#Being out as a lesbian is NOT fun!! like I was bullied so much for dating girls and even just for Looking like I date girls before

[ladyloveandjustice]

My Top 12 Favorite Anime of 2024 (and more)!

We had a lot of good anime in 2024, so here's the list of my top 12 favorites and some bonus great anime as well. If you get tired of clicking the review links, check out my anime overview collection for all of them here.  

(There are a couple anime on here I never gave an official review due to not watching during the season they were airing, and their sections are a bit longer) These are in no particular order!

Delicious in Dungeon (a.k.a Dungeon Meshi)

Dungeon Meshi  is one of my favorite stories period, and easily my top anime of the year. The basic premise is that Laios and his party of adventurers need to travel through a monster-infested dungeon rescue his sister. Rather waste precious time earning money for food, Laios decides they should just eat the monsters they encounter as they travel. But then that simple plot spins off into so much more...

The story combines cooking and adventure animanga expertly. It has some of the most impressive and fascinating worldbuilding I've ever seen, top-tier varied character design and a great plot. It's also funny as hell, and I love its main cast of nuanced eccentric weirdos with all my heart. Even the characters who have five minutes of screen time feel like you could watch a spin-off series about them.

It's not just about food, but the cycle of life and death, about hunger of all kinds, about ecosystems and societies and finding solace in the monstrous...there's a lot simmering under this story!

So, go ahead and eat up! And read my review here for more!

Mayonaka Punch

Canceled YouTuber, Masaki, meets a pathetic lesbian vampire, Live. Live agrees to help Masaki launch a new YouTube channel, but in exchange, Masaki has to let Live suck up all her blood when they reach 100 million subscribers.

 This is the kind of stuff I watch anime for. This is what dreams are made of.

Do you support women's wrongs? Are you craving some women who are loveable shitheads? Do you want a great ensemble comedy about five disaster vampires wreaking havoc and a cynical human along for the ride? This show has all that, plus some down bad lesbian vampire shenanigans! But there's also a lot of growth for the main character, and the show has a lot of pathos in how it explores how the internet and its outrage train can do a number on one's mental health.

It's a ton of fun! See my full review here!

Magilumiere Magical Girls Inc.

Being a magical girl is no longer the domain of teenagers, and has evolved into an actual career dominated by adult women. Kana becomes a magical girl for a scrappy start up company, and tries her best to navigate working life.

It's the magical girl story about adult women I've been craving for years! Magical girl media often explores the struggles of adolescence and growing up, and this show takes us to the next step by using magical girls to explore what it’s like to be a young woman entering the working world. The focus is one Kana struggling to grow her confidence and accept support from her workplace, but it also has a lot to say about companies exploiting their workers, prizing efficiency and growth over actually taking care of their customers, and it shows how the world could be better than what it is right now. Check out my review here for more detail!

Girls Band Cry

After being bullied, Nina drops out school and ends up starting a band with four other girls, including the woman whose music saved her at her darkest moment. Nina's determined for the band to stick it to the people who once looked down on them. GBC features some wonderfully messy and entertaining teenage girls, actually incredible CGI animation and great music. Nina, the lead, is allowed to be angry and obnoxious and powered by spite, but the narrative sympathizes with her and loves her spirit, even if she sometimes messes things up. All the girls have rough edges and raw emotion and a great dynamic with each other. They also flip people off a lot.

It was kind of screwed over by streaming, but don't sleep on it! See my review here!

Natsume's Book of Friends (Season 7) 

Anime's sweetest boy and his horrible cat (affectionate) are back, and it's time for more yokai adventures! I’ve already talked at length about how this series is special–check out my series review/ Rec post for the series here. I also did an article titled The Courage to Speak: Mental Illness and Recovery in Natsume’s Book of Friends that goes into more in-depth analysis. The story is sweet and charming and sometimes heartwrenching and very important to me.

It's yet another season of lovely, bittersweet yokai tales that tug on your heartstrings, the characters continue to heal and grow in slow but satisfying ways. It just feels so nice watching this series again and letting the love, comfort, and catharsis wash over me. See my review here.

Dead Dead Demon's DeDeDeDe Destruction

A giant mothership is hovering over Tokyo. The aliens have done nothing, not even leaving their ship, but Japan and America are already trying to blow that UFO up, and show off who has the best weapons, causing many civilian casualties along the way. Meanwhile, two girls are just trying to living their lives.

This anime goes hard on criticizing the military industrial complex, Japanese nationalism and imperialism, American imperialism, xenophobia, mistreatment of immigrants, rich people, and conspiracy theorists. That means it's often devastating and visceral, but it also follows some fantastic weird girls and their ride-or-die soul bond, as well as other charming, funny teenagers who are just trying to live in a world falling apart around them. You can also look forward to some plot twists that recontextualize everything you know!

You should also see my review for some content warnings and a really important message about episode order if you want more detail, you can read it here.

Senpai is an Otokonoko

 Makoto is an "otokonoko" ( a term that means crossdressing boy) and he's figuring out his relationship to gender, and hiding his interests from his mother. A girl named Aoi confesses to him, thinking he's a girl. But he reveals the truth, she's ecstatic about it, much to his shock. Meanwhile, Makoto's best friend Ryuji is also crushing on him...

It's tough to be a queer kid in a world full of rigid gender roles and insidious homophobia, and this anime shows the unfairness of that struggle. But it also shows the joy of finding those who accept and understand you, and of slowly becoming comfortable with who you are. The show knows how to make you really roots for these great kids, and it's really good at tugging the ol' heartstrings. See my review here for more!

A Sign of Affection

The anime follows Yuki, a shy girl who's been deaf since birth, and Itsuomi, a world-traveler and polyglot, fall in love. They both live in very different worlds, but as their romance blooms, they're eager to learn more about each other.

A Sign of Affection is shoujo romance at its sweetest, with soft colors, gentle blushes, tender moments, and plenty of warm fuzzies. The animation is beautiful and the show treats Yuki's perspective with care and delicacy as the story goes on. It also have a great focus on communication and consent in a relationship. Read my review here! 

YATAGARASU: The Raven Does Not Choose Its Master

In this world, people have the ability to shapeshift into yatagarasu, the giant three legged ravens from Japanese mythology. Prince Wakamiya, who's next in line for the emperor, is thought to be an incarnation of the powerful "Golden Raven", so the four women chosen as his bride candidates (each who carry the hopes of their respective provinces) compete fiercely for his hand. Yukiya, a canny young boy, has been pulled into being the prince's attendant, and both Yukiya and the women soon find themselves pulled into a deadly web of mysteries and political machinations.

Yatagarasu is a tightly woven tale of political intrigue, featuring lots of palace folk plotting against each other, multiple assassination attempts, spies, fascinating worldbuilding and use of mythology, well executed plot twists, and complex characters. Yukiya is a very likeable little trickster with a heart of gold, and he works well as an audience surrogate who has to keep up with all this weird court drama. In the first half, the story focuses a lot on on women contending with rigid roles and how that leads to both enmity and empathy between them. But disappointingly, most of those characters are dropped or have their roles reduced in the second half of the anime, which is a shame.

Overall, this anime is a story that hooks you with it's story and it's dark, majestic atmosphere and never lets go.cIt's just plain good, and pretty underrated, so I'd suggest checking it out!

The Apothecary Diaries (Episodes 13-24)

The second half of The Apothecary Diaries was somehow even better than the first half, crafting a compelling ongoing mystery and delving into MaoMao’s backstory. There were quite a few big thrills that made me gasp aloud. MaoMao, the world's best poison-obsessed detective, pulled off some show-stopping feats and she remains an incredible, endearing character. Especially now that we’ve learned she has a killer evil laugh. Check out my review of the first part of The Apothecary Diaries here and slightly more detail on this run of episodes here.

Dandadan

 Another one you've probably heard of, it's the story of two kids- Momo, who was abducted by aliens and Okarun, who was cursed by a yokai. Now they have to break Okarun's curese while aliens and yokai are hunting them!

Dandadan is an anime bursting with absurd action and humor, and it has a boppin’ soundtrack and amazing animation from Science Saru. It’s wildly weird in the best way, and the characters are hilarious lovable losers. It's also the rare example of a battle shonen that actually treats its female lead as an equal to her male partner, in screen time and in battle. I adore Momo with all my heart- she's fun, she's bombastic, she's badass, she's everything.

However, the main problem I have with the show is its pattern of putting Momo in sexual peril. I go into more detail about this and the show in general in my review here.

Train to the End of the World

 A story about four girls and a dog traveling across a weird, warped version of Japan to find their missing friend, Train to the End of the World is wild. I absolutely adore bizarre anime about equally bizarre girls, and this delivers. We see the girls encounter a cult with mushrooms growing out of their heads, screaming goatmen and even zombies on their journey. The dynamic between the different characters is great, and the dialogue is snappy. If you appreciate wild and weird zaniness that also has a lot of heart and great friendships, give this show a try. My full review is here.

Bonus Anime- some other stuff you might want to check out!

Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?!

Despite an extremely goofy title Cherry Magic quickly became a surprisingly grounded, thoughtful and heartfelt BL romance worth watching. See my full review here.

7th Time Loop: The Villainess Enjoys a Carefree Life Married to Her Worst Enemy!

Rishe has lived seven lives, had lots of adventures, and in every single one of them, she has been killed as result of the world war started by the emperor of a neighboring kingdom. Each time Rishe dies, she's sent back to the moment the crown prince of her own country broke off their engagement (she's actually pretty happy about it). But in her seventh life, the future Emperor sees her, is instantly smitten by how cool she is and proposes to her. Rishe decides she might as well enjoy life chilling in the palace before things inevitably go to hell.

7th Time Loop has a fun conceit, and it features a vivacious, badass heroine who's a joy to watch. Having lived as a commoner in most of her past lives, she's ready to use her smarts to help people--whether it's going undercover to help a maid who's being bullied or addressing illiteracy among the servant girls. Whether she's beating up kidnappers or politically maneuvering, she's learning and growing and kicking ass. While her love interest is a bit too broody for me, I do deeply relate to how Rishe's badassery clearly turns him on. The antagonists and plot are sometimes a bit silly, but it's always a good time. A josei anime about an awesome gal is just what the doctor ordered.

Acro Trip

A silly show about a magical girl fangirl who's recruited to an evil organization by an incompetent villain,  Acro Trip is a lot of fun, and I recommend it to any magical girl enjoyer. I also recommend it to anyone who loves pathetic failguys and girls. Our "villain" Chrome is the most hilariously pathetic of them all. You like bad boys? Well this man is literally bad at everything. See my full review here.

Whisper Me a Love Song

 I have to give a shoutout to the only textual yuri anime that came out this year--it's production basically completely collapsed, but it's still watchable and the story is a sweet and solid girl band romance. At least consider giving the manga a shot if nothing else! See my review here!

[ourladyoftheflytrap]

Like gay sex is always gay sex and I wouldn't call it "Sapphic sex" or anything dumb like that but I have had a problem with calling myself and my relationship business gay for like a long time now

[annepi-blog]

Save Dead Boy Detectives

Hey friends,

I’m hoping you can spare a minute to help out. Please take a second to sign the petition at the end of this post to help save Dead Boy Detectives!

Now, you might be thinking, “Why should I care? I didn’t even watch it.”

Well, this isn't just about one show. Dead Boy Detectives is far from the first series Netflix has canceled, and we’re especially frustrated because this is part of a growing trend. LGBTQ+ inclusive series like this one are often axed after just one or two seasons, leaving fans heartbroken and hesitant to start new shows in the future. It’s become a sort of “throwaway culture” where unique, diverse stories just… disappear. And that’s honestly so disheartening for those of us who connect with these characters.

Fans are especially angry because Dead Boy Detectives is highly praised by both audiences and critics. The viewership numbers were solid and comparable to first seasons of shows like Emily in Paris or Heartstopper, which are now going into their third or fourth seasons. So it’s hard to understand why this show is being cut when it clearly resonated with people and had the potential to go the distance.

That’s why it would mean so much if you showed a little solidarity and stood against this trend with us.

And of course, it would be amazing if you gave the show a chance. Even though a second season may not happen, the storylines in season one are mostly wrapped up, so you can still enjoy the ride without feeling like you’re left hanging.

One of the best parts of Dead Boy Detectives is how diverse the cast is. For once, 3 of the 4 main characters aren’t white, and this level of representation has meant the world to many fans. There is also a high proportion of badass women in the series.

Plus, the story is packed with important themes like abuse, bullying, grief, finding and accepting yourself, and of course, the beauty of found family and friendship. Wrapped up in horror, detective stories, and genuine comedy-drama, Dead Boy Detectives strikes a balance that makes it both fun and heartfelt.

And the LGBTQIA+ representation! We've got a canonical gay Edwardian ghost, a gay human-crow familiar, a lesbian butcher, a sapphic librarian, and even a pansexual shape-shifting cat king.

So please, sign the petition, and maybe check out the show. It would mean the world to all of us in the fandom.

[chaengluva]

Don’t Be Fooled By The Pink

Regina George x Fem!Reader: 2.4k words.

Requested: No

Regina hasn’t laid eyes on you before but one day she noticed that you were feeling sad and she couldn’t help but feel bad for you, so Regina decided to he human for once.

WARNINGS: Slight mention of a bad life at home and bullying

You walked into class with your head down and your hoodie up. You tried your best to hide your face from the people that you knew would make fun of you for crying at school, but you couldn't help it. So much was going on in your life that you couldn't take it anymore.

You were so tired of being the second choice, in the eyes of everyone, everything you do is compared to what your sister does, if you get a B, you should do better but when you get an A, your parents blame you for cheating, but when its your sister, they treat her like she just found a cure to cancer.

Nothing like what happened this morning, it was the worst fight and your sister just let your parents attack you. Your mom went in to your room when you were sleeping, and being herself, she went threw all your stuff. She opened your note book, the one were you confessed your crush, on a girl.

You tried to tell her that you didn't like that girl anymore, and you told her that it was all just a phase (which is a lie), but you didn't want her to be mad at you.

It didn't work; she wasn't happy; she started yelling at you, which started you awake and made your father and sister rush in; they also yelled at you; and your sister just watched and smirked while it happened, which broke your heart.

Your mom told you to pack your stuff and not come home after school today, you felt so broken and you didn't know where do go, so that's why you were upset at school.

You look up for the first time, and you notice that Regina Geogre is staring at you. You sigh, looking away, knowing she is probally juding you for crying, when you look back you notice she is still looking at you, which makes you more embarssed.

You look away, then you feel a vibration on from your phone, you pull it out to check and you were really confused when it said that Regina had texted you through instagram.

@TheRegina_Geogre

Hey, I know we have never talked but why are you crying?

@Y/n.L/n_

Just personal reasons.

@TheRegina_Geogre

Do you want to talk about it?

Just leave the classroom; meet me in the janitors closet next to the classroom.

She didn't say anything else; she just got up and left. You were so confused about why Regina was being nice to you, but you didn't want to argue with her, so you just got up and followed her. You opened the door and saw Regina sitting down, doing her nails.

"Hey," you say, sitting down next to her. "So, why are you crying?" She asks, and you look down, saying, "Well, my parents kicked me out because..." You panicked, realising that she could also be homophobic, but you sighed, pretending not to care and saying, "I'm lesbian." You finish.

She pauses, looking at you. There was no shaking on her face; she was just quiet. "Oh." She said quietly, and you get up to leave, knowing she probably doesn't want to deal with you anymore, but she grabs your wrist and pulls you back down.

"Stay." She says, "Tell me more." You sigh, "Well I'm always second in my parents eyes, my sister can't do anything wrong, but I can't do anything right." She gives you an apologetic look, and pulling you in for a hug. "I get what your going through, I do."

You nod your head. The bell rings, meaning class is over, but none of you moved. It wasn't like your parents were going to do anything; you weren't going back.

You stayed the whole time in there until it was lunch time, and the two of you were hungry. You didn't think she wanted to eat lunch with you because of her reputation, so you quickly got up, not noticing that she tried to chase after you, but she lost you.

"Watch out, loser!" One of the jocks said he was throwing a football at you, making everyone around you laugh. You quickly tried to escape the sense, then you felt cold liquid drip down your body, and when you opened your eyes, you noticed people around you recording you and your sister pouring milk on you.

You left all your stuff and walked off. You shoved past people as they tried to trip you over and humiliate you even more. You walked until no one could see you, but you were still on campus.

Regina had been looking for you and was just deterred to go sit with her friends. As she walks to the table, she notices everyone's eyes on a phone, laughing at the video of you being bullied. This makes her mad.

She was about to sit down on the table, but Gretchen's voice stopped her. "I'm sorry, Regina. You can't sit with us." She says it loudly, and everyone looks up from their phones and puts their eye on the plastic table "What?" Regina asks with a small laugh. "You're wearing sweatpants. It's Thursday." Gretchen continues, and Regina rolls her eyes. "Whatever. Those rules aren't real."

"They were real that day I wore a vest." Karen says, and Regina rolls her eyes again. "Yeah, because that vest was disgusting!" Regina exclaims, and everyone goes quiet.

"You can't sit with us!" Gretchen yells. More silence. "These sweatpants are all that fit me right now." Regina whispers, not wanting many people to hear her.

"What do you think, Cady?" Gretchen asks Cady, and Regina looks at the strawberry blonde. She turns around with a smirk on her face and says, "Sorry, Regina. Rules are rules." She says it with a smirk in her voice. "Fine." She says this, turning away from the table. Everyone's eyes were on her, and she just rolled her eyes. "Take a picture, losers. It'll last longer." She says, walking away, throwing away her lunch as she goes.

She leaves the school, and she notices you sitting behind a tree, making her sigh. She walks up to you, kneeling down, pulling you in for a hug. "I'm sorry I wasn't there." Regina says she is picking you up and taking you back to her house.

The two of you did everything you could to distract you from what was going on in your life; you watched movies, talked, and she even showed you the burn book that she wrote about girls in the grade; you weren't in it, which you didn't know how to feel about.

"I told Gretchen not to put you in it, she wanted to." Regina says, You give her a confused look, "Why?" You ask, and she sighs, looking down and sighing, "Because I like you." Regina says, and you blush, not wanting to believe her if she is lying. She notices this and rolls her eyes, grabbing your neck and pulling you in for a kiss.

You kissed back, slowly changing your position on the bed so she was hovering over you, as you made out, you got lost, you forgot about everything and for once in your life you felt wanted. 

You opened your eyes, and you were shocked to feel Regina's arms around you. She was holding you close. You moved slightly, waking the girl up. She yawed before getting up and moving to her closest. She threw you some clothes to wear, not saying a word. "I need to get my status back." Regina says, nodding her head, "How come you only talked to me when you saw me crying?" You ask, making Regina sigh.

"I've always been so shy; I know that sounds stupid, me? Shy?" Regina says, giggling, making you smile back, and hugging her, "Thanks, Regina." You smile, letting go of Regina, grabbing the clothes she gave you, then changing, leaving Regina standing there with a stupid smile on her face.

When you finally got changed, you came out to see that Regina was now sitting on her bed, eating a kalteen bar, which made you confused. "Regina?" You ask, she hums, looking up and into your eyes. "You know those make you gain weight."

Her eyes go from really soft to angry. She spits the rest of the bar she was chewing out and grabs the burn book, putting Cady's name inside it. (You thought so.) "I'm kicking her out today." Regina says you just nod your head, not wanting to argue with her.

The two of you go to school and sit on the plastic table like nothing happened yesterday. Gretchen and Karen were happy that Regina finally told you about her feelings; her arm was wrapped around you possessively, and the two girls sat opposite you and started to talk.

Cady made her way to the table, and Regina looked at the girl with angry eyes. Cady had no idea that Regina knew about the scheme she pulled off, and she wasn't happy about it.

Cady was about to sit down, but Regina spoke up, "You're not allowed to sit here." Regina said, and Cady gasped, "Why not?" She asked with hurt in her voice. "Because I said so," Regina said, hoping that was enough for the strawberry blonde to get up and leave, but she didn't move.

"So you're replacing me with some sore loser?" Cady says, rolling her eyes. Gretchen and Karen's eyes go wide, and they tell Cady to run away with their hands, but she doesn't pick it up. Regina drops the cheese fry that she was holding in her hand, then stands up. "Excuse me?" Regina says, and the shorter girl smirks. "You heard me."

Regina chuckles, walking closer to the girl, showing the clear height difference between them, making Cady slightly regret what she said and backing away. "Y/N is not a loser." Regina says, and Cady nervously nods, making the blonde roll her eyes. "Y/N is prettier than you; she has a personality. You were nothing before you met me." Regina said, pushing down the girl.

The whole cafeteria was laughing at her, which made the blonde smirk and feel satisfied enough to sit back down. When she sat back down, she noticed you were eating her cheese fries. Usually she would be mad if someone ate her food, but now she felt worried. "Y/N?" Regina said, making you jump and quickly putting the fry down.

"Sorry for eating your food," you nervously say. The blonde giggles, shaking her head. "It's okay; you can have the rest of them." She smiles, and Gretchen and Karen stare at the girl in shock. Regina never shares her food, but she did with you.

She allows you to touch her hair and eat her food. Karen and Gretchen knew that she liked you, but you didn't expect the two of you to move this quickly.

"Regina?" Gretchen said, making the girl roll her eyes, and she looked over at Gretchen. "What?" She asked with bitterness in her voice. "I have to pee, do you?" Gretchen said, smirking, and Regina knew exactly what Gretchen was doing. She groaned, getting up and then following Gretchen into the bathroom.

"What do you want?" Regina asked, crossing her arms. Gretchen gulped. "Are you dating Y/N?" Gretchen asks, and Regina gasps, "Not yet." She smirks and then goes to leave, but Gretchen grabs her and says, "You should take her out tonight." Gretchen suits, and Regina stops in her tracks and turns back to face her.

"You know what? That's a really good idea." Regina smiles, leaving. Gretchen has a massive smile on her face. She finally feels seen by her best friend. Regina goes back to you, taking a deep breath. "Y/N," she said, grabbing your attention.

You looked up, with a smile on your face, asking, "Yes?" Regina takes a deep breath before asking, "Will you go out with me? On a date." You happily smile and nod quickly, and she smiles, pulling you in for a hug and then walking away.

The two of you girls went home later that day and got ready in different rooms. When you walked out and saw Regina, she looked amazing.

She took you out to this very fancy restaurant that was very expensive; you almost felt bad watching her pay. When the two of you got back home, you held each other close and watched movies.

When you woke up, Regina wasn't with you; she wasn't by your side, which made you confused. You asked her mum where she was, and she told you that Regina had gone to school already, which made you frown. You had to catch the bus.

When you got to school, it was insane. Every girl was attacking each other, and you didn't know why, but then people turned to look at you and started laughing. You were confused by what they were laughing about, but then you got a text from someone.

"Y/N is a slut who craves attention from girls because her parents don't give her any."

You felt tears come to your eyes, and you knew exactly who wrote this, and she told you that she wouldn't write your name in the book. You look up, and Regina is making eye contact with you. She is trying to say something, but you ignore it.

You rush into the bathroom and put your hands in your head, feeling the tears come through, thinking of how dumb you were to trust Regina George.

Just as you open the door, Regina comes in, and you look away. "Y/n." She says, You roll your eyes, "What?" Regina sighs deeply. "I didn't mean anything I wrote about you. I had to write it." Regina says, making you roll your eyes again. "What do you mean you had to?" You ask.

Regina looks down at the ground. "I didn't want you to get framed, so I wrote you and me in it," Regina confesses, and you look down. "Oh."

Regina pulls you in for a hug, praying that you will hug back, and thankfully, you do. "Let's skip the rest of the day." Regina asks, and you nod with a smile on your face.

[lapdogchase]

people love weird queer people they see as sexually attractive and not "cringe" (though people have stopped using the word out loud and just let the implication go unspoken), and the second it's not about crazy gay sex or whatever people start acting like high school bullies.

sorry but "weird queer people" has to include 14 year old asexual demiboys on tiktok & aro cishet men who want to have platonic sex with women & polycules with multiple people you aren't attracted to & people (aromantic or alloromantic) in queerplatonic relationships (& queerplatonic polycules) & yes this includes the most annoying most 14-year old twitter user you know. you don't have to like people personally and you don't have to interact with them, obviously, and if someone's causing harm you do not have to tolerate that. obviously.

but like. i'm 21, and 17-18 year olds make up a good half of the student body at my college, so i've met and befriended several 17/18 year olds who clearly and self-admittedly have spent most of their formative developmental years on tiktok and twitter. and frankly i would much, much rather hang out with them and have to explain bi lesbians and have to ask them not to call me slurs, than i would hang out with a 24 year old tumblr user whose only joke is making fun of asexuals/aromantics/polyamorous people/neopronouns/xenogenders/queerplatonic relationships/nondysphoric trans people/transmascs/label hoarders/et cetera and acting like having sex is the most important part of being queer.

if you say you love "weird queer people" but can't extend even basic kindness towards the type of weird queer person who gets no bitches (whether on purpose or not) & wishes there were more queer cafes because they don't drink. i don't think you really love weird queer people.

[moniibu]

Yan bully/delinquent ordering reader to buy them food (in the earlier days of their "relationship") and finding out that reader bought it for her using her own food money. ;_; feel guilty

*✧･ﾟFEM YANDERE DELINQUENT/BULLY X FEM READER *:･ﾟ✧

based on my previous work

things to watch out for: yandere themes, bullying, normal yandere themes, possessiveness, etc. , the only pronouns being “you”

word count: 2.5k

summary: after selecting you as her main target to pick on and bother, *✧･ﾟFEM YANDERE DELINQUENT/BULLY *:･ﾟ✧ decides to make you get her food, only to find out that she forgot to hand you money to do so.

notes: thank you sm anon for sending me a request, as well as seeing how much you all enjoy *✧･ﾟFEM YANDERE DELINQUENT/BULLY X READER *:･ﾟ✧, this means a lot knowing you all enjoy my work!

reblogging/reposting is appreciated, and like this person right here; if you would like to see something specific about the characters i’ve written about, or any other things you would like to see, just send a request since they ARE OPEN !!

i also haven’t given this character a name yet, so if you have any suggestions, share them in the comments! (she might just remain a copy and paste title for a while tho 😭)

this is a LESBIAN post, so MEN & MEN ALIGNED PEOPLE DNI !!

i hope you all enjoy *✧･ﾟFEM YANDERE DELINQUENT/BULLY X FEM READER *:･ﾟ✧

*✧･ﾟFEM YANDERE DELINQUENT/BULLY *:･ﾟ✧ was having a bad day. she failed two of her tests, got into a argument with her teacher, and had her parents called on her for the third time this week due to her “ill-manners” and “bad temper” since it makes the school look bad. in other words, today was not her day.

her parents were pissed at her. with a wealthy family like hers, image is one of the most important things in the world. her parents hated that she ruined their reputation, and *✧･ﾟFEM YANDERE DELINQUENT/BULLY *:･ﾟ✧ knew she was in for a lecture the minute she walked through her house doors after school was over with.

*✧･ﾟFEM YANDERE DELINQUENT/BULLY *:･ﾟ✧ was pissed, her parents were pissed, her teachers were pissed; everyone she knew was upset with her in some way over something simple. she was upset with herself and everyone around her. like any bully, that meant instead of bettering herself and her actions, *✧･ﾟFEM YANDERE DELINQUENT/BULLY *:･ﾟ✧ was going to take her anger out of other people.

which unfortunately means that *✧･ﾟFEM YANDERE DELINQUENT/BULLY *:･ﾟ✧ is going to be on your back more than she usually is.

*✧･ﾟFEM YANDERE DELINQUENT/BULLY *:･ﾟ✧ was sitting at a table with her so called “friends”, lost in thought. she was fuming with hatred; hatred for her teachers, the principal, and even the other delinquents she hangs out with for being more annoying than usual.

*✧･ﾟFEM YANDERE DELINQUENT/BULLY *:･ﾟ✧ hasn’t been in a good mood since she pushed that redhead into his locker three days ago. she wanted to relive that feeling, to take out her anger on people once again.

looking around, *✧･ﾟFEM YANDERE DELINQUENT/BULLY *:･ﾟ✧ had to think. who could she take it out on? her eyes scanned around, looking for a target. it couldn’t be someone who could potentially make her problems worse by reporting her, and it couldn’t be someone who didn’t care if she did it —because that would be no fun—.

it had to be someone who she knew would hate it. someone who would want her to hurry it up since they had something to lose.

someone like you.

there you were. walking down the sidewalk all bundled up in your cute coat with your earmuffs and wearing the frilly things in your hair that she liked but was too much in denial to admit.

you flipped your hair to get it out of your face, and to *✧･ﾟFEM YANDERE DELINQUENT/BULLY *:･ﾟ✧, it was like time had stopped. your face, your outfit, and just you in general made her breath hitch. she was in awe at your presence.

as she stared at you for a bit longer, her feelings of love and mesmerization were replaced with anger and disgust. how dare you? how dare you make *✧･ﾟFEM YANDERE DELINQUENT/BULLY *:･ﾟ✧ feel this way?

how dare you for making her feel all fuzzy. damn you for making her feel jittery with butterflies. she hated that you were making her feel different from her usual cold-hearted and annoyed attitude.

you were obviously in a hurry for something, which made *✧･ﾟFEM YANDERE DELINQUENT/BULLY *:･ﾟ✧ smirk in amusement. she looked at you realizing that she could make you do whatever she wants. she has both the money and the connections so that there is no other option for you besides to abide her commands.

you were trying to be valedictorian. for someone like you, who was attending school on a scholarship, that meant having to do what the rich kids say just so that you can keep your place here. you worked too hard to lose it, and even if they bullied you, you knew you could endure it.

you stopped for a moment, collecting yourself. your bag had slipped off your shoulder. with all the studying you’ve had to endure, as well as *✧･ﾟFEM YANDERE DELINQUENT/BULLY *:･ﾟ✧ taunts and actions, you huffed in irritation. your bag was falling off your shoulder, and to make matters worse, your lip gloss had fallen out of your bag.

with another huff let out of your mouth, you flipped your hair to see better. out of the corner of your eye, you caught *✧･ﾟFEM YANDERE DELINQUENT/BULLY *:･ﾟ✧ looking at you, her face showing a big smirk. you knew exactly what this meant, and honestly? you hated it. it fueled you with more anger than you could ever imagine. you’ve had to deal with all her taunts, her picking on you, and even her slamming your locker to the point where the locker door almost caught your fingers. and for what, a laugh? something that wouldn’t even matter the next day?

you looked at her. *✧･ﾟFEM YANDERE DELINQUENT/BULLY *:･ﾟ✧ had beckoned you with her fingers, ushering for you to follow her directions and go towards her. she may be rude, and infuriate you every time her existence is in your way of view, but you knew you couldn’t refuse with what she wanted.

you knew about rich kids like her. the second that you refuse and didn’t do what she wanted, or didn’t play along with her antics, is the day that all of a sudden you get stripped away from everything; no car, no job, and a letter in the mail taking away your scholarship.

you worked hard for that scholarship. you stayed up late on school night, half of the time pulling all nighters. you were not going to give that up even if you were done with all of *✧･ﾟFEM YANDERE DELINQUENT/BULLY *:･ﾟ✧’s teasing and mocking. you scuff your feet over towards her way, stopping right next to were she’s sitting.

as *✧･ﾟFEM YANDERE DELINQUENT/BULLY *:･ﾟ✧, watched you walked towards her, she began to feel giddy. she may have commanded you to come over here, but she felt nervous. your gaze made her feel weak. she was in between denial and wondering what would happen if she would just accept her feelings.

she wondered what it would feel like if she let her feelings consume her and let you control her; let her spoil you and serve you until the end of time. your entire being made her weak in the knees, and had her wanting more and more of you.

her brain won over her heart this time. she knew she couldn’t indulge, even if she wanted to. she was around her other delinquent friends for one; and for two, she was a delinquent for crying out loud! she was supposed to be cold and harsh towards anyone and everyone, not sappy and nice! *✧･ﾟFEM YANDERE DELINQUENT/BULLY *:･ﾟ✧ was a delinquent, and even if she had to shove her feelings down, she was going to act like one.

*✧･ﾟFEM YANDERE DELINQUENT/BULLY *:･ﾟ✧ isn’t supposed to be sappy. she isn’t supposed to feel this way. she doesn’t deserve it. *✧･ﾟFEM YANDERE DELINQUENT/BULLY *:･ﾟ✧’s face shifted from nerves to fury. you were making her feel all fuzzy inside and questioning herself, and she hated it. she’s never felt this way about anyone before, and she wants to keep it like way.

people like her do not fall in love.

so what does someone like her do? she’s going to order you around harshly like a pet, like your beneath her like scum under her shoe so she can tug away her feelings for you and convince herself that you mean absolutely nothing to her. she fixes her face so she can keep up the facade that she’s created.

*✧･ﾟFEM YANDERE DELINQUENT/BULLY *:･ﾟ✧ glares at you like you’re nothing. she hates that you’re making her believe that your worth something. she’ll get you back for whatever you’ve done to her to make her feel this way.

“listen carefully loser. i want something to eat. go grab me something from the store over there, and don’t mess it up.” *✧･ﾟFEM YANDERE DELINQUENT/BULLY *:･ﾟ✧ commands. she leaves no room for debate.

*✧･ﾟFEM YANDERE DELINQUENT/BULLY *:･ﾟ✧ knows all about you and your history. she knows that you hate how much she targets you, or how she makes you feel worse than what you already do. she also knows about your financial situation, and how you have to have a scholarship to attend the school her parents desperately want her to go to. after the way you’ve made her feel, *✧･ﾟFEM YANDERE DELINQUENT/BULLY *:･ﾟ✧ wants to return the favor.

“yeah, yeah i know. i’ll be back.” as you walk away from her, she calls out to you.

“and make sure it’s fresh. i don’t want anything nasty.” she barks. you “tsk” at her as you walk away, subtly showing off your annoyance. you’re disgusted with that fact that she’s barking orders at you like you’re a dog. you hate that you basically have to follow what she says.

why does she pick on you specifically? she could have anyone to push and shove around, yet she picked you. with the money and influence she has, there are probably many people who would kill to have her bark at them. they would do anything, and *✧･ﾟFEM YANDERE DELINQUENT/BULLY *:･ﾟ✧ decides to pick you, knowing that you could care less about her or her family.

maybe it’s because she knows you don’t care, even though you follow through with her orders, or maybe it’s because you have yet to suck up to her or ask her for something that she could grant you.

you don’t know what made *✧･ﾟFEM YANDERE DELINQUENT/BULLY *:･ﾟ✧ pick you, but whatever it was, you were going to make her regret it. as you walked into the convenience store, you decided that you would get her the worse thing possible. it may seem petty, or stupid for that matter, but you were going to do anything to get *✧･ﾟFEM YANDERE DELINQUENT/BULLY *:･ﾟ✧ and make her pay.

as you walk into the store, you look around, picking out which ones would get *✧･ﾟFEM YANDERE DELINQUENT/BULLY *:･ﾟ✧ sick without the food looking bad. you look around, your eyes landing on the hotdogs. you hate it, and you know they never clean the racks unless they are ordered to. the hotdogs are used over and over again until someone buys them, which makes it the perfect food for you to buy.

you grab two hotdogs and splatter ketchup and mustard on it. once your done you make your way to the back and grab yourself your favorite candy, as well as a root beer for *✧･ﾟFEM YANDERE DELINQUENT/BULLY *:･ﾟ✧. once your done, you go to the register and pay for everything.

you walk back, everything in its bag. you take out your candy and stuff it into your bag. you don’t want her finding out and wanting the candy you bought for yourself. you may have been “ordered” to go and fetch some food for her, but that doesn’t mean that you have to give her more than what she asked for.

an almost expired hotdog and a root beer didn’t make up for all the harshness that *✧･ﾟFEM YANDERE DELINQUENT/BULLY *:･ﾟ✧ gives to you, but you decide that it might be a start to subtly getting her back. there would definitely be more times where you would be able to get her back harsher.

*✧･ﾟFEM YANDERE DELINQUENT/BULLY *:･ﾟ✧ realizes something as you’re away carrying out her task; she forgot to give you money. it’s very faint —almost nonexistent—, but she surprisingly feels guilt.

in the beginning, she was upset. she wanted to make you pay for causing her to feel things that she usually doesn’t; but looking at it now, she realizes that she’s messed up. now only did she send you out with no money to walk to a convenience store because she was too lazy, but she also sent you out in the cold winter where your hands would be exposed to frostbite.

*✧･ﾟFEM YANDERE DELINQUENT/BULLY *:･ﾟ✧ now wishes that she could undo time. she wish she wasn’t so hung up on her anger from earlier that she would take it out on you when you didn’t deserve that. she should’ve paid for her food, and should’ve made sure that you had gloves on.

“i’ll be back. don’t follow me.” *✧･ﾟFEM YANDERE DELINQUENT/BULLY *:･ﾟ✧ coldly tells her friends. she doesn’t want them seeing her admit her wrongs, especially in front of the girl they bully. *✧･ﾟFEM YANDERE DELINQUENT/BULLY *:･ﾟ✧ goes up to you. she’s pushed all her pride and her ego aside. she wants to apologize to you.

when you saw *✧･ﾟFEM YANDERE DELINQUENT/BULLY *:･ﾟ✧, you wanted to rip off the smile on her face. she looked nervous and like she’d had just gotten in trouble. it threw you off to say the least. this girl made you buy her food, and then wanted to act like she was sorry?

even if she was, you wouldn’t forgive her. girls like *✧･ﾟFEM YANDERE DELINQUENT/BULLY *:･ﾟ✧ are never sorry about their actions, nor do they feel actual regret. girls like her are only sorry when they get caught or because someone else made them apologize.

“here’s your food.” you spat. you shove the hotdogs and the root beer in her arms, making the hotdogs look worse than how you’ve got them. the root beer was practically gushing out of the bottle, but you? you could care less.

after how rudely *✧･ﾟFEM YANDERE DELINQUENT/BULLY *:･ﾟ✧ treats you, you hope that the drink spills all over her. you walk away before she can say thank you. you hope this is the last time she tries to get you to do something. you grab your belongings and walk down the street, heading towards the train.

*✧･ﾟFEM YANDERE DELINQUENT/BULLY *:･ﾟ✧ watches you walk away, both her mind and her heart filled with love. you may have tried to be petty towards her, but unfortunately for you, hotdogs are *✧･ﾟFEM YANDERE DELINQUENT/BULLY *:･ﾟ✧’s go-to when she goes to a convenience store.

and the fact that you did it unknowingly? you simply got it with her two with her favorite condiments just because? if she was in denial before, she definitely isn’t now. you went and got her favorites.

up until now, *✧･ﾟFEM YANDERE DELINQUENT/BULLY *:･ﾟ✧ has always seen you in a bad light. she hated how pretty you were, how you smiled when you said hi to people, and when you were kind to others for no reason.

but now, *✧･ﾟFEM YANDERE DELINQUENT/BULLY *:･ﾟ✧ is seeing you in a whole new light. she loves that you spent money on her, and that you got her favorite things from the store. she was so flustered in your presence that she forgot to tell you that she was sorry she made you pay for her.

*✧･ﾟFEM YANDERE DELINQUENT/BULLY *:･ﾟ✧ for once was sorry. she wanted to make it up to you. instead of purposely making you feel bad and ordering you around, she was now going to take care for you. she was going to make sure that you felt the same way she did.

whether you liked it or not, *✧･ﾟFEM YANDERE DELINQUENT/BULLY *:･ﾟ✧ was going to change. she was going to make you felt good and spoil you with love and gifts.

you may not accept it now, but *✧･ﾟFEM YANDERE DELINQUENT/BULLY *:･ﾟ✧ was going to change that. she’ll make sure that you start to feel the same way that you make her feel. and if she’s blessed, she’ll make it where you get giddy and fidgety around her as well.

*✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *✧

*✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *✧

this idea was made and created by @moniibu. all rights are reserved to @moniibu, and you are NOT allowed to steal, copy, or translate this work.

November 2023.

[bengiyo]

Ben’s Big BL Blurb 2: Fall is Finally Here

I am simply too busy with worth, family, other hobbies, and life to write about every show in real time anymore. I’m sorry to all the Stray Thoughts readers who’ve reached out about whether I would pick that back up, and I simply just do not have the time to do them anymore. Instead, I’ll try to do one of these as often as I can to catch up on things.

First, let’s go over some shows I finished recently that I don’t think I wrote much about.

First Note of Love

I was so happy to see Michael back on screen, and I was glad to see that he’s still able to get great chemistry with his co-star. Unfortunately, I don’t think this show was very coherent, so I didn’t get a lot out of it emotionally. It was a pretty inoffensive watch overall, and thus an easy show to put on without having to work through too much. I liked the work between everyone, and Mei Lei was such a fun character. Probably won’t return to this one, though. 

Let Free the Curse of Taekwondo

This is probably the show of the year for me. There’s so much I loved about this show. I loved that the characters had sex, but were neither rewarded nor punished for it; their sex didn’t solve any problems. I also really love how this show explored how childhood trauma expresses in two different kinds of boys, and I love that we got to see a bully reckon with his actions and get closure. I love that this show ended with them being kinda poor, but happy together. I love how messed up they both were about everything. I loved that Juyeong wasn’t stupid, and could read what was going on.

I clearly need to write a separate post to unpack everything I felt in this show.

Let’s move on to what I’m watching currently, in no particular order…starting with the lesbians, and then the worst BLs.

Apple My Love

Genuinely having fun with this GL. I like how quickly most of the drama plays out. It’s giving me quite a bit of secondhand embarrassment, but I like the characterizations in this show. This new production house brought us Knock Knock, Boys! and Monster Next Door this year. We need to keep an eyes on them. 

Haunted Hearts

I’m so fascinated by Oxin Films teaming up with Regal Entertainment. The leads are very attractive, but the cinematography is really boring. I’m trying to stay invested, but it’s kind of a sleepy watch. Also amused that they started airing a ghost romance right after Halloween ended. I’ve kind of moved on emotionally from the season.

My Damn Business

This show could be good, but it’s not. I struggled with episode 5 because our lead looked more relaxed and happier with his senior than the guy he’s getting into a romance with. There’s something missing here in this one, but I can’t exactly put my finger on it. I think it’s primarily a side effect of the short run time, but I think the boss’s interest isn’t landing properly for the employee to respond to. 

Eccentric Romance

This show could be good, but it’s not. Still, I am obsessed with a murder mystery being the primary source of confusion between our leads. I was willing to forgive this show a lot of its rough edges, but it failed to handle the turn from friendship to sexual/romance really well. I feel like our guys just started dating and having sex, and I’m a bit frustrated that they didn’t talk about it really at all, particularly since this show features two different languages spoken on screen. Genuinely looking forward to seeing how this one finishes. 

See Your Love

I’m not sure this show is exactly working that well, but everyone is very pretty and I’m having a decent time watching it. I like the way Shao Peng stands up for himself, and I like that nothing that’s happened has been totally unbelievable or unreasonable (at least with the mains). I’ll be curious how the hard of hearing and deaf viewers respond to this one once it’s complete. 

Love is Like a Poison

This show is actually so funny. I love that Shiba is in his own lawyer genre separate from everyone else, and I really like how the two of these guys have become a team. I’m curious how they manage to resolve the scamming next week, but this has been the most unexpected dynamic of the year. 

Love in the Air: Koi no Yukon

MAME won this year, y’all. We all have complicated feelings about her, but she’s secured a loving adaptation from a Japanese team that’s put solid effort into bringing her characters to life. Every character feels correct compared to their Thai counterpart we saw on screen, and that’s a strong sign that the writing behind MAME’s work is strong, even if we all have issues with the way she tackles certain themes. I’m really impressed with this adaptation, and really like this version of Rain.I also feel like this show is doing a better job blending the forthcoming couple focus shift.

Our Youth

We just got this show, but damn does it feel sharp! I’m always going to be a sucker for a cinephile character, and I’m so compelled by the way Minase is drawn to Hirukawa. The scene in episode 2 where Minase has to leave Hirukawa’s house might be one of the most impressive sequences we’ve had in a while, requiring a great deal of choreography and effort from the actors and the camera crew to pull off, and I’m excited to see how these characters split and then come back together. 

Smells Like Green Spirit

Let me just say that I need another Abe Alan appearance when he isn’t playing a character doing horrible things to his students. I’ve enjoyed meditating on the 90s with this show and what that era felt like. I’ve liked how the show has tried to focus on how different parents (especially the moms) have responded to their kids coming to terms with themselves. I’ve also really enjoyed the friendship that’s grown between Mishima and Kirino. I’m struggling with Yumeno a lot, because I’m really not a friend of bully romances. Still, I feel like this is one of those shows I’ll remember for a long time because of its focus on the 90s. 

Blue Canvas of Youthful Days

I think @lurkingshan covered reactions to episode 5 and episode 6 better than I could, and I loved @twig-tea giving context for the film history moment in episode 6. I remember screaming into the chat for friends to show up for this when I got to that moment. This show has two great pairs of dynamics going on that mirror well. It’s got such a strong handle on its characters’ motivations and how they would respond to the actions from each other. It’s probably the tightest thing I’m watching now, backed by extremely dialed-in performances. I will be thinking about Qi Lu organizing his potential first kiss with Qin Xiao, and how unapologetic he’s been about the entire affair. He’s being selfish here, but I kinda like it. I’m so thankful that we are somehow still getting this show, because goddamn do the Chinese actors deliver on chemistry sometimes.

Interview With the Vampire Season 2

I finished this with a friend last week, and holy fuck is this show still so, so good. We watch a lot of gay romance because of BL, and I am having so much fun watching the show about gay divorce. I loved the time we spent in Paris, Daniel’s shifting role in the narrative, and the new insights we got into Lestat this season. I will miss Claudia so much, and I have to give a standing ovation to Delainey Hayles stepping into the role of Claudia and doing the damn thing this season. I just love seeing my little fucked up gay people torment each other on screen.

I'm still thinking about Louis and Lestat reuniting in a hurricane after Claudia derided this as yet another chapter in their stormy romance.

Dropped Shows

Unfortunately, everyone can’t win. Some of these shows are just too long for me to keep up with them, and oftentimes I get bored. I’ve currently dropped:

Lovesick 2024 - I may go back. We’ll see

Jack & Joker - It’s just too long, and they just killed Jennie and a kid. I’m good.

Fourever You - I’m bored with Earth always playing this character type.

Pluto - Namtam and Film are beautiful, but this looks too messy right now.

Every You, Every Me - Wasn’t intrigued after episode 1, but the commentary may draw me back.

Kidnap - Ohm is not enough to keep me invested in this show. 

Uncle Unknown - How did they make a 6 minute show feel slow?

I’m genuinely not trying to be harsh to Thai shows out here, but I just do not have the time to keep up with all of them when they’re this long and dragging.

Thanks for stopping by, and let me know if there’s something I missed that I should check out.

[maxdibert]

Agree with your last post. I'm so annoyed by people putting Pandora with Regulus, Barty and Evan or Dorcas with the Slytherin gang or idk what else. Like Pandora was Luna's mother, why are they making her to be friends with canon death eaters? Dorcas was killed by Voldemort personally, why are they making her to be so young? Idk it's making me sad that people don't even try to respect the canon story and its characters and expand upon that. Instead they completely butcher it. I understand having fun but these headcanons have completely overshadowed the correct information we have and people now pretend like they have some canon merit.

Pandora is Luna's mother, and that's all we know about her. At what point does she magically end up being the same age as the Marauders? Why turn her into a Rosier? Where did the ridiculous idea come from that she was best friends with Barty Crouch Jr.? Like, hello? She's not Luna's mother; she's just an OC someone made up to fit their narrative, and they justify her existence by saying she’ll eventually become that Pandora. End of story. Like everything they write and do. Their Marauders aren't the real Marauders. That's not James; it's some random guy they invented and slapped his name on, and the same goes for the rest of them. What even is a Dorcas Meadowes? Is that something you can eat? And what's a Marlene McKinnon? Nobody cares—they're not real characters. We don’t care about them, especially if you only include them to hit a lesbian target audience or so the stories aren’t overwhelmingly male-centered and ridiculously problematic because the female presence and relevance don’t even hit the minimum gender quotas from two decades ago, like…

They say "fuck canon," but only to have an excuse to whitewash psychopaths and portray them as twink icons. It makes no sense. I insist: they could create their own lore within the Harry Potter universe. Take all those OCs, remove the canon names of characters they have nothing in common with, give them original and unique names, and create a new category on AO3 for the lore you've created. You wouldn’t be the first to do it, and it’s totally valid. And stop setting the stories in the '70s because all those OCs with canon names act like Gen Z kids—or even Gen Alphas—living in pre-Thatcher Britain, like, what the hell?

The best thing about the First Wizarding War universe years ago was that the CANON was unexplored, and you could create fascinating things. But always based on the CANON. Because no, “fuck canon” doesn’t work, because if you say “fuck canon,” then you're just talking about characters you don’t like. You say you’re a fan of Sirius Black, but you’re not a fan of Sirius Black. You’re a fan of an original fanfic character with traits that have nothing to do with Sirius Black, but you slapped his name on it—why? Sirius Black was the tallest, most handsome, and most masculine and violent of the Marauders in canon. He wasn’t a girly, whiny twink. Rowling spends the ENTIRE saga CONSTANTLY emphasizing how masculine, how macho, how handsome, how masculine, how handsome, and (again) how masculine Sirius Black was. Over and over. The only other character Rowling insists so much on describing physically is Snape, but only to constantly point out how ugly he is and ironically assign him FEMININE traits. Snape, who is canonically unattractive but also canonically not masculine by patriarchal standards, is someone super macho types like Sirius mocked precisely for that.

I think the problem with this fandom is that they want to be the protagonists, the cool kids, the main characters everyone admires. But the reality of the canon is that both the Marauders and the pure-blood Slytherins of the era would have hated, mocked, and marginalized people with the characteristics fans assign to these characters in fandom. That Sirius the fandom adores wouldn’t have lasted half an hour with the real teenage Sirius Black, who would have bullied him immediately for being “weird.” The fandom’s James would have been ridiculed by canon James, who would’ve seen him as a total loser. Fandom Barty? Canon Barty would’ve Crucio’d him to bits. Canon Regulus would’ve paid someone to drown fandom Regulus. And yes, that Severus fandom invented—a sort of rapist or something—would’ve disgusted canon Severus, who didn’t even dare say anything to Lily. But honestly, who’s that fandom Lily? Because canon Lily didn’t know what feminism was and was dying to have a traditional family before 20 with a rich guy who could give her financial stability. Like, seriously, xD.

I’m sorry, but your OCs wouldn’t last half an hour in '70s Hogwarts because both sides would tear them to pieces. And in the end, all the “fuck canon” rhetoric is just a way to deny that they need to project themselves as protagonists, but they know they never would be in the Marauders’ lore because, in that context, they’d end up as bad or worse than Snape. And that’s precisely why they hate Snape so much—because that character constantly reminds them that, in fact, the Marauders were bullies. And they were bullies to those who didn’t have the looks, social class, appearance, or clothes deemed acceptable. Snape is actually the closest thing to themselves that fans of the Marauders will ever find, and that reminds them that in that universe, they would’ve been the nerds, losers, and outcasts of the class.

I’m sorry for being so harsh, but it’s true. They’ve invented characters in their own image, slapped canon names on them to feel important and central, but the reality is that the actual canon characters would’ve bullied them so much they’d have ended up the same or worse than Snape.

[befuddledcinnamonroll]

Top 10 Things I Love About the QL Tumblr Community 2023

I'm loving everyone's end of year lists, and decided to make up one of my own.

I haven't been on Tumblr for very long and was originally just lurking. 2023 marks the year where I finally started posting, after I read a take that made me feel compelled to come to a fictional character's defense. (Saengtai, my poor little blorbo).

So in commemoration of my first proper year of active tumblring, I present what I love about this community (in no particular order).

(Side note - Technically I know this is still primarily a BL community, but I like to say QL because I am trying to manifest more lesbians for us.)

1) The Gifmakers

Y'all are a good 70% of the reason I joined Tumblr in the first place. There are so many show moments that I want to relive, but without having to search through videos. Sometimes I want to appreciate the aesthetics. Sometimes I want to remember adorable or goofy moments. Sometimes I just want to see cute boys eating each other's faces. Our gifmakers give all of that to us, with the addition of so much creativity and style.

There's too many amazing ones to mention everyone, but I have to shout out @sparklyeyedhimbo, because the way your brain works makes me so happy.

2) The expertise

The other part of why I joined Tumblr was to learn more about what BLs were out there and what I might be missing. And holy hell. Y'all are putting in the work. Not only lists and resources for finding all kinds of QLs, like these fabulous monthly breakdowns by @gunsatthaphan, but also amazing posts that add additional context, like @absolutebl's incredibly helpful breakdown of Asian honorifics. There is so much research people do, for fun! And then they share it!

3) The meta analysis

I frickin love reading people's takes and analyses on series. I love learning, I love seeing perspectives from people with different cultural backgrounds to my own, it's all so fascinating! There's so much context we can miss due to our own privileges, or lack of knowing about various cultures, or due to whatever bubbles we've been living in. People here are just so smart, and nuanced, and willing to reflect and think about things, and also push back at each other, but generally with respect (except when you call out the dumb shit you see, usually on Twitter or TikTok, where people are being reductive and dumb about gender and sexuality).

And I've seen a few takes where people complain about analyses, and say that the director/production doesn't do everything deliberately, and we're all reading too much into it. To which I say, eh, lighten up. How people connect to and relate to media has relevance beyond what was intended. The point is we get to think and discuss and learn and grow. That doesn't happen if we don't analyze.

Special shout out here to @respectthepetty because colors mean things!

4) The wild theories

The other side of the analysis coin, the clown cars y'all drive around in with the wildest of theories. I have happily climbed into an occasional clown car, and usually I am utterly wrong (*cough* Saifah *cough*). But it's a super fun ride. I love seeing how people's brains work. I love it when y'all are wrong. I love it when y'all are right. It's beautiful.

5) Immediate acceptance

I am one of those people who knows that I have a lot of good qualities, and also, always kind of expect rejection. Blame the childhood bullies, I guess. Anyway, whenever I delve into a new space, I still feel like a total dork that no one will want to talk to. It's kind of a fraught way to move through the world, but I manage.

Anyway, I started posting my thoughts as they came up, and people are just totally cool with it. People even follow me sometimes. Even my silliest thoughts and dumbest jokes get at least a couple likes. It's so validating.

And my very silly joke about gay mafia in Kiseki has over 800 likes. I feel very seen.

6) Mutuals

I still kind of can't believe I have any. This ties in to the dork feeling above, but seriously - they are soooo cooooool. They're smart and awesome and funny, and they somehow find me worth following back, which is baffling yet wonderful. I want to squish their faces and give them many kisses (if they're into that kind of thing).

7) The self-exploration

I really appreciate how it's become more talked about how a lot of people are discovering queerness through BL, because that is so the case for me. I think it's both that I was in a bit of a hetero bubble before, and also that I'm evolving a bit as I age. I had figured out I was demi, and maybe a little bit gay, before getting in to BL, but being in this community, and seeing so many of you share so openly and freely, has made me realize it might be more than a little bit.

Either it was a new realization, or being around y'all has made me more gay. Win win, either way.

8) The weirdness

I'm weird. Y'all are weird. I love it.

9) The thirst

So many in this community are thirsty as fuck, and as someone who is in that same condition, I love that it's not just me. There are not many places where I can freely admit how horny I am as a part of my general existence.

Here? I could post about wanting to lick some random BL actor's face, and it would get a bunch of likes and some tags like #lickable, and it's just not remotely a big deal.

Also the gifmakers understand this, and give us beautiful cuts of our spicy scenes. They are genuinely too good for us.

10) The communal watching experience

There is absolutely nothing like watching along with people in the community. It is so worth the torture of having to wait week to week for new episodes. Seeing the show trend, watching the theories fly fast and furious, or the way everyone collectively loses their minds over particular moments. In a world that can feel very isolating, it's a very warm experience.

So there you go. Thank you all for being you. Here's to another year of QL shenanigans and losing our collective minds!

[jaegerisim]

Vent post y'all are gonna hate me for.

I viscerally hate how the Duffers treat most of their non white or queer characters and I hate even more viscerally, how y'all big byler blogs in your circle jerk of other 5 big byler blogs casually like to ignore many red flags the show has.

Y'all like to say: "tHe DufFeRs ArE gReAt WrIteRs" and it's like girl, who are you lying to??? They aren't top shit writers at all. The Duffers are pretty mid imo. Yeah, they run a good show that's fun to watch and theorize abt , but that doesn't mean they're good writers cuz they're not.

1. they completely side lined Will during s3 for the sake of their straight romances: lumax, jancy, mlvn, duzie and partly stobin (even if stobin wasn't endgame, thankfully, Steve's intentions were clearly wanting to date Robin and they gave it a lot of screen time). Will was sidelined bc he didn't fit the straight romance plotline bc they planned to make him gay or whatever. Now in s4 Will and his feelings have been used as mlvn toilet paper. Yes, we like to say this is build up for byler but canonically, Will's feelings have been used to clean the shit mlvn leaves behind.

2. Billy was sympathized a lot during the last 2 seasons. They gave him the sad backstoryTM in order for ppl to feel sorry for him. Billy's backstory is literally Jonathan's but whatever.

3. El's anger issues are constantly girlboss-ified. They down play her bullying situation and literally just use it for El to be a ''girlboss" without realizing how triggering that is. As someone who has lived bullying, seeing it be ignored by canon and fanon is super sad. The whole Rink-O' Mania experience must have been so traumatizing for her yet, everyone absolutely forgets abt it 🤷🏻‍♀️

4. Robin, Erica and Argyle are stereotypical characters. Robin is the quirky lesbian with social anxiety, Erica is the badass black woman and Argyle is the Latino stoner that sells weed to white kids and works as a pizza delivery guy.

5. Altho Argyle and Eddie both do drugs, (Eddie actually sells K-12 to a minor and nobody batted an eye. He has a huge fan base). Eddie is held in a pedestal bc "poor thing 🥺 he lives in a trailer with his uncle 🥺". Tell me a single fact you know abt Argyle that isn't "he smokes weed", "he is Jonathan's only friend", "drives a van" and "he works at a pizzeria". Exactly, Eddie is given a useless backstory and Argyle isn't.

6. Dustin stopped being important to the plot sometime around s2 and s3. He is only there to curse and be mildly funny. My guy needs to hangout with ppl his age cuz he only hangs out with seniors.

7. El needs to stop having so much "I'M THAT BITCH" screentime like I need in s5 for El's arc to not just be her becoming more powerful and falling in love with Mike. I need the Duffers to explore her trauma and problems.

8. Angela should have been run over by the van.

9. Patrick should have been given a backstory that isn't the basic "strict black parents that hit their kids cuz they are a disgrace". Patrick's backstory is actually racist af, fight w the wall.

10. As Lex already said, they didn't trigger tag the ep where Jason and his friends assault Lucas and Erica. Like wtf? Why was that necessary? Why did I have to see a black boy being held at gunpoint by some white guy?? Was it relevant to the plot?? I don't think so. And then I've got to see ppl online be like "Jason wasn't that bad. He was just mourning" like bitch you can stfu. This is what happens when you make the racist assholes conventionally attractive.

Also the fact that Lucas's arc is fulfilled by him fist-fighting Jason and "embracing his weirdness" aka accepting he is black. His arc was not fulfilled at all cuz that ending spoke so loud to me. It showed how little empathy ppl have towards the struggles poc ppl living in the Midwest have. Y'all circle jerks can only see racism when it's super obvious.

Furthermore, parents complained when ST showed "an excessive amount of smoking" yet nobody batted an eye when Billy tried to run over Lucas, when Erica (an 11 y.o ffs) was chased by white kids or when Lucas was held at gunpoint by Jason.

All of this happened while they focused on Max's guilt and mourning that, yeah, are important but certainly not less important than racism!!!

11. In s3, they gave us that whole Nancy vs The Bigots arc that was honestly just triggering and useless. It didn't help Nancy's character at all, quite the opposite it put unnecessary angst.

12. Lonnie being presented as an abuser just for him to never be spoken of again. Can we please get to explore the trauma he left the Byers's with?

13. The fact that both queer relationships are considered "sloppy seconds" is extremely sad. Both Vickie and Mike are rebounding from their failed relationship with Robin and Will. These 2 ships have caused more commotion than Jancy and Jopper together! (These last ships are technically sloppy seconds too but everybody forgets that. Shocker!!)

14. Last but not least, ppl blame Argyle for being the one to get Jonathan into smoking weed as if Jonathan probably wasn't the one looking for it. Let me tell you, that you only find weed if you look for it.

[venuscnjunctpluto]

Astro pt. 5

(I think it’s part 5😭)

* As a Venus conjunct pluto, Im so jealous of my cousins w Venus trine Pluto. They can easily become popular and have women drawn to them without as much drama.

*gemini rising babies are so much fun they smile so much as babies (shoutout to my niece and little cousin🥰)

* i have sun conjunct Neptune and people have compared me to a fairy

*cardi b has venus in the 8th (and a Scorpio venus i think) and she paid to get two strippers offset cheated w beat up. Scorpionic women + cheaters are a baddd combination.

*gwenyth Paltrow recently got body shamed and told to eat but shes also has a Pisces rising. They usually are very thin or have fragile looking bodies

*first house is also personality and my experience w Pluto in 1st people they are very very dominant. They’re friends follow them around, they’re used to getting their way, they have eyes on them at all times which can give them bad anxiety.

*Mars in the 2nd house men have some niceeeeeee voices like they’re so deep you can pick their voice out in a crowd

*I’ve seen Chiron in 11th be bullied as kids and grow up and become bullies. Also they might have a traumatic relationship with being in front of a camera. (Avoiding recording themselves or taking pictures)

*Virgo risings have some cool moms (sag in 4th)

*also Aries in 11th can get told they do too much on social media (posting too much or over sharing)

* I notice famous women who people claim are everywhere (basically overexposed) or in too many roles for actresses usually are Lilith dominant. (Ex: Jennifer Lawrence, GiGi Hadid, Megan thee stallion, Anne Hathaway) are they overexposed or are y’all just jealous?😭

*venus in the 1st can lead to jealousy it’s not always love and admiration. For ex: my friend saw this guy around our dorm and thought he was cute so she followed him on ig. Mind you a lot of girls in our dorm thought he was attractive (he had pluto in 1st) and many talked about him😭 well my friend saw his gf on his page and obviously left it alone but his gf picked her out of all the girls who lusted after him to be threatened by. Well his gf was an early degree cancer Venus and my friend has a Gemini Venus at 19 degrees so her Venus was in my friends 1h. She was clearly bothered by my friend specifically following him because she found her to be attractive.

*Three girls who talked about me behind my back and tried to bully me all had Aries venuses. One had my rising conjunct her Venus exactly.

*ONCE again mercury pluto are liars idk if it’s because they think they can get away w it or what but Sza has a conjunction and my good sis lies for no reason

*aqua Venus women are usually bisexual or lesbians

*Doja cat is a good example of Uranus-asc. I have a tight orb sextile and I’ve worn adventure time doc martens, strawberry earrings, bright orange hair. Think of Harper from wizards of waverly place.

*a good song for that aspect is “Secrets” by Mary Lambert. “I rock mom jeans, cat earrings, extrapolate my feelings”😮‍💨

*sun conjunct asc could make someone resemble their father or act just like their dad and I think Doja does resemble her father a lot

* also she has Saturn in 5th and her father was an actor/performer. Also she complained about working too much and many people w this aspect feel like the fun is delayed and comes after work or they very strict on themselves in fun environments. Let loose yall💕💕

* my favorite mercury sign is Taurus😭 they have beautiful voices but the way the cuss people out is so iconic to me (ex: azealia banks)

*it’s messy to bring him up after doja but idgaf😭 Joseph Quinn has mars conjunct Uranus. A lot of eddie munson’s mannerisms were erratic and I think mar-Uranus plus his aqua placements made eddie so great at the role.

*also I notice a lot of heartthrobs or men twitter went crazy for at some point have aqua placements (timothee chalamet, Harry styles, Justin Bieber, Joseph Quinn, Noah centineo, Pedro pascal) it’s opposite of Leo so I think people keep forgetting the attention magnet can go for aquas too esp online.

*since i mentioned the show another example of Venus-Neptune synastry could be Mason and Alex. All the art references, him hiding what he really was until he couldn’t, and the fears of cheating and deceit.

*a mix of Virgo, libra, and Leo can make someone the person who tries to help everyone. They will bring you food if you haven’t eaten and also lecture you but it’s coming from a good place. I think people forget how sweet Leo placements can be (ex: Bella hadid for someone who grew up w money she’s very humble and you can see this in multiple instances. For example sza thanked her for helping fix her hair at the met gala)

* she also have Venus conjunct ascendant which I think makes someone’s Venus traits stand out. I’ve noticed people w Venus square their ascendant don’t really openly express love for people and can even get called “cold” esp by family members.

*She also has Saturn in the 7th which could mean dating older partners or partners w cap placements. The Weeknd was older than her and he has a cap Venus + mars.

*certain placements can get away w a lot. Chris brown has a history of abuse yet women seem to still support him (moon conjunct Venus). He also has mars opposite Uranus which is a temper problem indicator

* fixed risings 🤝 pixie cuts/bobs (ex: Marilyn Monroe, Halle Berry, Zendaya, demi Lovato)

[dykeulous]

How do you get patience to deal with TIFs when they are out there saying shit like "but why do you say that you hate all men, it's too binary 😥" or "girls in high school bullied me for being too masculine but boys did not (?), so your idea that men are more oppressive is wrong"?

gender conforming girls bullying gnc girls in school is a very common problem, one that is very much connected to misogyny. girls being mean to & ostracizing other girls because “they aren’t like them” is likewise a common problem we should be talking about. homophobic women have a very unique way of acting out their homophobia, specifically against lesbians, and that is something that we undoubtedly need to be talking about– especially given the rates of lesbian exclusion within feminist spaces, historically & contemporarily. neurotypical & allistic girls being ableist to neurodivergent & autistic girls who don’t conform to societal norms is also a huge problem, very connected to misogyny & we need to talk about it when having feminist discussions. making fun of gnc female people is not feminist, no matter how “insufferable” you find them to be. mocking them & claiming their problems aren’t valid, claiming their history of being bullied specifically by girls is false, calling them attention-seeking-male-validation-wanting-pick-mes is not the feminist move many may think. you are not morally superior for being gender conforming or for not being dysphoric. “tifs” face a unique form of misogyny & oppression that you probably cannot relate to. you can criticize internalized misogyny & reactionary behavior from dysphoric female people & transmascs without generalizing us all. malgendering is a big thing within the trans community, and there are several transfems (baeddels) out there claiming they “hate all men” & being outright misogynistic to transmascs under the thin veil of their fucked up version of feminism. there are genuinely misogynistic transmascs out there, i agree, and by all means criticize them when they start with “transmisandry” claims & “hating all men is harmful” rants– but invalidating their trauma & instituting that someone “has the patience to deal with them” (concluding that they are insufferable annoying confused girls that thus should be excluded & left behind from feminism) is just no way to go on about that criticism. please refrain from speaking about the things you are uneducated about. that being said, you literally sent this ask to a transmasc person… don’t know if you are aware of that though.

[paintedgrilledcheese]

Analysis of the Withlock sisters

(Because why not. I have OC brainrot.)

Sophia is the most sweetest one of the bunch. She looked up to Elora and was born as a kind person, therefore she is really kind and tries to look on the bright side. She puts others first before her, caring for others and showing love. Though she struggled to stand up for herself and often gets taken advantage of her kind nature. She doesn't like arguing for it makes her upset and will break down into tears and she doesn't like conflict. Sophie does know how to fight but is weaker than the rest. She's the type who would apologize to a dead body if she ever manged to get a kill.

Fun Facts: Sophia is the femine girly girl one. She loves dresses, stuffed animals, make-up, and pink! Her bed is covered in stuffed animals, and soft things comfort her. She's a great cook as well. Sophia is also lesbian-ace. She likes girls but she's not into sex :>

Viola is more like their mother (Florence). She can be hot headed and short tempered, rude as well. Viola is more likely to push people away when first meeting, considering she's got a mean resting face. Despite her rude behavior, she does slightly care for her other siblings. She's only soft toward Sophia since she can be very protective of her twin. Viola is the kind to not hesitate to call you a bitch and kick you in the balls. She knows how to fight and she's scary when it comes to it.

Fun Facts: Only Sophia has seen Viola cry, considering Viola doesn't cry much. Viola isn't lucky with her dating life and all her previous exs have experienced her breaking their prized items. She does like horror movies and likes scaring people though. She probably has seen the twilight movies.

Lilli is the more realistic and logical one. She's calm most of the time, silently observing people from afar. She's smart, and people underestimated her for that. She wants to see what makes people tick. Lilli is the type of give a civil and reasonable, well proven argument, except its their father she is talking to. She is the most spiteful one towards him. She won't hesitate to put people in their place and will call someone's opinion invalid if they turn out to be a hypocrite. Lilli does not appreciate hypocrites or liars. She does know how to fight, but she would rather fight with logic and knowledge.

Fun Facts: She went to the same university as Dr. Vincent Roux, and became a nurse. She always had a loving for trinkets and collectibles, Lilli likes collecting things for decoration. She's also a reckless driver.

Xena is by far the worst in mental stability. Being the first meant she got to experience everything. The most broken one you could say. She was always the silent one, barley interacting and always in her room studying. She was unsympathetic, a sociopath. All she cared about was her own goals and herself, always pushing her siblings to the side. In fact she didn't even want siblings in the first place. The only times she did say anything was to put others down. The only person she was remotely nice to was Elora, sorta. But even then she was unemotional. It was no suprise that she left immediately she turned 18. No one knows if she is alive or not since she was suicidal as well.

Fun Facts: She's also a manipulator, she basically bullied a straight man into being gay because she didn't want to date him. Xena can be cruel as well, both physically and verbally, a bully, basically. She did at one point gifted Xavier a music box when he was little, though she didn't want to look like she cared so she told him that Elora gave it to him.

@star-tb @myluckymoon

[ac1dmeow]

WIBYH Headcanons (mostly vi) | #1

soo yeah i just said fuck it and wrote some headcanons anyway.

- vi lowkey disliked her hair colour when she was younger bc it was more of a pink hue back then, and she got made fun of for it by guys her age (mylo included)

- she’s an effortless flirt, even when trying not to

- used to have a sarcasm problem (totally still does)

- will and has punch a nearby wall to show off her skills to a cute girl

- looks like a hunchback while sitting (especially on a stool but i think we all know this by now)

- veryyy determined and ambitious like no fear of failure at all

- shes a little hotheaded but can also take a joke and some teasing (she’s usually the one making them)

- sadly has a slight fear of change and ending up alone :((

- she’s super good at hiding how much her trauma has affected her

- lesbian

- somehow vi is good with kids even though she doesn’t really like them unless they’re related to her (y/n, ekko and vera were the exception)

- so some of u may know that violet has a saxophone for some reason LMFAOO. well here’s my take on it

- as a younger kid she found a saxophoe laying in its open case and picked it up.

- the lady who owned it heard vi playing it and came running out of the cafe she was in but got scared of her because she happened to be from a different place, and thought the little kids from the undercity were evil and mischievous.

- so she screamed and ran away and vi being all confused decided to just leave and take the instrument with her, and that’s how she ended up getting a saxophone.

- violet viewed y/n as another little sister. over the years her devoted protection over the younger girl gave rise their strong bond

- plus she spent time with powder and the others nearly everyday so they saw one another a LOT

- powder also struggled making friends her age, and vi felt so happy that the girl had y/n and ekko and even vera in her life who never bullied her, judged her or ridiculed her for her mistakes

- mylo had a crush on vi for a while and it lasted until the day he died (that is tragic..)

- violet always just started at him with a weird expression whenever he tried to show her something impressive. she never rlly understood why he seemed to want her approval all the time

- y/n, being the curious girl she is, bluntly asked mylo if he had a crush on vi without really thinking too deeply about how he’d react to that question

- after him freaking out and denying it, she ended up asking claggor about it maybe a month or two later. he didn’t know what to say at first, but after playing the clueless act and saying “maybe” they ended up listing different signs of his potential crush in secret

- y/n had liked to call violet ‘strawberry head’ ever since they met because her red hair reminded her of strawberries. in turn vi called her candy, however it wasn’t actually her who came up with the nickname!

- vi initially thought that powder possibly liked ekko and vise vera but then she noticed how red and flustered he’d get whenever vera was with them.

- she couldn’t really tell if her sister or y/n liked each other, she never thought too deeply about it because friendships between two girls are harder to decipher in that way

- in all honestly she didn’t think that they’d even know themselves. but she knew how close and protective they were of each other and thought it was sweet

[sinful-karateka]

I'll bite and talk about something that doesn't get enough spotlight in general, which are Demetri's and Eli's family life. So obviously several fic authors have their own twists and flavors to this, but if I may sell you something for a sec.

So far into the series, what we've got are these facts:

Demetri's Mom is the only family member to be mentioned in the show.

Eli's parents were mentioned a couple of times.

That should be enough context to deduce two things:

Demetri could be an only child to a single mother, and;

Eli's parents involve themselves in the stuff that he does — including karate, who knows — though they tend to be tone deaf with his actual needs.

There's strong evidence to why the boys act the way they act (brain functions notwithstanding, but this isn't the post for that), which is why I think these deductions make sense. How their hypothetical upbringing is part and parcel to how characters behave in this series. Of course societal influence comes in second because obviously you've got a show that encourages learning karate as defense against bullies, but this show is also about generational chains and traumas! So why wouldn't their home life inform the way it informs the LaRusso's, Lawrence's, and Nichols'? But I digress.

In the span of the entire series, I've held onto this headcanon that Demetri's neuroticism and ability to anticipate his actions carefully stem from a household that needs these systems in place, much more for someone who likes to be on top of things. Since he's just a student, the only authoritative figure who can make executive decisions... is his mom. Add to the fact that she may be a working mom, so when Demetri tells Daniel about certain restrictions in learning karate, what could have made her decide to just write a letter instead vs. taking the time out to go with his son herself? I know I know it's narrative writing but like do you seeeee where I'm at here

Eli's family life is by far gave us early indications of his dynamic with his mother — but not so a father — in earlier seasons. It's possible that his mom is a stay-at-home one, but if I were to push the bounds of this box even further, I'd even speculate that she's retired early if it meant that Eli's dad is the one making most of the living. Like of course they'd get mad at Hawk for getting a tattoo at his age, I think any parent would! But the way he tells Aisha to exclude him from her stories tells us that there's not a lot that his parents know about the life he lives as Hawk. At this point we all know the kind of effort it takes to successfully carry it out because he has to go home every night. It's either he a) puts in a lot of effort into concealing this identity once he gets home, or b) his parents are rarely ever home, which again, feeds into another assumption that maybe Mrs. Moskowitz works certain hours.

All we know is they're never around a whole lot for these boys, which is sad! and also again, very Indicative of their classification as awkward nerds pre- and early karate. When I read along certain fics that consider and include how the rest of their characters besides the found families they've formed, it gives much more depth and potency to writing them, their flaws, and how they think.

For all we know, Mrs. Alexopoulos could be a lesbian making fun of her son for not slinging pussy like she does being rizzless unlike her, but don't let me explain that when we have @demetriandelibinaryboyfriends!

[thefloatingstone]

How would you compare Presley's racism vs Ashley's racism. Although now that I type this at least Presley never compared them animals. Hmmm...

Honestly it's all down to "root cause" and "how they express it".

Pressly is a veteran of the first contact war who was shooting at these people less than 30 years ago. His racism has its roots in a perspective forged during wartime and all the baggage THAT drags up. But we get clear and straightforward addressing of Pressly growing out of his racism by his own words, remarking in his log "Reading back on my older entries, what a damn fool I've been."

Ashley on the other hand may have similar baggage, as her grandfather is a disgraced military man and caused her entire family to be blacklisted because of the First Contact War with the aliens, and that would be a similar place to draw her prejudice from and help her grow out of by realising her true feelings of anger and resentment are misplaced. But the way she voices her racism is full of venom and true, deep seeded contempt and hatred. Comparing them to animals is the big one, and ME2 itself mocks her for this comment if she died on Virmire. But it's more than that. Ashley's entire personality is that of "High School Mean Girl". The second Liara steps on board of the Normandy Ashley is GUNNING to bully her. Not just because she's an alien but ALSO for being "one of those lesbian sluts". (reminder, in ME1 Liara is an extremely shy and awkward historian and archaeologist)

When Shepard tells Ashley to NOT bully Liara for being an Asari, Ashley straight up says "No fun, Commander >:("

Also there's this line which some people miss because it requires you to have the discussion with Liara about the Prejudice and racism Asari face galaxy wide and then going directly to Ashley and speaking to her)

(the clip starts at 2:44)

idk if I said it here or if I said so in discord to a friend, but I see kaidan and Ashley as being written as the answers to Bioware's handling of Renegade and Paragon options. Kaidan is more geared to reflect a Paragon playthrough and Ashley is more geared to fit a renegade playthrough. Possibly the thinking was whichever way the person is playing, it would affect who they decide to spare on Virmire.

(also I have a good relationship with my family but Ashley going "WHAT DOES SHE MEAN SHE DOESN'T LIKE HER MOM???? THAT'S STUPID." comment also makes me really fucking angry considering how many irl friends I have who have moms who suck ass)

Pressly's racism is problematic (same as Garrus' racism in the first game) but he outgrows it and openly says "I was wrong."

Garrus has a full on conversation with Tali in ME3 and directly says to her "I'm sorry and I was wrong."

Ashley never apologises or excuses her early comments and behaviour. She just at some point stops doing it so overtly and comments how "no I like Tali a lot" (Everybody likes Tali) as if this somehow undoes everything she said. More than anything, she tries to justify and excuse her past comments and opinions while also saying the most hateful things about the crew.

She's a racist bully from a heavily religious traditional military family who makes no effort to understand people from family structures or upbringing she doesn't understand, alien or otherwise, who immediately started picking on the shy nerd the SECOND she stepped foot on the ship and never apologises for any of her actions, racist or otherwise.

The racism is a symptom of a much nastier whole.

She's a VERY well written character. I just heavily dislike her.