#yeah their management has created these stereotypes of them and it's not true at all. it makes me upset

[punksocks]

Placements For Romantic Archetypes Pt.1: Accidental Playboy (18+ Only)

*Adults only! Minors dni

*just based on my experiences, only takes what resonates

Someone whose usually monogamous that has dated/hooked up with a lot of their friends and stays friends with their exes. They just have a lot of attachments and a lot of love to give ! This may be a phase for most of them (if they’re developed) and they tend to settle down with one person whenever they find their twin flame.

***

-Cancer Venus: just a lot of affection for the people they hang out with, if you’re in their circle they can feel a lot for you and depending on their other placements this can turn into hooking up with their friends. They also don’t really let go of relationships, this placement is most likely to stay friends with their exes as well imo. They also tend to do anything to make their friends/significant others happy which is very sweet …but can lead to some awkwardness on occasion. (Like I knew someone that had a ex turned friend and she would like show him her lewds before she sent them to guys she was asking out and he was like yeah we’re just friends! He stopped that in a relationship, but then she said that they would’ve ended up together when she broke up with someone she was seeing and he was like oblivious and just said haha no, that was only the tip of the iceberg, I was like dude get a boundary.)

-Venus in 11th: A tendency to only get intimately involved with people after they’ve become good friends anyway. Also a tendency to hold onto all their friendships if they can. Can create a like web of attachments, of friends and old flames.

-Cancer Mars & Earth/Air Moon: Needing to be emotionally drawn to someone in order to find them s*xy and hookup… but also this like detachment underneath that. Like a deep amount of emotional investment and fixation but also like being pretty emotionally removed behind it all. So a tendency to pursue like friendships with objects of desire but not too much behind that (not that there’s anything wrong with that, it can just quickly turn into a string of affairs)

-Virgo Mars: This placement usually acts in their relationships through acts of service to express their commitment and affection. Due to Virgo being mutable, I’ve found that they’ll often have a more flexible approach to how they handle their relationships. Like I’ve just seen a lot of Virgo mars natives that would perform acts of service for current and ex partners because of how helpful they want to be to everyone. (Not necessarily a bad thing but a little messy if you’re in a relationship and doing favors for your exes). Lots of checking up in on people and trying to help manage them that can turn into them hooking up in order to be “helpful” (especially after they’re emotionally involved)

-Sagittarius Venus/Mars: just a placement with a lot of abundance, so they tend to date around and explore with many options. Depends on the other placements with how they handle this, (I find fire signs to be more up front about it, but they catch feelings like water signs) but they tend to want to move through relationships on as best of terms as they can.

-Libra Sun: kind of a stereotype due to Libra’s indecisive nature and how because they’re viewed as typically being attractive and charming, due to Venus they tend to draw people into them. I also believe that Libras don’t like to be on anyone’s sh*t list, so like they may hookup and date around and try to do a lot of work on the back end to make sure their past relationships still view them in a positive way… and sometimes they may reopen that door to see if they can reconnect to an old flame. (When they find their other half they won’t really do this anymore, but they charm everyone into thinking they’re the one so it can be hard to tell when they really feel this way imo, the moon sign would help with this)

-Leo Sun: This may not be true for every Leo out there, but they usually have a phase of really basking in all of the attention they pull in. (Leo in the big 6 tends to show someone who goes through a period of being ignored or not receiving enough attention before they become a sort of magnet for other people’s attention) That tends to set up Leos for a period when they’re indulging in that attention in all their relationships. Like they’re getting a bit of ego validation by how much all their friends are into them and they go with it and sort of ignore any emotional consequences until they can’t.

-Neptune hard aspects (esp square/opposition) to Moon/Mars: they tend to have a deep fantasy life that affects how they move in the world. They build up their fantasies of the people they’re into being their perfect hook up and they can get “confused” about their feelings about someone. Like they get closer to a friend and hook up and may entertain the idea of dating and a future together but they just don’t actually feel that way about them. Or they break up with someone and still see them in a certain way so they work to please them to some degree in entertaining the idea of getting together again. It’s like future faking but lowkey the native is doing this the most to themselves and trying to figure out what they actually want long term. Sometimes they only understand what they want after an option has been cut off from them.

-Mars hard aspects (esp square/opposition) to Moon: their heart and their d*ck want different things. No but for real though if they have insane s*xual chemistry with someone they’re probably overwhelmed and overthinking it. If they have a deep emotional connection with someone, they may be torn because they lack chemistry with the person. It’s a lot of internal strife of like wanting people to fit together with the perfect traits in the perfect way but the native has to actually figure out what that means for them before they’re able to settle down.

-How do you know if you’re the one? I hate to be blunt about this, but you connection with this guy will take top priority over the others. But dear god you will have to communicate so much to like work through this. You’ll probably have to be a bit patient as you guys get past all of this messiness. The good thing is, that if he’s a good guy he’ll make you feel like you’re in a rom com in a good way, like you’re really loved and cared for, despite all of this. If he’s underdeveloped? Don’t do it girl, he’ll never know what he wants and he’ll stress you tf out (i mean do whatever you want, you’ve just got to figure out if it’s worth the headache and possible heartbreak for you).

(I hope you all liked this! If you did I have a few more types I have in mind to post about ;0)

[terrence-silver]

Does terry help take care of his kids? i know financially he does but would he help beloved with a overtired baby or a fussy toddler or even a semi rebellious teen?

---

I don't know; why do I think Terry Silver would possibly raise his potential kids even more than his partner does, even though taking over quite so much isn't necessary because when you're loaded, your options for childrearing become endless. You could technically send your brats away to some boarding school and almost never see them if you so choose. Perish the thought of actually raising them yourself! He explicitly wants to do it, though. Needs to. Like, I imagine the man is so particular, such a perfectionist, control oriented and deliberate that he wants and absolutely desires his permanent input made and refuses to leave things up to chance, because there he has it; young minds. Fresh blood. And they're related to him. They are him. He's them. He has all the right to do this. He has the only right, actually. He wants to leave his personal mark behind. He wants to teach things only he feels only he can teach and teach it best because his teaching is the best by default. Leaving that up to someone else wont cut it. He wants to relay things only he can relay. Leave as much of himself behind on his children as he can, like a literal imprint to the point he'll be possessive of their upbringing and education and very determined to create a collective of mini-me's until he can see himself reflected in his children's eyes, mannerisms, visage, values, core beliefs, mentality, habits --- everything. He wants to be involved in the process of molding. Creation. He wants to be in their minds. In their souls.

That is the true definition of a legacy.

Terry acts, typically, like a mother would or should.

Heck. He is Mother.

He might even be envious of someone having center stage over him.

He wants it all. Ideally, he'd have it all too.

Of course, that's a feat all on its own because this is a very busy man whatever the era is and people...legitimately wonder how on earth he manages and it does miracles for his image. Man's a multitasking, overenergized mastermind genius! Might end up on the cover of some magazine with only the highest of praises like any villain with excellent publicity would. Carbon footprint? Oh, yeah, he might preach it, especially in later years, while also not adhering to it in his own life. Silver and Sons. Silver and Daughters. Silver and Children. You name it. Whatever the variety, it casts an incredibly favorable public perception on him and excuses a great many things he does because he's a Patriarch of an All-American clan (albeit of a very dynasty oriented, elitist clan), and he'd lie if he said he didn't covet that immensely, even though mere surface level pride isn't the only reason he does it. He does it because he wants to. It is a privilege that belongs to him. He's a residential Von Trapp with a brood of kids around him and he relishes in it from literally feeding a toddler and not blinking as he watches them chew with immaculate, unflinching curiosity to somehow landing himself with the moniker of the 'coolest dad in the world' because he might've taught his teen how to scam the stock market and hide it too. Quite literally the opposite of a stereotypically neglectful, rich father because Terry is the opposite of uninvolved when he sets his mind of things truly. Entirely possible to find him in a dojo training a collective of kids of all ages and if asked if he's holding class and if those are his students he might just correct that 'Yes. But they're also mine. Mine mine.'

Oh, but wait? There's like...six of them. And all his? As in his...actual biological children? Is that what he meant by that?

Yep.

He might confirm with a creeping, unsettling smile.

Terry might deeply enjoy the implication that he not only somehow found the time to be a multitalented, hyper-wealthy overachiever and spawn so many times (and the hint at physicality and virility that comes with that) but that he also has the time to personally train them, teach them, spoil them rotten, garner their devotion to him, have them entourage him around like a miniature army, indulge in the joys of the corporate world and run multiple business too. Man's the type to take a toddler to work at Dynatox, put them on his lap in front of a great, big conference table and allow them to scribble over documents and paperwork belonging to a rival he doesn't intend to do business with and plans on showing it through all the doodling his three year old created as a way to honor the breaking of their understanding. A subtle (and weirdly adorable) way of saying 'fuck you'. Of course people are part endeared, part scared for their lives and employment under their boss. Who could ever criticize him anyway? Is it even socially acceptable without seeming heartless? Not without major consequences and penalization. Not without retaliation. Maybe he wants to personally change a nappy while on the phone with Hong Kong, yelling at his overseas employees, chastising them for their incompetence. Maybe he wants to blame them when his child enters a crying fit while he orders them to dump those twenty cisterns into the Gobi desert and hurry the heck up because Terrence Jr. is upset by their nonsense delays and quite frankly, Terry's patience is running dangerously thin. He might even chortle into his own chin afterwards due to how badly he made his agent on the line stutter while he bribes the same kid away from their gloomy mood by literally whatever they'd like best in the world.

Which country on this great, big decorative spinning globe do they want to see environmentally tampered with? How about Nicaragua?

Who's to tell?

I find it immensely believable that he'd do all this and more. His raising methods are very questionable, but this man is definitely smotheringly overpresent.

[sunfoxfic]

about the “recognizing stereotypes is actually what’s racist” thing NO BC THAT TAKE HAS BEEN SO AGGRAVATING TO ME FOR SO LONG.

without going into the eight page long essay about how passionately i feel about this, all i have to say is how important it is to recognize stereotypes in media in order to accurately understand what’s wrong with them and criticize the media we consume in our everyday lives.

if you just Watch Media without recognizing the problems the stereotypes represent, you just end up internalizing them. to better describe what i mean, its just like the problem with anime and misogyny. you see it happen again and again and again and again, and eventually your brain (since it learns from patterns and familiarity) starts to expect that women and feminine-presenting people are in those roles and Only those roles.

go into it with a mindset of “oh these stereotypes are okay, i cant think about it or else im the bad one” and suddenly theyre just like the people on tiktok who just throw around buzz words without any critical thought behind it.

okay thats all, thank u for coming to my summarized ted talk

Anon, you're so valid. It was such a bizarre take and unlike anything I've personally run into before. It's like?? It almost treats coding as though it's a retroactive association with *insert group here* rather than an intentional insinuation. Coding in and of itself is a neutral thing - plenty of coding is used for good, plenty of coding is used for bad. Sometimes it's really hard to tell the difference between subtext and coding, too (and subtext is also in and of itself neutral).

When you frame coding, and in particular racist sorts of coding, as a retroactive association, it turns it into a no-win situation - the person who points out the coding is the one creating the association, and therefore is the one who is bigoted.

In my eyes, when you're calling out bigoted stereotypes via coding, the "best" outcome is for the creator to have been thoughtlessly replicating bigoted media. We'll never know if she-who-shall-not-be-named was doing it intentionally or unintentionally at first (it being anything you can think of, there are more than a few examples) but clearly her reaction to being called out is to dig her heels in the ground, so considering the "best" outcome is kinda moot in this particular case.

But yeah, you're really spot on with the thing about stereotypes. Because even if you can recognize that the stereotype is wrong while simultaneously keeping your mouth shut about it in fear of someone thinking you're the one who's doing the coding, you're the one who's bigoted - even if you can manage that, you're letting these ideas perpetuate to someone who doesn't know.

My politics recently have shifted to the ideology that "what works > what is ideal." I'm not interested in debating whether the person who knew it was wrong and said nothing is more innocent than the person who wasn't educated on the matter and adopted the ideas without critical skills to challenge them. I'm not interested in debating whether the latter was a victim, whether the former is part of the problem. Ideals are great when applied inwardly but nothing trumps results when trying to change the world - and it is true, great is the enemy of good.

In an ideal world, everyone could just agree to stop this sort of bigoted coding in works and then we don't have to worry about whether it's retroactive or not. We don't live in an ideal world. The actual way that it works is that, regardless of innocence and morality, change depends on Person 1 calling shit out so Person 2 doesn't fall into it. Is that sort of act an act of social justice, or just what a good citizen does? Should people get credit for it?

Man, fuck if I know. People in three hundred years won't be studying me in their textbooks either way because I don't want them to, but where we are now, people are dying and the climate is changing, so I really prioritize making a world where they have trees to make into textbooks and a history that's written not only by the victors, but the good guys.

[lovely-oh-so-lovelyyui]

Whether or not they become parents, do you think that the Diaboys would be good financially supportive partners WITHOUT the assets provided with being old-money vampire royalty (I REALLY don't think they would let their partner get a job because they're possessive, insecure bastards that get emasculated by the slightest thing)?

Oh absolutely not, when I say they’re abusive pricks I mean they are full-on abusive. They’ve been around for centuries, they know what drives humans to desperation, what deprived naive girls want.

With no outlook nor guidance on how to manage themselves in the world, financial abuse is the perfect way to control someone especially if you want to settle with them.

Mental, physical, and emotional abuse is something they consistently use to manipulate and gaslight anyway but I think finances play a key role in domestic abuse; they’re most likely to re-create the perfect ideal family but they have to know about everything otherwise their illusion of control is slipping from their grasp.

 Whether it be with children or just herself it makes it near impossible for the bride to escape if she has no monetary guidance, straight from when she was 16 she was exposed to the Sakamaki’s twisting her view on the world leaving her with large trust issues whether she'd like to admit it or not. Hence the Sakamaki’s are very likely to control household expenses, bills, family funds etc because there’s a chance she could secretly start saving up making it easier for her to escape not that she would get far before they’d hunt her down to kill her for betraying them, but yeah.

Which is why I think you’re very correct about them restricting the bride from getting a job, a job means she is going out learning skills like her local neighbourhood, other people who aren’t god-awful people and genuinely support her, and how to handle her salary, she’ll start making friends going on company trips and seeing more of the world than the snowglobe the boys built for her and that’s simply unacceptable.

They need the control, they’ll throw tantrums and set her up constantly under the farce of looking out for her or telling her she has no need to work or playing the emotional game of clinging to her or accusing her of meeting other men and abandoning them or just straight up shutting her down. Think in general just sabotage her work life, delete files, sleep with her co-workers to fuck with her, bribe someone to grope her in the workplace or get her boss to constantly give her exhausting work so she just prefers “safety within their arms”.

Totally true on the whole emasculation thing, the boys are very much invested in toxic masculinity and all of its stereotypes, it's insulting to them if you think they can't provide for you. So yeah all in all I think you're correct.

[angelicmark]

eventual (m)

pairing: best friend!jeno x reader

genre: fluff, smut, angst? (not much, i wanted to give you guys a break lmao)

warnings: unprotected sex, fingering, dirty talk, riding, pretty tame but lots of romance

wc: 7.7k

summary: falling in love with your best friend, lee jeno.

you can feel your head growing heavy, and you gulp down as much water as you can. spring started to blossom only just a few weeks ago, and you were already feeling the heat starting to take a toll on you. you huff out a breath of air, feeling bitter towards the weather that seemed to hate you. this catches the attention of the boy next to you.

“you okay?” he asks, but it was so brief you barely even heard it.

you shrug, “i mean, i guess. the heat is fucking with me.”

he laughs, the sound echoing into the spring air, “you’re so over dramatic, it’s not even that hot outside yet.”

you pout at him, “you’re so mean to me, jeno.”

he raises an eyebrow at you, challenging your statement. you grin from ear to ear, knowing damn well he treats you better than anyone you’ve ever met before. jeno was the ideal best friend. anyone would be lucky to have him, and you were lucky you got your paws on him before anyone else. you smile to yourself with victory, and he looks at you with confusion, as if asking why the hell you look like your ego is about to burst.

you point at him, “you’re mine, lee jeno.” you grin with the most confident smile you can muster. and he rolls his eyes.

“whatever,” but he’s smiling. and you can see the soft blush that graces his cheeks. you poke his cheek and he immediately swats you away with a look of disgust.

“you love me,” you lean your body against his, your arms linking with his own arm. you start to rub your face against his shoulder like some crazy affectionate cat and he snorts, trying to shove you away with a small squeak when you bite him; soft but causing alarm.

“what the hell?!” he looks at you with wide eyes and you laugh at the surprise.

“love me, jeno.”

and he does. you don’t know, but he does. and the way your eyes sparkle in the bright light of the sun, makes his heart start to pick up pace again. and he feels his body start to sweat as he blushes again. but he stops struggling against your hold on him, and let’s you lean into him like you need him. and he wants to desperately believe you did need him. so he succumbed himself into your hold, and even brought you closer to him by wrapping the arm you were squeezing around your body. and you both fall into a sweet silence, and he falls deeper into the scent you carry. and it’s perfect like that. just the two of you. no interruptions.

that was the first time jeno realized he was falling in love with you.

you yawn, stretching your limbs as you check the time. it was noon, you managed to sleep in a little later than usual. you look around your room, wondering where jeno could have gone. you pout, feeling an emptiness as you reach the kitchen. but the hole is quickly filled with love when you catch him cursing as he eagerly tries to cook ‘breakfast’. his hair was messy, signalling that he probably just woke up, too. and it was such an unreal sight to see him this way. jeno always managed to put some kind of effort into his appearance everywhere he went, even when he was with you. so being able to see him with messy hair, a crumbled t-shirt, and grey sweatpants.. well, it was a blessing to say the least.

you gnaw at your bottom lip, smiling to yourself, “we both know you can’t cook, idiot.” your arms quickly wrap around him, scaring him half to death as he jumps up with a yelp, almost dropping the egg he held. you tighten your hold on him when he tries to struggle away, resting your head against his back.

he sighs, giving up and placing the egg back in the carton, “i wanted to surprise you.” you can hear the pout, and your heart stings at the gesture. he drops his hands to place them on your arms, rubbing soothing circles with his thumbs.

you hum, smiling wider and closing your eyes, the scent of him invading your senses, “you did already.”

“yeah?” he questions, “how’s that?”

you pinch his side and he squeaks, “by not being next to me when i woke up.” you fake pout as you step away from him. he quickly turns around and grabs at your hands, pulling you back into his embrace. your face starts to feel hot at the unexpected movement. you were almost awkwardly pressed into him, but you made it more comfortable in the end, easing into his hold.

“sorry,” he hums back, resting his head on top of yours, “i won’t do it again.”

and your heart thrums against your chest. and you’re almost certain he can feel it, hear it even. but neither of you say anything more, the silence consuming the room and one another tugging softly on the other’s body. it was drowning. you were drowning in a world that revolved around jeno. and, right in that second, you didn’t care. you didn’t seem to mind that your head was flooded with the way his cat eyes looked at you with a certain sparkle. or how his voice made the ends of your hair stand up. he was everything and more of what you wanted. how could you resist the urge to think about him when he was this close?

you rub his back, your nails lightly digging into his skin and making him hum with satisfaction. you knew what he liked for the most part, and you knew he had a thing for when you ran your nails across him. you licked your lips, stuffing your face closer into his hold and he accepts it with a smile. you felt like you were holding the world in your hands and, in a way, you were. jeno was your world. he squeezed his way into your world and made it whole again, just the same way you did with him. you and jeno weren’t always like this. the way the two of you slowly became friends was so stereotypical, the two of you meeting as kids and clicking instantly. you grew up together. created an irresistible bond. and there were times where the two of you fought, arguing and sometimes bringing one another to tears. but, in the end, you always made sure to go back to one another. and it was nice never having to worry about losing each other, because he loved you and you certainly loved him. it was an unspoken truth.

“hey,” jeno starts, his voice soft.

you nod your head, “hm?”

“the stove is burning.”

“why the fuck are you so calm?!” you shove him away, smoke starting to consume the kitchen. and he laughs, watching as the two of you struggle to clear the air before the smoke alarm goes off.

that was the second time jeno realized he was falling in love with you.

you felt almost frozen in your spot. you could feel your body slowly growing heavier and heavier. you let out a breath you didn’t realize you were holding, chewing on your bottom lip. jeno’s eyes glaze over you with suspicion, raising an eyebrow at your odd behavior. you were normally the excited, overly hyper one. jeno was the cool-headed one who would just laugh at your excitement. but as your face became drained of emotion, it felt like he was being poured in ice cold water.

“i feel..” you avoid eye contact with him for as long as you could. it was impossible having to look at him so much, your heart would end up cursing you for staring so long. “..i feel insane.”

jeno snorts at that, “why?”

“you make my heart race.” and it shouldn’t have sent him into a frenzy the way it did, but...it did. and his palms were starting to sweat under the sun that was trying to cover just how cold the weather had gotten over time. fall was running in faster than you imagined, and as you clutched your warm drink close to yourself with nimble fingers, he couldn’t stop the smile that stretched past his lips. were you really that nervous?

“don’t be stupid,” his voice was amused and you looked at him with slightly annoyed eyes, “we both know the story of best friends falling in love with each other. how could we be any different?”

you smiled at that, a chuckle bubbling in your throat, “i guess you’re right.”

jeno looks at you with a small smile, his heart starting to pick up in speed. he understood what you meant, truly. because you made his heart race all the same as he made yours race. you looked truly so beautiful under the threatening sun, the cold even preventing you from sweating so it made you look even more like an angel. he laughs a bit at the thought of you shortly complaining about the heat previously before fall came around. you made the world easier, the sun shine brighter. you were his sunshine, and he hoped he was yours as well. you guided him out of the dark when no one else would, when no one else could. you slapped him right back into reality, even with your bubbly personality. and it was a true blessing.

you were a dream.

“i’m always right,” jeno sticks his chin up, and you lightly knock him against his side and he laughs at that, giving you a fake surprised look.

you playfully roll your eyes, staring at him a little longer than usual, “you’re an idiot.”

he gasps, “and you’re mean!” he pouts, looking away from you and towards the pond in front of you.

you continue looking at him, a smile gracing your features. why was he even more beautiful right now? you felt like you were coming right out of some romance novel written just for the two of you. it made your heart skip a beat. you could be with him forever, and you wouldn’t mind. he has made you realize that love is such a pure thing to have.

you brush a strand of his hair out of his face, and he jumps a bit, looking at you with confused eyes. you giggle, “i want to see your face.”

he relaxes into your touch, letting you do as pleased as he stares into your soul, “okay..” he let’s out a breath of air, and you see the way his lips twitch into a small smile. and the world stands still between the two of you. his eyes on you, and yours on his. the magnetic pull was turning serious the longer the two of you stared. and you couldn’t deny the way you felt for him anymore. neither could he.

the minute your lips meet his, the whole entire universe fades away. nothing else mattered than this very moment. the both of you waited months, maybe even years, for this very moment. and it was nothing less than heaven to have him so close, kissing him with all you have left. you sigh into his grip as he raises a hand to stroke your cheek with his thumb. and you smile at the tender gesture, and he seems to smile right back. his lips fit perfectly against your own. how could that be? you were blessed enough to get to kiss him like this. to get to hold him so close. nothing about this very moment felt wrong, or rushed, or too much. it was perfect.

you could feel yourself falling a little deeper when he lightly licks at your bottom lip, asking for access, to which you grant him. you adjust yourself closer, still tightly clutching onto the drink you held. the crispy air was cold on your skin, but he warmed you up. you wrap your arms around his neck, and he leans down to you, kissing you slowly but with fervor. you were drowning in him, everything that he was. everything that he is. the hand that wasn’t holding onto your cup traveled up into his hair, softly tugging and he let’s out a soft noise of approval.

jeno was a dream.

and you were his angel.

that was the third time jeno realized he was falling in love with you.

“i despise exams,” you huff, and jeno laughs at your despair. you glare at him, shooting him a lot that made him lose his grin a bit. he did feel bad for you, truly. but your pouty voice and lips were just too much for him. you were too cute.

“i’m sorry, baby,” he kisses your cheek, making you hum a bit. “take a break.”

you pout again, sighing as your shoulders drop, “i can’t. i have a lot to cover.”

jeno rolls his eyes a bit, turning your chair around, “for me?” his eyes were glossy, shining under the dim lamp. your heart clenched in your chest the longer you stared at him. he smiles a bit when he notices you cracking.

“...jeno-”

he leans down to kiss you, quietting you to ease your nerves. and it works. you let him kiss you deeper into his embrace, accepting him wholly. and he’s grateful that you’re not fighting him. his hands are quick to grasp you in his hold, easing you out of the chair as you let out a soft gasp against his lips when you part away from him in surprise. he chuckles a bit, dragging you away from the horrible pile of books and papers, settling you very softly onto the bed. and you smile at just how tender jeno truly is. he hovers over you, and he’s about to kiss you, but stops right before and smiles at you.

“i love you.”

and it’s the first time hearing it. you can feel your heart beating in your chest wildly. but you have no uncertainty left in your body. the pleasure of having him so close, the feeling you get every time you see him, the way his lips feel on yours. you were not unsure about your feelings. not when it came to jeno. never when it came to him.

“i love you, too.”

and he kisses you like you’re his air. like you’re all he can breathe for the rest of his life, all he wants to breathe. and your head spins, your hands clutching onto his shoulders as he kisses you to the point where you can feel his love dripping out of him. and it’s like you’re living in the clouds, being able to kiss him felt like pure heaven. he let’s out a soft groan when you start to tug on his hair, fingers desperately wanting to clutch onto something. he wasn’t opposed to it though, not in the slightest. especially not when his own hand travels beneath the shirt you wore that just so happened to be his. you let out a sigh against his lips, and he swallows it up. his fingertips were so cold against your warm skin, making your shiver. he notices, pulling apart to chuckle breathlessly. you heave out a breath of your own, looking up at him under the dim lights of the room. and he swears he’s about to lose it.

“jeno,” you say his name with such delicacy, and it drives him insane. you notice him visibly starting to relax under the touch of your fingers coaxing him to fall deeper into you. “do you want to touch me?”

it was such a sudden question, making him look at you with wide eyes and a falter in his breathing. he laughs a bit as you pout at him, “i’m sorry,” he licks his lips which makes you look at him with longing, “what?”

“touch me,” you move the hand that’s on your side down to the waistband of your pants and underwear, biting your bottom lip. and you look so inviting like that, like his own personal angel. “please?”

his fingers twitch in your grasp at the soft plea, making him let out a frustrated noise. you savor the noise, watching as he leans down to press kisses down your jaw and neck, leaving a few marks to let everyone else know just who you belong to. the pretty sounds that leave your mouth make his cock stir to life. he wants to treat you well, make you feel his love. and he does, you do feel it.

as he hears the pretty noises you start to let out, he can’t help himself from rocking his hips into you, his hand still resting at the hem of your pants. but you want more. you need more of him. you whine, wiggling your hips up and brushing against him through his sweatpants. he sighs, resting his forehead against your shoulder as he rolls into you again to gain more friction. the action makes you tangle your hands in his hair tighter.

“jeno, please,” you beg, and you’ve never begged for anything like this before. you hear his deep chuckle, breathless.

“sorry, baby.” he leans back, fingers finally starting to pull down your leggings. you eagerly smile, happy to finally get him to do something. he’s quick to have your underwear and shirt joining along too, admiring how pretty you look laid out for him. you feel so vulnerable under his stare, while he sits fully clothed. but you can feel his admiration, making you filled with love. his love. “you’re so fucking ... beautiful.”

you laugh at his choice of words, your own hands making work of his shirt, lifting it over his head, “i can’t be the only one naked right now.” you end up stripping him of his shirt and sweatpants, admiring the bulge in his underwear. he looked so ethereal like this in front of you. he smiles at you, before leaning down and kissing you again, his fingers making contact with your wetness between your legs. he hums against you, his eyebrows furrowing.

“you’re so wet,” he comments, licking your bottom lip before softly biting down and capturing it between his teeth. the little noise you make goes straight south for him, his eyes darkening the longer he touches you. he presses tight circles against your clit all of a sudden, making your body jolt against him. he smiles to himself, the reaction he gets out of you making his ego float.

your core clenches around nothing, gasping against his lips as they hover against your own. you can feel and see the soft smile he has. your legs want to close in on him, but he leans back and pushes one of your legs to the bed, his fingers working faster against your clit which has your eyes rolling back in your head. he presses harder, getting a sweet reaction out of you.

“you’re so sensitive, baby.” he hums, watching as you start to thrash below him. he enjoys you like this. he inserts two of his fingers slowly, making you start to lose your mind. “and so tight.” he hisses, dragging his fingers along your inner walls. his eyes travel down from your face to your pussy, watching as his fingers disappear and reappear with each gentle thrust. he groans, starting to quicken his pace just to watch how wet you get for him. the sounds of your core clenching and sucking his fingers right back in make him feel dizzy, consumed by you.

“such a pretty cunt,” he says more-so to himself, but you hear it and it makes you buck your hips up. he catches this, licking his lips as the hand that’s holding onto your thigh tightens. you can feel his fingertips digging into the soft skin of your thigh, but you could really care less as jeno curls his fingers upwards to reach your sweet spot. he was so skilled with his fingers, more skilled than you thought.

“jeno,” you moan out his name, and he swears he’s heard an angel at this point.

“say it again,” he curls his fingers over and over again, hitting that sweet spongey spot inside of you with every quick thrust of his fingers, “say my name again.”

“god, jeno, you’re so good,” you whine, one of your hands reaching out to the hand on your thigh, feeling as he tightens his grasp there once again. your other hand is desperately clutching onto the sheets below you, back arching and your stomach tightening towards your release. “i.. i’m gonna c-cum.” you sigh, your voice threatening to give out.

and you’re so close to releasing all over his fingers, before he pulls them out with a satisfied look. when you go to whine at him, he pushes his fingers past your lips just so you can taste yourself. you suck and lick his fingers clean, his hooded eyes looking at you with hunger. he tilts his head a bit as he leans down again towards you, kissing you and shoving his tongue in your mouth so he can taste you too. the animalistic groan he let’s out goes straight to your core, your impending orgasm waiting to be finished.

“jeno, please please, let me cum,” you huff against his lips, looking at him with begging eyes. he swears he has never seen a sight so beautiful before.

“i want you to cum on my dick,” he states, making work to shove his underwear off his hips, “do you want that, pretty angel?”

you nod your head quickly, “yes, please. i want your cock inside me so bad, please give it to me.”

“don’t even have to tell you to beg,” he chuckles, and once his cock is out, you can’t help yourself from admiring it. you just knew you were dripping at this point, you can feel it running down your thighs. you sigh out, pulling him closer to you by his shoulders.

“fill me up, jeno.” you whisper in his ear, licking along the shell of it. he shudders against you, falling right into you and wanting nothing more than to please you. when you start to feel him lining up against you, he kisses you. and it’s so sweet. jeno was a romantic at heart, wanting nothing else than to make you happy. you could feel his love, just as he hoped you would. you could only hope he felt your love just as much. “i’m on the pill.” you weren’t a virgin, and neither was he. but you knew you needed to remind him anyway, despite being friends all these years and him knowing everything about you.

he kisses your cheek, “i know.” you would have laughed at the blatant answer, if it weren’t for him pressing the head of his cock into you and making you gasp. he slowly eases into you, “you’re so fucking tight, y/n.” he groans, his head falling into your shoulder again and letting out pants. your pussy clenches around him as he bottoms out, practically knocking the wind out of him. “stop that,” he rests his hands on either side of your head, leaning up again to look at you. “i’ll cum early.”

you laugh, “please move, jeno.” the second he starts to pull back and thrust right back in, one of your hands makes way to his hair and tugs. your other hand rakes down his back, nails digging. and he enjoys it so much, definitely adding pleasure to the way your cunt was swallowing him whole.

“fuck,” he shudders as he rhythmically moves inside you, “such a good girl.” he kisses you briefly before leaning back up and quickening the pace of his hips. the tip of his dick presses so good against your sweet spot, your previous orgasm creeping up on you slowly. you were almost embarrassed for how fast he had you tightening around him. he furrows his eyebrows, suddenly concentrated on you and the sweet noises and faces you make. “my pretty baby.”

you press your nails harder into his back, afraid you’ll leave marks but not stopping, “jeno, oh my god. you’re so-” you whine, unable to finish your sentence as he thrusts particularly harder just that once. “so good, so big.”

he chuckles, biting his lower lip. he was so unreal, so captivating and fucking you so good that you swore you had never felt so good in your entire life. he was putting his all into you. you were so unbearably wet, making the glide of his cock so much easier and feel so much better. you were starting to lose your mind, sweat covering both of your bodies by now.

“i want you to cum all over me,” he moves one of his hands to your clit, making tight circles once again that has your pussy gripping his dick, “want to feel you cum all over my cock and make a mess.”

your eyes roll into the back of your head, thighs starting to shake as you wrap them around his waist, bringing him closer, “jeno, oh fuck. please, i’m gonna cum, i wanna cum for you.”

he groans, the hand that isn’t incessantly rubbing your clit tightening into the sheets beside your head, he can feel his stomach threatening to snap but he wants you to cum for him first, wants to feel you fall apart.

“fucking cum, baby. let me feel you cum.”

his voice sets you off, a loud call of his name falling from your lips as you tighten around him over and over again, milking him for all he’s worth. jeno let’s out the prettiest noises as he releases into you finally, his hips riding out both of your highs as he stutters against you. it feels so good like that, to have him so close and to feel him fill you up so well.

nothing could beat this, absolutely nothing.

jeno was in love with you.

“here,” jeno hands you your favorite drink, smiling subtly. and you thank him with a kiss on the cheek, a small gesture that always made jeno’s cheeks turn a bit pink. you loved the effect you had on him, even when he pouted as you giggled at his expense. “anything else?” he has hopeful eyes as you smile at him softly.

“i’m fine.” your response was short, and it seemed to have slightly caused a strain in his heart. “hm?” you asked subtly, not to cause too much attention to the problem. because, in all honesty, you weren’t sure what the problem was.

jeno’s mouth tilts up, “nothing.” he was just as short. and maybe that was where everything went wrong. you said nothing as you curtly nodded your head, looking back at your pile of papers that were messily scrambled all over your desk. you were a hard worker, and he admired you for it. but some days he wished he could have you to himself for once. he knew that wasn’t the case, though. he would never get you the way he wanted for very long.

his voice cuts the tense silence, “y/n.” and it sounds throughout the room, creating a bigger tension.

you look at him as he leans against your desk, his hip digging into the wood, “yeah?”

“i miss you.” it’s a quiet declaration, swimming through your head.

“i’m right here-”

he’s quick to object, furrowing his eyebrows, “but you’re not.” and that’s when the world beneath you starts to shatter.

you hated that he was right. you wanted to tell him that he’s wrong, prove him he’s not right about this one. but you just sat there, staring at him with slightly wide eyes. he wanted you to prove him wrong, too, but he knew you wouldn’t. and as the air turned thick and his chest became tighter, you became weaker. were you dragging him down?

“jeno, we’ve been best friends for how long?”

the question swims in his head, and he realizes what you’re saying. “since kids.”

you sigh, looking down at the pile of papers you have, “you know how goal oriented i am.” you look back at him and see he’s furrowing his eyebrows to hold back the small tears threatening to fall. “i can’t promise to always be the person you want, or the person you need. we both know how my past relationships went. i was the heartbreaker in the end.” you were so articulate with your response, and it made the hole in his chest bigger.

the room fell silent after this. both of you knew you were right this whole time. there were unsaid words hanging by a thread, but neither of you chose to speak. all you could hear was the disappointed sigh jeno let out. you stare at him, and you realize how painful this must really be for him. he fell in love with his best friend, just to have you push him away. you swallow harshly, looking away from him to gather your thoughts.

“i’m sorry.” you don’t apologize often, and it surprises him as you uncomfortably shift in your seat. “i love you, jeno. i do, i swear i do.”

jeno licks his lips and gulps, “i love you, too.”

you take one last look at your pile of papers, before getting up from your seat that was really starting to hurt your back. you spent way too many hours sitting there and pressing pencils and pens into papers. you make your way towards jeno, and when you reach him you see a new type of glimmer in his eyes. your hands reach out to him, cupping his face to show him that you were there. and you kiss him to prove that you’re not leaving. and it feels like life couldn’t get better than this, as cheesy as that sounds. because you had him, and he finally felt like he had you.

jeno was so, so in love with you. and he knew you were in love with him.

he was convinced that was all he needed.

“i’m done!” you scream, rushing in your boyfriend’s room. you could feel the excitement bubbling in your chest as you catch sight of jeno with wet hair and glasses. he wasn’t wearing a shirt, just sweatpants. and that made him more beautiful in your eyes. you eyed him, smiling as he looks at you curiously.

“done with what?” he greets you with a soft kiss, but you’re eager for more as you grab his face and press your lips on his with fervour. he grunts into the kiss, hands quickly catching your hips and pulling you towards him. you sigh, a small noise escaping your throat. this was so familiar to you, and you loved it. you loved jeno.

“exams,” you pull back, catching your breath. he chuckles, staring at you with a shine in his eyes. “i finished exams finally. i’m all yours now.” jeno raises an eyebrow at this, looking at you with a playful glint. you roll your eyes, “you’re such a perve.”

“but you’re smiling,” he kisses you again, shutting you up for a minute. and while you would normally start to bicker back, you couldn’t bring yourself to this time as you trailed your fingers across the bare skin of his chest. his skin was so smooth, so soft under the touch.

and you really wouldn’t replace this moment for anything else. because, currently, you were on top of him, riding his cock like your life depended on it. you were unsure how things escalated so quickly, but sooner or later the both of you stripped of clothing and you were on his dick. and it felt so good to have him like this.

“baby,” his voice was raspy, lower than usual. your fingernails were digging into the soft skin on his chest, creating marks that were going to remind him for quite a few days just how good you make him feel. “you feel so, so good.”

jeno praising you send a jolt through your body, your walls unintentionally clenching around him, making him throw his head back. “jeno,” you whine, rocking your hips back and forth before bouncing on top of him again. and your thighs were definitely burning, but you could care less at this point. the expressions jeno was giving you were enough for you to keep going just for him. “fuck.” he was filling you up so well, his cock starting to twitch inside of you.

“yeah, baby? does it feel good?” he asks, his hands clutching onto your thighs like his life depended on it. but it felt so good, for some reason. the sting his fingers would give when he dug them in your skin was something you actually really enjoyed. “you just love using my cock, don’t you?”

your mouth hangs open, still not used to his filthy mouth. you were losing your mind, he was really starting to fuck you stupid. you moan, the noise going straight to jeno’s dick as he pushes his hips up to meet your own. you so desperately wanted to last longer, to make him cum first. but as he reaches over to press a thumb to your clit while you ride him faster, harder, you feel yourself losing grip on your sanity. jeno never failed to amaze you.

“jeno, fuck,” your nails dig harshly into his chest as he presses his hips into yours again, his thumb and cock bringing you closer and closer to the edge. “i’m so close.” you gasp out.

he hums back, a smirk playing on his face, “you can cum, baby. cum all over me like you always do.”

and you can’t find it in yourself to deny him, not when he feels this good and especially not when you’re so close. your core clenches around him so tight, almost making it impossible for him to move his cock in and out of you. the scream you let out of his name sends him right over the edge with you, your own name falling from his lips in groans. his and your nails are digging into one another’s skin, but neither of you are complaining. you can feel his cum start to drip down both of your thighs, making you whine as you look into his eyes. he was so fucked out, his hair messy from the bed and his eyes glazed over watching your every move. you could stay like this forever.

“jeno,” your voice sounded so tiny, and you sigh as you make a move to get off him. but not without him bringing your face to his for a small kiss.

“let me clean you up-”

“let’s take a bath,” you suggest, and he just nods his head while grabbing your hand and placing a soft kiss on the back of it. jeno was a romantic by heart, always giving you what you didn’t know you wanted and needed in your life. and as you two set the water to a temperature the both of you like, sinking into the water and cleaning one another; life felt so perfect right then and there. there was no replacing the feeling of jeno placing wet kisses on your shoulder, holding you close to him with your back against his chest.

“i love you.” and it’s so soft, a whisper in your ear that sends a shiver down your spine. but you’re never complaining.

“i love you more,” you whisper back, leaning into him even more. jeno helps clean you, sitting in the bath and creating a somewhat romantic atmosphere. it was so cheesy, but it was jeno. you were creating moments with jeno, and jeno alone. your eyes travel to one of his hands making move to intertwine with one of your own. you sigh, squeezing his hand.

jeno smiles, placing a kiss behind your ear, “i could stay like this forever.”

“the water will get cold,” you say back, a giggle bubbling in your chest as he scoffs. but he’s already smiling. “and we will be so pruny.”

at this, jeno lightly pinches your side with the hand that wasn’t holding yours. you let out a soft squeak, feeling and hearing the rumble of a laugh in his chest. “i’m trying to be cute here!”

you smile, tilting your head to lock eyes with him, “you don’t have to try.”

jeno scrunches his nose up at this, “okay, i see why you ruined it.” you roll your eyes, but there’s a smile on your face. jeno smiles back before leaning to give you a soft kiss.

maybe you do want to stay like this forever.

“am i good enough for you?”

you come to a halt in your steps when you hear those words. the laundry in your hands slip a bit, making you come back to reality as you feel a shirt start to fall out of the basket. you catch it before it reaches the ground, but the question is still floating in the air. and there’s no describing the pain you feel as you heave a sigh out of your chest, placing the basket on the nearest surface. what made him ask such a question? but you don’t ask that. you can’t have him thinking he isn’t enough by asking another question. instead, you make way towards him and grab his face. the look in your eyes makes him falter a bit, regretting even asking the question. jeno wasn’t known for being too emotional, always keeping his distance at times. both of you were extremely respective of what the other would share emotionally. you understood one another’s feelings anyway, spoken or not.

“lee jeno, you are more than good enough for me.”

it makes his heart beat a little too quickly. your eyes were so determined, making him gulp. “i’m sorry, i’m not sure why i-”

“whoever made you think you’re not good enough,” you pause, eyes narrowing, “does not deserve you.”

and it sends him spiraling, the room falling silent at your words. you always manage to take his breath away, in every sense of the word. maybe this was when he truly realized he couldn’t live without you. maybe this was why he fell so deeply in love with you. maybe he didn’t need anyone else, but you. and as you hold his face in your hands, he can’t help from admiring you up close. you had such beautiful features, making him start to lose focus in everything that wasn’t revolved around you. was this toxic for him? was it unhealthy to be so in love with someone? he didn’t think so. not when it came to you, never when it came to you.

“i’m in love with you.”

your eyes turn wide. was this a different way of saying ‘i love you’? you didn’t think so. you saw this as a deeper meaning of it, something neither of you have discussed. in the midst of falling in love with jeno, you never thought he would outright say he was in love with you. jeno wasn’t too keen on heavy feelings, always resulting in the two of you bickering, but not really bickering. you were both playful, never too serious. it was one of the reasons the two of you got along so well. but staring into jeno’s eyes in this very moment in time, you realize that isn’t the case this time. he was serious, too serious.

but maybe you were, too.

“i’m in love with you, too.”

he kisses you like you’re his air. like you’re all he needs to breathe for the rest of his life. and maybe he’s convinced that you are his air, that you are all he needs to breathe for the rest of his life. jeno was not going to deny the feelings he had for you, even if it killed him. even if you didn’t really feel the same for him. he would always choose you. time and time again, he would choose you. and the way your lips meld with his own like you depend on one another, it was all he needed.

you are all he needs.

“happy twelve months.”

you lean your head into your hand, staring at him with a raised eyebrow, “jeno, just say one year.” you’re smiling, there’s no denying that fact. you could feel excitement bubbling up in your chest the longer you sit there, face scrunching up further.

jeno rolls his eyes, but he’s smiling. he’s definitely smiling. “at least act excited.”

you quickly get up from your seat, “happy one year, jeno.” the sweet kiss you press to his lips serve justice in ways words couldn’t. the two of you always struggled verbally, never having enough words to justify your feelings. but in this moment while kissing him so softly and sweetly, you realize that you don’t need words all the time. it was the little things that brought you closer. it was times like these in one another’s embrace, lips locked, hearts connected. these moments counted the most.

“i love you,” he whispers against your lips. and you know it means so much more than those three words. you know he’s laying his heart on the line for you, declaring his love in the only ways he knows how. and you don’t ask for more than this. you could never ask for more than this.

“i love you, too.” and he accepts your declaration of love back, his body practically molding with your own as he holds you closer and kisses you rougher. his tongue comes in contact with your own, a sigh falling from the back of your throat. and he couldn’t imagine this with anyone else, but you. it would always be you. he knows this.

the rising sun shines on your skin, making you look ethereal in his eyes as he pulls apart from you. you look like an angel to him. he smiles at you, his hands on your waist and his heart beating fast. he takes a mental picture in his head, making sure to keep this memory forever. you seem to break him out of his trance as you start to chuckle, and he can’t stop himself from smiling back. you had a glow to you that was shining right back onto him. whatever you felt, he felt it, too. was this apart of being in love? he wasn’t complaining if it was.

“earth to jeno,” you sing, hand coming up to run your fingers through his hair. he leans into your touch, humming.

“just admiring you,” he responds, seeing the way your face flickers with embarrassment. he chuckles back when you shoot a glare at him. jeno wasn’t known for being extremely straight-forward, but he did always manage to say what was on his mind. you adored him regardless.

“shut up,” but you just can’t seem to help yourself.

jeno laughs, throwing his head back with a wide smile on his face, “you’re cute when embarrassed.” he kisses your cheek, “my flustered baby.”

your eyes widen, “where the hell is this coming from? are you learning from jaemin, or something?!”

he smiles, his eyes scrunching up, “not the point.”

you roll your eyes, about to shoot back another remark, but he seems to know this because next thing you know his lips are back on yours. and you were definitely not going to pass up a kiss from your boyfriend. especially when he tastes like fresh mint and a hint of your cherry chapstick that he borrowed. you sigh, the feeling of home spreading throughout your body. jeno was your own form of home. and that was more than enough for you.

spending a year with jeno; definitely well spent.

“anniversary sex?” he asks, voice low and turning dark.

you giggle, lips trailing down his jaw and neck before biting playfully, “absolutely.”

and you can feel his love pouring out of him as he fucks you into the bed, your legs spread just for him. his cock stretching you like always. his eyes were intense that night, eyeing you and demanding you keep your focus on him the whole entire time. his movements were languid, dragging out the pleasure for as long as he could. he locks one of his hands with yours, the other digging into your thigh. and he admires you like this, falling apart just for him.

“you take my cock so well,” he breathes, dick twitching inside of you when you clench at the praise. “fuck, angel. so tight.”

you whine, “jeno, please, faster.”

he so desperately wanted to drag this out for as long as he could, but he could barely handle it anymore. there was sweat forming on his forehead, his lungs gasping for air as you start to sporadically tighten around his cock. and he can’t seem to deny you both the pleasure any longer, finally picking up speed and the sounds of skin on skin echoing into the room alongside your pretty moans of his name. he lives for this, lives to please you.

“jesus,” he grunts, “your sweet pussy is so good, and all for me to take.”

you nod your head, the hand that wasn’t holding his scratching down his back, “yes, yes. all yours, jeno.” and he approves of this, a groan falling past his lips. you can’t hold yourself for much longer. “i’ll cum, i’m gonna cum, jeno.”

jeno smiles at this, leaning down to lick at your bottom lip before biting softly, “look at me,” your eyes lock, “cum, baby. cum on my cock.”

you fall apart for him, his own cum filling you up and bringing you back to earth as you struggle to leave your eyes open to stare at him. but he has such a pretty expression as he cums, his eyebrows furrowed and his mouth slightly agape. he was breathtaking, absolutely beautiful in your eyes. you feel his hand tighten around your own as he cums, leaning his head down to the crook of your neck after. you can feel his heavy breathing and the soft kisses he’s placing there. you smile, reaching your other hand up to stroke his hair. he practically purrs for you, his body further leaning into you.

“happy one year, y/n.”

you laugh, exhaustion hitting, “happy one year, jeno.”

jeno loves you, and you love him.

and you know that’s enough.

a/n: i hope it was everything you could want :(

taglist: just the girl i’m in love with @junguws​ i wrote this mainly for her haha

[thejudgingtrash]

Annabeth is a good person,but not a nice or pleasant one,IMO.

YES.

That’s it. That’s the post. Pack it up everybody, we just cracked the case and cleared up one of the most compelling fights in the PJO fandom since forever. Good job everybody, clap it out and there’s the door! Don’t forget ordering the drinks at Starbucks, Mitch! They’re on me!

Okay, but on a more serious note: YES. YES EXACTLY.

And before some of you roll your eyes or grab your pitchforks – put your biases aside and hear me out for once. I like Annabeth. She’s my in my top three characters only second to Percy himself. I love Percabeth. It’s my favorite ship in the entire series and to be frank, the only ship that I care about PJO wise. Hell, I spend my time creating my own headcanons or writing my own fanfics with Percabeth being the star in them.

But that is not to say that I’m unable to see how certain things have developed over the years or where they stand now in regard to Annabeth. I’m not here to ignore things that have been said and/or done due to or in the name of Annabeth and I’m not here to vilify anyone that doesn’t like her. And I’m here to admit that I’m guilty of some of the things that may be addressed in this meta essay that you will read in just a second. However, I try my best to assure you, that I’m for once able to recognize my own bias.

Warning: a monster essay lies right upon you.

This should count as a paper of its own.

Back to the statement on top: I would go out even further to reframe your claim, anon:

Annabeth Chase is a good character but not a nice or pleasant person.

Annabeth is a wonderful character but she isn’t a nice one. Or at least not nice to everyone. She is (construction wise if I dare say) the best character out of the series. She has her positive traits (she’s caring, she’s emotional, she’s encouraged and volunteers, she fights for what she believes in, she forgives (even if doing so begrudgingly)) but she also has her negative traits (she’s stubborn, she’s brash, changing her mind takes forever, she is prejudiced, she baits others). That balances things out. She is branded as the intelligent kid but does irrational things (like I’ve just said a) she’s a kid and b) she’s not a robot). She should probably know better, but we all make mistakes and hopefully grow and learn from them. The clouds in the sky do blur and cover our visions sometimes.

Annabeth had clashes with other characters or was about to have fights due to her stubbornness or jealousy (Rachel, Reyna, etc.) and has of course her problems with the mortal world and her family but she also found new friends, some things cleared up throughout the narration and she was/is quite popular in Camp Half-Blood.

The thing is: she doesn’t have to be nice or pleasant (as a character). Or at least not all the time. Her character is humanized. That is what or who she is. Human. She does stand out as a character, not just because she’s the (future) love interest. She feels like someone you could meet in real life and either adore from the top to the bottom or declare as your biggest enemy. And that’s totally okay if you lean either way – liking or disliking her. Or even feeling indifferent about her. Also great!

To say that she has been the best character that Riordan has crafted is easy to say, because she has been sculpted after Riordan’s wife. He had a model he could rub some of real-life events or traits on. That’s not the problem. The problem truly doesn’t lie on Riordan’s side for the most part for once.

The problem is inherently on the fandom’s side. What the fandom does, how it acts and how it treats Annabeth as a character is the problem. The problems vary but it’s mostly the mischaracterization of Annabeth, starting fights and fan/ship wars, internalized misogyny (in some cases) and how some of the Annabeth stans lash out (ha, got firsthand experience in that field among many of my friends and mutuals!). There is a reason why many people are wary of people that have Annabeth or Percabeth related URLs.

The fact that we see Annabeth mostly through Percy’s lens and (until the Heroes of Olympus saga hits) we never really see her in chill everyday situations is essentially Riordan leaving the back door of the house open, ready for all of you asshats to rob his mansion in Boston. Because a frame on a character means that we don’t get to see the character in its entirety (unlike we do with Percy in PJO for the most part). That means a bunch of stuff is left open for interpretation which is the reason why Annabeth gets so many polarized headcanon and opinions tossed around. I think that is one of the true appeals of Annabeth. You can add on stuff and it necessarily doesn’t have to contradict itself.

We have people calling her abusive due to a (n admittedly stupid and unnecessary) judo flip and we have people that act like she’s never done anything wrong. People sorta use this excuse to form and shape Annabeth however they want and distort her characterization.

People in the fandom act like Annabeth is some weird prized possession. We perceive Annabeth mostly through the eyes of others (Percy, Apollo, etc.) and when we had some sort of insight in her ways (MOA, HOH) it felt… weird? Somewhat? Like Riordan left two bullet points of her characterization and told the ghostwriter: aight, fuck it up, gringo, see you on Tuesday and greet Fred the next time you see him for me. 

There have been many posts lately (by Tharini, Simi, Sawasawako, Jewishpercy and Annie I believe?) that HOO Percabeth felt weird. That they felt weirdly constructed, that there was no conflict, no growth. It felt stagnating, like we’re turning back. We had five books prior where we had Annabeth and Percy slowly shifting from disliking to liking and crushing each other. True development. And when we finally got the cake it felt… dissatisfying. Like the cheap box stuff and not the delicious exquisite taste that we were promised.

I said it previously in my Percabeth ship roast, but let me repeat myself: many Percabeth related things are straight up fanon. Some of it is very old fanon so that’s been unable to distinguish unless you’ve read the books recently and subtract nearly 99,9% of things you see on Tumblr (and occasionally the other shitty parts of the fandom like Reddit, IG, Twitter. Although they mostly steal and recycle tumblr stuff oh well. But back to the topic).

The way people treat Annabeth is so strange. She’s either an innocent fluffy smush baby that’s never harmed a fly and all that she wants for Christmas is being Percy’s lapdog or she’s the devil incarnate, broke into your house, killed your parents Batman style, kicked your puppy and didn’t flush the toilet on the way out. I think this is what mostly makes people hate her or the ship Percabeth. And both extremes are wrong and right at the same time? She is multifaceted so both stereotypes are true and untrue and sorta cancel each other out in the same way.

The true reason why people dislike Annabeth is because the stans are doing the most. (The haters as well, don’t get me wrong, but oh boy. Piss of a stan and you’ll know what I mean). That isn’t inherently new. Are you guys old enough to remember the ship wars that have happened cross platform? Perachel vs. Percabeth? Oh boy, oh boy. I saw some kids on tumblr a few months ago trying to infiltrate both tags and start shit (and also fail). The fact that Rachel still gets used as the bitchy (ex) girlfriend in fanfics? It’s 2020 guys. I know this apocalyptic year is far from perfect and over but I think we can let this trope die, right? Right? I thought we’ve established that Rachel is a pretty chill charcter by now… right?

If you posted your stuff on FFN back in 2010-2013 and it wasn’t the typical cutesy Percabeth story (Goode High, the gods read TLT, punk/prep Percabeth, college AU, etc.) people would’ve come for your fucking throat. Not because the story or the narration was shit. But because the pairing wasn’t Annabeth and Percy (in the sense that Annabeth had to be paired with Percy. I mean Percy gets shipped with everyone and their mother but for Annabeth it was strictly Percy. As annoying as this whole Connabeth thing is – the people behind it actually had a point. She never had a different love interest unless it’s a Percy centered story and he goes off dating Athena, Artemis and Zoe at the same time for some odd reason. Yeah, FFN Percy ships are something). Or it wasn’t the action filled canon compliant story or it wasn’t an AU that was popular.

People were really stubborn, snobbish and wanted their stuff in the four five boxes that were the most popular ones and that’s it. People have been bullied off the site in many fandoms, so it’s not a PJO-only thing but it’s still sad that it happened. (Off-note: most of these FFN tropes are still alive and well and thriving on AO3. Don’t be so snobbish and pretend that every piece you’d find there is a holy grail. There’s a lot of trash you have to waddle through. Same with Wattpad, Tumblr or anywhere else where fanfics get posted. Also had this discussion with Annabeth stans. Sigh).

And Tumblr back then? Forget it, wasn’t much better.

That view has sorta changed (at least for people that have been in the fandom for several years or have managed to find a way to navigate through it) but some of the negative sentiment from back in the day has survived. Be it by new fans coming in or from old fans that never let their stance die. The aggression feels differently and somewhat not. (I don’t know if the anon function had been abused that much back in the day. I was an observer not a participant in the fandom).

Crack a joke at Annabeth’s expense (Kal’s famous “Annabeth is a Republican” post or Dee Dee’s and many others “Annabeth has the education of a second grader, chill with the college plans, girlie” stance) and you have people insulting you, making callout posts, unfollowing and blocking you (based on only that? Okay, honey), making aggressive counter-posts, etc. in a minute. If you respond with “It’s a joke, it’s not real” you have a 50/50 chance of either getting blown off or embarrassing them so that they apologize for once.

This isn’t just about jokes. You can make a headcanon that’s not the cozy cute convenient mainstream saga and people would react the same way. Or art piece (no, not including the whole Tannabeth Blackchase shtick done by Viria and others) or fanfics.

People project so much onto the unfinished canvas that is Annabeth Chase that any form of negative sentiment as little as someone not liking her to straight up criticism, regardless of how tiny it may be, seems like an affront. Like an invitation to a fight. Like an insult to them, their character, everything they believe in. Let me state something:

You are NOT Annabeth Chase. Annabeth Chase IS NOT you. Annabeth Chase is NOT real. Her feeling cannot be hurt. Someone criticizing, disliking, joking about her or even insulting her will not bother her. Someone making a statement about her is not an insult to YOU.

Let me repeat that:

Annabeth Chase isn’t real. Annabeth Chase isn’t you.

So think a little before you act? I get it when you’re a kid and new to fandoms or haven’t been up with fan cultures in the past and are back in the scene. But if you’re in your late teens or even older as an adult and you’re unable to understand that you aren’t what you like – you aren’t the extension of a fictional character – I feel incredibly sorry for you. Because that’s just incredibly sad. Someone disliking something you like isn’t an attack of your character. It shows you that you are you and the other person is a human just like you. That they just have different taste. Disliking something you like isn’t a crime, you know? But me feeling sorry for the way some of y’all act won’t mean that that’s even remotely okay. Especially if you’re no longer in the intended audience for PJO age wise and should know better.

This isn’t a “white stans” only thing. I’ve seen and witnessed firsthand how people of color, mainly women of color, act the same or not even worse when it comes to her character. People have projected their problems and real-life occurring events into her character (I’m sure that she isn’t the only character nor that this is the only fandom where this is happening) and in some cases like I’ve said cannot separate their own personality from the fictional world. Fights with woc happened because of Annabeth fucking Chase. So many things have happened in the fandom the past few months, mostly due to people being forced staying at home because of the quarantine but I’d say it’s 10% on quarantine and 90% on people for acting up like this.

So here’s a little story: There was the act of Riordan blowing the fandom up because of his own stupidity and being unable to apologize for his mischaracterization and lack of research (the whole Piper fiasco) back in June (?) and admits the upset fandom, people on Twitter, Tumblr and Discord legit thought that none of that mattered and that the outcry was destroying Annabeth Chase’s birthday. That’s right. People thought that Annabeth Chase’s non-existing birthday because she’s a fictional character had a higher priority than the rupture and prevalent racism in the fandom. Okay. This isn’t a great look, Annabeth stans. And this of course pissed a lot of people off. I made a post about it and someone not only berated three other people on said post but no, we had a mighty argument which had disrupted many friendships in our circle which haven’t recovered until this very day. We both had our parts in it and no one is innocent. But the cause of this still remains Annabeth Chase or how people prioritize her non-existing well-being. Anyway. I’m getting agitated just thinking about it.

Let’s go back to the characterization thing with Annabeth. Let me remind you:

Annabeth Chase is an asshole. There I’ve said it in a post ages ago (too lazy to look it up, sorry) and I’ll say it again. And that’s not me insulting her. That’s me actually loving that about her. Annabeth is one of the very few unapologetic female characters that really showed all young readers across the world that you can be a girl, a badass, smart, strong, standing up for yourself and what you believe in. You don’t have to be nice. You don’t have to hide your feelings. You don’t need a man in all cases but it’s also okay to accept help and defeat.

A large reason why I think she’s an incredibly important character in children’s literature/YA because many other novels (mostly (sadly)) have the “Oh, I’m a white skinny dark-haired girl that likes unconventional things like READING. I’m not like the other girls, that take care of themselves and pamper themselves by enjoying shopping and wearing make-up. No, I’d rather be one of the boys but a sweet cute little boy and not the jock fuck that drank vodka shots out of a filthy shoe once. Despite me calling myself hideous every man in a 10-kilometer radius falls in love with me and tells me I’m oh so sexy and by the way I’m only 16 years old” shit going on for no goddamn reason.

Yes, I do blame Twilight for this mostly in recent years, but this trope isn’t by any means knew. Pretty sure that you could even use classics as Pride and Prejudice and dissect them in the same manner (Bold statement: Lizzy Bennet is the OG Bella Swan. There. Go fight somewhere in the corner, people). The new wave of YA focuses on girls belittling themselves and only starting to believe in themselves because someone else (mostly the male love interest) tells them they’re worth it. And these books hit the mainstream because they’re incredibly bland and picture perfect white.

With Annabeth it’s different. She shows up for the job and is done with it. (Brie Larson would probably be the perfect in real life version of her. You either like or dislike her. Or you really don’t care). That is what is so refreshing about her. Her unapologetic nature. Can it be off-putting? Yes. Is it annoying? Yes! Hell, every time I read The Lightning Thief, I want to rip her goddamn head off. And it’s just so well written. Her shift from mistrusting Percy but secretly still believing in him to her opening up. Wow, Riordan did something right there.

Annabeth Chase isn’t a young character. She has existed along with PJO for 15 years. She’s on her way to the second decade. I’m pretty sure that with the success of Percy Jackson (and Harry Potter) many lives have been warped and shaped.

But when I say the problem lies mostly in the fandom, it doesn’t mean that Riordan’s completely innocent. The only problem that I have with Annabeth lies not truly with her but the fact that Riordan is only able to produce three variations of female characters:

The sweetheart (Hazel, Silena, Calypso, Hestia)

The strong feminist (Annabeth, Piper, Thalia, Reyna, Artemis)

The bitch (Drew, nearly every female goddess in the goddamn Riordanverse next to every female monster)

And these female characters only know three endings:

End up married with a mortgage, three kids, two dogs and a cat somewhere in Connecticut by the age of twelve

Get dumped into the hunt

Chill on Mount Olympus and only come down to be a nuisance and/or give a cryptic message before going back and doing a godly rave party or something

We know Annabeth as the badass strong female first (or the bitchy character we’re supposed to actually like. Choose your approach), the blueprint so to speak, so some of the other characters feel almost pale in comparison and almost not needed? Doesn’t mean that other characters can’t behave similarly, but it feels kind of redundant especially if their character arcs end in a rather anticlimactic way (Thalia, Reyna). The new additions are the much needed woc as the main story with PJO was inherently white (anyway stan black!Percy and Grover, folks). So it’s not to bash on the new characters, it’s more Riordan’s fault more than anything.

Since Riordan only knows three female character arcs it feels like he tried to copy the formula several ways with different nuances. Some more or less successful. This is where fandom actually comes in handy and helps create more distinguished and fleshed out characters in form of headcanons or fanfiction.

But even in these cases people still make it about Annabeth when it’s time for characters of colors to shine. Remember that whole spiel and discussion that broke out when people (Kal, diver-up, Caitlyn, Bee, reynaisalesbian, etc.) joked about or criticized that Annabeth thinks that she’s having it harder because she’s a blonde? In front of Hazel and Piper? If she would’ve been a real person that’s an invitation for getting decked. And then all hell broke loose because Annabeth stans couldn’t accept the fact that in the real world and/or in fictional worlds the woc/coc have it harder? That the white woman wasn’t the victim that needed the coddling? Yeah, that was mad pathetic.

I hope you people get my point?

Well fuck. I wrote so many things and have the feeling I’ve said nothing. Anyway, I hope I made sense. This is way too long.

TLDR: Chill about Annabeth please. She’s an important character but that doesn’t mean that everyone has to like her, regardless of being a character in the books or a reader/fan of PJO in real life. She isn’t nice or a sweetheart all the time. She also isn’t the monstrous asshole that some try to make out of her.

Peace out.

[notcorrect-persona5]

In Defense of Yosuke’s Parents

I’ve seen so many posts about Yosuke having bad parents which really surprised me because I didn’t get that impression at all. I’ve been meaning to make a post in defense of his parents, but I’ve been working on a Yu analysis. After I saw @personuhh​’s post I thought I’d offer an alternative perspective. I’ll be addressing some of the things they brought up first, and then I’ll get into additional evidence. I have edited this post since I originally posted it because I I wanted to elaborate and reword some things.

My Response

You’re right, Yosuke does take on way more responsibility than a part-timer should. However, I don’t think that’s his parents doing. It seems like Junes is extremely understaffed. In his social link, Yosuke says his dad was “bugging him to find helpers.” I volunteer at a small location of a large church (much like the Inaba branch of Junes), and I have been asked to find more volunteers over and over again because they’re desperate for more help. It’s a lot of work and not enough people. Additionally, both Yu and Chie come in to help due to the lack of staff. I wouldn’t be surprised if Mrs. Hanamura helped out too as Teddie’s under the impression that Yosuke’s parents are always together (which I’ll talk about later). 

On top of that, Yosuke mentions part-timers ditching work and slacking off. When an employee doesn’t show up, Yosuke (and Teddie) are often called in because their managers know they’ll show up. People who are reliable are given more responsibility, period. It sucks, but if someone needs help they aren’t going to ask someone who they don’t see as dependable. I volunteer at church every week, and I have been asked countless times if that’s okay because they don’t want to overwork me. Every time I say I don’t mind, and I assume Yosuke would have the same reaction if asked. Not only is it Yosuke’s natural instinct to help people, but he was kind of a pushover before the events of (and at the start of) Persona 4. In his third awakening, Yosuke says he was overworked and taken for granted. That’s not okay, and it’s a huge problem, but Mr. Hanamura isn't the cause of that. Mr. Hanamura is the general manager; his job isn’t to create the part-timer’s schedules. 

It’s true that Yosuke tries to work out the problems of other employees and listens to their complaints. There is no indication that Yosuke was told to do this, and I don’t know why he would be. In his social link, there are two girls who act as if he has more power than he does. They demand a raise, ask him to give them the day off, and assume he has knowledge about another employee’s schedule. Yosuke says he doesn't have the power to help them, and in a manga page he says “I may be the manager’s son, but I’m still just an employee.” Yosuke is doing much more than the average part-timer, but he isn’t being given the responsibilities of a manager.

As for the Junes concert, Mr. Hanamura did not tell Yosuke he was going to be fired. Yosuke came to that conclusion himself. Mr. Hanumura did not ask Yosuke to find a solution or ask Rise for help. Yosuke only asked Rise for help because he was scared of moving again. I understand how the phrase “awfully nice for some reason” could come across as odd, but I don’t think he meant his dad isn’t usually nice. In the Persona 4 Manga that scene is translated as “My Dad’s been extra nice to me” meaning his dad is nice, he’s just being extra nice, and I’m not surprised. Yosuke was extremely unhappy when he moved to Inaba. Despite trying to hide his feelings, you can see in The Magician that he didn’t do a very good job of it. And now that Yosuke is finally happy, they might be forced to move again. Of course, Mr. Hanamura would feel guilty. Oftentimes, when people feel guilty, they start acting nicer - unnaturally so - to make themselves feel better. Chie (who is already very kind) even does it after she and Yukiko spend Yosuke’s money on clothes for Teddie. Yosuke notices the shift in her attitude and tells her that he’s worried. It’s the same reaction he had toward his dad’s behavior.

The only reason I bring up Chie is to show an in-game example of someone being overly nice due to guilt. What Chie did was wrong, that’s why she feels guilty. The reason Mr. Hanamura would feel guilty is his job may have to move his entire family again. The cause of their guilt is different, but they are responding the same way.

I don’t think Mrs. Hanamura not wanting her son to own porn is unreasonable. My mom doesn’t like magic, so I wasn’t allowed to read or watch Harry Potter growing up. Similarly, a friend of mine wasn’t allowed to watch iCarly. As for Mrs. Hanamura burning Yosuke’s porn in Arena, that’s the third time (that we know of) that she’s seen his porn. I assume she’s told him she doesn’t want him looking at pornography, but he continues to do so anyway. Burning his magazines may seem dramatic, but she was likely just frustrated that he kept disobeying her. 

I don’t think Yosuke’s parents are the reason why Yosuke wants to be seen as manly. I haven’t seen anything that implies that. I think Yosuke’s desperation to be seen as a man comes from Japanese society and his fears regarding his sexuality.

Mr. Hanamura came up with this slogan because they were selling jinbei's which are traditionally worn by men. It’s a play on words. This isn’t the first time Mr. Hanamura has come up with a cringey slogan.

It seems Mr. Hanamura has that stereotypically “dad humor” which is typically associated with positive father figures (it’s not always). Yosuke saying his dad is still saying the “MANsoon” slogan gave me reminds of kids being like “Dad, that’s a bad joke, stop”, but the dad continuing to make his bad jokes regardless. It’s very Disney Channel and sit-com like.

I don’t remember Teddie saying he watches violent war movies with Mr. Hanamura, but I don’t see how that connects to the idea of Mr. Hanamura pushing Yosuke to be a “more masculine, traditional, unshakable, unemotional man.” The idea that only those types of men watch war movies is the type of thinking Kanji’s and Naoto’s shadows were trying to address. I don’t think Mr. Hanamura cares about being that type of stereotypical/traditional man because of his relationship with Teddie. Teddie is not very masculine (he even says so in Persona Q, screenshot will be later), and he isn’t hiding it. 

This exchange is from Kanji’s Persona 4 Club Profile. Teddie went to the store to buy female clothing, and he asked Kanji to make him a dress (the one from the cross dressing pageant). He already owned his “Alice dress” before the cross dressing competition, and I assume he’s worn it. In Arena, you can see the dress is hung out in the open in their bedroom. He also wears hair clips. 

This is not “masculine behavior” yet the Hanamuras don’t seem to have a problem with it. If anything, I’d say they’re pretty open-minded. If they disliked that way Teddie behaved, Teddie would change himself to fit the way they want him to be. I mean, the kid literally grew two new bodies in effort to get people to like him. Due to Teddie’s low self-esteem and need to be loved, he takes any sort of criticism to heart and does his best to act the way others want him too. In Persona Q, Yukari says he’d be cute if he was quiet, so Teddie stops talking. 

In Persona Q, Teddie says he’s realized that to steal hearts he needs to be manly. He gets this realization from Koromaru. He did not think this prior. 

Teddie saying Koromaru gave him this realization means the Hanmuras never said anything to him about his less masculine behavior. 

As for the song lyrics you posted, I don’t really think that means anything. Yeah, people often relate to the music they listen to, but they don’t have to relate to every lyric or even song. My favorite artist is Taylor Swift, but I don’t really like romance. I don’t relate to most of her songs, but I still jam out to them. I could be super wrong about the song thing though because I’m not a huge music person.

My Own Additional Analysis (with some elements of response)

In this section I’m going to talk about Mr. and Mrs. Hanamura’s character and personality, their relationship with each other, Teddie, and Yosuke.

Let’s start off by talking about their personality. They seem to be very carefree people. Yosuke has less than average grades. In the Persona 4 Animation, he didn’t even show up to one of the exam days. Academics is extremely important in Japanese society, yet his parents don’t seem to be pushing him to get better grades. Considering how carefree Yosuke can be, it makes sense that he may have gotten that trait from his parents. 

Yosuke’s family is pretty wealthy. It’s mentioned more than once. They also live in a pretty big house (you can see it in The Magician), Yosuke’s cell phone seems to be a newer model, and he has a large, flatscreen TV in his bedroom which wouldn’t be very common when the game took place. Despite this, Yosuke works for his own money. He complains about being broke and needing save up. I think the reason why Yosuke has a job despite being well-off is because his parents want him to have work experience and grow up to be a hardworking person, so he can succeed in life. It makes me think that hardwork is important to them.

Due to this conversation, I think Mr. Hanamura is a very honest man. Yosuke says he was surprised his dad was against selling gas masks, likely because from a business standpoint, that’s a really big missed opportunity. I think it’s also worth noting that ATLUS talks a lot about how people naturally fit into the masses, including the main characters. That’s why it’s surprising that his father is going against the masses. Although he’s losing money and has faced many hardships running Junes, Mr. Hanamura refused to do something that was against his moral compass.

In Persona 4 Drama CD #1, Junes is closing down half of the electronics section due to a lack of sales. Despite this taking place in March, Teddie panics and hopes to sell a TV set in a month in exchange for keeping the TV they enter the TV World through where it is. 

Yosuke isn’t afraid to ask his dad two huge favors with a not very good reason (side note: Yosuke had to lie because the truth is that’s the TV he and his friends used to go into the TV world and fight shadows). Despite Yosuke’s best efforts, his father says no. He doesn’t really have any choice but to close part of the electronics floor. Junes is losing money by keeping it open. I think Mr. Hanamura gave him the vouchers because that’s the only other way he can help. Teddie made a deal that if he sells one TV set by the end of the month, they’ll keep the TV that leads to the TV world. He’s trying to advertise the TV set by promising other surprise items coming with it. These Junes vouchers are part of those surprise items. 

It’s no secret that many of the shopping district families despise Junes and the Hanamuras. Many horrible things have been said about their family, yet Junes still teams up with the shopping district in the YasoInaba Case File to help keep them afloat. Whether or not this was Mr. Hanamura’s idea, he’s the one who has to approve it, and he does. Despite being treated horribly by them, he still wants to help the shopping district. Junes teaming up with shopping district might be a good business move, but they didn’t really need to do that. The problem is that Junes is taking away the shopping district’s business. Junes doesn’t need to team up with the shopping district to do well. The two of the teaming up benefits the shopping district way more than Junes. It doesn’t do much for Junes other than the shopping district maybe not hating them. At the end of the day, the shopping district families would still shop at the shopping district to keep their businesses afloat, so Junes isn’t getting a lot more business.

When Teddie came to the real world, Yosuke offered to take Teddie home with no hesitation. He didn’t think it would be a problem with his parents or show any concern about how he would convince them. I think this goes along with them being pretty carefree as well as showing that they’re kind and generous people. Not everyone is willing to take others in like that. Yosuke’s also comfortable with asking his parents such a huge favor.

Teddie talks about Yosuke’s parents in a really positive light, and I would say they treat him like their own son. For example, on January second Teddie says, “I got New Year’s gifts! Yosuke’s mom and dad gave them to me!” (edit: Someone said “notice how Yosuke doesn’t say the same thing.” He doesn’t need to. It’s Japense culture to give younger family members gifts for new Year’s. Yosuke saying something would be the equivalent of, “omg my parents gave me a birthday present!!” It would have been weirder if he did say something then. Teddie is excited because because this is his first New Year’s. He’s never experienced this before. Also, Yosuke did get New Year’s money. He talks about saving it on 1/10 when walking to school).

I think I remember Teddie saying he watches movies with Mrs. Hanamura, but I have no idea where he says that. There’s a 50/50 chance I made that up and convinced myself it was canon, so don’t take my word on that one. 

Teddie breaks A LOT of rules at Junes. He steals topsicles, rode a handi mover through the store, slept on both a display bed and the floor of electronics department, been yelled at for eating samples, been chased by store security, and Yosuke had to monitor Teddie during his late night shift because they didn’t trust him to work alone. Teddie’s a terrible employee, yet he hasn’t been fired. I think the reason for this is he’s basically the manager’s son. I do want to say that just because they consider Teddie as their own child doesn’t mean they treat Yosuke as anything less. I haven’t seen a single thing that has implied that there is favoritism going on.

Yosuke and Teddie act a lot like brothers (Naoki even suspects that they're related), and Yosuke’s parents seem to treat Teddie like their own son. He even wears their family crest in offical art. I looks like ATLUS wnted the four of them to be a family. And If that’s the case, it wouldn’t make any sense for Mr. and Mrs. Hanamura to be bad parents.

Additionally, if Mr. and Mrs. Hanamura treated Yosuke badly, and Teddie noticed, I think Teddie would say something.

The second Yukari said something slightly mean about Yosuke, Teddie defended him. He doesn’t like when other people say mean things about Yosuke. Not to mention conflict really stresses him out. If Yosuke’s parents treated him badly, I there’s a chance Teddie might see the problem.

I think it’s also worth noting that Yosuke’s parents have a really healthy marriage.

This quote implies that they’re rarely apart and get along really well. A happy marriage doesn’t automatically equal a healthy household or good parents, but it really increases the likelihood. 

For context, Yosuke is talking about Teddie in this picture. I’m not from Japan, so I don’t know if most families there eat breakfast together, but my family - despite being very close - does not. We all eat and start our day at different times. In my mind, eating breakfast together is a very domestic thing to do. Even the phrase “Hanamura family breakfast” screams domestic to me.

This conversation gives me the sense that Mr. Hanamura has a great deal of trust and respect for Yosuke. I mean, I don’t think he would accept Yosuke’s idea if he didn’t. Adding a kid’s menu would be pretty exspensive. Not only do they have to print the kid’s menu, but they have to design them, create new menu items, and depedning on what’s on the menu buy more food or ingredients. That adds up, and if it isn’t successful then they’ll lose money. Mr. Hanamura has to approve that idea, and he’s putting in trust that it’s going to be successful. Also, Yosuke is comfortable enough to “push really hard” for his idea.

All in all, it is my personal opinion that the Hanamurs are a really close family. It would make sense for ATLUS to go in that direction to create a contrast to the Narukami’s, after all. That being said, neither headcanon is wrong. It just comes down to how we interpret the very little information we’re given.

[soyouareandrewdobson]

…the ugly. SYAC: The Master Review 4

Last post I covered much of what I consider the good or passable strips of SYAC of the pre-Dobbear era. What I have admittedly not covered yet, were three certain characters of the strip that exist beside Dobson.

Persistent Pam

 Curmudgeonly Carl

And… this guy I am not even sure has a name.

No, seriously. He shows up in like the 61th strip of the series for the first time and yet I never see his name mentioned once

All I know is that he is an accountant, who pities Dobson (for good reason)

And despite Dobson not liking alcohol, they regularly meet up in a bar as if they are some late 80s comedy duo

Funnily enough, he shows up way before Pam, who would have her premiere in these strips

 And despite only showing up in a few strips after her premiere (mostly to make “fun” of overbearing and snarky commissioners I suppose…)

 She actually managed something no other character or series by Dobson managed to get: A fanclub

 Not that she would really be of any major importance afterwards.

As for Carl, he is supposed to be something like an antagonistic embodiment of Dobson’s “old” art teachers and people being stuck in old ways, who shows up for the following strips forming a sort of arc.

In addition, it is very obvious, that Carl is supposed to be a mockery of people flaming Dobson. Not helped by the fact that THIS character sheet of him made by Dobson assures us, that there were quite a few even less “endorsing” things he wanted to name the character.

Yet funnily enough, Carl turned into such a popular character with readers, Dobson was essentially “forced” to make him reappear in other strips. Not of the “classical” SYAC strips, but he showed up as the “antagonist” to Tenku in the storydriven multi pagers. Though even antagonist is a strong word, as he is essentially more of a jerkish art teacher and college advisor who is harsh on Tenku, but actually has his best interests in mind. To the point he even offers him to be his “harsher” art critic in the years till he enters college, because he wants to see him grow artistically.

 However, Carl was also more of an “accident”. Cause when it came otherwise to tackling criticism or things that irked Dobson (and were not anime related) he would end up more or less creating strips that painted him in a manner where he would supposedly always look like “the better” compared to his opposition or mock it. Which is where a lot of the irk Dobson would earn over the years eventually comes from.

Now to be fair, I do not want to call every comic in that regard “strawmanning”, nor do I want to say that Dobson doesn’t have the right to also mock to a certain extend the mentality of certain “snobs” and so on. For example…

On one hand, I know there are people out there who think they are “special” by having the best tools at their disposal. When in reality you can achieve good results also with less expensive stuff. So mocking that sort of attitude is fine to me to some extend

BUT, when you also make down the line a comic like this…

… essentially making yourself come off as a “better” artist or person than others because you have “chosen” the better mass produced crap (btw, that is coming from someone who types this review on a Mac that runs Windows) , then the hypocrisy ends up to be rather strong with you.

 Which is also essentially the biggest issue with the strips I am about to show. The hypocrisy of Andrew Dobson. And no, I do not mean the tumblr blog by that. I mean the simple fact, that the content of some of the soon to follow strips gets kinda muddled when you take into consideration some of the things real life Dobson had said and done either at the time or in the years to come. Well that and the way how he tries to mock issues people have with his work, not realizing how he is essentially just reassuring those “silly critics” in their opinions while making his flaws more obvious to people that may have been previously unaware of them.

But enough talk, let me just show you in quick succession examples to confirm said point.

Considering Dobson’s longterm disdain for DnD you have to wonder what the joke really is outside of him portraying DnD players as ugly nerds, supposedly too geeky even for him. Which is hilarious in hindsight as he would years later become a fan of TAZ among other things.

Less hypocritical but the set up is kinda flawed. Like, you are obviously at a convention trying to sell stuff. Why would some old dude not interested in “kids crap” be at the convention anyway? Is he just bringing someone there and just wants to go, but first needs time to belittle your life choices?

 Rather hilarious in hindsight to me. Cause for someone claiming he has ideas that last for a life time and who seems rather distraught on the idea of others giving their input, he turned out to be so in need of ideas. Alex ze Pirate e.g. became from 2015 onward only defined by Dobson talking about the sexualities of his characters (and not even in comic as by that point it was discontinued, but rather in tweets and so on). Formera, which ran heavily on cheap shonen anime tropes ended up cancelled after two volumes, Cabin Rest was a failure after 20 strips, 2019 he relied primarily on cheap comics about Miraculous Ladybug and his understanding of certain genres is so bad, he can’t even think up the most basic ideas for a magical girl story.

Weirdly enough, that pitch of a garbage truck driver who fights crime? I think that could make for an enjoyable short story about a vigilante a la the Punisher or Sin-City.

 The way Dobson perceives criticism, while also essentially giving a quick rundown how he appreciated criticism in his childhood way better than in adulthood. Yeah, because criticism by your parents as a kid was always VERY constructive. (looks back at certain drawings from own childhood) brrr. And sorry Dobson, but sometimes criticism by strangers is better than criticism from friends. Cause friends may mince their words. Plus people have over time given you quite some insightful criticism aside “U SUX” when it comes to comics. You were just never willing to listen

Hey Dobson, you hear that? That is the sound of your career, dying and no one caring.

Yeah, I think someone who made such “brilliant” comedy as in these comics, totally has the right not to listen to what seems to be solid theoretical advice.

BTW, that Talus comic… I swear to god the worst “joke” Dobson ever told.

 Wow. You essentially make a point why you suck at drawing. While still not trying to change.

And as someone else once said: Don’t play with fire if you can’t deal with the heat, BLOCK-son!

This is not how I perceived your shit over the years. See, on one hand it is true that Alex ze Pirate e.g. has its own webpage to read the comic for free. HOWEVER most of his comics Dobson would hide from the start behind a paywall. The idea being that he would e.g. put a small reading sample of 10-15 pages up somewhere and then expect people to buy his comic for full price to get the rest. And you know, if you are e.g. a professionally published writer, that is fine. But when your average art output looks like THIS

And you expect people to pay more than 10 dollars for something that is only around 70 pages long while most people can get 200+ pages for the same amount of money that look like this…

 You can frankly go and screw yourself.

On one hand I get that the joke is meant to be, that as an independent content creator you may find yourself in a weird spot where your “child friendly” work may be put in a palace between edgier stuff other creators sell at conventions. On the other hand, I find it rather insulting in hindsight, that self declared feminist Andrew Dobson portrays such competition as either psychopathic murderers or stereotypical cartoon bimbos. If modern day Dobson saw the same strip by any other person, he would be insulted on behalf of the female that she is portrayed as a bimbo, when she could also be a very smart and attractive woman who knows how to tell brave and sexy stories.

Also, I have read your “child friendly” stuff, Dobson. I would call Atea or Alex abusive bitches who like to bully orphans but child friendly? Not to forget that your work is so basic and shallow in depth, it’s like the someone tried to create a chimera out of some of the worst traits associated with Dora the Explorer, 80s toodler cartoons and the Fairly Oddparents.

I frankly hate this theory on comedy. It is true, a lot of comedy can be deprived from conflict, misunderstandings etc. Looney Tunes, Tom and Jerry and other cartoons as well as screwball comedies such as Rat Race can depend on it. Heck, one of my favorite comedians of all time is Christopher Titus, who based his entire career on the misery and absurdity of his life.

But comedy is not just defined by misery and conflict.

There are for example also the following theories when it comes to comedy…

And to get back e.g. to Titus, yes, he has build a lot of his comedy on the bad stuff that happened in his life. But he is also someone who in his comedy has build a lot of punchlines on the absurdity of certain situations he has been in life but which in a way have enriched his life positively.

 What I am trying to say is, comedy (and entertainment in that regard) does not just have to be defined by misery. And all things considered Dobson, you could have really tried to also just make comics wherein either you or your characters are just happy with their situation in life.

For example, this page from an Owl House fancomic?

I think it holds more entertainment value than your “joke” right here, despite not even telling a joke.

Simply because as a page overall, it tries to convey a positive emotion. Which is more than I can say about the strip.

Because of a lack of different level of thickness regarding your lines, which would trick people into perceiving depth, the fact that the fill bucket and shade layers can only do so much to cover for the rather monochromatic dull nature of your comic, the fact that your characters are not really all that complex and look rather simplicstic even compared to stuff from a comic like this…

And that is just coming from the top of my head as someone who never studied art. If any reader has something to add, I am willing to listen

And considering you could in later years never keep up to any release schedule, which among other things resulted in only three SYAC strips in total being released in 2016, I say go fuck yourself. Not to forget that even some of the worst newspaper comic strips out there tend to actually find a decent following and good jokes eventually, otherwise they would not manage to stay popular for years, if not even decades.

As someone who has worked internships a lot in life, I just want to say fuck you in all our names. Glad to see you having just as much respect for interns than any other scumbag on the planet. Probably even less respect, cause you know, in some places interns tend to get paid.

Also, there is supposedly an entire real world story going on about Dobson having worked at his former university at the time the comic came out and Chaz is based on a fellow intern.

Things are unfortunately rather vague in that regard and only hold up by demonstrative evidence such as the name of Chaz showing up in certain pages of the university and Dobson’s internship being mentioned somewhere.

Well, would you look at that: People have different opinions on your stuff.

There are ways to draw memes funny and then there are ways to fail at them

 You failed.

Funnily enough, that comic rings a lot truer to text than you expect. Considering how Dobson would often emulate certain aesthetics in his comics of shows that were rather passee by the time he published his stuff, plus how he will obsess over certain trends and games for years to come (like Skyrim or his Quiet Hate Boner) while also being unaware about current trends (how do you e.g. not have heard of My Hero Academia by 2018 at least once by accident?) Dobson has always been kinda late to the party. Missing the “zeitgeist” of nerd culture and as such never quite finding an audience.

Yeah, what Pam says. Not helped by the fact that yes, the floating eyebrows are real. Look at some earlier sketches or “professionally published” comics by his and you will see that each time characters get excited, their eyebrows will suddenly split into sets of three and float higher than Pennywise’s victims.

Ironically, that fits real life Dobson at the time and later on even more so than this comic version did. Sorry, but what am I supposed to call a person who has an hate boner on anime for years for superfluous reasons, made Danny and Spot a “gaming webcomic” deliberately to piss on non Nintendo fans and has admitted in some by now deleted youtube video, that he kept a list of usernames from an old forum just to remember even years later the people that were mean to him online?

 Fuck both of you. I do not expect the Sixtin Chapel in the background, but something to filll up the empty space behind you is at times needed.

The comic here is actually called politics. … ironic how things changed once a certain reality show host turned president.

Jesus Christ. I am not even that much of a Transformers fan (Prime fan for life however) but even I know that this is not supposed to be what you design the head of a Transformer like. Not even if they ever produce the Transformers equivalent of Teen Titans Go.

Too bad you still can’t stand the heat, otherwise you wouldn’t have completely disappeared last year.

When you know you are in a no win situation, and still manage to choose an even dumber option to escape. I really don’t get it. I just think the Portal reference makes the comic dated and Dobsn’s attempt at a smug face looks so stupid. Like his cheeks are falling in and his mouth is about ready to get raped by a garden hose or something.

Yeah, considering Dobson’s later constant need for safe spaces and to be in control of a situation and the narrative, which led to so many blocks over the years… if you know anything about Dobson, how this comic becomes harsher in hindsight is rather self explanatory. I just want to say one thing: There is a difference between genuine agoraphobia and just wanting to be by yourself. And I think Dobson just prefers the later on average. Which is okay, but humans still need to interact with other human beings in one form or another, even just for the sake of keeping their mental health stable. Why do you think are so many people getting depressed in times of covid lockdowns, despite many having all sorts of technical gimmicks at their disposal to at least keep boredom at bay?

And by putting himself into a bubble like that, I think Dobson has deprived himself of some of the most basic human interaction, which was likely a severe factor in his mental degeneration over the last years.

It is still a valid suggestion! Just draw some cartoon characters or a nice fantasy scenario on a mural and earn yourself some bucks. Just be sure they are not by Disney or the Mouse will tear down the school!

… Just google up the words Andrew Dobson and Samus Aran commission by ED and you will see how this comic just further shows how much Dobson seems to actually be proud of being an unproductive asshole.

 And by the way, I know that any form of artistic work takes time. Just writing these review posts takes a lot of time for me. But that doesn’t change the fact that people should post and create stuff in a timely fashion, especially when there are e.g. deadlines to hold up too. And by the way, Sloth’s don’t have fingers, they have claws!

And that is it.

Sorry if I missed anything folks, but I just saw how many pages in word this is already filling up, so I call quits for this part here right now. I think I made my point about how Dobson trying to badly deflect arguments people may make against his art and work ethics via jokes clear enough, while also showing some posts that are either harsher or hilarious in hindsight.

Next time we will however address one certain issue about our main character, that has been not directly addressed here. In the meantime, have a little fun video that shows hopefully how entertainment and a certain amount of comedy can be gained NOT via misery.

[kingofthewilderwest]

I know you aren’t keen on getting a bunch of asks recommending media, but is there anything you’ve gotten into lately that you’re during to pitch to people?

Let's see. ^.^ I'm currently watching Adventure Time. This is my first time watching every episode sequentially (circa 2013 or 2014 or so, I watched a spattering of episodes out of order but never finished the show). Currently in S6. I absolutely love how the world grows in Adventure Time. You can tell the early seasons were written with little in mind, simply going out, being wild, being spontaneous, and creating a wacky, trippy world. But that turned into a world with great depth, heart, and expansion as the series continues (especially once you enter Season 5). The worldbuilding is awesomely done.

I feel like lots of shows, when they transition from "early spontaneity" to "long-term comfort," they lose something. I think of Futurama. The early seasons of Futurama are incredible because it's not formulaic to the viewer; events are unexpected; new characters are introduced rather than repeated, expected, predictable recurrences. Futurama is still a HELL of a show in its middling seasons, etc. and a fave of mine. The Office (USA) also has that challenge/loss. But damn, Adventure Time managed the transition INCREDIBLY smoothly and well, I love how you settle into the world. How you get into the depth. How you get worldbuilding. How you get into deeper story messages. And how even in the midst of all that, you still maintain that spark, that spontaneity, that uniqueness, that vibe that made me get interested in the show in the first place.

Adventure Time straddles the line between two types of off-kilter: the positive, quirky-bright off-kilter, and the slight-off-slightly-dark-off-kilter. It's great. I've also heavily appreciated the cast of characters, how there's a ton of women characters, and how they're all very interesting, in-depth, and not standard/stereotypes.

But uhhhhhh. Really my current hyperfixation is. Uh. Bluegrass. [laughter] Seriously. Bluegrass. Especially first generation bluegrass circa 1940s-1960s. I made a fuckin' sideblog intentionally to avoid folks unwantedly suffering juxtaposition of fictional fandom and music history obsessing. Heh. Hilariously, I've been timid to show the true depths of my screeching passion. Rn I'm trying to do blog clean-up and a mini-restart (halfway through retagging my posts! and planning to change how I write my posts so they're shorter, etc.), and trying to get more outgoing... because let's be real, it's going to be more entertaining if I'm gungho crying screeching infodumping unrestrained about the subject, whatever your background is on the subject. I know I enjoy reading posts on any topic if the writer is sufficiently excited, so I need to uh, channel the excitement! SO THAT'S WHAT I AM PLANNING TO DO.

And seriously that's where all my excitement in life is right now!!! It's changed my life and I'm not even joking (not gonna go into here rn why but yeah it has). Like holy shit I can't get enough of reading about these dudes from the 1950s. I can't get enough listening to them, watching videos, learning the little nothings, the stupid humorous stories, the Drama(tm) between competing bands, the development of the music, me learning how to play banjo and fiddle, writing creative stories (fics????) inspired by the topic, everything!!! I can listen to a recording and tell you which fiddler is playing in this band or which mandolin picker or which tenor is singing and probably estimate what year it was recorded because like, holy shit man, I have found my CALLING. I've started collecting 100 year old records! I'm heading to a bluegrass festival this weekend for three solid days of internal (and probably external) fanboying. Gah it's like, fucking, there's all those K-Pop fans out there and they have each other to scream with, and i'm all here by my lonesome on this fucking genre. BUT YOU KNOW WHAT IT HAS CHANGED MY LIFE FOR THE BETTER so I cannot be happier at where my mind has headed.

So if you want to uhhhh read..... THAT??!?!?!?!?! uh? I mean, I don't expect you to be interested. BUT YOU ARE WELCOME TO COME ABOARD AND POKE ME and see what the stupid fucking shit I've somehow managed to get myself into. Okay but seriously it's so coool like all the different banjo playing styles??? How many people innovated their own style and taught themselves to play? ALL THE DIFFERENT INFLUENCES THAT GO INTO BLUEGRASS MUSIC??? How it's simultaneously a hella progressively innovative music style from its inception to today while also considered USA American traditional music? How many of these songs are several hundred years old and originated as English, Scottish, and the like folk tunes? How you might find out a bluegrass song actually originated as an obscure broadway tune that got coopted, or a Jamaican folk song, or big band jazz, or...? I mean holy cow dude, music is awesome and i'm so glad that it's a major part of my life again.

a;eogiaje;roigaje;roiagjerioj I have no idea if this is anything you wanted, but that's my answer I guess! Full of incoherence. Have a great one and stay awesome.

[codenamesazanka]

I see a lot of people talking shit about spinners quirk gecko and I am here to defend it. Back in the early chapters when he still had that massive sword he used it, like genuinely was capable of swinging that around and not getting tired

yeah!!! I was just thinking about picking a fight with people who think Spinner is a bad character or irrelevant or boring because he’s got a weak quirk. The whole point of Spinner’s character is to have weak quirk! It’s brought him prejudice and contempt (see: Trumpet) on top of being a heteromorph (feel like there might be a sort of attitude that ‘well, you’re a heteromorph but we’ll overlook that because your quirk is strong and useful’), which is why he sought out the League in the first place. 

He’s not there to be a laser-breathing dinosaur fighter, he’s there to show how the League honestly is a place for outcasts that society as let down. And other than the one incident with Dabi calling him ‘lizard’, it’s true. Spinner is taken seriously; he’s respected, he isn’t mocked for his heteromorph appearance, and the League accept him as part of the team even though he’s not the ‘strongest’ or most ‘useful’ fighter. His development and focus isn’t based on physical ability; it’s based on his emotional and personal growth, as someone who comes to understand and care about the League (speech to Toga, realizing Machia’s needs) and support them in ways that isn’t battling but still essential (waking Shigaraki up. sorta). 

In fact, tbh, not just in quirk strength, he’s average-to-below-average - and I think that makes him a very unique character? Like, in place of his weak quirk, he’s got no knack for a field like Hatsume, or an important job like Tsukauchi, or talent like Dr Ujiko, and though tru, anon you are very right, he’s got that super nice gunshow and can hold his own with a short sword, he’s hardly the most skilled with weapons. But he’s brought along on the League’s adventures, he’s valued by his allies, and he’s important to the movement of the plot (not to mention narrating the MVA arc). 

iirc, I don’t think there’s any character on the Hero side that’s equivalent to him. I could be very wrong, but like, working with the Heroes are people who are always, let’s say, ‘objectively useful’; and those who aren’t are kinda shoved to the back. Quirkless Ragdoll is left behind while the rest of her team are at Jaku, and she thinks to herself that she isn’t helping; and All Might implied that he’s considered... not to ‘keep on living’ now that he feels powerless. 

Not good trains of thought, those. Yes, the Pussycats keep Ragdoll as a secretary and what Aizawa said to All Might about simply being ‘here’ is hopeful for people, is very important and heartwarming; but both these characters are people who were powerful, then lost it - rather than starting from nothing like Spinner. Spinner used to be a hikikomori NEET (and technically still is a NEET lol), and the most harsh stereotype Japan has about people like him is that they’re deadbeat losers who are parasites on everyone else. But Spinner isn’t portrayed as just that; he’s portrayed very sympathetically, his dream to help Shigaraki is earnest, sweet, and almost inspiring, and as I pointed out before, he’s been an emotional support that the League desperately needs. It’s all rather distorted because they’re Villains, but it’s still genuine care and shown to be a good trait. 

As he was originally a Stain fanboy, and Stain looked up to All Might, I think one can draw the connection that had things been different, Spinner could’ve been a great hero who is loyal his Good Guys Allies and to the ideals of Heroism. But as is it, he never got on that path because of his upbringing and environment caused by attitudes towards quirks that Hero Society - system literally created to adapt to quirks and to bring peace back to a chaotic, hate-filled world - failed to address. Continues to barely address. 

And that’s why Spinner is and should remain ‘weak’, because it makes him one of the strongest characters on the Villains’ side in terms of narrative impact, theme, and development. His quirk is weak and that’s not a thing that should disbar him from greatness, or dismissed as a character, or assumed that he contributes nothing to the story. 

Also yeah. Takes real stamina and strength to swing that giant sword and managed to go toe to toe with Mandalay, Pro Hero, surviving as long as he did. Takes real guts to be deadly serious about his Super Knife Knife Sword. Stan Spinner plz. 

thanks for the ask anon! Sorry for using it to ramble and sorry for the length!

[oysterstoupee]

I posted 10 times in 2021

6 posts created (60%)

4 posts reblogged (40%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 0.7 posts.

I added 11 tags in 2021

#jj - 2 posts

#obx - 1 posts

#protective pouges - 1 posts

#jiara outer banks - 1 posts

#pope heyward - 1 posts

#cleo - 1 posts

#sarah cameron - 1 posts

#john booker routledge - 1 posts

#jj x kiara - 1 posts

#kiara outer banks - 1 posts

Longest Tag: 43 characters

#the pouges are one big dysfunctional family

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

Hear me out

So, in of OBX in the scene where kie kisses pope’s cheek and jj looks all sad. I don’t think it’s because he likes kie and he is sort of sad/jealous, because I think he already gave up on the idea that kie will like him back because he doesn’t deserve her (which, JJ honey no). So, I think he was sad because he just wants someone to worry and care about him like that, and he believes that he is unworthy of getting cherished like that.

P.S. LUKE IS THE BIGGEST FUCKING ASSHOLE I HAVE EVER SEEN. JJ DESERVES THE WORLD.

Sincerely,

3am

0 notes • Posted 2021-11-24 08:42:26 GMT

#4

OBX

I just feel like if Rafe and JJ were both Pogues they would be like they chaotic Best Friends/Boyfriends Pair.

1 notes • Posted 2021-09-03 13:50:15 GMT

#3

Help me, I am surrounded by idiots.

My and my best friends. Let’s call them Aaron and lily . We were walking on a path and we had carried some Gatorade powder. You know the ones where you mix it with water and it turns into Gatorade. We had one spoon left of it when Aaron decided to try and snort it. (You heard it here first my friends, the idiot tried to snort Gatorade powder.) Lily loves Gatorade so she kicked him in the balls and he doubled over. Lily was laughing so hard she somehow managed to hit her head on a nearby pole. By the end of the trip, lily had scraped her knee and bruised her forehead and Aaron’s balls were, well there were still there. After this I asked a questions that goes through my head frequently. “Why is this my life?”.

Based on a true story.

7 notes • Posted 2021-11-11 05:24:01 GMT

#2

Help me read a fic at 2 am

Hey guys! Do any of you know the name of a Ao3 fic about how stiles is like new to beacon hills or returns back and every chapter is how he one - by - one makes friends with all of the pack members. I loved it but forgot the name

Let Me Know!

7 notes • Posted 2021-09-16 06:26:02 GMT

#1

The Shovel Talk

So obvi Jiara is supreme but like fuck gender stereotypes.

I want The Pouges to give Kie the shovel talk instead of JJ.

Like JJ has been through too much messed up shit and the pouges know he would never hurt kie even in his nightmares.

On the other hand all of them including Cleo are like “hey kie you are our best friend but istg if you hurt JJ we will have Cleo harm you 6 ways to sunday”.

And kie is just like ‘yeah that’s valid’ because no matter what kie is part of the ‘JJ Protection Squad’.

But JJs like burying his face into his hands and wishing he could disappear because as much as he loves his family he did not want them to listen to them threatening kie.

Give me The Pouges bring protective over JJ.

I WANT THAT!!

28 notes • Posted 2021-12-13 01:53:26 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[unmaskedagain]

Marinette: A merry Little Nightmare

Okay so I was thinking about the Crossover fic I did yesterday with the Disney orginal Movie Halloween Town and started to thinking about other favorite halloween town… The Nightmare Before Christmas. This of course reminded me of one of favorite Sterek fic (Teen wolf: Stiles/Derek) that I go back and read once a year. And I kind of wanted to create a  new ML AU for  something similar. I didn’t get very far with this so feel free to continue if you’d like!!! This got completely away from and went in a direction, I didn’t see coming… So yeah.

           Marinette had always been a little… different; since the second, she was born in fact. But, hey, that’s what happens when the jolliest Elf in Christmas land marries the scariest vampire in all of Halloween Town. It’s no wonder Jack Skellington, the pumpkin king, was so adamant about officiating their wedding!

           Her parents had met not long after the Pumpkin King tried his hand at Christmas. It went wrong. So very, very wrong. However, there was one bright side. The people from the various different holidays now knew the others existed.

           And was when things started to change.

           Because people wanted change.

           It wasn’t fun only celebrating their one holiday every year; even if they were really good at it. And it wasn’t before long that you saw Cupids hanging with the monsters under the bed. Elves and leprechauns going out for drinks. A few reindeer running after the Easter bunny. Snow Angels laughing with Evil Witches.

           Then Jack got a wonderful idea, and even managed to clear it by a very suspicious Santa, who was still just a bit traumatized from the last time Jack got an idea.

           Why not let the children get the chance they never got? They can grow and learn about each other’s cultures together.

           Thus, Ville des festivals was born. The city of festivals where citizens from holidays, both big and small, could come to live to together. And with the city came schools; Holiday High was the renowned of them. She had long gotten used to people asking “What are you?”

           To them, she was a living, breathing question mark, they long to solve.

           Marinette was born and raised in Ville des festivals. Her parents owned a bakery that produced everything from sugar cookies to Frog’s Breath pie.

           The bluenette wouldn’t change who she was for anything but it hadn’t been easy growing up. Her heritage came from two of the biggest holidays of all the Holidays. She was both, and at the same time neither.

Marinette never felt like she was scary enough for Halloween town. Or cheerful enough for Christmas Land. It always felt like a tug of war; sometimes. Like she was split in two. Like if she cut herself, her blood would come out as a sparkly white and dreadful black.

Sparkly white for her Dad, Tom, who reflected sheer Christmas magic; the kind kids get on Christmas morning, when snowed the night before, and they opened all their presents and think it’s over, only for their parents to bring out a puppy with a boy around his head.

Dreadful black for her mom, Sabine, who’s presence echoed the terror you feel when you walk alone at night on a full moon, through a graveyard, on Friday the 13th, during October, and you get an alert on your phone about a serial killer loose, and then it turns out the cemetery is also haunted.

It’s a wonder no one knew what to make of Marinette. She had a smile that brighten up a room better than any of Santa’s elves. She had a glare that could melt the flesh off the Boogieman.

Every teacher she ever had always stumbled over her name; their faces wondering if it was an error.

Cheng; a fearsome line of Vampires from Halloween Town, everyone knew that.

Dupain; a merry elf family from Christmas land who baked the best ginger bread cookies imaginable.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng… What? It had to be an error,

Oh their faces when they realized it wasn’t!

Sometimes, besides her parents, it was like only Marinette realized that someone could be both; that she was both.

When she went to visit her mother’s family in Halloween town; everyone knew her as Marinette, half-vampire daughter of Sabine, from the Angelus bloodline; a fearsome and terrible family. And it was wonderful! Marinette wore Victorian dresses and went to balls. She was the best vampire anyone could ever be. And they treated her like a vampire. No one seemed to realize that while she needed blood to drink, she also need regular food to eat too. That while Marinette did enjoy scaring people, sometimes it felt wrong.

And when she went to visit the North Pole with her dad; she was a merry elf who sang the best Christmas songs and that all the reindeer loved. She worked with Mrs. Klaus, organizing and planning for events around town. She wore bright dress of gold and reds; silvers and purples. They treated her like she was an elf. No one seemed to realize that while most kids would love to live off candy and sweet drinks, Marinette still needed blood to sustain her. And yeah, sometimes, she burned a little in the sun, okay, Rudolph?

And Marinette didn’t speak the demonic language most vampires did; that her mother’s family all did; this never failed to disappoint her grandmother, who would then send her mother accusing looks. She also didn’t know any elfish which meant she couldn’t communicate with her dad’s dad. She could understand it but that was it.

She was only fluent in apologizing for not being enough, for never having found time to learn. The only phrase she knew in both languages.

“Sorry, I don’t speak Enochian,” Marinette would apologize and watch the confusion on her on her cousins’ faces, the disappointment in her family’s eyes.

“Sorry, I don’t speak Elfish,” Marinette would apologize, and her grandfather would frown, and make some bad parenting comment along the lines of ‘This is what happens when you raise your child away from where they belong. Move her to the North Pole before it’s too late. We’ll fix her.’ Fix her as if she was broken; as if she wasn’t quite whole.

           Marinette opened her mouth and half her family wilts.

Marinette got the best of both worlds; it was true. She’d swear it… Most days. But after the Nightmare before Christmas incident, no one really dared to try to truly mix the holidays again. Sure, the people from both towns were social with each other and got along great, some even married, but that was where the line was drawn. The holidays didn’t interfere with each other.

So while Marinette got the best of both worlds; they remained separate outside of her home and the bakery.

It sucked. And no one but the other kids in similar predicaments as her understood.

Juleka, whose mother came from the land of Mardi Gras and whose father was a warlock from Halloween town, understood. Rose understood too; her father was a cupid and her mother came from the New Year’s City. The blond didn’t even know how to begin to explain that despite being so close to one another; the two holidays never mingled. In fact, they were so possessive of their own celebrations it was insane. (The last week of December to the day after Valentine’s Day was the most stressful time for Rose.)

           Even Chloe sort of understood, though both her parents came from the Christmas. Her mother was a Grinch who hated pretty much everything and her father had come from a long line of very important elves (or so Chloe put it.) Her mother was a worlds’ renowned fashion critic and her father was the mayor of Ville Des festivals. Her father loved Christmas. Her mother refused to celebrate it. It only worked out because Chloe’s mom was never around much.

           Even in Ville Des festivals, it was complicated. Most try to put her into a category to make it easier on themselves. Sure everyone was allowed to love each other’s holidays and to celebrate but to a point. No one expected an Easter bunny to go flying Santa’s sleigh, right?

           No one expected an elf to want to scare people. Or a vampire to be able to make snowflakes.

“Which side are you closer with?” They’d asked. “You know, who do you identify with?”

Marinette refused to answer. She wouldn’t allow them to erase half of herself. She didn’t want to choose sides of herself. Why did she have to choose a race?

It wasn’t like there was a dividing line, from her head to her toes, that said one side Christmas Magic and the other Halloween Terror.

That wasn’t the way it worked. She refused to let them wash away half her identity just because it’s the one they prefer.

And oh how the people in charge preferred to used her sweet nature, the rose color to her cheeks, and big blue eyes to try and write her off as an elf!

Elf-passing, is what some would say.

How could they ignore her fangs? The dark midnight blue of her hair? The slant of her eyes, that flashed red whenever she was angry?

Why was it so hard to understand that she was both?

Marinette Dupain-Cheng was elf and a vampire. It wasn’t like she was an Alien from outer space. Or a human.

She got to celebrate Halloween with her mom, her dad, and her mom’s family but never once has she celebrated Christmas with her mom’s family. Not in Halloween town; it just wasn’t done.

She got to celebrate Christmas with her dad, her mom, and her dads’ family but gods’ forbid someone bring up throwing a Halloween party. No one threw Halloween Parties in the North day. It was the North Pole, for Saint Nick’s sake.

           To Marinette, there were no better holidays than Halloween and Christmas. She just wished she could celebrate with her entire family.

           She wished people didn’t make stereotypical assumptions on vampires just because they watched a few movies, or read some books.  Marinette’s mom loved garlic. Holy water didn’t burn, thank you Chloe! Not every vampire knew Dracula or was descended from him. Though her grandma Gina, the elf, dated him back in the day so yeah, Marinette did know him but that wasn’t the point. And no, vampires didn’t used to only drink from the blood of virgin, what the hell Kim? (And Marinette wished for nothing more than to curse Stephanie Meyer out for the epidemic she unleashed. Vampires were always overly sexualized before… But DAMN! Juleka swore it was the equivalent of what happened to witches and warlocks during the Harry Potter Craze.)

           She wished people didn’t assume all elves were sweet and nice and were toy makers. Her uncle was a dentist, thank you very much! And her grandpa could give any Grinch a run for their money.

           Honestly, Marinette loved her life, her family, being mixed; coming from two very different worlds. It was just that sometimes it was hard. Sometimes she didn’t feel like a very good elf. Sometimes she was a terrible vampire. Sometimes she just didn’t feel like enough for either. Sometimes she felt like she never got enough of either.

           Or as a human named Julian Randall put in his poem called ‘6 Biracial Metaphors.’ In it, he said, “Knowing that Sometimes being biracial is to have two half-filled glasses and die of thirst anyway.”

           Sometimes, Marinette hummed Christmas songs under breath during October. Sometimes, she really wanted to watch Horror Flicks during December.

           She just wished people made her feel like it was okay when she did. Or that it didn’t feel weird when she did.

           Because it wasn’t weird. It was who she was.

All of who she was.

Marinette was poison wrapped in a pretty bow.

Marinette was a sweet kiss under the mistletoe that sent you straight to hell.

Marinette was a daydream and the worst fears come to reality.

Marinette was the Nightmare before Christmas.

[vendettacanons]

Did you like the ending to Little Hope?

// This is an unpopular opinion apparently, but yeah! Overall, I think Little Hope was a massive massive improvement from Man of Medan. Granted, it still fell into some of the same flaws and holes as Man of Medan.

// Putting things under a cut bc SPOILERS, and also because I got super emotional and really in-depth with a psychoanalysis portion of this.

// The game felt more beautiful and polished than the first admittedly. I liked the environment and lighting improvements. Man of Medan was well done, but Little Hope goes it just felt much more natural and at home.

// As far as flaws— The characters from the first game were a bit more memorable in a sense (at least Conrad, Fliss, and Brad were in my opinion) but don’t get me wrong, that is a low bar. I haven’t found any characters from the games thus far particularly noteworthy, memorable, or in fact... likable in any way really. It feels like we just never get to know them enough to actually form an opinion on them. And the traits they’re given don’t really match up with the dialogue options. Which, in Man of Medan, there really isn’t an excuse for. In Little Hope, it’s better explained that they aren’t real— the people represent caricatures of traits the bus driver exhibits. They’re symbols more than anything.

// The game follows two intertwined storylines that are actually blended together quite nicely, which is impressive because that is something that is hard to do without feeling forced (Outlast 2 I’m looking at you). And yeah, it does have its cliches and its moments where things feel very rough or make little sense, I won’t ignore those. The game definitely has its lapses in logic. And yes, it is very frustrating how a character can survive the whole game and die at the end— I was PISSED when I saw that happen but once I saw the ending it made sense why. The death of the characters means an incomplete story arc— or certain traits of the bus driver that were never addressed and thus were not given proper closure.

// I know a lot of people seemed to dislike the ending for one reason or another. A lot of people felt it was a copout and I know more than a few did not like the idea of “oh it was mental illness all along :/”. But personally, I loved that. I’m not sure what mental illness in particular the bus driver was dealing with, but I believe it was schizophrenia. And honestly, the game handled it so well in my opinion. It didn’t glorify it or use it as a scapegoat or demonize it, it didn’t use it as a last minute explanation, the ending cutscenes with Vince literally show that it was the underlying cause of everything the entire time and we just never put it together. Which is exactly what the characters felt too. We were experiencing things from a first-person perspective, while trying to figure things out from a third-person perspective, and that really hit me because that is what it’s like to be schizophrenic. It is trying to rationalize what your mind is conjuring up, trying to understand that it isn’t real when it feels so, so convincingly tangible. And that’s another part of it the ending captured well. People with schizophrenia often don’t have any idea that what they’re seeing isn’t real, and so being snapped out of it can be just as jarring for them as it was for us when we realized the truth.

// A lot of people don’t think the game’s display of it was realistic for a lot of reasons, but the truth is, it’s surprisingly realistic in its portrayal. I liken it to ‘A Beautiful Mind’ a lot and I’ll explain why.

1) The town’s history includes witch trials like those mentioned in Salem. If you’ve ever seen or read the very popular Crucible, which features an interpretation of the witch trials the game is based off, then it explains why the flashbacks happen. Knowledge of certain events that one is familiar with tend to impact what kinds of hallucinations someone with schizophrenia may have.

2) The traumatic events at the beginning. We know the bus driver is the sole survivor of a fire that killed his entire family. He was falsely blamed for it even after he was cleared of charges and still holds guilt over not being able to save anyone from his family and is haunted by a result, which is why he has these hallucinations of friends that share the appearance of his family, and why he keeps seeing their faces everywhere— in flashbacks, in photos— everywhere. The idea of hallucinating entire people or having grand delusions, while not particularly common among most schizophrenics, is still very much something that many experience, especially if they’ve been traumatized or are untreated. He even acknowledges that it’s his family he’s seeing if he saves Mary and persecutes the priest in the last flashbacks.

3) The demons. A lot of people think it fell in line with the stereotype that schizophrenics “see monsters” and this disliked it. And again, while this is not always the case, there are many cases of this happening. In the worst cases, schizophrenics have reported seeing horrible disfigured people and creatures, and these are usually created by perceptions that are more or less the same as when you see a creepy-shaped shadow in your room in the dark. They can sometimes be based off of things seen in movies, in horror events, or culminated by other experiences, but the bottom line is that they can be conjured by the mind. And in the game, they serve as a symbol of guilt. They are the embodiment of “inner demons”, and they will kill whatever characters don’t finish their arc of progression it seems.

4) Repetitive cycles. Schizophrenics tend to see patterns. Not everyone of course, but noticing patterns and repeating them is a common trait. (Again, think ‘A Beautiful Mind’: the scenes where he looks for code patterns and keeps seeing Game Theory everywhere). The deaths of the characters and their Witch Trial doubles coincide with how the family died at the beginning: Daniel’s og died on the fence, his double died on a fence, he can die by being spreared by his demon, the father was crushed to death, the Witch Trial Version was crushed to death, John can have his neck snapped, etc. These “patterns of thought” are another common sign in schizophrenics. Seeing or doing things over and over again. His families faces is the big tie-in really.

5) Smaller note: Identity. As with everything else on this list, this doesn’t apply to all schizophrenics but many do hallucinate their own identities when they are deluding. Hence why the bus driver keeps seeing a younger version of himself. This is not so common as the other symptoms but it exists.

// Overall, Little Hope seemed like a massive improvement from Man of Medan, and while I normally don’t like the idea of mental illness being used as a giant plot hook, in Little Hope it was done tactfully and respectfully. It provided the blueprint for an engaging storyline and was addressed in a manner that was clearly very well-researched. It was not made light of in any sort of way, and it still managed to provide for a very entertaining game experience while also providing a very deep message: ‘we all have to confront our pasts and lay them to rest at some point. It’s never too late to forgive yourself.’ To me, Little Hope was amazing and I was genuinely brought to tears because of how close to home it hit, and how it told such a good story of someone with a mental illness I’m all too familiar with. Words can’t describe how much it meant to me to see a story being portrayed like that with such tact.

// And again, this is just my opinion on everything. These are just my interpretations of events that happen and connections I made while playing. I haven’t even addressed a lot of things in the game but if I did this post would be even longer so let me just leave it at: yes, I like Little Hope a lot. It has a special place in my heart, it made me cry, and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a good horror game experience. Also, if you haven’t, please go watch ‘A Beautiful Mind’. I don’t normally mention movies as a primary source, but that movie is based off of the true story of John Nash and was pulled from his biography. It’s very eye-opening and beautiful.

// And also as a disclaimer: I am not a professional psychologist or anything. My facts are based solely off of my own research, my own consultations with professionals, and first-hand experiences (with undifferentiated schizophrenia specifically). Pls don’t take what I say as fact, do your own research, talk to professionals for more insight, and take what I say with a grain of salt. Your Mileage May Vary and that’s okay. ❤️

[dipplie]

Temporary list of my stories and OC’s until one day I make a comprehensive and well made list:

Blinded:

Polli: My oldest OC and fun fact was my persona till she become edgy and I wasn’t 12 anymore. Everyone’s favorite yes yes I’m aware. Yellow, energetic, eats dirt and bugs, I can’t tell if she’s evil because of a wisp possession or just crazy. Breaks the 4th wall. Is she a Mary Sue???????? Who knows.

Melody: NOT Polli’s girlfriend despite Polli’s delousions. Has an abusive mom :(. Only has one eye and then no eyes and then robot eyes or smthn idk she becomes a badass when she gets older. But otherwise trembling in her shoes all the time.

Melodys Mom/Sharren: Bitch. Okay well all I’ll say is she’s old and grumpy and probably smells bad.

Louise: Total hotty, rich kid, FtM, got bullied as a kid for his weight. Had a squad of fans basically in high school. Lived with his mom after his parents got a divorce but his mom was semi abusive, projected her femininity onto him, and wouldn’t have been supportive of his transition, so between middle and high school he went to live with his dad and got his sex change and testosterone. His best friend in elementary and middle school stopped talking to him after his transition, and became his competition for the most attractive and sought after boy in school (except Louise is a sweetheart while his friend Tommy is a dick and really gross) His dad runs a company that specializes in technology, and after meeting and falling in love with Melody (even after all her abusive trauma and losing both her eyes) he has his dad and some of the developers create a way to get her vision back and I mean honestly I love him how could you not love him he’s so perfect.

Watching:

Fick: Big nerd boy with thick glasses. I feel like he’d use Reddit but don’t quote me on that. Big crush on Vivinya. Boy don’t wander into the woods- oh look dead body with a curse on it don’t touch it- aaaand now he has a wisp that makes him kill people, way to go kid. Panic attack central.

Vivinya: True crime girl, yucky yucky. Probably had a knife collection. “uwu I’m insane” except she actually is and starts using Fick to kill people for her and treats him like her “Yandere boyfriend” or something cringe and gross oh god. She deserves jail. JAIL. Needs to learn guys need to give consent too. Just overall sucks 1/10.

Tommy: I mentioned him early to be Louises ex best friend and rival. He used to have a crush on Louise actually but that don’t excuse being a BITCH!!!! Also needs to learn people gotta give consent he is just as gross as Vivinya. Cheats on all the girls he gets with because he’s again, a bitch. Idk if he deserved to get murdered though I mean he was still a teenager but it’s fine. Thinks of the song Seventeen from Heathers actually this story does feel a tad reminiscent of heathers with vivinya being a crazy and wanting to off a bunch of students. Huh.

Suzannie: Tommy’s older sister who’s a detective. What a coincidence. Monotone and depressed. Probably because her little brother got murdered. Gets real awkward when she’s talking about her brothers murder(s) to Fick and Vivinya like “when I find who did this to him they’ll regret being born”. Kind of really pretty actually.

Adolescents (there isn’t actually a story here yet but don’t worry about it shhhh):

Nelson: HIMBO HIMBO H- Jock stupid idiot big dork god he’s so awkward and his main personality trait is having a crush on Naomi and being a dork when talking to her. Probably could benchpress you.

Naomi: Gamer or something and a nerd geek. Her main personality trait is having a crush on Nelson and also being a dork when talking to him. Probably a weeb and fandom dweller. Can’t draw but she commissions artists to draw. She does write copious amounts of fanfiction though.

Andrés: Ohhh the school bad boy babyyyy. Baseball bat with nails in it or something. There’s like... A thing between him in Charlotte and he wants to be a thing but she’s being difficult and makes it hard to talk to her or about her and ugh.

Charlotte: Princess, high school princess. She’s actually pretty nice when you get to know her- but she’s a diva. Ballerina after school. Best friends with Naomi and doesn’t know what she’s talking about when she mentions ships or OTPs but she listens anyways because she’s a good friend. There’s like... A thing between her and Andrés but she doesn’t know if she’s super into him but geez he’s really hot but she gets such mixed responses when she asks her friends about it and what if it doesn’t work outttt.

Marlon: They/Them but they’re okay with either pronouns they aren’t sure yet, he or she is okay... Box boy box boy. Autism... He doesn’t want to admit He’s attracted to men but he’s totally attracted to men. He lives alone which is probably illegal for his age but somehow he manages. Everyone thinks he’s “the quiet kid” and he’s really sad about it no don’t make jokes like that please guys ahh-

Sing for Me:

Kat: The color pink, addahadda(adhd), angry and loud and short. For being only like 10 and being an adorable little lesbian dressing in sparkly pink dresses she actually likes screaming a lot and would totally sing heavy metal if her producers let her. Loud and mad but gets so soft around her girlfriend. “If anything happens to Brie I’m killing everyone in this room and then myself”.

Brie: French... Birds and stuff. Loves her girlfriend even though she is so loud. So fast. So much. Likes to write pretty things. Is only like an inch taller than Kat. Filled with so much love for everything.

Elliot: The girls manager. Lots of coffee. Stressed out of his MIND please help this man. Probably gay. Seems like a smug dick but he is just a tall and lanky dork that loves puppies and wants nothing more than for Kat and Brie to be happy. Accidentally brands them as sisters and then Kat kisses Brie and- oh fuck oh shit oh no what has he done. Hides the fan and non fan responses from them. Poor guy.

Horror Hosts:

Ichabod: Hot demon who’s the son of the current ruler of hell or something. I mean he’s hot, smart, and royalty, what more do you want. I very specifically hear the dub voice of Kyoya Ootori from OHHC as his voice don’t @ me. Goat legs????? Yeah??? Don’t be rude.

Barnabie: Ohhhhhhhhh big orc teddy bear I’m crying I love him????? He puts up a more confident ploy and the given stereotypical personality orcs supposedly have but he’s just a shy boy that wants to give girls flowers and call boys pretty. Help him.

Garrison: Gary Burger. Fat hairy gay man. I mean werewolf. Wouldn’t it be funny if I made the whole werewolf thing backwards and made him transform into a HUMAN only on the full moon??? Party animal, pun absolutely intended. LOUD AND FUNNY he’s a dork. Bites. Horny on main Garrison please you’re supposed pamper and flirt with the guests but not quite that much.

Vincenzo: Token Vampire but he’s Italian because I felt like it. Talk and lanky of course. Bitch face. Blood coffee? Yeah lots of coffee. Tired. Let him sleep in Ichabod. Steps on people. Can summon and reanimate corpses but has a bitter attitude towards them because they get annoyed with him as much as he gets annoyed with- everyone else. He does have a soft spot but idk where it is. When he’s talking to guests he’s more suave and sexy though.

Kai: Genderfluid haha get it because slime fluid-... I’ll stop. Probably objectively the hottest because they can look anyway they want and shift their vocals to sound like almost anything, also probably objectively the best in bed (if you’re okay with the texture of Jell-o) and honestly come on save some for the rest of us it’s not fair. This boy can SING oh my god seranade me and whisper in my ear baby. Spunky and sassy.

Hallvor: BABY OCTOPOD BOY OHHHHH I LOVE HIM HE’S SO SWEET AND IS AN ANGEL DARLING BOY SO EMBARRASSED SO SHY SOFTEST VOICE OHHH- ohhh nooo he’s got a knife ohhhhh Hallvor baby don’t be like that ohhhh... Used to work in hentai actually (I wonder why) but quit because of immoral practices and good for him we love that. Okay he’s not actually a yandere or whatever but he DEFINITELY wants to squeeze you a little too hard and has those crazy eyes.

Carla: Main character of this OHHC monster clone. She sucks I don’t like her because listen listen she kills monsters as a living and when she tries to kill our boys here, Ichabod catches her and goes “no” but then the rest (not knowing her murderous intent) fall in love with her and Ichabod is like: “shoot well I’ll keep you alive and around but I’m watching you” and blah blah romance and feelings and character development and wow she seems like she’s grown to care about them... So Ichabod removes a curse he put to prevent her from harming them or leaving... AND THEN SHE STABS THEM ALL IN THE BACK IM CRYING. I mean she might have an extra reason for needing to kill them but I haven’t decided if I want to actually put it in the story yet so.

Fingertips:

Maria/Marianna: Was this goth angry chick and the head of these losers but after a failed heist, fire, and being betrayed and dropped from a window on a 3rd or 4th story down into flames, and going to the hospital and changing her name, she changed totally and become a soft pretty girl... And then the next three boys went “HEY BOSS WE FOUND YOU” and she went “oh no” and now she’s just an anxious wreck like “no no no no no I don’t shoot people in the face anymore no no no no no” And has a fear of hands. Also was Diamontés best friend in primary school and yes all these characters went to the K-12 school all the other characters do/did. Pretty voice. The story is mostly about her being anxious around all the other characters because who was it that betrayed her and dropped her into the flames below? Find out next week on th-

Nikki: He’s that character that you see and immediately go “oh he’s gross and is angry and is a bitch” and you’re right he is and has a cockney accent and screams a lot and probably swings a knife around a lot, but he’s got a sweet interior (somewhere in there... somewhere) Screamo heavy metal. Him and the rest of these character briefly talked about having a band and then they didn’t and then at the end of the story they do and although he plays guitar mostly, if he does do lead vocals he screams a lot. Bitch.

Anthony: Pretty boy but like the “was in the army” pretty boy vibe. Probably played football in highschool. Pyromaniac. Punches Nikki a lot. Almost gives himbo vibes sometimes, almost. Kind of likes the old timey cozy aesthetic. Plays the piano sometimes but “oh I’m not very good at it” Plays extremely well

Diamonté: TALL. Purple goth boy aesthetic hellll yeahhhh. CRAZY EYES AND THEY SPEAK VOLUMES WATCH OUT. Drums. The scary kind of quiet because he just smiles at you. Crowbar. Okay but he’s actually really sweet though. Secretly loves watching Anthony and Nikki get into fights so that’s why he rarely puts a stop to it. I think he’s a sadist. Can be a gentle giant, but can also be a not so gentle giant. The only time he’s really talkative is after copious amounts of booze.

Unnamed/Undesigned 1: Literally a pimp and he’s pretty gross. Blonde hair and pink and white clothes.

Unnamed/Undesigned 2: Chick that likes to throw knives and be angry and threatens Marianna a lot but in a quiet and monotone way, Marianna is pretty scared and hopes that these are just shallow threats uhhhhh.

Unnamed/Undesigned 3: Sells guns (without a lisence of course) and wears a bandana over his face a lot. Tired. Grumpy.

Unnamed/Undesigned 4: Like Marianna, was cold hearted and cool but then got caught in the fire and got all soft. He only has one eyes but how sweet his eyepatch is a heart. Recoved along side Marianna and they are good friends good friends tha- wait Marianna are you going back with them oh god you can’t do that oh dear oh no oh-

(I don’t have a story or name for these two but they’re my comfort ship OC’s and my current hyper fixaction right now):

Rodriquéz: I literally designed him with almost all the traits I find attractive in a guy other than freckles so as you can imagine I find him super HOT. I also designed his personality on what I find attractive from a guy so as you can imagine I find him super GREAT. But anyways he’s grumpy and closed off and monotone and smug. I really could go on for hours about how I want him to step on me I’m so sorry guys. Both him and Samantha give the “21 and having immature fun” vibes. They’re a thing but they like going to bars together and splitting off and doing their own thing (or doing someone else’s thing if you get what I mean haHhahHhahGahGhaha-) But so help them if anyone doesn’t oblige by the “no” from one of these two, someone’s gonna get beat up.

Samantha: (She literally just my personality shhhhh don’t tell anyone it’s a secret) Bubbly, energetic, a little shy by extroverted, bombshell blonde or something? It took me way too much time and effort to design her but I’m really happy with how I finally designed her, I love her outfit. She could kick me in the face and I’d say thank you. Girly drinks at the bar. Got that trauma and anxiety™️ secretly though. Skips and jumps a lot. As I’m typing this I keep looking up at the drawing of her and more and more I would want her to also step on me.

(Space Story I don’t have a nice title for):

Unnamed/Undesigned 1: So... Funny story this story originally was with me and uh... My ex I guess... So I gotta replace the MC’s... Whoops ahaha... Awkward. But anyways the MC is a robot and a girl and is a slight tsundere or smthn.

Unamed/Undesigned 2: Has a space ship, works for this organization in space that protects the galaxy. Is cocky, lazy, sly, oblivious, and an idiot. The love interest- obviously. Probably accidentally committing space crimes. (Like space pirating hAHAHA-) Kind of cool when he wants to be.

Dandelion/Dandy: CAT. WITH A JET PACK. Kind of an asshole. Fun fact used to be Polli’s cat but then when the Second MC crash landed on earth she was like “fuck this noise I’m going with space boy laterz” (okay she can’t talk but she thought it).

Zizii: Lesbian alien? Yeah???? Okay but I mean her main character trait is being a dorky back alley doctor and engineer obsessed with the MC because they’re a sentient robot with emotions and a lazer arm and rocket boots WOW!!!!!!!!

Story I want to revive:

So I had a story I started writing a long time ago about this tech theatre kid that had a crush on this other theatre kid character, but in a play that other character has to kiss another person for the show, and as the story progresses the MC convinces themselves that it isn’t just a play and that their crush actually loves and is kissing that other kid. And in the play, that other character is supposed to die. Show night comes along and they die, but like actually, and by the hands of the MC (Idk maybe like a light falls on em or smthn). So it’s a grotesque scene the audience sees as just an act. (Mutters I dunno I think my idea’s cool...) So I’ve been wanting to design these characters and work more on the story but I’m busy being obsessed with Rodriquez and Samantha so. (And the Horror Host Club too I love them too still).

Other Characters that either don’t have a specific story or are kind of like background characters:

Jacqueiliquinne Merril: Sara Berry vibes from 35mm (go look up The Ballad of Sara Berry, maybe like an animatic idk the first one that comes up is nice) But otherwise rich, pretty, popular, bitch. Tries to like, steal Louise from his squad and it’s like bro that’s unnecessary who hurt you that’s so rude. She gives Nui from Kill La Kill Vibes too. Oh she knows her name is long and annoying but you have to say the whole thing.

Brianna: Jaqueiliquinne’s sister. Big titty goth gf??? She’s pretty popular too and kind of a bitch too but to a much lesser degree. Her and he sister throw hands a lot when no one is around, you know, “THEY GIRLS ARE FIGHTINNGGGG”.

The Louise Fan Club: 4 characters I haven’t named yet. One writes fanfiction of Louise and shares it with the others and with him sometimes and although he thinks it’s a bit weird he also finds it a tad endearing and supports her. One is an aspiring photographer and is constantly asking Louise to model for him. One is an artist and draws Louise all the time. And one is an aspiring musician who writes songs based of Louise’s relationships which again he finds a little weird but endearing and supports her.

The Jacquiliquinne Merril Fan Club: Genderbent-ish (I say ish because one of the characters is a little bit less defined gender wise) versions of the Louise Fan Club. Yes I’m lazy, and no they don’t get along with them, infact they hate each others club with a passion. 

Unnamed/Undesigned: I wanna make some hacker kid just because I wanna have one.

Unnamed/Undesigned: I also really wanna have a super cutesy magical girl and then a really super duper generic boring character probably like star vs the forces of evil idk I never watched that show but it looks cute.

Me: I exist in the universe fukc you I can do what I want it’s my story and I get to chose the who also if you wanna be in the mess of a universe go ahead draw yourself with my OC’s I allow and encourage and appreciate it. I literally made the Horror Host Club as a sort of Harem story and you are absolutely allowed to make out with them if you’re a monster fucker DO it GO ahead it’s canon.

and that is ALL I have FOR now Knowing me I’ll make like 12 more characters by July, and I mean I need more characters for the high school anyways so...

[trashcatsnark]

What’s your opinion on Kerry being available to only male V when it’s mentioned in-game that he’s bi (correct me if I’m wrong, I have terrible memory)?? I feel like they should’ve had bi romance options if they were able to implement both gay and straight ones.

Oh anon, oooooh anon. I love you dearly, but you intentionally or not might as well have thrown lit dynamite in my ask box. This discourse has been such a strange beast within this fandom and I have definitely shared some vague thoughts about it before. I’m putting everything under a read more, to help stave off some....harassment or putting it in people’s lives who may not want it. 

 I still remember I was frankly heartbroken and upset when I first learned Kery wasn’t romanceable by female V when the game first officially came out, but before I played it; River and Panam weren’t even really known about, cause they weren’t talked about much in the promo material,  plus Kerry was shown in romance scenes with what looked to be female V. So, if you go back far enough you’ll find me in December cope posting and being the saddest and angriest of beans, because other than Johnny who I knew was likely off the table. He was one of the only characters I wanted to potentially romance. Now, I’m further away from it, have  processed my feelings regarding it and am more rational I believe regarding the issue. 

But, that being said, a large issue of this sort of discourse is that; no matter what anyone says, someone somwhere is upset. I’ve been insulted, blocked, accused of fetishizing gay men, and so much over my opinion regarding this matter. I’m still currently debating if I even wanna tag this, cause the issue almost always brings negativity to my blog and to me. I have very little interest in being berated for this, so we’ll see how I feel after I finish typing this all out. I’m going to try to go through all my issues, my points, my troubles and feelings about the matter. But, at the end of the day, it is merely my opinion. If someone disagrees, fine, just don’t attack people or berate them over pixels in a video game. Just dont. That’s all I ask. Okay, so I’m gonna divide this into talking points and whatever, now. 

Firstly, Kerry is bisexual. Point blank, period. I’ve seen folks try to argue that his wife was like comphet, which if you dont know means that sometimes exclusively homosexual people will try to force themselves into heterosexual relationships because society has conditioned them to believe they have to be straight. While, I’m not negating the fact that this happens, as a bisexual/pansexual (I use the terms interchangeably to define my experience and feelings)  person I’ve struggled with it when making sense of my attraction to women. It genuinely is something that happens. This is not the case for Kerry; he doesn’t ever hide his attraction to men, between TTRPG lore and the video game he has had two wives , and he is stated by game developers and TTRPG creator to be bisexual.He is bisexual. Getting that out there, saying other wise, in my opinion is a level of bi erasure. That being said, I do still have my grievances with how the game chose to handle his bisexuality and bisexuality as whole, also imo, the game generally doesn’t seem...to treat players who are attracted to men well… 

But before I get into that, I wanna make clear, I feel like Cyberpunk 2077 should have had more romance options for every orientation. If you’re not going to create a player-sexual style of romance; ie where every romanceable character is attracted to the player regardless and wish to focus on each character having their own predetermined sexuality; only have one character for each sexuality is kind of bullshit. If you’re a lesbian player and you’re not into Judy, you get nothing, except a fuck around with Meredith (who I will get to later). You’re a straight woman, but not into River, shit out of luck. You’re a gay man who’s not into Kerry, sucks to suck bud. You’re a straight man who’s not into Panam (kind dont get how you wouldn’t be but who am i to judge), well, you can fuck Meredith… so woooo. Oh also, if you’re not attracted to women, you will still be forced to watch in first person pov a sex scene with Alt and if you want Johnny to like you, you gotta date a girl. Also, all the male love interests will be sidelined mostly…. Hooray… But I digress, either go in with all romance options bi/pan/player sexual, or give more options for romance. Cause now you have the issue of people not getting the partner they hoped for and not liking their only option. Now, you got people trying to make the Judy  bi, which is lesbian erasure and lesbophobic, along with people saying Kerry isn’t bi and can’t be with women which is bi erasure and biphobic. Whereas, if you had just gone in from the get go with either more options or a player-sexual romance system; we wouldn’t be here, CDPR. 

Okay, so next thing, now that I’ve addressed my issues with the entire romance system and that yes, Kerry is bi. Should Kerry have been able to be romanced as female V? Yes and no. Which sounds vague, but I’m going somewhere. With the current set up of it; Kerry being romanceable to a female V would have unfairly given female players an additional love interest over male players. Female V would have the option of Judy, River, or Kerry. And Male V’s would have the option of Kerry or Panam. That’s not fair. I get that, inherently. CDPR painted themselves into a corner, by only letting there be two romances for “each” gender, one for “each” sexuality, and then using a canonically bi character for one of them. They played themselves, they were either gonna have to give an unfair amount of love interest to one side of their gender system or make a bi character who will only pursue one gender. So, they went for the latter. 

Now, some people feel thats fine, because Kerry having a gender preference is fine and its okay for bi people to lean a certain way in regards to gender and its okay for them to not be attracted to people. And that is true. I am a bisexual woman who leans a little more towards men, I get that. However, I have only been given one reason for Kerry’s preference for male V over female V. And it was by a developer of the game who stated that Kerry pursues Male V and not Female V because Male V reminds him more of Johnny… And I hate that. I personally, hate it so deeply, because to me it does a complete disservice to Kerry and V’s relationship and Kerry’s arc. Because even with female V you see him being preoccupied with Johnny and V’s connection to Johnny, then you see him move past that. So, to then state, its still a deciding factor in him romancing V is so wrong to me. Like why???? Why would you do that to people who like Kerry??? Why would you put that in their heads, that Kerry on some level, subconsciously or not, was thinking about Johnny when he decides to romance V. Cause that’s not in the game, in the game you get the vibe he’s moving on past Johnny, like he’s growing, developing, genuinely likes V. But that stupid tweet, just radiates rancid vibes, whyyy???  

And then, outside of that nasty tweet, I have to ask what other reason is there for why he prefers male V over fem V.  They’re...the same characters essentially, just with different pronouns and body type. They also can look like whatever you want; they’re completely customizable. So, Its based off of what the game associates with  gender characteristics and nothing else, meaning, his attraction is rooted solely in their gender and he turns down fem V by virtue of them being a woman and nothing else. Which, yeah, bisexual/pansexual people have preferences but when that preference completely excludes a gender based on nothing but gender…. Uhh????? See my issue???? 

And I’ve seen people saying, well, its better than CDPR playing into slutty will date anybody bisexual stereotypes. But, the thing is...THEY STILL DO THAT which is what drives me up the god damn wall; they managed to do slutty bi stereotypes and I don’t even get kiss the boy, which again, I get the need for fairness but wow, just wow. And lemme explain. 

Meredith is the only character, other than joytoys, whom you can have sex with regardless of gender, body type, etc. She is the only character who shows that she is attracted to V on some level regardless of gender. 

She is a one night stand. Her sex animations are the same as joytoys. She treated like a promiscuous love phobic woman.  And having characters like that is fine, my own V is promiscuous and love phobic. But, we can acknowledge that in a video game by a AAA game company having the only character who is at least physically attracted to the player no matter what, be nothing but sex fodder...isn’t great bi representation, right? 

Oh, and Kerry himself still is a promiscuous bisexual man, he just won’t romance female V because apparently, according to a dev, they don’t remind him of Johnny enough. AND THATS THE DEVS WORDS, NOT MINE, I HATE THAT. Like, Kerry is shown to have people’s lingerie around his house. He’s stated by Johnny to be someone who fucks around. He gets a blowjob from a man in a stairwell. 

The two most blatantly canonically bi character in this game are promiscuous; one wont romance V at all and just wants sex, the other will only romance a male V because at worse, he’s comparing them mentally subconsciously to his dead friend and at best….because….reasons…. Literally, from what I understand for Kerry to romance V, they have to have the “male” body type and “male” voice. Meaning, fem V could literally by all appearances look like masc V, body type wise, but because she uses female pronouns and has a feminine sounding voice...no… the stars say no… 

In my honest opinion, it is bad bisexual representation and a not so well thought out romance system for a game. 

But, that being said, I literally never romance anyone, because I’m a Johnny simp. So, the fuck do I know.

oh god do i tag this.... ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

[bigskydreaming]

Height discourse confuses me so much, because I, a 4'9 21-year-old Asian perceives anyone taller as tall. But reading international posts saying 5'6 is small makes me double-take, like, "Wut?"

LOL, ahh yes, the infamous “How Tall IS Dick Grayson Actually” discourse. I feel you. And I can definitely see how it would be bemusing as hell given your perspective, lmao.

And I mean, its definitely up there on the list of “Things I Can’t Believe There’s Actually Discourse About” buuuuuut I’m not really judging because I know damn well there’s a fuckton of shit I’ve Discoursed about on pretty much everyone else’s “Things I Can’t Believe There’s Actually Discourse About” list. 

*Shrugs* But I also do get why it exists, if you scratch beneath the surface - as is often true of a lot of seemingly inane discourses. Its not really about height so much as it is about the why’s of writers specifying certain heights for him, and stereotypes associated with height.

On the one hand, you’ve got the fans who look at writers who make a point of writing Dick as particularly short, or the shortest of the Batfam once all of them are adults, and think: this is because of fandom’s fixation with writing Dick as effeminate or the least ‘manly’ of the Batfam, and thus I dislike it and do not trust this writer’s take on him.

Then on the other hand, you have the fans who look at objections like this and think: this is because of bullshit fostered by the toxic masculinity and sexism that’s so present in society, even women can be guilty of perpetuating the idea that there’s anything TO object about there, that a man being effeminate or less ‘manly’ than his brothers is some kind of insult or slight against him in the first place.

But then go back to the first hand.....

And on the one hand, of those fans, you’ve got the fans that don’t actually think there’s anything insulting about a man being effeminate or less manly themselves, but given that the bullshit fostered by the toxic masculinity and sexism in society is so everpresent, even women can be guilty of perpetuating the idea that ‘shorter = weaker’ etc, etc.......its not him being written as short that’s objectionable to them, its what they believe the writer is implying by making that distinction that they’re objecting to, like that it reads to them as though its being used as a smokescreen to create associations in readers’ minds, with the idea of him being weaker or softer or whatever the fuck compared to his brothers, without those writers actually having to SAY what they’re getting at there and spell it out. Plausible deniability kinda thing.

And then on the other hand, you have those fans who object to writing Dick as short because they actually DO buy into that bullshit and they ARE simply objecting to the idea itself because of toxic masculinity and sexism and etc etc.

But then go back to the original second hand.....

And on the one hand THERE, you have the fans whose responses to people objecting about writing Dick as short are based on exactly what they say they are......pointing out that its only objectionable if its viewed as insulting and the only reasons its viewed as insulting are toxic masculinity and sexism which they’re calling out as being perpetuated here.

And on the other hand there, you have those fans who DO buy into the associations between ‘shorter = weaker’ and actually ARE writing things that way with the intent of hoping to form that association in the minds of any readers who similarly buy into those lines of thought or are susceptible to it......and are simply using ‘arent you the REAL misogynist here for thinking shorter equals more feminine which equals weaker or frail or whatever’ arguments that are simply typical flipping the script tactics and hiding behind buzzwords they don’t actually believe in themselves but know are effective in getting people to back down, etc, etc. The plausible deniability thing.

And I’ve been out of hands here for awhile now, obviously, but you get what I mean. Round and round and round it goes, with the true point always hidden juuuuuuust beneath the surface, and more than a little tedious to have all unpacked and catalogued like here, which is a major factor in why so many people rarely dig beneath the surface of a seemingly inane discourse to get at what people are REALLY arguing about but nobody wants to ‘lose ground on’ by being the first to admit to.

As for me, again, this really isn’t a dicourse that I spend much time on because I’d rather cut straight to the point of an argument in general, and this isn’t an discourse that’s particularly amenable to people doing that, obviously. 

And also, I honestly just don’t care that much. LOL. Yeah, I often read works where Dick is singled out as being distinctively shorter and feel an author is trying to ‘imply’ something and its the implications of that which are the source of any ‘Not Good, Scoob’ feelings rather than because I agree with what’s trying to be implied. But y’know......when an author IS playing that game and they actually do buy into toxic and sexist stereotypes.....I mean, there’s literally always other indications of this in their work, giving them away all over the place. So there’s honestly never really a time when his height itself is actually what that hinges upon, y’know?

So my big takeaway from all of this is: headcanon and write Dick as whatever damn height you feel like and if you want to imply something about him just fucking say it directly and if you want to accuse someone of something just fucking call it out directly.

*points to the above unpacking of this particular discourse and how fucking tedious and unnecessary so much of it is and all just because people won’t just say what they actually came to say or lay claim to what they actually said*

ANYWAY.

Personally, regardless of how Dick is written in a fic, I will always headcanon him as somewhere between 5′10″ and 6′1″ for reasons that are entirely irrelevant and meaningless to anyone but me, pretty much. LOL.

In my head, Dick obviously has to be that height because he’s walked a runway as a model before. That’s it. That’s the whole reason my mind automatically goes to that span when picturing him or reading something about him.

(As most people who have followed me for a bit know, I spent a number of years working in the TV industry. There were a couple years there where I did a little bit of print modeling too, nothing major at all, but enough to know that the fashion industry has a Very Definitive Thing about male runway models and height: If you are a male runway model, you are between 5′10″ and 6′1″. If you are not between 5′10″ and 6′1″, you are not a male runway model and you never will be. Its a Thing. And not one the industry is shy about. 

Because of the fact that the fashion industry is mostly centered around women models with name recognition, and very few men who model have star power specifically in terms of modeling, rather than because of crossover/overlap with acting, there’s a major difference in how designers tend to approach designing for models. Most designers designing runway looks for women do so with specific models already in mind. Most designers designing runway looks for men do so without specific models in mind because there simply aren’t enough male models with the kind of branding/name recognition that does a designer any good. 

So designers literally JUST design runway looks for men in that height range, and anyone outside that range would require tailoring that could feasibly throw off an entire runway look. So they just don’t do it, to the point that an agent or manager sending them someone outside that height range to consider for a job means that agent’s not getting called back, because they just gave themselves away as a clear amateur by not knowing better.

Of course, keep in mind that my experiences with modeling are based on the industry re: ten years ago, so it could be that things have changed in this regard since. But that was the status quo then.)

So yeah. Dick Grayson walked a runway for Cheyenne Freemont, thus in my mind he’s obviously between 5′10″ and 6′1″ lolol, because any up and coming designer trying to make a name for herself would absolutely know better than to send out someone shorter than that and still think anyone in the industry would take her seriously.

LOL. I told you it was inane. But in my defense, plenty of people headcanon that Dick HAS to be small because he’s a gymnast, and uh.....that is not how that works. Anyone can be an amazing gymnast, its just that smaller body types lend themselves to gymnastics better than bigger, bulkier bodies. And thus the competition oriented gymnastics SPORT heavily favors cultivating and training gymnasts on the smaller side, because coaches and endorsers are looking for literally any advantage possible.

(Being shorter means you have a lower center of gravity which is a help when balancing, or stabilizing yourself. Its easier for a shorter gymnast to keep their balance or to stick a landing. But it doesn’t become impossible just because someone’s hit six feet tall. It HELPS to be shorter. It doesn’t determine whether or not you can do a trick at all, much like being short and having a lower center of gravity by no means GUARANTEES you have good balance.)

And of course, though Dick excels at a ton of gymnastics, he is not and never has been a gymnast per se....he’s an acrobat. From a family of acrobats. Who have been doing this as a family business generationally, thus.....why would they have future height requirements when training their son in the family business? And being from a family of acrobats doesn’t ensure you’re going to be short, if your family members are not already short to begin with. Evolution does not give a fuck about future employment opportunities when selecting which gene sequences to flip on while in utero.

The correlation is ‘most gymnasts who excel at gymnastics feats are small,’ not ‘to excel at gymastic feats, you must be small.’

I am absolutely and completely just rambling now and have been for awhile so I’m gonna go beat up my insomnia until it caves and lets me go the fuck to sleep.