#us like that they're different and can just acknowledge they have a healthy relationship??? anyways this was my tag rant

[howlingday]

A Big RWBY Party

Yang: Hey! Hi! How's it going? Welcome to the party! Come on in!

Weiss: Ugh... Why did we agree to this?

Blake: Yang said it would be a great way to meet new people.

Weiss: Jaune isn't going to be here, is he?

Ruby: No. He had a thing going on already.

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Jaune: (Sleeping)

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Yang: Hey, how's it goin'? You enjoyin' the party?

"Fan": Hardly. This party is so boring?

Yang: Oh, really? What's wrong?

"Fan": This music is so loud and obnoxious, you could probably replace it with anything from the Sonic the Hedgehog games. It's also really annoying that it's always made by the same two people.

Yang: Uh-huh... Well, uh, I'll check the song list and see what else we got in the ol' music library.

"Fan": Whatever. It's not there's anything good to do with the music anyways.

Yang: ...

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Blake: Hey, uh, how's the food?

"Fan": Terrible. It's all the same crap.

Blake: ...It is?

"Fan": It's either something so salty, it might as well be a bowl of salt, or it's so fluffy that I'd rather be eating a pillow.

Blake: Uh...

"Fan": And more than half of them are just bananas! Like, there's other fruits out there people can eat!

Blake: ...What bananas? Where?

"Fan": Ugh, and don't get me started on these "thirst" traps!

Blake: ...You mean the punch?

"Fan": You just know whoever made these are just hiding behind the "it's implied" excuse. We all know you're a pervert, so just admit it and jump off a bridge and die! Ugh!

Blake: ...What the hell just happened?

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Nora: I love you, Ren~.

Ren: I love you, too, Nora. (Pokes her nose) Boop.

"Fan": UUUUUUGH! CRIIIINGE!

Weiss: Hey! What the hell is your problem?!

"Fan": This is so forced it hurts to look at! There's no way they should end up together!

Weiss: And who are you to decide that?

"Fan": Soneone who clearly understands how the real world works. Unlike SOME of us.

Weiss: What are you talking about?

"Fan": She was pining after him for years, and the only thing they have in common is their shared trauma. That is not any kind of healthy relationship. It's called enabling each other's flaws.

Weiss: Wh-

"Fan": Also, you are a shitty person because you didn't just stab Jaune when he couldn't take the hint.

Weiss: Why would I-?!

"Fan": Jaune was a stalker and you didn't tell anyone. Just like you didn't tell anyone that Velvet was being bullied.

Weiss: That was years ago!

"Fan": And what have you done now to fix it?

Weiss: I-

"Fan": Whatever. I'm done associating myself with someone who refuses to acknowledge that they're a terrible person.

Weiss: ...

Nora: You okay, Weiss?

Ren: What an absolute-

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Ruby: Come on, midnight... I want these people to leave.

"Fan": And you.

Ruby: Huh?

"Fan": You are the worst, most sorry excuse of a character I have ever met.

Ruby: I am?

"Fan": First off, your look is so cliché, it hurts. Red Riding Hood with a gun? Real original. Also, what are you, fourteen? You shouldn't even be near these people, let alone going on the same adventures as them. You're a liar and a fraud, just like that idiot Jaune; you just cheated your way into school. The big difference is that you did it by breaking the law and being a vigilante who should have just let the police do their job. But with a thug like your sister, who breaks into bars under the legal drinking age and sexually assaults grown men before destroying their business without getting any punishment because her tits are somehow fatter than her head, I'd say it's no wonder.

Ruby: ...

"Fan": Of course, it's not she's the only bad influence in your life. Your deadbeat dad was a womanizer who got what was coming to him, and your uncle is an alcoholic mess who had to change his voice because he didn't know the meaning of the words, "no" and "stop".

Ruby: Hm...

"Fan": And finally, your "accomplishments" are so forced that you might as well change your name to Mary-Ann Susan. Everything just has to go ypur way because you know how the world works. You want to be so much like your mommy, but you don't want to put in the effort to actually better yourself.

Ruby: I see.

"Fan": You, your friends, this party, and everything you touch becomes a bigger and bigger trash fire the more you stick your nose into it, no matter how much you and your racist, sexist, homophobic "friends" try to make it better. You're a disgrace to your mother, and an abomination to your father.

Ruby: ...

"Fan": ...

Ruby: ...Are you done?

"Fan": I... I had some other things to say, but I can't remember them right now.

Ruby: Okay. I think I get what you're saying. Honestly, some of that stuff does kinda make sense when you think about it.

"Fan": Really?

Ruby: Mhm. But I also think you should leave.

"Fan": What?! Oh, I get it! You're trying to silence me because I'm telling the truth!

Ruby: No, I'm asking you to leave because you came to this party, but instead of just enjoying it for what it is, all you've done since you showed up is complain without offering anything actually constructive as criticism. This is a party for people to have fun, and you showing up, making fun of it, and then acting like you know how things should but not offering anything except even more criticism is just... dumb. Like, really, really dumb.

Ruby: They're here to have fun. And we're here for their fun, too. Because we believe in the message they all believe in, too. And that's why we're here. To make it better.

"Fan": I...

Fan: Can I stay? Just a little longer?

Ruby: If you promise not to be such jerk anymore, then I'm okay with it.

Fan: Yeah. I want to make it better, too.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Now I know as I say this, there will be some [viewers] saying that they think [creator] doesn't have quality or quantity and that everything [they] do is wrong. People will often disguise their comments as 'constructive criticism' even though they word in a way that isn't just mean, but as pompous, and often to prop themselves up as some sort of authority because of their own experience while also disregarding the experience of the actual successful creator of multiple shows with millions of fans worldwide."

- Deep Cut, Cartoon Universe

[raytorosaurus]

maybe this is a 'hot take' for which i apologize but. i feel like fanart is a big aspect of this too- how different even is it to make 'rpf' of gerards stage characters as opposed to fanart of it. it's essentially only a different medium. keeping it separate from gerard (Person In Reality Who Has A Life) outside of (character he made up to have fun with) can also easily be an invitation for fans to have fun with it too. which is why a healthy relationship with it can and does bring good things. in theory i mean. ive never seen an mcr fanfic i really liked but :p

yeah i see what you mean, it's one of the reasons that the step from tumblr (or twitter) fandom to the ao3 tag feels like. quite an arbitrary place to draw the line? as if the same thoughts and behaviours are fine right up into they're intentionally put to prose - but images or even comics are okay, textposts discussing their emotions and states of mind as extrapolated from live shows or song lyrics, putting research into constructing timelines of their lives or compiling facts about them as people - even writing (sometimes quite detailed) sexually explicit posts/tags about them is common around here. i do a lot of these things too - i'm not saying they're inherently wrong or bad - but i genuinely don't see how they're any less prone to being disrespectful or invasive or comically removed from reality than a writer putting them in a situation lol. they all involve some level of assumption, scrutiny, and interpretation.

there are definitely valid arguments to make against engaging with rpf in a fandom sense! i totally respect that, and it's something i felt kind of ashamed/guilty about when i first got into mcr, so i understand the reservations. it's just that...the way i see it, i truly think those arguments just as reasonably apply to so much of what happens in any fandom involving real people. behaviours that are extremely common and far from unique to the online fan spaces of today, to the point where avoiding them is a more conscious decision than engaging in them. i respect if people do make that choice, but...that isn't any of us who are running mcr fanblogs yk? haha.

anyway yeah. i agree with you anon, i reckon most people's definition of what does and doesn't entail rpf is just a lot narrower than the reality. there's a lot of extremely beautiful, highly-skilled emotive fanart out there, for which i'm so appreciative! i 100% don't mean it as an insult when i say those often a different kind of rpf. so are the emotive posts about how much this tour means to all the guys, how happy they are, how much they love each other and how they're all friends. i'm not saying these things are untrue, i'm just saying they absolutely don't paint an unbiased holistic picture of real human beings and their genuine emotional states hahaha. neither does fanfiction. and i just think it's impossible to not realise that if you're engaging with fanfic in any kind of thoughtful way, as opposed to reblogging textposts about them on tumblr that also project a lot onto them, yk?

and okay. i also think "the bible/succession/velvet goldmine etc etc is rpf too! shakespeare wrote rpf!" is equally as reductive as "rpf is when fangirls write about band members boning each other." as always, there's just so much more nuance there. what does and doesn't make rpf is a lot more about intent, and if you're parasocially attached to these people as deeply as we all are, most of us just share that same intent. and from what i've seen (though in fairness this is the first real person fandom i've been in, and i only really talk to other adults) it tends to be the people actively engaging with fanfic who are a better at accepting how much of fandom is pure projection and assumption based on very limited information. and that acceptance is a huge part of having a healthier relationship with celebrities/bands/bandom (along with the conscious acknowledgement that these people don't owe us anything at all besides the shows we bought tickets for - least of all insight into their personal lives or private thoughts.)

like genuinely? free your minds. we're all making shit up based on the little parts we see, i think it's healthier and more fun to openly accept that. who cares what's real when we can talk about things in terms of narratives and arcs and metaphors - none of which truly exist in real life, which is infinitely complex and individual and messy. or, more precisely, who cares what's real as long as you know what isn't! and keep that stuff far far away from the real human people involved in the band.

[raphaelapproves]

Today, focus was a precious commodity and I ended up behind at work so did not get the chance to post the conversation as promised.

But now, here we are, the "conversation"--and I do use that term loosely--that I had with an Astarion girlie.

Allow me to set the scene.

This happened on a video where a streamer was, I assume, HORRIFIED to find that if she just self-insert played the game with answers she would give--SHOCK!--Gale was the companion who liked her the most. I can't imagine why.

Anyway, the comments section was the predictable Gale-bashing. Some in good fun. Most of it not. And I'm me, so I just couldn't help myself, because I see too much of my younger self [ who still tried to engage with people and connect but didn't know how ] in Gale, so I responded to a couple of comments. This was the one that prompted this little meeting of the... well, one mind and then whatever the other person was operating with. Must have been a different Operating System, because it sure didn't make sense to me.

It is below the cut, as are my thoughts because it turned into a long post as, apparently, I had many thoughts.

Astarion Girlie [ henceforth AG ]: THEN HE CAN GO SUCK OFF LETTO II ON ARRAKIS CUZ I AM NOT HERE FOR GALE'S SEXIST A$$ 😤

Me: First: how is Gale sexist? Second: and yet you're okay with Astarion [ NOTE: the username had something to do with what Astarion could do for them, so I made an educated guess ] who is canonically racist, knowingly lured people to their deaths, and was fine with condemning the world for himself???

AG: are you serious??? 🤣 Gale mansplains EVERYTHING to the women around him including magic to other magic-user, uses coercion as a flirting tactic, & slvt-shames Tav if you're romancing someone else.

Me: Wow. There is so much wrong with that. 1) Tell me you don't have an autistic friend without telling me. 2) He explains to EVERYONE not just women. 3) Genuinely? What coercion? 4) He just tells you -- He isn't for an open relationship [ says he wishes you had asked him first which is y'know healthy? ] and asks you to choose, then says he wishes you well if you don't choose him.

AG: have you considered touching grass?

Me: This is such an intelligent rebuttal. Brava! So insightful and useful to a debate. Have you considered maybe listening to others without belitting them because you can't have a friendly discussion?

AG: 1) all of my friends are auDHD and so am i. you're an ableist joke. 😘 2) now you're gale-splaining his sexism 😂 3) i'm not interested in continuing with someone as clearly unwell as you are, bye!

Me: I AM autistic, friend. 2) It's not sexism if he's literally explaining his special interest to EVERYONE regardless of sex. 3) Again, quite mature. Thank you. 👏👏👏

I am just. How??? can anyone be so ??? I do not even have a word for it. It baffles me.

Astarion has canonically done terrible things, would canonically do many even more terrible if not swayed from it, and yet Gale??? is the one with whom they have a problem??? And they can't even logic their own argument???

As someone who is autistic and has been a victim of continued mental and emotional abuse from someone who always wanted to play the victim card and as someone who was always given the excuse "well they're not well and you know it, so you just have to deal with it and don't argue" when they're going out of their way to make your life hell and trying to frame you as their own personal villain, up to and including gaslighting you to the point of nearly two decades of depression, making you feel like you were broken and the worst human being in the world, and having you contemplating things you shouldn't, and them lying to others about things that happened or things that were said to get you in trouble, I get very, very tired of the mentality I see so much around the crazed Astarion Girlies of excusing everything he has ever done and being unable to even acknowledge a single flaw and attacking anyone who does say anything.

I have and continue to live that, have been and continue to be on the other side of it having to suffer because someone else wasn't held accountable, and I am Tired. [ At least now, thanks to my best friend in the entire world, I can see it for what it is and I'm in at least a better place now mentally, 98% of the time. ]

[ NOTE: This is NOT against the Astarion writers I have seen on here. Please do not misunderstand. The Astarion writers I follow on here are the only reason I can still even marginally like the character at this point. He is fascinating. He is multi-faceted. It's one of the things I love to see explored by those who I follow. It is always interesting to see people write complex and even morally difficult characters because that, too, is a form of understanding humanity. It's one of the things I love exploring with my anti-heroes and villains. In Baldur's Gate, that would include characters like Raphael, Gortash, Dirge, etc. So please know I am not hating on any Astarion writers! Everyone I follow is amazing! ]

But when you bring up those character flaws and morally difficult things that does make the character so complex and multi-faceted, these are the responses you get:

Astarion is a victim!

Yes, that is true. But Gortash who, let's be honest, at least doesn't fully know what he's doing is wrong [ you pass the insight checks and what not/narration tells you/the VA tells you that he thinks he's doing the right thing for himself and for the city, etc. and with the way he was raised, what example did he have to the contrary but I've already gone on that rant HERE ] is to the smallest degree even less culpable in my mind than Astarion, and he doesn't get a pass the way Astarion does? And he certainly shouldn't. He isn't absolved. He is doing terrible things whether he can fully rationalize it or not with his understanding of life.

Astarion though, acknowledges on multiple occasions, gives excuses, justifies his actions at every turn while still knowing that what he's doing and planning to do is wrong. And it's heavily implied that he really wasn't all that great of a person BEFORE Cazador either [ that is not to say that he deserved what happened either, just to clarify ]. But the point is Astarion did, at one point, having come from what seems an affluent family, have a knowledge of right and wrong and still made decisions that he made, even before Cazador and after once he was free.

Cazador made him do those things! Yes, he did, but that excuse stopped the moment Cazador's control was no longer an issue. He had free will and a knowledge of right and wrong, and he made the decisions he made.

But it was a habit by then! It was what he learned to survive!

And that coupled with the knowledge of right and wrong goes only so far as the moment you choose to knowingly make your trauma someone else's. Cazador wasn't going to force him to do the Ascension ritual and pay 7,000 souls for his own betterment. "Because after 200 years of SHIT, PURE SHIT, I think I deserve better." A paraphrase, but I think I caught the most important parts. He knew it was wrong, he acknowledges it and immediately tries to justify himself, and is still quite willing to do it. Literally, if he kills you by draining your blood, he acts like nothing ever happened and then tries to sweep it under the rug with Tav if they continue to be upset about it by telling them there's no reason to be.

And yet, we have a problem with Gale, who can be or come across as condescending at times, but I think you can hardly call a man sexist who made his girlfriend his entire personality--since she was the goddess of his SPECIAL INTEREST--and continues to put her word above even his own life, prioritize her forgiveness over his continued existence and who takes such great interest in literally everything Lae'zel has to say about the Astral Plane and her people. We have a problem with a man who is honest about his comfort zone? Who loves your PC even if you become a mindflayer? Who only takes issue with you when you do something morally bad? Who literally gives you approval points for anything even remotely resembling a good choice? Who feels like he doesn't even deserve a place in the world and would gladly give himself up for any one of his companions?

He's always harassing me for items!!!! AND HE GOT MAD WHEN I WOULDN'T GIVE THEM TO HIM!!!

The count is THREE and you can give the man the most trash items you have and he still thanks you and tells you that he will repay your kindness because he knows what such sacrifice means. He is thanking you--just as he gets mad at you if you don't--because he literally has a ticking bomb in his chest that would kill not only HIM if it de-stabilized and exploded, but also anyone within the vicinity.

Well he betrayed Mystra!!!

He tried to get on equal footing with someone he loved, to share in something he loved with the person who embodied it. Was he overly ambitious? Absolutely. [ And honestly, tell me it's not Gifted Kid Syndrome -coded to assume that he could do this impossible thing. ] Did it cost him? Yes. And then Mystra, who could have fixed it and didn't cast him off. And he still prayed to her. And took all of the blame on himself, despite the fact that Mystra shares more than a little responsibility for what transpired. [ I.E. all of the Origin PCs have been victims in this game, in some way or another, and some if not all of them to power imbalances in relationships. Why does anyone think Gale is the one exception? ]

HE'S MANSPLAINING TO ME!!!

He is literally telling you all about his special interest and probably assuming that you don't know much about it, or at least not as much as him, because he was literally a Chosen of Mystra and an Archmage. Again, can he be condescending and huffy at times? Yes. He absolutely can. Call it a character flaw. Everyone has them, but you know what? His doesn't condemn anyone to death, so why are we up at arms?

HE DOESN'T WANT ME TO SEE OTHER PEOPLE!!!

And that is his prerogative and he's straightforward and honest with you about it. He tells you--if you already started flirting with or seeing someone--that he wishes you had the courtesy to tell him first [ which, IS IN FACT the healthy way to go about a relationship of that nature, just as shown with Halsin insisting you ask your partner first ]--but if you choose the other person, he wishes you both well, usually gives some compliment to the other person, and then continues to treat you well as long as you weren't rude and demeaning to him during or after the fact.

So why???? Is so much of the fanbase SO AGGRESSIVELY against Gale? But Astarion is uwu Babygirl and can do no wrong? What about defending Gale makes me "so unwell", but how DARE anyone rightfully criticize even the smallest thing about Astarion because [ insert extensive list of reasons why none of that should matter ].

That he is a victim, that he's pretty, that his VA has a great voice and personality, et cetera, does not excuse that Astarion has knowingly done terrible things both against and within his will and will do so again without hesitation if he helps him, particularly if your Durge or Tav doesn't try or manage to sway him.

Make this make sense to me, because I certainly cannot seem to make it do so.

I've said it before with that Gortash post I linked above and I said it on a similar post for Zevlor and somewhere that I was talking about Minthara and Nere, but the double standards within a loud portion of this fanbase--even within the game itself and among the people who worked on it--is not one of its better qualities.

[zayray030]

🐝 anon w some thoughts about my fave boi

So like my favorite aspect of aces personality is how many parts of himself kinda contradict each other so like

1: We know he’s a very honest person, some would say brutally honest, but at the same time he will not hesitate to lie to your face

2: He’s seen as a troublemaker/ rule breaker but he himself says that rules are there for a reason and throughout the man in story he never really breaks the rules. Some say that his contract w azul is cheating but like that was a study guide, I think people forget there weren’t any actual answers so personally I don’t see that as cheating

3: He says romance is too much work and he wants nothing to do with it but his fake proposal and what he tells Eliza seems to show something very different. Like we see in the vignette and I think during the event riddle (? I think it was him and not rook or anyone else) points out that it seems he has put a lot of thought on what kind of person he wants to end up with and what that relationship would look like.

Anyways I love my boy and I dislike that people see him as one dimensional just because he doesn’t have some sob story, you can be complex without having a tragic history lol

And also I think it’s hilarious that ace had the most realistic, mature and healthy view of love out of all the twst boys despite everyone seeing him as being one of the more immature ones (if not the most immature one after grim)

That's why I sometimes I find it difficult to write for him. He flops personalities every so often it feels like I'm writing whilst high lmao

Ace is a complex character, and I think I a school like this, its important that you don't peel back any of your layers and you just stay as what ut is needed instead of what is wanted.

Ace's emotional maturity is rarely ever touched upon and I feel like it's because he doesn't cut corners. Ace can and will acknowledge people's feelings its just he doesn't think it means shit if they're using it to take their anger out on anyone. See Azul and Riddle. Riddle was babies and excused by Trey so many times he didn't see how he was wrong and Trey still tried to make excuses for him. With Azul, Azul knows he's a horrible person. He and the twins revel in it. And jnstead of cuddling Azul the twins insulted him before being gentler.

Ace doesn't respect authority, its just he's also incredibly impulsive and doesn't like the authority that was fiest shown to him (Riddle)

Ace is also my little slut and he is in a relationship with everyone ♡♡♡♡♡

[haus-mom]

1,6,10 and 25

1. the character everyone gets wrong

i hate to be cliché'd but TSUKASA. i admit i used to be partly guilty of it before i realized that tsukasa isn't really empty inside, he keeps being a parallel to mafuyu by not only being actually full (? inside but being like. really full inside. tsukasa has several personas and he acts very differently depending on who he's interacting with and they're all sorta tsukasa to a degree but they're also not really? tsukasa please stop being worrying or be but have this acknowledged pls

anyway, people tend to portray tsukasa with no nuance at all, he's either a happy careless guy or so sad that he could put every N25 member combined to shame. as i said he's REALLY worrying but he genuinely really likes what he does and has passion and drive. he's just team "i can't be sad if i don't acknowledge i'm sad so i'll just leave the issue there until i forget it :)"

6. which ship fans are the most annoying?

i am inclined to say kanade x mafuyu because i still genuinely can't see how they'd have a healthy romantic relationship, so when i see content of the ship while i'm on misc tags i'm like

and they make every single thing kanade does about mafuyu. i mean, canon already sorta does that, but even when it's not about that, they MAKE IT about mafuyu. do these guys even like kanade? do they see her as her own character? i wonder...

10. worst part of fanon?

TSUKASA ADOPTING EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER EVER. they took him saying toya is like a little brother to him (more on that later) and ran. a marathon. and a half. around the moon. and back.

are we forgetting this convo?

tsukasa only has one sister, and it's saki! toya tenma is a sweet sentiment, really, but that's where it should've stopped.

everything i've seen about kanade tenma is super mischaracterized too. i know they haven't talked much, but i feel like their dynamic wouldn't be like that at all if they were to live together. and i was right about the mafuyu-tsukasa dynamic way before they even met, which obviously means i'm always right (?

minori tenma is the least frequent, minori shinonome is something i've seen a lot and that i don't really get either, like, is it because minori's hair is brown-ish? is it? and what about minori tenma? is it because tsukasa cheered her up that one time? i'm the first one asking for more actual leadersquad interactions, but hc-ing them as siblings just because of that...

people who go "yeah minori tenma/shinonome real because she's marrying tsukasa/saki or akito/ena" are the backbone of this fandom

25. common fandom complaint you're tired of hearing

please stop treating toya x tsukasa/saki shippers as if they're the scum of the earth i promise you they're perfectly good ships

i feel like i say this a lot but just because tsukasa sees toya as a younger brother, it doesn't mean that toya feels the same. he has never said it in the game (afaik) and he actually changes the subject rapidly whenever tsukasa mentions it. saki has never said anything regarding seeing toya like that, so it's safe to say he's just a childhood friend to her.

speaking of! i've also seen people proclaim that nene and rui are "sibling coded" which. doesn't make sense either? like if you see them like that, it's fine! same with toya tenma and the rest of the sibling hcs, don't let this rando on the internet stop you, i'm not the biggest toya x tsukasa fan myself, but one thing is that and other is going around people's posts policing what they do or don't post. i don't think you're going to get anything more than annoy the op, really.

really curious that i've never seen people say this about leo/need! i wonder why! except this one time someone asked if it was okay to ship shiho and honami because of that one 1koma where shiho almost calls honami "sis" which is also its own can of worms

can we bring back ship and let ship i miss ship and let ship

anyway, thank you for the ask!

[donotalwaysbebatman]

Nightwing #105

This whole issue is really gimmick and there isn't a point to it. I know this idiot thought he was really smart for coming up with a concept that was really weird! And no one does that! Yeah, there's a reason no one does this except in porn. What, were you watching porn and you were like, whoo, someone should do a comic of this. Honestly, a porn comic might've been better, because this one had, again, no point.

Here's the thing, Tom. You are a terrible writer and I only read Nightwing to look at him drawn by a very talented artist. You literally made an issue where it was impossible for me to stare at his ass. And if you had a reason for it, if you were using it as a storytelling element, sure, okay, I like experimental stories. This wasn't that. This was just you thinking you were a supergenius for no reason.

Also. The apartment window thing? This is the most parodied thing in all of not only Batfandom, but all of superhero satire. You can't just have people jump out their own window in costume. Have some fucking opsec. At least have a secret elevator up to the roof or something, god fucking damn.

Then he gets a call from his sister. And I'm like Cass! (Or maybe Steph, because Babs is obv already sleeping over.) But it was not Cass. It was the character I thought had been written out of the story and never needs to be mentioned again. Who literally never needed to exist in the first place and legitimately could be replaced with like three sticky notes with one sentence each on them. Because this asshole hates Cass, and doesn't want to acknowledge her existence. For fuck's sake, Dick, at least ask which sister.

Okay, and then he fucking Mansplains trains to Babs??? Like, oh, Barbara, did you know that, in fact, trains move? And she's like, oh, teehee, I didn't, I can't jump, I'm not a trained vigilante like you Nightwing, I need you to teach me how to do basic tricks!!! I almost died teehee teehee! No. Babs is so much better at timing and trajectories than Dick is. She can literally calculate them in her head while she's moving. She doesn't miss. Also what did it add for her to miss? Other than another chance for Tom to show off how much better he thinks men are than women? I swear to fuck this is the most sexist writer at DC.

Unrelated, why the fuck are all the train seats the same weird hot pink color? Usually they're several different colors or uniform gray. What choices is the colorist making here.

Then we have even more sexism. Hurhur a cheating joke! How funny! Literally what is the point of including that? It's funny that Babs doesn't trust Dick or something? Like what exactly is even supposed to be the underlying humor there, that they don't have a healthy relationship and he constantly makes her feel self-conscious and inadequate? That he threatens her in order to coerce her into doing things he wants? Or else that she's asserting that she has control over his body and is trying to curtail his autonomy? Or is it just supposed to be relatable because like. Of course women constantly test their men! That's just what the female species is like! Only misogynists think like that. No, Tom. Skill issue.

Then this thing about reverse engineering vaccines out of someone's bloodstream because they injected themselves. Which I know is this really common trope but it's so stupid and not at all how vaccines work. What's going to be in someone's blood is antibodies. Vaccines aren't made of antibodies. They're made to mimic the original disease in shape. So it's like this: did they inject her with the vaccine, in which case why the fuck don't they remember she has short hair, or did she just get her hands on it, in which case why didn't she just fucking carry it like a reasonable person.

Anyway then it's like 'oh let's switch bodies' and the lady is like. I don't get it. Where will we get a body double who is also athletic and also has red hair. Well, newsflash, lady, 50% of women in DC have red hair. And 98% of them are in the top 2% of athletes worldwide. So. But literally Babs is sitting directly next to her and how stupid does Tom think women are that she wouldn't get that immediately? Or, worse, how stupid does he think the reader is that they need that explained? (I mean, I guess his fans might need that explained.) I hope it's just included because he thinks his fans want to laugh at how stupid women are that they need obvious things explained, because that's honestly less depressing.

So here's my question, why would changing on a giant empty train be awkward? They can go to a different car if they want to. And there are still bathrooms, even if they don't. Or they can just move behind the seats further away. Plus, they're both women, so it's not really awkward for them to change in front of each other; Dick doesn't need to be changing and can just turn around or close his eyes. (The only funny use of the gimmick possible, which they just skipped.) And Dick has already seen Babs naked lots, so why would either of them care? They're all capes. They change en masse all the time. And also there was a whole third outfit that appeared out of fucking nowhere, so they didn't even have to be naked at the same time or do a naked handoff. (Which wouldn't really be naked, because underwear.)

And, really, where did that uniform come from? Did she strip the conductor naked when she threw them off the train? Or does Tom think that people just keep spare clothes on the train like they live there? They change at home like everyone else does for their job. They're not storing spare uniforms in the train closet and, what, sharing them with each other? That's even more annoying than Babs trying to relationship test him again for no fucking reason, what would that even mean? Like, oh, you think the villain outfit is hot, therefore you're basically cheating on me. What fucking logic.

This story is really boring and has no point and wouldn't have been good anyway, but the gimmick is super annoying all the way through, and in parts just makes it hard to read. Also it includes way more mirrors than would actually come up in telling this story in a normal way, just so the artist was allowed to actually draw Nightwing sometimes. This is just a failed attempt at cool artistic choices.

Here's the other question: why would Dick try to go rescue Babs? She can take care of herself. She can take care of their victims, too. His priority should be getting the vaccine to the people who need it (and, also, how can they pay her if the point is they don't have money to pay for the vaccine?) and then sending her sister after her, later, after they do the rescue. Without her. Because why the fuck are they taking her near where the kidnappers who want to kill her are??? Why didn't they just let her get captured and put a tracker on her then? Why bother with deception if not to buy time to get her out of there? Just because Dick needs to prove he's a man, who women of course always need to rescue them?

Or else he could just let her go off and sell her vaccine or whatever she's doing. Instead of having the most fail emotional dialogue ever written. Completely scrubbed of any personality or purpose. Giving no catharsis to either character or the audience. And also I don't care about her or what she's doing, but her motivations would've been a lot more interesting than the conversation they actually had.

Meanwhile, Babs frees herself, of course she does, that's only reasonable, and then Dick is surprised? Why, is he as much of a misogynist as you, Tom? These kidnappers are clearly super incompetent, you really think a trained vigilante with the element of surprise is not going to get the upper hand? She needs you to rescue her because she has an F on her driver's license? And then what was with the bizarre sex banter. That was unnecessary, especially since Dick apparently doesn't even like sex, according to the line he said.

Now the villain - who the editor explained the situation in full to us, on the assumption no one remembers or gives a fuck, which, good on her - is presented as if he's obviously a bad dude because he's a rich guy. Like those are the markers of why you're supposed to distrust him. Only the thing is Dick is also a rich guy. He grew up rich, and now he's a multibillionaire. And that is actually very important to his story, because, if anyone's paying attention, the entire Batman story is about how a) money or power alone is not enough to fix things without enough popular support, and b) even if everyone around you is terrible you can choose to be good, because people are not predestined based on their fucking genetics or whatever. So just relying on stereotypes is so fucking disrespectful to that entire tradition, a tradition where Dick picks up those lessons from his father and applies them to his own life.

There's also an issue where Tom is confusing sociopaths and sadists. Sociopaths are low empathy people who are often willing to hurt people incidentally to achieve their goals, although it is important to note that many people regardless of empathy are willing to dick people over. They hurt animals as children out of curiosity without regard for the harm, not because they seek the harm specifically; they want to perform dissections and learn biology. Sadists, on the other hand, are extremely high empathy, and have an easy time making friends and getting to know people intimately, and don't have the problem of feeling lonely or misunderstood. They manipulate the people around them intuitively, often without even knowing they're doing it, and slowly become abusive. If they're that type, of course; both sadists and sociopaths are almost always very normative people, just like everyone else, and don't do anything notably out of the ordinary. This is such a common error in fiction and it's boring and annoying. Do better. It just makes him the stupidest villain in all of DC, and that's compared to stuff like Packrat and Killer Moth.

"It was 25 minutes." What does that even mean, Dick? How long do you think it takes to legitimately fire someone once you watch the news? Especially if they weren't legally hired in the first place? And you already know they're lying and not being legitimate, so what are you trying to prove? That they're lying? To whom? This literally wouldn't mean they were lying, and also everyone knows they're lying so what exactly is the point. And then he takes the drugged water!

Don't drink that, Dick! Why would you take supervillain water from a supervillain? Why would you take any food or drink you didn't have to, ever, but especially in costume while dealing with ethically sketchy people you know are totally comfortable with murder? He's definitely got tiny nanites in him that are tracking him or trying to rewrite his brain or something now. Or they put LSD in there so they can fuck with him later.

What's with the defense that she's a thief, too - does Tom think if someone's a thief, you're allowed to kidnap them? Thieves have rights and are still protected, so unless it was a citizen's arrest, in which case they would have to say that and wouldn't be allowed to deal with her personally (and would yell that as a defense anyway, not just be like, it's okay she steals stuff)... why would anyone think that was a defense to taking hostages. What does that mean. Shouldn't that tell Dick that they're supervillains and not just asshole CEOs.

Hoho, Dick made a funny, he almost said a bad word! But he didn't! Because he's a pure specimen of ideal manhood, right. First of all, Mr. Wing is a super cute nickname, second, how is Jason Little Wing if Wing is not their shared surname, and third, at least pick a funny insult if you're going to make that joke. Assclown, maybe? That has genre implications. Or canoe, maybe, because it has clear implications but it's also a funny word, even without the Oh No Words in it. Or just call him Mr. Fucker! We'd get it even censored!

Also this is the stupidest ending. Oh look, they resolved stuff, let us inform you of the resolution. I didn't even care while it was happening, Tom, you don't need to spell out all the things that were implied by the fact that the story ended. Why is it interesting they left? Or took a motorcycle? Why is Babs waiting? Doesn't she have better things to do? I did. But I read this comic anyway.

[ironhusband]

I’ve been going through the tags on Pavi’s gifset about the difference between Sam and Rhodey and their best friends’ legacy, and I’m... Steve stans are so used to yes men for Steve that they think disagreeing with your best friend means you secretly hate him, I hate it here. 

[the-ghost-king]

I feel like Will during the battle of BoO was so OOC for no discernable reason other than Rick having an "oh shit I've just realized how traumatized Nico should be and it's not appropriate for the audience the books are marketed to" moment...

Nothing that happens in the whole "oh look Nico is overreacting" conversation(s) lines up with anything seen expressed in the books previously about Nico, and it doesn't line up with the behaviors we'd previously seen Will showcase and it barely lines up with the behaviors we see Will or Nico exhibit later on?

There's the scene where he doesn't tell Nico information to try to keep him safe but they have a healthy disagreement about it and Will does admit and acknowledge he was wrong once Nico reassurts boundaries so to me it's less "Will's an ableist asshole" and more "he's a traumatized kid with limited exposure to relationships"

People point out he told Apollo about Nico's mental health as well but 1) We don't know what Nico has placed boundaries on in terms of comfortability 2) the moment exists as foreshadowing and a plot device and 3) even if it's against Nico's wishes than is it not again just "silly kid with limited exposure to relationships fucks up" that could be corrected with some healthy communication

Which isn't like "this is okay behavior" but it's also "this is forgiveable behavior" (at least to me) to me it's just ignorance which is not the same as mal-intent... knowing something is bad and doing it anyways vs not knowing something is bad and doing it

We also (imo) need to have a conversation about whether or not it's "correct" to read Nico as having a physical disability, and I don't mean this in terms of morality but in terms of how people internalized the text because I've read it differently at different points in my life.

I've definitely read Nico's exhaustion and experiences with his powers as being a result of his powers, but I've also read Nico as being already overly exhausted and then his powers amplifying this. Which I know I've just communicated that so horribly so let me try to re-explain, some people are reading Nico as "he doesn't know his own limits and pushes himself too far" rather than "his limits are smaller/less than other characters" and others are reading it opposite. I think an important conversation the fandom needs to have is that these ideas can coexist.

At the same time even the people who are reading Nico as "he pushes himself too far" and not as "Nico has a lower tolerance for these things" should be listening to disabled people and their thoughts, because even though they've interpreted the text a different way they can still be ableist even if they're not interpreting Nico as physically disabled. I think personally that it's a good thing if such different interpretations of the text could coexist healthily alongside one another.

Could you argue I'm cherry picking a character for certain traits? And I mean yeah sure but isn't that what tons of content in fanon is? And I'd hardly be the first person to make a biased argument, but if you compare what Will is like before that one BoO scene the scene reads like such an outlier and the scene absolutely seems like "oh shit I've hurt Nico too badly I can't let kids see how bad it was" so it feels less like the Will we've seen previously and a lot more like Riordan trying to pull the cover over readers eyes and using Will as a vessel to do that.

And look I get why other disabled people and allies keep pointing to that scene and how awful it is, like yeah I've been in situations where I've had to deal with all kinds of shit like that and yeah sometimes (often) it does happen from people you're close to/caretakers/etc and like it fucking sucks to say the least.

And tbh, yeah it can be abusive especially when there's a power inbalance (and here's the important conversation about "Will is Nico's doctor and this is a problem" goes) but I do also think it's important to note that Will is not Nico's sole provider or caretaker, Nico is passed off to Dionysus for mental health care. In canonical text we've never actually seen or heard anything about Will being Nico's doctor outside of "emergencies" and look I love Gatorade as much as the next physically disabled person but "giving person who's body is fighting them Gatorade/KitKat/Gum" is not much different than "giving someone who is sick soup" there's the distinct difference in what, why, and how often, but the general intention behind the action is the same.

Yes, we don't know what happened during the 3 days in the infirmary, we might not ever know, or maybe we will learn during the next book but for now we can only speculate and headcanon and that makes everything fanon (is there an issue with the weird romanticization that goes on in a lot of the 3 days fics? Yes.)

I'll be honest and say I don't really know how to close everything I'm saying up and I don't personally have all the answers and I won't pretend to.

I think there's no denying that Nico is neurodivergent (and that fandom treats this horribly), but I think how someone reads the text can really determine if someone reads Nico as physically disabled or not and I don't think either one is inherently more correct and I've had both beliefs at one time or another and even stepping back now to look at the text I'm not entirely sure I could select a "correct" answer.

Even if someone doesn't read or interpret Nico to be physically disabled they should still listen to disabled people about how to best represent him when it comes to his health. Personally I don't think Will is intentionally ableist and I think it comes from his own trauma and I said before this doesn't okay anything he's done but to me it's forgiveable/he's a narrative device/etc but other disabled people are allowed to have their own opinions.

For now I'll say we have (imo- as someone who is nd and physically disabled) a situation in which Nico is both physically disabled and physically able bodied, equally. The text holds both interpretations equally and doesn't confirm anything, so at the same time either belief is both canon and fanon in equal parts.

I think the nuance of this issue + the nuance of the issue in regards to the homophobia and commodification Solangelo faces as a ship makes it a complicated topic to discuss and really encapsulate fully into a single cohesive thought.

(Also I'm going to get shit for this last bit especially, but in addition to being subject to homophobia Nico is also subject again and again to femmephobia and it's not even me agenda pushing)

[loghorizonfunfacts]

What do you think about the romance of Log Horizon? (I know it is not the main topic of the anime, but I always like to see opinions :3) ❤️

I'm going to be blunt: I think it’s the least appealing part of Log Horizon. Mamare intended the "romance" to be less about the relationships themselves and more about how they're used to develop characters. But as far as romance goes, he’s a middle-aged, (as far as I’m aware) single Japanese man and... it kinda shows.

I think his previous series, Maoyu, pulled it off more successfully (plus it opened my eyes to ending a story with an actual OT3), but I think he was less successful in Log Horizon inasfar as depicting an actual romance goes. (If you’re looking it through the lens of a healthy relationship, platonic or otherwise, Log Horizon’s romance is a fairly good deconstruction and reconstruction.)

(This is going to be a long explanation, so the above is the TL;DR.)

In Log Horizon, the problem with the "main focus" love polygon (Akatsuki > Shiroe < Minori, with Henrietta and Nureha to the side) is that they greatly respect (and fall in love with) Shiroe because he treats them as equals and doesn't treat them differently on account of their age, appearance, or experience. But this also means that he doesn't treat them very differently from how he'd treat anyone else anyways.

As a result, most of the "romantic" aspects are basically relegated to whatever is in Akatsuki's and Minori's heads, whereas other more-or-less established relationships (Marielle and Naotsugu, Demiqas and Upashi) are largely out of focus. It really doesn’t help that Minori is literally a middle schooler having her first crush, while Akatsuki has a complex about looking like a kid and being treated like one. (In the novels, she even mentions that the only men who’ve been interested her in the past were, well, pedophiles.)

Meanwhile, there’s a disconnect with Shiroe’s level of reciprocity: Shiroe explicitly states in the earlier novels that while he thinks Akatsuki falls under the threshold of "pretty,” he’s uncomfortable with the “master” role she’s pushed onto him. With Minori, his impression of her is more or less a hard worker who’s doing her best. Volume 13/Season 3 cements the fact that he doesn’t see her as a “contender” at all.

It can even be argued that Akatsuki and Minori's development was about stepping away from their feelings for Shiroe. (Which, to be fair, can also hold true for real-life relationships, so I think this was deliberate on Mamare’s part.) Shiroe’s rejection of Nureha is partially on the grounds that she’s already too emotionally dependent on him considering he only vaguely remembered her, so their relationship would be far from healthy if he actually joined her.

Akatsuki's development in Volume 6 was about coming to terms with how her fixation with her ninja-master roleplaying schtick was detrimental to herself. She is forced to acknowledge that she isn't so special to Shiroe that he would expect her to solve everything by herself; everyone at the Watermaple Consulate was picked to protect Raynesia, not just her. She’s forced to acknowledge and confront her own admittedly-irrational jealousy whenever Shiroe smiles at or even talks to other women. With Shiroe away and uncontactable, she can rely on him to come up with the “right answer.”

The turning point in the volume comes once she acknowledges the other girls as her friends and companions. They talk through a plan for the situation and stick it out together; with Akatsuki as the centerpiece of the plan, she has to work on coordinating with others instead of simply leaving all the decision-making to someone else. It’s upon observing the other girls that she realizes that she doesn’t need to force a gimmick to give herself an identity. By freeing herself from the self-imposed shackles of “master” and “ninja,” her relationship with Shiroe is able to grow. Compare Volume 5, where she can’t even come up with a conversation topic with him, to Volume 10 where they regularly hang out and chat.

As for Minori, she’s experiencing her first crush while getting isekai’d, after being rescued from a month of slavery. To give her credit, she processes her feelings much better than some real-life adults I know, probably in part thanks to having people like Tohya to confide in. I think Volume 13 more or less addressed Minori’s attempts to try and move herself up from a student-teacher dynamic with Shiroe even knowing she would probably fail, but I’m still of the opinion that her character could’ve been developed even without making it romantic.

To be honest, I still don’t have the mental energy to go in-depth on Minori’s development, but it’s notable that most of her "turning points” also come while Shiroe isn’t physically present or available. She’s largely on her own during Ragranda (though she did tele-chat him a few times), and he isn’t capable of helping her during the Akiba Guild Hall Raid because of the Genius’ ability. Her admiration of Shiroe serves as a catalyst for her development, but most of the actual development occurs regardless of his direct action.

[handonhaven]

I've been wondering if they're planning on subverting the trope "don't get consumed by your relationship and have a life and friends outside of it", and instead turning it into "Handon relationship > fake friends", + Hope becoming more selective about her friends after everything. Because that's the only thing I can think of as to why they had a whole season of Hopes "friends" being terrible to her, 4x01 especially(I don't even want to get start it on why they had Hope say you'll always have your friends to Cleo no less). Even though I really want that to be the case, i doubt it. Because the writers have been making some really weird writing decisions. That it some times feels like us true fans can write a better story when it comes to these "friendships" (no offense to the writers or anything. I know they're just doing their jobs and working with what they got). But also a part of me is hoping there really will be a fall out between Hope and super squad. And that throughout the whole of season 4(4x05 onwards) will be the super squad redeeming themselves(and you know showing what good healthy friendships actually look like). But if I'm being honest I don't think there's anything they can ever do to redeem themselves in my eyes. Not even if they do manage to save both Cleo and Landon, simply because they only planned on saving Cleo in the first place. But once again I doubt that's what's gonna happen. I pretty much lost all faith in the writers after I saw 4x01. I mean if they really want all these amazing friendships with a good balance of friendships and relationships than show it with actions. Don't just throw in some bullshit lines like "no matter how much you screw up you're friends will always be there" when they spent all of s3 showing that her friends weren't there for her or Landon. Or even them throwing in lines like "you're always choosing Landon" to make it seem like Hopes been the bad friend all along and she's the one who has to change. I'm sorry but WHAT?! This is a joke right? It just has to be.

But anyways let's see how much this season will frustrate me.

I would seriously love it if they did that and it would definitely make sense with what they’ve been doing since s3, but I also doubt that that will happen. For sure, they’ve been making really bizarre writing decisions and I don’t know what it is they’re trying to achieve. To me, it almost seems as if they’re trying to tell two different narratives that contradict each other. There’s the one that actually makes sense and fits with the story and the characters, with Handon being portrayed in a positive light, with the importance of their relationship being emphasized, and the fact that Landon makes Hope happy. And having Hope fight for her happiness and for Landon, as she should. Which I thought was supposed to be one of the main points of s3. But she’s also still been there for her friends throughout, even though she did make the one risky decision in 3x08. But even with that, at the end of that episode with the dock scene, Hope’s choice to save Landon is not portrayed in a negative way. She acknowledges that she may have pissed people off, but her actions are phrased as “risking everything for the people you love.” Which is what Hope did, and she had the right to do that for Landon for once when he needed to be saved. But besides that time, we have seen that she has put her friends first and has chosen to save them time and time again.

But then they’ll flip to this other narrative that they’ve been pushing, where Hope is supposedly always choosing Landon and putting everyone in danger because of it and needs to learn to prioritize her friends more, which we know is a complete lie. But it does seem like they’re trying to fit that trope, like you said, of “don’t get consumed by your relationship and have a life and friends outside of it.” Even though that’s doesn’t even apply to Handon because Hope is not consumed or obsessed just because she’s been trying to save the person she loves most when he’s been in danger for a whole season. And when Hope and Landon have always had a life and “friends” outside of their relationship. They’ve always been there for their “friends,” have never been too wrapped up in their relationship to help, because they’ve literally sacrificed their happiness together how many times in order to help others.

But I’m honestly wondering if the writers are doing this because of all the Handon hate. Because if they’re gonna still have Handon going forward, maybe they’re trying to “correct” what people are complaining about to make people chill. And antis love to say that Handon is toxic and Hope is too involved with him, etc. So it’s like the writers are validating what the antis are saying, even though there’s nothing to back it up, so that they can “fix” it. So that they can make Hope have more of a “balance” between her friendships and her relationship with Landon. (When this has literally never been an issue. If anything, her “friendships” have prevented her from being with Landon.) They’ll tell this false narrative where Hope is prioritizing Landon too much, and show how it supposedly affects her friendships, so that Hope can learn a “lesson” and have a “realization” about the importance of her friendships. And them doing this as a way to sort of appease the antis is the only explanation I can come up with for this kind of writing, if it’s not to distance Hope from her friends or something like that. But who knows. Maybe they really do think they’re writing good friendships? (If so, yikes.)

And I totally agree, real fans would be able to write better, rather than have both Hope and Landon being treated horribly and acting as if those are healthy friendships. And I don’t want to offend or be rude to the writers either, but it’s not okay to write supposed friendships the way that they are and act as if they’re great when they’re actually very toxic at this point. And they’re the ones who create what they’ve got to work with, they don’t have to write the characters like this.

I’m also hoping for a fallout between Hope and the super squad, and Landon and the super squad when he comes back. I think it would be great for there to be some distance between them throughout season 4, and I think we will see some of that with Hope, at least. I just don’t wanna see Landon around them, I don’t know if I can endure seeing him interacting with any of them. I agree, I don’t know if they can redeem themselves at this point either, too much damage has been done. The way they’ve treated Hope after all she’s done for them is inexcusable. And if they didn’t care about Landon all this time, with all he’s been through, when he was a friend to all of them, there’s nothing that could make them care. Seeing how uncaring they’ve been towards a good person, who was kind to all of them, when he’s been suffering so much and at his most desperate, is sickening. And I don’t know how they’d ever be able to fix it.

But yeah, I’m sure the writers will continue to ignore the way the squad treats Hope and Landon, and they’ll continue to have Hope and Landon say nothing about it and keep seeing them as their friends. I don’t really have faith in the writers either, especially when it comes to friendships on the show. You’re right, they throw in lines that don’t match up with the characters’ actions at all, just a bunch of telling and no showing. The amount of lies in 4x01 was infuriating. And I’ve not even watched 4x02 yet, though I did watch the one clip of Hope and the squad, which made me even more mad. So I’m not looking forward to some more frustration. It really does feel like a joke. And I’m worried it’s just gonna continue, and possibly get worse.

[jazzpurr-jay]

ok so im on a bnha kick rn (thanks to tododeku fanfics), so im gonna give my readings on different ships that ive heard im also gonna give a ton of headcanons because i can

this’ll be in multiple parts, so the parts are labeled below ^^ dekusquad, bakusquad, villains, heros

starting it off with the dekusquad

midoriya ships

ok so first off, tododeku. this is my shit. i love this. like, this is one of the ships that i think i could actually ship canonically. their dynamic is really nice, and i think that (if todoroki were to get some more character building) they could be really cute together. i have a headcanon that deku finds out that todoroki doesn't have any hobbies and decides that they’re gonna try to find him a hobby that he really enjoys. thus, they start trying every single one that they can think of. eventually, todoroki finds out that he really enjoys watercolor painting. it takes him a while to actually be able to do it well, but eventually he makes a painting for izuku to confess his feelings and as a thanks for helping him. i have,,, so many scenarios for these bitches pls,,, also todoroki is the little spoon don't even try to change my mind,,,

ok next is bakudeku. im not a big fan of this being a canon ship, considering that it would be extremely toxic, which i cannot get behind. but in fanon, if bakugou hadn't, know, told deku to kill himself and bullied him for existing, then i can get behind it. i do think their friendship has so much fucking potential tho. like pls i can see them getting over their differences and working at neighboring agencies and just fucking with each other and having a mostly friendly rivalry. baku really needs to acknowledge and apologize for what he’s done tho, like quit being difficult little bitch and apologize.

todobakudeku. oh jesus where do i start. i think they'd be less toxic than just todobaku or bakudeku. tododeku combined with bakugou wouldn't be bad, because todoroki and deku balance out the more toxic sides of bakugou, but that just wouldn't be a very healthy relationship. a relationship shouldn't be "people balancing out the more toxic sides of the relationship". it just,,, shouldn't be toxic in general,,,,

ok so, then we have izuchako, THIS. THIS IS CUTE AS HELL. PLS. THEYD BE SO CUTE. like, they're a bit too similar, so i don't think it'd be a very interesting or entertaining ship in canon, but i think it'd be really cute if they date for a bit, then decide they want more and break it off. they're both b i g bisexuals, and im not really into the whole "high school sweethearts" shit,,, like im sorry, but it would be so fucking boring to date the same person from high school to death, no thank you. anyways, they'd probably want to explore their identities more, which is valid, so they'd just become friends after the whole affair.

shindeku. 10/10. very fucking cute. deku telling shinsou that he doesn't have a villainous quirk and showing him how useful it can be in hero work. deku helping shinsou get into the hero course by convincing aizawa, which leads to aizawa basically adopting shinsou. shinsou helping deku study, smiling softly while deku goes on a rant about his newest hero analysis. anyways, very cute, they'd go pet cats with todoroki at a cat café.

todoiidadeku. after the stuff in hosu, how tf do you not expect me to ship them,,, like bruh. i like to think that todo confessed to midoriya at the same time that iida did, and midoriya was like "wait, what if we,,, all dated?" and both iida and todo took some time to digest this bc todo is from a very traditional family and didnt even know that polyamory was an option, and iida is kinda the same way and grew up with the stigma, but eventually they went to midoriya and were like "ok, so we're in, but we're gonna need some time to adjust so could we keep it on the low before we tell the class?" and midoriya was "ofc, take all the time you need babes." turns out, midoriya enjoys being the big spoon s o much. like he refuses to be the little spoon, he wants to hold. todoroki lives to be the little spoon, he discovers, so he's almost always the little spoon. iida doesnt mind either way. so in a spoon train, midoriya is in the back, iida in the middle, and todo in the front. they also watched all of naruto (including shippuden) together and iida got way too into it. midoriya, on the other hand, absolutely loves the series and was more than happy to watch it with his loves. todoroki didnt get it at first, but he eventually fell for naruto. that was his first fictional crush. now, any animes he watches (usually action based ones), he almost always loves the protagonist (mainly bc they remind him of midoriya)

dekuyama. pretty similar to iidayama, except deku is the one who confesses to aoyama and they go on a date and its vry cute. they also go ice skating together :D

todoroki ships

todobaku. oh jesus. where do i start. this shit would be so toxic in canon. like, they'd constantly be competing against each other, and not in the good way. in fanon, i can see some potential, but the foundation they have from canon would always leave a bad taste in my mouth if i saw content for it.

todosero. OK. HERE ME OUT. SERO IS HOT ASF IDC WHAT YOU SAY. AND IF TODOROKI WAS JUST A BIT MORE UNHINGED, THEIR DYNAMIC WOULD BE GLORIOUS. anyways thats all, i do like them a lot tho.

todomomo. i can see this in canon. i think it'd be a bit predictable to put them together, but i can see why. i saw this one fanart of todomomo and kamijirou going on a double date and riding bikes together and it was so. fuckin. cute. like pls. after the practical exam, todoroki takes more of an interest in momo, and momo in him. they end up pinning for a bit, until momo comes up to him with a confession letter and is like "todoroki-kun, please accept my feelings!" in a very nervous shout, and todoroki takes a solid three minutes to try and respond. they do end up dating tho, and they're very domestic. they would probably last even past UA, but would break up because hero life is way too stressful for them, especially since they're from elite families and therefore are given more trust and responsibilities from their agencies. there’s no bad blood between them though, they both look back on their relationship fondly and are still friends.

ochako ships

kacchako. its cute, to an extent. in canon this ship would be too much like the "boy with bad attitude tamed by nice girl" trope, which i despise. but in theory, its not too bad. fanon makes it very cute. their whole relationship is just roundface (affectionate), pomeranian (derogatory/j)

iidachako. i can see this in canon too, if deku were to get another love interest. ochako would help iida break out of his shell and become less serious, and iida would help ochako and support her dreams the best way he could without being over bearing. at the beginning of their relationship, iida thought the best way he could support ochako was to buy her a ton of shit and for pay for everything,,, this caused a lot of discourse in their relationship because ochako would get really upset because she felt like she wasn't keeping her end of the deal of their relationship. it took deku going up to iida and explaining it for him to understand and to back off

tsuchako. Y U H. FROG GIRL LOVES HER TALENTED AND BUBBLY GF. PLS. THEYRE SO CUTE. like jfc pls, they would make bracelets for each other in the others colors and then never take them off. they would go on boba dates and visit aquariums together.

iida ships

iidayama. not in canon, just because this is def a crack ship, but y u h. piggy back rides for days. aoyama does iida's makeup and iida feels so pretty and aoyama is so happy to show his bf the world of makeup. aoyama is also genderfluid and iida absolutely slathers them with complements.

tsuyu ships

tokotsu. tsuyu just kinda went up to him and was like "hey, i like you, wanna go out ribbit?" and tokoyami blushed so much before he murmured a soft "sure". they have really opposing music tastes, so they slowly introduce each other to their own music tastes. tokoyami takes tsuyu bird watching, and she's really good at it. she's super patient, and really enjoys the way tokoyami's face lights up when they see a really cool bird. for their first date, they went to the aquarium (its tsu's favorite place to go), and tsuyu told toko so many fucking facts about fish, it was great. she also bought him a whale shark plushy at the gift shop because she noticed that it was his favorite fish to see.

[thejustmaiden]

Jaken = Rin's Dad?

Okay, is this how a daughter treats their so-called father?

Most definitely not.

Rin and Jaken's relationship clearly screams of your typical sibling rivalry punctuated with cute and silly moments of playful bickering.

Yes, Jaken may technically be her main provider, but that doesn't necessarily equate to him being more of a father than Sesshomaru. If anything, he demonstrates more of a brotherly love towards her. As we all know, parents (which Sesshomaru embodies more based on real life patterns and parallels) will leave their older more capable children in charge of looking after their younger brothers and sisters. In this case, that would mean making Jaken responsible for watching over Rin and protecting her if need be. Ah-Un offers protection, too. Think of it as Jaken as the big brother and Ah-Un as the family dog who are babysitting while Sesshomaru as the parent of the household is away at work or taking care of business. I mean, they literally fit that description to a tee and I'm dying at the accuracy of it all! 🤣👌

[Quick! Someone write up a modern au where Sesshomaru finally gets out to have a nice date night but everything goes wrong in the most spectacular way. Like maybe Rin and Jaken catch a ride on Ah-Un to go spy!]

I recently revisited some episodes from The Final Act, and I couldn't believe how many moments like this there were where Rin got after Jaken or when she would "put him in his place" so to speak. Obviously, all of it is mostly harmless. I was only surprised by how often it occurred, not to mention how Jaken would just stand there and take it. Towards a supposed father figure, Rin's behavior is downright unacceptable. There's a certain level of respect a child is expected to show their parents/guardians, and that's just not what I'm witnessing here between them. Like at all.

Rather their dynamic has the nature of some sibling relationships like I mentioned above. So I really wish fans would stop pretending otherwise, because based on what we know of father-daughter relationships- healthy ones at least- they don't appear anything like what Jaken and Rin have. If you could please provide me other examples of where we've seen similar portrayals in fiction or in real life, then perhaps I can get on board.

Look, that doesn't have to mean that because Jaken isn't her father then Sesshomaru must be. They can both be her caretakers without necessarily filling that traditional father role. I'm just saying that if we're going to start assigning titles to characters, let's make sure we are accurate and truthful in our assessments. If you're going to label anyone Rin's dad, then it needs to be Sesshomaru. Jaken doesn't have precedence over him in terms of fatherly attributes, that just wouldn't make sense.

After all, this isn't about what you want to see, this is about what Rin very likely sees. It's safe to assume that she views Sesshomaru more like a father than she does Jaken. She knows she's safe with him (broadly speaking lol) and that he'll come for her no matter what. That sense of security and comfort is what a child seeks and what they should always feel in a parent's presence. She trusts and even idolizes him, just as a young and innocent child tends to do with their parents. At that age, parents are perfect and could do no wrong in their child's eyes. Idk about you, but this describes perfectly how Rin is around Sesshomaru.

Rin adores him and will follow him anywhere- yes, even into danger! That's what the innocence and unconditional love of a child will bring them to do if necessary. Fortunately, at the end of The Final Act we learn Sesshomaru takes Kaede's advice when he realizes that leaving Rin with her in the village is in her best interests. That way she'd be able to lead a more normal and safer life alongside other humans. Remember, Sessrin shippers, that doesn't mean he wasn't still a part of her life and didn't witness her become a young woman over the years right before his very eyes. Therefore, if they eventually do become romantically involved, then most if not all of those gifts had intimate and seductive intentions and it essentially constitutes as child grooming.

I understand from a Sessrin shipper's point of view why it'd be so much easier to claim Jaken as the father. In doing so, they diminish Sesshomaru's role in her upbringing. By refusing to acknowledge the real role he had in helping raise Rin (short periods can be crucial and impressionable too esp. in a child's early years so yes they did assist in raising her not only Kaede), these shippers are better able to justify how their filial-like relationship evolved into a romantic one. So yeah, I get it, if I were a Sessrin shipper I'd probably do the same. It's one of the more plausible arguments available to them, after all. "Let's pin Jaken as the father to fend off antis!" is the best chance they've got, but even so, it's still not good enough. But if you insist Jaken is indeed like a father to Rin, then Sesshomaru is most certainly one too. Who says she can't have two fathers anyway?

The thing is however much you want to deny or downplay what Sesshomaru truly means to Rin and vice versa, nothing will ever change or hide the truth of the matter. Please, stop acting like they're only traveling companions and nothing more. Some of y'all even go so far as to say that they're like strangers. Knowing potentially little about a person is not equal to a lack of love and affection. Making big assumptions such as this to defend your ship is actually doing you more harm than good. Let me elaborate.

According to your reasoning, if that's all Rin ever was to him was a companion and Sesshomaru had no real attachment to her, then what precisely is the basis of your ship? Recall that Adult!Rin doesn't exist yet, thus we have no real idea what she will be like or if she's even alive. So how can you make comments like that but then go on later to say "they have such a unique and unbreakable bond" or "only Rin can be the mother because she's the only human he ever cared for" if all that time spent traveling together didn't amount to much in the first place like you claimed to believe beforehand? Do you see how your rationalizing is confusing?

Contrary to what some of you may think, I'm not just saying all this because I'm an anti and I'm obligated to disagree with you, or whatever other excuse you want to tell yourself. Believe it or not, I'm attempting to give as unbiased and objective of an analysis I can based on widely accepted interpretations of family dynamics, development, and any history we know of.

Of course I respect that at times fans will perceive things differently since that's bound to happen. What's hard for me to wrap my head around however is the unwillingness of some fans- not exclusively Sessrin shippers- to apply basic common sense and sound judgment to their observations and deductions.

Looking at all our facts, then taking the small handful of scenes Sesshomaru and Rin do share together into account, one can logically conclude that their dynamic is akin to one found in a typical parent-child relationship. If you still fail to recognize Sesshomaru as a parent to Rin, then that's fine too. In the end, that won't really change the fact that he'd still take on a role resembling an adult figure overseeing a young child's care and protection. Be it as a vassal, guardian, what have you. Plus, nobody is saying here that Sesshomaru doesn't make mistakes regarding Rin's general well-being, but so do all parents. Overall, I think the majority of us agree that Rin is in good hands. Whether it's in his direct company or in his occasional supervision from his frequent visits to the village.

In other words, it doesn't really matter what exact title you assign him in relation to Rin, as the distribution of power is all inherently the same with any and all adult-child relationships. That bond never changes once you've established it either, seeing as it's a special kind of connection one can only form with a child and a child alone.

I was a teacher for a few years, and speaking from personal experience, you don't need to be a parent, per se, to take on a role of authority in a child's life. I know without a doubt that I could never and will never view any of those kids I taught in a sexual/romantic light later down the road; yes, not even once they become grown-ups who are independent and more than capable of making their own decisions. Those of you who disagree are usually missing the whole point though, because we're not trying to dictate what Adult!Rin can and cannot do like many tend to accuse of us doing. This isn't a question of taking away from her autonomy nor does it fall under "purity culture," which is why people shouldn't continue jumping to these outrageous conclusions and really listen for a change. You're deflecting from the real issue here when you choose to misinterpret what we're saying by ignoring the problem we're actually referring to. You cannot present a valid counter-argument if you persist in twisting our words.

Bottom line: once these kids become old enough to pursue a sexual/romantic relationship, of course they have that right if they're ready. All we're trying to say is you guys ought to stop pushing forward this it's-completely-normal-to-want-to-bang-your-adoptive-dad-since-you're-an-adult-and-can-do-as-you-please agenda and not expect backlash. Ship it if you want, but please stop acting like their romance would be the epitome of a pure and healthy relationship.

Sesshomaru may not wear his heart on his sleeve, but it's foolish to presume he didn't actually care about Rin during their whole time together just because he didn't openly express his feelings until the very end. Surely everybody can comprehend that people handle and process their emotions differently. The way Sesshomaru chooses to is completely valid for the most part, so let's cut him some slack regarding this already.

What I'm trying to get at is that any child whose life you played an influential role in will always be a kid in a lot ways to you even when they're old and wrinkly. Just as they will always picture you as the loved one who guided and protected them when they were most vulnerable and couldn't always fend for themselves. Can't we relate this to children we know personally and apply it accordingly?

Finally, I want to end on this note. Could you kindly take a look at these two images below for a second?

The reason I ask is because of something I recently read that's relevant to the topic. There was this pro-sessrin tweet I saw that stated Rin trying to take care of Sesshomaru when they first met is what a mom would do for a child, which in their opinion, translates to Rin being more like a mother than a daughter if anything.

First off: are you freaking kidding me????

Seriously, so now children aren't allowed to tend to their sick or injured parents?! Parents are apparently superhuman and shouldn't be offered a helping hand from a child, even if they mean well and want to help their parent who's in pain?? Now this Twitter user was mostly being a smartass, but at the same time, it was evident they genuinely thought they offered a valid enough point that warranted no further explanation or clarification.

Secondly, by saying this Sessrin fans don't seem to realize that in actuality they're contradicting themselves and proving the point we've been trying to make all along. Glancing at the first picture and moving down to the second, the role of the one being cared for and the caretaker is reversed. So then by their own logic, Sesshomaru IS in fact like a father to Rin.

What it comes down to is the names you give to the roles these characters play aren't as crucial as the dynamic they share. The specific characteristics of that dynamic are what define the importance of said role, not so much the name in the role itself. So real father or not, Sesshomaru and Rin clearly mean a lot to each other. Close relationships are defined and solidified by the devotion and belonging they have to one another, not solely by the duration of time spent together and their proximity.

Well, that's a wrap! I hope you guys got something outta this blog, and that you enjoyed or found some portions of it interesting. I would love to hear your thoughts on the subject from this fandom, but only engage in conversation if you plan to be respectful. Thank you!

[el-moscorrofio-y-el-mercachifle]

Hi there! Just wanted to say that I i'm living for these YSBLF analysis! I've recently become obsessed with the series, and its been hard to find takes on the characters that I actually agree with lol. But your take on Armando, Marcela, and their relationship is so spot on. They're so dysfunctional and toxic, and it's really frustrating to see people completely bat an eye on Marcela's contribution to the whole thing just because Armando was a cheater. I've come to read so many takes on how Marcela was more of a victim than Betty, which completely blow my mind because, did we watch the same series ?? Like, we know Armando was a trashy boyfriend and so did she. She wasn't deceived into thinking he was faithful at any point, and she constantly beat him up emotionally for it. Her obsession with finding evidence of him cheating was never about her breaking things off with him, but to use it against him and validate her need of control over him. As much as I love her character, these takes that victimize her and don't acknowledge how being with Armando, and "fighting for him", was HER choice, are so frustrating. Armando did little (close to nothing) to fight for their relationship. It's a completely different situation when it comes to Armando and Betty, where Betty was deceived by Armando into thinking he had romantic feelings for her, and it was (initially) a lie. But as you stated, what makes this story and these characters so great, is the moral ambiguity and the subtleness of it all... I wanted to highlight, when Marcela finds out about Betty and Armando, when Betty leaves Ecomoda. I love the irony of Betty who was supposed to be the more submissive of the two, ends up setting an example for Marcela on what having dignity in a relationship actually looks like. The way Betty so easily lets go of everything Marcela sees as non-negotiable, the relationship with Armando (the socially acceptable man) and the company (power and authority) in defense of her dignity, is awesome. I always felt as if in that moment, Marcela reads it the same way and is inspired by Betty's display of dignity. The scene when she then confronts Armando is so satisfying because she finally does and says what she should have a long time ago. Unfortunately, then her judgement is clouded once again, by her even more toxic environment, aka, Margarita and Paty🤦🏽‍♀️. Which would happen every so often, that when she had a moment of lucidness and would take a step forward in the right direction, only to take 2 steps back. But again, that's what makes the character so interesting. Seeing her go between her morality, knowing what she deserves in a relationship, and her succumbing into her own ego and her prejudice. Same goes for Armando, and even Betty.

Anyway, sorry for the spam, I just got excited to read your posts because I totally agree with everything you posted. Even though this is a telenovela, and telenovelas tend to be very simple in nature, this one actually has a lot of depth to it. The characters are well written and developed throughout the series. The main ones (Betty, Armando, and Marcela) are very complex and give us a lot to discuss, and the supporting characters complement them and the story very well. Fernando Gaitan really got us rooting for this problematic ass man (Armando) to end up with wholesome Betty in the year 2021. Maldita sea Calderon 😩🤣

Hii! Omg thank you!! I love these kind of long paragraphs!! My love and obsession for ysblf and the three main (Armando, Betty and Marcela) knows no boundaries. I could talk about them all day because of how greatly written they are ❤️

Oh Lord, YES! So many people seem to think Marcela was a victim because she ended up single, out of Ecomoda and was constantly cheated on, and that take is so wrong in so many ways, starting with how that perspective over Marcela being a victim because she “lost” Armando is EXACTLY what made HER so abusive: that she saw Armando as a trophy that she deserved. By the end of the series the dude can barely even stand to look at her, and yet she still wanted him there. In Armando’s own words, he ended up being nothing but a rotten corpse by her side, and she didn’t care as long as he continued to be the trophy she could put on display 😔😔 She knew he was always, always did! That’s why she destroyed his lovers’ careers (can we talk about how freaking misogynistic it is ón Marcela’s part to always be reducing women to her looks and hate the beautiful ones and destroy their lives if she suspected they were involved with Armando 😭😭? Please just break up with him, girl, leave the other women alone 😭😭), because she knew. As you say, her search for “proof” was nothing but a way to calm her wounded ego and dignity, because when she finally has proof of him cheating, she still clinged to him, manipulating him and making him feel bad about his past actions (which were awful, that’s true). All it showed is that Marcela never truly forgave Armando over anything, all she did was swallow her dignity and anger and let it boil inside, but it always came out in her constant passive-aggressiveness and obsession.

Yes! That irony is great. Marcela was always talking about her “dignity” (likely just a way to convince herself more than anyone else, given how deep down both Marcela and Armando knew their relationship was f up), but always showed to have none.

Sadly, Marcela just like Armando had awful “parents” (Margarita and Roberto), and a terribly superficial and manipulative best friend. If Armando and Marcela had had any healthy relationship, probably things wouldn’t have gone as far as they did 😓😓

Yesss! I love ysblf exactly because of that. I can’t hate anyone either because of their moral ambiguity (like with the three main) or their genuine charisma (like with Calderón, who is a freaking awful person)! Fernando Gaitán was truly a genious. And don’t apologize, I loved this!!🥰🥰🥰❤️❤️❤️

[queerchoicesblog]

A Few Words On Pride Month 2020

So, pride month has come at last. No matter how crazy it sounds right now as we're experiencing first-hand one of those events that will end up in history handbooks one day.

I'll be honest, it's quite difficult for me to talk about it now when everything that is not Mrs Rhona releted seems so well less relevant than it was before. But I want to share a few words that most likely nobody will read but I'll let them flow anyway.

I watch that video every single year during pride month. It's from a series I liked quite a lot back then, it's called Sense8. The character speaking is a trans woman, an lgbtq+ hacktivist, reminiscing her disastrous relationship with her transphobic mother yet finding strength in her own sorrow. There is a passage I love:

Today I'm marching to remember that I'm not just a me

But I'm also a we

And we march with pride

These words resonate with me: they summarise perfectly the deep empathy and acceptance that I feel should make us stick together. Both inside the lgbtqa+ community and as human beings: "I am a human being, and thus nothing human is alien to me". I'm quoting by heart a Latin playwright named Terentius (Terence in English, I guess?) so forgive me if I got something wrong but what I mean is...we should all care about each other because no matter our differences, our sexuality or color of skin or class, we are human. We are brothers and sisters: I'm an only child but I believe that the definition of a healthy family is one where people overcome differences that don't truly matter in the end, they don't define us as worthy or unworthy of love and respect which should always be given to another human being.

Unless there are valid reasons not to.

As the latest happenings in the world have shown, a hard truth we all know has been reinforced: we live in a cruel, unfair world where, as Nomi said, "hating isn't a sin on that list and neither is shame". A world where people get hurt or killed for reasons which can be hardly called a motive for violence: not being white, not being rich enough, being different, holding a hand or kissing a person of the same sex in the street.

We may comfort ourselves saying these fears were past fears, last century or even Victorian age fears but no, they're still out there. And we can't turn a blind eye.

The current pandemic added new ones, making our lives even more miserable. Speaking of the lgbtqa+ community, I think I can say the social distancing is hitting even harder. Does anybody feel lonelier now? I rise my hand, I do. I'm not referring to the fact that pride parades are cancelled (because we all know there is a freaking valid reason atm), but getting in touch with other people is way harder now. In my personal experience, getting in touch with fellow lgbtqa+ folks was rare even before the pandemic, now it's hella tough. In the street we hide our faces behind masks and don't have the same careless attitude we used to display. Shaking hands and even the lightest touch or proximity are not allowed under the new restrictions: a few weeks ago, over here a couple was charged for hugging each other in the street. How sad and dystopic are these times we live in...

Virtual meetings can help but they're not like in person meetings: the warmth of personal interaction is simply not there. We try but it's not there. Couples are separeted by lockdown rules and so are some families. Lgbtqa+ hotlines are a saving grace and I cannot stress enough how important they are and how anyone struggling with their mental health or literally anything concerning themselves, their gender and sexuality should feel free to contact those volunteers who are a blessing restoring a little faith in humanity.

My thoughts are for those of us who got stuck quarantining with homophobic/biphobic/transphobic etc parents or roommates, and those stuck in abusive contexts. Yes, even relationships because - I know I'll be super unpopular saying this but we can't lie especially to the minor or vulnerable ones- lgbtqa+ relationships can be abusive and toxic too. As I said, we're human and I am sick and tired of the honeyed sunshine rhetoric of lgbtqa+ people and love as an ever right and righteous safe haven. It is a safe haven for us to some extent but we must acknowledge there are problematic issues in our community. We have to be honest with each other especially for the sake not only of each other but for the vulnerable ones and the young. Like criticising or reporting abusers, predators, rapists and so on don't make us all filthy creatures who will burn on a stake for our abominable sins. It just makes us responsible and looking out for each other.

We spend so long dreaming of finding someone of the same sex to be with that when someone shows us any sign of affection our feelings for them grow fast, even when red flags or abuse enter our lives. We stay because we're hungry for love and crave what straighties seem to get so easily: love, acceptance, reciprocity. To the young and everyone who needs to hear this I wanna say: it doesn't have to be like that. Don't ever settle for cheap love only because you feel you will lose your only chance to be loved. There are good people out there too and you deserve one of them at your side. You will find them, your paths will cross: just be patient and never ever forget the importance of respect and consent.

To all those experiencing anything like the relationships or toxicity I mentioned, who feel silenced by the sunshine rhetoric, I say: you are not alone, stay strong and you did nothing wrong, others did and I'm sorry you're going through this cause you don't deserve it.

I share a similar shutout to those struggling with mental and/or physical disorders. If you ever felt pretty much invisible, you're not. I see you, many others see you and we're all rooting for you. You're stronger than you think and you're beautiful.

The not-as-unfortunate-as-the abovementioned but still quite forlorn are the star crossed lovers meeting that special someone in a bad time. Quarantine will see the blossoming of some romances but also takes no prisoners, blowing off others. They don't vanish though, in most cases they turn into those impossible loves and what if we love so much in the movies and hate in real life. I wish I could lay a blanket or pull into a tight hug all those going through this. Your pain is not irrelevant even if there are worst things in the world right now, our souls hurt for things like that. I hold your shaking hand wherever you are as you stare blankly at your phone, waiting for a message or a call that will never come, or you reminisce, listening to a romantic playlist you still have saved on your device. Your suffering is my suffering.

On a brighter side, cause I don't wanna be a complete downer, the luckiest ones among us are blessed with love and I can't be any happier for you, whoever you are. I can picture the one day a few years from now when I will be talking to someone and they will share their story saying how they met the love of their life during the pandemic. How it wasn't easy at first because of all the uncertainty and fears but they kept trying and it all started with a social distancing date at a park or via Zoom. You lucky ones, cherish that and never take what you have for granted: the love you feel and that special someone is showing you is a balsam in hard times. Please cherish it dearly and never stop loving: one day you'll warm these old bones and lonely heart if we ever get the chance to cross path.

Actually I don't have any more wisdom to share, granted what I wrote can be called wisdom, nor giveaway. I considered doing a lgbtqa+ one in honor of the pride month but I feel nobody would be interested. Or at least not by me and I fully agree: writing is getting hard and I feel like I risk of ruining everything I dedicate myself to, as I usually do in my life. I'll follow the tips of a few anons (I think?) and devote this month to educate myself over aspects, nuances or realities I am not fully familiar with: so I'll watch Pose and Sex Education. Hopefully I'll learn something new that might make me a better human being.

Feel free to share further advice: books, articles, movies, series, documentaries...you name it! Drop a message or an ask and I'll make what I'm starting now a lasting project!

That is my advice: if you're stuck inside with nothing much to do this month, find something that might enrich you, even a little thing, and go for it.

As well as reminding yourself the usual stuff: you are not wrong nor unlovable, you're not offensive or dirty for being attracted to your same sex or both or none. Not to quote Lady Gaga, but it's truly is that simple: you are born and beautiful this way.

Stay safe and stay strong, my darlings 🏳️‍🌈

Love,

E.

[nadziejastar]

It's sort of amazing the difference between the fan interpretation of RAX and how they interact in canon. In Days they're super dysfunctional, border on being toxic, and their friendship was unsustainable from the start even if they didn't realize it. In fanon they're a picture perfect family who can never be torn apart. And the KH3 went with the fan interpretation instead of acknowledging any of their issues.

I totally agree. I think the reason is that the fandom tends to be very young. It’s a big reason why Akuroku became so popular, IMO. Young teens tend to misinterpret unhealthy obsession (like Axel’s) as romance and true love. And the Sea-Salt Trio’s dysfunction also was also overlooked in a similar manner.

I gotta be honest. I feel pretty uncomfortable with the general interpretation of the Sea-Salt Trio in this fandom. It’s just so bizarre to me how Roxas and Xion’s friendship with Axel was put on such a pedestal and how his relationship with Isa was pretty much ignored by almost everyone. It’s just…amazingly unrealistic if you think about it. I think it’s a testament to how young the fans are, in general.

Axel’s relationships truly aggravate me, because he was written a LOT differently than Sora or other simplistic characters. I know that the target demographic for Kingdom Hearts is pretty young. And in the end, I think Axel’s character was a victim of that. Nomura tried to write him very authentically at first.

But his characterization was dumbed down to fit in with a largely tween/teen audience and their preferences. I don’t say that to be disparaging to younger fans or anything. But, had KH3 not been a Disney property, and had it been targeted to a slightly older audience, I think Axel and his relationships would have been handled a LOT differently.

I definitely think the Sea-Salt Trio was VERY misunderstood by the fandom. Axel has known Saïx for at least 10 years. Probably more. Even before their backstory was explained, you could tell they have been through hell together in the organization, without anyone else to trust besides each other. Axel was willing to do all of his dirty work. 

Then Axel meets Roxas and Xion. Two kids who—let’s be honest—are about on the level of your average fifth grader. Not a bad thing. They’re just very naive and childlike and he obviously can’t be 100% himself around them. Do people really think Axel is gonna replace his best friend so easily with two kids he’s known for less than a year? Apparently, yes. Let’s look how absurd it is.

Day 75

Inseparable

The Genie we met in Agrabah said he and his friend Al are "inseparable." Axel told us best friends can be inseparable even if they're not always together, but it sounded like he wasn't too sure about it himself. I thought Axel knew everything. Oh well...

At this point, Axel spent quite a while at Castle Oblivion. He hasn’t even gotten to know Roxas that well, and he’s only known Xion for a few days. It’s totally realistic that he’d say he doesn’t have a best friend. He sounds like he knows what it’s like to have a best friend, though. He just doesn’t have one anymore.

Day 96

Roxas: I just…want these days to last forever. Hanging out, the ice cream, the sunsets…

Axel: Nothing lasts forever, man. Least of all for a bunch of Nobodies. But you know, we’ll still have each other…even if things change and we can’t do this anymore.

Roxas: Yeah?

Axel: As long as we remember each other, we’ll never be apart. Got it memorized?

Roxas: Ha ha, wow, Axel. That sounded ridiculous.

Axel: What? I thought it was pretty deep.

Not even two weeks later, he’s acting all touchy-feely about the time they spend hanging out together. Roxas and Xion make fun of him because even they know they’re not really that close, lol. They hardly know each other at this point. If you read between the lines, you could tell that he was thinking about Saïx here, too.

Friends

Author: Axel

I feel like I’ve been spending more time talking to Roxas and Xion lately than my old friend, Saïx. This has to have been what it was like, friendship.

But if that wasn’t obvious enough, the report clears up all doubt. He WAS thinking about Saïx. The message I got was: Lea and Isa had a very close relationship as humans. They were the ones who were really inseparable. 

Axel misses that and, the more he remembers it, is desperate to fill the void. Every time he mentions “best friends,” it relates back to this. But this concept went “whoosh” over 90% of the fandom’s head. It baffles me. I really just don’t get it. Again, I have to think it’s due to the fact that this series skews really young. 

Day 118

You Changed, Not Me

Author: Axel

Talking to Roxas and Xion always brings back memories of my human life, back when I was a kid. It’s a weird sensation. I ought to be able to share all this with Saïx, but I just don’t feel like it anymore. It’s strange, but I’m content with just missing what’s gone. I’m not the one who changed. You did.

Anyways. Three weeks later. Axel is very hung up on the past. He sounds like a heartbroken lover (because that’s exactly what he is, if you ask me). The reason Axel spends so much time with Roxas and Xion is because Isa changed.

Day 150

Too Precious to Lose

Axel and I talked for a while about the things we can’t bear to lose. Axel thinks that for Nobodies, it’s our pasts, because that’s all we have to remember the pain of losing something. I don’t remember my past, but the idea of losing the present–Axel or Xion–scares me.

A month later. Axel comes back from Castle Oblivion yet again, and he’s even more nostalgic for the past than last time. I bet Axel’s time at C.O was gonna be featured as a blank period in BBSV2. But whatever. He couldn’t bear the thought of losing his memories of the past.

The reason Axel treasured his memories so much was because it’s all he had left after losing something. OBVIOUSLY it’s because of his relationship with Isa. I mean, duh. It implies a pretty special connection between Axel/Lea and Saïx/Isa for him to feel that way, especially considering how mean Saïx is to him.

I’m not trying to trash Axel’s feelings for Roxas and Xion, either, or make them out to be unimportant. They were important to him, for sure. But they absolutely did not reach Isa’s level of importance to him. No fucking way. Not. Even. Close. Especially not on Day 150. By the end of the story, Axel couldn’t bear to lose Roxas and Xion because they were all he had to fill the void of Isa.

That’s not to say that he didn’t care about them as friends, or that he was just using them. It just means that I don’t think Axel really would want to be “inseparable” with Roxas and Xion once he was mentally and emotionally healthy. He’d want to be friends with them, of course, but not hang out every day like Hayner, Pence, and Olette. He’s not on the same level as Roxas and Xion. And that’s fine.

Terra: Protect the things that matter… Right. My friends matter to me, too. So, I still have things that I have to protect.

To use a comparison, Riku was very important to Terra. I LOVED the connection between them. Other than Lea and Isa, one of the things I was most excited to see in KH3 was Riku and Terra reuniting (yeah…). They had a very special bond. Riku helped comfort Terra when he was down. But. Riku was NOT as important to Terra as Aqua and Ven were. Even if Terra had spent a whole year with Riku, he still wouldn’t be as important to Terra as Aqua and Ven.

Roxas and Xion being portrayed as the most important people to Axel is as ridiculous to me as Riku being portrayed as the most important person to Terra. It would be weird if 99% of the fanart out there depicted Riku as Terra’s best friend and Terra’s reunion with Riku got more spotlight in KH3 than his reunion with Ven and Aqua.

That’s how I feel about the Sea-Salt Trio. I really liked it for what it was in Days. A complex, morally grey friendship between an emotionally damaged adult and two innocent kids. But I really don’t like the overly saccharine, cutesy, cuddly, one-dimensional fandom version of it, where Axel is treated like he’s on the same level as the two teens. It’s a testament to how young the fandom is that people really thought Lea would be “meh” about reuniting with his childhood best friend who’s been possessed for 10 years, and be waaaay more excited about getting to eat ice cream with two teens every day once again. 

Day 172

What’s Love?

On my mission at Beast’s Castle, Xaldin told me about "love” and the special power it has over people. I tried to ask Axel about it, but his explanation didn’t make any sense to me. Every time I ask him about this kind of thing, he tells me I need a heart to understand. It’s like he’s dodging the questions.

Axel tolerates severe emotional abuse from his possessed best friend because he loved him back when he was normal. He copes by with his extremely shitty life by living entirely in the past, through his memories. Hanging out with two kids helps him remember his old life, back when he was happy. God, he was such a fascinating character. Such wasted potential.

Day 193

Best Friends

Xion's awake now. The three of us were gonna go get some ice cream after our mission, but she passed out again, so we had to take her home. I talked with Axel in her room until she woke up. He said the three of us were best friends—inseparable. 

Axel said he had no best friend on Day 75. Now it’s Day 193. That’s only 119 days. That’s less than four months!! He gets in a fight with Saïx, who, once again, says he’s changed. A very sore topic for Axel. Then immediately afterwards, he says these two kids are his best friends.

If I was gonna compare it to real life: Let’s say Lea and Isa were two normal high school kids who were kidnapped and raised in a gang. Axel is a 25/26 year-old former gang member. He’s got blood on his hands. He’s a good person deep down, but he’s seen a lot of shit. Then he meets these two fifth graders. This adult gang member, with tear-drop tats and everything, suddenly starts calling these two fifth graders his best friends. He wants to spend all of his time eatig ice cream and playing Minecraft with them.

If this was real life, would anyone say how cute it is that they are best friends? Two kids who he had to teach the concept of “best friends” to? NO! No, they’d say that’s unhealthy and weird and that the guy needs therapy. Because it IS unhealthy and weird. Perhaps it easier to see that as an adult. Perhaps it’s easier to see it in a romanticized way when you’re young.

The Sea-Salt Trio was, in a way, Axel forcing the label of “best friends” on two kids in an attempt to cope with the heartbreak of his loss of innocence. It did have genuine cuteness and sweetness. Of course it did. Axel was not a predator or anything. Roxas and Xion loved him. Axel loved them. But…it wasn’t as cutesy and wholesome as people make it out to be. At least not from Axel’s end. It wasn’t JUST a cute wholesome trio. 

That’s what made it so good. It was complex and grey. Axel never went against the organization, even though he could have if he really wanted to. It got to the point where he nearly killed both Roxas and Xion, just because he couldn’t bring himself to go against the organization. And the reason he couldn’t go against the organization was because of Saïx. Yes. Axel came thiiiiis close to killing both Roxas and Xion for a sociopath who treated him like shit. Their friendship was very dysfunctional and had a lot of kinks to work out.

Again, I’m not trying to denigrate the bond Axel had with Roxas and Xion. It was still genuine and sweet, in a sad and messed up way. I can still appreciate the cuteness of it.

But I hated the Sea-Salt reunion in KH3. Because it only focused on the most one-dimensional, saccharine and cutesy portrayal of them possible. They didn’t have to talk about anything. It was just instant hugging and ice cream, now they’re best friends forever. Everything played up to the max to manipulate people’s emotions. None of their issues were worked out and they had no better understanding of each other than they did at the end of Days. Honestly, even though Roxas and Xion got the red carpet treatment compared to Isa, the resolution to their trio was just as pathetic as Isa/Lea’s duo. 

[feather-dancer]

for the wip game, please - a showman’s technique

Christ that one.

Gonna continue under a cut for me seeing later reasons because I can never talk about this normally I wanna make the most of it.

Whoop.

So this has been living in Bonus Garbage in two parts and was spawned by (As ever) me getting annoyed about something. I'm not even remotely subtle about being a Zouxie shipper, I was one of the idiots on since fairly early on and there's a lot of bad representation for Ace peeps out there if there is any at all because it's seen as easier to lump people into the stereotypical than acknowledging it's a sliding scale like most things. Everyone is individual down to what they're willing to do or tolerate and it doesn't make them any less Ace for it. The important part of any healthy relationship is communication, respect and honesty after all and that is no different if your partner happens to be Ace even if you're not and THAT particularly is what got rattling in my brain.

Yeah there's a reason this is for my alt account not my main because it's not staying in sfw territory

Anyway this is a bit of it:

During their more heated make out sessions he would have a habit of shamelessly worshipping her with his tongue, pressing butterfly kisses to her stomach and ensuring fingertips grace all the scars as if somehow needing to make up for for having a line of how far he'd be willing to go and erase any doubts about how loved she is without using any of the words he is so fond of otherwise. On occasion his eyes would catch hers just for a fraction and well, memories of these moments would fuel later excursions if she ever wanted to personally take things any further before her focus is again snatched by the soft mummers he draws effortlessly from her lips.

When breath finally started to run short or the actions turned languid akin to a gentler simmer his favourite spot to rest his head would be just below the collar bone where he easily feel her heartbeat that would lull him into a doze while hands would card through his hair or drape down his back in soothing circles across the lines and marks of tattoos always drawing contented noises and the feeling of complete trust without fail. The warmth and closeness shared felt special, like something that was private and for their eyes only

Least how I write Douxie he figured out over the years he just isn't interested and there's unrelated things he gets funny about that get hinted at in general. For the right person though there are some things he'd be okay about which ties into the title and you never know until you ask or you get out the blue ambushed by the suggestion.

I mean this is another bit in there:

"It's your fantasy, love, and nobody knows your body better than you do~"

I've gotta be in the right mood to write it understandable as I'm very stereotypical Aro Ace (Ironically) but guess puts me in a better place to actually be respectful about it. It's a two parter but somebody is gonna have to bribe me to c/p the other bit.