#I'm not sure if stopping at 100 was intentional or not bc there are many more mav scenes that are not on the sheet

[ace-malarky]

anyway scenes finished 7/100 let's hope this set doesn't take the next nine years lmao

[mr-ribbit]

gonna rant again bc im seeing a lot of trans women on my dash having to carry the heavy lifting to argue for their basic respect and a lot of other queer people who want to ??? get mad about that apparently. for the record as usual: im tme, im not speaking for anyone besides myself and my perspectives, but I am trying to reach out to fellow tme people to level with y'all from inside the house.

i thought we all got past the 'calling people gendered terms when theyve asked you to stop' thing in like. 2012. i swear we were allllll on board with not calling women dude anymore, nerfing sir and ma'am, neutralizing collective terms for groups, and all of that was like, during the onceler era. that's how we got off-putting shit like folx into the mix - remember???? why are we here again.

to those who I've seen claiming that they REALLY genuinely don't want to offend anyone, and that theyre trying to understand the dude thing, and they don't want to be seen as transmisogynistic when they aren't: ok. let's talk about it. step one, stop sending that really loaded anon to a trans woman you don't know, and close that in-group hatepost with 100 replies from people name-dropping trans bloggers they don't like. try to open your mind and assume for the duration of this post that I am not cynically trying manipulate thousands of tumblr users into making Bro the next big swear word, but a fellow queer human being who thinks you're all being pretty intentionally obtuse about an upsetting trend in our community

to be clear: this post is about the issue of trans women being called bro, dude, man, etc., particularly in recent tumblr discourse about transmisogyny, and the backlash they face if they get upset about it. this is also maybe moreso about the shitty ass excuses I see tme people make for why they supposedly can't stop doing this.

so let's go through some of the things I've been seeing people say they don't understand, supposedly in earnest, about this issue

"I DIDNT USE DUDE AS A MASCULINE TERM. I CALL EVERYONE BRO. MAN IS A GENDER NEUTRAL TERM"

I'm not actually going to exhaust my list of reasons why dude/bro/man are not strictly neutral, but you should be pretty aware that all words have context. Dude might be seen as neutral in many contexts, sure, but 'woman who is frequently called a man by others' is a situation where the context adds extra meaning to your words, just like calling someone "sweetie" might be neutral in some cases, but if you've got the context of knowing that's your coworker who's half your age, it's a bit less neutral. If you're not capable of reading that context and being tasteful about when you say dude, then you need to at least be ready to respond gracefully when someone asks you to stop. This is the part I'd rather focus on.

"BUT I DIDNT MEAN IT THAT WAY. IM NOT TRANSPHOBIC"

I think you should consider broadening your perspective *beyond* your intention behind the word. people may already understand that you meant the word neutrally and therefore didn't have transmisogynistic intent, but that's not really the entire scope of what people are saying. if that's your only concern, you're just trying to clear your record, not actually listen to what they're saying.

there are lots of words people don't enjoy being called, and in most cases, when they say 'pls don't call me that', people respect that and move on. even if the word isn't a slur, if it hurts someone's feelings, we all as a society have agreed that it's pretty shitty to keep calling them that. if your friend asked you not to call them 'buddy' anymore because their dead grandparent called them that, or something equivalently personal, you'd probably respect that instead of telling them 'but I call everyone buddy!!' right? even if you didn't really understand why it bothered them so much?

there is a prominent tendency for trans women to be denied this privilege, and when they ask not to be called dude or bro, people don't seem to respect this request as much as they would in other situations. when I accidentally use a gendered word and someone tells me they don't like it, I try to respond with something like "my bad, I didn't mean it as misgendering but I can see you were still bothered by it, so I'll try not to keep saying it. sorry!" and most people are willing to accept that. when trans women ask people this favor, a lot of people get VERY defensive, and treat the request as inane or unfair, instead of just apologizing and moving on. this is why people are upset when this happens, and it's why people are calling your actions transmisogynistic

also like you might not be doing this, but a lot of people DO use dude and bro in an intentionally gendered way to make trans women uncomfortable. it's a power play bigots use to talk down to them or otherwise maliciously harass them. do you know what arguments they use to defend that behavior when called out on it? 'oh I call everyone that' 'dude is gender neutral calm down' 'dont overreact its just a word'. by acting like this, youre all just giving credence to those same arguments.

"WELL THEY SHOULDNT GET SO MAD AT ME WHEN I DIDNT MEAN ANY HARM"

they can get as mad as they want!! also, are you sure they're 'mad'? or are they just expressing their feelings about a negative topic to you, and it makes you feel bad, so you have to make them out to be unreasonably emotional? how do you think they should have phrased 'dont call me that' to better spare *your* feelings?

also like, in most cases, these women do not knowww you. if your main response to someone saying you disrespected them is to say "I didnt mean it that way, I meant it in a friendly neutral way", well that's NOT YOUR FRIEND! she has no idea what your opinions are or what you think of her!!! she has no reason to assume you only upset her in a friendly way and not a bad unfriendly way! but she did get upset, and she did the one thing she can do which is *tell you what upset her* and your response is to say "well actually you shouldn't be upset at all"??????

and another thing:

it's not just the issue of using the word 'dude', it's because you're coming off extremely dismissive of women who have asked you to stop doing something that harms them, and because your argument is basically that they just shouldn't be so bothered by it. or that they're stupid, irrational, or otherwise crazy for telling you that it bothered them at all, just because you Technically used a gender neutral word according to Your Rules. be honest, does that seem fair? If people were calling you something that bothered you enough to ask them to stop, and they responded like this, how would it make you feel?

focusing solely on your intent and what the words mean when you use them is the same thing as saying "just get over it". no woman should need to Prove to you that 'dude' is gendered for you to care about what she's saying. the fact that you're asking people to do that sucks and makes you look bad, which is why people are arguing with you and calling you a misogynist.

especially those of you who are only doing this with trans women who are actively arguing with. you're wielding misgendering as a cudgel and we can all see it, grow up please.

[never-forget-viva-la-pluto]

just so you know, you can be sued for stealing a cat, especially if its collared and microchipped. dont be a vile human being. have some compassion. maybe that persons cat is just an escape artist.

maybe if someone stole your pet, youd be fine with it, idk if you just let your pets go when youre tired of them. idk you.

but not having compassion is actually disgusting. do better.

Ok let's break this down since I'm going to, probably incorrectly, assume that your intentions are good and you are just woefully misinformed. For the sake of clarity, when I say indoor cat, I mean 100% indoor, and when I say outdoor cat, I mean a cat that is regularly let outside without a leash and isn't a feral or working barn cat.

1) "You can be sued for stealing a cat, especially if it's collared or microchipped".

Okay, so if you microchip an outdoor cat, you have wasted your money. Microchips are for finding your cat should it go missing. If an outdoor cat goes missing, you better hope someone picked it up and took it in bc 9/10 if your outdoor cat goes missing it's dead. Full stop. Hawks, coyotes, dogs, other cats, cars, eagles, wolves, cougars, etc all see that cat as food and cats may be OP for their size but a pack of coyotes whose territory is being shrunk by the day will find that cat very tasty. And in case you are confused, coyotes don't care if you sue them, they will eat the microchip and leave the bloodied collar with the bones.

But let's say you are worried about me getting sued, my response is: ok????? You seem to be under the impression that I am taking cats for a selfish reason and i am definitely not. I would do this for the cat's benefit, with no worries for my own. I'll get sued, I'll gladly take the court case if it means they keep their pets inside. But how would they know I took their cat? They wouldn't because I don't let my cats outside ever. They won't see the cat again and it won't be because a coyote ripped it to peices while it was taking a shit. And it would be a lot harder for them to sue a coyote, so I've done them a favor once again.

2) "Don't be a vile human being. Have some compassion. Maybe their cat is just an escape artist."

Ok, that's on me for not making myself clear. If a cat is missing, and there are posters, online posts, text psa, etc I will see them. I actually follow a local missing pet group that alerts me to every pet in my area that's gone missing, and each includes the info about the pet and if they are indoor or not. When I have time I go and look for them around my town. But again, not far from the feral cat colonies is where the coyotes run so I have yet to be successful. If a cat owner has stated that their cat has escaped and are indoor cats, then I am on the streets, in forests, marshes, behind malls, etc, to return that missing family member. But cats are the equivalent of a toddler in terms of ability to navigate life, and it is definitely neglect to leave your toddler outside unattended.

Moreover, there is a bitch who lives near me who buys kittens, doesn't get them fixed, and when they get out she doesn't even bother to look for them and I have rescued several of those and their subsequent kittens(many of which did not survive even after given professional care bc the mothers were still kittens themselves and can't care for their babies). That bitch has been reported many times and guess what the cops do??? That's right, what cops do best, which is jack shit. I have spent months doing tnr just cleaning up her messes so you have no right to tell me I am without compassion or that I'm vile. I had a cat who was an escape artist, but I at least made sure she was fixed in case she ever got out(she only ever got out once and after I reinforced the screens on our porch).

But again, if your outdoor cat goes missing, what good would returning them do? The cat will just go outside again and face the same shit that caused them to dissappear in the first place. It's actual insanity and those people shouldn't be cat owners(personally I think they should be charged with neglect but whose counting?).

3) "Maybe if someone stole your pet you'd be fine with it. Idk if you just let your pets go when you're tired of them. Idk you. But not having compassion is actually disgusting. Do better."

Okay here is where you lost me.

No one would be able to steal my pet unless they literally broke into my place, because again my cats NEVER go outside. And advocating for pet owners to keep their cats indoors only is something that is vital to the cat's health and the environment, so that is literally the opposite of letting your cat go when tired of them. I don't know where you got that from and honestly I don't care because, no, you don't know me and if your reading comprehension wasn't piss poor you would have seen in the tags you are referencing that I HAVE LITERALLY NEVER DONE WHAT YOU ARE DESCRIBING BC I LIVE IN AN APARTMENT WITH A PET LIMIT. ✨️ I've never taken a cat off the street and kept it!✨️ I can't, or I'll get evicted! Ive fostered for a short period but ive never taken in a cat from the street. But make no mistake I would if I could.

My compassion is why I try to remain educated and informed about why it matters to keep your cat inside. I am compassionate toward the 3 month old cat that it's owner let out in the dead of winter, unfixed, that gave birth to 4 kittens under our car, all premature and 1 was a stillbirth. She was too young to be a mother and her instincts never kicked in. She didn't know to lick away the umbilical cord, she didn't know how to feed them, she didn't know what to do and even with my sister, my mother, my coworker, a volunteer foster, and 3 vet techs and a veterinarian doctor, none of the kittens lived more than 2 days.

I am compassionate towards them. I am compassionate toward the owner of a cat I trapped, fostered, and took to the vet, who after adopting this cat, fell on hard times and when her card declined at the register, she put all of her human food back and just bought cat food(I offered to pay for it but she refused).

So maybe read what you have written and before you hit send, maybe do some research. Maybe think about how you would feel if some stranger just barely read what you put in a tag and decided to tell them they are vile and without compassion while in the same message saying that you don't know them or how they treat others.

Good on you for not turning on anon and saying what you believe with your whole ignorant chest, but still

Do better.

[cyrsed]

i finished absolution a few days ago (spoilers)

after a certain point i just stopped reading the fucks in part 3. interesting artistic choice, not sure whether it worked for me/if there's more to it that i missed...

otherwise lowry's narration was pretty fun, except that it felt like bc he's less curious about certain things and less interested in nature, the descriptions of certain scenes weren't as detailed as i would have personally enjoyed. but character-wise i can understand why things were described a little differently than for the biologist or old jim or saul.

i liked when they went across the border and lowry puked in his suit, that felt like a special little gift just for me :)

i think lowry using very very modern slang was a special punishment just for me though. another artistic choice that i don't know if i fully get (yet?). jeff vandermeer 100% knows that "doggo" and "like a boss" weren't things people were saying 30 years ago, so there has to be a reason why he talks like that, and the time distortion definitely makes it feel like an intentional way of making lowry anachronistic....

also i'd have to think back to see how many characters die on screen/in violent ways, bc i don't think that happens tooooooo often, at least compared to how many die/disappear off screen, but man i was hoping something reeeeeeally fucked up and violent/gory would happen to more of the first expedition team members on screen lol. i wanted people to eat each other and cut themselves open, melt, etc. jeff please describe more ultraviolence for me :pensive_emoji:

i really liked the bit with the walkie talkies tho, and i liked old jim's parts. i'm looking forward to rereading it sometime soonish

[epickiya722]

Honestly i 100% think we should stop calling anti bkdks any form of Ochako/izoch stans. Bc the very last thing they ever do is actually stan Ochako or their ship.

Like, all they do is use her to be sexist and homophobic, and when it comes to anything else abt her, they don't give a shit. They "ship" izoch for that same reason, they assume Horikoshi will also write an ending for her that coinsides with their mysogyny, and that this is somehow the only option that is there to give her.

You know what, yep!!

Honestly, this could go for anybody for any ships and characters they "stan".

Like I will never get anyone who says they like a ship, but don't like the characters individually. They only like the character when it comes to using said character to support their hate. (And I feel this way about any ship and their characters. Yep, I feel this way about BakuDeku.)

That's not a true fan, that's just being cruel.

It's why I am sometimes skeptical of "fans" who "like" Uraraka but hate BkDk.

Do you truly like her character because of what she brings as a character? Or you like her because she's a girl and easily could be used for your homophobic and misogynistic views?

"I hate BakuDeku because how Bakugou mistreats Midoriya".

Then why are you shipping him with anybody? There are people who don't ship BakuDeku but ship other Bakugou ships who use that reason which can be applied to every Bakugou ship. Last time I checked, Bakugou's relationship with everybody starts off on a bad note except for Midoriya. He and Midoriya were childhood friends and then it turned sour. With everyone else? Immediately Bakugou wasn't nice. He didn't call them by their names, he was rude to many of them, etc.

Back to Uraraka! I just want to get that tidbit out.

I find it funny that people tend to call Horikoshi misogynistic because "He can't write female characters" and look, I don't know the man personally, but... Uraraka as a female lead is better than some of other female leads in anime, especially in shonen.

She doesn't follow Midoriya around, stalking him. She doesn't get violent out of jealousy at Midoriya or other people. Her arc doesn't evolve around Midoriya. She isn't introduced immediately going heart eyed at Midoriya and doesn't even get a "crush" on him until much later. Her whole purpose to wanting to be a hero is to support her parents and make people smile. Hell, she's not even helpless because she fights on her own through learning skills!!

And what's crazy is, IzuOcha isn't a bad ship! It's not. I can see why anyone would like the ship without malicious intentions (being homophobic and misogynistic).

Both characters are great and they're like those characters who have that mutual understanding, they're friends, equals. Uraraka isn't written to be Midoriya’s "damsel" and Midoriya isn't written to be her "hero, only person she cares about". They have cute moments, they do.

IzuOcha is sadly one of those ships that have great characters, but terrible shippers. Just like, let's be for real, every other ship.

Not to say everyone single person who ships them is terrible. I'm sure there are plenty of shippers who are pretty chill and like Midoriya and Uraraka as how they are as characters.

They're just overshadowed by the bad eggs who only care about Uraraka as "the girl who has a crush" and not as a "hero student who wants to do good for people with a bubbly personality and can be a badass".

Personally, I don't care why anyone would hate a ship. But reasons like being homophobic, want to troll and be an ass to people, and having other bigot views? Yeah, can't talk to you, don't want you near me. Because if you're like that with ships, I'm skeptical of how you treat real people.

[b1mbodoll]

AAAAAAA OMG DO I HAVE A LONG ASS ASK FOR YOU. MY DATE/NOT DATE HAS JUST CONCLUDED....

So a little back story - I worked with this guy this past summer and like the first time we met I alr liked him. Like he was exactly my type. Like 100%. But I'm super shy (never dated anyone, never kissed anyone, never held hands with anyone) so I never really did anything obvious that I liked him bc I was nervous. We kind of flirted (maybe) a lot near the end of the summer. We texted a lot a lot but he ended up moving up to college for his apartment earlier than expected so we never got to see eachother after our last days of work. There was lots of drama on my end surrounding that trust. Like mental anguish bc I fumbled the bag hard.

Anyways. We start school respectively (I go to school in NY and him in TX) and we don't talk that often, just snap like everyday. But as the semester goes on we reply to each other's stories and have short, friendly convos more frequently. Flashforward to like, a week ago or something. I reply to his insta story and we start talking. He finds out that I'm going home for Thanksgiving and he is to so he asks me to hang out. This is odd bc we weren't close enough as friends for me to think that he would ask to see me.

Anyways again, I'm skipping details bc otherwise I'll never finish this lmao - the date/not date was like everything else we do. Vaguely romantic but could also be friendly. He picked me, we ate dinner and then went ice skating together. He walked up to my door to get me, held open doors for me, and opened the car door to walk me back to my house after we got back. But like - no moves were made. No attempts to hold my hand or kiss me. AT ALL. But like he also complimented my butterfly hair lips like sir 😭😭 idk what you want from me.

But now I'm feeling kind of tired of 6-7 months of not knowing where we stand with eachother. So I texted him afterwards saying "Thank you so much for tonight, I loved seeing you again! Although, I did want to know if it was a date or if it really was intended as just a hangout, bc it did seem like it sometimes? Either way, I'd love to meet up with you again if we're both in town!" He then liked bith of the thank you messages and replied, we definitely should. But then he replied to the daye/not date ask with - I don't know. I'll have to think about it. He then said something about it being more than he anticipated but still good, so idk if that means that it wasn't intended as a date but became one and he enjoyed it or if he meant it as a date but I fumbled the bag (I give just as many mixed signals bc I'm an anxious coward lmao) but it still ended up okay.

HOWEVER, I AM A GENIUS, LIKE RIZZ MASTER 1000. I accidentally left something in his car so tmmr morning he's gonna drive back to drop it off (It's like an hour round trip for him). And tomorrow is the day I will stop being a bitch. I'm gonna tell him that I'm interested but that I also do genuinely enjoy him as a person so like, however he intends to meet up with ne in the future I'll be okay with that.

So yeah. Story time over 🫶🫶🫶🫶 Sorry that it's actually so long but I remember how excited you were so I wanted to let you know how it went 💗💗💗💗

IM ON MY KNEES RN STOP u r so cute and agh!!!!!! i will be needing an update with whatever happens pretty please, honey 🤲

im so ☹️☹️☹️ u guys went ice skating ☹️ that’s so so so so fucking cute!!!!!! that actually is so cute my heart cant take it ໒꒰ྀིっ˕ -｡꒱ྀི১ but no moves being mad.. 🤬 yeah i need to have a stern talking to with this man!!! what r ur intentions with my little angel, you HEATHEN!!! hehe no but srsly dont be anxious sweetheart! i know its hard n way easier said than done, but you seem so wonderful and im sure he thinks that as well! im so glad you had a good time <3

rizz master 1000 has me crying omg ur too silly 😭 but him driving AN HOUR TO GIVE U UR THINGS STOP IT my little heart is so warm :( im proud of u for messaging him and asking for clarification about what the lil hangout was! n pls u r anything BUT a bitch!!!!! ur perfect and i hope things work out well with him!

dont apologize for he length! i love anything romance so inwas looking forward to this update!!!! wishing u the best of luck with him <3 mwah

[iamnotawomanimagod]

idk why but i needed to discuss and send this to you.

i also don't think this is something new to say but following your previous reblog (that tik tok) makes me think of the shit halsey does sometimes and how the majority of their fan base immediately goes 'yikes' and i think it's also how certain artists have portrayed themselves and how certain artists have created their personas/stage character. i'm taking halsey as an example cause they're the other artist i know very well but like, ever since the beginning ashley showed themselves as this open minded and very very opinionated person who has always used their persona (halsey) as an excuse to be even more vocal about things that mattered to them (i'm exclusively talking about this character that's created bc halsey's background is light years away from being the same as taylor's) and on the contrary taylor has (insert every reason here i know why she did but i also don't care) created this america's sweetheart image, the perfect white girl, the girl who does no harm and even if she fucks up "her intentions were good!!" (giving no space to actually question that aka the entire lover era with the yntc mv and the me! comment in miss americana?) and that's why people cannot even think about calling taylor out (i think this matty case is the exception since a LOT of fans did) and it's just like... taylor you're one smart motherfucker bro, it's genius but also quite fucked up but so genius. bc even tho she tried to miley cyrus her way out of the "naive/nice girl" thing she will always be that. anyway, i hope i don't get cancelled and maybe i'm wrong? but i needed to talk about this with someone, bye ily <3

Nins one of my favorite things about you is your willingness to just say shit how it is <3

100% agreed with everything you said. I know the biggest backlash Halsey got (in my memory) was when she used to go around kissing fans (I'm sure you remember, lol.) I remember Tumblr especially went after them hard because one of the fans they kissed was a minor at the time - which was deserved! (There were Halsey fans making excuses for her, but I recall them being in the minority.) But like, once Halsey started gaining more fame and realizing the connection she had with her fans and her power in that connection, she stopped doing things like that. She apologized, said she didn't know the fan was a minor, and hasn't kissed any fans since. The other kinds of backlash Halsey gets aren't really the same, but when she does something wrong, she tends to own up to it. And it's always Halsey, not Halsey's team.

Whereas with Taylor... anytime there's even the smallest bit of backlash against her, her team (be it online Swifties or her actual PR team) rush to defend her, talk about her intentions, and really make it seem like she's perfect and innocent and incapable of making mistakes. I'll honestly never get over how many Swifties were foaming at the mouth trying to defend her when the Private Jet Usage thing was going around. The backlash from that died down pretty quickly and most Swifties I saw weren't willing to even say that she was doing something wrong.

She's really done something smart - horrifying, but smart - in terms of walking this line of America's Sweetheart Girl-Next-Door and Very Savvy Rich White Woman. I do think we might finally be hitting a point where people won't be able to forgive her, though.

Matty Healy is not interested in cultivating a positive public image of himself. He frankly seems to thrive off and enjoy controversy. It's a lot harder for people to maintain that Perfect Image of Taylor when she's so intimately associating with someone who handles his own fame and image the opposite way.

Maybe she truly believes she's untouchable at this point and just doesn't care. Maybe she thinks the power of her own image will be enough to override his. Maybe she doesn't think any backlash against her is ever deserved, after all the (undeserved) hate she got pre-Reputation, so she's ignoring this and writing it off as just more mindless hating. I have no idea where her head is at, and I don't think anyone else really does, either.

If nothing else, it'll be interesting moving forward, seeing where this goes. I don't think I've ever seen a celebrity match with such opposite perspectives and methods of maintaining their public images. I'm curious to see if (1) they even stay together that long (this kind of reeks of a rebound to me) and (2) if the disgust/outrage will persist if they do stay together.

I really feel for the BIPOC fans who have been hurt by all of this, though. One thing Megha (hi @tolerateit <3) mentioned a day or two ago really hit me - for so many Swifties, it's not even really just about Taylor, but about the community they've built and the friends they've made by being fans of hers. Knowing Taylor is dating someone like Matty is bad enough - seeing white Swifties make excuses for her and ostracize BIPOC fans for speaking up is a level of gross and sad that I don't really have words for. That's the part of this that really sucks the most.

[lastoneout]

Highlights from the notes:

- Mouthing off to a literal god in Baldur's Gate 3 so badly that she undoes your very existence. Also making out with a mindflayer and letting someone perform an ice pick lobotomy on you.

- The joke endings in Nier Automata, specifically the one where you eat a fish after being told it will kill you which immediately kills you and removing your OS chip for funsies. Gotta say tho, I'm kinda bummed none of you mentioned self destructing on the Space Station, which is my personal favorite Dumb Ending.

- Having sex with an alien that kills everything it has sex with in Mass Effect.

- The seemingly hundreds of you who, upon being given control of Link, immediately ran off the cliff at the start of Breath of the Wild.

- Sierra Games. Just...Sierra Games <3

- Jumping into the toilet in Fear & Hunger. (Huh???)

- Disco Elysium killing you for the crimes of *checks notes* sitting in a chair or turning the lights on.

- Fallout 4 letting you jump into a forge full of molten metal. Also honorary mention to the Fallout series as a whole, aside from Sierra they really are the kings of this. (Shoutout to the legends who take the Black Mountain/Quarry Junction route to Vegas! Sure is a great way to Die Badly!!)

- Whatever the fuck kind of softlock mind games are going on in Sunless Sea. Truly the most "damn bitch you live like this??" shit I've ever heard. 100/10

- The absolute CHADS who mentioned how you can just refuse to try to save the world right at the start of Golden Sun which gives you a unique ending telling you how fucked everything gets bcs you decided to be a lazy piece of shit. (My fiancé is giving you all a fist bump bcs this is one of his favorite games of all time.)

- Eating the jarrin root Astrid gives you to poison the Emperor in Skyrim. (Like yeesh you just hand me poison and expect me not to shove it in my mouth as fast as I can??)

- Minecraft blowing your ass up for trying to sleep in the Nether and the End, specifically for giving you the death message "[Player] was killed by intentional game design".

- Being able to pilot the ship in The Outer Worlds right into the heart of a star bcs you decided you were smarter than the autopilot. (Edit: Stop saying I got The Outer Worlds and Outer Wilds confused, I didn't. This happens at during the final mission in The Outer Worlds, if you don't believe me look it up. I didn't know you could also do this in Outer Wilds, but good for that game I'm glad it also lets you die stupid.)

- Portal 2 my beloved for giving you so many chances to just let GLaDOS and Wheatley kill you. You even get an achievement for it!!

Please keep the stories coming these truly are delightful <3

I just love it when video games let you do really stupid shit that kills you immediately. I love being like "oh this is a terrible idea" and being able to do it and then die. It's good game design.

[tiny-katara]

Roses by Shawn Mendes is a Zutara Song

don't believe me? here is a sad excuse of an explanation of exactly why it 100% is.

"It's not that I'm afraid I'm not enough for her/It's not that I can't find the words to say/But when she's with him, she seems happier/And I don't want to take that away"

our beloved zuko would absolutely struggle with this. his sense of honor is so strong and he would want katara to be happy, even if it means he suffers. he jumped into lightning what more do you want.

"How many times can I see your face?/How many times will you walk away?/I just have to let you know"

it's just kind of building in him. all his feelings for katara remain unsaid and every single time he watches he walk back to aang he feels agony and he wants to say something so badly and he just can't. 

"I'm not tryna start a fire with this flame/But I'm worried that your heart might feel the same/And I have to be honest with you, baby/Tell me if I'm wrong and this is crazy/But I got you this rose/And I need to know/Will you let it die or let it grow?"

he is a firebender case closed its literally perfect i will not accept no. but anyway he sometimes notices katara showing interest in him on some level and he's just so confused and doing his best to keep his feelings in for her sake but if she felt the same he would absolutely go for it. whatever katara said is what would go.

"It's not that I don't care about the love you have/It's not that I don't want to see you smile/But there's no way that he can feel the same/'Cause when I think of you my mind goes wild"

zuko does care about aang, he doesn't want to ruin that for aang, especially if that's what katara wants, but he knows deep down that the kid doesn't love katara the way he does, fully and completely, murderous intent and all. zuko sees katara and he knows her so well and it just hurts him so bad and he can just feel her presence lingering in his brain like a strong perfume, furthering his struggles with keeping it all in.

"You can tell me to stop if you already know/Though I'm not sure my heart can take it/But the look on your face says 'don't let me go'"

zuko confesses and he's like "tell me if i'm overstepping, stop me if you have to" and he's just kind of a general mess and he's going through it even though he knows it's so likely his heart will just shatter and can't weather the possibility that katara wants nothing to do with him, but there's a hope he has that she feels the same bc she always looks at him the way he looks at her.

idk it's just been sitting in my mind for a little while now. excuse the shoddy explanation, it's been a long 5 days lol. hope you enjoyed <3

[olderthannetfic]

the "not authentic" accusation is something that makes my blood boil. Some part of it might be because I find the fluidity of culture really cool, like how cultures mix and evolve and people innovate. Immigrant food and food in general is probably the most straightforward example of it at work, but music and media is also so interesting.

But also it on their very limited idea of what culture is and how it works, not to mention how lowkey colonial a lot of it ends up being. A lot of the time what is "authentic" is imposed on a culture, usually by a more powerful group that wants to consume their culture or is making them jump through hoops to "prove" their identity so they can get the bare minimum respect for their cultural needs (I'm thinking especially of indigenous people here but it can apply to a lot of entertainers). So sure, BTS may draw a lot from rap and other western genres, but it's still reinterpreted and filtered through a Korean lens. Hybridization and inspiration is not less authentic than more... I think mainstream for the source culture might be the right way to put it? And BTS deciding to go translate stuff into English, yes there is an argument for how it's pretty unfair that success often requires English in a globalized music industry because of the current cultural hegemony, but it's also super unfair to blame BTS for going along with it. We live in a society a global mediascape that has certain conventions artists have to balance with their own artistic visions and that's hard and it's often unfair and easier for western English-speaking people but it's not the artists' fault any more than it's my fault for putting on my customer service voice at work. The moment someone pulls the authentic card on something I think 9 times out of 10 the authenticity is performed and curated as much as anything bc tbh real personal authenticity simply tends not to be marketable to the masses.

--

Yeah, I am plenty personally authentic. I can assure you that it does not always play well to all audiences. 🤣

And, in fact, it gets read as super fake by a lot of people a lot of the time, from "self confidence is inherently fake" to "Nobody really speaks like that" to "You must secretly just listen to Taylor on repeat and not A Tribe Called Red", yadda yadda. (I have had many people go "Holy shit, you actually talk like that" after meeting me.)

The feeling of realness in the sense of personal emotional vulnerability and intimacy for fans in somebody's vlog or something, is a performance in the same way that real blood does not look as "real" in a movie as the correct stage blood. If you want to accurately communicate yourself to your fans--even if you are actually trying to hold nothing back, which no sane mainstream performer would want--you must be fake to do it at least in some sense. It cannot be 100% off the cuff without any thought put into how it will come across because that leads to misunderstandings. Communication requires... well... skill and intent.

Even aside from the overwhelming demands of the marketplace, there are problems with the idea of "authenticity" full stop.

[aelaer]

Thanks for answering that last ask, lol. I half-expected you were going to ignore it tbh. I was hesitating when I wanted to send the ask, bcs, well, duh. It's controversial af lol. Just wanted to let ya know that you're not the only one with that view. (Great minds alike, am I right?) So please don't stop. Really.

This is gonna be a bit of a rant, and if you feel the need not to answer this ask, due to the fear of causing controversy in your blog, I 100% understand. Dunno if tumblr will cut off my ask so i'm hoping this is sent in its full-form.

I honestly agree that Tony gets maybe a *bit* too much spotlight (especially after the CACW shit and fans picking team tony/steve), and I hate that Stephen is just used as a plot device. I don't get why exaggerating a char's innocence is a good thing. Especially if they put other characters *too* antagonised and spiteful. It's petty. And putting another character in it (refer this as Stephen) as a plot device to make the main char more angelic is just.... idk. I'm only using rather insensitive words bcs I'm on anon ngl hahahahah.

Which is why, when I found your ao3 profile, I felt like you saved my life. Cus like. Idk. It's rare to find fics alike. Not really good with words so yeah.

Also thanks sm for tagging your fics properly, lest I wouldn't have found your works.

Ik some authors who share the same idea with the matter, but either they wanted to reach a wider fanbase by venturing into ships and fulfilling people's cravings (that require an ooc stephen, wince), or they simply don't have the writing capabilities to match their intentions -- like you do -- yet, I'm not so sure.

So basically yeah. Binge read your works this week. You're doing super great. Please keep going or else I would've probably never been here in the first place.

Fucking love your works. Don't hate on me for this if you happen to find it irrational ;-; Though if you do, I'm honestly interested with what you think. Sorry for sending a long ass ask.

Hey it's all chill, my anon friend. I really try not to hate on folks, even when I don't agree with everything they say or do. The world needs more empathy after all. And you've done nothing wrong in this ask here.

I personally don't ignore asks. It may take a month or two to get to some as it has in the past during busy or bad seasons, but I get to them. (I also don't get a ton so they're easy to answer haha.) The only ones not answered are short fic prompts that have taken me over 2 years to get to, which I'd like to finish eventually... some day.

I expanded on the topic about other characters in the last ask so I won't get into it again here, but I will say that unfortunately Stephen is not a terribly popular character compared to many other MCU characters like Tony, Bucky, and Loki. It makes finding fic starring him very challenging. He's also a difficult character to write well, though I applaud folks for trying, truly. It's great when people challenge themselves and don't let the fear of failure or judgement keep them from trying.

Anyone who hasn't written Stephen because they're not sure how to write him, or have written him but aren't confident with their writing of him, I recommend rewatching his origin film in particular as that's often forgotten for what we saw in IW and Endgame. There's also some good video essays about the character on YouTube. Some fanfic of him is good, while others are very bad, so it's a hit or miss there. One shot character pieces that are not concentrating on a ship tend to be more reliable, in my experience, for a better character analysis because the goal of the piece as a one shot is more a character study, and without the romance you aren't looking at the character as part of a unit. You need to know the character before you study how he works as a romantic partner, IMO.

I'm hoping his film helps his popularity, but I do have some fears that it will be drowned out a bit by Wanda. We'll have to see what happens on AO3 in particular, which is where my primary fandom interest lies in this case. I really, really want to see fic that isn't just reader inserts. Totally legit fanfic, but romance is already not my cup of tea and, if they aren't just smut pieces, those tend to be caretaker-Stephen fics which are a dime a dozen with his fics with Tony and Peter. So yeah, hopefully there will be more variety in the coming weeks. Of the action/adventure/drama type. A girl can dream.

I'm thrilled you like my writing. And also my tagging, some of the tagging is very hard to complete with some of the one shots xD but seriously, you're sweet. And you're good. Don't sweat it ❤️

[xumoonhao]

what in the goddamn are u talking abt. honestly im struggling with where to start with what u said bc theres so much bullshit here its almost unbelievable. like oh my god...

first off: nowhere here did i say or even imply that 'all men are predators' and you know damn well thats not what i meant, either. blanket statement, just to be crystal fucking clear since you like to make leaps of judgement: i dont think all men are predators. ive never thought that and i will never think that. end point. this ties into your last paragraph so i simply will NOT mention it again as 1) its not the main focus of this post and 2) you have no business assuming i would think that, especially because i never fucking said it. what i was trying to get across (and i did, seeing as most people understood this post Perfectly fine) is that adult men fans of newjeans are, with almost 100% certainty, not looking at this group of extremely young girls with pure intentions. there isnt a way for a man who is 20+ years older than a literal child to look at them dressed provocatively, singing inappropriate lyrics with questionable dance moves in a way that is healthy; why cant they be interested in one of the many other girl groups that are around? one of older women? of adults? because thats not what men fans of groups like newjeans wants. there are plenty of men out there who listen to girl groups; its not creepy. what IS creepy is the way men will look at groups like newjeans; there is a difference between a man listening to an older group like girls generation and liking the music, and a man obsessing over a group of 15-19 year old girls. if you cant understand that difference, then im sorry but i cant help you.

second point, and this has a lot of personal opinion on it so i understand a difference of thought: newjeans music is both 1) cookie cutter pop music you could hear from any group out there, especially with the rise of y2k being a sound many groups are incorporating, and 2) not very good at all. do the girls have talent? yes, of course they do; i never said they didnt. however, they arent unique to the genre at all, except, of course for their very young age. (and before you say 'there have been young idols before' i know that. im completely aware of it; ive ebeen a fan of kpop since 2009 and have seen the rise and fall of many groups. whats different in recent years is the uber-sexualization of groups. again, i know groups have always been sexualized, but with the rise of very young idols debuting and the sexualization of them continuing, it is worse for minors to debut now more than ever. stop purposefully misinterpreting my words to further your own opinions. next time, make your own fucking post.) now, just to hearken back to my previous point; you dont know me. i know very well what older girl groups went through with their fans; i was around for much of it in the earlier days, and saw just how sick some fandoms got. the issue with newjeans is the 'buffer' fans i spoke about are not trying to protect this group. while they may not be actively being gross or inappropriate, there is still something strange about adults being a fan of such young girls, when a main focus of their career so far has been so sexualized. the only fans who are (mostly) immune to this are people the girls age, as they themselves probably dont realize how harmful everything is. but adults understand; we get it, and we see whats going on. thats why we have an issue. because the only people who are letting newjeans have a career are those either blind to the danger because theyre too young to understand, or those putting them in danger because they know they can make a profit off of it, because, as ive already stated, there are grown men (and some women, im sure) who are looking at these girls with predatory eyes. and thats where all the profit lies.

now, im not sure what you mean by this: 'I'm not sure what OPs cause is, and I do wonder about their own claimed fandom(s) bc some of this sounds off.' but my cause is speaking out about a group that simply shouldnt be around. none of the girls should be there; they are too young to be in an industry like kpop. end of discussion there.

to end this off, what you said here: 'And says that OP is incapable of liking a group they don't want to have sex with.' is not only completely and wholly wrong, but also incredibly disgusting. if you think that is a normal thing to say to someone that you dont fucking know is incredibly telling of the kind of person you are. you have no right to say that to me, nor any reason. was i maybe a little generalizing by saying the only reason fans like newjeans is because theyre young? sure; im sure there are a scant few fans who innocently like this group and enjoy their music, listening to it and following along normally. however, they are not who is being pandered to; the perverted adults are.

do Not reply to this with nonsense again. if you purposefully take what ive said the wrong way, thats your own fault. not mine. fucking hell

there really are So Many horrible things about newjeans, but the worst thing about their group really is that they really arent about the music. they will Never be about the music. its not as if the girls are once in a generation vocalists, or that their music is incredible and breaking new ground on what pop music can be, or that theyre empowering a younger generation but here's the thing about that; even in the hypothetical world that all those things WERE true i would still think that the group should not exist. the kpop industry - like EVERY music industry on the planet - is exploitative. there are no two ways around it, and while it is a bad enough environment for adults to be, it is Disgusting for children to be in, but ESPECIALLY children who are in a group that was solely made to pander towards and older audience; i.e., adults. their music is not for people their age; it just isnt. all groups have their target audience; newjeans target audience is, without a doubt, adults, and more specifically adult men. that would be a problem for any group of young women, but the fact that they are so young just makes it so much worse. and its not the girls fault; of course its not. its the fault of the people who debuted them; who write their music; who make their styling decisions; who choreograph their dances; who at no fucking point have a single one of these girls best-interest at heart. all they care about is exploiting these very young girls to make a profit and to create a fanbase that has absolutely no qualms about their age; to the fans who have supported newjeans since the beginning, their age is the sole reason to like them. its sickening and it should not be happening but it will continue to bc the people who support them will always be louder than the people criticizing them bc theyre buffered by people who, while they might not follow newjeans, dont see their group as big of a problem as they should. for some reason, when groups like this exist, there are not only outright supporters, but people playing devils advocate and saying 'hey, why SHOULDNT they be a group? theres nothing explicitly wrong with them!' even though there is. there are MULTIPLE things wrong with newjeans as a kpop group. those girls should be nowhere near that industry, and yet theyre in the middle of it. only one member is old enough to be out of highschool; some are barely old enough to be IN high school. thats a fucking problem, and i dont know why some people have such a hard time seeing that.

[bisluthq]

I think it's interesting that you've got this fairly hard stance of "shawn m*ndes is a homophobe" when it seems a lot more likely that he's literally just... gay. (or maybe bisexual) 😬

I mean the dude literally had a panic attack while he was watching love simon in the movie theatre. he had to leave the movie theatre early, and then he went back to his hotel room and stayed up until 3am, reading fan tweets about his new song to calm himself down and ended up crying his eyes out. I can't tell you how many times I've done things like that

he accidentally included himself in the lgbt community in an interview once and then realized and sort of had a deer in caught in headlights look on his face.

he has a pink triangle mug that he drinks from at Q&A sessions

he's been rumored to have had a thing with nick jonas, john mayer, and niall from 1D. the niall rumor has the most evidence though out of the three, and a lot of people think something might have actually gone on there

also, I don't think he's as homophobic as he sounded back then bc there have been incidents like the time when he was in a club with niall and a couple of other guys, and a guy walked past and shouted, "best gay club ever!" at them, and shawn just smiled and laughed. he didn't look bothered at all. I feel like that rolling stone article was mainly him being an idiot and also his team's attempt at guilting people into not calling him gay anymore

some of his song lyrics are pretty sus and can be read as pretty gay, whether that was the intention or not. like "I wonder if I'm being real, do I speak my truth or do I filter how I feel? I wonder, wouldn't it be nice, to live inside a world that isn't black and white?"

he said he felt like he needed to be seen with a woman publicly so that people wouldn't think he was gay, and then 💥 BOOM 💥 next thing you know, he's getting papped with camila everywhere

and there are a lot of things about that relationship that are extremely sus. I don't really have the energy to mention them all bc I don't really care about them enough, but I've seen a ton of stuff pointed out by other people, and they've slipped up countless times too

also about why they would be doing it: even on the chance that he's straight, shawn and his team have been trying to get rid of his gay rumors for a long time. and most of the general public still thought he was gay and just bearding during almost all of 2020. it's only in the last few months that people have finally started saying "okay, maybe it's real and shawn is straight if it's gone on this long"

there was also this blind that was posted on laine gossip back in august 2019 (so 2 or 3 months after it first began)

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.laineygossip.com/what-they-know-in-advance-blind-riddle/57429/amp

which basically said that one of the two members of sh*wmila was secretly working on a huge project behind the scenes and that the producers had been told that the other one had agreed to make appearances in it, and they had promised the producers 100%, without any doubt whatsoever, that they could guarantee them that would be no change in their relationship status until the project was released 12 to 18 months later. that led to a lot of skepticism on the relationship's authenticity from people working on the project

sure enough, about a year later, shawn eventually announced that he'd been secretly working on a netflix documentary. it was released in the time frame that laine gossip gave (the next 12 to 18 months), and camila was in a few scenes, and sh*wmila was used as promotion for the documentary a lot (like in the trailers and stuff). it was only released a few months ago in late november 2020

I've seen fans of theirs saying they think they might wait until the 2 year anniversary to "break up" which is like... may/june/july 2021. somewhere around that time, I can't remember exactly. and camila has a movie coming out around that time too, so it'd make sense to do it around then

like they've got a lot of publicity from this, the laine gossip blind was proven right a year and a half later when shawn surprise announced his documentary, and it's only bc they've stretched it out this long that a lot of people have finally stopped saying it's just PR. if they'd stopped it back in late 2020, a lot of people were still saying it was fake back then

I don't actually like shawn btw. I think he seems like a nice guy based on the stories about him from deuxmoi (if they're true), but he kinda annoys me and I think he's a very bare minimum guy that is only as famous as he is bc he's white and male and somewhat conventionally good looking. I don't think he's that talented, and some of his dumbass comments bother me sometimes

that being said, I do feel empathy for him bc he really does seem closeted, and he hasn't made any stupid comments on being gay since late 2018, so I think he might have realized he sounded like a harmful idiot. I do think he's closeted, and there's a lot more evidence to point towards that than towards him being a straight homophobe

Okay but in December 2020 she said being called gay caused him damage and was frustrating:

(Source).

In 2019 he said being called gay is hurtful:

(Source).

And here’s a great take from a gay man on why this shit’s fucked up:

I’m sorry but I’m not gonna be like “Awww maybe he’s gay”. He says he’s not. He does damage by denying it in the way he does.

Sure he could be in Narnia. I’m not Shawn.

If that’s the case, he should get some therapy and/or stfu.

[leighways]

Y’know, I debated not answering you bc what you sent sounds like the typa shit that attracts unwanted discourse. So if that was your intent (and I mean this with all sincerity): go fuck yourself.

I’m not sure where you got the idea that I’m "still devoted to" C3, esp since the last piece of art I made for that ship was pre-KTGG -- nearly a year ago. That was also the last time, until recently, that I spoke about C3 at all. So ???

I will admit I didn’t answer that ask very thoughtfully when I originally responded -- mostly bc I assumed by now ppl understood my stance on this issue -- so I went back and edited for clarification. However, if you’d read my about page instead of jumping to conclusions, you’d know where I stood.

But since that clearly didn’t happen, I’ll spell it out for you: I used to ship C3. As of right now, I don’t. However, during the time in which I did, I was in the process of building an extensive backstory AU that I am still very much attached to and enjoy creating content for. It was designed specifically to establish Copia as an outsider -- not a member of the Emeritus family -- which has been my view of him since since day fucking one (x).

One scroll through my blog will show you none of this is new. Copia's underdog status plays a vital role in how I draw, write and headcanon him, as well my general attachment to his character. Sure, you can sit there and claim I dreamt all this up for the purpose of shipping, but you'd also be lying out of both sides of your mouth. If my development of this AU was nothing more than ""justification"" for C3, my blog wouldn't be littered with loads of art and comics focused on the rest of the family and their respective dynamics. (x) (x) (x) Not to mention the countless memes and shitposts that have goddamned nothing to do with any of this.

Anyway, for me, an AU only works if you can establish a very clear departure from what's been described in canon. KTGG presented several plot holes I had never previously considered, and these muddied waters made me unsure of how to continue world building. I don't want to publish anything until there are no surprises left, so until we get more official information regarding this lore, I have temporarily pulled the breaks on this project.

Still, none of this is reason to completely dismantle something I've been working on since 2018. Nor does it suddenly make the material itself "problematic". I should be able to keep my AU (C3 storyline or not) without ppl like you accusing me of being some incest-obessed fujoshi simply bc I chose to view the source material in a way you don't personally like.

From last summer forward, every time I’ve been asked about the topic of my AU, the answer never contained any mention of C3 (x) (x) (x) bc I don't currently ship C3. If by "devoted to" you meant "it's on the back burner and also the stove isn't on" then sure, I'm super devoted.

But even if this weren't the case -- even if the amount of currently unanswered questions didn't bother me and I plowed ahead with my story no holes barred, what exactly would my crime be? Why would an AU created to explore the non-canon backstories of Copia (a Catholic orphan) and Papa 1 (his unrelated mentor) suddenly become problematic just bc once in a blue moon a scene appears in which Copia has a boyfriend? Considering all content I've made for C3 sees them as completely unrelated and has also been 100% SFW, what line have I crossed? I know my lane. I'm not mlm (I'm not wlw either, which is what you're trying to peg me as) so I would never create explicit content for a community to which I don't belong. But if you think LGBT+ folks can only make material tailored to their specific identities in order to not be fetishy, then I've got some fuckin news for you and you're not gonna like it.

Anyhoo, I don’t believe for one second that you’re this casual by-standing "outsider" -- not least bc you knew exactly where to find the post where I first addressed the plot twist possibility, but lmfao whatever you say bubs. I also love that you’re on the "outside" while simultaneously in the know about what the fandom collective has decided re: What If Copia Is An Emeritus. You need to get your story straight.

Damn near everyone in this fandom has created some sort of AU -- whether that be a world where they self-ship, a universe in which none of the Papas died, or, I dunno, one full of dragons and dinosaurs :-) The fact that you're specifically honing in on my AU with insane and disgusting out-of-left-field accusations tells me everything I need to know about both you and your motives, so listen very closely: there is nothing wrong with creating an AU that diverts from canon. Despite what you think, viewing Copia as unrelated to the Emeritus family is pretty goddamned normal around here. And considering Tobias obviously wanted us to think of him this way (and let us do so for over a year and a half) it's easy to see why so many ppl prefer that concept to the story we'll probably get.

You are not the boss of me. You are not the judge of my character. You have no authority over me, and you need to stop talking as if you do. Your tone is condescending and sexist -- which is odd, considering you're not speaking to a woman. I'm definitely not a fujoshi, but you quite possibly might be a transphobe. Or is truscum a more accurate way to describe you? :-) Anyways, thanks for that. Getting misgendered in our own inbox? We love to see it.

This is the last time I’ll be addressing this topic. If you have any further questions feel free to call my personal hotline @ 1-800-EAT-MY-ASS.

[youuuimeanmee]

My Norman Meta from 129-2

Man, I never expecting to get 500 notes on my Norman meta. I predicted around 100, 200 notes at best, every week as usual. But it just BOOM'ed. And many of you guys commented me with reblogs, when you usually don't. It's a little scary actually. Did you guys just feel the same, or you desperately need some assurance that Norman is not turning evil?? I guess it's a bit of both

I guess it'a just the timing, huh. Everyone seems shock that Norman turns this way after the latest chapter. The way he tortured,dissected, and experimented demons himself has left people horrified. He has become the demon instead. The cycle of hatred continues. There's nothing different about him than demons, because both are destroying each other to gain their personal goals. And that's why people are scared and need a reassurance that the boy they love doesn't change.

Since many of you guys seems to be either sad or relieved that Norman is still Norman, I feel like I need to clarify something.

Truthfully, beside the fact that being independent allowed him to be himself, the horror he has seen is really affecting him. Even if he says he doesn't lose his way, he actually has. When Emma said that she doesn't want to kill all of the demons, the old Norman probably might think or reconsider the possibility that human ans demon can coexist. But he just CAN'T. He now only sees Emma's dream as childish, naive, and unrealistic. He doesn't see the possibility that the two species might coexist. He doesn't see the demons as good anymore, he only see them as devil that needs to be obliterated.

And of course, his experience with Ratri family has changed his perspective that not all humans are wishing for their safety. There are humans he can't trust either. Well he already knows that ever since he realized that Mom is not on their side, but that feeling only increased day by day in Lambda. He just met more humans and more horrifying things they've done to them, cattle children. He can't trust other person, and that's why he's super pessimistic about the chance for them to be accepted in human world.

He can only trust his fellow cattle children, because they have been through the same thing as he did. And probably some other people/scientists who helped him escaped from Lambda.

Of course, the extent of that trust is limited. He doesn't trust them fully to be opened with his feelings. He only trust them to follow his lead. He doesn't trust them to share his burden, because he knows they've also been through much things. He doesn't want to burden them any further (that's just how kind he is), and he really feels that only he should bear his burden alone. It's not healthy at all.

Does he know what his subordinates/followers might think about him if he keeps bearing the burden alone? Everyone seems to respect him, so he doesn't see the possibility of betrayal or disobeyment on their side, but what if there's one or two person who likes to move on their own? (Not neccesarily a betrayal though, maybe they just disobey him because they want to help out Norman in their own way).

Would it ruin Norman's plan?

We've seen this example on Emma's side. When Yuugo and Lucas are not coming back during the raid escape, Gillian wanted to go outside to make sure that they're okay. Ray was against this, saying that it would risk them getting find out by enemy.

So yeah, everyone tried to stop their urge to go after them, but not everyone.

Dominic, Alicia, and the 3 others were disobeying Ray and act on their own.

They really have good intention. They want to ease Emma's burden by trying to get information from the shelter without alerting the enemy.

But their carelessness had cost them 3 people died in the process.

Four, including that one kid who tried to retrieve them. And one person seriously injured. (Dominic my boooy)

(man i hate this chapter bcs it's so painful to read)

What I mean is, who can guarantee that Norman won't end up in the same situation as that?

I think it will be a major blow to him, because he vows to never let any cattle children getting hurt again. And there's just many things he doesn't know beside the demons, and that lack of information could be fatal in the long run.

So my point is, Norman is still being Norman, yes, but you can't hide the fact that he has lost his way by being alone. There's nothing holding him back, yes, but that is precisely why things could go wrong.

He is only human afterall, with lots of faults. He only sought the best possible way for them to survive, but there's bound one thing or two that won't meet with his expectations. He can't become a God, there's a limit about what he can do.

And that's where Ray and Emma will come in.

I'm really glad that Emma and Ray decided to investigate the Seven Walls further to help Norman. And knowing it's a shounen manga, there's no doubt that MC is gonna make it back safely. These two can complete all the missing information Norman needs, and together, they can close off each of their weaknesses.

Together, they can overcome anything.

But I think that won't happen until Norman makes a fatal mistake and realizes that he can't do everything alone, and that would require him to open up with them more,

which is not gonna be easy since he is disgusted with himself from the start.

But that's for another topic later.

[blue-thief]

there are many different ways to interpret literature, and none of them will be exactly the same as the original author's intention. no interpretation is objectively right, but no interpretation is objectively wrong either. however, certain interpretations have more evidence to back them up than others.

i'm not 100% certain that the way i write the characters is accurate to canon, but i don't think anyone's is—at least, not completely. there will always be discrepancies between fanon and canon, and general fanon agreements are constantly changing. no one can truly understand exactly what kafka asagiri has in mind for each character, and kafka asagiri's interpretations of the classics he's inspired by are probably far from what the original authors had in mind.

however, i do try to emulate kafka asagiri's vision for the characters to the best of my ability, and i'm sure most fans do as well. i'm most confident in my portrayal of dazai the most, followed by my portrayals of chuuya. in one fic, i had yosano and kyuu as focal characters, but looking back, i think there's definitely some room for improvement in how i characterised them.

the only reason why i feel confident in how i write both halves of soukoku is because i've heavily annotated the dark era, fifteen, stormbringer, no longer human, and the setting sun. i own the physical copies, re-read them often, and i've tabbed, highlighted, and wrote notes on several key character moments. sometimes, i write analyses on the things i picked up on and post them on here. oba yozo and bsd!dazai aren't exactly the same, but understanding yozo's internal monologue has been crucial to my process for understanding dazai's thought process (funny thing is, though, i write about dazai's thoughts sparingly in fics bc i've found that kafka asagiri has never actually written his POV into any of the novels).

doing research into the real authors' and poets' lives has also been really important to my writing. i've looked into dazai osamu's involvement in the communist party, the importance of the buraiha literary movement in socially and economically changing japan, and how the post-wwii political atmosphere affected society (there may be something interesting about how irl!dazai's political nihilism may be linked to his nihilism regarding life in general, but that's a whole other conversation for another time). it's genuinely fascinating, and earlier this summer, i fell down a wikipedia rabbit hole researching japanese communism, and i ended up discovering how communist movements all around the world were somehow linked.

but you know what? i don't think 90% of this research is actually apparent in my writing. and it's one thing to do the research and the analysis, but actually putting all that knowledge to the page (or... google doc) is a different task in itself. and being accurate to canon isn't always the goal. some of my favourite fanfics in other fandoms are sooo OOC but i didn't care. to echo the last addition: just write what you want to write. this is something we do for fun and for free. no one can stop you from writing your weirdly heteronormative-feeling soukoku fics.

writer people (in bsd specifically rn) how are you sure that youre gonna get the character beliefs / values / motivations and most importantly personalities correct? do you do your own analyses? are you confident in them? (since there are so many interpretations?) if not, do you look at other people's and try to match them? do you discuss them with people? do you consider it necessary to read/analyse the original author's works too? if yes, why? if not, why?

this is more in general: how do you avoid the he would not fucking say that thing? do you just.. do you trust that he would