#If someone looked at me the way I look openly at some people I'd probably have to lay down for a year straight

[mrfoox]

If I ever received the type of love I give... I'd die

[ms-demeanor]

i really liked OJST in the mid-2010s but i didn’t stop reading cause of the cuck comic - wasn’t there also a comic erika moen wrote about (functionally) harassing lesbians with her now-husband?

In the mid 2010s closet-keys criticized one of Erika Moen's early diary comics and described Erika Moen as "Reassuring a cishet partner that it’s totally okay to use hate speech towards wlw at Pride" and condoning the harassment and fetishization of lesbians because of a 2007 comic that she had made as part of a webcomic she had written about gender and her interactions with her queerness.

The hate speech in question is the partner asking "are you sure you want to hold my hand with all these dykes around?" while they are pretty clearly at a Dyke Day event during pride, and the reassurance that 'it's totally okay to use hate speech toward wlw' is Erika responding "sweetie, I'm proud to be with you."

The comic is still up with a disclaimer that it was written at a different time, and I know that's probably not going to fly with a lot of people but if you were a bi woman in the early to mid 2000s it was pretty common to use statements like "lol yeah i'm into women my boyfriend is fine with it as long as I take pictures" to diffuse the biphobia from straight people AND to say shit like "I'm not a party bi, I actually love pussy, thanks" to diffuse the biphobia from queer people. (if you were a bi guy in the early to mid 2000s i'm sorry and I'm sorry now because we got LUG but that mostly went away and you *still* have to deal with the "gay in waiting" bullshit).

That comic ends with Erika and her partner looking at a woman and saying "I'd totally do her" while the woman thinks "pigs" and if you think that means that they literally sat on the street and vocally commented about lesbians passing by them or that they condone harassing lesbians (in, I cannot stress this enough, a diary comic written by someone in their early twenties who is realizing they are occasionally interested in some men some of the time after identifying as a lesbian their whole life), then I'm gonna go ahead and recommend signing up for some variety or other of literary analysis class. Do we think that Erika is seriously implying that she is going to make her boyfriend gay if she fucks him in this comic from a year later?

If this comic bothers you and you see it as a straight-passing couple giving the go-ahead to harass lesbians, you do you, I'm not saying you have to read the comic or enjoy Erika Moen.

I am saying it's a bit of a stretch, though, and certainly the least charitable explanation possible, and that we should probably give people some space to say awkward things about their sexuality and to make missteps when discussing it in their early twenties and not call them lesbophobic fifteen years after the fact for a college comic.

Moen also gets called transphobic because she has described trans men as adorable/cute in a way that could be read as patronizing in one comic and because she made a comic about wearing a packer for fun and for sexual gratification with her cis male partner as a cis woman.

Appropriately, all of these things feel very "late twenty teens tumblr callout post."

If it bugs you, you don't have to read the comics but I've talked about Moen before and I've gotten the anons in my inbox calling me lesbophobic for recommending her comic when in 2007 she made a comic about catcalling lesbians and condoning street harassment.

Which is frustrating because Erika Moen writes a comic about sex toys that has incredible body and gender diversity and is interested in making sure that people of all sexualities are having safe, enjoyable sex and talking openly about it. This is Rebecca Sugar condones war crimes level discourse over a creator who makes a genuinely good comic and gets dismissed as cringe by people who hate open discussions of sex and gets dismissed as a bigot (in ways that I think are incredibly unfair given the vast majority of her work) among people who *claim* to love open discussions of sex but who *actually* love witch hunts.

[slasher-male-wife]

Hi new hc idea. Thomas hewitt, bubba swayer and og hannibal if you write for him if not nbc hannibal x male reader that is okay with them Killing and also with eating the special meat, juste dosent want to be involve in the "hunt". Dont forgot, take your time and dont overwork yourself and i hope you have a good day/night <3 (notice me if you dont take the request <3 )

I'd love to do this for you. I'm sorry for taking so long to get to this. I've talked about stuff that's been going on but now that my school is almost over I'll be hopefully posting more. I also have some OC stuff I'm interested in posting so look out for that.

Cannibal slashers with an s/o who's ok with eating human meat

Includes: Bubba Sawyer, Thomas Hewitt and Nbc Hannibal Lecter

Warnings: Murder, Cannibalism, talk of following traditional gender roles (barely)

Bubba Sawyer

He's a little surprised at how comfortable you are with eating human meat right away, but he's happy that you're doing it. Since you're so comfortable with eating human meat there aren't going to be too many issues for awhile.

Since you're so comfortable with eating human meat Drayton will probably ask you to help in the kitchen from time to time. If you don't know how to cook you'll learn from him. But if you don't want to handle the meat that's fine, he'll find something else for you to do.

Bubba is a little disapointed that you're not comfortable with killing people but he kind of understands because he assumes your reason are like Draytons. As long as you don't get in the way of their killing he's fine with you not participating.

If you just don't want to be around all of the screaming and intense situations of "the hunt" Bubba will find a way to keep you occupied outside or somewhere where you won't hear all of the noise.

Thomas Hewitt

Like with Bubba it's a good thing you're fine with eating human meat. His family might not believe that you're actually comfortable with eating human meat until you prove to them that you are.

It's also a good thing that you're fine with all of the killing. The more accepting you are of what the Hewitt do the more pleasant they'll be, at least as pleasant as they can be with other people.

Since you don't want to participate in the hunt or the killing Thomas will keep you out of the basement unless it's necessary for you to be down there or it's cleaned up.

Also I'd assume if you're a woman/ fem presenting the family will expect you to help in the kitchen, Hoyt more than anyone else will expect that but if you're bad with cooking they'll make sure you don't cook.

Hannibal Lecter

He'll wait awhile before breaking the news to you that he's been feeding you human meat, unless you figure it out on your own. But he's happy that you're not against continuing to eat human meat.

Hannibal will talk more openly about his cannibalism with you and ask you how different meats taste to you. He could go on four hours about his different preparation for different parts of the body.

He always does his killing for food by himself so you'll never have to worry about him asking you to join him on the hunt. He may ask you about rude people that you've encountered lately and such but he's never asking you to join him in killing someone.

He's also thankful you're not against him killing people. If you don't ask about him killing people then he won't tell you about the details. But if you're interested in the details then he's happy to talk about them with you.

[hishighnesstheprincess]

Okay massive ramble about Sonic code-switching with all of his friends in Frontiers because. It makes me big emotional. Under cut because it's a decently sized one

With each of his friends in Frontiers (Amy, Knuckles, and Tails in that order) Sonic presents a different version of himself, specifically the version that he thinks they need to see at that moment. Code-switching, at least with how it's used in psychology, is defined as when someone, subconsciously or consciously, adjusts their language, behavior, appearance, or any combination of those for whatever reason when talking with different people/groups of people. This can be as obvious as changing languages if you have different friend groups that speak different languages, or as subtle as changing one word when trying to relay the exact same idea to someone. In Frontiers I think Sonic demonstrates this behavior specifically with how he presents different sides of himself to his friends.

With Amy, before she gets out he is very openly worried about her and the situation they're all in, but as soon as she's out he starts presenting himself in a slightly calmer, more compassionate, more heroic way. He's trying to live up to the ideal of him Amy needs to see in that moment: the hero who will never stop trying to save everyone and can't be defeated.

With Knuckles, he's obviously much snarkier and more "free spirited" or so, but he still doesn't show how much he's worried or what his actual emotions are. Any emotional talk they have is instead focused on Knuckles and his emotions and what he wants to do in his future. I think he's presenting himself in a very snarky way because of Knuckles sees him caring a decent amount but not too much, and not showing a whole ton of worry, he's going to think the situation is serious but not as dire as it actually is. He's also trying to stop Knuckles from worrying.

With Tails there's the clearest example of it imo. He's the cool older brother who's always going to save the day. He deliberately hides the worst symptoms of cyber corruption from Tails and again, all their talks are focused on Tails and his future and emotions and all that. Sonic never focuses on himself in this game, it's all about other people. He's always encouraging Tails and trying to help him even in moments where, let's face it, Sonic could probably use some emotional support as well.

He's fucking code switching between his friends to both comfort them, stop them from worrying about a situation which they have very very little power over, and also to stop them from worrying about him.

Also, interestingly, he slowly gets less genuine as the game goes on. With Amy he openly shows worry about the situation to some extent even while deflecting from his own problems, with Knuckles he's fairly obviously putting on a snarky face but still isn't actively hiding anything from him, but with Tails he deliberately hides his own weakness both in conversation and when it comes to the very obvious cyber corruption.

This is all pretty upsetting but imo the worst part about it (emotionally speaking, writing wise this is all the good shit™) is that none of them ever see him at his worst and as such don't realize that he's been putting on a facade for them essentially. Only Sage sees him trying to struggle through the worst of cyber corruption, at that point basically knowing that freeing his friends will lead to himself being trapped in cyberspace. Personally I'd love to see a game in the future (Frontiers 2 please please please Sega) where this gets expanded upon more.

Additionally, there is at least one moment with each of his friends where he slips up in how he present himself: with Amy he shows frustration with the koco leading to her getting angry with him, with Knuckles he shows worry for Tails leading to Knuckles giving him a confused look, and with Tails he is unable to hide the effects of cyber corruption, leading to Tails getting extremely worried about him. But in each case he brushes their emotions off, slaps whatever face he has at the time back on, and just keeps going.

Anyway, that's the post. I would have slapped pictures in here but I am lazy and just relying on the fact that I have a borderline encyclopedic knowledge of basically every Sonic thing that I have consumed in full at this point. The autism is strong with this one

[dustgeonmeshi]

hi, i rlly like your blog + hope you feel better! <3

not a request, but a little thing i've been thinking is like. post-canon, Marcille reading her Dal Clan novels aloud to Falin & Izustumi when she visits. i just think they'd like hanging out

Izustumi was into the story in that sidecomic, and Falin liked the stage version in another one.

idk that either of them know much elvish, so maybe Marcille reads from Falin's common language translations, + probably gives her own commentary along the way. i just think it'd be nice. maybe that's how Izustumi and Falin start becoming more friendly c:

hi, ty for the well wishes! sorry i'm just now getting to this (i forgot my inbox existed for like a month)

i love this idea! Falin initially couldn't get thru DalClan but i feel like if Marcille was the one reading it, she'd hold her attention better. that way they could stop at times and talk about what's going on. i also just think reading to your partner is really romantic, teehee

i am a major enthusiast of Falin & Izutusmi growing closer, i think Falin can vibe with most people and with her and Izu being so chill im certain they'd get along. Marcille is the one who fusses over Izutsumi while Falin is more openly supportive of Izutusmi's independence while still caring for her in hee own way. Someone on one of my posts called Falin and Marcille "Izutsumi's lesbian aunts" who spoil her and stuff, I think that's a great way of looking at it.

Ty for sharing your idea with me! I'd love to sketch it at some point <3

[goodluckclove]

tw for drugs and sex mentions

yo clove not writing related but do you think it's normal to have not tried recreational drugs by 15 and not particularly want to find them? I've seen people making fun of people for it, along with not having sex which is also concerning to me as a sex-repulsed aroace person (caedosexual and demialterous/aroflux). I'm really anxious about stuff like this so I'd love ur opinion if you're comfortable answering stuff like this, I trust you a lot and you seem like a smart and knowledgeable adult so if you say it's fine I'll probably stop worrying

Hey man if you want to get real let's get real. I won't get too descriptive, but I do agree some people may need the tw so I'll put this under a Read More. Generally my answer is that younger people have a warped view of what warrants maturity and adulthood and a lot of the stuff that they think represents being a Cool Grown Up is actually not meant to be that profoundly world-changing in my opinion. This is especially true for all the stuff that is designed to spike your dopamine, unless in cases where it's being used medicinally (and even then it's case-by-case on if it's really medicinal).

Let's get into it!

So first off let me say the three big things that make me kind of biased to talk about stuff like this.

I am an alloromantic, sex-repulsed asexual

I am an addict

I am a child of addicts

I'll tackle sex first just to get it out of the way, and because I think it'll be easier to answer. Teenagers are one of the most brutal species on the goddamned planet (second only to middle schoolers and that sludge in Chernobyl that kills you immediately if you look at it), and I know for a fact they'll find a way to make fun of you for anything. I didn't know I was asexual in high school. I was an out lesbian at the time - I actually came out on our school broadcast for a GSA ad that ended up playing at least twice a month all year. People were more...too into it, which is also bad.

Mean Teens might say some dumb shit. That sucks, but you'll live. There will be way more Mean Teens that have an opinion on your sex life than there will be Asshole Adults. Like way more. I am open about being an asexual marriage and the worst I get is like "what if you want kids" which - you know - you can shut that down quick.

What matters is what you think about yourself, and the cool truth is that if you go through your whole life never wanting to have sex your life will be very close to unchanged in the grand scheme of things. I'll probably never want to eat a whole olive, and Riley thinks that's crazy because they love olives. But we will both see the same amount of sunsets and cool birds, and we were both eat roughly the amount of yummy snacks and have the same amount of adventures.

I've had sex. Ladies. No, seriously though - it's fine. It's okay. I remember yearning for it for years (I was actually wanting intimacy oops), and when it finally happened I was like oh. that's it? okay. There was a point when my girlfriend at the time actually entered me and I was immediately confused because I had no idea what she was trying to do. I remember I furrowed my brow like I was trying to understand Improv Jazz.

I laughed. i did laugh. That is not great for two people having sex for the first time.

Anyways, I had a few sexual partners and just kind of assumed they were all bad at sex or I was doing something wrong for some reason. Then I met Riley and they were openly ace, and something just clicked in me. I'm still aesthetically and sensually attracted to them (I use sensually in terms that aren't sexual), but there's really no pressure there and we aren't worried about it. And it's awesome.

If someone makes you feel weird about not having sex or a romantic attraction to people then you should feel a little bad for them, because that seems like a thing that a person would only do if they had very little else going on in their lives. That's some bland-ass khaki shit.

Onto intoxicants! So before I moved to Portland I lived in San Jose, California, and shortly after weed was legalized my parents had me start smoking with them - I was 18 - and I ended up being heavily addicted for about three years. This is a divisive thing to say because I know there's some argument about whether or not weed can even be addictive. Let me just say right now, I'm not about to have that argument. I detoxed for about three weeks and I genuinely thought I was dying. Like, I said my "last words" to my mother when she came to check on me. It was rough.

I am not anti-weed. I know it can be an amazing tool for people with certain medical conditions. And if you don't have a history of addiction, it's probably fine to smoke a bowl or a joint every so often and just have that be the end of it. I mean, it's so easy to find now.

Weed is fun, though. That's kind of the reason why it developed it's own culture and persona. The same can be said with alcohol. People definitely have opinions on IPAs. But if someone is so invested in what is essentially little more than an economic industry, that they feel the need to judge you for - spending your money on other stuff? That's piss wizard shit.

Weed is fun, yes, but it is expensive. If someone says they have cheap weed it's probably shit and you need to smoke a lot, or they got it through means that aren't great. And going out to bars also gets costly quick. I still go sometimes, but I limit myself to one fun cocktail.

You can also still go to bars if you want - when you're older, I mean. They can be a good place to meet people and see shows. A lot of them have cool non-alcoholic options - I like when there's a kombucha on tap - or they even have mocktails that are still cool mixed drinks with no alcohol. But they all have Coke or whatever.

There's literally a bar by my house that I go to and I only order the French fries and a Coke. Nobody cares. Getting drunk can be fun if you're in the right situation, but I don't consider it worth the hangover. Getting high can also be fun in the right situation, but edibles taste like trash and if you smoke you're essentially a smoker and that's it's own stigma. What's the alternative - vaping?

Oh my god, vaping? Come on. I have friends that vape and you know how many of them only do it because they're addicted? All of them. Shit sucks. I don't judge them, but I can see them cringe every time they have to hit it.

Also don't let people talk to you about that Delta-8/9 shit. Yeah, it's stronger. Yeah, it's unregulated. But like - it's unregulated and we have no goddamned clue what it'll do in the long run.

Getting high is fun because you don't have to exist in the world for a while and that's great, but it ultimately doesn't solve anything. When I'd smoke a bunch of weed and sativa alone in my bedroom (Hey don't do that! Bad idea! Really bad! My parents knew I was doing this and they allowed it because they are bad people!), I'd giggle and fuck around and eat a lot of snacks, but the next morning all the shit I was trying to escape was still there. Only difference was that now I had to go out and drop another 60 bucks on an eighth to get me through the next two weeks.

A lot of people want to have sex and get drunk or high so they can think of something else other than their current situation for like fifteen minutes to six hours. if you don't want to do either of that, and you're not going absolutely insane, that seems pretty cool. I can cite all the studies that say that a lot of that kind of stuff can actually stunt your development if you get into it too early (Or at all, really), but you don't need me to do that. You know that's the case. I knew that and I still OD'd on weed twice before the age of 21.

You're good, man. It's not a culture when you do that this young, it's a coping skill. And if you found a different one that's going to be way better for you in the long run. You can still have fun and make friends, you can even still have a partner in life if you find that's something you want. Your life is might seem limited in a few ways - but it's actually far more open in many, many other ones.

I don't mind questions like these all, by the way. Thanks for trusting me!

[active-mind-15]

Headcanons for Akashi when he's sad 😔

I did a cute one last night for Akashi laughing, so I thought I'd flip the script and break y'alls hearts rq with some headcanons I have for when Akashi isn't feeling all too great.

First of all, let's start with any canon material we have of Akashi being openly sad. There really isn't much. The only times we see him like that in the main series are at his mother's funeral as a child during that flashback, and then directly after he lost to Seirin. Even with the second instance, he tried to hold in his tears as best as he could and still put on a brave smile to go and shake hands with Kuroko. Aside from that, the only other instance I can think of is during the drama CD (season 3 volume 9) where he had a bit of an argument with Murasakibara.

Canonically, we know why he is almost never openly sad. With such high expectations placed on him by his father, the superintendents of Teiko, and even himself, showing sadness was a form of weakness. This is why, despite the fact that he was clearly overwhelmed with too much work throughout his entire childhood, he never complained. His father likely drilled that mentality into him to just suck it up and keep it pushing, because Akashi wasn't even allowed time to process his grief after losing his mother, the only support system he ever had. With this information in mind, let's get into my headcanons.

First of all, what makes Akashi upset? The first thing I can think of is his massive workload paired with the high expectations placed on him. There are probably some days when all of it is just too overwhelming and he gets stressed out, worried that he won't be able to handle it all. Whenever Akashi switches personalities in the series, it's always during a crucial basketball match. But I personally feel like if he's stressed with work all the time, he's constantly teetering on the edge of dissociating but ends up not. I can imagine him in his dorm after a long day of school trying to finish assignments late into the night, and he's desperately fighting to remain present and in the moment. It probably happens more than people think, and to avoid giving into his other self and letting him take over is something he has to do on a regular basis.

The second thing is when he feels like he hasn't been a good friend. Post-Winter Cup, Akashi tries really hard to reconnect with Kuroko and the other GoM more than he used to back in middle school. And given how he had to salvage his friendships with his former and current teams after almost ruining them both, post-Winter Cup Akashi is probably very insecure about his own ability to be a good friend to others. For example, in season 3 volume 9 of the drama CDs when he and Murasakibara had a quarrel, Murasakibara mentioned that Akashi had no idea how he felt at all before hanging up the phone. That comment stuck with Akashi, so much so that all three of the Uncrowned Kings noticed and essentially staged an intervention in the clubroom because Akashi looked so visibly bothered that it freaked them out. You can tell that he cares about his friends as well as what they think of him. He wants to be someone they can trust and depend on, but when he feels like he's missed the mark, he gets upset about it each and every time because, really and truly, he's trying his very best.

What does he look like when he's sad? The thing about Akashi is that he still sometimes has trouble letting himself be upset because he's busy and has no time for breakdowns (probably why he prefers to dissociate instead since he'd rather just detach himself from reality and not feel anything at all). As a result, he tends to bottle a lot of things up until they all spill out later, and I can see it manifesting in two ways.

1: panic attacks. With what this boy has been through, it would not surprise me in the slightest if he ever had panic attacks. If he somehow managed to avoid them throughout his entire childhood, then I think his first panic attack would come after losing the Winter Cup finals because this is the first time in his life he's ever lost at anything and he feels like his entire world is falling apart. He'd probably be hit with an overwhelming fear of what would happen to him after losing the finals, especially with how much his father emphasized victory and success over everything. And the idea of being a disappointment and disgracing his family name would probably just tear this poor boy apart. And these panic attacks are not pretty. He's hyperventilating and gasping through sobs that he desperately tries to quiet to no avail, and he trembles so badly that he can barely keep himself upright. Not good at all.

2: full system shutdown. Maybe I'm projecting my own personal experiences for this one, but I think if there was a day when he was just so stressed and tired or maybe he got news that was so devastating, his body would refuse to cope and he would just... switch off. That could mean sleeping in the middle of the day for long stretches of time because he can't handle being awake, and then when he is awake, his mind is static and he's totally nonverbal, normally for several hours. Also not good at all.

The only person who's ever seen him in the middle of either one of these types of breakdowns is Mibuchi. The first time was accidental because Akashi didn't have the foresight to lock the door at that moment. But after Mibuchi is able to calm him down/bring him back to reality, then for every time after, Akashi will actively seek out Mibuchi if he feels like he's on the verge of a breakdown. Eventually, he opens up about it to the other Uncrowned Kings and they're very supportive and tell Akashi to let them know if there's any way they can help him (he actually has to hold back tears for that).

I have a separate headcanon that post-Winter Cup Akashi eventually starts going to therapy because he realizes he could really use it, and so I would think with time, he develops better coping mechanisms and also knows how to calm himself down before getting to the point of a breakdown. (He still seeks Mibuchi out, though, cuz sometimes he just needs a hug. Is that so wrong?)

He also learns to just experience his emotions as they come and for what they are. Positive or negative, either way, all emotions are valid, and instead of hiding from sadness, you should feel it and then let it pass. Through that, he's able to make peace with himself and not be so hard on himself anymore.

Anyway, I have no idea where to end it, so I'll leave it here because I'm literally falling asleep as I write this. I need to go to bed. For anyone who I've punched in the gut with these headcanons... I'm not sorry. Bye now! 😃

[halfagone]

*with the same caution as someone who has been alerted to the fact that they've woken up in the middle of a minefield*

What might the other things be, so that I and others know to avoid those things? Logically, there's the new one of feeding the story to AI. There's also stealing the work and making demands of authors, but I am a recovering lurker and I'd like to make sure I do not horribly misstep.

Hello!! I know I've definitely seen you around before, and I would like to say thank you for actually asking! It may seem daunting but a lot of the time we really do appreciate and acknowledge the effort to try and do the polite thing.

First off, you are absolutely right about AI, stealing works, making demands. You've hit that right off the bat. I will say, since you mentioned that you are/were a lurker: if you're wondering if you did something to offend an author before, or you realize after reading this post that you have, please don't beat yourself up for it too much. I've known people who moved on from just a reader to a writer and then learned/realized that some of the comments they used to leave weren't the most polite. It sucks to realize, but we all gotta learn somehow! The most important thing is that you grow and don't repeat the same mistakes.

(Please keep in mind throughout all this post that none of this is directed at you specifically, but a general audience. This is not to callout specific people, but a general reminder that these things CAN and DO bother authors.)

Some things may differ from author to author, but some of the most common ones to remember are:

Do Not Leave Constructive Criticism Unless EXPLICITLY ALLOWED

In some cases, the author may have a tag or a comment in their notes saying something like "Constructive Criticism Welcome!" But that is not the same thing as, "Let me know what you think!" Or "Feel free to tell me what you liked about the chapter in the comments!" We're doing this for free, most of us aren't looking to make this a career, and we're doing it to have and share some fun! It is not our fault if you do not like the direction the plot is taking; it is not our fault if you do not like the verb tense. You can always click the back button and save yourself the trouble of reading something you were fundamentally never going to like.

Here's something to keep in mind: there's this book series that I absolutely adore, and I don't say that about too many First-Person pieces of literature. It's a great book, but the editor was not. Super thorough. You know how I mentioned that it was in First-Person? More than once there was a missing quotation mark for dialogue, and when a story is in First-Person, that gets confusing pretty fast. And this is a book I paid for. You are getting this for free.

Do Not Correct Grammar and/or Spelling Mistakes

On a personal note, I do not mind if you tell me I made a spelling mistake. I've had someone point out that I spelled 'bated' as 'baited' and I was cool with that. It's one of those words where I know the difference but only get it right the first try 50% of the time. You know, like breath and breathe. However! Not everyone will feel the same. If you want to point something out, then you can ask the author. UNLESS! The author previously, openly specified that they are not interested, and even if they are, I would probably recommend not making the whole comment about that.

Grammar, on the other hand, is a hard no from me. I had someone give me a mini grammar lesson at the start of a comment using examples that weren't even relevant to the chapter they were on. To this day, I don't know if I had made an actual mistake or not, although I presume that I must have since they felt the need to mention it. But the most ironic thing of all is that the grammar they were correcting me on was beyond my control, because Google Docs keeps autocorrecting those words the exact same way. Only more recently have I managed to keep it from happening (although it still does on occasion) and that was more brute force than a change in settings.

It wasn't human error, just a computer program mistake. And it's more common than you might think! The other day Google Docs corrected my 'beat' into 'ebay' for some reason. Shit happens, it's not always our faults.

Respect One-Shots For What They Are: ONE CHAPTER

I cannot tell you how many friends I have that have gotten so many rude comments about this one in particular. I've gotten a number of them too, but not nearly as much as some of the others.

When we say that it's a one-shot, please just accept that it's a one-shot. Could more be added to it? Maybe. Would you like to see more? Yes? That's great! But sometimes that one chapter is all we have and all we want to have for this plotline. If you want to read more, you can write it.

There are situations where an author mentions a possible sequel, or talks about possible other ideas to write more with the original concept. I know I've done the same thing with a number of one-shots, and I knew to expect people requesting for more chapters.

But that's the key difference here. Requesting is not the same thing as demanding. There is a difference between saying, "I loved this story, I would totally read a continuation if you ever wrote one." Or "This fic was so good! I liked this and this and this, and I'd love to see more from it if you ever get the chance." And saying, "Part 2 please?" Or "Where is my second chapter????"

You can see the difference, right? You didn't even tell the author you liked the fic. You just came up to the chef, slammed your empty plate down, and demanded, "More." It's not as flattering as you think it is.

As for asking or requesting for more ideas from the audience, let's move onto:

Popular Fanon Is NOT CANON and Please Stop Acting Like It Is

This is one of those requests where I am willing to beg on my metaphorical hands and knees. This is an issue I have only seen in DP and DPxDC thus far, and that's because we have so much fanon and fanlore that it's just about everywhere you go in the fandom. On one hand, that's awesome!! We're exploring the worldbuilding opportunities and sometimes that means some favorite tropes or headcanons emerge from it. But that doesn't mean you should expect to see it every time.

Here are some examples: Danny is not Ghost King in every fic. Danny is not even eligible for Ghost King in every fic. Jason does not have Pit Madness in every fic. Danny cannot 'cure' Jason's Pit Madness in every fic. Jason is not liminal in every fic. Jazz is not liminal in every fic. Dan does not get redeemed in every fic. Danny does not have a Protection Obsession in every fic.

I have written 69 Danny Phantom fanfics, and not a single one of them gives Danny a Protection Obsession, but you would be surprised by how many people automatically assumed he did, just because it's popular fanon. I have written more than one fic where Danny was eligible to be Ghost King and people assumed he already was King, despite all evidence that he wasn't yet and didn't intend to be.

I understand these are popular headcanons and tropes. I understand people enjoy them a lot! But it does not mean they are relevant to every fic out there and for you to act like it is just leads us to believe you have poor reading comprehension. ESPECIALLY when we have EXPLICITLY STATED that it's not going to happen.

This leads onto the next subject:

Please Stop Asking Us to Include Specific Characters

I get it. You want to see your faves interact. Who doesn't? But I am crying screaming throwing up and asking you not to demand a character appear. It's one thing to be curious about how a character might react or interact in a situation, and it's another thing to go: "Where is So-and-So? This would be totally different if they were here-" And that's why you'll never see them in this fic! Problem solved. And we can do that, by the way. No one can stop us from declaring someone dead off-screen.

I cannot tell you how many people have demanded that Ellie appear, or Jazz appear, or Dan appear (for some reason? Which goes back to- please stop expecting every author to give him a redemption arc, I quite like him as an ostentatious bastard of a man). I have had more people ask where Ellie and Jazz are than Sam and Tucker combined and those two were more the main characters than Ellie and Jazz ever were.

These characters have lives of their own! Please do not expect for them to leave everything at the drop of a hat. Sometimes their appearances will just further complicate the plot so they aren't included ahead of time because of that. This is not a 'plot hole' on our parts. For you to indicate that it is somehow shows a gross disrespect for our planning skills and writing abilities.

Most of all,

Please Just Respect the Author's Direction

Would you like for things to go another way? Maybe true, but we wrote the fic this way for a reason and please respect that. It might not make sense right now, but there's a very likely chance it's building up to something! And if it bothers you that much, then no one is stopping you from hitting that back button and moving onto another fic that's more to your liking. All the power to you.

But we are not going to change our entire plans for our fic because one person or a few people didn't like it. If I were to change all my plans now for certain fics, then it would be unrecognizable and make no sense, because I had built all the puzzle pieces to paint the exact picture I wanted it to. And maybe to you it's ugly, but it's art to me, and art I worked very hard on.

A General Consensus

Everything is based on respect. If you don't have the words to describe how you feel, then please don't feel pressured to make an elaborate comment about it. I adore keyboard smashes, and heart spams, and even comments going, "You made my cry, fuck you 😭❤️". We appreciate the effort you do make, and we understand all too well when you don't have the spoons and energy to write something longer.

If at any point you wonder, "Can an author take this the wrong way?" A good rule of thumb would be to remove it from the conversation entirely, or rephrase it in a way that makes your point clearer. We cannot always decipher your tone through text, and sarcasm doesn't come across as clearly as you might expect. Unless the authors know you, they can read something very differently than how you intended it to be.

I have readers who comment regularly, who I've chatted with in comment sections. I'd say I know their tone and humor well, in some cases, so when they make certain remarks, I know how to read it. Not everyone will have that luxury.

I know this might seem like a lot, but these are some very real frustrations I've struggled with for a long time. Please don't be discouraged if this feels overwhelming all at once. You've already put in some effort by trying to find out what you can do to be more thoughtful to authors! And that's the kind of effort that doesn't go unnoticed. <3

[theguardianace]

AROACE POLYSHO ???? SPILL SPILL SPILL TWLL ME ALL ABOUT IT PLEASE

AROACE POLYSHOW AROACE POLYSHOW THE GREATEST THING OF ALL TIME.

things of note that i think are fun.... nene and rui had major questioning phases pre-wxs about being aroace. i'd imagine nene being really confused why everyone around her seemed so interested in dating and romance and the whole amatanormative feel of dramatic media and such. it's in so many plays, and people get in so many shipping wars/draw suggestive art for games. it's hard to ignore as a theater kid and gamer. she didn't get it and felt isolated. she came across the term aroace online but had a hard time accepting that she might be that, but eventually silently embraced it. rui on the other hand knew full well he was not like other people. he's not the kind of guy who would pick and choose a crush that isn't there. being aroace and a middle/high schooler made him feel even more lonely and alienated from his peers. he agknowledged the fact he was aroace pretty easily, but it took him a lot longer to accept that isn't a bad thing at all.

emu and tsukasa had NO clue they were aroace. did not occur to them at all. emu had to be told it was a thing and she went "huh? OHHH THATS ME !!!! :D". skipped teh entire questioning/am i broken stage and went right to "hehehehehehe". (though other people don't believe her that often. emu is so full of love. how could someone like her not fall in love with other people? she's too young. she hasn't met the right person yet. it's just a phase. her siblings started off as ignorantly aphobic, but then realized the fault of their ways and learned.). my hc for tsukasa is a bit different than other peoples, but i am fully convinced he thought he was bisexual for teh LONGEST time. "guys and girls can both be good looking, so i must be bi! yeah the extent of my feelings is "they're cool" ... what do you mean that's not what a crush is". it was a shocking revelation to him that people actually want to kiss/have sex for real. he's accepted being aroace and actively embraces it, though he still feels connected to teh bi label. he'd like the concept of tertiary attraction and probably label as bi aroace, to honor both.

i like to think that tsukasa accidentally came out first (accidentally meaning he simply forgot to tell them and then was surprised when they were all surprised). emu was like !!!!! omg samsies and nene laughed and came out, too. wxs were the first people rui ever said the words "aromantic asexual" out loud to.

i personally think aroace polyshow never actually labeled themeselves as such, but BOY do tehy act like they're all married. they just care about each other soooooo much. its platonic its queer platonic its romantic its everything all blended together. if its them, they can do anything. with the shared knowledge of being aroace, they all also sort of feel more comfortable being openly affectionate, yknow? there's no risk of misinterpretation of intent- they love each other. they love each other in a way that they cannot describe and most people wouldn't understand. they are tied by their love of shows and their love of each other. emu is really physically affectionate and they all feel safe cuddling with her. rui lightheartedly flirts and half the time i dont think he even realizes he's doing it, the other half he's just trying to be silly. nene excels in the silent acts of love, making sure the stage is clean and there's always a few snacks backstage and honeslty just being there for everyone.

they have game night/sleepover every once in a while, usually during planning stages of shows. there's also a high likelyhood one goes to another's house at least once a week for some reason.

oh also they never do romance plays ever. it was a revelation tehy only came to after coming out. it just... never occured to them to do one. and now that they all know none of them can fall in love they actively try and avoid it. they've re-written fables to be about the power of friendship, or re-imagined the tale to the point romance wouldn't even be on anyone's mind. it's not a theme the audience ever picks up on, but at the same time they do? they don't realize the pattern but nobody ever comes out of a show with that interpretation. their shows are a hit every time, too. ("story" doesn't mean "romance", after all).

wonderlands x showtime isn't a romance. it's a love story.

[miyamoratsumuu]

tenya iida. [ur thoughts?]

[Jordan and Eli (Kade's younger brother) make jewelry for people. Mina almost passed out from pure excitement and Ejiro has an anklet that he wears whenever he's going out]

‼️this post contains slight manga spoilers‼️

AWH THAT'S SO CUTE!!! the love I have for jordan grows everyday 🙇🏻‍♀️ I absolutely love making handmade gifts/people that make handmade gifts is so endearing 🤲🏻

and kovu you don't know the monster you unleashed LMAO this would exactly be like the time you asked me about sero

IDK WHY HE HASN'T CAUGHT MY ATTENTION BEFORE?? probably because we're almost the same person when it comes to our classes lmao I'm not as for the lack of a better word "strict" as him though? so I just saw him as a more "intense" me, and maybe I didn't like that as much before, idk 😭 I'm literally hating on my past self rn cause there was a point where I slightly disliked iida but then one of my irls pointed out he was similar to me and uh yeah 🤠

BUT now that my mha hyperfixation is back and slowly catching up to my hq hyperfixation, I dunno like I said in one of my past posts I'm starting to see iida in a new light 😹 I'm so funny the way I switch up is crazy (I'm lowkey bashing on myself rn) ANYWAY i HATE how I never noticed how much of a gentleman he was before cause WHAT maybe it's just because of the nrw seasons and everything that's been happening in the manga but STILLLL

like the whole duration of the war where he constantly checked up on his classmates??? (e.g. todoroki, bakugou) AND after the war where bakugou and todoroki hid behind him when fangirls were after them LMAO PLUS HE'S SUCH A FAMILY ORIENTED GUY???? LIKE YES PLEASE?????

these fanfics/smau's really aren't helping with my incoming obsession with him, but pls pls keep it coming u guys. I love all of you who write for him, hihi

AAAAH I LOVE HIM!!!!! AND DON'T GET ME STARTED ON HOW HE LOOKS WITHOUT THE ARMOR OF HIS HERO SUIT. AND WHEN HE HAS THE MASK ON???? PUHLEASE SIR

literally screaming into the palm of my hand as I was looking for this on pinterest 🙏🏼😕

ALSO another irl I have told me if I had a type for guys with glasses how come I don't gush about iida so much 👨‍🦯 AND I WAS LIKE HUH NO I DON'T? the way they proceeded to point out the different guys with glasses I've ever liked my whole life is crazy but we don't talk about that further

but then I was also like IDK EITHERRRR AND I FEEL SO BADDDD IIDA LITERALLY DESERVES ALL THE LOVE IN THE WORLD WHAT

and like my type in guys well irl I guess are ones that are taller than me (I live in the philippines and I RARELY see guys my age that are taller than me and I'm literally 5'6" 15 y.o. which is already pretty tall here in the ph ahahaha in my school there are literally like 5 guys that are in the same grade as me that are taller than me???ok, I'm getting off topic. but anyway, my like bare minimum in a guy is someone that's taller than me and smart (cause they gotta match my freak yk before the two of us get married we have to have been married to our academics first)

ok anyway and again, i absolutely HATE how I just noticed how iida fits that so perfectly??? my hate for my past self isn't even lowkey anymore I'm literally openly bashing myself

sero would always always be my #1, but I just think I'd like to give iida some of the love for now 🤲🏻😸

[dnickels]

as someone from northern usa who’s considering moving i would love to hear more about the culture shock you experienced if you’d like to share

I have to begin with a few caveats, which is that I am making sweeping generalizations that will probably not hold true across race/class/gender lines, or in all situations, etc. but in my experience, as a lifelong Houstonian who spent significant time in places including Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, people in the Gulf Coast south are much more open to being friendly with strangers than people further north. Waving and making conversation with people you may not know but see often is the norm. A stranger on the bus or in line might comment on your haircut, tattoos, and start up a conversation. People might join you at a table at an outdoor coffeehouse for a little chit-chat. Generally if you can prove you are cool, open to low-stakes friendly small-talk, you can get pretty far even with people like cashiers or servers.

In comparison i found northern people to be pretty hostile across the board. Just not warm the same way. I realized that they never meant anything by it, but I'd be out on a walk and wave at my neighbors only to get stared at with disgusted confusion. I'd make a remark about the weather at checkout and be answered with a confrontational "OK?". Even my coworkers took a long time to warm up to me. I was pretty hurt and confused about why all my attempts to make polite conversation fell totally flat. I tried to tell a guy without an umbrella on the street that rain was in the forecast and he just straight up scoffed at me. A housemate in Massachusetts told me "When I met you I didn't know why you were being nice all the time, but now I know it's because you're nice." I'm not even that nice! I had another Mass housemate ask if I was angry at them because I was sitting out on the porch enjoying myself after work-- all these houses had porches and not a single person came out to sit on them. Like yes, there was a discharge of firearms across the street but that was an unusual circumstance (heavy drinking, frat boys). No one got hurt. The weather's nice, the vibes are good, why not sit outside and wave at people?

To this day I can't stand it when people want something from me but won't offer even a perfunctory "good morning" and just launch straight into their purpose. Say hello to me! If I get to work and people start immediately on work conversations I will stop them and make them go through a "Good morning, how are you?" exchange because god damn it, there has to be rules! Be courteous to me!!!

I also find that southern people are much more likely to couch their criticisms more gently or just not remark on something they think is ridiculous/stupid/ugly, whereas northern people will absolutely let you fucking know they hate whatever xyz thing you're doing/wearing. Funny example: I was part of an outdoor walking tour in Mass when two local guys came up and started openly gawking at the very idea of a historic walking tour. "What is this? Some kind of class?" One then looked at me and said "Well, don't have too much fun!" in a disgusted tone. It was hilarious.

Again, there are jerks in Houston (and plenty of bigots and racists) so I don't want to paint too rosy a picture, and the character of Htown specifically is change rapidly due to immigration from within the United States, but I found the rules were pretty similar in other southern states I've since worked in or passed through.

[papermonkeyism]

Finished my first re-read of this book in twenty years. (original name Homeland, this is the Finnish edition.)

And yup, this sure is a thirty year old book. I don't know why I feel kinda disappointed, I knew exactly what I was getting into. It was somehow both not as bad as I remembered while also being in a way worse than I expected.

But nah, they're just evil. Grinning maliciously and taking unholy pleasure in being evil.

It's kinda frustrating read, to be honest. The story in itself isn't all that bad, I'd say, but it's hindered pretty bad by being based entirely on DnD mechanics, specifically the alignment system. Like, the story in itself makes sense, it tells about dark elves, who basically live in a cult, and the protagonist who's born into it, but will eventually abandon it and leave.

But instead of actually examining what living in a cult would be like, they're just evil. Maybe it's just my perspective, being someone who's been on the internet for a couple decades. I know people who come from abusive bacgrounds, and I've heard stories from people who've survived actual cults, and it would make perfect sense to treat the drow as a cult, except with their god being actually real and actively meddling with their lives to make the brain washing just that much worse. There's a lot of potential in there!

Like the main character is raised from the very start being indoctrinated in the spider cult, there's even a scene where he gets whipped (with a multi-headed magic whip made of living snakes) at the age of four or five for daring to look happily at a woman while being a child of inferior sex, yet he never acts like this kind of raising left any marks in the way he behaves. No trauma at all, what so ever. He keeps being openly surprised by his people not being nice to each other despite the book telling how he was raised to know his place. The guy has no self-preservation at all, he keeps wondering out loud at people with the power to hurt him and I just keep wincing so bad.

He somehow just speed runs his thirty years of life in life lessons in the last few days of the book. Like, you were raised into this your whole life, yet you're only learning all of it now?

(and why do you keep calling it "unholy" all the time, it's the only religion you've ever known. Also that one time he openly gasped about the unholiness at his sister, who's an entire priestess, and her reaction was along the lines of "yeah, but she's the goddess of our people", like why are you agreeing with him about the unholyness?!)

Honestly, you could very easily just rewrite the whole book, keep all the story beats as is, and take out the "always evil by default" racial setting without losing pretty much anything. You'd probably still need to keep the gods as real, physical entities the way they are, but it'd still make it a lot more beliveable.

I have much gripe about the tone of this book, apparently.

I mean, I do like some of the tropes it has, not gonna lie. More prominently in the later books, but still. There's a reason Drizzt was the favourite character of teenage me twenty years ago, and it's been so weird revisiting this story after all this time. I'm still having many mixed feelings here. Multiple emotions even. I don't even know what they are, but they sure are many.

Though, you know what's the worst thing? I am notoriously bad when it comes to names, I have some serious trouble learning and remembering even people I live with for extended periods of time. I can't name most of my old classmates despite them being people I spent 3+ years with, and it once took me over three months to learn the name Paula despite being such a simple and common belonging to one of my closest friends at the time. I'm bad with names. So why is it that I can still remember things like fucking Daermon N'a'shezbaernon, that's an absolute monster of a name, and I haven't thought about it for a single second in the past two decades, why the fuck do I still remember that one???!?

Anyway, onwards to the next book!

[northwest-cryptid]

I don't think people understand that you gotta make mistakes and grow from them by being educated one way or another about how to not make the mistake or why it was a mistake in the first place.

The internet is built around flash in the pan drama and unfortunately that has poisoned the minds of people who mean well on much more important topics.

You see someone sharing an opinion on a topic, that is just horrible; perhaps racist, sexist, or just generally bigoted. Your first instinct is to attack them, lash out; let them know how wrong they are, not why they're wrong; just that they are in fact wrong.

Make sure you really make it clear you want them dead, don't let anyone question that you might sympathize or seek to actually better this individual. They aren't worth it, they won't listen; you know this because the internet tells you so. Others "like them" have already poisoned the well and now you know the rules too well to give this one the time of day.

Prove to them that you are exactly what your enemies make you out to be, prove to them that you see them as nothing more than a horrible immoral person that doesn't deserve respect.

Sure they might come to resent you, they might in fact view everything you stand for in the same light; you may be a detriment to the very movement, people, or thing you stand to defend; but don't let that bother you... look the people on the internet love you, you get notes, you get the dopamine of knowing people think you're cool because you stood up to the bad man.

This is how we are now.

You know when I was probably just 16 I fucked up pretty minorly, like literally for context I'll just admit to this shit openly, don't talk about it much but I need you to understand the scope of this. When I was like 16 I wasn't artistically talented so I just casually traced shit, didn't know it was wrong to do so.

Tumblr however, made it clear I had fucked up, daily anon hate; mostly the generic "kill yourself" and the like; do you know what I learned from that experience?

I learned that I shouldn't listen to those people, who reacts like that? I was a kid, I still didn't know what I had done wrong, no one would explain. I was simply a target for hate; and when I'd ask for advice I'd only get further hate. I had "fucked up" online, and that was that. There was no allowance for growth. I was literally being told to fucking kill myself at 16 because I fucking traced over some deviantart shit. Can we just rationalize that for a second?

Now I need you to understand that this is how we respond to everything on the internet. It just feels far more justified when it's about something that actually matters. But hang on, let me go back a second; what did I just say I learned from that experience? Right, that I shouldn't listen to those people.

You realize the only reason I understood what had happened was because a very good friend of mine at the time sat me down, and I will never forget that the first words she spoke to me were:

"Don't listen to those assholes, it's not a big deal."

Before she ever explained to me what I had done, or why it could be hurtful; or the impact that it could have. Prior to offering me any guidance on how to actually learn art and such so I wouldn't repeat the same problem; the first thing she had to tell me was those people don't deserve to be heard.

And I needed to hear that before I was going to listen to ANYONE about anything at that point, because getting upwards of 30 - 50 anon messages telling me I was a waste of oxygen, that I needed to off myself and just do everyone a favor; that I was a mistake, every hour or so; well let's just say that really doesn't make a kid see your point of view and I don't think it works any better with adults for that matter.

Can you imagine if I didn't have someone like that to set me straight? Do you think I'd have learned anything positive from that situation? Do you think I'd have come out of it understanding what I had done wrong? Absolutely not, I'd have just thought everyone was too sensitive or some shit, whatever bullshit the people who picked me up after would tell me. Oh and that's the thing isn't it, if you make someone a victim; you've done half the work for your opposition to come in and convince this hurt individual that they are in fact correct; that you are in fact a bad person and that this individual needs to side with them because they wouldn't treat them this way.

It's easy to recruit someone who is starved of anything positive, who hasn't heard someone agree or even sympathize with them; someone who was trying to do something good and got burnt for not doing it right.

You know, I really do get it, I absolutely understand the want to just blow up and say some shit. It's fine to have emotional, speak from the heart kinda moments, it's fine. However when you're speaking on an issue that matters, when you're talking about the lives of individuals, when you're discussing what to do and the change that you want to bring you ABSOLUTELY, under no circumstances; lash out.

Because that's exactly what those who want to see you dead are looking for, you cannot afford to give them anything to work with.

It's why I lose my shit every time I see someone at those LGBT rallies screaming and causing a scene and being aggressive. Because that's the very thing people say we are, that's the very thing they use against us; and you're just giving them that, you're just letting them have that. Why? What does it accomplish!? Sure you get to feel like the big man right now, but you're hurting the very cause you stand for, and yea I hear you

"So what, do you want me to shut up and be quiet and do nothing"

NO I want you to conduct yourself like a fucking adult, I want you to show these people who might stand in the middle, who might not pick a side; that everything that a homophobic asshole has to say is wrong; I want you to prove to the world that we're just people, I want you to go forth and show people that, without being exactly the stereotype that's used against us! I want you to stop feeding people more to use against us, I want you to think before you act.

Because here's the truth, I might just be an individual to you, but to someone who sees Natives in a bad light, I could easily become an example of "see this is how Natives act" and you DO NOT give them that, you do not let them make that claim; you do not allow them to use you as an example.

If you are fighting for something, you represent the whole of that entity to those who oppose it, and you CANNOT afford to let them see you as something that isn't reasonable, that doesn't deserve the right to be heard.

You can't afford to be 50 anons in my inbox telling me to kill myself.

You need to meet people on a level they understand, you need to meet them halfway and explain it to them; you need to be willing to educate them even when it's not your fucking job. Because the alternative is being all talk and no action, the alternative is never seeing your goal come to light, the alternative is that we may as well just roll over and die.

When you can't conduct yourself with respect and dignity you act for the opposition. That's just the unfortunate truth. Trust me I've wanted to say some very choice words to some very specific people before, and I have had to remind myself that when I am in a situation where I speak for the whole I cannot allow myself to act on impulse and emotion alone; lest someone make an example of it and use it against everyone who stands with me.

This is why I say we need to educate people, this is why I say we have to approach even conflict with the idea of explaining to uneducated masses the truth about the shit they say.

If someone came to me and told me all Natives were savage killers who can't be civilized and all that shit; sure you absolutely bet I'd love to just knock em cold where they stand. Is that not exactly what they would expect from a savage? Is that not exactly what they expect a Native to do?

Sure I could cause a scene, I could fight; I could yell and scream and make a problem of it. It would only prove them right. Instead I could always educate them, explain things to them.

"But they won't listen."

Doesn't matter then, it's not for them then; it's for everyone who sees it; it's for the masses around us, who see this man approach me telling me Natives are all savages who can't be civil; because the sane among them will see a Native there who can be civil; and suddenly all that man has to say becomes nonsense.

You need to be able to disarm them with understanding, education, and fucking kindness. You need to understand how to make your enemy understand you until they're your friend, and then when it comes time for their actions to take a side, you can bet your ass they'll side with you because it would be insane for them not to; not when they know everything that you know.

We see on the internet, this constant bickering of elementary school kids; just on much more important topics.

We can't discuss shit like politics anymore, it becomes "yes" "no" "yes" "no" "yes" "no" instead of making any real progress one way or another. I know some people are VERY stupid, do you know how many times I've been VERY stupid? How many times I've been uninformed? It's a lot.

It's a LOT, and it's a lot more than I care to admit.

However I was lucky, because I was around people who actually cared about what they were saying, about the messages, about the causes they stood for. I was around good honest people who were understanding, and who taught me better.

Not as someone who was bad and needed to be fixed, but as someone who didn't know any better because I was never taught in the first place.

I was given respect, I was shown kindness, and as such I was better for it.

People talk about "converting people to your cause" and all this shit, that's not it; you don't need to convert someone, once they know what you know they will make up their mind.

If you show them that you are someone worth fighting for, that your cause is in the right; they will fight for you.

I used to be homophobic, it kept me from understanding a lot about myself, it kept me from making some very good friends; it made me a pretty awful fucking person. I didn't know, I had no clue, I didn't understand the scope of what I had been taught. That didn't change until I grew up and met other queer individuals like myself who were able to show me that everything I had known was all homophobic lies.

Not by demonizing me, or "proving me wrong" but by just being good honest people, who meant well; and acted with kindness.

The internet has unfortunately poisoned the way people engage with real social issues; and as I get older it becomes harder and harder to stay quiet about it.

There's a huge difference by the way, between this; and punching a nazi.

You should absolutely punch nazis. I'm not going to say they deserve kindness.

And by that same token, there's a time and place for that sort of militant aggressive push-back. You need to learn where to draw that line, and how to draw that line before you go making an ass of yourself and smearing the name of the cause you stand for.

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

The people mag article where HnM are bemoaning how they weren't given any details about Catherine's health ... My thoughts 1.) This is preemptive, since there is now an official enquiry and they do want to be accused of leaking info. OR 2.) They are saving their ass because they did make up a story and leak some info to someone that became part of the narrative and they are trying to back track.

If I had to guess, I'd say they immediately went to DMoi and shared some made up information, because DMoi was pretty adamant that it was her regular trusted source. And then this source was also updating her weekly (I listen to her podcasts) . She was one of the accounts that kept the story alive, although she did not propagate the conspiracy theories, she was pretty sure she knew the medical info.

HnM have definitely been blabbing someplace and that's why they put it this People story because the breach of medical confidentiality became a legal issue this week.

That’s what I think too. This is the Sussexes’ MO: they blab, it gets out, and they do “it wasn’t us” PR. We saw it just last week with the photoshop - they blabbed “we’d never do that,” it got out and made the rounds, then they sourced a “we didn’t say that” PR piece.

They’re not getting any information at all about Kate. I used to know someone who had Crohns and they said once that stress makes everything worse for them. Even though we don’t know exactly what Kate’s condition is, there’s been enough evidence that we can safely assume that stress has/will aggravate it, and it is also safe to assume that the Sussexes have caused some of the stress in Kate’s life - so of course they’re not going to be updated on her condition or involved in the discussions! If there’s one thing William does well, it’s how fiercely he protects the people he loves. I don’t remember why I went down this tangent…oh, right. I think Harry and/or Meghan have been caught saying things about Kate’s health that William/KP knows for a fact are false and it may be somehow connected to the clinic investigation or — like you said — it took on a new critical urgency once the confidentiality breach was discovered. Because remember, KP is getting updates about it (they’re the ones who leaked it, IMO, so the public would know and to be able to hold the hospital accountable for following through).

It wouldn’t surprise me if the hospital is looking at the communications of these 3 employees to see who they have been in touch with. (If they were using company accounts/devices it’s perfectly legal to do that. At least here in the US it is, not sure about the UK.)

Anyway, I don’t think the Sussexes are directly behind the medical records privacy invasion - my gut is that it’s a foreign publication but you never know. I think the Sussexes have been gossiping with their friends/associates/bots and that’s been brought to KP’s attention. I mean, if Meghan once felt it was appropriate to make the plane crash comment, she probably thinks it’s appropriate to openly speculate about some of the worse theories.

I also doubt they’re getting a whole lot of updates about Charles as well so it’s surprising to me (sort of, not really - the Sussexes/Meghan get better SEO when their names are tied to Kate) that we haven’t heard much from Montecito on Charles’s condition. It’s cancer! They’d get so much press for being the doting son and DIL who live abroad but are supporting Charles in whatever way they can. I mean, Meghan at least should’ve thought about sending a basket of her new homemade jams to Charles to help cheer him up since he’s into that sort of stuff with his own Duchy Originals line, but nope. Bupkis.

[karume-everything-else]

Whumptober 2023

Day 20: Ugly sobbing/ Bad breakdown [Reader x L (Lawliet)] {Death Note}

This case had you frazzled to no end. You were certain L was right about most things... but you didn't like how close he was getting to Detective Yagami's son. There was no way to prove your hunch, not after the investigation lead to the conclusion of innocence, but you couldn't shake the feeling that there was something... off about him.

Even L had his suspicions before Detective Yagami held Light and Misa at gunpoint. But now it was as if you were the only one still on edge. A 17-year-old that only just graduated high-school and had very little experience in investigations or police work in general was not the most trustworthy sight.

And yet, it made you look jealous.

Maybe you were, on some level. But when both Light and Misa were so easily able to befriend L so quickly... you couldn't deny how it stung. Not to mention how little you'd done since this case started over and over again. You might as well be a potted plant for all the good you right now.

That's how L found you though, wallowing in your doubts and jealousy. You weren't sure how much longer you could hold yourself together...

"[Name]?" He shuffled toward your bed, "You okay? Watari said you haven't left your room much."

"Y-yeah." Your voice was shaky, ready to fall and betray you, "Just tired, haven't been feeling like myself is all."

L perched on the edge of your bed, "You don't say... If you need a break, I'm sure one of the detectives would go with you."

"Of course I can't do much myself." He shifted slightly, one hand finding your back, "With my cover of being a student... it would be a little weird for everyone who 'knows' me to see me with someone like you..."

Turning your head to face away, a blatant attempt to hide the tears forming in your eyes.

'Someone like you... someone like you...'

"So it would be 'normal' if you went with Light or Misa?"

"Probably... Light has positioned himself as my rival at the school." L knew where this was headed, "That factor could complicate things if it weren't for how much time we spend being seen together on campus. With Misa its different... she's already said she's dating Light quite openly..."

You stopped listening, stopped caring about the fake identities and fake friendships and fake people.

"I don't care." You snarled as you sat up, "I just want to be left alone!"

L's brow furrowed as he stared into your eyes, "I know you better than that [Name]. You aren't the kind to hide away, something is wrong and the sooner you tell me the sooner we can--"

"We? There's a we now?" The venom in your voice was as thick as the tears finally falling, "Cause I've heard these past few months is you and Light!"

"Is that what this is about?"

You huffed, turning away as you tucked your knees to your chest. While not a direct answer, L knew you... he knew all your little tells.

"[Name], I'm not replacing you." His hand rested on your arm, "You're quite literally my best friend. I don't know how, I don't know why. Someone like you being around someone like me is one of the few mysteries even I can't solve..."

A slight pause, "And I don't want to... I'd rather just be around you. Make sure you're okay and that you won't leave. Because that's the far more likely scenario... if we're being realistic..."

You sniffled, wiping at your eyes... trying to clean your face.

"[Name], would it help if we went somewhere? Just us and Watari?"

"I dunno..."

You sounded so defeated and pathetic, but L knew you needed something to get your mind out of this rut.

[crossedwithblue]

You're a Mansfield Park fan?

Yes!

IDK if you intended it as such but I am going to take this as a license to ramble about MP on main.

I think the thing about MP is that people (especially people who aren't as quite intense about JA than I am lmao, or who have only read P&P before) often come to it expecting a light-bright-and-sparkling romance like P&P, and are surprised when that isn't the case. Hell, I felt like that too on the first read, because the pop-culture perception of JA is that she was a romance writer first and foremost - but the romantic happy-ever-after is shoehorned into a few paragraphs on the last page or two, and not even shown on the page. MP isn't a romance novel at all - I have minimal English lit knowledge outside of JA, but I'd class it as more of a bildungsroman, maybe? Or a predecessor to those modern Literary Novels all about objectively nasty people being nasty to each other? (More on this in a min) I would very much welcome corrections from people who do know what they're talking about, though!

To me, JA isn't actually a romance writer most of the time. She wrote really good romances because she was really good at characterisation and at understanding and describing how personalities interact to form relationships, and romance is just one type of relationship. It's just the one that pop culture tends to focus on when it comes to JA (I mostly blame Georgette Heyer but of course there's an essay to be written on that too). The only JA novels I'd describe as true romances are P&P, of course, and Persuasion - the rest have romance as just one among many other dynamics as a supporting or side plot, or a tool to reveal characterisation, rather than being the main focus.

Fanny is also a very passive narrator who tends to be acted upon rather than acting herself, which tends to irritate people, but MUCH more on that in a minute.

I think MP is in some ways sort of... cruel. It's certainly the most openly incisive and potentially upsetting, with depictions of complex abusive/toxic family dynamics that could probably come straight out of a domestic/familial abuse/neglect resource. The point where I started to enjoy MP was when someone told me to embrace the schadenfreude - everyone besides Fanny and Edmund (possibly - both points very much up for debate, but they are at least trying their best in the middle of a family that doesn't give a fuck, really) is either an actively terrible person or at least a pretty bad enabler. That did help me find the humour in it, but personally I certainly find it a bit hard to read at times, especially the Mrs Norris scenes. It's not usually my first choice when I want to be cheered up.

This also tends to surprise people, I think, because the pop-culture image of JA, (probably in large part due to her Victorian relatives wanting to protect her posthumous image) is of a twinkly, proper, sweet-natured spinster lady.

Which she was not. Anyone who's seen extracts of her surviving letters knows that she had a biting, frequently uncharitable sense of humour (miscarriage jokes aren't a great look, Jane!) - and we know Cassandra destroyed the really juicy stuff, so that's got to be the tip of the iceberg. This is certainly apparent in all of her books, but can be ignored much of the time - but not in MP, where uncharitable descriptions of awful people are pretty much the core of the book.

Finally, we come to Fanny, the extremely divisive heroine (not least because of that name lol). Personally I tend to imprint on pathetic small girls who need looking after, but Fanny is a massive turnoff (lolol) for many people. I think that's just a personal thing but I enjoy the effect of her frequently becoming another layer through which the narrative filters - JA was a master of free indirect speech, of course, often with deliberate ambiguity about whose POV is being reported - omniscient narrator or character or both in agreement - and if it's a character, then which one? Fanny usually says and does little, but observes very keenly and astutely, which interacts in a really interesting way with the narration.

Also, I'd just like to point out that Fanny is Like That because she is an abuse victim. She may not be the most compelling heroine for everyone, but she isn't going to "just stand up for herself". The one time she does, the Bertrams punish her for it pretty harshly by sending her back to an environment that they know will be bad for her physical health (!)

Bit of a tangent but I am also a huge fan of Jane Eyre and I think there are interesting parallels to be drawn between Fanny and Jane. Jane Eyre is a fiery, independent character who manages to get out of bad situations one way or another, mostly through sheer dumb luck (don't get me wrong I love my girl Jane but How did she leave that parcel on the coach...). If she'd stayed at Gateshead, I could see her gradually getting beaten down until she became a lot more like Fanny - because other than Jane's innate temper, they have quite a bit in common - they both do, when it comes down it, have a very strong sense of self (yes, even Fanny) and the ability to reject things that they know are morally wrong, no matter the potential cost.

That turned into a bit of a defense of MP because I usually hear people dissing it and so that's what I end up thinking about. Lots more to be said on the Crawfords and the Bertrams, of course.