#WHY IS SNS SO CRUEL!?!?!

[immortal-tale]

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Is anyone else getting deja vu?

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I hate this feeling...

[toyota-supra]

My Top 10 Favorite Games I Played In 2023

In chronological order. It's a long one.

Titanfall 2

I've been told to play this for years now, though for most of those I did not really know why, as it never seemed like my kind of game. But, ever since I started really getting into mecha sometime in 2022, I decided to finally give it a try. I'm very glad I did. Titanfall 2 is a criminally short First Person Shooter with a very fun mech/pilot dynamic, really good mechanics of movement and combat for both, and some of my favorite level design of any game I've played in a long while. The platforming is crazy good! The mechanics are tight as hell! The mech is awesome! I recommend Titanfall 2 for literally anyone reading this.

Mega Man Zero

The Zero series is the one that most called to me in the Mega Man franchise every time I looked these games over, and I was right in that judgement. While I couldn't say if I was going to appreciate most of the GBA era action platformer difficulty or not, it was clear from Zero's more agile movement and bite-sized missions with very memorization-heavy bosses that I would enjoy it. And I did enjoy it a lot! Most of the bosses kicked my ass but it was an absolute blast to finally learn their patterns enough to defeat them. The problem is, I went out of my way to not get any of the game's health upgrades or energy tanks, making the final boss so hard for me that after days and days of attempts I gave up. Not beating Mega Man Zero is probably my biggest regret of the year lmao

Fate/Stay Night

Honestly, what do I even say? You can see my Saber icon, right? Fate is a franchise I never bothered to get close to, knowing of its name only through vague images and names of more popular characters (not even from FGO, just in general), and from later on getting to know that Fate/Grand Order was the game it is I felt like it wasn't for me at all and who cares. So when I learned what the original VN was actually about I felt stupid. How could something so fitting to my tastes have gone under my radar for so long...? Despite not being much of a reader in general, F/SN is a very long game that feels like it's just as short as you need it to be. The prose flows so well, every single character is lovable in many ways, and there's so much passion written into them and the situations they're in that it's one of the most smooth-flowing VNs I've read (which granted are not many) even though it's around the high 6 digit wordcounts. I love this game dearly.

Stranger of Paradise - Final Fantasy Origin

I wanted to play this game since the first few trailers! How cruel was it that, not only did I not have a powerful enough machine at the time, but the game wasn't even on Steam until the year after release? Final Fantasy Origin is the game it presents itself to be. There's something about it that's so special to a certain kind of person (which I happen to be one of) and that falls flat for everyone else. The combat and its many Weapons, Jobs and Skills to use are just fantastic in how nice they feel, and I really do like the type of story Stranger tells. I haven't finished it yet, but I'm close to it. I like to describe Stranger of Paradise as everything good about PS2 and PS3 games in a modern title.

Pseudoregalia

An old feeling from a new friend. Pseudoregalia is everything I like in 3D Platforming, and a little bit of what I don't. If you've ever looked at a single gif or video of Super Mario 64 and thought, "this looks pretty fun to play," you should be playing Pseudoregalia. If you like goat ladies with big butts, I can't say I understand if that would sell you on a game or not, but it is a feature everyone mentions. I wrote on this game already, so please do check that out and get it. It's one of the three titles of this list that came out this year, and I have not heard enough people talk about it.

Armored Core VI - Fires of Rubicon

My favorite in this list, which is funny because I don't know what to say about it at all. Armored Core is a series I've been studying up on from the outside for a while, and the announcement for this title was my reason to finally dive in. Unfortunately, I did not get past playing the first mission of AC1 a few times and booting up AC3 once. But I will get to it eventually! Fires of Rubicon is one hell of an action game, that I adored for every single one of my (currently) 67 hours of play. Going through the campaign with builds a little too busted for the AI most of the time was my dishonorable focus of the experience, but there's a lot else to do for every kind of person. The amount of freedom you have for messing with your builds for either single or multiplayer is not to be underestimated. Though it could be better. Here's hoping there will be a game that is.

Midnight Club 3 DUB Edition Remix

I played this game as a kid so much that the main menu and its theme are scarred into my mind, yet this whole time I had no idea what the game was actually like due to the fact that most of my playtime was doing a few races and just cruising around. Once you dive into trying to finish the story, MC3 is a much different experience. One that frustrated me so much, I got actually ill from the stress. Please take breaks, gamers! Your health is more important than finishing an 18 year old game! Still, I did eventually do it. Midnight Club 3's handling model and gameplay structure are really impressive in comparison to the much more popular Need for Speed series, and I have to admit I did enjoy the game a lot. It's just a lot harder than it ever needed to be. I'll probably never forget this game, and that's not really a good or bad thing. Just, advice from me, if it gets too hard, maybe switch to sports bikes. Buy that Ducati.

Test Drive Unlimited

Another car game, but this one I have the least to say about of any on this list. I had played TDU on PS2 multiple times before and thought it was awesome. The atmosphere and immersion of this game are unrivaled by any racing game to this day. But playing the PC version with a steering wheel and pedals made everything so much more incredible. I played the Platinum mod, which adds hundreds more cars and fixes a lot of issues with the original game (but not all of them; the game was still really rough and I hate how much the resolution is a pain to change). Overall, one of my favorite experiences with a steering wheel controller so far. Otherwise, a pretty good game if you like driving.

Super Mario Sunshine

An old friend, and a new feeling. I don't play 3D platformers as much as I wish I did, because they're really not part of my main priorities looking for games lately, but every time I play a Mario game, it's like I found love again. It was not the first time I played Super Mario Sunshine, as I had collected a dozen or so Sprites years before, but playing the whole game in I think two weeks during the latter half of the year was such an incredible experience. Unless for some reason you play it on the Switch, Sunshine is a game that loves you as much as you love it. And you do love it, right? I know I do. I'd love to play this game many other times in the future. Granted, that applies to every game here, I just wanted to say it out loud for this one.

Lethal Company

A fairly recent release! Having played it with many groups of people by now, both modded and vanilla, I think Lethal Company is probably one of my favorite multiplayer experiences ever. It is scary and hilarious, but also just really really good, to a level that surprised me for my quality standards of co-op (horror) games. Lethal Company turns friends into improvised horror movie actors and it's incredible. I'm almost at 30 hours played and will likely get to 40 at minimum. It's also pretty cheap and likely runs well on all sorts of machines, so consider checking this one out too.

Honorable Mentions

Witch on the Holy Night and Story of Seasons - Friends of Mineral Town are games I am adoring and could definitely go on this list, hadn't I started them both quite late into December. Maybe next year I'll give them a shoutout!

[ludiharambasha]

Wow what a healthy romance is budding between these two. Essentially threatening suicide and fighting your loved one into submission is truly the romantic plot we didn't know we needed.

Now jokes aside, how can anyone in their right mind not see what a manipulative piece of shit Naruto is here? Obito just told him the truth behind the genocide, and not only does Naruto still stand by Konoha, but he also wants to beat Sasuke into submission! He is giving him an ultimatum!

How does the sentence "i am the only one who can handle all that hate" not sound alarming and manipulative? He literally sounds like an abusive ex! Just imagine that Sasuke was a woman for a hot minute. How many sns stans would still see this as romantic? A woman who suffered through a genocide is being harassed by a crazed moron who can't accept no for an answer and threatens he would kill her and himself? He minimizes her righteous anger and hatred towards a state that brutally killed her kin and wants to stop her from seeking justice? Now that is the context of this scene, the only difference is Sasuke's male. How is this exchange not completely terrifying and chilling to the bone?

I am not even saying that Sasuke and Naruto don't love each other (that would be blatantly untrue), but sns stans seem to misunderstand the nature and context of their love. First, it was not meant to be seen as romantic, as both Naruto and Sasuke said on multiple occasions that they feel like brothers, and are transmigrants of two actual brothers and are meant to try and resolve their conflict and feud (the core theme and plot of the story), so no that's not romantic love. Not every two men who have a deep bond are romantically interested in one another anyway, and frankly, it is rather homophobic to assume so, on top of feeding into this toxically masculine idea that straight men shouldn't express love and emotion amongst themselves.

Now, that aside, whatever the nature of their relationship (friendly, romantic or brotherly), it does not mean their relationship is particularly good, healthy or functional. Naruto is someone who protects the village that ordered the annihilation of Sasuke's clan-wanting, no, demanding that the two keep up a bond of any kind would be evil and cruel. Sasuke still caring about Naruto says more about his kindness and deeply caring nature. Naruto, on the other hand, is absolutely vile-he literally supports the genocide of Sasuke's people!! Why would anyone in their right mind see that as a romantic gesture??

( PS. This little speech bubble of Sasuke's reaction might be a little toned down, as I have read a version where he says, 'What the fuck is wrong with you?!'(it was even my pfp here for a short while).)

[murfeelee]

IWTV INSP - MerMay Pt23: Armand

The creature moved towards him. He had a mass of black tentacles that transitioned from the waist into smooth brown skin, the ombre of it swirling across the creature’s skin.... His eyes, like orange-tinged amber, looked at him with bright interest.... Dark curls haloed his face, moving freely in the water, as he drew nearer.... “I mean you no ill will, little bride,” the creature said with a smile.... “My apologies if this is your territory,” Louis said politely and firmly.... “I meant no disrespect by my intrusion. I will take my leave if I may....” The creature smiled. His face lighting up with an amused glee, the grin showing off a mouthful of sharp fangs, and Louis steadied himself against the tremor of fear that went through him. “Such manners,” the creature said, looking at him with keen interest, “are you Made? Are you from the surface? Have I caught myself a little yearling siren?.... Tell me of the surface....”  “It’s… dry,” Louis said blandly. The creature laughed. It was a sharp and cruel sound despite the musical note to it. “Oh, I can see why you were Made,” the creature said, “Tell me, delightful thing, are you marrying your Maker?” “Yes,” Louis said.... “I am.” “....My name is Armand, so you may stop thinking of me as creature,” the creature--Armand--said warmly with amusement, “and what might I call you?” “Nothing. I’m nobody,” Louis said defiantly, “No one....” “I am many centuries old,” Armand said.... “Ask me any question your heart desires and I will endeavour to answer. Consider it a gift for you to celebrate your nuptials.....”

-- Excerpt from The Wedding Hunt, by @weather-mood

A [FREE SPACE] entry for @vamptember's MerMay VC event!

MY THOUGHTS & CC CREDITS

MY THOUGHTS

My only advice for Louis about Armand:

CC CREDITS

- Mermaidia lot/world

- Armand's hair IDER, black hands by @venusprincess-ts3, claws at TSR, octopus tail by @niobecremisi

- Protip: When toggling the Black Lights on lots, your sims' skin with look darn near pitch black, and their clothes will glow white. To undo this, just activate the Vampire Virtual Override with Nraas' Debug Enabler (yes, even if your sim isn't a vampire). It will remove the glowing clothes effect and give your sims a matte, almost greenish color (which intensifies if you have EA's full moon lighting on from the SN EP, like I do). Something's better than nothing.

[butididntpourthewhiskeys]

I Love You, It’s Ruining My Life Songs

1. DENIAL 🫣

💜 Lavender Haze: just confirms what I thought since Joever happened and I started to look at Midnights a bit differently. I literally think she was in denial that him staring at the ceiling with her and not talking much, not reading into her feelings was NOT a good thing or the sign of a healthy relationship 🙃 also, her trying to convince herself that she doesn’t want to get married, she doesn’t need the 1950s shit of having a ring on her finger, having babies, feeling SAFE…. just screams denial and delulu lmao

❄️ Snow On The Beach: Ouch. Big ouchie. When she released this song in Fall 2022 I remember thinking… wow why is she so obsessed with the beginning of their relationship and keeps on writing about it. I feel like we now have an answer and it’s that this is what she kept holding onto when things had already hit the fan 🥲

🚫 Sweet Nothing: NO song screams more denial on Midnights than this one. Her posting the Linda and Paul McCartney thing had already told us that she wrote this because she loved the idea of this love yet it wasn’t actually what she was going through. Also, it’s so interesting that she and Joe wrote it together.. again, it’s giving massive ‘i will do anything for him to be 100% in again’ aka she tried to recreate something with him that clearly wasn’t there anymore at the time

🗑️ Glitch: Falls into the same category for me as SN. Things had gone to shit but she was so obsessed with the idea of the two. And being honest, so were we??? Sometimes I wonder if she just LOVED the narrative of Taylor and Joe, victim and savior, Burton to this Taylor….she loved what was there, she kept on holding onto this dream of him from back when she was shipwrecked. I literally think she thought she could just hold onto the memories and him and things would work themselves out again

❌ Betty: Honestly, this song coming up in that playlist makes me SICK to my tummy for obvious reasons. A massive red flag that Joe came up with the idea for the song… but lets talk about this in greater detail on April 19th (aka WELCOME HOME CHEATER)

❤️‍🩹 Lover: BIG BIG Ouchie. She thought this was forever. She thought she could just go wherever he goes but, clearly, she was in denial, overseeing so many signs telling her that it won’t always be enough. I think Lover was this idea of “but what if it does work out” even though her gut feeling was telling her that this love won’t be forever

🚩Cruel Summer/False God: Have ALWAYS been such red flags when it comes to a relationship dynamic. Cruel Summer is all about them playing games in the beginning and her suffering from it. False God is the idea that if communication doesn’t work, you can just have sexy time instead and they would get away with it?? Both signs of a very unhealthy rs dynamic and it makes me feel so validated that she sees that now

🙃 Ours/Superman: Girlie knows she’s always been a lil delulu… lol

👑 Bejeweled: SUCH a wonderful way to end this playlist. This is literally the beginning of the end of being in denial. That song was a direct warning, an awakening that she’s NOT okay in the rs and that things are NOT going to be okay anytime soon if he doesn’t put in the effort.

[wavytam]

Thank you for responding to my SP vs SN comment! Your response was more than I expected and so much appreciated. :)

One thing that really stood out to me about SN relationship was regarding Sanji fear of never being good enough for being himself. The interesting thing about Nami is that 1) she understands his kindness (her comments to his brothers) 2) she respects his values (choosing to fight Kalifa) 3) she's willing to put herself in harms way to fight for him (WCI, Water 7). It's not to say Robin or Vivi or any of the Straw Hats don't show these things but Nami definitely has some distinct examples.

Pudding and even to an extend Viola have mocked him for his weakness for women, even though both women have changed their perspective on him later. So compare to Nami, it's really hard to root for them. I think Nami might have thought he was a bit of an idiot in the beginning and may have taken advantage of him from time to time but it was never an outright mockery.

Anyway I guess what I'm trying to say it's so hard not to love these two when you really look into who they are and what they stand for. Apologies for the wall of text, I get a bit carried away when I think about these two.

No problem at all! I love talking about SaNami and One Piece and you brought up interesting points. I'm sorry if I can't answer everything straight away, tho. During week days, because of my work and college, it takes me a while to sit and write a good response. So I hope you don't mind if I delay the answers once in a while.

You are so right. I feel like Nami is one of the female character who is chosen to support and understand Sanji more than the others. Ofc, we have Robin and Vivi, like you said, but I don't think any of them has so many scenes of being suportive of Sanji like Nami does.

For example, we all know Robin understands Sanji and would be supportive of resuing him just as Luffy was, but out of the girls, Oda chose only Nami to go to Whole Cake. I also will never forget the fact how, after Sanji was taken by Capone, she seemed so worried and sad and eager to rescue him.

"Pudding and even to an extend Viola have mocked him for his weakness for women, even though both women have changed their perspective on him later."

Okay, this part actually breaks my heart. I feel really bad for Sanji in moments like this, but at the same time it just shows how much of an amazing person he is.

But yes, I don't recall Nami mocking him. She uses a bit of his weakness toward women, but she does that with everyone tbh (she's seductive, it's a part of her character). And I don't remember her being cruel nor downright disrespectful to him about it. Sometimes, his antics can annoy her who can blame her, I sometimes do think his gags are too much as well), but she never uses it to put him in harms way.

It also reminds me of Oda's SBS about how Nami chose to respect Sanji for his chivalry. It's very interesting how, instead of mocking him, she was her angry at the fact that he might get himself killed for his chivalry. And once he firmly stated he would never kick a woman, even if it killed him, she saw how much a strong-willed man he truly was.

Don't worry about the wall of text!

And yes, that's why this ship is so interesting to me. Just like Sanji treats Nami the way she likes to be treated (with care and like a princess hehe), Nami understands and accepts Sanji for who he is - the only thing she is not aware of is how important she is to him though. Besides that, both can read the other very well, and know when something is off with the other.

They are amazing, and it IS difficult not to love them. Let's ship and see what the future holds.

[necromaniackat]

Cruel Summer

Chapter 9: Flowers in The Ashes

Word Count: 2.4K

(Images above are Anika {top} and Bex {bottom}

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Your mood lifted when you laid your eyes upon your best friend since primary school. Her luscious dark hair was pulled up in curlers and she had a face mask on her, somehow always clear, beautifully rich brown skin. Her coffee brown eyes glittered in the sunlight – they squinted as she smiled at you.

“Evelyn!” Anika greeted joyfully.

“Anika, how’s Delhi?” You asked with a happy smile. Anika was in Delhi for a cousin’s wedding. She worked at KFC while going to university to be a social worker so the weekend off from work is well deserved.

“It’s so hot,” Anika laughed. You nodded your head in agreement, pulling your thick dark hair up off your sweaty neck.

“Yeah it’s hot here too,” you empathized. Anika let out a snorted laugh/scoff and shook her head.

“No, Ev. It was forty degrees yesterday and it’s gonna hit thirty-eight by lunch.” Your friend sounded in distress but you knew she was just being a drama queen. You laughed and shook your head.

“An, you visit Delhi every summer,”

“–And each time sucks more than the last!” She exclaimed then took a drag from a cigarette. Her hands shook. You knew why her hands shook, and why she just threw six months without smoking away. And you didn’t blame her.

“I’m under the assumption he’s there,” you uttered flatly. You watched as Anika looked off in he distance. She took another shaky drag from the cigarette then nodded her head.

“Unfortunately,” she muttered back. Sadness filled your chest for your friend but protectiveness of Anika made you subconsciously ball your fingers into a fist, cracking your knuckles as you did so. You despised Anika’s creepy uncle; he always made her feel like a piece of meat he wants to put his dick in. Anika couldn’t go to her parents about this, her uncle was well respected in the family, he makes a lot of money, he has a beautiful wife and seven kids. Of course if Anika came forward about how he makes her feel, she’d be laughed out of the family. You felt truly bad for Anika – she was essentially hopeless.

“Anyways, enough about me. How goes the newest project?” Anika swiftly changed the topic. You knew she was just distracting herself from the problem at hand. And you went along with it without hesitation.

“I had a contractor come by yesterday to give me an estimate for the renovations,” you told her with a sigh. You leaned forward agains the counter. Your mobile phone propped against the coffee canister. The hot morning sun was just above the horizon, casting an oppressive glow in the house.

“How’d that go?” She asked with a cocked eyebrow – she took a sip of her coffee. Your mind replayed the entire sexist encounter in your head. First the contractor believed he was meeting with a man despite you putting your name on the appointment. You didn’t realize Evelyn was a unisex name. Then he kept calling you pet names, which in a casual circumstance would be okay but this was professional setting so they were wildly inappropriate. And then he critiqued some of your design choices as if his opinion mattered. You hired him to give you an estimate and let you know if your ideas are possible.

You chuckled to yourself and nodded, taking another sip of your hot coffee. You gave Anika a contemplating expression and hummed.

“Not good but it could’ve been a lot worse,” you admitted honestly. Anika went to say something but stopped before she could. She turned away, looking off in the distance with her coffee cup at her lips. You followed in suit, looking out the kitchen window but you could still see Anika out the corner of your eye. You nearly choked when you saw she was staring at you from the corner of her eye. You and her made eye contact. You and Anika merely side eyed each other as you both loudly slurped at your coffees.

“Fooking men eh,” Anika declared in a stereotypical Canadian accent. You snorted, coffee coming out of your nose. Anika’s contagious laughter filled the otherwise quiet house. You couldn’t help but laugh with her.

“They’re the worst, honestly,” you claimed with disgust. Anika giggled at you, nodding her head in agreement.

“They’re only good for one thing,” Anika added confidently, giving you a wink. You snickered at her and shrugged your shoulders.

“They’re barely good at that.” You sipped your lukewarm coffee and tried not to snort laugh. All while Anika was uncontrollably giggling, she was in the process of taking a sip of her own coffee but the giggles paused that motion so now she was hysterically giggling with her clear glass mug pressed against her mauve lower lip. But Anika’s laughter suddenly stopped and the sound of people shouting in Hindi in the background.

“Anika, come. Join your family for a change,” said Anika’s mum. The joy in Anika’s eyes slowly died, in fact you saw tears begin to form in her eyes. She cleared her throat and nodded.

“Yeah, I’ll be in, in a minute mum, I’m just talking to Evelyn,” Anika responded, glancing between you and her mum. You could only stand by quietly, drinking your coffee and enjoying the morning overall.

“No, we did not spend almost a thousand pounds for you to be here just so you can keep talking on the phone with someone you see every day back home. End the call. Get inside,” Anika’s mum ordered then the sound of a sliding door slamming closed filled the quiet balcony. Anika frowned and muttered a goodbye to you before ending the call. Anika’s parents are super strict with her; they’re also very much the type of people to play the hot and cold game with her. And she, being the only girl, has a lot to live up to as a daughter and a potential wife but instead she’s flipping burgers and getting a degree just like her two older brothers. But unlike her brothers, Anika moved out. Her parents aren’t very happy about her life choices, then again what parent is? We always want the exact opposite our parents want for us.

You frowned to yourself, picking up your mobile phone and exiting the app. You felt bad for your friend but you didn’t know how to help. Your mum wasn’t overly strict. Hell, compared to Anika’s mum, yours was considered an air-headed hippie. But your mum was clingy - much like Anika’s mum.

You grumbled when you saw it was a few minutes before seven o’clock. You took the last gulp of coffee, setting the empty mug on the counter. You fiddled on your phone a bit to connect your phone to the speakers you set up around the house last night. Of course you started the day with greatest dance song to ever be created; We Didn’t Start The Fire. Of course this was before your time and you prayed someone would do a continuation to this song with everything that’s happened since the end of the first song.

You cranked the music as loud as it’d go then headed through the house to the grand staircase. The house felt hot and muggy. It was another hot day, thankfully the temperature is going down next week.

‘I should open the windows. Maybe that’ll help,’ you thought as you went up the stairs. You wandered down the hall mindlessly. You stopped at the closed bedroom door and sighed. You tapped your knuckles against the wooden door before opening it, poking your head into the bedroom and slowly slid into the room. The room was dark besides the peeks of sunlight coming through the cracks in the curtains.

“Good morning Brahms. It’s time to get up!” you enthusiastically said over the music as you walked over to the window, throwing the drapes open. Bright sunlight poured into the room. You turned around and caught the sight of the doll laying under the duvet on the bed. The doll’s lifeless eyes stared up at the ceiling.

You sighed to yourself again, feeling very silly for doing this. Part of you doesn’t believe what you caught, it must’ve been something else – perhaps you caught a frequency from a local radio or police radio.You didn’t want to believe your uncle was here and you have to follow his rules otherwise who knows what kind of mishap he could cause.

Without hesitation, you untucked the doll and picked him up out of bed. You carried him back downstairs as the music played loudly through the mansion. The rule was to play music loudly; that you could do with ease.

You set the doll down at the kitchen table before dancing along to the loud music. You opened the fridge to see what to make for breakfast. You’d done the shopping a few days ago so the fridge and pantry are stocked.

“How’d you like bacon and eggs for breakfast?!” You called out, turning down the music from your mobile. Then you waited.

Somewhere in the kitchen there were two knocks, saying yes to your suggestion. You discovered you can communicate with Brahms through a series of yes or no questions. You ask a question or make a statement and Brahms will knock to signify his response.

You felt so silly for doing all this. When you left home on Monday you told your mum you weren’t going to follow the rules. It’s now Friday and you were following the rules. With everything going on in the mansion, you thought it best to follow the rules. For your safety. You didn’t know what Brahms was capable of and you’d rather be blissfully unaware.

You turned up the music again as you gathered the pan for the eggs and one for the bacon. You sang along to the music, dancing a bit as you cooked.

You tried to distract yourself from thinking about the weird things that have happened – instead you thought about the renovations you were planning on doing as well as the upkeep of the mansion.

‘I should start with the tedious tasks; the main bathroom and guest bedrooms,’ you thought as you made up a plate for Brahms. The mere thought of having to redo the guest bedrooms dulled your day.

You placed the plate of bacon and eggs with a tall glass of orange juice in front of the doll.

“There you go Brahms, bon appetite,” you told him cheerfully. Your music paused when your mobile phone started ringing on the counter. You went over to answer it, seeing it was Becca who was calling. You answered the call, bringing the mobile up to your ear.

“Hey Bex, what’s up?” You greeted your stepsister plainly.

“Mum and dad suck. I need validation,” your sixteen year old stepsister complained. You snorted a laugh, you were thoroughly amused. Bex never answers anyone in a normal way so this didn’t surprise you – but it did amuse you.

“What did they tell you no to?” You questioned. Bex inhaled deeply, dramatically more like it.

“I want to go to Amsterdam with some friends for a week but mum and dad said no. Which is so unfair. I’ve proven to them over and over that I’m responsible enough to handle myself abroad. It’s like they don’t trust me and it’s so frustrating,” Bex bantered. You could almost see her pacing her room at your mum and Adam’s house. You were her big sister for the last five years. Even though you only saw her every second weekend and three weeks during summer holidays, Bex considered you her big sister. You were older than her by a year and a half. Adam got full custody of Bex when she was seven, her mum was going through chemo and couldn’t take care of a child full time. Bex lost her mum three months later.

“Okay first of all, why do you want to go to Amsterdam? What’s there? Secondly, when did you ask them? Thirdly, mum and dad do trust you – you probably just sprung this on them too suddenly. It makes you look suspicious,” you told her, giving her some sisterly criticism.

“A guy I met online is there. He’s at a music festival and wants me to come see him,” Bex explained. You could feel the maternal instincts kicking in and they battled with your sisterly instincts. Part of you wanted to shake her silly and demand to know in what world any of that is okay. But on the other hand, you wanted to pack and bag and go with her to Amsterdam – you were a sucker for a good music festival. That and, it’ll probably be the only way Bex will be able to go in the first place. But you couldn’t just drop everything and go on a mini holiday with your stepsister. Besides, Bex is sixteen, she shouldn’t be requesting to go on an unsupervised trip to meet someone she met on the internet at a music festival.

“See, that’s why mum and dad said no. You are sixteen years old Rebecca McKnight, you have no business even asking to go to Amsterdam to meet up with a guy you met online,” you scolded.

“Ugh!” Bex grumbled before the call ended. You could only stand at the island in the middle of your kitchen and stare off into space – completely mind boggled by what just happened.

You pressed your lips together tightly, placing your mobile phone onto the counter. You decided you’d call your mum later to ask about what’s going on over there. Bex wasn’t a spoiled kid, she was one of the hardest working people you knew. She was in high school still but had an after school job at the local shop. Bex was just…. –unpredictable. She wasn’t afraid to ask for what she wanted; your mum and Adam, as well as your own dad, would always make it a goal to make your relationship so comfortable that you two don’t hesitate to go to them for anything. You were always a little shy with things, whereas Bex was a whole lot braver. Hence why she isn’t afraid to ask for the most absurd things – like going to Amsterdam to hook up with a boy she met online.

You took a deep breath then let it out slowly, turning around. You gaze landed on the now empty plate and glass sitting on the table in front of the doll. You were on the phone for a maximum of five minutes, how did you not notice someone eating behind you?

You went over to the table to gather the dishes. You had a day to get started, can’t dawdle on the phone all day. But first you had to take care of Brahms. Because that’s what you do now apparently.

[sneezemonster15]

Which social media platform do you think has the worst sns fandom?

From what I have seen, Twitter is the craziest. Fans really go nuts on it. Like certifiably bonkers. What filth... I am not much of a Twitter person though so I don't really interact on it. Also, I can't do what they do. I mean I am capable of it, I have done it before (not with Naruto fandom) and I would be even worse than them if it came to gaslighting and manipulation. I can be as petty and cruel as they come, even more, if I wanted to prove my point that badly. But it makes one feel guilty afterwards. So I don't. Anyway, it's good to have an extra skill, lol.

In my personal experience, Insta has the worst dudebros. Real dumb and dudebroish. I remember some dude had uploaded an edit that glorified Itachi and basically portrayed Sasuke as his bitch. I don't really interact on Insta either (because Insta really has the dumbest consumers, no really) but this wasn't the first edit like this that I had seen on it and it just didn't sit well with me. So I confronted him and out came all their assumptions about Itachi. So I reminded him what was canon and what was a figment of his imagination. Lol and I remember he kept to the same tune. No matter what arguments I gave, he kept saying the same shit over and over and I called him out on it. And then he deleted all his comments and simply disappeared from the thread. Like...some fans are so weird. Lol. Maybe they didn't wanna talk with me anymore. Point is Insta has the worst fan theories that I have seen and they cannot validate or justify them, not if their lives depended on it. If you are looking for logic, Insta is the last place to go. If you are looking for dog and cat vids, it's the best place.

I use FB with my personal account and I don't really talk Naruto on it. I did once and some acquaintance replied to it negatively and I went mum mode on him and made him apologize on the same thread. He got pretty scared after that I guess. FB has too many mutuals. I don't think FB is a popular platform for fandom discourse. Especially for me, I don't think I can talk Naruto everywhere, it triggers a considerable gear shift in me that most people find too intimidating. So only seasoned fans for me. Even Quora has a lot of bullshit in it disguised as intelligent discourse.

Which is why, Tumblr is my preferred choice. The other one is YouTube. YouTube has all sorts of fans. And a lot of these so called shippers don't usually get away with the shit they get away with on Twitter for instance. I have had many a meaningful conversations on YT on many topics over the past years. And many times, I end up finding quite a few sane voices on it and it's nice.

[cheswirls]

sa fic rec list [non-eng] pt 2!!

1) About Pirates Who Tell Tales by Hattis

https://ficbook.net/readfic/9819431 russian - complete - M rating - 551 pages

i don’t think i can do another russian section without paying homage to this giant of a fic so. yea let’s do that.

want to preface this by saying yes, it is very long – it is also very worth it. my favorite part of the whole story is the second epilogue, and you really need the context of the whole fic thus far to take in what makes the scene so good, which means. yes. i am telling you to read all of it AND its worth it a promise. even if it takes a long time.

the au is like.. historical real-world i suppose?? it’s a pirate au y’know how those go. not-one-piece pirates. i’m sure everyone has thought abt it more than once. imo this fic does a rly good job of not glossing over the goings-on of the era it depicts. when Hattis wants you to think someone is cruel and savage she really gets the point across. also REALLY good at depicting highly emotional moments, whether it be hopelessness, panic, despair, devotion, salvation, whimsy, heartfelt joy. i think it’s fair to say everyone gets what they deserve by the end, be it in a good or bad way.

there is so much uhhhhhh that goes into this one and it has been a minute since i finished it so this is a bare-bones summary: ace is a pirate under the flag of another, and sabo is an english nobleman. by birthright they both follow in the footsteps of cruel legacies, and become more and more entwined each time their paths cross.

this fic rly chews you up and spits you back out as a different type of whole. in a good way. like, i promise reading it is not gonna break you. it gets tough at times but everything works out :’)

before this gets too long one final tidbit: there is so much symbolism at work and it all culminates so well but my favorite one (and the one that connects w my favorite scene in the whole story) is that ace’s beaded necklace is made from blood pearls, and was (if i’m remembering correctly) his mothers before his own, and he and sabo pass it back and forth to each other over the course of the fic as a tangible sign of their devotion to each other.

2) life [i’m glad i’m alive] and life [1+1=1] by normal_q

cat’s pov // ace’s pov thai - complete - G rating - 12k (p1) + 11k (p2)

a duo!! they are both the same story, just altered c: it doesn’t matter which you start with, so i’ve linked them in publishing order.

i spent sooooo loooooooooong last year looking for these and failed because i was searching for it in the wrong language. stumbled upon the pair by chance earlier this year and saved them immediately. i didn’t think there were two and the fact they’re in thai completely tripped me up (sn: there are so many sa fics in thai but all the translators i’ve tried to use won’t recognize the symbols and when translated into eng come out as a wall of ⊠⊠⊠. idk why ao3 is different but it does it correctly so!! saving grace ig) but i am so glad i found them again.

in the story, there is a human sabo and a cat sabo. human sabo is overseas and him and ace have a long-distance relationship. cat!sabo is a recent addition and a pretty good insight to ace’s loneliness. about the day-to-day lives of ace and cat. (another sn: there’s a death warning in the first link bc it’s alluding to the nine lives of a cat, as this is cat!sabo’s ninth “life”, so there is no actual death involved promise promise!!!)

this pair of fics is really charming and filled with melancholy. if you have time to spare i highly recommend giving one of them a go. it’s a quick read and leaves you feeling warm inside by the end.

3) idiot couple’s house record by Wirola

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26487442 chinese - complete - M rating - 8k

this one is SO cute!!! also bittersweet but that doesn’t detract from the fluff. it’s modern au, starting at the beginning of the pandemic when the area sabo and ace are living in goes under quarantine and they have to cancel their wedding ceremony :[ sad.

it follows their lives together from that point onward, with sabo working long hours from home and ace stuck at home. it’s super cute and heartfelt and also just. realistic. you really feel feel for them as the story progresses. like, at one point ace stages a “wedding” in animal crossing to show sabo only for him to get a call from work and be stuck with it and not get done until long after everything is over. and the next day has my favorite line and probably one of the most heart-wrenching of the story: “Sabo thought resentfully in the dim light of the computer screen, it's none of my business, I'm just a garbage doctor who delays people to death with useless conversations, so garbage that I can't even save my marriage.”

it doesn’t end sad tho i promise all of these are good, happy endings aaaaAAA!!! still, i think when you’re supposed to feel depressed, wirola does a tremendous job of putting you in that mindset.

the second half is more lighthearted. ace gets a vr headset and keeps getting hurt, so sabo buys a bunch of childproof equipment for the house in the hopes of preventing injuries and forwards the bill to a coworker for reimbursement, and said coworker... misunderstands and rants online that sabo and ace have a baby before her, which is completely unfair. misunderstandings galore. garp sends luffy halfway across the world to see them w gifts and meat following the false “news”. everything works out in the end.

this one def makes you laugh and cry all in one sitting. worth it tho!!

4) couple’s travel hotel guide by SiebenL

https://archiveofourown.org/works/29556993 chinese - complete - T rating - ~7k

i really love fics that are formatted in sections like this. it has been too long for me to remember much, so i reread it before adding it so i could ramble a little more. and. yeah. i can see why i had it on the list.

siebenL writes a lot of interesting premises in fics and this one hits the spot. it jumps all over the place in the lives and relationship between professional photographer ace and (on the side) blogger/hotel reviewer sabo. i don’t think sabo’s (main) profession is really ever defined? something to do w/ writing. not that it rly matters.

the formatting is overall what does it for me on this one and why i’m putting it above all other of siebenL’s works (at least for the list!) it bounces between present, reviews + comment section, and past interactions. if sabo has some notoriety, he blogs anonymously, because it’s unknown. meanwhile ace is a popular photographer for a famous magazine, and it’s fun to see all the hints to such unfold with each review. (: sabo attaching ace’s photos to reviews to counter his own (incredibly mediocre) shots, and ppl in the comments connecting the dots on who his friend A is after the (second scene’s) most recent review by going back thru older entries.

also, like always, the way siebenL depicts ace and sabo is so fantastically good. (if you like this one i high-key recommend you check out other works of theirs ! ) both of them meet after exchanging notes thru a homestay’s message (cork)board because they never have the same timetables to be in the building at the same time, until the very end of both of their stays, when they run into each other by chance. and then it goes from there!

5) Arctic Lovers by Ryo

https://pattco863.postype.com/post/9632169 korean - complete - T rating - 1k

admittedly all of ryo’s sa works are good, but since this is the first one i read uhhh quite a bit ago now, i have a particular soft spot for it. the prose is very lyrical and sweet, and even though it’s not too long, i definitely think it’s worth checking out. 

it’s mostly sabo’s internal musings about living somewhere cold with ace. along with a little insight into their life together. short and soft and sweet and everything ever. if you don’t feel like committing to something longer, then out of everything on this list, pls give this one a chance :) and if you like ryo’s writing, go check out the rest of their works too. 

6) we love you! by Wings of Freedom

https://sperospara.postype.com/post/6648591 korean - in progress - T rating - ???k

this is a series, and the first work of ten is linked above, so here is the series link. (also postype doesn’t do wc and i am not rounding up each part individually so like uh best guess is 15k+)

although it’s not complete and i didn’t get a chance to re-read everything recently, i think from what i remember it can read as completed. meaning. there aren’t any loose ends, so it’s just a matter of not being everything the author wanted to write. anyway, point is, please don’t let the incomplete status scare you away !!

the story is about ace, a (1st yr) criminal justice major, and sabo, a pre-med student, moving into the same residence together right before the start of the semester without knowing the property has been rented out to both. they clear the misunderstanding fast, decide to split the house between 1st floor and 2nd floor, and begin their first year of living together while attending university.

when i first read this work i flew through over half the series in one day and swept by the rest of the parts relatively quickly following that. something about the author’s writing style makes it all really easy to digest. the setting was a cool change too, since i’ve never read a sa work set in korea before! and just. them. they’re so heartwarming and the way they realize their feelings for each other gradually and forming conclusions about each other and going for it is all really sweet. cannot recommend this one highly enough.

[bloodborneties]

Lazarus will suddenly feel two ice cold hands being sneakily shoved under his shirt. And Snow softly giggled. " Hey ~ "

A loud and startled squeak is accompanied by a rather harsh jolt forward. The crisp cold had been unexpected and with how warm he'd been moments before it had caused a strong reaction, one that was followed by wild looking eyes staring back at--

"Sn-Snow!"

Lazarus whimpered and the harshness he felt quickly melted into nothing but softness.

"That was so cruel! Why would you sneak up on me like that?"

[azlovesem]

Hey i do a lot of other thongs that might boggle ypur lil brain. I thiunk you found thatvput the hard way. I kill i do that too. Now youvstupid fucon monkeys listen tye fuck up. Now i need those hostages released. If i font getvwhatvi want youll funckn know it becausecim gonna fuckn snap and kill a lot of you. Ill smack that yahoos head around so gard itll spin so fast you wont be able to see he his lying fucon face. Ahhh this good ol guy did me a favor. The wars over your leaders dead. Negotiate release all the hostages seek peace. Then thst guy is sncient history we can csll an election. You have to release sll the hostsges. Or im gonna fuck you ip like you dont even onow how. Youll think you got attacked by alien killers. Who work for God. Ill throw anyone out a fuckn window on to their heads. I dont think you morons get it. Come fight of furl youll find out im not human like you are. Im Azriel Gods favorite. Sooooooooo surrender! Uoubsint fightn shit. I dont even care about the writingyoubtook younpaid in doades suckas. Ha ha ha everyone knows im back that too yhanls for your help.

i look at a lot of gorls pics on here but yeah you asshole i have to admit i do like yours most you lil bitch. Try not yo take this too seripusly remember i font know thats why this tocks and is do funny. Ahh fuck thrm. Look at em. Ha ha ha ha. No i vsnt i waa going to bit i love that chick. Shescreally great and her lil dayghter. See kids no ones perfect but see hiw nicevthwt lady is. Id break a bunchnof other people necks before hers not even I can trll pierre to torch everything: oh he will hes fuvked he lo do it just to see. Hes kind of cruel that tripstone Pete..its not all hos fault its a cruel world. When we get yogether its noyhn but laughs. We arent cruel to each other we re old friends from way back. Hes funny. And highly intelligent. And sn idiot. Running this ding bat lkanet is my real job. It sucks thos place is full of losers. Time to clean house. Gabriel open fire.

She knows!

[traumasurvivorshelpingsurvivors]

Hi! I'm the justice/revenge anon again. I think I'd like to vent a little, and give a bit of an update.

(tw's are: emotional abuse, stalking/harassment mention, smear campaign, victim-blaming/DARVO, and the frustration of when there's just no justice in sight, at least in the conventional sense of it. But also I feel...hopeful??)

So, my abuser was ditched by the "Someone New" (SN) that he was love-bombing. I don't know what happened, and I think it's better that I don't know, but all I know is that SN left after he hurt them, just as I had feared, but since all I know of is because SN is a friend of a friend of a friend, all I hear are the echoes of it through social media.

I got curious, and decided to have a look at what he did in the aftermath (bad idea).

My abuser blames *me* for what *he* did, because apparently he was "profoundly triggered" when SN enforced boundaries, since it reminded him of his "trauma" (of how me leaving because he was abusive to me was "traumatic" to him--I am not one to invalidate but how he uses this to excuse/justify himself deeply disgusts me), hence why he lashed out at the Cool Person.

Then he flips and claims that I abused/harassed him, accusing me of the very things he did to me. I did no such thing. Then he calls himself names in public, claims he's going to go to therapy and that he's going to retire from social media until he figures himself out, then deletes his accounts.

Then less than two weeks later mutual acquaintances now have this new social media account following them (it's obviously him) and this guy just wants to... start over. He's already been confronted by people who recognized him, and he claims he changed, and he claims he wants to "prove himself to the people he hurt so they can find peace".

It's frustrating. And pathetic. My abuser infuriates and disgusts me, but for some reason I also feel pity towards him. He's reaching his 30's but he's profoundly immature, and knowing his patterns of behavior all I can do is quietly watch as he keeps going from person to person and unravel their lives. And he was already a very lonely person when I first met him, and as he grows older and pushes more people away he'll only get lonelier.

My urge to out him has simmered down, because I know he'd immediately use the opportunity to flip the script, but also because I realize that I don't owe him anything, let alone any or energy I'd have to spare if I were to out him.

I feel for the people he crosses in his path, and I still wish he'd rot, but I don't want to let him live rent-free in my head anymore. I'm moving on -- although I think if he were to rear his head in my life ever again I would not have the strength to hold back my urge to expose him.

But I think on some level he knows that I would put him on the spot if I ever saw him again, and he's one of the most cowardly people I ever met (he's practically allergic to accountability, to the point of faking not one, not two, but four suicidal episodes as responses to being called out for his behavior, and he would spontaneously get better if you dropped the matter or did what he wanted), hence why he's finally left me alone, after harassing me for literally years after I tried cutting him off.

Maybe "my revenge" is simply the knowledge that my abuser lives in constant self-inflicted misery, unable or unwilling to see how his abusive behavior is the reason he always ends alone. And I think that that is a much more cruel "revenge" than anything I would ever be capable of doing to him. In a just world he would genuinely take the steps to become a better person so he never hurts anyone the way he hurt me ever again, but that seldom happens.

I don't think I need to out him anymore. I just need to focus on evicting him from my head now, and the first step to do so is by letting go of my fixation on justice and revenge. I'll also heal faster if I don't let myself steep in my bitterness; I wasn't a bitter person before all of this happened, and I don't want to become a bitter person because of someone like him.

Thank you for your advice and responses on my previous asks, here's hoping this is my last update about this guy 🤞

Hi anon,

It sounds like you've done a lot of processing and healing from your experience, and you've arrived at a point in your recovery where you want to prioritize evicting your abuser from your head. I'm proud of you for coming such a long way and having the strength to reach this mindset, as even I am trying to get there.

Hope you're doing well. Please let us know if you need anything.

-Bun

[wavytam]

Regarding your recent comment about SP having a high chance of being canon, it got me thinking if I had been deluding myself too much that SN will happen. Like you said, it's true Nami never confirmed her feelings for Sanji but I feel that Oda has been giving us so much SN crumbs over the years. It almost feels cruel to just turn the ship so late in the series if there is to be a ship at all. Am I overthinking all this? Probably yes.

I'm currently still catching up on the manga but I have taken a few peaks at the recent chapters and haven't noted any reference to Pudding from Sanji's side since they left WCI. Almost like he didn't think about her anymore after he left. I did see references to Nami which is no surprise since they are crewmates. Did I miss something? It feels like if Oda made SP endgame it would really would feel like all those years of SN hints had been all for nothing. Am I crazy to be feeling this way? Anyway trying to be realistic with expectations since OP is not about romance and I know none of us fans really know what Oda is planning.

I really enjoy your SN and general OP insights so I appreciate hearing your thoughts on this.

I don't think you are overthinking, let alone crazy. Like you said, Oda did give us a lot of SaNami moments. And, although ambiguous, they can be interpreted as romantic. The simple fact that Oda chose to make Sanji interested in Nami (even if he states he wants no romance amongst the crew) is... weird.

Instead of making Sanji get over his feelings for Nami early on, Oda chose to show us again and again that she is special to Sanji, more than any other woman.

To make matters worse, having Purin inserted in the story so late and still not letting Sanji know she loves him so he can move on from Nami is also a weird choice.

Does Oda want to keep SP as an endgame? Maybe. But again, Nami also does not know about the extent of Sanji's feelings for her and has been kept in the dark for years. Why? Wouldn't her knowing and (presumably) rejecting him so he can actually find his love partner be the better option? Wouldn't it actually help Oda skip the romance he so eagerly wants to avoid amongst the crew?

And yet, here we are. Right now, things are as confusing as many other plot points in the manga.

The thing is: we might only find out during Sanji's last development or once the manga is over.

I really understand you, and I don't think you're crazy at all for seeing that. This is all really strange, and we can only guess. But there is a reason for the SaNami fan base to be so big and have so many people see them as a great couple.

Now if you ask me what I think all of this is about, I'd say there is something Oda is preparing for Sanji that will have to do with his feelings for Nami.

It's not a coincidence he chose to make their first interaction be about Sanji admitting he would turn into the "devil" for her.

And I agree that it would be a bit sad if Oda is just planing to make Sanji like Nami for the entirety of the manga without any other purpose, besides making her reject him in the very last chapter or something.

What you said about Purin is also weird: Sanji seems to have moved on from his entire experience with Purin the moment he left Whole Cake.

Oda could have used the opportunity to develop a small crush from Sanji's side so their (possible) reunion in the future could be even more interesting. However, in their last interaction (aside from the heart eyes moment after she kissed him), he was very cordial towards her and seemed ready to conclude everything with her in a friendly, peaceful note. Nothing more than that.

Oda could have at least made Sanji think about Purin once after WCI, and it would be enough. But my guess is that he will only remember her when he finds out she was kidnapped by Black Beard.

Not to tell that, if Oda knows how he will end the manga for a long while now, why didn't he foreshadow Purin more in earlier chapters? Doesn't he like to leave hints about characters, their deaths, and future arcs all around the manga and colorspreads? I don't recall Oda ever making hints specifically about her. Big Mom, yes, but not Purin.

Take Hancock, too, as an example. We have sketches of her from as early as 1999. Or even Sanji's brothers: the fact that Sanji's name has the kana for 3, already hinted that he had at least two other siblings. Oda planned that.

But I don't recall anything about Purin specifically and I doubt Oda wouldn't have at least thought about Sanji's endgame romance from the very beginning (as I said, love is a key factor in Sanji's storyline specifically, just as Luffy's is freedom and Zoro's is strength).

On the other hand, we have a lot of colorspreads, cover pages, and number/word plays that Oda used to adress Sanji, Nami and their dynamic - and we obviously have a ton of interactions directly from the manga as well.

As I said, my guess is that Oda wants to use that for a major moment later on in the manga, and I think he planned that from the beginning. Whether it makes SaNami canon, it's up to debate, but I do not think it's too far-fetched to think that they have a chance of happening.

In conclusion, please, don't think you're crazy. I think Oda is clearly leaving weird hints here and there, and he just doesn't say why because it might spoil our experience as readers.

I will choose to see this as romantic because I do think that Nami would be perfect for Sanji and vice versa.

I will keep on shipping!! And there's a lot that can happen yet.

Also, thank you so much for your kind words and for reading what I have to say! Whenever you feel like it, feel free to leave as many messages as you want!

[toskarin]

nasu identity theories ranked in ascending order by how funny/shocking they would be to reveal

nasu doesn't exist. it's an alias takeuchi uses and everyone else goes along with the elaborate bit, but the poor guy has actually been going double duty all these years. the same goes for the other wya around, where takeuchi is the alias and nasu is the real artist

nasu is an urobuchi pen name that he uses when he wants to write well.

nasu is a woman's pen name. whether or not she's married to takeuchi is left to reader interpretation.

nasu is a pen name a la yuu kamiya. nasu's strange localization choices are done with native english fluency and knowledge that he's making people very confused.

nasu is an actual mushroom.

nasu is a woman's pen name, but so is takeuchi. see earlier point. whether they're gay or not is left to reader interpretation.

nasu kinoko is his real name and his parents were just exceptionally cruel. why would you do that to a child.

nasu is a woman's pen name but that wasn't always the case. the realization happened somewhere after F/sn

nasu was never real. not even as a joke. you wake up one morning to discover that it was all a dream. Muramasa/Grand Order is releasing a new musha in collaboration with Type Mercury, a studio best known for producing the Tsukihime franchise. it's honestly a solid 7.5/10 series, but it's always nice to see other doujin scene artists getting work. you boot up Dragon's Dogma 2.

[odinsblog]

After at least three of the recent shootings, conservative pundits have railed about how the police should have acted on red flags. Immediately after Parkland, a young man was arrested for planning a shooting. Those same pundits, in this case, keep talking about how "it's not a crime to talk about shooting people, it's not a crime to own a gun and plan to use it on people." So how are cops supposed to act on red flags, then?

I was listening to a cop talking about this very thing (the Buffalo shooting) on NPR, and he literally literally literally said, “Well, we did check him out after he was caught planning to shoot up his school, but he was cleared and deemed to be okay. How could we have known he was going to go and shoot up a church?” And by this point, I’m fucking yelling at my speaker,… like my dude, my fucking guy, YOU JUST CAUGH HIM ABOUT TO SHOOT UP HIS SCHOOL. WHY TF WOULD YOU EVER GIVE HIM ACCESS TO GUNS AGAIN? Why? Why??

In this case, the red flag law actually worked. It did what it was supposed to do—it alerted all the right authorities that someone who should not have a gun, in fact, did have a gun. And not just any old gun, but an AR-15. So the system actually did what it was supposed to do. But for some reason, white men in this country have it stuck in their gun nut loving “brains” that it’s cruel and unusual punishment to keep a white male and his gun separated from each other. So they either gave him the weapons back after a way too brief waiting period, or they allowed him to retrieve his weapons, or they didn’t block his ability to purchase/access a weapon. Sorry, but if you ever get caught planning to shoot up a school or any other place, then guess what? You should forever forfeit your “right” to gun ownership.

Gun ownership is not some sacrosanct right. Most people in America are not gun owners, and people live long happy lives without ever owning a gun, or needing to overcompensate for their shortcomings by hoarding a bunch of stupid ass phallic symbols.

SN: For anyone not from the U.S., whenever you hear the news saying that there are more guns than people in America, it’s true—but that doesn’t mean everyone in America actually owns a gun. If my neighbor owns 6 guns, and I own none, the “average” “gun ownership” between us is still 3 guns. It’s a simple mathematical average, but it’s misleading. Rural folks are, on average, more likely to be gun owners than city dwellers; urban areas outnumber rural areas population wise; and most rural areas skew heavily Republican; the less populated rural areas have more voting power than the more densely populated urban areas; you can see where this is going.

Anyway, I said earlier that the red flag system worked this time, but it is very far from perfect. The weak links are the police, judges and others who get to determine whether or not someone is “mentally fit” afterwards. And those people will statistically likely either be white and/or male gun nuts themselves, or they’re afraid that not giving a white boy his gun back will put them on some rightwing shit list. So that’s one glaring problem that has unfortunately been proven with the lives of innocent Black people who were simply trying to get some groceries.

Another problem is, more things should trigger red flags. For example, whenever someone buys a shitload of bullets, a fucking alarm bell should go off. Is the purchaser a male? The alarm should get louder. Is it a white male? Louder. Did this person recently have an “altercation” with a woman?? LOUDER. Is it a male of a certain age group??? Fucking everyone in the same zip code should be able to hear these alarm bells going off by now. We already know the common characteristics of mass shooters. It’s not like it’s a big mystery or anything.

And where are these 18yr old dudes getting that kind of money from? Guns and bullets ain’t cheap. Someone is helping them obtain those things, and they need to be held accountable too. Look, I have a (very small) bar in my house. I also have friends who will always be, for want of a better phrase, recovering alcoholics. I know this. They know this. I’m not a psyche major or anything, but I understand as a rational adult, there are certain people who I cannot just leave alone with my bar when they visit, or whenever they stay at my place when I’m out of town. If they go get liquor on their own, that’s on them. But it’s on me if I leave them alone with something I know can destroy their lives. I bear some responsibility for their wellbeing. And no, I’m not talking about “in a court of law” kind of responsibility, I’m talking about what me, Odin, fucking knows to be wrong.

Anyway, similarly, I’m talking about responsibility. Culpability. The people who fund these 18yr old shooters are culpable af. And the cop, or the judge or the psychiatrist who says, “Okay, enough time has passed. NOW they can have their people-killing-machine back,” are responsible too. Not to mention the people who sell the guns and ammo to anyone with enough money.

TLDR; We have a very broken sociopolitical system here in America. This doesn’t happen in any other country. Other countries have violent video games and people with mental health issues. And here in the U.S. we don’t even wanna fund mental healthcare or any healthcare—not that the mentally ill are prone to violence; they are actually more likely to be the victims of violence (including victims of police brutality). Too many people honestly believe that wearing a face mask for 10 minutes in a grocery store is tyranny, but routinely predictable mass shootings is just an acceptable cost of “freedom.” ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

And on a tangentially related note: the U.S. Supreme Court just declared that “innocence is not enough” to overturn a death penalty case?? We live in a fucking clown ass joke of a country. Don’t ever let anyone convince you that America is civilized.

[captnjacksparrow]

Hi. Can you please give me your opinion on this? Why is it that SNS shippers generally have a much better grip on the story? Not just their ship, but the story, character development, narrative and plot points.

Whereas NH and SS shippers struggle to understand what's canon, what's filler. When they claim that some random novel is canon because Kishi drew the cover, I am like??? How are you sooo stupid?

I get that they prefer their own ship, but their interpretation of the story and characters are just so bizarre and illogical.

And then they have the audacity to argue so righteously? I don't even willingly engage in ship wars, I am usually content with my own ship, my one true otp. Sasuke and Naruto. Because no one can even imagine to touch them, in terms of story and development. Like not a chance in hell. And then, these stupid shippers come along harassing us on SNS platforms, like why are you even here? This ain't your ship! And I don't feel like engaging with them but it's my space, my page, my account and I can't let them spew stupid shit about this story that they obviously don't understand for shit. Then I get angry and then I regret it for getting provoked. But I just can't take them criticising SNS. On my platform. Even if they don't get the entire narrative, fine. But if you are a shipper, at least get your own ship straight! They really don't understand that fillers are not canon.

Anyway, why do you think there is such a huge disparity in comprehension between NH/SS and SNS?

Another Anon, who coughed up invisible blood on seeing some stupid delusional post made by SS/NH, just like me😏😏😏 

Why is there such a huge disparity in comprehension between NH/SS and SNS?

Selective Reading

Do you think every NH and SS shippers who participate in the fandom read/watch everything from A to Z???

They want to see/view only what is relevant to their needs and they consume it just like that. They don’t care about other plotlines and what message it conveys and how it gets passed onto the other storylines like a ripple and weave together coherently...

I've never seen any of those shippers write extensively about something that doesn't have anything to do with their ship... Do you think they care about why Nagato turned out that way and wanted to destroy Konoha??

Of course not. Because they have no reason to.

All they care about is that Naruto-kun sprouted 6 tails.... all because of Hinata. **Which is not true anyway** Why do they have to expend their energy into a plotline that doesn't have any ship moments???

Since, these Girls has no relevance to any of these plotlines, all NH/SS is to harp on those irrelevant moments and make it all about themselves.

Whereas when it comes to SNS... That's not the case. Even if you want to selectively read about something, you simply can't... because N and S are written to be tied to every arcs and plotlines in someway. And to get their characterization and motivations right, you need to read everything and in the process you are forced to get a better grip in the story...

So, Selective reading is something SNS shippers can’t afford to do... 

Cherry Picking with Intentional Denial.

Most of those shippers are totally behaving like some imbeciles who doesn’t even know how scene Coherence, Continuity and Comprehension works on a broader sense.... No, these are not some media terms or anything. It’s just some basic reading/visual comprehension

For Example, During War Arc... 

Sasuke didn’t even bothered to save Sakura when tailed beast bombs were about to blast the alliance... 

He didn’t care when Madara made her into a selfie stick. 

He left her to die in the Lava pit. 

He indeed said that During Mugen Tsukuyomi, he saved her and Kakashi because they were next to Naruto. 

But in One moment, he caught her.... And all of a sudden, it’s called ThathuThaku love. Love was overflowing between Sasuke and Sakura because their skin touched... 

And the very next moment, he put her in a cruel Genjutsu and said she was Annoying. Even mentioned that there was no reason for him to love her... 

Let’s assume If Sasuke was indeed in love with her when he caught her.. Why couldn’t he show an ounce of love before and after that???? There is no Coherence and Continuity in his feelings when it comes to Sakura.. They pick one particular moment which the Author obviously threw as a Bone and then they deny everything that happened before and after... 

Do you think any Story Telling works this way??? If they intentionally deny a chunk of their Bad moments, then where will they get this Reading comprehension??? 

Herd Mentality with no Fact Checking 

Most of the shippers don’t even read the Original Source material (which is okay) and what’s worse is that they don’t even finish watching the Anime. What they do is to go to Twitter or Instagram... they watch few posts which has a collection of SS moments and they think that SS is real without even getting inside the Source material.... Like they eat all the canon and non-canon materials that was floating in the Internet and spread misinformation as facts... 

Just like that Fake Post regarding How Sasuke was asking tips to Itachi about how to approach the pink haired Girl. 

Since they are in Hordes, Misinformation spreads fast and they become their Reality...

Win at All Costs Attitude

Some Shippers really have comprehension... That I agree. They have all-over understanding of the series but when it comes to the Shipping though... They just won’t accept that their Ship is stupid. 

Like I could very well be the thickest of the thick friends with any of those SS shippers, if they could accept that, “Yes, SS/NH makes no sense... It is absolutely shitty in canon. I ship them because I like the aesthetics and I want to self-insert myself... Other than that, there is nothing”....

Will they ever accept this??? 

No. 

Because they want to brag and rub it in other people’s face that they became canon. And for getting that bragging rights, they just would do anything... Like even going to the extent of willfully accepting the non-canon material or editing the Panel according to their taste... And spin theory that, “Well, this is why we became canon & Naruto loved Hinata-hime all along... Because Naruto saw the kitten of Hinata in Bikachu Episode”

Positive Validation

Truth just Hurts. 

Whereas Lies just taste like Honey. If you have a Honey, why would you want to consume a Bitter Medicine???

This is applicable for any faction of the Fandom... Not only in Shipping fandom. But I see this most in the Shipping.... 

Like for example, They clearly know the truth... Their Negatives and Positives about their ships and they are very well aware that inside Canon, they have Nil materials to support their claim. These Novels and Fillers just give them what they want all along, a positive validation that their ship makes sense and they conveniently ignore the Truth... That’s why SS/NH shippers blogs were full of Novel quotes and Movie scenes because those are the only things that validate their ship... And hence they resort to their Warped reality instead of the Canon materials.