to all 3 points in the source

Bellusromantic: having interest in traditionally romantic things, such as kissing or cuddling, but not feeling romantic attraction, and not wanting a romantic relationship. A bellusromantic individual may enjoy or desire these activities in non-romantic contexts, but does not enjoy them in the context of a romantic relationship.

(QUESTIONING) Mutoicaro: a term for when my aromantic orientation changes in response to a situation. For me, I'm primarily bellusromantic, however, if I were to meet a cupioromantic person, and I wished to be in a relationship with said person, I would, this therefore means I am:

arofluid: when one is fluid between aro-spec orientations. for me this is bellus and cupio

cupioromantic: an individual who may desire a romantic relationship, but may experience no romantic attraction.l

Quoiaroace: being both quoiromantic and quoisexual, meaning I don't understand what romantic attraction nor sexual attraction is

I relate to the following experiences:

Being unsure if you experience romantic or sexual attraction or not

Being unable to understand romantic and sexual attraction as a concept or feeling

Being unable to pin down a clear understanding of romantic and sexual attraction, so being unable to say whether or not you experience it

Struggling with romanticism and sexuality because it feels too complicated

Alterous attraction: for me this is a middle ground between platonic and romantic attraction

Omnialterous: experiencing alterous attraction to all genders with a preference

And that's it!

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mirrorofliterature · 3 years ago

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Which hobbies do you think Percy would have? Like, drawing or painting. Or a very specific 'would totally read about art and fashion in the 18th century' kinda hobby.

I have not thought much about percy's hobbies before, rather than the vague, overarching things like 'he definitely likes reading'.

so some food for thought!

I like the specific example you have given - I think percy would do well with some sort of craft, such as sewing and knitting. he has great attention to detail and I think that his interests definitely fall outside the conventional - indeed, that's where a lot of the tension comes between him and his siblings - so I do like the headcanon that percy enjoys a craft of some sort, and (extrapolating from my own knowledge/interests) I think percy would enjoy historical reconstruction because he enjoys learning for the sake of learning and he's quite a patient bloke, really. [I don't do this myself, but I like fashion history, it's quite fascinating. check out bernadette banner or karolina zebrowska, for example].

other than that, I do think that percy likes watching quidditch (if not necessarily playing quidditch), particularly when oliver is playing. he also enjoys spending time with his loved ones, often quietly in a 'parallel play' sort of way, like spending mornings with oliver whilst oliver is watching a murder mystery or doing quidditch planning, that kind of thing.

I see percy as somewhat opposed to his siblings, in that he is an introvert, in that he shows his love differently, in that he is just different, plain and simple, both because I see him as autistic and simply as a result of his personality, which cannot be de-entangled from each other. autistic people cannot be de-entangled from their autism - it's just not how it works. anyway.

to summarise my thoughts shortly, after I went on a bit of a ramble:

what hobbies does percy weasley have? Personally, I think he enjoys:

Reading, mainly fiction, and different genres depending on his mood (mysteries and romances, particularly. percy is quite a romantic soul, really). I think percy would enjoy those kind of genres with predictable plot beats, where he knows what to expect, because it offers him stability. Percy is someone who likes order, and I think that translates loosely, if not always perfectly, into what he enjoys doing in his leisure time.

Crafting, particularly sewing. It gives Percy something practical to do with his hands, it gives him a goal to work towards, it's challenging and intellectually stimulating, it's something he can do whilst having a chat with a friend or watching a film.

Spending time with his loved ones (including watching Quidditch)

Visiting museums, art galleries, taking walks, being quiet, reflective.

In essence, I think Percy enjoys learning, and he enjoys exploring. He enjoys doing tasks he can do on his own schedule, things where he can just unwind and stop if he no longer wants to (and his friends are much more respective of percy's need to take time to himself than his family ever was).

well, that became long (and a slight perciver-y and weasley family critical, but that's a hazard of asking me for my opinion on percy weasley related things, I'm afraid). hope that answered your question!

#percy weasley #hp #weasley family critical #hp meta #of sorts #rambles #my headcanon #q&A

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radiosandrecordings · 4 years ago

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I am feeling... Strangely vindicated, by what Martin said this episode about how their whole relationship is just kind of built on a trauma bond. I think it’s always bugged me when people describe them as soulmates, because so much of jmart to me is that they’re not. As much as they love each other, that love is a choice. They don’t always click, they get on each other’s nerves and argue and don’t get each other’s jokes but they still love each other. Yes it’s as a product of their circumstances, but that love doesn’t make it any less real.

(Under the cut because oh lordy this one got long apparently)

I think to summarise my own feelings on it, I am legitimately going to have to quote a fanfiction here. One of the first TMA fics I read when it was still updating was Weaver, a superhero style Web!Martin au that I still recommend because it’s wonderful, if a little outdated plot and characterisation wise because it was posting two years ago. But a line that always stuck with me was (spoilers) in the chapter in which Spider-Martin gets de-masked and Jon finds out who he is (It’s also the love confession chapter. For obvious reasons.)

“If it were a different world, one where the Weaver didn’t exist, maybe Jon would never have fallen for Martin. But that isn’t the world they’re in. They’re in this one, and in this one, Jon has fallen for Martin. There’s no doubt about that.”

And I did not like this at the time! Because I was a little more naïve about romance at the time and I really felt that that took away from it instead of adding to it. I thought that Jon’s admittance that in a different timeline he wouldn’t have loved Martin was a sign of weakness, that because they weren’t ‘perfect soulmates’ then it was... I don’t know how to phrase it better than in meme format: “I’m going to get a bad grade in relationship, something that is both possible to achieve and normal to fear”. That even if they were entirely happy together that this was a flaw and meant it wasn’t the 100% run Perfect Storybook Romance I thought I wanted to read. Obviously since then I’ve realised that’s all bullshit and this is actually a lovely line because it’s stating that he does love him, here and now. And this is what canon reiterates to us in 199:

MARTIN: But we wouldn’t have, would we? Been together I mean. [....] Face it, John, it took almost two years of crisis and trauma to even make us compatible. And that sucks. But here we are. And I don’t want it to be for nothing. I won’t let it.

And I just... Love that Martin is aware of that. He’s never been under any illusions about his relationship with Jon. Of course we don’t know if it’s actually true because we don’t know these timelines, we cannot get a solid answer (Unless 200 REALLY pulls it out of the bag and shows us. After all, Martin did say “Their own Martin” when listing things that the other universes probably had). Jon doesn’t seem to like this idea, being confused at first, then rejecting that he hated Martin, and then trying to divert the topic, so maybe they would work, or at least Jon is looking back retrospectively and seeing ways he could have changed to make it so he was more aware of his feelings, but hindsight is 2020 and rose coloured glasses y’know.

Plus, Martin himself admits in 186 that he knows most of the reason Jon hated him was projection of his fear:

MARTIN: Hey, to be fair, he still kind of hated me back then. I’m really not sure it would have been the time to take my shot. ALSO MARTIN: Fair. He was projecting hard. Between us, that guy’s got some real issues. MARTIN: Hey! Pretty sure we love ‘that guy’. ALSO MARTIN: Yeah, and all his many, many problems.

So Martin here is already showing his “I am aware Jon hated me” cards, but Martin’s inner self is also going “Yeah, but also, he did have a reason”, which is odd since it makes it seem like the internal Martin, who was generally much more open and blunt about harsh truths that episode, is the one actually defending Jon.

So with Jon’s rejection of the sentiment, I don’t think we can take it as a definitive truth that they wouldn’t work in another timeline. I think it might just implicate they wouldn’t work in the dynamic they had before. Martin is right in that I don’t think that would have worked out without the layers of trauma bringing them together. Jon seems to think, though possibly through flawed hindsight, that they could have. Personally I’m interpreting it as they could work if, as Jon said, “If we had just... met. Been together, without all of this.”, ‘this’ entailing the institute as well, meeting as peers somewhere else without all of the weight of That bearing down on Jon, affecting him even in a mundane capacity before becoming a supernatural one.

I’m glad it’s in there though. The way I had described Jonmartin before is that they’re not soulmates, by any capacity. But, if you want to assign them a romantic trope of that type, red string of fate might just work. Because they don’t match, not perfectly, but they always had each other, and really, there was no doubt that they wouldn’t end up together in some capacity. And I like that it gives a layer of self-awareness to Martin! I am so glad for every line and interaction that kicks back against early season characterisation, or fanon misinterpretation, that he’s naïve or just a love interest. It gives him this really lovely bit of depth that he, the one who was always painted more as the lovestruck one than Jon “What Are Feelings” Sims, is the one hyperaware of their status to each other than Jon, who seems to want to convince himself that they were always meant to be, whether that statement is true or not.

#My Post #The Magnus Archives #Jonmartin #Martin Blackwood #Jonathan Sims #The Magnus Archives Spoilers

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sayruq · 4 years ago

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The ultimate main reason sayruq would never be able write anything near as great as ASOIAF of they tried.

As your mischaracterisation of Jaime, Robert and many others show; you cannot view anything unless it’s black or white: someone is apparently a solely villainous murderer and rapist or a perfectly good person who obeys by your morality. Can’t have any discussion about the fucked up and contrasting nature of humanity.

Rob is an asshole for not thinking as an emotional mother and as a general and king in a war, and placing the value of his enemy’s son and heir and their best fighter over two girls who can’t contribute to the war effort.

It’s funny how, for example, Jaime saying he’s catapult Edmure’s child into Riverrun, you take that at absolute face value with no hesitation when it’s clearly him using his reputation as Tywin’s heir to scare the fuck out of Edmure to stop the storming of the castle and therefore saving everyone’s life - Tullys and Lannisters - but as always, you see and hear what you want to see while discarding everything else. The sayruq school of analysis. (He’s still a “bad guy” for upholding the tyrannical Lannister regime, grow up, the whole monarchic system is tyrannical)

When any Dornish or POC character does something heinous, there’s always some fucking excuse no matter what. The leeway you give to anyone you like is hilarious.

You don’t have to like Daeron the Young Dragon, but I don’t think you even consider the magnitude of killing him under a piece banner. Not only was it dishonest, it meant that nobody ever has a reason to keep their word when negotiating with the Dornish ever again.

To summarise, sayruq, you are one of the most poor bloggers of the books, with your self-righteousness and disregard for the writer himself.

Either respect his work as it is or stop bringing it up and find something more for your sensibilities (though you’d probably have nothing to bitch about)

let me get this straight, you think

leaving your sisters at the mercy of a group of monsters because you think they're not valuable enough for a hostage exchange is fine even though other families are willing to do whatever it took to get their relatives back?

a boy king can ravage a kingdom, letting his soldiers commit massacres and mass rapes but a line must drawn at the dornish taking an opportunity to kill their oppressor before he continues the second round of war crimes?

jaime lannister trying to emulate his father, thinking that he can't make threats unless he was willing to carry them out, thinking that if brynden tully doesn't surrender he'll have to attack riverrun and kill the people inside going against his oath to catelyn is some sort of... heroic act or at the very least, a morally neutral act? that we shouldn't take anything he says or does seriously? that we shouldn't consider that the only reason he didn't actually do all of that is because edmure took jaime's threats at face value (as he should)?

that the lannisters aren't particularly evil even by feudal standards? that the entire series isn't a criticism of the feudal system? that just because the entire system is broken, we should be ok with war crimes and abuse or a brother letting his sister(s) down because he value their esteem of his male subjects too much?

buddy, if there's an award for 'guy who gets the source material the least' you would be the sole finalist. grrm is against war, every single male character you mentioned engaged in war and in the worst aspects of the feudalist patriarchy. if i'm criticising them, it's because i'm meant to criticise them. believe it or not, these books aren't an empty wasteland without themes, commentary, or morals like you think they are.

i thought i had a particularly low estimation of grrm's works but here you are, proudly admitting that you not only don't understand what the books are trying to say, you think you're somehow superior to me because i think there should be critical analysis of the things characters say and do, esp if the fanbase chooses to brush over every mistake in favour of blaming someone else, using a female character- like catelyn or sansa- or a character of colour - like the dornish.

asoiaf dudebros are just an embarrassing breed. go read lotr and stop bothering the rest of us- there's hardly any characters of colour in there and the author doesn't spend as much time thinking about the plight of women in feudal kingdoms. you should be fine.

#Anonymous #anti asoiaf fandom #asoiaf critical #song of ice and fire

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amphtaminedreams · 4 years ago

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Why Ethical Fashion Doesn’t Need to be Boring (In the Words of a Shopping Addict): Lookbook no.14

Hi to anyone reading,

Arghhhh.

I never know how to start posts when I literally just uploaded the other week because I tend to follow the very formulaic approach of summarising what I’ve missed due to sporadic posting…I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m still posting sporadically, it just so happens I’ve had more content to get up recently-sometimes lightning strikes twice, ya know, and I have a brief, if chemically fuelled, reprieve from the permanent state of exhaustion. It’s not like there isn’t stuff to talk about- the last month has seen a horrific murder and public outcry in response. There are a lot of important conversations going on about women’s safety and misogynistic violence that I really cannot do justice to in a paragraph and feelings that have been brewing for a long time that I can’t articulate yet and will not attempt to offhandedly do so in this post. Right now I just wanna say that I stand in solidarity with all those with histories of experiencing violence at the hands of men, those who aren’t here with us anymore as a result of that violence such as Sarah Everard, and those marginalised women whose stories don’t make national news. It’s very telling the way Sarah’s vigil was responded to by the same police force that have allowed mostly male anti-mask protests to go ahead with protestors unscathed, and solidarity with the women who were treated with such an unjustifiable amount of force at the vigil too.

That being said, women’s rights are something I wanted to talk about in this post, with regards to the way it ties into ethical fashion. None of us are perfect and it’s easy living in a first world country to detach yourself from the issues stemming from fast fashion, especially when you don’t have the time or money yourself to be selective about where you buy from. Don’t get me wrong, I do treat myself to some new clothes from fast fashion companies like ASOS and Urban Outfitters a few times a year so this is NOT coming from a place of preaching, but I have drastically reduced that to buying about 90% of my new clothes either second hand from Depop or charity shops or clothing stores that are upfront about their outsourcing practices. I love putting outfits together and updating my wardrobe and I don’t want to abandon that as a medium of self-expression because it does bring me joy, but to continue to update my wardrobe with the frequency I do by buying from fast fashion retailers on such a regular basis I accepted was going against the things I care about; around 80% of textile workers on poverty wages in developing countries are girls and women (opensocietyfoundations.org), and whilst fast fashion companies in the West continue to outsource manufacturing to said countries to cut costs and there is little regulation enforcing employers to pay women the same amount as men or even adhere to a minimum wage, they will continue to be forced into these roles where they are subjected to horrific working conditions, impossible production targets and frequent abuse (according to an article published in the Guardian in June 2018, 540 incidences of abuse, often of a sexual nature, were reported by women working in factories supplying the retailers GAP and H&M when they were interviewed on the subject). There is no denying that the fast fashion industry depends on and perpetuates the subjugation of women and systematically prevents them from making steps towards gender equality in their countries, be it through greater financial independence or the freedom to pursue higher education; the popular current practice by western fast fashion companies of outsourcing manufacturing to factories unhindered by workers rights and gender equality laws by association condones the sexual and physical violence that occurs as a means of punishment for not meeting targets, the exploitative pay which affords women little independence from husbands and families dominated by patriarchal values, and the long, exhausting hours which women have little choice but to take in order to avoid their contracts being terminated and to put food on the table. No, one individual completely abandoning fast fashion isn’t going to put an end to these unethical practices but if all of us make a conscious effort to reduce our consumption at least a little and make it clear why we’re doing so, we put greater pressure on fast fashion companies to act in a more responsible way. There isn’t going to be any kind of miraculous change of heart, so to force them to change we have to hit the industry and the people at the top who benefit from such practices where it really hurts: their profit.

SO, for this post I thought I would highlight some of my favourite more ethical online clothing companies to buy from; the more popular these more socially responsible brands become, the more apparent it becomes to fast fashion companies relying on an exploitative business model that how they treat their workers is of growing importance to consumers. It’s all very well and good Missguided and PLT talking about empowering women and making “girl boss” slogan tees but we need to make it clear that we’re aware of the hollowness of the gesture, and that we want less hypocritical talk and more action to actually enhance the lives of the women that work for them, not just the ones they show in their flashy offices on TV. I’ve included my favourite Depop shops too, because if you can shop second hand, that’s even better; though I like to treat myself to new clothes now and again, I’m aware that the impact the manufacturing process in general, whether or not the company acts in an ethical way with regards to their employment practices, has on the environment is more often than not detrimental. Depop has really been my saving grace this past year-if you know what you’re looking for and have the time and patience, you can find so many gems, and at this point the balance of my wardrobe is tipped firmly in the favour of the reuse and recycle approach to shopping. In the vein of reusing fashion, I thought I’d also include a mini lookbook for a cardigan I got from one of my favourite online retailers, The Ragged Priest, just as a reminder that 1). The best way to be sustainable is to rewear and 2). That with tweaks, one piece alone can give you multiple completely different outfits. Like honestly, outfit repeating doesn’t have to be a literal repeat. Sometimes it’s worth spending a little bit extra on something that looks good with everything, and making that investment into your ability to fool people that you’ve got your shit together by wearing something cool as fuck.

Quickly before I get into it, I’m aware that some ethical companies are a bit out of the average consumer’s price range, and so I wanted to sort them into price point categories which will work as follows:

£= most of their stock is £40 & under ££= most of their stock is between £40-£100 £££= most of their stock costs upwards of £100

Now, in no particular order (and starting with online retailers before moving onto Depop shops), here’s the list!

1. THE RAGGED PRIEST

PRICE POINT: ££

Using recycled fabric to construct their pieces where possible and releasing clothing in small drops designed to sell out rather than following the typical fast fashion model of outsourcing the production of vast amounts of clothing overseas, the Ragged Priest is my absolute favourite clothing brand out there. It’s *semi* affordable and because they are all about those bold, in your face, your-grandma-will-probs-think-it’s-ugly kinda pieces, just one can do SO much for your wardrobe.

I recently bought this cardigan from their The Simple Life drop and had so many outfit ideas for it that I thought I’d put a few of them together for this post just as an example of how you can take the same piece over and over again and still make it interesting, even when you don’t feel like straying too far from your personal style preferences. While we’re at it, I also wanted to use this mini lookbook to point out how fucking great Depop is! Literally everything in these outfits is from there apart from the shoes and the jewellery, the leather blazer on the right I bought a few years ago and then the top and skirt in the outfit from the far left which are both from Ebay. The shoes with that outfit are from Koi Vegan footwear-I didn’t include them in this list because I wanted to keep it consistent and focus on ethical clothing companies rather than retailers that focus on one specific thing such as shoes or jewellery, but they are my favourite place to buy shoes from and focus closely on ethical production too so definitely recommend.

2. MINGA LONDON

PRICE POINT: ££

Towards the lower end of the ££ price point, Minga is probably the closest you’re gonna get to an ethical version of the Dolls Kill Deliah’s range. Their focus on being a socially responsible business is a huge part of their ethos and their pieces are put together in Portugal, where they're based, by a small in-house team; the majority of their fabric is sourced from local Portuguese businesses and even more amazingly, they recycle the fabric of the pieces they don’t sell in new designs. They are just a generally amazing company and I wish more people knew about them because their pieces are fucking adorable and wouldn’t be out of place (or overpriced) in your local UO.

3. ELSIE & FRED

PRICE POINT: £

A small, black owned business set up by 3 siblings from Coventry, Elsie & Fred have earned themselves a reputation as a staple provider of the festival season wardrobe. Being an independently owned business, they have strict standards that their manufacturers must adhere to and a close working relationship with the owners of the two factories who oversee production in Guangzhou, China, to ensure fair wages and a safe working environment. On the environmental side of things, Elsie and Fred are working to incorporate recycled fabric into their designs as much as possible and have this year introduced compostable mailing bags.

4. HOUSE OF SUNNY

PRICE POINT: £££

Follow enough British instagram fashion influencers and you are bound to have heard of House of Sunny in 2020-snagging what is probably my all time favourite coat from there in 2019 before all the hype is a humble brag I will allow myself on the basis that I haven’t been able to afford anything since, lol. Along with kooky, one of a kind designs, being decidedly anti-fast fashion is a huge part of their branding; HoS only drop 2 collections of limited stock a year, thoroughly screen suppliers and on their website you can find a tonne of information on how they’re working to offset their environmental impact too. If you can treat yourself to a piece from there at any point, the quality of the garments truly make the price point worth it.

5. JADED LONDON

PRICE POINT: ££

Similarly to The Ragged Priest and House of Sunny, Jaded London go the route of dropping limited collections on a less frequent basis intending to sell out (particularly popular pieces are occasionally restocked) rather than needlessly manufacturing vast quantities of garments to flog for whatever they can get and cutting corners with fair employment practices to offset any losses. By employing independent staff in the manufacturing plants with which they liaise to ensure fair, dignified working conditions and also by working closely with charities such as the Trussel Trust and Stand Up to Racism, Jaded London demonstrates a level of commitment to corporate responsibility that set them apart from a lot of similar online retailers. They are at the top of their game when it comes to daring and experimental yet wearable pieces and so it’s cool that they recognise the need to conduct their business in a considerate way too.

6. THE HIPPIE SHAKE

PRICE POINT: ££

Owned by UK based bohemian queen Naomi Hession, the Hippie Shake is not only a great small independent business to support but is also the definition of slow fashion. With a limited number of opulent 70s style pieces, I have always wanted to purchase something from here. I’ve yet to do so but I’m gonna make it my mission eventually.

7. VINTAGE HEARTS

PRICE POINT: £

An affordable, gorgeous array of quirky handpicked vintage pieces that would probably take you forever to find in a charity shop or that you’d be charged a small fortune for if you found it in a high street second hand store, Vintage Hearts is where you should go if you want a timeless statement piece that may have otherwise ended up in a landfill. The added benefit of vintage clothing is that it is, by its nature, great for the environment, but you can also look fab and groovy as fuck as you do your bit for the planet<3

8. WE ARE COW

PRICE POINT: £

Offering both original vintage pieces and reworked pieces using recycled fabrics, We Are Cow has both basic branded second hand items but also handmade streetwear style original designs all for a fair price. You can tell that it’s all high quality stuff consistent with their modern, functional aesthetic and it’s clear that the team behind the shop has a real vision in mind when they’re designing.

9. OUT OF THE ORDINARY CLOTHING

PRICE POINT: £

In the words of Corrie Davis, founder of OOTO "I start with the belief that fashion will be always be worn differently by the individual that wears it. Every collection from Out of the Ordinary is different to the last but undeniably Out of the Ordinary. I champion flamboyancy and embrace the cultures I've experienced around the world, merging the two and creating popular style trends in exciting textiles, prints and techniques to bring to you something a little Out of the Ordinary." That pretty much sums up the vibrancy, vivacity and bold elegance of the brand’s aesthetic perfectly, which is reflected by Davis’ commitment to ethical manufacturing based on relationships forged between the founders and family artisans and the sourcing of fabrics from textile markets around the world. Everything you need for a boujie summer holiday in the Mediterranean-when leaving the country is finally allowed again, lol, EVERYBODY GET YOUR FUCKING VACCINE-is here.

10. WILD THING

PRICE POINT: ranges from £-£££ depending on the brand

Probs the closest thing you’ll get to an ethical ASOS, Wild Thing brings together a host of sustainable and independent clothing brands and puts them all in one place to present to us all a collection of the sickest festival style fashion out there. Whilst it’s super cool that this already exists and a slice of humble pie for myself to remind me that I am not in fact the revolutionary marketing genius I thought I was, I’m bummed to know that my idea of said ethical ASOS style website is already out there. Fingers crossed for the next grand money making scheme that comes to mind that I can use to distribute some wealth (yeah, there probably won’t be any because very few original thoughts enter my head, clearly, tehe) xoxo

11. SHOPFLUFFY

PRICE POINT: ££

I know it’s 2021 and we all kind hate the idea of girl boss feminism and the connotations of privilege and exploitation that come with it but can we bring it back when we’re talking about women who embody what it was actually all supposed to be about? Because the owner of ShopFluffy, @lulutrixabelle embodies everything good about the term. Somebody who genuinely does (cue Ramona singer voice here) empower other women through her celebration of powerful female friendship and free spirited sense of personal style that should inspire every one of us to wear whatever the fuck we want (clashing patterns and over-accessorising be damned), Lulu handmakes all the designs on her site and very much places an emphasis on slow fashion by releasing only a few collections a year which you can clearly tell a lot of painstaking effort and talent went into. ShopFluffy is on the pricier side but the adorable crocheted coords LuLu specialises in, reminiscent of carefree childhood days and picnics in meadows picturesque enough to be the backdrop of a Jacquemus runway presentation, are a bold and beautiful expression of playful femininity worthy of departing with a bit more than you’d usually spend. After all, if you are gonna spend that money on a piece of clothing, supporting an ethical, independent woman owned business clearly built on carefully honed skill, passion and authenticity is the way to go.

12. SHOPEASYTIGER

PRICE POINT: ££

It feels correct to follow up the ShopFluffy mention with ShopEasyTiger given the friendship between the former’s owner with Tigerlilly Winfield (is that not the most wonderfully storybook character sounding name of all time?), owner of Easy Tiger. Up there with my most revered style icons, Tigerlilly’s designs are as flamboyant and glamorous and daring and dramatic as her own personal style, and again, they are ethically made! If you want to get that psychedelic rock n’roll groupie that’s actually way cooler than the band itself kinda energy too, her shop is the place to start.

13. HOTTTRAMP

PRICE POINT: ££

Founded by the incredibly hot Belle_hott_tramp on Instagram, HottTramp is a collection of both handmade pieces and carefully selected vintage finds that blur the lines between 90s Courtney Love style grunge and 70s summer of love hippy that make me want to start my own all girl rock band and hire a camper van to paint black and road trip through the American desert. Given my complete lack of hand eye coordination, I’ll most likely never have the instrumental skills to do that but I never said it was a realistic fantasy, okay?

14. LAZY OAF

PRICE POINT: ££

Is it just me that always thought Lazy Oaf was within the same kind of price range as The Ragged Priest? Because it’s a lottt more expensive than I thought. That being said, if you’re going for a playful, toned down Molly Goddard kinda look, anything bright and youthful, Lazy Oaf’s clothes 100% fit that brief. You are paying more, but part of that markup is reflected in their transparency when it comes to their ethical code, which includes ensuring that statutory minimum wage laws are adhered to in the supply chain as well as that all workers are of the legal working age for their countries and that their working hours do not exceed the legal limit. They are also steadfastly committed to donating a portion of their profits to charities dedicated to improving mental wellbeing such as Mind, Rethink Mental Illness, and Young Minds, something that is hugely important to me given my own experiences and the line of work I want to go into.

15. NEVER FULLY DRESSED

PRICE POINT: ££

Similar in their aesthetic to Out of the Ordinary, Never Fully Dressed is big on colour, print, and elegance. They have both specially selected second hand pieces on offer and original designs too and the about us section of their website clearly states how passionate they are about their ethical manufacturing process, which takes place both here in the UK and in China.

16. TUNNEL VISION

PRICE POINT: ££

Offering the dreamiest, one of a kind vintage 90s pieces, Tunnel Vision could just as easily be a grunge girl band come the craft themed moodboard as it is an online retailer. If the 90s isn’t for you-I mean, I don’t wanna question anybody’s taste levels but…-they also have the option of shopping by era, which I think is a really cool feature I wish a lot of irl vintage shops would incorporate.

17. LOVE TOO TRUE

PRICE POINT: £

Everything on Love Too True is fucking gorgeousss and it is no surprise that they manufacture their garments here in London because I feel their brand totally encompasses that stereotypical 90s East End punk vibe perfectly with a shit tonne of chunky boots and show stopping plaid pieces that makes my heart ache for a riot grrrl renaissance. Yes, when it comes to feminism’s place in mainstream culture, making sure the political goals and structural changes we’re aiming for are visible to all is by far the most important, but let’s have a resurgence of the grunge girl’s armour along with that and PLEASE let’s leave athleisure in the 2010s. No more Kardashian nude leggings, I beg (I AM being lighthearted, wear whatever you want! We’re not policing women’s clothes in this neck of the woods).

18. NINE LIVES BAZAAR

PRICE POINT: £££

Eurgh. Nine Lives Bazaar. I want it ALL. Their clothes give me all the Etro, Zimmerman, Torey Burch, modernised Stevie Nicks vibes on a slightly more realistic budget, though unfortunately for me said budget just isn’t realistic enough. You would think pieces being ethically produced is just a given when it comes to clothes within this price range but that’s not necessarily the case and Nine Lives Bazaar is one of the ones you can trust to actually be considerate of their employees needs when it comes to their approach to business. To anybody who can afford to shop here, I am insanely jealous. The rest of us, for now, can just browse the website n feel the fantasy, channel a Valentina level of delusion and pretend it’s just the import taxes from Australia that’s holding us back from making a purchase.

-DEPOP SHOPS-

1. @HOUSE_OF_EROTIQUE

PRICE POINT: ££

Everything handmade and latex and form fitting to make you the baddest bitch in the room, I’ve got myself a few pieces from this shop over the past couple of years. Customer service is a bit hit or miss and there’s been times when I’ve had to wait a while for my purchases to get to me but because they’re all one of a kind and custom made to fit, it’s worth it, and when they have messed up they were kind enough to add something to my order for free.

2. @SACREDHAWK

PRICE POINT: ££

If you picture raiding the wardrobe of a biker gang, snatching the Coachella bound suitcases of the Revolve ambassadors at Palm Springs airport, and then jumbling all those clothes together, that’s probably your best bet at getting an idea of Sacred Hawk’s aesthetic. Formerly an ASOS concession, the brand is now available on Depop and is a collection of the most lavish glam grunge pieces, all vintage or reworked vintage. Some things are a bit on the pricey side but I would say they are all priced fairly considering how unique and ornate a lot of the pieces are, and I reeeeally wanna be able to say I own something from there one day.

3. @IDENTITYPARTY

PRICE POINT: £££

I struggled with how to categorise this Depop shop in terms of price point because although there are some fairly low-priced pieces, the standouts are the vintage coats which are understandably a lot more expensive-if you want to fully immerse yourself in the Almost Famous Penny Lane fantasy, you’re gonna have to fork out a little bit.

4. @RETRO_RAIL

PRICE POINT: £££

Retro_rail is of a similar vein to IdentityParty, in that the standout pieces are the vintage coats which are usually upwards of £100-if you’re looking for one-of-a-kind statement outerwear to invest in, I can’t recommend this shop enough. If you’re like me and you’re looking for something more within the £ to ££ price range, Retro Rail is still worth a browse as inspiration for the kind of styles you might wanna try and find elsewhere on Depop.

5. @5THSEASON

PRICE POINT: £

Most of the quirky vintage pieces you’ll find on offer on this Depop shop are within the £25 to £40 price range and though you’ve got coats similar to those you’ll find on Identity Party and Retro Rail and they are sill slightly more than the tops and trousers and dresses on sale etc., they are more modestly priced than the other 2 listed.

6. @DREAMERSREBELS

PRICE POINT: £££

Another v pricey one, dreamersrebels specialises in the daintiest, most whimsical 60s style co-ords I’ve ever seen. Handmade upon purchase, which in turn guarantees little textile waste, you can find the kind of pieces you’d expect to see on a 21st century incarnation of Audrey Hepburn, all the soft pastels and timeless, retro silhouettes you could possibly wish for. I mean, wishing is pretty much all I can do rn but anyone with a near minimum wage retail job knows you need something to aspire to, lol. I managed to budget enough to treat myself to a Selkie dress so I’m manifesting that same level of self-discipline to get me a dreamersrebels piece next.

7. @AWKWARDPHASE

PRICE POINT: £

Very affordable vintage pieces that range from cutesy mid-century style dresses and coats to grungy 90s jackets, perfectly styled and presented too in a way that will have you wanting to order something for yourself to replicate that modern spin on old staples and give them a second life.

8. @EVIEHALLOWS

PRICE POINT: £

Another Depop shop where the clothes are styled so well, it’ll have you thinking you can make anything from a floral 1950s housewife style cardigan to a lycra jumpsuit look very intentionally on trend.

9. @JAHOOLI

PRICE POINT: £

There’s also Jahooli, which I will just say ticks all the same boxes as the other two aforementioned stores to avoid repeating myself.

10. @LOVELYANDLOVELESS

PRICE POINT: £

In terms of price, I would put Lovely and Loveless into the same category as Jahooli, Awkward Phase and Evie Hallows, the difference being that the clothes available are more on the dainty, classically feminine side. People who have a Pinterest board dedicated to the cottagecore or light academia aesthetic (whew, the gen Z is showing), this one’s for you.

11. @CHLOESTJOHN

PRICE POINT: £

Finally, we have the ChloeStJohn Depop shop and it’s definitely a good one to end on; picture the wardrobe of Carrie Bradshaw if she’d lived in Camden instead of New York in the 90s and hung out with a slightly edgier crew than Charlotte, Miranda and Samantha and there you have it, the vibe of the pieces on offer. Does it belong to a girl who probs lives near Primrose Hill and has access to all the boujiest second hand clothes shops available which she most likely routinely raids to resell on Depop? Potentially, but hopefully not because I am very here for this whole red wine in one hand and a cigarette in another back when people were allowed to smoke inside bars aesthetic. I’m sorry that the gen Z part of me once again jumped out in such an aggressive fashion with that last sentence, but I know you know what I mean.

And that’s everything!

I did wanna close off the post with a reminder of how nuanced a discussion this is-having the time and money to be more conscious about your ethical footprint when you’re buying clothes is in itself a privilege; fashion shouldn’t be an interest reserved for only those who have the means to pay extra or spend time scouring the internet. It’s also important to be aware of the lack of size inclusivity-a lot of the “trendy” sustainable fashion brands tend to not stock anything larger than a size 14 and attempt to deflect attention away from this by categorising clothes as either XS, S, M, or L, which is in itself a bit of a pisstake considering that 12-14 is the average clothing size here for women in the UK, and so in no way large. Shopping from Depop and Ebay is hard too when so many brands fail to understand how to fit a non-straight size body which in turn necessitates trying stuff on before you buy it, something that isn’t possible when you’re shopping second hand. A lot of Depop shops fail to offer returns and even with those who do, chasing up that return can be a time-consuming and generally all round frustrating process.

Basically, when we’re having these kinds of discussions it’s important to consider everyone’s situations and avoid sitting on some kind of high horse. I feel like things have become even more complicated lately- with the recent closure of once popular high street stores such as Topshop and Miss Selfridge, it has got me thinking a lot about just how many people’s income here in the UK is dependent on fast fashion retailers too and their popularity. The job scarcity resulting from these kind of closures, which are often all that is available to a lot of people with the demands of the job market seemingly becoming more and more impossible each day even for those who have been in higher education, is clearly an issue when the kind of support you can expect from the government as someone out of work is so woefully inadequate and likely to become even more so as the conservatives push for further cuts to UC and PIP. The past year has really shown us just how shaky the ground that an intensely capitalist society stands on is and how quickly everything can go tits up when we don’t invest in a safety net for those who are struggling. People seem to have realised more than ever the extent to which those whose jobs we deem “low-skilled” are actually the backbone of society, and yet even here, whilst the situation may not be quite as desperate as it is elsewhere, we still haven’t seen pay rises that reflect that. Turns out all the clapping WAS an empty gesture, who’d have thought it (for fuck’s sake)? Fair wages really are a global issue that starts with paying people enough for them to comfortably live on and in time should lead to a shift in consciousness away from the concept of profit before everything else and towards an equal playing field for everyone, something we should take every opportunity to speak up about and demand from our “leaders”, however shit a job so many of those leaders do. It’s frustrating how the focus on making ethical purchasing choices is so often on the overconsumption of things that women historically are more actively interested in such as clothes and accessories and make up when the reality is that the wealth of every industry titan on this planet, NOT just the ones who dominate the fast fashion sphere, depends on them continuing to get away with exploiting people-we should be looking at how we can show our dissatisfaction in all areas. Maybe I’m perpetuating that with this post, since a lot of the online retailers I mentioned only sell women’s clothing, but that being said, I’m not about to do men’s work for them, lol-they should make the effort, if possible, to research into sustainable clothing alternatives too.

Anyway, that’s the end of this post! If you read to the end, thank you so much! If I’ve made any errors in my research or there are more sustainable clothing brands that I could’ve mentioned, feel free to inbox me them too, and I can add them to this post if Tumblr allows. It’s usually a little bitch when it comes to editing long posts but I’ll try my best:) Again, thanks for reading! And if you are, I hope you are safe and well!

Lauren x

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minor-solemnity · 4 years ago

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Invention and Intrigue pt.2

Tag List: @jinxqsu @cakesarecute @naps-and-lemons @mainlynonsense @riddles-wifey

He’s looking at you as though he knows you, as though he sees something familiar in you. The thought makes the hairs on the back of your arms stand on end. He reaches out, cups your cheek gently and then lets his hand drop to his side. “Show me the spell.”

You spend the next week swinging wildly between panic and resignation. You can’t figure out why Riddle wouldn’t go to the Headmaster - he’s Head Boy. As far as you’re aware, he’s never broken a rule in his entire academic career and it’s no secret the kind of company he keeps. So why on earth would he allow you to get away with what you’ve done? It’s this question that sends you half-mad with paranoia and anxiety. You see Lestrange glowering at you whenever you pass him and there’s a large part of you that’s beginning to suspect that Riddle hasn’t told any of the professors because he and Lestrange are planning something far worse than expulsion for you. Revenge is the only explanation you can think of.

Melanie, bless her, remains blissfully unaware of the fact that you’re spiralling into a vortex of paranoia and worry. She chats happily to you over breakfast on Thursday morning about George Warrington, about how he’s been a perfect gentleman so far. He pulls her chair out for her in the lessons they share together, offers her his cloak when she complains about the cold, laughs at her jokes even when they’re not funny. You smile and nod and hum your happiness for her in all the right places but your eyes remain fixed on the Slytherin table across from you.

You absently take a sip of your tea and almost spit it back out when Riddle suddenly looks up from his breakfast and meets your eye, as though he knew you’d been watching him this whole time. He cocks his head to the side and even from this distance you can see the amused smirk playing on his lips. He raises his glass up and inclines his head slightly in a mock toast. A toast to what? Your idiocy for cursing Lestrange in public? The knowledge he has over you? Your impending demise? He takes a long sip of his drink and you don’t want to notice (but do anyway) the elegant column of his neck, the shift in his throat as he swallows. He maintains eye contact and smirks, a thumb rising to dab at his mouth. You’re gaze snaps to your porridge in front of you and ignore the way your cheeks feel suddenly hot.

“Are you alright? You look rather flushed,” Melanie asks, finally halting her increasingly giddy descriptions of George’s skill with his broom to look at you quizzically.

“Mmm, fine. Just, you know tired. Dreading Herbology. The usual.” She purses her lips in a way that suggests she doesn’t quite believe you but you’re saved from having to answer any of her questions when George makes an appearance next to him. She beams up at him and you watch with mild nausea as he kisses her on the mouth. You’re no prude by any means, but watching your best friend and her new beau learn the crevices of each others’ mouths before nine o’clock is a little much. You cough a little pointedly but Melanie is evidently too distracted to notice so, with a roll of your eyes, you grab your satchel and head for the exit.

You’ve still got another half an hour before Herbology starts but it’s a nice day so you settle down on one of the stone benches by the greenhouses and pull out the book you’ve been reading. It’s a deceptively thin, nondescript text and you’ve read it cover-to-cover at least three times already. Still, it’s one of the most useful books you’ve found on breaking down spell components to their most fundamental parts. You’re so engrossed in your reading that you don’t acknowledge the person who has just sat down beside you.

A flash of gold and onyx obscures the print and Riddle is plucking the book from your hands. “Excuse me, I was reading that,” You squawk, making a grabbing motion to retrieve your book. Riddle looks entirely unperturbed, he’s lounging out on the stone bench, long legs stretched out in front of him. He looks positively regal. He ignores you as his eyes flick rapidly over the page you’d just been reading. “Do you mind?” And maybe it isn’t particularly smart of you to snap at him the way you are. He has more than enough ammunition against you to ruin your life and the fact that he hasn’t yet only serves to make you warier of him. But you hate people touching your things. It reminds you too much of all the times in your first few years at Hogwarts when little snot-nosed purebloods had taunted you by messing with your things.

“Not particularly, no,” He says at last and you don’t like the amusement that laces his voice. You don’t like it one bit. It reminds you that when you peel back the layers of good manners and cultivated gentility, Tom Riddle is just as snakelike as the rest of his house. “This is an interesting choice,” He continues as if he’s oblivious to your less than charitable feelings towards him. “Though perhaps less surprising considering your, ah, extracurricular pursuits, no?” He hums in amusement at the shuddering sigh that escapes you.

“Speaking of those pursuits, I’d like it if you would meet me after dinner tonight. Eight o’clock by the statue of Artemisia Lufkin.” The way he says it, you can tell it’s more of a demand than anything else, but something that looks suspiciously like uncertainty flickers across his expression before he can hide it. Despite yourself, you find yourself oddly endeared.

Part of you (the sensible part of you that you should really start listening to more often) wants to protest and make an excuse but you remember the position you’re in - the position you only have yourself to blame for - and are forced to swallow your reservations. At your very small, very reluctant nod, Riddle smiles widely, eyes gleaming with unspoken triumph. “Lovely, I look forward to it.”

When he hands your book back to you, his fingers brush yours and linger for just a moment too long.

***

“What? No. No, absolutely not.” You’re staring in horror at the cage that Riddle has placed on the desk in front of you. Inside the cage, there’s a large fluffy cottontail rabbit. It’s nose twitches. It’s very cute. From somewhere behind you, Riddle sighs in exasperation.

“You realise that to demonstrate your spell for me, there will have to be a living target?” You wrinkle your nose at the patronising tone he uses. “And whilst I appreciate you might favour practising on Slytherins, I cannot in good conscience allow a repeat performance.”

“That was different,” You say and wince internally at the slight whine audible in your voice. “I’m not a sadist-”

“No, you’re not. That’s hardly what I was trying to say,” He cuts in, still amused, still pleasant, still utterly in control. He moves to your side, close enough that your arm brushes his, close enough to tell that despite the deceptive pleasantness, there's an undeniable air of excitement clinging to him. “Forgive me, but I’m finding it difficult to understand why you, a muggleborn, would spend time inventing such a spell and then test it out on a pureblood unless it was because there is a part of you that really does wish to inflict pain on those you deem worthy of it. Tell me, what got you interested in such dark magic to begin with? It’s hardly an interest commonly pursued by people of your status.”

You feel decidedly out of sorts at his appraisal of you. You don’t like to think of yourself as a violent person and you certainly don’t like that other people might see you as one. But it’s difficult to deny the obvious logic behind his questioning: you’d known exactly what that spell would do to Lestrange and you’d known that there would be a chance that it would do more damage than you’d intended. You just… hadn’t cared. You’d wanted him to suffer, to hurt, to feel fear as intimately as you have for years. You’d wanted him to look at you and know that he was lucky to be alive. “An interest in dark magic is hardly a statement of intent.” You say, at last, determinedly ignoring the fact that almost draining a man of all their blood in an abandoned dungeon probably is. He raises an eyebrow to let you know that the irony is hardly lost on him either and you sigh.

“Magic is… You know the first time I performed accidental magic it was to smash my teacher’s favourite paperweight?” You can’t help but laugh at the memory. At the time you had been so angry over some perceived injustice that you can’t even remember anymore. She’d been so upset and seven year old you had been so pleased with yourself. “I think the second time I did the opposite - fixed a vase my mother had dropped. My point being, magic is about-”

“Intent,” He summarises softly, watching you with unabashed interest. “You don’t think there’s a distinction between light and dark magic.”

It’s not a question. You nod slowly in agreement anyway.“That spell could easily be used in conjunction with a blood replenishing potion as cure for blood diseases. And...” You trail off uncertainty setting in as you regard the boy in front of you. Riddle hasn’t shown you any animosity, on the contrary, he acts as though he wants to know you, as though he’s seen something in you that he likes. You feel like you could maybe trust him. “And I don’t feel guilty for defending myself against someone who’s told me that they want me dead just because of my heritage.”

You’re not sure what you’re expecting from Riddle, but it certainly isn’t the glint of recognition that sparks in his eyes. He’s looking at you as though he knows you, as though he sees something familiar in you. The thought makes the hairs on the back of your arms stand on end. Riddle fixes you with a look of such intensity that you can’t bare to look away. His eyes never leave yours as he reaches out and cups your cheek gently and you have to fight to keep your breathing steady. “You should never feel guilty for demonstrating your power against those weaker than you.”

He drops his hand and moves to stand behind you, closer than is strictly necessary. Leaning forward slightly, he murmurs in your ear, “Please, show me the spell.”

And this time, god help you, you do.

(part 1) (part 2) (part 3) (part 4)

#tom riddle #tom marvolo riddle #tom riddle x oc #tom riddle x y/n #tom riddle x you #tom riddle x reader #tom riddle imagines #tom riddle imagine #tom riddle fanfic #tom riddle fanfiction #tom riddle fic #minific #jinxqsu

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thefairyletters · 4 years ago

Text

✨ Spooky Recs✨

I read a lot of fanfictions... More than I am proud of. I thought I should recommend as I go before I lose sight of their existence among the sea of my favorites.

Since past few days I have been craving for some creepy, unnerving fanfics that will keep me restless and awake at night. I remembered my favorites and wanted to read more of the kind so I looked up, patiently going through each story that sounded compelling. I also revisited old stories for nostalgia's sake.

Of course, rare as they are, in Naruto fandom no less, it's even harder to find a horror and mystery fic that is well written, not dropped under 2 chapters, and really keeps your attention.

🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹

Genre: Horror, Mystery, Comedy

I've rated 4 aspects of the work -

Writing – I don't judge writing based solely on the grammar and vocabulary. I also consider how the author expands upon a subject, if they are consistent with the facts, if they are able to keep the attention of the readers regardless of their creative writing skills.

Characters – If the characters are well-developed, in their given character, if OCs have any real significance to the story.

Plot – How gripping is the storyline, if the story sticks to its original plot, the structure of the story, plot holes.

Flow – Mother-of-slow-burn, slow-but-steady, steady, fast, I-am-speed

When the flowers cry : TCOOKIES777 || M || AO3/FFN || SasuSaku || Goth Horror || Post-Canon, set during Blank Period || Ongoing

When one of the greatest medical-nin in the world goes missing in what should have been a simple delivery to the Land of Spring’s Hidden Snow Village, the rest of Team 7 must reunite to find her. But even the most powerful team of shinobi will find themselves challenged in a battle against the supernatural. With Sasuke's return, vengeful ghosts of the past will test him and his love.

My thoughts : One of the best stories I've read in a while, and top tier SS stories. I read this in one sitting. I never listen to music while reading, preferring silence, but for this one, I suggest you do as the author says. Also, keep some tissues and food with you. This story is major in mystery and minor in horror but otherwise full of SS fluff.

Writing: 10/10

Characters: 10/10

Plot: 9/10

Flow: Steady, if a bit confusing (but that's why it's mystery)

Kyuro : silver_shot || T || AO3 || SasuSaku || Mystery || Post-Canon || Complete

“Oh,” says Naruto, “well, its sort of like that. Except in this village, the story has a way more darker ending – it basically goes like this: the girl and the guy plan to run away together. The guy steals a bunch of treasure, and stashes it away. But then, when he goes to get the girl at her village, he kills her and decides to run away with all that money. But then he is killed by the guards of the girls village and now they're both dead and the treasure is hidden away somewhere”. Sasuke stares blankly at the blond, “that story makes no sense”.

My thoughts : I know you must be thinking the same thing as Sasuke – "makes no sense". I did too, but it's a pretty cool short story. It lies on the funny, creepy side that slowly starts to lose its funny touch. SS makes stupid mistakes later on but it could be because they are MCs. The ending is very ambiguous. It's not my favorite mystery but it is something. Enjoyable read but not something I will pick again.

Writing: 8/10

Characters: 8/10

Plot: 8/10

Flow: Fast

Moon stuttering in the sky : xfrinz || T || AO3 || Gen || Mystery || Pre-Shippuden || One-shot

Kakashi is suspicious of many things about Haruno Sakura. Too many things about her don't make sense, with too many incongruous explanations.

My thoughts : Author of this story just summarised Pre-Shippuden in less than 4k words and made some tiny changes to it. Not much though. One of my favorite gen fics yet. Read it if you haven't yet. You'll feel more sad than thrilled tbh. But worth it.

Writing: 10/10

Characters: 10/10

Plot: 10/10

Flow: I-am-Speed

Breath mints : silver_shot || T || AO3 || SasuSaku || Comedy-Mystery || Post-Canon || Ongoing (maybe)

Their home no longer exists with the life it once had – in fact no settlement thrives anymore; they exist only in a snapshot that contradicts time itself. Families within their own homes sleep in a slumber that they cannot wake from. Those that were chatting on the street prior to the event simply drop their heads and remain unresponsive.

My thoughts : I picked it up for Mystery but I stayed for Comedy. But of course that's not to say supernatural elements in this story is not it, but it sure pales in comparison to effortless humor in this story. Lee and Kiba pair is something you don't see often but they get along too well here. Charactisation is on point as well. SS angst! + NS angst (but it's downplayed)

Writing: 10/10

Characters: 10/10

Plot: 9/10

Flow: Steady

The Curse : sincerelyLen || T || FFN || SasuSaku || Horror || Post-Canon || Ongoing

Team 7 is unexpectedly assigned an S-Ranked Mission involving an unsolved mystery of 10 years. An eerie adventure that will test their teamwork, strengths, and greatest fears. Do you believe in Curses?

My thoughts : My all-time favourite horror Naruto fanfiction. To me, this sets the standard of how mystery and horror elements should be handled. I have never been able to get this story out of my mind even it's been years. Perfect charactisation of Team 7 with Smart-yet-Stupid!Sakura, I-can-fight-aliens-and-reanimated-corpses-but-keep-ghosts-away-from-me!Naruto and I-dont-get-paid-enough-for-this!Sasuke. I especially love OCs here. They kinda reminds me of Pillars from KnY. You must read this story, loosely based on Zombie apocalypse + curse concept.

Writing: 10/10

Characters: 10/10

Plot: 10/10

Flow: Slow-but-Steady

Silent High : Istoria || T || FFN || Gen || Mystery || Post-Canon || Complete

A bit of the Silent Hill series mixed in with Naruto. Trapped in an illusion whose rules are unknown, they struggle to find answers before darkness consumes them.

My thoughts : One of the best mystery fanfictions I've read. I especially loved how this story handled Genjutsu in the best possible way it could without it turning into some cliche, ghost story. Though really, this story has shown what my greatest fear actually is. I will never be able to leave my back open to a wheelchair. This story has simple writing yet it gives you creeps with the twists and turns. A must read one because it is unlike any other in this list.

Writing: 9/10

Characters: 10/10

Plot: 10/10

Flow: Steady

Silence of the Damned : Daystar Clarion || T || FFN || Gen || Psychological Horror, Mystery(?) || Pre-Shippuden || One-Shot

When Naruto wakes up to a dead body in his bathroom, he begins a quick spiral into madness.

My thoughts : Listen to Halsey's Control while reading this. Quite chilling, deals with mental issues and morbid but in a fascinating way. It gives a new meaning to Dark!Naruto, but one that actually makes sense. I never saw the ending coming... I had something else in mind and I was convinced it would be, but nope. Here's a sequel to this One-Shot (Uzumaki's War) which I never picked up.

Writing: 10/10

Characters: 9/10

Plot: 9/10

Flow: Slow-but-steady

To the Victor : Letta || T || FFN || NaruSaku || Psychological Horror || Shippuden || One-Shot

Naruto loses the fight and Sakura is a trophy of war.

My thoughts : A very twisted NS, if you squint. It's not horror but it might as well be... it is still a disturbing story to see from the eyes of Sakura. Quite chilling to be in Sakura's shoes. But I love this because it is one shot and I loved the ending.

Writing: 9/10

Characters: 10/10

Plot: 8/10

Flow: Steady

Under the Skin : BukkakeNoJutsu || T || FFN || Team 8 || Body Horror || Pre-Shippuden || One-Shot

Your actions don't make you a monster. Your reasons do.

My thoughts : There's a reason why Shino is my favourite team 8 member. In my opinion, Shino is also one of the strongest Shinobi of his generation. His clan techniques are just that horrifying. This story is testament to that. He is so terrible.

Writing: 10/10

Characters: 10/10

Plot: 10/10

Flow: Slow-but-steady

Instant Message : Keelah || T || FFN || SasuSaku || Murder mystery || Modern AU || Incomplete

She gave him names to kill, in order not to be killed herself. But having blood on her hands was turning out to be much worse than dying. "…There's still round 2…3…4…" When does this game end? She asked. "Don't you see, Sakura?" He said, "It never does."

My thoughts : I read this story a long time ago and have read this twice. Personally, it has the most interesting concept of all stories in the list. It reminds me of Vocaloid series, "Bookmark of the end". Kind of. To those who are thinking of picking this up, go ahead! It's a great book and has one of the best suspense I've read in Fandom. BUT, it has been stopped in mother-of-all-cliffhangers and Author is MIA for 4 years now. But, all things considered, it remains to be one of the best stories I've read.

Writing: 10/10

Characters: 9/10

Plot: 10/10

Flow: Steady

Monomoth : Ohtze || M || FFN/AO3 || SasuSaku || Horror || AU || Incomplete

Everything ends, eventually. Eight years after the war, Sakura's unhinged and Sasuke's obsessed. The fields are filled with corpses.

My thoughts : I read this story right after "The Curse", my favourite. From what I remember, Sakura and Sasuke are both mentally deranged, in different ways. Lots of death and gore to stomach, so not for weak readers. There's no speak of fluff in this one. Zero, Zilch, Nada. I wouldn't call it your classic 'Horror', but it is very disturbing, so psychological horror is more like it. Don't eat food while reading this one. Did I mention how Sakura is mentally disturbed beyond help in this one? And Sasuke is obsessed. If these suit your tastes, go ahead.

Writing: 10/10

Characters: 9/10

Plot: 10/10

Flow: Slow

I hope you enjoy this list. Let me know your opinion in comments.

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just-char · 4 years ago

Note

Hey Char, been a while. I'm curious, did you play the Snowgrave route of chapter 2 and if so what were your thoughts? I played it and it makes me think of you with the horror elements, so I wondered if you gave it a go.

Hello, Bun! Long time, no see, indeed. I’m glad to hear you thought of me as I primarily associate playing Deltarune and Undertale with you (you were the one who bought me it in the first place, after all, and convinced me to play it. Even when I listen to the soundtrack I think specifically of how you enjoyed it!)

Also, Napstablook = Krickis as far as I am concerned. Where there is Napstablook, I am thinking of Krickis. On actual serious thoughts, the Snowgrave Route is certainly an exciting one. I have not played it myself (Kris and Noelle are so young and I can barely manage to play the genocide route in Undertale) but I did watch another person play through it and my thoughts are as follows: wow!

Toby Fox most definitely has a hidden penchant for horror and it’s planted all across Undertale and Deltarune (Alphy’s lab in the true pacifist run in Undertale immediately comes to mind.) It’s a lot to do with the environment and atmosphere he’s capable of building in all areas of the game creating process, whether it be music or art design or battle mechanics (I imagine with the help of others too, but unfortunately I’m not very familiar with who works on the games) and creepy seems to come easy to him! I know you didn’t ask about Spamton, but his boss battle is another fantastic example of this. That horror element is a lot more... nightmare-y, though, I suppose? What I mean to say is, it’s almost silly. It doesn’t feel as real as what’s happening with Kris actively throughout the game, or what happens to Berdly. Part of this is because fighting Spamton doesn’t have consequences (that are obvious to the player.) The worst that happens is that Kris appears to have a panic attack afterwards and is visibly upset by what they’ve been forced by us to witness, but what I like specifically about the Snowgrave Route is that this lasts and it’s really explored. The lasting consequence it seems to have on the psyche of Noelle and Kris and the implication of the entire route is horror through and through, in a fantastic, amazing, wowza way.

And now, because I am a little bit too excited to talk about this, an unedited and possibly impossible to read ramble about horror and Noelle and Kris below the cut. The way I describe the game and the role the player has might be upsetting, so please do not read unless you’re very comfortable with body control horror etc..

Deltarune isn’t a horror game but its premise mirrors one in multiple ways and I find that very fascinating. It is almost more unnerving that such horrible experiences are masked by the fun, whacky outer layers. One could play Deltarune and never find Jevil or Spamtom’s boss fight or play the Snowgrave route and remain blissfully unaware of what lurks beneath a very normal (if occasionally dark!) adventure story.

Despite this, there is a lot to be said about Kris and the player’s control over them, as well as some choice words from Noelle about Kris’ recent behaviour and demeanour. It’s hard not to assume that Kris is possessed by us. We can force them to say things but they can react to these dialogue choices and become visibly upset at the actions we force upon them, so even playing the game as intended without discovering anything remotely below the surface, it’s impossible to ignore what actually playing the game and controlling Kris does to them. Essentially, stripping away all of the scariest parts of Deltarune doesn’t matter, because its actual premise, where you play, not as Kris, but as an entity CONTROLLING Kris, is in itself horrific! Kris is a child, at most sixteen and I certainly believe younger than that, and no amount of drawing them weirdly tall and lanky and emo-y can change that.

Possession and inability to control one’s self are heavily utilised in horror. When you consider how many times you’ve watched someone be tied down, forced to witness whatever is happening to them in real time, or the general horror and gore associated with demon possession in even current mainstream movies like The Conjuring (or even a mix of both! Media that explores being trapped inside the body without any control while being possessed and the effects it has on your mind is not common enough) it’s easy to see the connections between a lot of horror tropes and Kris’ ‘problem’. Only thing is, we’re directly perpetuating this horror every time we play. We are the demon! We are the person who is strapping someone down and forcing them to witness horrific things by our hand! I mean, it’s just fantastic. Deltarune is by no means a horror but it certainly feels like it. I suppose that’s the power of implication!

Being more specific to the Snowgrave route (I promise the previous ramble was related!) the player extends this control to Noelle, arguably the most vulnerable and ‘helpless’ character in the game so far besides Kris themselves (and even then, that’s in a much more literal way.) unlike Kris, who physically has no choice, Noelle feels as though she has no choice. She’s a pushover and unable to prevent who she perceives as her childhood friend from forcing her to do things she doesn’t want to. Her relationship with her mother seems to play into this complex. Noelle has always been one of my favourite characters— even with what little we see of her in chapter one, she makes a lasting impression and it’s not surprising that people wanted her to be a party member in this chapter. (The irony!) But this newest chapter also furthers an interesting trait of hers, namely, her fascination with fear. She enjoys being scared, she gets a rush from being in dangerous situations, feeling unsafe. She says so herself, though she uses more external situations to explain it (scary forests, etc.) It certainly explains her crush on Susie, but in the Snowgrave Route, it really works against her. Or, we use it against her. At a first glance, what we do to her in the Snowgrave route is awful, and then, the more you think about it, the worst it gets (usually a trademark of excellent horror and great writing in general, in my opinion.) not only are we playing into her deepest insecurities (because remember, it’s not Kris doing this, or us playing AS Kris, it’s just we, the player) we are actively abusing her as a person. We force her to fight. We force her to hurt people. We do all this for power. And we do all this while simultaneously doing it to Kris as well! And forcing Kris to be our mouthpiece, forcing them to hurt their friend who they presumedly love and care for! Unlike Susie and Ralsei, Noelle’s opinion of us cannot affect our journey and she is easy to control, so we do it. And once again, these are kids! They are children! We are not fighting Sans Undertale to the death, we are actively abusing and controlling children, much to the detriment of their mental health and the physical health of those around them.

Details such as the watch and the blackened “conversation” we have with Noelle in the hospital really only add to the experience. The implication that Berdly has been seriously harmed and potentially killed by what we’ve done to him (or more accurately, forced Noelle to do to him) is handled really interestingly from the younger persons perspective, where he simply doesn’t wake up. I could really go on and on, but unfortunately time is a constraint and I don’t think what I’m saying is very easy to parse anyway.

To summarise: Snowgrave Route good. Very well-written. Deltarune is a horror in disguise, but I will continue to put my hands over my ears and pretend everything is okay, just like Mr Toby Fox would like me to do. Thank you very much for the ask, I hope you’re doing well! If you have any thoughts of your own, please share them with me. I’d be delighted to hear your opinion as a writer (horror or not.) :]

#deltarune #deltarune spoilers #tw: horror #tw: mind control #(Technically? I’m very worried about the way I describe the game in this post. I don’t want to make any of my followers uncomfortable)

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