#(as an aside there is some shipping (and bias with that) but it's no stranger to toying with multishipping either)

[thelostgirl21]

You are very welcome.

And while they are extremely well meaning, I read some of the comments in the replies, and I would say to be careful with some over-generalizations.

For example, saying "stay away from apps, it's better to..."

If you go on an app to meet people, there's bound to be other people potentially compatible with you that are going on apps to meet people, too.

Apps can be overwhelming because, just like in "real life" (a.k.a. life offline), they are filled with tons of different and sometimes weird (not the good kind) people.

But there are also gems in there, including introverted people for whom socialization or "naturally making contact with a seemingly nice and interesting looking stranger on the street" doesn't come easy.

And, while I do know people that found the "great love of their lives"™ through a friend of a friend, such situations can sometimes get messy.

Because when you get introduced to one of your friend's friends, that friend can kind of (without any malice on their part) put some pressure on you two to make it work, because they already "ship you two together".

In a context where you have a fear of rejection, you might consciously or subconsciously fear to disappoint or insult your friend should you not be compatible with the one they introduced you to, and try too hard to make it work to "please that friend", even if there are some things bothering you or little red flags trying to draw your attention.

Your friend might often keep asking you "so, how did it go?", while being all excited, and getting overinvolved, forcing you to put up some solid boundaries.

Not to mention that if you bring some of the red flags you've noticed to their attention, they could have the reflex of minimizing / justifying their friend's more worrying behavior, given how positively they perceive them.

So, if telling a close friends to politely mind their own business because it's confusing you doesn't come easy for you, it can become an added challenge on top of already attempting to navigate the beginnings of a relationship.

And those aren't necessarily things people will think to tell you.

Hence why I say that, when people tell you "avoid this or that context for meeting someone", know that there's almost always some type of bias involved.

You'll have people telling you that the best and most enduring types of relationships are those that start with being friends with someone first, because that's what ended up working for them.

But if you ever experience a strong mutual crush that swoops you off your feet, it could work just as well!

What will make it work, ultimately, is how you both take it from there and your ability (yes it's a huge cliché, I know, but it's still true) to learn to communicate needs and wants clearly, and become teammates dedicated to making each other feel safer and stronger together as you would on your own.

Your willingness to pool resources together and use each other's strengths to compensate for areas where your partner struggles more is a much bigger indicator of a relationship's potential success than how, where and when you met.

For example, my partner struggles putting words on emotions and gets easily overwhelmed by them when they get too strong.

I'm the opposite. I can clearly name and identify exactly what I feel, how it affects and influences me in the now, and put it aside to deal with it later if need be.

So, when there's conflict, I've learned that once I've made my case, I must give my partner room and space for him to retreat, think about my arguments more rationally, and then return when he feels more level headed. Otherwise, I'll push him into a corner where he'll start panicking, and use my own strengths against him.

We keep telling people that communication in relationships is key, but seldom take the time to explain the why and/or the how.

The truth is that humans are huge posers that like to project certain images or make things look easier than they are. We have egos, we seek approval, we try to look good in front of others. Couples will want to project the image of the perfect team.

It doesn't show you the amount of work, nurturing and care that goes into those relationships to make it work.

It doesn't teach you that you'll need to "learn how to fight"... but fight FAIR while aiming for win-win resolutions to conflicts.

It doesn't tell you that "good communication" involves establishing your own communication style and rules together as well.

Hollywood and the people around you are selling you a dream often without showing you all that is happening behind the scenes to make those relationships work. And, while there are some helpful guidelines, there's no "one size fits all".

And if you discover people's romantic expectations don't suit you, there are plenty of ways to experience relationships that don't need to fit neat little boxes.

Off the top of my head, I would say those would be some of the most important questions to ask yourself when you're wondering if the relationship could work and/or if it's working:

Does this person make me feel safe in the relationship,

Do I feel like I can trust them, or like I could learn to trust them as we continue getting to know each other better,

How do they respond to me when I expose my own vulnerabilities and insecurities to them (are they supportive and attempting to make themselves appear less intimidating, or are they mocking and attempting to make me feel smaller / defective),

Are they attempting to better understand me and learn to use communication styles that we'll both be comfortable using and clearly understand,

Are our respective needs and wants compatible and giving birth to mutual goals we can both work towards,

Do we make each other stronger and share a similar level of commitment to making the relationship work,

Does it enhance my level of happiness and sense of personal fulfillment in a way that makes me feel like the efforts and time I am investing in the other person are worth it?

And get ready for things potentially "not working out" despite the strong love, mutual understanding, or the amazing communication skills sometimes!

You might discover that you are extremely compatible as people, but that your life goals and objectives do not align. And you may realize you make better close trusted friends than romantic or even queerplatonic partners.

"Rejecting the partnership because you can't work together towards a mutual goal" does not have to mean "rejecting the person themselves".

And yes, you can absolutely stay close friends with an "ex" depending on the reasons that lead you to "break up".

When there's no abuse involved, and it's mostly a question of incompatible goals / lifestyles, there's no reason why you should cast each other from your respective lives.

So, I guess the big takeaway from this is that human partnerships are very complex dynamics that require a lot of time and effort to build and make work. But if you do find a good partner for you (or good partners, as polyamory is also a thing), they can offer you some added sense of safety, understanding, happiness and strength in your life.

Dating thoughts: I envy all the people who met someone for one or two times and already tell everyone: they are the love of my life.“

Of course this is most often not the reality but I wish I could have this confidence, instead I struggle with a lot of aspects

For example many of my female friends told me it is totally normal that some people do not want to hold hands etc in public before a relationship is not official. But I think it is kinda frustrating not to steal a touch here and there.

Never being in a relationship ever before gives me - on the one hand - the freedom to not care about all the bullshit rules people apparently have made up, but - on the other hand - lets me struggle a lot because I do not understand all the rules and immediately interpret it as an rejection

But how to address that without coming off as clingy and hysterical? I don’t think that’s possible.

So I just sit here and wonder.

[destinywillowleaf]

for anyone looking for more mha/bnha stuff with the series drawing to a close (or anyone who's interested in the series but doesn't want to sit down and read/watch it all) then with all my heart i HAVE to share this

this is a polish fan musical performed at a convention (from the looks of it) with full english subtitles and it is glorious. hell, even if you DON'T like mha or know anything, this is a wonderful time and possibly the funniest way you can experience the series. it's so much fun. there's a 5 minute christmas follow-up. this is my ideal way to share the series because between this and the follow-up, it's only like and hour and a half and then you get to move on (or get sucked in). it's great. please watch it

[kitchenscissorbangs]

Magnetic - chapter one

Reincarnated as a roadman in another world?!

"This time, I want you, you, you, you, like it's magnetic"

On a seemingly normal morning, you wake to find your JoJo merch gone and run into a familiar group of weirdos. So now you have to worry about getting them home and not failing your GCSEs. Presented as a series of vignettes detailing your bizarre adventures with your new and old friends.

ao3 (prev) (masterlist) (next)

wc : 1,759

a/n: they aren’t actually roadmen but you get it

Waking up at 6:50 to catch the 7:30 bus is never a good idea. Especially not if you stayed up so late it feels like someone is hitting your head with a hammer. But who really cares? It had been Y/N’s routine since year 8 and it was too late to change. She did consistently arrive 30 minutes early to school so maybe whatever she did worked. School… Some part of her wondered how St Daniella’s school (or STDs as the students referred to it) kept its status as a top 50 private school. Many of the classrooms in the older buildings were being held together with duct tape and the school had gone through six heads in less than a decade. It really was a sinking ship.

With a long sigh, the girl got out of bed. You had already missed the first week of school after spending all summer with her grandparents abroad and you couldn’t miss anymore . Though she mostly hung out alone in the room she shared with her brother… Sure she had friends but she had found out that her phone was the best company.

After going about the rest of her morning as usual and skipping the skincare routine she promised herself she’d do everyday to look like her bias, she threw on your uniform. Her trousers were fraying and she desperately needed a skirt after baking in last year's heat. She shrugged and decided she would worry about that in summer. While the girl was changing, she noticed something odd. The copious amounts of JoJo merch she dedicated her life to collecting had seemingly disappeared overnight. Even stranger, it had all been replaced with a mix of csm and jjk merch. At first, Y/N suspected her mother had finally lost it and threw out all her merch, but then why would it be replaced? The fact bugged her. She must be dreaming.

The fact gnawed at her thoughts as she made her way to the station, with the sound of kpop blaring in her ears. It wasn't until a voice interrupted her thoughts that she snapped back to reality.

“‘Scuse me lady but ummm, d’ya where we’re meant to be going” spoke a boy with strawberry blond hair which ,by the looks of it, he spent a lot longer styling then the now very ticked off teenage girl. He had a thick southern accent and was wearing the same ugly green uniform as the girl.

The girl pulled down her headphones. “To school..” Y/N replied with boredom lacing her voice. Like most people, she was not interested in entertaining some clueless American at 7:25 am.

“Yeah but where is tha-” he was cut off by another boy pushing him aside. Boy 2 was taller than boy 1 by about an inch. He also had blond hair but a golden shade. Boy 2 was also wearing the same school uniform.

“I’ll take care of this, you idiot . Miss it’s our first day of school and noticed that we’re the same uniform as you so we thought that you could help us?” Boy 2 had a smooth accent not too dissimilar to Y/N’s.

“Use google maps or something I dunno,” Y/N replied growing even more agitated. Both boys shared a confused look. As they stared at Y/N in joint perplexity, she noticed that both boys shared an eye colour reminiscent of the lanky man with white hair who stood on her windowsill instead of her precious Giorno figure.

“Santa Maria, both of you are helpless. That’s not how you talk to pretty girl.” You guessed it, another even taller blond boy said to the two boys. He turned the teenager, who was currently debating how an anime character look alike could find her pretty. “Hey bella, wanna see something cool?”

“Go ahead. As long as it's not your penis though,” Y/N said. Boy 3 gave her an amused look and then dug around in the deep pockets of his Superdry coat for something. ‘So he’s gonna show me a dumb vape trick’ Y/N mused to herself. Nothing could have prepared her for what boy 3 did next.

He had pulled out a green steel ball not unlike the weapon of a certain Italian jockey. Boy 3 spun on his finger then threw it at the hedge near the bus stop. The ball trimmed off most of the branches before returning to him. The other six people at the stop didn’t even seem to notice. Y/N however seemed to have her whole reality flipped on it's head.

Y/N gave him a slow clap with a false sense of composure. She was either dreaming or had finally lost it. Her post-pandemic JoJo phase had driven her crazy. She was hallucinating anime characters or seeing them in her dreams. It was hard to decide which one was worse.

“That’s great Gyro Zeppeli. Now can I wait for my bus in peace?” Y/N responded sarcastically. The three boys’ jaws fell slack.

“How’d’ya know his name lady? Who the fuck are ya? You’re not working with Valentine are ya?” boy 1 lunged forward and grabbed the girl’s shoulders with enough intensity to confirm whatever was going was real and leave a nasty mark. He seemed the most distressed out of the group. Recalling the manga she had spent many a night reading and re-reading, the group did look strangely familiar.

“Hold on a second. You’re Johnny Joestar,” Y/N turned to boy 2. “And that’s Diego Brando. What the fuck is going on?” They both nodded as the girl said their names.

“We don’t know either. We were chatting at one of the checkpoints and then there was a loud bang. Next thing I know I’m in some futuristic city and I’m 5 years younger and Joestar can walk again and I’m wearing a hideous green uniform” Diego concluded with a frustrated scoff. He had turned his gaze away from the girl and now started down at his uniform with a look of disdain. Y/N couldn’t help but relate.

“At least the blazer’s not mandatory,” the h/c girl sighed.

Gyro gasped. “Wait a moment. HP was there too. Where is he?”

The trio of disorientated jockeys started murmuring among themselves while occasionally glancing back at the teenage girl. She was just happy that they left her alone. She glanced up at the bus times. Still another 4 minutes. ‘How the fuck did this happen?’ the girl thought to herself. Y/N's mind immediately jumped to the cast of SBR. Maybe it was the surreal feeling from seeing the Gyro use the spin with such precision or the way Johnny introduced himself, but it felt like she was living out a scene from her post-pandemic JoJo phase. She half expected Valentine to crawl out a bush or find a corpse part in her bag.

“That fat slag! I’m gonna kill the bitch the second I see her!” Y/N jumped. The yelling of a fellow teenage girl yanked her out her thoughts. Those words sound like they were being screamed down her ears. Y/N whipped her head around. No-one new had come by. Though there was another teenager across the road yelling into her phone… Y/N couldn’t have heard that… She shook her head.

A shiver ran down the girls back as though something had touched her. There had to be something there. "I didn't get the job. I don't know if I can keep going like this." Another voice spoke. This time a man. Something had to be going on.

“Are you OK, miss?” Johnny asked the girl with a flash of concern in his eyes. As he rest a gentle hand on Y/N's shoulder, she realised that e wasn’t that much taller than her.

“Y/N. That’s my name. Y/N L/N”

“Pleased ta meetcha.” He stuck his hand out. “Name’s Johnny Joestar. But ya already knew that…” He added with an awkward chuckle. For some reason, Y/N found this kind of… cute.

“Oh umm… The bus is nearly here. D’ya have a zip card?”

“A what?”

“One of these.” The three boys looked at Y/N while she dug around for her wallet. She then gestured to the green photo card. The boys did the same before wordlessly getting on the bus with the girl and copying whatever she did.

The group sat in the four seats in the back facing each other.

She found herself caught in the middle of an unexpected and bizarre situation, surrounded by the boys who were bickering and bantering. While they seemed to occupy themselves in their own company, Y/N found time to text Louis some of the situation.

Pookie

You: Pookie guess what?

Pookie: what..?

You: I’m surrounded by teenage boys on the bus

Pookie: are they gorgjoes

You: *gorgeous And yes, they don’t smell like toes—

Pookie: That’s what matters most, right?

Pookie: I love toes

read 07:39

“Flattered you think that Y/N but what is that? And who’s that?” Diego pointed to your phone and the photocard.

“It’s a phone. You use it to call and send text messages. The guy is Yeonjun. He’s a singer ”

“Cara, what’s that around your neck?”

“These are headphones. You can listen to stuff on them” Y/N unpaused the song and gave the headphones to Gyro.

“What kind of witchcraft is this?”

“Bluetooth”

“Gyro, give me a turn!”

“Just wait Johnny, Jesus.”

“It’s not that deep, just give it to him."

“Fine. But only ‘cause a pretty girl asked me to.”

“Idiots.”

“So you don’t want a turn Dio?”

“Not what I said Joestar.”

The boys quickly began squabbling among themselves while the girl laughed. Y/N snapped a photo of the boys for Louis.

Pookie

You: >delivered

Omg

sent 7:43am

“Can I have my headphones back?”

“Oh yeah, of course.” Diego took them off and handed them back to the girl. "So about before. How'd you know our names?"

Y/N sighed. She hoping this conversation wouldn't happen. The thought of everything being fake would probably give them an existential crisis so it was best to save this for later. "Lucky guess."

He gave the girl a questioning look. Fortunately for her, the boys had found their own phones and somehow knew the passwords. She didn't really question it as she put back on her headphones and let herself be drowned in the music.

a/n : i think i made the song reference for the readers stand too obvious. the fic was originally meant to be called who really cares but that didn’t match the vibe and the photocard was meant to be felix but his toes deterred me from that idea

taglist: @lv11sawrr open if you’re interested

[hepatosaurus]

2022 AO3 Wrapped!

Last year, inspired by some people on discord, I decided to actually track my fic reading for once. I’ve been logging my books and movies for a good 20 years now, so why not try that with fic? I hoped it might help me comment more too, or at least get a sort of baseline number that I could improve on. So, after crunching the numbers: I read 110 fics and 1,188,700 words across 15 fandoms (...more on that last point later)! It was a fun experiment that I’ll definitely do again, with some tweaks. Please forgive any weird numbers/percentages; I haven’t taken a math class in manymany years, and it probably (definitely?) shows. The vibes are accurate, at least.

(I posted an earlier (and shorter) version of this on twitter, but wanted to archive it here too for posterity’s sake because...twitter.)

Word count

This is about what I expected, though I was surprised to see that I only read one 50-100k fic (only one 100k+ fic too, but that doesn’t surprise me at all). I finished up a couple long(er) fic in January (notably, one 200k+ fic), hence the high numbers there, and only read one (1!) fic in July, which explains those low numbers. Otherwise I generally read between 50-100k total per month.

More details behind the cut, aka god damn girl, you sure know what you like and stick with it, huh. (I really hope this text cut works...)

Top Fandoms

So, about those 15 fandoms. I really did think I might have more variety back in January - like maybe I’d be able to chart fandom trends over the months, something like that! - but lol nope. My FE3H fixation is still going strong, three years later. I’ll get to those Witch Hat Atelier and Stranger Things fics in my Marked for Later pile...eventually.

Top Authors

110 fics, 80 authors! There were definitely some repeat offenders: merionettes! desmodus! notallbees! printers_devil! epistrophic! nebulia! No names in the pie chart, but look at those pretty colors. You're all stars.

Top Pairings

No real surprises here. I’ve been in sylvix hell since early 2020 so I knew they’d dominate, but there’s an okay showing from...other Sylvain ships...and gen! and Claude ships! Hi Claude! (Graph cuts off at 20 for my sanity.)

Top Characters

Ha. ha ha ha ha ha ha. Surprise! Listen: I knew Sylvain would be #1, I’m not an idiot. However I did NOT realize he featured in 60% of the fic I read in 2022, jeeeesus christ man. (He’s versatile, okay!!!) Chief Blorbo aside, my Blue Lions/Golden Deer bias persists. Maybe in 2023 I'll read all those Black Eagles fics I saved? Or fic from other fandoms?? (Again, chart cut off at 20 for sanity.)

Tags, Tropes, and Ratings

Looks like I sure read a lot of horny post-canon friends-to-lovers get-together fics with a good dose of pining, huh. That...tracks. Regarding AUs, modern AUs won (14.8%), followed by college/university, canon divergent, and modern with magic. Also fun: figure skating! magical girls! rock band! time loops!

I definitely need to rethink how I track nsfw content though - it’s very inconsistent and redundant here, and doesn’t really tell me anything. The explicit rating is self explanatory, but what’s the deal with those different NSFW and smut numbers? Where did I draw the line? It probably make more sense to scrap the latter tag and just track PWPs.

Etc: Commenting, Rereading, Reccing, and Bookmarks

Commenting: I mentioned earlier that I hoped logging my fic reading would help me comment more, or at least find out how frequently I leave comments, and turns out that number is 46/110, or 41.8%. (Mer reminded me that this number does NOT include alpha reader comments, which is very true. ✨⛸️) Not bad, but I think 50% (or more?) is definitely doable next year. This whole practice really did help me comment more - it made me stop and think about exactly what I did or didn’t like about each fic I read, from <1k vignettes to 200k+ canon retellings. Obviously I’m not telling the authors what I didn’t like, but as for the good stuff...like, I found a lot of compliments hidden in the Comments/Notes field of my spreadsheet that never actually made it to a proper comment, but they definitely could have. I’m never gonna be a person who comments on everything, and I’m NOT going to lie and tell an author that I liked their fic when I really...didn’t? but: 50%. I think I can do that.

(also I cannot emphasize enough how great it was to have a completely private space to bitch about terrible (or not-so-terrible) fanfic. does this fic use too many repetitive epithets? does that author NOT understand Character Y at ALL? was the resolution to this otherwise decent fic just a liiiittle too rushed? tell it to the google form!!! A+ would recommend.)

Rereads: As expected! I don’t reread a ton, with some exceptions. (Honestly a lot of my non-FE fics this year were rereads of old favorites.)

Bookmarks: Without double-checking, I think I bookmarked fewer fics compared to previous years, mostly because I was already keeping track of them in my spreadsheet. I’d like to get a little better at consciously bookmarking fic going forward, though - it’s really handy to have a public, easily accessible list of my faves. (I also say this as someone who frequently raids the public bookmarks of other commenters/authors/etc.)

Recs: 46.4% “yes”! interesting. Only one hard no, and that was partially my fault for not reading tags/warnings correctly.

In an ideal world I’d have some actual fic recs here too, but that...did not happen.

Overall!

This was a fun and very satisfying experiment, especially as someone who loves tracking things. I know a lot of people hate the idea of having an actual/official AO3 Wrapped, and honestly I wouldn’t like that either, but it was fun to actively (and manually) subject myself to this particular Mortifying Ordeal of Being Known Through Fanfic Tropes. I DO think it made me read fic a little more...deliberately? And therefore I read a little less fic than normal, maybe. I noticed that I hardly dropped any fic at all, either because I was more picky with what I read or I just powered through, and I don’t think that was the case in previous years. There was also a tiny bit of pressure at the beginning to start off the year with the “right” fic. Like, “oh god is my first fic of the year seriously going to be this unfinished 2nd person, woke-up-with-the-wrong-junk CYOA in which Claude and Lorenz investigate fuckplants and discover the true meaning of friendship.” (for the record, it was not my first fic of the year, but I DO recommend it.)

God this is long. One benefit of twitter is that it doesn’t allow me to ramble on like this, but oh well, that’s what you get. I really, really hope the cut tag worked.

[shindidnothingwrong]

Im gonna say what nobody else got the balls to say.

Warning: Anti KawaSumi post, dont like dont read.

KawaSumi didnt grow in popularity because it had any basis or development or even a bond or good chemistry, despite what this fandom wants you to believe because unfortunately this side of the fandom has many silent voices and only a few brave handful of us actually speak up and speak out, despite what they wanna brainwash you to believe KawaSumi really doesnt have a leg to stand on and nobody genuinely joined the ship because there was actually any basis for it, the real reason ppl started pushing this pathetic keep away ship was because of big biased exposure.

1 SP is no stranger to making their biases known, nor do they make it any secret which ships and characters they favor more than others, for example the studio clearly has a great dislike for Sakura, Sasuke, and SasuSaku and clearly favored Naruto and Hinata, for a long while it was clear the studio REALLY wanted NaruSaku endgame up till a certain point they realized NaruHina was most likely endgame they started clearly showing excessive favoritism to Hinata and NH and suddenly pretending as if they never supported NaruSaku even tho it was revealed many of them did and were upset it didnt happen.

Long story short, history is repeating itself with now SP clearly having a strong bias for BoruSara, lets just not even pretend their not highkey pushing the ship cuz they are, that doesnt mean it’ll be canon tho but they ARE showing a clear bias towards it. Honda, a writer at the studio, is notorious for some of the worst written episodes in the franchise minus 2 episodes that were actually done well, hes known for writing things based on ‘his interpretations’ rather than whats established in canon, as such it often leads to horrible characterizations, inconsistencies, and just terrible writing altogether.

These details are important for this first point, KawaSumi growing in popularity due to biased exposure.

To sum it up, the first and arguably the biggest thing to kickstart this mess was SPs bias, rather than sticking to what was established in the manga they created a whole nother timeline and course of events which for some unusually convenient reason featured Sumire being the first person to care about and reach out to Kawaki before Naruto and Sarada, to be the first to see and understand and relate to his pain before Naruto and Sarada.

Keep in mind, put shipping aside for a moment, Naruto was Kawakis FIRST bond, the FIRST to care about him, the FIRST to understand and see his pain and relate to him and see HIMSELF in him, that is what made his and Narutos bond so special.

Even though nothing Sumire said mattered or got through to him at all, that didnt matter to that fanbase tho, the seeds were planted and now till this day ppl say that SUMIRE is his first bond, the first to care, the first to understand, the first to relate and see herself in him, his first friend etc. Guess who was the writer for those episodes? Honda of course, nuff said.

Those two episodes single handedly undercut Naruto and Sarada’s bond with Kawaki entirely, it put Sumire on this pedestal while Naruto and Sarada are beneath her, the fact that Sumire had to BEG Naruto to hear Kawaki out and give him a chance when in the manga Naruto instantly ignored everybody and already had his mind made up regardless of how they felt about it just made it that much worse, SP knew EXACTLY what they were doing with this, whether it had any impact on Kawaki or not is irrelevant, its the impact on the fandom that was the problem.

To put this into perspective I’ll give another quick example of another one of Honda’s ‘interpretations’ dividing the fandom when they otherwise shouldnt have been, in the episode where Kurama dies Naruto essentially says that he and Sasuke arent brothers and that Sasuke already has a great brother in Itachi, which completely contradicts what Kishimoto himself established for 15 fkin years, regardless the SNS fandom of course took that and ran with it as proof that Naruto and Sasuke arent brothers despite Kishimoto himself literally writing this from Narutos literal point of view how he sees Sasuke from beginning to now.

Naruto, from Kishimotos own words and writing, says blood ties dont matter and that there are stronger links than that, that love is all you need, that it doesnt matter if your family is real or fake as long as you CARE for them, so the fact that Honda’s words are given more validity than Kishimoto the creator himself is truly mind boggling but thats just how easily SP, Honda especially, can quickly and easily divide the fandom on certain subjects that have long been established for years by simply changing it on a whim and ppl just running with it.

So this situation with Sumire was no different, it didnt matter what was established in the manga, Honda rewrote otherwise and thats what ppl ran with, that was strike 1.

2 Biased news articles, thats right, after those episodes aired you even had journalists pushing the idea of the ship out there, implying that it was already being set in motion and making WAY more out of it than it actually was, it wasnt long before if you searched ‘Kawakis crush’ or ‘who does Kawaki like’ that would be the top result, which is something this fandom also use as evidence despite it being an unofficial source and entirely speculatory and opinion based, again the damage was already done, the seed was planted, thats all thats needed.

This CBR article says it all on its own, implying a love triangle that doesnt exist, claiming that Kawaki likes her and that shes his ‘light’ when neither such things have ever been confirmed by any official source nor shown anywhere in canon, despite that, this article paints this false picture of a love triangle that doesnt exist, at the moment there is simply one semi canon ship and that is BoruSumi, there is no love triangle confirmed at this point in time, Sumire is the only character whos feelings have been confirmed by official sources, nobody else.

3 Big youtubers and big twitter accs, youtubers especially, one in particular that REALLY kicked the ship into high gear was Naruto Explained, I shit you not, ppl actually took a youtubers words as law and evidence for why the ship is totally endgame, there were literal discussions being had that these ppl would bring up his videos as evidence, some random guy on youtube opinion is somehow a valid argument for the ship but not the manga itself or the many official sources that contradicts it.

He said he was gonna make videos for all the ships which he did but lets be real, he only made one video about InoSara and KawaSara while he made multiple videos about BoruSara and KawaSumi, there was an obvious agenda being pushed. Not assuming his ship preference because I dont know and I dont care, but its clear which fanbase he was pandering to, same goes for SP and Honda specifically.

These 3 things combined is what got the ship started, a key thing to note is that all 3 of these dont just push KawaSumi but push BoruSara as well, coincidence? I think not.

So whenever anyone tells you that ppl like/ship KawaSumi because its ‘obvious’ or that theres ‘chemistry’ or whatever other bs they claim between them that doesnt exist anywhere in canon, just know the only reason this ship is even known by ppl is because if got alot of biased support and push from high places, not because the ship itself was any good and ppl genuinely liked it for what it was, but because they were brainwashed into believing theres something there that really isnt.

KawaSara grew from a genuine like of the ship and the build up it got in the manga that drew ppl to it who genuinely liked what their relationship was and developing into, even without the Nue arc BoruSumi became semi canon in the manga first in chapter 19 when Sumire confessed, so with or without the anime BoruSumi had basis for fans to ship them since one side of it HAS confirmed romantic feelings for the other, neither KawaSara nor BoruSumi needed a boost from outside biased sources brainwashing them with lies, those ships thrived just fine with just what was established in the manga alone, the anime/novels was just a bonus, but the ships already had their own merits and basis on their own.

Of course I already know there will be ppl who’ll say Im just downplaying the ship cuz Im biased or jealous etc etc but really Im just tellin the truth, you cannot tell me at any point prior to 190-191 where KawaSumi had any significant amount of support, it was a crackship at most, it wasnt until the ripple effect from another one of Honda’s brilliant ‘interpretations’ that got this bullshit started and everything else just started falling into place from there. It was NOT because people actual saw a genuine appeal for the ship, but because of what they were lead to believe. 

If you look at the novels/manga its very apparent they are hinting BoruSumi and that they have a deep & special bond between them, Sumires love for Boruto is clear and visible, in the anime after 190-191 however they not only cut BOTH her confessions from the manga but they also make her feelings uncertain rather than being straightforward like the manga. 

If you look purely at how their relationship is in the manga its extremely distant, Kawaki gives no special treatment/care towards Sumire than he does anyone else, and Sumire gives no special treatment or care towards him than she does anyone else either, Kawaki is indifferent towards her and Sumire is just a kind and caring person concerned for someone she sees going through a hard time, theres nothing special or significant between them to justify ppl calling it the ‘obvious’ endgame already just for Sumire doing the bare minimum as his caretaker and Kawaki allowing her to because well, thats her job, she works with Katasuke and he allows him to work on him so why would he reject Sumire? again Im speaking manga only to make the point of the nonexistent basis for this ship. 

SP/Honda literally gave a horrible ship a false sense of weight that was so unnecessary that did way more harm than good for not just them but so many other characters by extension. They created a domino effect that fueled these few ppls fanon perceptions so much they perceive these ‘fanon’ interpretations as canon because big sources support it right? so it must be endgame, even the studios lowkey pushing for it so that must mean its canon. 

You may think its harmless ship teasing for now or that its no big deal but trust me, the same way SP had a huge influence on the perception of NaruSaku as the potential endgame ship and peoples reaction to it not happening, the same will happen with KawaSumi and BoruSara and I’d argue its gonna be worse this time around than in OG because back then atleast you could argue all the extra NS stuff was filler and non canon anyway, meanwhile you cant say the same for Boruto since its claimed to be ‘all’ canon even if it diverts from the manga/novels, so when and if their not endgame after all the bullshit false hope they were bein fed its gonna be hard to argue why they shouldnt be outraged, after all it WAS all canon so what was the point of all that if the endings something totally different? thats what happens when you divert off course from the source material and do your own thing based on your own ‘interpretations’ that contradict it, when the ACTUAL OFFICIAL canon happens ppl are left confused wondering how this happened when all this other stuff happened that seemed to be leading to somethin else. 

Even though objectively, personal bias aside, I see nothing that says BoruSara and KawaSumi are endgame and see far more in favor of BoruSumi and KawaSara becoming canon in the end, even if not KawaSara BoruSumi is definitely endgame atp based on whats been setup and established so far, even though I dont see anything to suggest Bsa and Ksu endgame I can understand WHY others get the impression that they are, its very clear their being pandered to and to be fair its understandable to a degree why’d they fall for it. Be that as it may, anyone taking a moment to look at everything objectively and critically would quickly see all the flaws and holes in these ships potential canonicity, KawaSumi especially. 

But unfortunately much of this fandom functions on whatever the biggest names say is right, doesnt matter if their an official source or not, if your someone big like a big youtuber, a big twitter acc, or a biased anime studio, then their right and everything and everyone else is wrong, which unfortunately means when the opposite happens they wont be able to accept it and claim there was some sort of foul play 🤦‍♀️ I’ve seen this happen many times...its always the same.

So no, Im not downplaying the ship out of bias, I dont even ship BoruSumi nor like Sumire, Im just calling it how I literally witnessed it all go down in real time. This ship is a friggin joke yet because of all that mess Honda and everything else after that caused it now has ppl believing in something THEY made up.

If you dont believe it just look at the arguments, whenever ppl talk of KawaSara they mostly speak of manga content, adding on anime content is just a bonus but most of KawaSaras development HAPPENED in the manga, however whenever ppl talk of KawaSumi they ALWAYS bring up 190-191, the only thing from the manga they bring up is Kawaki allowing her to give him a needle and calling her by name instead of class rep and Sumire just literally doing her job...couldnt make this up if I tried. Thats because most of KawaSumi’s ‘development’ happened in the anime, their relationship in the manga has been stagnant, it went from him rejecting her giving him a needle to accepting it, thats it, and Sumire is no more or less concerned for Kawaki now than she was when she first appeared with him, their just stagnant, meanwhile Kawaki has made significant progress with just about everyone BUT her. 

Its crazy, but ppl will really insist that their the obvious endgame and KawaSara/BoruSumi fans are the ones who’s delusional. I both look forward and dread canon day because thats gonna be one hell of a shit storm I can already see it comin.

[vulpiximisa]

here is a post of Why I Like Nanamaru Sanbatsu which may or may not also be a Reasons Why You Should Watch Nanamaru Sanbatsu but it’s not made with the intent of persuasion and more of me just gushing over things because this isn’t spoiler friendly

1) Niche Sport

I’m not a stranger to “Sport but it doesn’t involve Ball or Sweat”. That’s a lie, the players sweat a lot in Chihayafuru. The fact that Sasaijma (and then another character in the later chapters in the manga) refer to Karuta is a reason enough to pick up the series. Hikaru no Go was one of my earlier sports anime as well. It’s not like I was a fan of Go or Karuta either but the way the characters wholeheartedly loved what they were doing (and competitively), it made me love it as well. The same definitely goes for Quiz Bowl. While the two I listed were something I completely had no clue how the rules go, Quiz Bowl is a bit more obvious so it’s easier to get into.

(kinda hate these promo pics because there looks like so many fcking charas but really you just need to remember like 5 of them)

2) Nerdy Protag in a Sports anime

Actually coming from YowaPeda, Crunchyroll recommended this amongst other things. YowaPeda did the trope a lot better, given that you’d never associate an Otaku with Biking while a Bookworm being associated with Quiz Bowl does not seem unheard of. But the idea of a nerdy protagonist in a competitive sport was still an allure. 

And oops, I think Koshiyama is a cutie so there’s a huge bias towards that. The fact that Horie Shun who voices Enta Jinnai from Sarazanmai voices Koshiyama Shiki gave me a laugh and he actually fits his role very well. Further emphasizes his cuteness without Enta’s weird gay crush lol

3) Ishikawa Kaito

I’m not above watching anime for seiyuu reasons alone but I actually went in blind with this series and to my surprise one of my favs was in it. I’d known Kaito mostly for Kageyama Tobio first, but he’s gone through so many other roles that I enjoy (Kaki from Pokemon SM, Iida from BokuHero, Mimura Subaru from 2.43) and I’ve watched a lot of seiyuu events/radios with him so I’m just a big fan of him in general. Dunno if I should have just merged this point with the next but-

4) Mikuriya Chisato

Kaito has The Range and can do whatever role he wants (I’m most impressed by his role as Alan from BNA) but I think I have a weakness for when he’s slightly an asshole. Mikuriya gave off the generic rival trope, which he kind of is. I got some Subaru vibes from him as well. I don’t know if he’s canonically handsome, but yes I think he’s very good looking for an anime character. Plus the fact that he’s The Cool Guy but is participating in such a sport as Quiz Bowl. AND the moe gap that is his feminine sounding first name and the possibility that he might also actually be an otaku is 👌👌👌👌

My friend had tagged something with him as “Chazz Princeton with a haircut” and while Not Entirely, he is the “We are not friends, we are rivals but I interact and help you enough that we are practically friends but i will continue to deny it” and I love that trope. The way he’s so not interested in Gorls or Nonsense reminds me of Manga Manjoume, though nowhere as serious because he is not above nonsense himself.

5) Fukami Mari

The moment she was introduced, I had very low expectations for her. Of course she is the one that drags Koshiyama into the Quiz Bowl world BUT she doesn’t fall into the trope of “Female is very good at The Thing, BUT Newbie Male MC does it better than her almost immediately”. I’m so glad for that because as you go on with the series, she is very much an entire character and not just a female support cast. 

She loves Quiz Bowl but she’s not the best or even very good at it. Her childhood friend from another school (which I was 75% betting that it was going to be a male and a potential love interest) turned out to be a female friend. Instead of “cat fight”, they are still very amicable towards each other and support each other but also acknowledge each other as rivals. The fact that Yuki had only started Quiz Bowl because of Mari but liked it enough to continue on by herself, I think that’s really great. 

The anime doesn’t get to it, but she confronts her brother about why he quit Quiz Bowl and challenges him. She has her own goals and ambitions and you see her working on it. She also has her strengths and weaknesses and is a vital addition to the Buzou Quiz Team. Fukami Mari is A Good Girl and I won’t tolerate any slander towards her. The way the beginning of the series sexuallizes her via putting her and Koshiyama into generic anime situations is so uncomfortable but I’m glad they move past that later.

Also since their group isn’t technically a Club (?) Mari isn’t just Female Manager. A plus to Quiz Bowl being Co-Ed sport.

6) Quiz Questions

I like trivia. It’s a little harder to guess the questions along with the anime because you’d have to pause all the time and half the time the contestants are going to buzz in early before you hear the entire question. Unfortunately, unless you actually are a fan of random knowledge or a huge nerd, the questions might actually be hard as well. I literally only knew about 3 questions asked in the entire series and its the anime/manga related ones lol. Still, I enjoyed seeing the characters draw their conclusions and to know what each character’s strong and weak points were. (Mikuriya using Math to calculate the Day of the Week from the past was 😚👌)

7) Side Characters

The first one I’m thinking is obviously Sonohara Akira. The moment of his first appearance, I had a hunch that it wasn’t exactly as it looked. He’s a little schemer but he has his own code of ethics, so he’s not all that bad. (Also hes A Gamer, so Relatable.) The fact that he’s related to Sonohara of Asagaoka makes it all the more interesting because they're’ so different. The way everyone reacts to him is so interesting because he doesn’t take it seriously while everyone else does. My favorite interactions with him aside from the Akiba Squad are the ones with Ookura. (I actually prefer to ship them over Niina/Akira lol)

Sasajima, mysterious Quiz Master with a past related to Fukami’s brother, who used to go to the Prestigious Quiz King School. Character wise, he doesn’t seem interesting but I love his idea of what a Quiz Bowl should be. My favorite parts of a series is when they love the thing they do, and that having fun is what is the most important. Of course you have to be fairly good at the thing first to be able to enjoy yourself freely but he never brags and is a supportive senpai.

Jinko. She’s cute. That’s good enough for me lol. I guess her Electronics Thing is also pretty cool. I like seeing the Sasajimas interact.

8) Ship

Okay, well, its obvious where I fall here. I don’t remember the last time I’ve watched such a generic sport series with a one on one protag vs rival. I’m not above shipping the “obvious/main” ship, as SasuNaru and Edgewright are some of my ships. However I didn’t ship Akira/Hikaru and I don’t ship KageHina but I do ship something like Manjoume/Judai and if asked MakoHaru vs RinHaru, I’d pick the latter, so it might just be a matter of tastes and I won’t fall immediately into every “rival” ship.

So why would I ship Mikuriya/Koshiyama? Because I love it when the Cool Guy falls for the Nerd and EXTRA POINTS if the Cool Guy is also secretly a nerd too. When I mean secretly a nerd, I don’t mean Mikuriya being on quiz bowl but that he might be a closet Otaku. (ImaSaka is everything about this trope.) 

Anyway, they are the main two rivals in the series, so of course they acknowledge each other. Koshiyama took it so dramatically but in the past, nobody cared about his presence, let alone think that he’s a Threat. Mikuriya is a Hot Shot and thinks he’s better than everyone but this newb with potential beat him one time (unofficially) so he’s automatically curious. 

Even though it is Hot Blooded Competition, Mikuriya always seems to encourage and cheer Koshiyama on (in his own rival-y way of course) whenever he feels down about not being strong enough to compete with him. (When they were lining up for the Third round at Asagaoka) Even when Koshiyama lost, after Mikuriya had a huge handicap, Mikuriya tells him he’ll take him on anytime. The fact that he wants to do Quiz Bowl with (against) him, is practically Sports Anime confession. “I won’t wait for you, Git Gud” “Okay I will Git Gud so we can fight again” *Fist Bump* What are you guys doing.

It might just be the art style but there is a copious amount of blushing happening every time the two interact. Also that height difference!! Mikuriya is 172 while Koshiyama is 153, I fucking love it. 

Uhhhh that’s about it. I would like to gush more but there’s only a few chapters of the manga that’s been fan translated and it’s not even half of what’s actually out there. (I think the manga is complete by now?) There’s only one anime season of the series, and I doubt there’s going to be more so RIP me.

[alewyren]

tumblr is dead but I’m gonna post my thoughts on Inuyasha here too for archiving purposes. cw for (non-detailed) discussion of sexual assault and suicide wrt kikyo

OKAY. SO. MY THOUGHTS ON INUYASHA. warning for some INCREDIBLY hot takes.

it. sure was a journey. I am not sure if I liked the series overall or not. It had some legit good/touching moments, but it dragged SO LONG and there were a lot of things I thought could've been handled better. But it was fun liveblogging it for sure. And I got NarKik out of it, which snapped me out of my year-long creative dry spell, so it was at least a net positive time investment LMFAO.

I liked... mmmmost of the characters? sango, sesshoumaru, kagura, kanna, naraku, kohaku, K I K Y O, and even kagome were all Good. On the flipside, Inuyasha himself is FUCKING TERRIBLE and he sucks and I hate him. Emotional immaturity ain't cute, he gets everything handed to him on a silver platter, rarely apologizes for being a selfish prick, and the other characters are WAY too forgiving of his bullshit. I got tired of the tsundere het romance cliches between him and Kagome pretty fast, as well as how often he was jealous of her. Like, Kagome's insecurities over Kikyo I can legit understand (despite being #1 Kikyo Fucker). But whenever she's so much as civil with Kouga and Inuyasha's all HANDS OFF MY WOMAN I'm like... dude shut up you two-timing hypocrite. If You Like It Then You Should’ve Put A Ring On It. Credit where credit is due tho, they did chill out over time and some of their moments together towards the end of the series were legit sweet. I'm pretty meh on Inukag overall, and iffy on the resolution of her moving to his era permanently, but that last panel of him greeting her as she came out of the well gave me a Feel.

(Actually, on that note, it... would have been legit kind of hella if the series had ended with Inuyasha himself permanently moving to the modern era? Aside from their friends he had far fewer attachments in his world than she did hers, and there's so much more potential with him having to adapt to the modern era, lol. ALTERNATIVELY, kikyo lives and she switches places with kagome and makes a new life for herself in the modern era. thus letting her truly live as a normal girl. But I'll Get To Kikyo Later. smh)

The premise of the series is actually pretty strong, though of course you can poke holes in it. To my knowledge it was the first isekai anime that really took off, and the driving plot of collecting the Shikon fragments is excellent monster of the week material (though I'm not really a monster of the week fan myself). Also, youkai are awesome. Focusing the series on real-world mythology makes my Shin Megami Tensei heart very excited.

I know the series runs on emotion rather than logic, but I REALLY have some questions here. The fact that the well is explicitly stated to take Kagome back in time rather than to another world makes no sense at all. First of all, where are all the youkai in the present day? Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru are at least a couple hundred years old, right? What happened to them in that 500 year timespan? Surely some creature or another from the series would have naturally survived that long. So what happened? Was there a mass-youkai extinction somewhere along the line? Shouldn't this be cause for concern? Also, do Kagome's time-traveling actions create a stable time loop or a branching timeline? If Naraku won in the past, how would that affect the present? The two eras are just completely isolated from each other and I really don't get it. That kind of stuff. Yeah yeah I know MST3K mantra and all but MAN this bothers me.

Which brings me to Exhibit A of stuff I think should have gone differently: Kagome should have stayed the protagonist, and the modern era should have gotten more focus. Not as in her day-to-day school shenanigans, but stuff touching on the questions listed above. There's just a lot of untapped potential regarding How This Shit Works, rather than confining the story pretty much entirely to the Sengoku Jidai With Youkai. Also there could be plenty of shenanigans with characters OTHER than Kagome and Inuyasha hanging out in the present. LIKE KIKYO. okay yeah my kikyo bias is showing but it would be the perfect opportunity to 1. hide her from naraku (unless he found a way into the present, but that just ties into my previous point), 2. develop her friendship with Kagome. Which would have done both of them wonders. BUT I'LL GET TO KIKYO LATER. (I'm dying imagining Kagome introducing Kikyo to her schoolmates as her cousin and taking her shopping though..... teaching her how to ordinary human... like..... HHH.)

Anyway, Kagome as the protagonist. She was very much the protagonist at the start of the series--she took a more active role in a lot of the monster of the week conflicts, and just had a lot more focus and screentime in general. Then Inuyasha got his sword upgrades and her role in conflicts became reduced to sensing Shikon fragments and occasional use of arrows. It took until the last hundred chapters for her to get ANY sort of substantial power-up, and it felt... unearned? I had been looking forward to her developing her miko powers alongside Inuyasha's youkai powers, and getting bow upgrades to match his Tessaiga upgrades, but it just... didn't happen. Her miko powers having been sealed all along felt like an ass pull, and I wasn't really a fan of the test of character she had to go through in order to get the fancy bow upgrade being solely focused on overcoming her feelings of jealousy towards Kikyo... again... like it's valid for her to feel that way but we've been here already! Surely there's more to her character than this! I think it would've been awesome if she actually got some fights of her own too, and maybe Kaede and eventually Kikyo mentoring her growth as a miko? But as far as canon went, it just felt like she got shallower and less interesting over time as Inuyasha slowly took over the protagonist role and that was a damn shame. Let Kagome be the plucky isekai protagonist she was always meant to be! This, of course, ties in with my assertion that the modern era should have gotten more focus too.

okay, so. it's time. kikyo. Kikyo. I fucking LOVE kikyo, absolutely my fave chara, I was not expecting to love Kikyo this much lmao. All that ship war propaganda was a big fat lie. She has an ASTONISHINGLY mature narrative about the effect of tragedy and trauma on people and relationships, but it was SO under-utilized and shafted in favor of the Love Triangle and Inuyasha's Manpain and I'm FUCKING UPSET. Kikyo was (or at least had the makings to be) the best character in Inuyasha but she was not done justice at all, in this essay I

Like, sit down and think about it. Here we have a woman who lost her parents at a young age, taking on the responsibilities of her household, and training to be a miko on top of it--which in the world of Inuyasha is a very emotionally demanding position that requires her to basically devote her entire life to her duties, ESPECIALLY once she's entrusted with the Shikon Jewel. All while being required to live a life of asceticism and suppressing worldly desires. In short, she basically never had a chance to actually, like. Live. Keep in mind that she was a child/teenager throughout all this (she was 17/18 when she died). That's a LOT of pressure on someone that young.

At this point, she's understandably lonely and depressed, and then along comes Inuyasha. She falls in love with him, gets a taste of a life that would truly make her happy, and has it ripped away. Like, there's some really fucking dark subtext to the whole Onigumo plot. She shows kindness to a random stranger, who proceeds to make a deal with the devil to LITERALLY RAPE HER, and her life is ruined as a result. No, Kikyo wasn't literally raped in canon, because even though Onigumo wanted to rape her Naraku's intentions towards her were... more complicated if still incredibly fucked up, but good lord the subtext is THERE. And as a result of the ensuing incident, believing Inuyasha betrayed her, she straight up KILLS HERSELF. Yes, it was partly to protect the Shikon Jewel, but she did not want to come back to life. Let that sink in. Kikyo was driven to suicide by an incident incited by a man who took advantage of her kindness in order to rape her. (nostalgia critic voice) FAMILY PICTURE!

I'm not gonna pretend Kikyo was the only victim here, though. Inuyasha has pretty clear PTSD from the event too, even after learning Kikyo is innocent. But through his relationship with Kagome, he begins to heal and move on. Then Kikyo gets brought back as a clay zombie, fucks up his whole grieving process, kickstarts the love triangle, you know the story. Kikyo's perspective is actually really interesting to dig into though. She didn't want to be brought back. She's PISSED. Even when the dust settles and she learns that Inuyasha is innocent, the anger and trauma have changed her. She's got a good ol' dose of PTSD herself. She's colder, harsher, engages in risky/self-destructive behavior, and distances herself from her loved ones. Like, think about it. Was there any logical reason she had to separate from Inuyasha and his group to fight Naraku on her own? To keep them in the dark about why she surrendered the Shikon Jewel to Naraku? No. That's a character flaw on HER part. And all this puts real strain on her relationship with Inuyasha. They still love each other, but their mutual trauma has completely changed their dynamic. Their love is based on their past relationship rather than their present chemistry. They don't make each other happy anymore. Neither of them are at fault for that. That's REAL AS FUCK. That's what trauma DOES to people and relationships.

So, yes, I'm a hardcore Kikyo stan who supports InuKag over InuKik. We exist. InuKik does not work as a relationship in the present because they've both changed due to trauma and that's the GODDAMN POINT. It's not a story about true love, it's a story about moving on from first love. The problem is that Kikyo's character is largely confined to her role as a love rival to Kagome. Inuyasha's side of the InuKik narrative, of letting go of the past and healing, is resolved. Kikyo's is not. And boy, I was ABSOLUTELY FUCKING LIVID that the love triangle was resolved through Kikyo's death rather than Inuyasha just... fucking, PICKING KAGOME OVER KIKYO BEFOREHAND RATHER THAN HER NEEDING TO DIE. She can still die after that! I swear, I'm not just salty because my fave died. At least 70% of my favorite charas are dead. I literally don't care anymore. I'm mad that she was killed off in a way that reduced her to being Inuyasha's Woman rather than getting a chance to heal and grow apart from him, as he did from her. And this in turn cheapens the narrative around why InuKik doesn't work as a present relationship to begin with, because he never actually picks present love over past love! He just keeps committing emotional infidelity until Kikyo gets killed off to wrap things up in a neat little bow with no character growth on his part! This shit is why I hate Inuyasha (the character).

Kagome's kindness towards Kikyo also plays a part in why she softens up by the end, yes, but that kindness is entirely depicted as "I want to save her because she's important to Inuyasha and I love Inuyasha." Kagome's character growth in these moments hinges on her picking love over jealousy, NOT through actually bonding with Kikyo. On top of that, Kikyo saving Kohaku over defeating Naraku struck me as out of character (have to show she's not a bad person after all? which she isn't, but still). It definitely made her death feel even more pointless. How come Kohaku gets to live and not her!!! Seriously, the fact that Kohaku gets to live and Kikyo doesn't REALLY rubs me the wrong way. She barely even knew Kohaku! He was willing to die to defeat Naraku! NOT killing Kohaku to defeat Naraku almost cost MORE lives! It could've been a poignant resolution to her character arc, but there wasn't enough buildup for it to be a convincing decision for her to make.

And oh my god, there's SO much wasted potential here. Kikyo's resentment towards Kagome is super understandable, and it's never really explored. Kagome replaced her. Kagome is filling the role she should have filled. What's even left for her except her hatred of Naraku? She asserts that Inuyasha cannot forget her (her being lowkey possessive of him is *chef kiss* my wife is a bitch and I like her so much), and he doesn't, but she still straight up tries to kill Kagome lmao. Like I said they do reconcile, but it's kinda half-assed. Kikyo's feelings are never explored in-depth. She's never truly given a chance to heal and realize that she does have a place in the world beyond her decaying relationship with Inuyasha and hatred for Naraku. That her scarred, flawed existence is still just as fucking valid as Kohaku or Rin or Jaken being able to live after being brought back from the dead. Like lemme stress again that the girl experienced INTENSE trauma and COMMITTED SUICIDE. The notion that she's the only one who needs to die in order to restore the natural order, that her death is beautiful and tragic but necessary, is..... gross, tbh. :U

Like, she can still die, lmao. IMO it'd be legitimately more interesting if she lived, if she had an opportunity to carve a place for herself outside of Kagome like Kagome did Kikyo, but it IS possible for her to die without it making ME want to die. Just resolve the love triangle shit first, flesh out some of her relationships outside of Inuyasha himself (ESPECIALLY Kagome), show her healing and softening, and then she can die protecting everyone or some shit. That would've been fine. But No. She just gets killed off for the service of Inuyasha's character, so he can hook up with Kagome guilt-free, with NONE of this addressed. Because it's more palatable for a woman to be dead than broken up with, I guess? I Hate It Here, You Guys.

her (near) last words being "I've finally become an ordinary woman" rubbed me the wrong way too... it like, tried to wrap her character arc up in a neat little bow while ALSO entirely confining its resolution to being Inuyasha's Woman and discarding the narrative of trauma driving them apart. I love the narrative of the girl forced to be inhuman who just wants to be normal. This just felt like... a really cheap way to go about doing that, at the disservice of her character being about OLD love, for a forced (and false) sense of closure. Didn't like it. God fucking damn, typing it all out just made me even MORE pissed off.

tl;dr: kikyo had the makings of an amazing trauma survivor narrative but it got shafted. she deserved everything. thank you for coming to my TED talk.

SIGH. okay. there are other characters I wanna touch on too. Uhhh I actually thought Naraku was pretty cool, though he became way less interesting after Mt Hakurei (for the most part--he was cool again during the direct lead-up to Kikyo's death as well as the final battle). His identity crisis was pretty neat, as was the way he specifically targeted other people's emotions and relationships as a way to compensate for his own utter lack of a sense of self. Not to mention the cold, detached way he regards his own emotions ("my pp stands up whenever i look at kikyo, wish it wouldn't do that :/") and how this leads him to succumb to the influence of the Shikon Jewel, in contrast to Inuyasha and Kagome breaking the cycle. His lack of motivation is actually kind of the point, and I think it's neat as hell! Things got boring once The Baby entered the picture, and I got the sense Rumiko wasn't really sure what to do with Naraku for a while. His style of villainy got a lot more distant and "just as keikaku," when it was the way he got up in everyone's business and pushed their buttons for his own shallow amusement that made me like him in the first place. His fragments aside from Kagura and eventually Kanna were way less interesting, and I think it would've been neat to go more into his role as basically being an abusive dad, but it's fine. The Baby was a fucking boring and atrocious villain though, jfc. The /idea/ of Naraku's own heart rebelling against him was cool enough, but it means jack shit when The Baby is just a bland-ass villain who doesn't remotely represent the character traits that make up Naraku's "heart" in the first place, even aside from Kikyo.

Speaking of which, his fixation on Kikyo is a LOT of fun. Their interactions (which he was apparently secretly into), how he rejected his own humanity and destroyed both himself and the object of his desires, etc. Which is another reason he got less fun after Mt. Hakurei tbh. I fucking hate the way Kikyo's death was handled overall but I liked that he had to reclaim his human heart in order to overwhelm and kill her. That was neat. Something something toxic desire destroying both yourself and the person it's directed at. Then at the very end he realized that his entire existence was completely pointless and empty and his complicated feelings towards Kikyo were the only thing that ever made him actually, like, give a shit. Pour one out for this absolute dumbass. He's a relatable villain because I too would go to absolutely insane lengths to get over a girl I never even dated.

Uhh who else. Sango and Miroku. Sango was my favorite character in the main party. She's the most level-headed of the bunch, has a super cute design, and her story with Kohaku was responsible for a lot of the emotional moments in the series that really landed for me. Her friendship with Kagome was actually super cute and heartfelt. That scene early on where she broke down crying in Kagome's lap because she was scared of being alone again HURT. Also, Kirara is fucking precious. Miroku I've got mixed feelings about, since on the one hand he's a legitimately interesting character and some of his scenes with Sango did hit fairly hard, but DEAR GOD I hate the quirky pervert trope with a burning passion. If it were played seriously, I'd stan him to hell and back a la Adachi. But it isn't, so it's not. I've got mixed feelings about MirSan too. Their resolution was really sweet, but I was kinda like "wha" when Kagome said Sango had a thing for Miroku in the first place. Like, sure okay, but I think more time should've been spent showing her falling for him in the first place lol. Also the butt-grabbing joke got old fast. And when he proposed to her and basically refused to stop flirting with other women I facepalmed so hard. Can't have character growth when you have unfunny running gags! To his credit, he did chill out for the most part, but still kept making jokes about flirting/scoring that clearly made Sango unhappy and I'm like. Why. Then the bit with Hirai-Kotsu needing to be fixed. I liked their mutual resolve to protect each other, but I thought Sango's comment about how she couldn't live without him was..... a bit much. Like what about Kohaku??? But anyway I'm just glad Sango got a happy ending even if I'm still super *SQUINTS* at Miroku.

Sesshoumaru was pretty neat, I get why he's popular, though wasn't really My Type. Sure he's cool, but his /personality/ was a bit lacking and I think we should have gotten some more insight into his relationship with his father for how much focus his quest for the Best Sword got. His development was pretty good, but I've kind of got an issue with how Rin was more of a plot device than a character. Like, okay, one of the reasons I decided to start reading Inuyasha was because the announcement of Yashahime sparked a wave of Sessh/Rin discourse and I wanted to form my own take on it. And, yeah okay I don't like Sessh/Rin either and I say this as a certified Nasty, lmao. Less because it's problematic (though I find it kind of offputting myself, even aged-up) and more because it's bland. Rin has no character whatsoever outside of being a vehicle for his development and I'm REALLY not a fan of girls being objects for male charas' development. Still, I'm not gonna boycott Yashahime if Sessh/Rin is canon or anything. I prefer him with Kagura or even Kikyo but they're dead, so. If Rin has to be his cum dumpster to make this happen, then that's how it's gotta be.

Thats about it I think. I'd put it a rung or two above Naruto in terms of overall quality, but BOY am I still mad abt Kikyo. 6/10 probably wouldn't recommend, but it WAS fun.

[daveedulce]

how is dabihawks healthy when Dabi is quite literally a murderer who would most likely off Hawks when convenient and it's shown that Hawks is mostly playing along to keep himself alive and accomplish his mission?

Since you decided to send this ask to me specifically, i suppose you're asking for my individual input. You wanna know how daveedulce dot tumblr dot com feels abt this sitch. so heres whats basically an essay on what ive observed in the manga between dabi n hawks

disclaimer I'm not the King of Knowing What Makes Ships Good or Bad unless its a really obviously harmful relationship but heres what i look at and consider w my ships

the main thing is how they interact with one another

the other is how they think abt eachother

dabi in canon has not killed anyone he developed a positive (or neutral) personal relationship with. he also has not shown any implications that he will or would murder hawks for any reason, whether it be that he isn't useful or is a hero or whatever else. through character analysis, some argue that he would if needed, and that's a valid thought-- but character analysis is heavily opinion-based with how little we actually know about Dabi. the accusation that he'd murder people who aren't strangers to him is just as valid as those who argue that he wouldn't kill those he knows personally.

it is true that the foundation of their relationship was initially built on business-only mission-related grounds, but with recent evidence shown in newer chapters, hawks is going fucking ham. the dude is acting freely and not eeeeverything he does is for the mission, and he's letting a lot of his personal interest get muddled in with his initial task. the dude is getting to be indulgent, as well as getting himself into deep shit. Hawks also, in more recent chapters, seems to take interest in Dabi further than what was expected of him. The mission doesn't go away and stop existing, but he SEEMS more personally intrigued than just "playing along."  I dunno. He seems like he wants to reach his goal still, OBVIOUSLY, but he's really doing the above and beyond. he doesnt need 2 go this hard but he is.

if one were only to observe Dabi and Hawks' first interaction, it would be dicey. Not inherently bad, but yes, it would look as if they're just using eachother. That's why at that point in the manga most people wrote dabihawks as a slow-burn unintentionally-falling-in-love oh-shit relationship, having initial motives & intentions and abandoning them later for their love for one another. but that's taken out of context of the actual manga, and i suppose im trying to be extremely canon adherent here. 

so, Hawks and Dabi, based off of raw material we see in the manga, are not inherently toxic. When they interact with one another, its mainly playful banter, with no unironic death threats or ab/sive language. They aren't curt and short with one another, rather tossing snippy comments back and forth, like you would with a friend or partner. It's a lot more casual than the interactions between Dabi and Tomura or Hawks and the Hero Commission. Whenever they're thinking about one another, they are not thinking of harming, killing, or using the other. Yes, they describe one another as useful, but there's not enough evidence imo to argue that dabi is going to use and then kill off hawks or vice versa. It's a possibility, as anything is at this point, but hard canon evidence doesn't state any support for that theory, just as it doesnt suggest Dabi would lay his life down for hawks either or anything like that. it doesn't sway one way or the other. 

Maneuvering hero/villain ships is always difficult in the sense that there are going to be many interactions between both parties that aren't all rainbows and sunshine. There are going to be weird boundaries that are set differently from villain/villain or hero/hero relationships. And thats why i tend to look at the way they interact with one another, their individual dynamic, how they get along and isolate that. if there had been continuous blatant evidence that they were plotting to harm, manipulate, or kill one another, then i would feel a lot differently abt it. but based off of what we're given, my own character analysis and bias aside, i just don't see enough to prove that they would hurt each other. 

I guess what I'm saying is that canon evidence is so horribly neutral that things COULD go either way. There's not enough proof to state that they're toxic, there's not enough proof to state that they're wholesome. The events in canon give people who enjoy dabihawks free reign over developing their relationship and story more just as it gives others the opportunity to hash out what's going to go wrong. 

[serendipitybutterfly]

i think it's one think to be like "so and so would be cute together", but then you get the delulus who try to prove that they're actually together and gif every single interaction they have and present it as proof. also, to say it to the artist directly is SO inappropriate.

Hmm... Well my opinion is this; it's fine to think the relationship between two people as presented to you, as not only a third party, but a distant third party who doesn't even know them personally, is cute. If it stays there. "Oh the relationship between x and z is sooo cute!" is totally fine and I don't think there's anything weird about that.

However, when finding a relationship between two people cute moves into the territory of obsessively trying to prove that every interaction between them is fraught with romantic or sexual tension or trying to prove that they're actually secretly in a relationship... You've moved into unhealthy territory where you need to check yourself and reflect on why exactly it's so important to you that these two people who are unrelated to you are romantically involved.

Again I can only speak my personal opinion, but I strongly believe that the obsessive shipping I see amongst young women in kpop / boy band fandoms has to do with insecurity. Shipping in general, even when it involves fictional characters (something I'm no stranger to. I love to ship and have since I was a little girl... You know fictional characters) usually stems from relating in some way to one character and seeing in the other character an ideal or fantasy partner you'd like for yourself.

You like those characters together because, maybe, you can see a lot of yourself in one of them and you see the kind of relationship you'd like to have in their dynamic. For example, as a kid I shipped zutara because I saw a lot of myself in Katara and I found Zuko attractive as a character (the reformed Zuko!... Forgive the ATLA reference). Of course this isn't necessarily always the case but I'm basing this purely on my observations and experience in various fandoms since I was a teen girl myself.

Now when it comes to real life people and kpop stan culture... I think there's two main things that happen when people get too obsessive about their own fantasies (keeping in mind that the whole culture of boy bands is intended to indulge and titillate the fantasies of young women in a 'safe' way). There are firstly those fans who essentially 'ship' a specific member or members with themself, in that they enjoy fantasising about being in a relationship with a certain member... Which is again, totally fine once it stays within the realm of fantasy and the person fantasising is aware that it's just a fantasy.

The truth is boy band members want to be your fantasy boyfriend... That's kinda the point and how they make bank... But it's like a role playing game where it's only fun once the people involved are aware it's just pretend... When one person flips the switch and starts believing it's actually real, things get scary fast and that's where we get saesangs and stalkers and the people who go ballistic and threaten bodily harm to themselves and others when it turns out their bias is dating or even might be interested in other girls at all (see what happens basically anytime BTS interacts with women around their age) .

This category of fans are usually those who are using the idols as replacements for actual boyfriends and often have such low self esteem that they don't think they'll be able to get a real boyfriend and that's why they become obsessed and fall so far into the fantasy being sold...

This is the dark side of boy bands really which BTS very cleverly addressed in Pied Piper. They are very aware that they are flirting with this obsession... Both wary of it and worried about how unhealthy it is and at the same time wanting fans to continue to love them so intensely... It's indeed a dangerous game...

The second category are those fans who, from my observations I believe, have even lower self esteem and / or issues such as internalised misogyny which actually leads to a fear of or inability to explore their sexuality by fantasising about being with the object of their admiration themselves... There is such fear or trauma surrounding putting themselves into that picture, that it causes them to instead relate themselves to one member and see that person almost as an avatar through which they can reach the object of admiration and furthermore, explore sexual and romantic fantasy from an even greater, and seemingly 'safer', distance.

Again, if this is kept in the realm of fantasy well... It's your fantasy! But this too can become an addiction and obsession because the fan may begin to subconsciously attach themself more and more to the idol they relate to and thus place more and more meaning on their connection to the idol who is the object of desire... Essentially, if someone relates a lot to say... Jungkook (because I honestly think this is often the case) and they are hugely attracted to Jimin or Taehyung (which is also often the case) there's a sense in which Jungkook becomes the reader self insert in the shipper's own personal fanfiction and the shipper desperately analyses every one of his interactions with the member they're 'in love with' because, through relating to Jungkook, and through Jungkook being perhaps in a relationship with this object of desire, they feel an ego boost... They feel the vaguest sense that perhaps the object of desire might be attracted to them too...

Or if not, a sense a that at least it's not another, more attractive, girl... Because that would mean the already weakened ego would take a bigger blow... By imagining a scenario where females are entirely removed from the equation, they feel a sense of freedom from the turmoil of 'not being attractive enough', 'sexy enough', 'cool enough' or just simply 'good enough' for the object of desire. 'At least if he's not interested in girls at all, I don't need to feel bad about him never being interested in me. At least he can be with a guy whose personality is like mine...' this is the state of mind of a lot of these obsessive shippers from my observation.

Of course aside from the fact that these obsessions are unhealthy enough for the fans, they are also extremely uncomfortable and even downright harmful to the members, their relationships with each other and with friends, family members and perhaps even significant others we don't know about! People need to be aware that once you put something online, it has left the realm of fantasy because you've put it out there in the real world. Keep those boundaries clear because when the lines blur for you between fantasy and reality, you're in dangerous waters.

I mean... Even my mother as a relatively new fan randomly came across a shipping video on YouTube and asked me what that was all about... At that time, I could only think of what their mothers would think coming across videos like that... And I really think that's something people need to think about more when it comes to these fantasies. The members are not characters in your own personal drama or fanfiction, they are real people with real lives and real friends and family members... who use the Internet and see the weird stuff you post! So think twice before you put those thoughts out there!

This has been an opinion post...

[darkzeruda1214]

The anime improved her character

Now I want to clarify something before I start. 

I know the Yu-Gi-Oh! fandom is heavy on the shipping, so I want to ask that most of you readers who are shippers to please put to that to the side for a moment. I’m not attacking any of your ships. I’m not saying they are inherently bad. Nor am I trying to put any shade on them. I’m solely focusing on the character as a whole.

I also understand that Anzu/Tea’s character is also a touchy subject considering the fandom’s mixed feelings about her. So I also want to ask to read this with an open mind. I’m not trying to change anyone’s perspective of her. I’m not trying to make you like her if you don’t. Or hate her if you do like her. I’m talking about my own opinion about her and what I felt about her. And you’re more than free to disagree with me, just like I have a right to talk about what I feel about her as well.

With that said here are my thoughts...

There’s one more thing I want to clarify before we start. 

I will be addressing Anzu’s character in three perspectives.

You have her manga counterpart.

Her Japanese anime counterpart

And her 4kids version. 

I will not be including her game counterparts by Konami. Nor will I talk about her movies versions either. Because Pyramid of Light isn’t essentially part of the main story as a whole.  And Dark side of Dimensions takes place after all the main Yu-Gi-Oh! events. And while yes the movie does take place in the manga universe. It’s still many years after the release of the books.  

Now… with that said let’s officially start.

As someone whose been both watching the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime and reading the manga there’s a number of things I’ve seen be changed in both versions. Besides the larger obvious changes, (such as duels, plot points, etc.) there were some smaller ones that I noticed when I reread the manga.

And thus we get to Anzu’s character as a whole.

And as the picture says.

Anzu’s manga incarnation is my least favorite of the three versions.

Now, I really do like Anzu as a character. I don’t hate her. But I’m not going to lie that I used to be one of those people who would bash on her simply because she existed. But looking back on that I found just how unfair and bias that was.  Then I got to take a closer look at her character and I found, that her manga incarnation (to me) has to be her worst version mostly because of how she behaves in it.

Now no hate to Kazuki Takahashi, but Ima be frank, the only female character that I thought was well-written was Mai, and Ishizu to an extent. The rest… well could use some work. More particularly Anzu, now I do understand considering the manga was first published in 1996. In a time where women’s roles were a bit different then how it is today.

I’m no expert on Japanese customs, and how women are and were treated. But I do know there is a difference in Japanese culture and Western culture. Especially with woman empowerment in the recent years.

Now beyond that small detail, I already came clean that manga!Anzu wasn’t exactly a favorite. I’m not saying she was all that bad, as she clearly has her good points but I think what made her bland and off-setting is how she reacts to certain situations.

Warning: I’m heading into romantic territory.

I think more of less her crush on Yami Yugi/Atem. More specifically during the time they went to the water park. What seriously made me ticked off about Anzu was that she intentionally put herself in danger in order to see “cool other Yugi” in action.

And that’s one thing that bothered me a lot. Because the reason she even got a crush on Atem is mostly because he saved her from being shot. Which isn’t inherently bad. But you think she could be more concerned about the fact that the guy died. By being lit. On. Fire.

Who had been sitting right next to her I might add.

Granted she was blind folded, but you think that a person who bets her life wouldn’t be playing games by using fingers. (Granted Atem’s intelligence is off the charts when it comes to playing games). She should be scared shitless of the “mysterious” person and for her life. But still she falls in love with a stranger who DIRECTLY caused a criminal to be lit the guy on fire. I can understand that she falls in love with him because he saved her life. But if setting up a trap so a person can be lit on fire willingly doesn’t scream a manipulative psychopath, then I don’t know what to call them then.

Now going away from that fact, I think another thing that really bothered me is just how distinctly she cares little for everything else when dealing with Atem and her not so secret crush on him. And that would always involve little-miss-friendship one way or another to cast Yugi aside, just so she can spend some time with Atem. And to me that was just irksome. (So much for being childhood friends)

Something else that tends to grind my gears has to be the fact that she always, somehow is the victim of being captured and being used as a ransom or cause troubles for the whole gang. (Not to say that the anime hasn’t done this, it’s just not as much as it was in the manga).

Though, I won’t deny it must suck being the only girl. Especially during that “don’t make a sound” trial in the Death-T arc.

Now the reason why I prefer her anime counterparts compared to her manga version, is mostly because they were able to add more to her character beyond the basics. As well as tone down some of her negatives to something that sounds realistic and what a normal teenage girl could have.  

Now I’m not saying that her anime version hasn’t done wrongs. As at times she would get frustrated over nothing. And her jealousy rivalry with Rebecca can get out of hand and just straight out made for the basis of comedy. But to me that’s still miles better than her manga counterpart (especially in the earlier works).  

But if I had to be honest, I think her Season 0 counterpart, as well as her 4kids version were my favorite incarnations of her.

Yes, even her 4kids version. Friendship jokes aside they able to give her a less annoying personality. (And the fact that they got a voice actor that didn’t try to sound like a stereotype cute anime school girl) And whether you like Tea/Anzu or not, she does have a spunky personality, which is a lot more evident in both Season 0 and her 4kids counterpart. This gal is the embodiment of friendship goals!

She’s a friend who will always have your back and is willing to go through thick and thin. Not to mention if you’re feeling down she will try to find a way to lift your spirits. If not listen to your problems and comfort you.

Say what you want, but if she were real. I would like to have her as a best friend. And just in general, going back to her Season 0 counterpart, (as many consider to be her best version) and quite frankly I agree, and I think what made her such a good character in it, is that some of Anzu’s lesser great moments were given to Miho. Who has a cute and scatterbrain personality, not only did it give Miho personality, she was usually enjoyable to see on screen. Sometimes she was annoying, but not to the point were it was overbearing. And it meshed pretty well with those faults and still make her joy to watch on screen. Because of this we got to focus on more of Anzu’s stronger traits, and be a supporting independent character. For instance, the chono-sensei episode, where Anzu stood up for a class mate because her love letter was going to be revealed to the whole class as punishment.

Or starting a petitions to give students a chance to get a job while they’re in school. Or the fortune teller scene, where she reveals that she doesn’t believe in fortune telling and that she can shape her own future because she makes it happen by her choices and will.

I think more or less I think some of my more favorite changes has to be these two scenes.

Like this one:

changing to this:

These two are from the Season 0 and first manga volumes. The differences being instead of Anzu being the turned into a toy first, it’s Miho and later on Anzu joins, but out of her free will to fight along side her friends.

...

Then there’s this one, it changes from: 

To this:

The second comparison is from the Yu-Gi-Oh! Duelist vol. Where she’s being controlled by Marik and would be forced to swallow a poisoned capsule if Yugi doesn’t duel a controlled Jounouchi/Joey

And the second one being that she’s strapped down to a chair and instead of being poisoned she will instead be crushed under a large metal crate. This allows Marik to release his control on her, since she’s locked. Which then allows her to watch the duel.

Being free of Marik’s control she’s able to tell Kaiba and Mokuba this:

And to me that makes a huge difference because it shows how much of strong and caring character she is. She’s willing to die for her friends so that they don’t have to.

(Though to be fair in the original manga she probably would do the same if she was in control). But I think that small change grow and expands her character even more.

And to me, I simply just prefer her anime counterpart in comparison to her manga version. I sincerely believe that both animes fixed what made her a bit intolerable in the manga. At least to me that’s what I feel

Feel free to disagree, but I’m sticking firm to mine. 

[dragimal]

TROS thoughts? TROS thoughts.

just some thoughts abt TROS and the trilogy as a whole. I don’t actively talk abt SW much so this’ll prolly be p disorganized, but I just wanted to throw some thoughts to the wind lmao. also thanks @cobwebbing for bullying me into watching TROS as quickly as possible and also yelling abt all these jumbled thoughts with/at me

overall I rly liked it! with a lot of criticisms! and I’ll expand under the cut

so, as usual, everything reylo was p spectacular. Rey trading off her light-saber to Kylo? that last bombastic kiss? Kylo fading into a force ghost to presumably reunite w/ his family? the mutual healing of one another-- and in particular, Kylo not only sharing his own life-force, but that which Rey had previously gifted him for the stab wound??? the DRAMA! the ROMANCE!! I was going absolutely (mentally) HOGWILD during those scenes, AAAAA I couldn’t have asked for better! Rey and Kylo are totally gonna have a force-ghost honeymoon and I’m here for it

my one big criticism w/ anything involving them was Palp being Rey’s grandad. Star Wars has always had weird hangups abt bloodlines, so it felt very fresh to see the protag be a whole-ass nobody-- u don’t need to come from some line of force-sensitive heroes/baddies to be somebody! ANYBODY can be somebody if they choose to be! yeah, she technically still renounced her “evil blood” to be a good person, but it felt a lot cheaper than just letting her be a nobody that chooses that path. I feel like there’s a nugget of good to be found in her adopting the Skywalker name at the end (y’all know I’m a sucker for adopted family~), but compounded w/ all the other hangups w/ bloodlines, it kinda felt like another affirmation that only Skywalkers can ever be the big important heroes or something, idk

that all said, I don’t hate Palp’s existence in TROS, I just don’t want him related to Rey in any way. tho his existence was still a bit awkward at parts (Snoke was a clone? who were all those cultists in the stands around the throne? how did he even survive the first trilogy?? hello???). but overall I rly liked the idea that the reason Sith kill their masters is for some reincarnation-death ceremony. when u hold that against the fresh new cast of heroes in this trilogy, you get this theme of, “evil ideals are always the same-- stagnant and unchanging. good must evolve and grow to combat it.” if that makes sense? I just rly like that implication

it was weird how easily Kylo seemed to drop any connection to Vader? like when Rey knocked Vader’s mask on the ground, I thought Kylo would either feel angry that she almost destroyed it, or betrayed by the reminder that he was never rly talking to Vader anyways, or SOMETHING, but he kinda just left it there in the snow? it was just strange, after all the build-up

now aside from anything involving Rey and Kylo, everything else was..... well, it was abt as I expected. which wasn’t good, coming off the heels of TLJ’s treatment of anyone that wasn’t Rey, Kylo, or Luke. while JJ and Rian do a fantastic job w/ reylo stuff, they seem to just let everything else fall to the wayside, which is unfortunate in a lot of ways

for one, Finn is one of my favorite characters in SW as a whole, and it’s heartbreaking to see his character arcs fall apart before they even start (post-TFA). he has so much depth and potential-- enough to even be the main protag, as some have pointed out. while I don’t agree that he’s a better foil to Kylo (and that’s not just my reylo bias, like they rly don’t have the same personality chemistry or thematic conflicts imo), I could totally see a SW trilogy centered around him instead (tho idk if I’d be able to properly doctor the script to THAT degree on my own... 🤔...)

either way, Finn’s potential was rly squandered the last two movies, and I’d love to see that rectified. I’ve always been disappointed that Finn immediately went to shooting other stormtroopers in TFA w/o any hint of hesitation, so I’d ideally like to give him some conflicted feelings during TFA to start off with. then, I’ve always thought his plot in TLJ should’ve been focused completely on stormtroopers-- no casino, no fox-horse racing or anything. he and Rose would IMMEDIATELY sneak onto the FO ship from the beginning of the movie as undercover stormtroopers, gathering info for the Resistance and trying to shut down the FO’s tracking tech, while also feeling out the thoughts of fellow stormtroopers. maybe some troopers would be gung-ho abt the FO, while others would like to rebel but are too scared, while others still had never considered the option of rebellion until Finn planted just a little seed for them. however, by the end of TLJ, his efforts might’ve *seemed* useless, like the FO might’ve killed off any defecting stormtroopers. then we’d hit TROS, and Finn might be a bit colder, and bit more willing to kill stormtroopers, b/c even if he could convert them, he wouldn’t be able to protect them, so he might as well end it as quickly as possible. but THEN he’d meet the former stormtroopers-- not just strangers this time, but some of the troopers he’d met while on the FO ship in the previous movie! they’d escaped, and his efforts weren’t for naught! his actions still mattered, and continue to matter as everyone moves forward!

also, can I just say, fucking weird that Finn’s suddenly force-sensitive?? I’m not necessarily against him being force-sensitive, but I’m attached to the idea of an important character that doesn’t have any significant connection to the force-- he was just a talented dude! but even then, I think I’d be more open to it if not for how it was introduced. apparently, the only reason he (or any stormtrooper, as far as we know) defected is b/c the force told them to. no personal decisions based on morals or logic or even basal fear, just some “force-instinct”. that’s just.... so insulting to his character and the potential for stormtroopers, I’m reeling lmfao

Poe is an interesting case for me b/c I don’t feel any particular way abt him. like, he’s fine? but I care far more abt reylo and Finn than I do Poe, so I haven’t put as much thought into how I’d change his arcs, BUT I do have a few ideas. since I’d nix Finn’s casino trip in TLJ, I’d have Poe kinda take the helm of that-- rather than a slow crawl thru space on low fuel, the Resistance’s problem would be their space-jumping tech (+ the FO tracking them of course), so they’d have plenty of fuel to jump, but for some reason they’d have to recharge or re-fix something after each jump? so it’s more like a lil space roadtrip for Poe’s plot, where he’s jumping the Resistance to different planets, hiding their ships somewhere before the FO catches on, and waiting until the can jump again to the next hiding spot. all the while, Poe’s keeping in touch w/ Finn, trying to keep the FO off their tails for just a little bit longer, or gathering info on their plans. I rly liked Poe’s TLJ arc of, “sacrificing a few for the cause is actually kinda shitty,” so I’d like to keep that, like maybe he makes a few risky decisions while running? and then later, when Finn tries to sacrifice himself to the FO’s canon (in this case b/c he thinks his efforts w/ the stormtroopers didn’t work, so maybe he can do just this one thing--), Poe’s like Oh Fuck No and smacks him outta the sky. so Poe has this moment like, “wow, perhaps I’m not as ok w/ all this sacrifice as I thought? also I might have a crush?😳” and then in TROS he’s coming to terms w/ his crush on Finn (and Zorii’s like, *nudges* “OH-HO??~”), but Finn’s still a bit broken up over how everything w/ the stormtroopers turned out in TLJ, so he’s been difficult to connect to. then when Finn meets the former stormtroopers, he gains back some of that confidence in connecting to others, and he finally *sees* Poe for the first time in a while and it’s all romantic and junk heheh

tbh I don’t actually feel particularly strongly abt finnpoe as a pairing, BUT I rly like the potential it has for Finn and Poe’s respective character arcs, and especially how it could so lovingly tie into TROS’ theme of, “we are only as strong as we are together, and together we can beat this.” unfortunately, that theme in and of itself is also kinda awkward coming on the heels of TLJ, where the Resistance was abandoned by the galaxy when there was only a small fleet of FO forces to deal with, yet the galaxy comes to aid when there’s a fuckin billion FO ships w/ PLANET-DESTROYING TECH on-board each?? I know the 2nd movie’s supposed to be a low point, but the huge turn-around in TROS just doesn’t make a whole lotta sense to me, and I don’t know how to fix that one lmao

Rose is.... a difficult one. I rly want to like her b/c I love Kelly and she has cute moments, but TLJ already didn’t give her a lot to work with, and she had insultingly little to do in TROS. I think that perhaps she’d work well as Poe’s thematic foil in TLJ? Rose’s sister was one of the ones sacrificed under Poe’s direction, so she prolly wouldn’t be too pleased w/ that, and would bring up counterpoints to Poe’s risky maneuvers w/ the Resistance whenever they check in w/ him. then when Poe goes to rescue Finn from the canon, Rose’s words are what play thru his head. for TROS, I’d gladly replace C3PO or Chewie (or both) w/ her, lmao. I can’t necessarily think of an arc for her, but TROS was already juggling so many anyways, I think it would’ve been fine for her to maybe be a lynch-pin for the squad-- someone trying to hold everyone together through these dire circumstances, but everything starts to fall apart... until some significant moment where she helps pull everyone back together, thus completing the theme of the film. also I would’ve felt FAR more distressed if it was Rose that was supposedly on the destroyed transport ship (tho that scene was already kinda stupid like... why couldn’t Rey sense that Chewie wasn’t on there... hm..)

the Hux betrayal was obvious even from as far back as TFA, but it was weird he was replaced by a nobody we never met before and don’t care abt lmfao. I mean I don’t rly care for Hux at all, but I care even less for this stranger who has no personality lmfao

[puppetwritings]

Please! This isn’t a Game! || Pt. 4 || Jeonghan

Pt. 1 // Pt. 2 // Pt. 3 // Pt. 4 // Pt. 5 // Pt. 6 //

➢ Word Count: 1761

➢ Genre: sci-fi, fantasy, fluff, comedy, transmigration

➢ Summary: What do you do when you get thrown into an unknown world? Well, Jeonghan sure as heck does not know.

——–

Baseless confidence was Jeonghan’s strong suit. It was what he was best at in his original life, so naturally he would carry it over into this fictional one. As he reclined on the cushy couch at the back of the ship, he thought little of what was to come for the following two months. Instead, he calmly sipped at a full glass of wine as he browsed options to customize his armor that would be commissioned and quickly sent out to him so he wouldn’t have to keep wearing his brother’s hand-me-downs.

Suddenly, the cabin doors slid open and in came his new second-in-command, Choi Seungcheol.

“Sir,” Seungcheol stiffly saluted, “Permission to speak?”

Jeonghan glanced up at Seungcheol. He set down his glass and sat straighter, no longer sprawling on the couch. He stared at him intently, waiting for him to speak.

“We will be landing in our destination in another three hours,” Seungcheol said. “A part of our troops are already there and have begun to set up camp. Once we arrive, you will be escorted to your quarters. Shortly after, dinner will be served. Following that, we will hold our meeting. Someone will come to retrieve you.”

Jeonghan felt like a child by the way Seungcheol was talking, but he nodded. As Seungcheol turned to leave, Jeonghan sheepishly cleared his throat. Seungcheol turned around, a cold glimmer in his eye. Jeonghan gulped. “You don’t have to be so formal. I hear you and my brother are great friends? It would be nice if we could…interact with a little less stiffness.”

“That would be impossible, sir,” Seungcheol said.

Jeonghan tilted his head. “Why is that?”

“Because then I would be unable to hold back my bias against you,” his eyes narrowed before he bowed and exited Jeonghan’s cabin.

Jeonghan frowned at the door that silently slid shut and picked up the wine glass again. He stretched out on the couch again and leaned against his palm as he scrolled through customization options.

“Why’d you try to make friends with him?” the system asked after a long silence.

“Choi Seungcheol was one of Yoon Taewook’s most powerful allies in the previous timeline. If I can get him on my side before I switch over, Taewook would basically lose a right hand.”

“But if you switch over, that doesn’t necessarily mean Seungcheol will follow.”

“Oh, I know. In fact, I know for sure he won’t follow but if he sees my pure and caring personality, he would think in his heart that I would never switch sides unless I had a real reason. Then, he will become cautious and might even become suspicious towards Taewook.”

“Whoa…Host, you’re really far-sighted.”

“I guess. But, of course,” Jeonghan smashed its admiration, “this is all just baseless assumption. Actually, it’s just because I think he’s fun to have around. I need someone to pass the time with. Two months is a long time.”

The system was tricked again.

Jeonghan glanced at the glowing ball. “Aren’t you supposed to be a powerful extension of the all-knowing? How can you be so naïve?”

The system quietly sulked, not bothering to respond to its ridiculous host.

Jeonghan happily returned to his shopping and sent off his requests and measurements just as the ship landed.

The borderland between the kingdoms and the dark forces was a thick forest that offered plenty of cover from prying eyes however, the forest had a mind of its own and the trees could speak to those that they considered worthy. It was an entire being that despised the human race that constantly waged war around it but had stood its ground and stayed neutral despite each generation of the human race that came and tried to coax it into being a spy for the other.

Jeonghan thought that this kind of setting was interesting. If it was alive and disliked humans, how could it possible allow them to set up camp? Simply, Seungcheol said, they just had to set up multiple protective spells around their camp and they would be fine. The trees would be unable to get in and would have trouble detecting them. However, once they wandered out, they would be fair game if they didn’t wear the correct protection that shielded them from the eyes of the trees.

Jeonghan wanted to laugh. This world was so much more interesting than his own! His eyes sparkled as he looked around, making Seungcheol find him stranger and stranger. People would normally be terrified of this forest.

Dinner and the meeting came and went. An attendant came in briefly after to inform Jeonghan that his armor had arrived and requested that he tried it on in case it needed to be taken in or even remade.

The armor was sleeker than what Taewook usually wore. It fit tight but reflected and had plates like medieval armor, making it heftier but also less susceptible to penetration by weapon or magic. The helmet was more of a mask that also covered his head. The lower half was left open; however, he would be wearing a black layer under his armor that would also cover his face. This layer prevented poisonous substances or fumes to flow into or make contact with his skin. Jeonghan thought of everything and had impressed the designers so much that they wanted to make it perfect, just like Jeonghan imagined, so he had no qualms and didn’t even need to get it resized.

Jeonghan was quite proud of his armor. Even the system was impressed by its host’s flawless design. However, it couldn’t help but ask…

“Whatever happened to wanting to get stabbed?”

“The original Jeonghan in the last timeline was a wimp. There’s no way he’d want to get stabbed,” Jeonghan said. “I can’t OOC before I activate my powers, so I could only make it bullet proof. Plus, this will come in handy at a later time when I actually have to fight.”

“But then, how will you get stabbed?”

“No worries, Navi, I’m an expert on courting death. Just float around and watch the master do his job,” Jeonghan said. He pulled off his helmet and set it on his bedside table before he began to shed the rest of his armor.

“You shouldn’t be so proud at being able to court death,” the system mumbled.

“I beg to differ,” Jeonghan said. “I would say I deserve a medal at how well I court death.”

The system whirled around as Jeonghan changed into pajamas and laid down on the not comfortable bed. Jeonghan looked at the worried whirling and finally reached out to grab it.

“Alright, alright, calm down. I’m already being super careful. I haven’t rushed head first into battle, have I?”

“You’re about to.”

That much was true but Jeonghan pretended he didn’t hear it. Instead, he turned off the lights and pulled the covers over himself. He closed his eyes and released the system since it was struggling too much, and drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

When he awoke, he barely had time to properly put on his armor before he was rushed out and helped onto a horse.

When Jeonghan full gained consciousness, he was standing at the foot of a hill. The others were crouched around him.

“We first have to take this base,” one of the soldiers, who was much more competent than Jeonghan, helpfully reminded him.

“Let’s proceed as planned,” Jeonghan said.

The soldiers glanced at each other. They stayed rooted until Seungcheol spoke. Only then did they move.

Jeonghan should feel indignant, but he had no sense of attachment to the roll he was currently playing so he allowed it to slide.

Choi Seungcheol, the strongest in this troop, was assigned to protect Taewook’s worthless brother, the commander, Yoon Jeonghan. As someone who could fight five hundred people by himself, he could spare some strength to protect the weak. However, in the heat of battle, Jeonghan expertly slipped away and began his plan to court death.

At the helm of the reinforcements was a dashing young man named Joshua Hong. Little information was known about him from the previous timeline, other than the fact that he hated Taewook a lot and got in his way however he could. Because of this, he was killed off partway through and his life remained a mystery in the universe’s uncaring eyes. He was the most promising dark magic user of this generation and obviously, the quickest and easiest way to die would be to go against him.

“By accident” Jeonghan ran into Joshua. Jeonghan actually did fairly well defending himself for a non-magic user but somehow, he ended up getting deeper and deeper into the fray and eventually ended up in front of Joshua.

That was when his skills magically dropped to zero. Jeonghan would later blame it on fear.

Joshua’s eyes flashed, seeing the emblem that only the commanders wore and naturally attacked.

There was a chip in Jeonghan’s armor that he deliberately moved aside the night before. Jeonghan, “extremely alarmed”, quickly moved to the side, however the sword “coincidentally” caught onto the chip in his armor and managed to pierce through the plate.

Jeonghan didn’t react at first but he eventually felt the pain and doubled over. He expertly kicked Joshua off his horse, the sword pulling out of his body as its owner fell, and rolled off his own horse two.

The two men grappled and fought. Jeonghan fought sloppily, with awkward movements, while Joshua fought swiftly and expertly. Jeonghan lasted longer than anyone would have thought but was eventually backed against the cliff. Joshua pointed his sword at Jeonghan’s neck, his eyes narrowed.

“What is your motivation?” Joshua asked. “Why are you guys suddenly attacking this base?”

The base was at an odd place that did not interfere with the Empire or its people. To attack this place was blatant provocation, but Joshua wanted to know why.

Jeonghan had his own, personal answer to this “why” question, but his vision was already beginning to blur and he could clearly feel the wetness that caused his shirt to cling to his side, so all that came from Jeonghan’s throat was a strange grunt.

He took a step back while Joshua took a step forward.

Already dizzy from losing blood, Jeonghan dazedly swayed and managed to step on some loose ground. Joshua’s eyes widened in confusion as Jeonghan fell back. His hand reached out to grab him, only to find that it was too late.

Yoon Jeonghan rolled down the mountain.

~~~

(A/N: check out the description or the pting ff tag on my blog for new chapters!)

[maychorian]

Weekly Voltron Fic Recs #56

We’re hitting the busy season at my job tomorrow, so I’m not sure when the next list will be. Happy New Year, anyway!

Rules: You can find past weekly rec lists here, and non-list recs in my general fic rec tag. Also follow @maychorianrecs for individually tagged posts, the easier to search and reblog. This is stuff I like, and I have a huge bias toward Lance, hurt/comfort, and general fluff, in that order. Gen unless otherwise noted. Please comment on the fics if you read and enjoy them!

Disaster Hearts by lieutenantshirogane Words: 719 Author’s Summary: After a mission goes wrong, Coran struggles to let go. Luckily, Kolivan is there to help. My Comments: Not a combo I had considered before, but it’s so good that I just had to read and rec this one. So good.

Bushel and a Peck by isabeau25 Words: 5,158 Author’s Summary: It’s not Hunk’s first job interview, but it might just be his favorite. Series Part 3 of The Five Lions Cafe My Comments: We’re coming up on the busy season at my job, and I was grateful for this spot of pre-emptive stress relief. It’s so lovely and relaxing. Read the whole series.

Cream Waterfalls and Violet Stars and All The Broken ThingsbyMashpotatoeQueen5 Words: 3,185 Author’s Summary: Coran had children once. (A fic about before and after, and the family that our favorite Space Uncle might have lost in his ten thousand years of slumber. Sad… but hopeful ending?) My Comments: Beautiful and haunting vision of Coran’s lost family and how he sees them in the new children he deals with every day. I love the idea of Coran as a family man, and this is a great exploration of that concept.

Shopping for Disaster by Engineer104 Words: 6,108 Author’s Summary: Allura just wanted something sparkly, and Pidge just wanted to get her ears pierced. And they will, after a mishap involving a kid, a Druid, and a Galra ship. My Comments: Bonding time with Pidge and Allura turns into an action/adventure with plenty of badassery from both. Very fun read.

Children of the Empire by foxysquid for Meteorysh Words: 10,147 Author’s Summary: Those who find themselves without parents can turn to Emperor Zarkon for parental guidance instead—but Thace would rather not. Shuttled off to a school for orphaned children, he has to adapt to a strange place, with no one to rely on. Fortunately, he may not be as alone as he thinks he is. Written for Galra Secret Santa, as a gift for meterorysh! There are also some accompanying illustrations, which you can find here. My Comments: Absolutely stunning. Achy and touching, fantastic worldbuilding and characterization. I felt so bad for tiny Thace, losing his parents and shipped off to a school where he had to guard himself every second of every day for fear of being outed as a traitor. The friendship with Ulaz and eventual conclusion were extremely satisfying. This read like the beginning of an original novel, one that I would gladly devour in like a day at a most.

Words of Good Cheer by BossToaster (ChaoticReactions) Words: 31,364 Author’s Summary: 12 days of Advent fics for the winter season 1) The gang gets stuck in their cabin on vacation (Modern AU) 2) The lights and noise of the holiday party prove to be overwhelming for Shiro 3) Ryou and Lance attempt to make Hunk a treat. 4) Shatt - Shiro and Matt get their Christmas snuggle on 5) Shallura - Shiro shows Allura how to make snow angels 6) Sheith - Shiro falls through the ice on a snowy planet and needs to be warmed up 7) Alone at the Garrison over break, Keith and Shiro work together to ignore the holiday 8) Shunkeith - Sweet Tooth AU, Hunk has to stay over when they’re snowed in 9) Baby’s Ryou’s first Christmas 10) Old Friend’s Senior Sanctuary AU - Lance convinced Shiro to help make a 2018 calendar for charity 11) Ryou disappears on an ice planet and Shiro fears the worst 12) Smol!Shiro worries how Santa will find the castle My Comments: Each of these little fics is absolutely adorable and worth reading on their own, and we get twelve for the price of one! Four are shipfics, Shatt, Shallura, and Sheith, plus Shunkeith, but the chapters are labeled so you can easily skip them and stick to the gen if you want.

Vasish by ElementKitsune for AstroPhantom Words: 2,255 Author’s Summary: Sometimes, you just wake up and go see a storm with your favourite princess. (Coran and Allura go stormwatching) My Comments: Sweet Allura and Coran interaction before the fall of Altea. It’s cute, and a little sad, but mostly heartwarming.

Stranger Danger (2) by YukiSetsu Words: 2,076 Author’s Summary: Sequel to Stranger Danger (part 5 of Whumpmas series). After the last incident, Lance didn’t think he’d run into David again anytime soon. He was wrong. My Comments: Sequel to a previously recced fic, and just as good as that one. The realism of this is what hikes up to true levels of disturbing. Great protectiveness from the others.

Epoxy to the World by buckysbears (DrZebra) Words: 2,245 Author’s Summary: Shiro, Pidge, and Keith are forced into a Galra gladiator arena. The two younger paladins see a side of Shiro that he desperately wishes they hadn’t. My Comments: Very intense and emotional. This is pretty much Shiro’s worst nightmare. I don’t blame him for losing himself a little bit along the way.

What’s In A Name? by bouquetofwhoopsiedaisies Words: 1,532 Author’s Summary: “What is ‘Keith’?” Kolivan asked one evening. Keith looked up, blinking in confusion. “I’m Keith.” “Yes, but what is ‘Keith’?” Kolivan pressed.“Well, as far as I know, mostly human, and some Galra.” He really thought Kolivan already knew this. He had been there when Keith’s knife changed form, indicating that he had Galra blood. How much, none of them knew. Kolivan huffed, looking impatient. “The word. ‘Keith’. What does it mean, in your language?” (The Blades get curious about the name of their smallest member. Pidge does some hacking to find out the surprising answer) My Comments: Cute, fluffy, and funny. I like the little bit of Galra culture, too, and Blades being protective and teasing of Keith is always a plus.

Castle Glitch by YukiSetsu Words: 2,394 Author’s Summary: When a bug from Pidge’s laptop accidentally infects the Castle, Lance ends up having to face an extreme gladiator bot without a weapon and armor. As expected, things get dangerous really quick. My Comments: Excellent whump, excellent protective team. I don’t know how many ways to say that I’m enjoying everything this author is doing, but here it is again.

Sick Day by FanaticFangirl2602 for RandomDragonDoodles Words: 2,727 Author’s Summary: Keith should have seen it coming. Actually, he did see it coming. The little voice in the back of his mind had been scolding him for going so hard for the past month, but all he’d done was push it aside and ignore it. A dumb decision. My Comments: Nice little Keith-centric sickfic in a college AU. Hits the spot.

All Swallowed in their Coats by yet_intrepid for stover Words: 2,317 Author’s Summary: Shiro and his new roommate, Matt, would tell you that they are nothing alike: Shiro is an overwhelmed grad student, while Matt is a dropout and avid science youtuber. But then there’s a blizzard, and maybe things change. My Comments: Great modern AU with Shiro and Matt realizing that they have much more in common than they think. Past abuse.

Fruit Loops by SerenePhenix Words: 3,571 Author’s Summary: Shiro never stood a chance. My Comments: Wonderful team-as-family feels in a modern roommate AU. So cute and fluffy and sweet.

It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas by WinterSky101 Words: 2,510 Author’s Summary: In which Pidge is a Christmas elf. ‘Tis the season, after all. My Comments: Cute and sweet and fluffy, with just a touch of angst at the end. 'Tis the season!

If Only In My Dreams by yet_intrepid Words: 5,918 Author’s Summary: The team agrees that Space Christmas isn’t that great with Keith off on missions with the Blade of Marmora. But it’s a lot, lot worse with Keith held hostage by the Galra. My Comments: Awesome whump fic, very snappy pace and intense emotions, and the Christmas theme just heightened the whole thing to the rafters.

In Stitches by A_Zap Words: 6,118 Author’s Summary: With every stitch, a bigger picture can be seen. And each one is made with love.In which everyone on Team Voltron learns more about Lance as he knits the day away. And maybe he learns something too. My Comments: It’s been a while since I’ve read a fic with Lance as a knitter. This was very warm and soft and fluffy, lots of great bonding and sweetness. Very satisfying.

Tradition… Tradition by imperiality Words: 6,802 Author’s Summary: It’s bright! It’s loud! It’s festive! It’s everything Shiro hasn’t really had for Christmas, and it’s wonderful. Then the night winds down. And it’s down to 3. They talk about traditions. Some are lonelier than others. My Comments: The entire team has a lovely Christmas, but the ending conversation between Shiro, Matt, and Keith was the most emotional and heartwarming thing in the fic. Little bit of angst and emotional hurt comfort for lonely boys who miss their homes, but mostly they’re just happy to count their blessings where they are.

One by One by LitDragonWagon Words: 8,512 Author’s Summary: Shiro remains in a state of Not Surprised about all the people who join him in his bed. (Just a cute fic about the paladins platonically sleeping together due to nightmares, and healing.) My Comments: Paladin cuddle puddle to the max. This was very relaxing to read. Brief mention of Klance.

Previously Recced Fics That Updated:

Little Crystals (19627 words) As Color Fades Away (243019 words) This May Sting (6856 words) Gate Keeper (122883 words) Young Blood (9761 words) The Purity of Sin (47036 words) The Sea In Between (81074 words) Beacon (25201 words) Shadows of Stars (95789 words)

[btspotahoes-blog]

Hey there!! I was wondering if I could get a written ship with BTS? I'm 5'6, very cuddly, loving, motherly in nature. Really nice a friendly to everyone including strangers, good with kids (and animals!!), polite around adults. In my spare time I dance and work-out, as well as watching movie (horror movies are my fav) and cooking. I love cuddling and skinship in general. I really want to get married :D I spend a lot of time with my family. Thank you so much for your time.

Matchmaker of the night, Admin Ham, hereby, ships you with our local patootie - Jimin!

Your loving and motherly personality appealed to me so much and I just can’t help but think how cute it’d be if you were to be paired with a man who’s just as loving and motherly, like y’all would probably spend Sunday mornings trying to win a battle of who’s shorter and maybe even out-cuddle each other on the bed after waking up X3 Jimin would adore you and probably stare at you love whenever he sees you play along with the kids at the playground, or chatting up them random old grandmas you meet on your way home, like #wifematerial. Despite being a walking pet-magnet, Jimin doesn’t really have a specific bias when it comes to pets; if it cute, it cute ㅇ3ㅇ  I can kind of imagine you getting lowkey jealous of Jimin because all the kitties and puppies naturally walk towards his direction and not yours, and that’s when he’d probably cradle you within his arms because he feels bad, so whenever pets start walking towards him, you’ll get the chance to pet them too and while you do, Jimin would definitely secretly have the time of his life petting you instead of the animals. Jimin’s not exactly a scaredy-cat but he can’t stand gory stuff that much, so he’d try to convince you as much as he can to try and watch your favorite horror movies during the day where the sun can kill all the leftover zombies from that movie holy shit. You’d make a sweet work out buddy and dancing partner for Jimin because, business aside, he’d highkey slide in some sneaky smooches between those sit-ups and tango steps. Now, imagine standing by Jimin at the wedding arch and there, you see Jimin, just wearing the brightest of smiles, because he knows you’ll be the greatest daughter-in-law to his parents, the sweetest mother to his children, and the most lovable wife whom taken ownership of his heart ;3;

We’re accepting scenarios, imagines, reactions, and ship requests. Do check out our guidelines for more info and drop by our ask with your request!

[sarahburness]

How We Can Break the Cycle of Pain

“Be the change you wish to see in the world.” ~Gandhi

Pain is and isn’t just like energy. According to the first law of thermodynamics, energy can neither be created nor destroyed but is merely converted from one form to another.

For example, the light energy from the sun can be harnessed by plants, which, through photosynthesis, convert it to chemical energy. Plants use this energy to grow fruit, which we eat. We store this energy for when we need to exert ourselves, when we convert it to kinetic energy. The energy never disappears, but is instead just displaced.

Pain is in a sense the same, creating a parallel to the first law of thermodynamics which I call the cycle of pain.

The manager is belittled by his boss because the boss was frustrated with the latest quarterly results, which disappointed because the customers were unhappy with the product. Upset, the manager comes home and mouths off to his wife, who is carrying her own tribulations from work.

The wife and mother then loses her temper with her son, who is hurt by his mother’s outburst. In pain and having witnessed a bad example from his mother about what to do with frustration, the son then goes to school the next day and causes a fight in the classroom during the teacher’s lesson.

His plans in tatters with the class disrupted, the teacher then exacts collective punishment on the whole class, who then each go and act out the negativity in their own separate ways.

The form of the pain changes, but it doesn’t go away—it’s spread out and perpetrated on new victims in a seemingly endless cycle of pain.

Except it can go away. After all, pain differs from energy in some important ways.

First of all, pain can be created, added to, and multiplied or increased exponentially.

Above, the frustration that the teacher caused can turn into sadness, hurt, or anger among his thirty pupils, who then have a negative emotional-energetic push to transfer and potentially increase the pain.

More and more people are born and live longer each day, meaning there are more egos to feel and create pain. The internet and other mass communication technologies only expand each single person’s ability to transfer and create more and more pain in more and more people. Weapons of mass destruction have the same function. This is a depressing picture.

The story, however, isn’t all bad, and as conscious human beings we can actively work to stop the flow and creation of pain.

When the husband comes home to vent at his wife, the wife can always ask what the matter is, listen compassionately, and react with love and a desire to help ease the pain.

When the child acts out in school, the teacher can always take a deep breath, draw upon her compassion for whatever is driving an innocent child to be aggressive, pull the child aside, and try and find out what’s wrong.

We can all recognize that another person’s negativity is his or her pain, not ours.

This is very simple to comprehend but extremely difficult to achieve. It takes a lot of effort.

Put yourself right in the moment of a very tense or stressful situation. Your boss has had a stressful week and is screaming at you, blaming you for the entire team’s failure or something that had nothing to do with you. Your mother always favored your older brother and is interrogating you, asking why you didn’t get married and have the perfect job like he did. Pick a real example from your own life.

How did you react—with total serenity and compassion? Did you lovingly embrace this as a spiritual challenge and opportunity for growth? In all likelihood, far from it!

You probably shouted back, clamped down, cried, or otherwise reacted to negativity with negativity, and this in turn negatively affected someone else. Why? Because this is hard—really hard. And yet, it’s the struggle we, as human beings, face every day.

However, when we sit around and think about being our best, about trying to make a difference in the world, we think about legendary figures placed in the fulcrum of historic events. We think about Gandhi or Martin Luther King Jr. or Mother Theresa. Saving the rain forest, ending poverty, or finding a cure for some horrible disease come to mind.

In fact, very few people will ever even have the chance to be in the right place at the right time to make such a difference. Even if we had the skills and desire, we might not have the resources, the connections, or even be born is the right era to affect such a change.

By definition, not everyone can accomplish extraordinary things. The rain forest needs saving, poverty needs ending, and diseases need curing, but why not start with what you can influence right now—the world’s little daily hurts that, through the cycle of pain, create big problems?

But this is our bias, made dramatically worse in recent years by social media: to overlook or even look down upon the ordinary. And yet, it is the ordinary, everyday flow of life that is so difficult to navigate in a way that does no harm to ourselves or others. Indeed, daily life presents our most obvious opportunity to change the world around us—to end the cycle of pain.

Imagine a world where parents didn’t smack or shout at their children out of anger, where spouses didn’t take their work frustrations home and get passive aggressive with each other, where strangers didn’t project their pent up feelings onto each other.

Imagine all of the infinite little tragedies that could be avoided. Imagine the child who, in a moment of despair, sees a helping hand instead of a fist. Think of what a different place the world would be if one million or one billion people had this same thought all at once.

I, too, once had a head full of grandiosity, all the while overlooking the difference I could make each and every day.

Growing up in an affluent suburb of New York, I was raised like most of the other kids in my peer group—to be hyper-competitive and keep up with the Joneses. I wanted to be a famous academic, a CEO, or the president. I thought about ending wars, saving the environment, and changing the economy.

I was also short on patience. I punched back. I showed off. I overlooked people. It was only after I was brought so low by pain, when I saw no way forward, that I dropped my illusions and really thought about how to move forward in the world. When I felt there was no hope, I stopped contemplating the horizon and instead looked right in front of me.

For maybe the first time, I really saw the people who came into my life and got to know so well who had wronged me, betrayed me. Rather than cursing them or begrudging them, I thought about how they got the way they were—their being bullied or even molested as children or abandoned as adults (true stories!).

I thought about myself, put upon by my siblings and ignored by my parents. And I realized what a difference it would have made if even some minor character in any of these stories would have taken the initiative to break that cycle of pain.

Everything that happens in life is the result of an unknowable series of chance events that happened over centuries. You are here right now because some peasant in the fields a thousand years ago smiled at one of his fellow laborers or some seamstress took the risk of getting on ship bound for America or someone crossing the street didn’t get hit by a car.

Likewise, the gang member might not be in jail if that teacher had taken a chance on him. The cheerleader might not be bulimic if someone had taken the time to notice her eating habits or cared enough to say anything.

Even when we aren’t causing it, so many of us shut our eyes and turn our heads to other people’s pain because we’ve been hurt ourselves and don’t want to face more pain if we can avoid it.

To come to and maintain the level of consciousness necessary to actively counter the cycle of pain requires a spiritual vigilance that is profound and yet so simple. To break and not perpetuate the cycle of pain, to purify and not pollute our emotional environment is so mundane but can be so impactful. To me, this is what it means to be the change I wish to see in the world.

Once I recovered from the deep, crushing, suicidal depression that I suffered, I left my high-flying job. I moved countries. I extricated myself from destructive relationships. Coming from a life in which I interacted with senior politicians and CEOs, I instead dabbled in coaching and tutoring and other endeavors I saw as making a small difference. I slowed down and, instead of chasing grand visions, became much more conscious of what I was doing each moment.

This was a difficult transition to make, and it is a challenge each day to remember the cycle of pain and my role in it, and, more importantly, not to perpetuate it. Nevertheless, I find life so much more rewarding now. Though my path is littered with mistakes and small failings, most days I am able to see the incremental positive differences that I make.

I don’t know what all of this will amount to, but what I do know is that I feel so much more rewarded and empowered.

About Joshua Kauffman

Joshua Kauffman is a recovering over-achiever and workaholic. Leaving behind a high-powered life in business, he has become a world traveler, aspiring coach, and entrepreneur of pretty things. Amateur author of a recent memoir Footprints Through The Desert, he is trying to find ways to share his awakening experience, particularly to those lost in the rat race like he was.

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from Tiny Buddha https://tinybuddha.com/blog/how-we-can-break-the-cycle-of-pain/

[amassingeffect]

30 Day Shepard Challenge - Day 8

Decisions, Decisions… [Mass Effect 2, Part 1: Main Questline]. Describe the decisions Shepard made in the main mission during his time with Cerberus.

Did anything become shaken up when Shepard was brought back to life? Was there a class change? An alignment change?

What was Shepard’s attitude toward Cerberus? Did it change over time? How did they feel about the Illusive Man?

How did Shepard react to the Virmire Survivor on Horizon?

How did they react to boarding the derelict Reaper? To the Collectors being Protheans? To discovering the Illusive Man’s set up?

Did they finish building their whole team before going through the relay? If not, who was missed/was not loyal?

Nothing was changed about Elentari as per The Illusive Man’s orders; bring Shepard back exactly as before was the mandate and it was followed to the letter and then some, with the Cerberus enhancements used during her resurrection on Lazarus station. Her alignment changed slightly, leaning a bit more towards ruthlessness. In her opinion, the stakes had been upped in the two years that she was dead and everything she had been warning about was discredited. She need to act immediately and quickly.

Her skepticism about Cerberus left her alone for awhile. She was on a ship that was probably bugged and who knew how many of the crew members had orders to report directly to The Illusive Man. Not to mention she’d seen for herself what Cerberus was capable of back in 2183 during her hunt for Saren. As time progressed, her doubts grew into full blown suspicion, even more so after the disastrous fallout of Horizon.

The infiltration of the “damaged” Collector ship and EDI’s report cemented it for her: The Illusive Man was definitely manipulating her for some end she couldn’t see yet. Whatever game that man was playing, the chances were good that he was going to get them all killed. For her, it simply became a matter of time: after they hit the Collector base and got back in one piece, she would be bailing on Cerberus. As before though, when she left the Reds, she didn’t breathe a word of it to anyone, until they were en route to the Collector base. By that point, EDI was unshackled, on their side and ensured no communications were sent to The Illusive Man in regards to this. Elentari’s suspicions of The Illusive Man have become deep-seated but without evidence to back it up, it simply remains theory: that The Illusive Man is suffering some form of Indoctrination. And while she knows it’s bias speaking, she doesn’t trust those damned cybernetic eyes of his one bit: they remind her of Husk eyes and of Saren’s eyes too much for her liking.

Seeing Kaidan on Horizon, ended disastrously for both of them, especially after Elentari had been stonewalled by Anderson and her messages went unanswered a few weeks prior. All the doubts and questions she had about herself became dissociation, wherein she would refer to herself in the 3rd person and would frequently feel like a stranger in her body. With Garrus’ help, she found her footing again and she put aside any thought of getting back together with Kaidan. Receiving his message a bit after Horizon merely confirmed it for her.

Boarding the derelict Reaper was something Elentari was unsure about. It didn’t help that the vessel was crawlin with Husks, Abominations and Scions. Actually managing to retrieve an intact geth was not something she expected in the slightest but she took the chance to learn more about the geth.

When EDI revealed that the Collectors were Protheans, it strengthened her resolve to strike back at the Collectors. From the memories in her head from Eden Prime and the Cipher, she knew that Protheans viewed it as a duty and responsibility to kill as many of their corrupted people as possible and even now, over 50,000 years later, she would see it done if possible. When she discovered that the Illusive Man set it all up, his name went directly to the top of her shit list. If she ever got the opportunity, she would see him dead.

Elentari made sure to build up her entire team and make sure it was rock solid before they hit the Omega-4 relay. Everyone had resolved their personal issues and was focused solely on the mission. In fact, in less than 48 hours after the Collectors boarded the Normandy, she had Joker plot a course to the Omega-4 relay to strike back at them