#a lot of the criticism for rise is in regard to their characters but

[turtleblogatlast]

Something fun to look at with the Rise turtles that for some reason is often used as a slight against them is how their personalities are like mishmashes of different typical traits of past bros.

Like.

For Leo, I see a lot of typical Leo traits in him (ones that are so apparent if you’re looking for them) but he also has some undeniable base Mikey traits.

Raph still has his Raph core, but he takes on some typical Leo traits as well.

Donnie is Donnie, but has some Raph aspects sprinkled in.

And Mikey is Mikey, but has some Donnie traits in him too.

Even April has aspects of all four brothers now which works so well with the fact that she grew alongside them.

A lot of people say these changes are bad but tbh I find it really interesting. Especially when you look further into how this was effected by their different dynamic from the get go in terms of ages and how their Splinter is.

[bigothteddies]

I think that part of what like. kills me about the whole media literacy and critical thinking aspect of enjoying media these days is that people refuse to like. contextualize that

A. Bad media can still hold significant meaning to people

B. Media made for a demographic you aren’t apart of is not inherently bad media

C. Media made for and consumed by the opposite demographic is not inherently shallow or flawed nor is it above criticism for its media tropes either.

[iamadequate1717]

Stede in Season 1

After seeing some rather awful bad faith takes flying around after 2x7, I'm throwing out a beginning defense of Stede Bonnet (loml). It seems insulting Ed's fish is the worst thing that anyone has ever seen, and it really seems to be a continuation of anti-Stede sentiments within the fandom and viewing him as a prop for Ed (and sometimes Izzy) rather than his own character. Fanon Stede is ever patient, ever kind, ever devoted to his partner, and I'm seeing a lot of shock that Stede is a flawed, imperfect person with his own needs, that he says things in the heat of the moment, that people are seeing a less interesting character than what DJenks and friends have created. Stede's a fucking lunatic and I like it.

I'm going to break this into a few posts as I ramble on to the end of 2x7. I have big thoughts on the ending, but I need to lead up to it! I am going to try to be as brief as I can up to the lead up, but I'm not happy with certain parts of the fandom right now (it's just a spat, love you all).

(If you haven't seen the "I hate Stede!" and "I'm so mad at Stede!" posts after 2x7, I am so, so jealous of how you have curated your social media experience.)

Part 1: Season 1

I'm going to note first that this is really a more rambly companion piece of this:

In time budgeting, most of Stede's character introduction and motivations are built into 1x1 through 1x3, but you all know it is a common refrain of these episodes: "Just wait for episode 4!" (OK for newbies, but huge side eye from me with people who have watched multiple times.) Episode 4 is when Act 2 of 3 of Season 1 begins. The foundations of the story have been laid, the cast has been fully assembled, and we enter the rising action (i.e., the meat) of the story in 1x4. It is not that Blackbeard alone improved everything: it was the story structure itself that shifted.

Preferring Act 2 (ep 4 to mid ep 8) and saying Act 1 was bad and "boring" is a disservice to the story and really robs yourself of the payoff action in Act 3 of Season 1 (and now Season 2), in particular with regards to Stede's character. It's a TV show, so you don't have to like all parts or watch it equally, but if you're going to criticize Stede and what he does, you can't ignore the part of the story that tells you the why of everything.

For example, we see people saying Prince Ricky is "exactly how Stede used to be!". Episode 3 disagrees.

Ricky is some Evil Star Trek Mirror Universe version of Stede, and they have fundamental differences in their view of piracy, which feeds into the action of the tail end of Season 2: Stede wants to be part of the piracy world, but Ricky thinks he's above it. The few hours in 2x7 that Stede spends enjoying being cool in the Republic of Pirates is overall sweet (sliding past the murder, lol), not a relationship red flag or Stede being a dick. If you tried to join a group and they finally embraced you, how would you initially act? Being excited for a few hours does not mean Stede has made a forever commitment to piracy and not Ed.

But, I digress. To me, Episode 2 (along with 6, 9, and 10) is far and away the peak of Season 1. We see the crew bonding (and those unique interactions are missing in Season 2's truncated runtime), and we get a deeper look into Stede's head: his initial naivety toward violence, his insecurities, his unique captaincy style and problem solving. If I look at just his insecurities, Badminton's Ghost is Stede talking to himself (like Hornigold was vocalizing Ed's feelings in 2x3). Stede is harsh with himself about his abilities and maturity, and we even see that he took Badminton's petty body shaming in 1x1 to heart.

(Oh, I have thoughts on Stede finally being told he's pretty and then instantly dumped!)

But he continues to degrade himself.

"You're a child with a toy" Stede says to himself. Compare this to Ned Low calling him a "bumbling amateur" in 2x6. Real people voicing these thoughts (like Chauncey in 1x9) messes Stede up.

The local therapist clearly lays out the motivation behind 1x9&10, and Stede still continues with the negative self talk.

And then we get the best mantra!

Yes, baby! You can only be as good as you can be, and you deserve the world.

Stede does not banish his guilt that is haunting him, but Ed comes in at Episode 4, and any more serious feelings is all about Ed.

(Second GIF is a joke. I know it's important to Ed's character. Plz, don't be mad.)

Ed is the deuteragonist, and the story now needs to spend time establishing Ed's character and motivations. This doesn't make Stede's go away, but if you only watch Episode 4 and on, that's what it looks like. There are brief moments of Stede's vulnerability and guilt from then, but not much.

(Side note from a Midwesterner: I've spent too much time finding out if "grain tower" is colloquial for "grain silo" somewhere, and I still don't know.)

Ed and Stede just met here. Ed isn't absorbing much of Stede's comments (Stede also feels trapped, Stede has family guilt, etc), but it goes the other way, too, doesn't it? Stede is recovering from his gut-stab, they're still in a life-or-death situation, and Stede is still feeling his guilt (and just saw more guilt ghost hallucinations). Registering and internalizing what Ed is saying doesn't take priority.

And they enter their cute early relationship phase: They have fun together! They can easily talk to one another! Stede easily forgives Ed wanting to kill him!

Again: in between all the cute and fun, all the heavy stuff is about Ed. Stede deals with the aristocrats who mocks Ed. Stede is gentle with Ed's red fabric. Stede listens to Ed's past without judgment. Stede openly accepts Ed as a friend. We don't see Ed engaging with Stede in a reciprocal manner.

(I was so delighted when Stede called some of this out in 2x4.)

Stede is a few steps behind in their relationship: He doesn't know it's a romance. He doesn't know he was flirting with Ed. He's not immediately understanding what the Act of Grace was to Ed (hubby commitment!) as he's having his Nigel guilt, family guilt, and being seconds away from death swamping him all at once.

In the academy, Ed isn't even listening to Stede. He's moved onto his domestic marriage role while Stede is dealing with his demons.

With 2x7, I see people saying, "Ed was very clear in wanting to leave piracy!" If he was speaking to someone fully engaged with him, I would agree. (That also doesn't make Stede having a few hours' fun the worst thing ever.)

(Aside of what I see below: In Season 2, I see overwhelming praise of Ed and Izzy's performances and very little on Stede. This is not to disparage TW or CO, but Ed and Izzy are more in-your-face and obvious with what is going on internally in their scenes and they are nailing the drama scenes. However, Stede becomes quieter, shutting down into himself, when having high feelings, and RD's acting is very subtle and very beautiful in these moments.)

In The (First) Kiss scene, Ed is clear! He just wants to be Ed, and Ed is happy just being with Stede.

But look what Ed walked in on:

Ed is saying things, but Stede is trying to process big feelings of his own at the same time. Stede is there self soothing, still thinking about what Ed ignored him about in the bunks. "How are you handling things so well?" means Stede isn't handling it well. Ed is excited, but he (and apparently some of the audience!) is brushing off all of what Stede is saying while expecting Stede to take to heart everything that Ed is saying. (I mean, the beginning of S2 shows why Ed is so excited for this life change, but it is frustrating!)

If you only feel bad for Ed at the end of 1x9, please try to imagine Stede's perspective: suppose you have low self worth and are consumed with guilt about people you've hurt and then are seconds away from death twice, are you going to be thinking clearly and prioritizing (and recognizing) the feelings of a guy you've known for a few weeks and didn't know you were dating?

Stede has drawn inward this whole conversation. His answers turn monosyllabic, and his body language turns more and more panicy as the heavy reality of everything sets in.

Stede enjoyed The Kiss, but was this the appropriate time for him? (Like Ed enjoyed The Sex, but was that the appropriate time for him?) They aren't in sync yet, but that doesn't make one party's feelings more valid than the other's or one party evil for being a bit ahead.

With 2x7, I don't know why people thought Stede should be a mind reader and be able to quickly piece together a few statements Ed made while Stede was mentally drowning.

I think it should be noted that as of the end of 2x7, Stede is the only crew member who hasn't had mental reflection and/or therapy in Season 2. He realized Mary, Alma, and Louis didn't need him and he was in love with Ed in 1x10, but the voice calling him a child with a toy, an idiot, weak, and ugly is still there.

Continued in Part 2! (Still to come...)

[peony-flowerking7]

Thoughts on the trailer + some information regarding it also opinions

Got a haircut, AND I WILL ALWAYS WEAR SHORTS! NOW ONTO the news and my opinion on this whole jazz

Spoiler warning: seasons 5 trailer kind?

Please read this is from someone who worked on the show. This is from Sarah Harper.

So the trailer drop out and they were mixed reaction on it. I also had a mixed reaction but either way I was happy that Monkie Kid was not dropped and is still going. So I'll settle myself with information that I have first before my opinions.

Ahem, recently the new trailer had dropped out on the new season on Lego Monkie Kid. The reaction were...negative after all the people in charge of the other season animation were Flying Bark Studios. Flying Bark studio is known for their flood and chaotic spunky animation that really hypes up people and makes them go wild, they worked on shows like Rise of the mutant ninja turtles and moon girl, as well as our favorite show Lego Monkie Kid. As some of you don't know lately Flying Bark Studios has partner up with Avatar Studios making them have more projects on their hands.

The same writers and Va are still there, they have not been replaced they are still working on Lego Monkie Kid.

Next thing to note, Yes it is true. Wild Brain are working on Lego Monkie Kid BUT! we should not go and harassed the animators on any of the staff working on Lego Monkie Kid, I know it's a new change and I know some aren't ready but with how Flying Barks animation is handle. Please continue on supporting the production I understand some of the reactions you guys have but you also must be patient. The new season has been confirmed to come this summer everything else...well it depends on you guys.

I've seen the trailer and there is a character that has not shown up in the trailer one character that is very important in the show. Nuwa, either she is a secret character that will show up in the season or will be a cliffhanger character for a new upcoming season, this has not been confirmed and is only speculations of mine.

I have a lot of criticism against some fans who are mad at Macaque scenes wanting him to be like season 1 ever even though it's a trailer not the goddamn season. Why are you all mad over his character WHEN WE HAVEN'T SEEN EVEN THE WHOLE SEASON?!? I don't understand you people. I have more to say but I want to know something.

Would you guys rather have something? Or nothing?

This is just a trailer, there's nothing on how the actual show will be and even if it is like that we can safely and calmly criticize it. Do show supports towards those who are working on it, and I'm not saying you guys can't criticize it, go ahead do it but please stay calm about it and be nice in the comment section.

Do know it's very difficult trying to emulate the style of animation Flying Barks has.

I salute Wild Brain for trying their best on animation and style of the show.

[junewongapologia]

The fact is tho that no matter how you look at it, no matter how insufferable she is, no matter how Out Of Touch, regardless of whether she’s doing herself no favours: Eloise is right about society and just about everyone else in the show is wrong.

Like, she’s not got the full picture, she’s blinkered and her political philosophy is not very in depth or well thought out. But she’s right, and I think that’s why a lot of people watching really don’t like her because she’s breaking the illusion. All in all, the 1810s were a shit time to be alive for most people, and you can “well actually” it all you like, but the Luddite movement existed for a reason, the Chartists existed for a reason, Porto-feminist writers like Wollstonecraft and de Gouges wrote what they did for a reason.

So when you keep being reminded that it was a terrible social order for women - in a show targeted mainly towards women for escapist purposes then that character is going to come across as irritating, because she’s ruining the immersion.

Really, her attitude isn’t more anachronistic than the dresses, or the hairdos, or the diamond necklaces (men and women had been advocating women’s right to vote since before Eloise was born, lads), but it’s a problem because people are watching the show for the sweeping romances and the general regency vibe, they don’t want to think about how the regency was for most people. Which inevitably leads to some incredible projection, when watchers of a show with the central conceit of only being interested in the love lives of the top one percent of the one percent of the British aristocracy acting as though Eloise is the only privileged person on the show.

And yeah, she is better off than most of the people who exist in all of Regency Britain (though if you were to take the show as read, Britain is made up of about 70% aristocracy, 1% gentry, 5% urban bourgeoisie and 24% urban workers), but she’s the only one whose privilege is harped on out of her whole family and social circle. 99% of the speaking characters in the show come from a posher background than Beau fucking Brummell.

And! Eloise is literally just about the only main character who ever has to question her privilege! And when she is in season 2 she doesn’t throw a shitfit, she’s willing to learn! She goes out of her way to hear perspectives that she wouldn’t have heard in her social circle! But the narrative punishes her for that, and that’s because for all the criticism she gets about needing her privilege checked, they don’t actually want her to learn, they just want her to shut up and enjoy the trappings of regency decadence as much as they do.

Also - I know it’s really fashionable to rag on “pick-mes” and “Not Like Other Girls” - but actually, no, “traditional femininity” has never been socially unacceptable for women the way being GNC is, and it is in fact ruthlessly socially enforced against GNC women, even more so in the 1810s. Eloise is a teenaged girl in a society that stigmatises her for her wish for more legal autonomy, the idea that she’s somehow the villain for not being able to enjoy “feminine” hobbies without seeing them as just another element of the way women’s education is trivialised as ornamental, is farcical. “Sewing is a valuable and useful skill” so is cooking, but there’s a reason my mam, and not my dad, had home economics lessons, and that reason is still misogyny, despite the fact that it set her up better for being able to operate independently as an adult.

Idk I’m just kind of uncomfortable that in a world of rising reactionary political sentiment towards women, and this seemingly increasingly re-normalised view that women need to be wives and homemakers, people feel that the person on the show who needs to do the most introspection regarding their politics is an eighteen-year-old who is vocal about the fact that she has limited legal rights, and not any of the adult men in the show (a lot of whom probably have seats in the Upper House!!!) who never mention politics at all.

And frankly, given the shower who were Having Political Opinions in the long eighteenth century, Eloise’s brand of semi-anachronistic protofeminism is infinitely preferable to Hannah “I refuse to teach the poor how to write in my schools” More, or Edmund “don’t read my big thesis on revolutions too closely it’s definitely not all lies and junk history” Burke, or even a load of prominent members of the Bluestocking Society.

[leportraitducadavre]

It is quite striking how the main plot of Naruto focuses on the problems brought about by a military system whose foundations are intrinsically patriarchal and how much of the “feminist fandom” focuses on the little to no inclusion of women within that system, rather than its dismantling, which was proposed to and tried to be carried out by other characters such as Konan (to mention a female character as bringing Sasuke to the picture might “compromise” the fandom’s idea of “feminism” that upholds itself under the notion that only women can be part of it).

To quote @dushman-e-jaan:

What’s even funnier is that the military as an institution is deeply patriarchal: it’s patriarchy at its best. So wanting Sakura’s inclusion into its apparatus is just a dull, neo-liberal contextualization of locating a “middle-class side-lined girl” into patriarchy and its state strongholds, its militia arms, extensions that are extensively, liberally, and fully utilized to maintain state’s oppression. Something which we saw in the case of Ame’s mass-starvation, Uchiha Massacre, Hyuuga Clan’s slavery, etc. In this regard, to Sakura fandom, inclusion in this oppressive-apparatus is a power-fantasy, a means to cut in on the action not cut it out; so therefore, the question shouldn’t be as to why Sakura isn’t included; it ought to be that why should there be any expansion on the basis of inclusivity into patriarchal institutions in lieu of smashing these systems? However, Sasuke’s just a mean “terrorist” who made “weh-men tears” flow, so the misogyny is just Q-anon deep, and nothing but tumblr feminism can unfurl its insidious tentacles.

In lesser terms, the problem with this idea of “inclusivity” within an intrinsically repressive patriarchal system is that it is sustained on a smoke screen that hides the rottenest veins of the state, because then what is relevant is not the dismantling of an oppressive, enslaving, and genocidal political system, but the lack of female participation within that oppressive, enslaving, and genocidal political system. To this specific “woke feminist” fandom that is the real problem, that is the real issue within such a mindset.

Women are forbidden or diminished from positions of power in a structure specifically designed to oppress different groups of people to keep others at the top of the pyramid, and instead of seeing such a construction as a direct reflection of the real world’s dogmas and the characters that oppose them as real world’s feminist, you lot complain about the lack of female representation or “female power” within that maniacal structure! You’re more concerned about women not being “housewives” inside a military state that rewards blind nationalism and punishes criticism with literal genocide, than dismantling the entire structure upon which such a patriarchal notion is built.

[The idea that women cannot show off and are forced into a lesser role or have their capabilities diminished in pursuit of the enhancement of male abilities is absolutely in line with the patriarchal structure that Naruto's military system reflects. Even the "sexism" that Kishimoto reflects within the manga is consistent with the political system he puts forward and disputing it to make it more "feminist-friendly" does nothing but detract from its verisimilitude.]

Funnily enough, even when I point this out, they will find a way to twist it to their own benefit, because then Kishimoto is the one responsible for not “allowing” female characters to rise against such a patriarchal system (despite Sakura never suffering any of its worst consequences as she was taught by the Hokage herself, or even Hinata getting to be a slave-owner). Inclusivity is everything that this argument boils down to, your twisted wish to see women at every single panel whether it’ll be against or in favor of a genocidal state.

That’s what “woke feminists” taught you and that’s what you’ll defend with your breath, the problem gets again individualized and the real issue, the real problem that the plot is trying to reflect, gets buried upon piles of these arguments.

“The problem is about the military state that at its core it’s patriarchal” =/= “Then why did he write it as a patriarchal state?”

“The military state it’s patriarchal at its core so it’s the real world one” =/= “Then why didn’t he write female characters rising against it?”

“There’re characters that oppose such structure, which is feminism at its finest.” =/= “But they aren’t female.”

And so on… it’s impossible to “win” or get our point across as you move the end goal every time a new argument arises. It’s about fulfilling your power fantasies of invincibility rather than bringing down the patriarchal structure; just like with Naruto’s character, is about gaining acknowledgment within the oppressive system (becoming a renowned/desired individual) rather than dismantling the power sphere to guarantee other minorities’ safety.

Their idea of feminism comes down to women having a more important part inside that tyrannical paradigm, bringing the power scale towards them. It’s not about stripping oppressive institutions of their power, but rather having influence over such spaces.

This is an example of White Feminism’s victory; white feminism doesn’t want the oppressive structure to be questioned, they don’t want their faint position of power to be argued; they want to expand their influence and reach beyond the usual cultural “female” spaces, so they bring down the discussion to simpler topics, like the idea of female participation in such affairs; if they are involved, then it’s good if they’re not, then it’s not.

Even the fact that many of these "feminists" jump to the other side and incur either in the over-festivity of the capabilities of female characters (some being basic skills such as moving with speed) or in the minimization of such to compare them with the "better" male capabilities (which only serve in more violent, clearly patriarchal issues to which these people consider superior given a clear misogynist internalization of the little relevance of powers that are not aligned with the intrinsic violence of the military system) contradicts their supposed dogma.

Under this premise, and I repeat myself because I must keep my arguments as simple and repetitive as possible, the patriarchal system against which they claim to rebel is sustained and deepened since the women who claim to subscribe to the feminist movement have modified their bases to obtain greater relevance, greater individuality among the exploited community -they stop being oppressed to some degree as a reward for their contribution, they become what they swore to destroy in exchange for “inclusion.”

True feminism is about the dismantling of an oppressive structure, passing through the various spheres of repression; gender disparity is only one of many power relations to be questioned, not the only one.

[eskawrites]

sometimes i still think about the fact that nancy is one of the most powerful, plot-critical characters in stranger things, and how she has led her own arc every single season--from driving the search for barb to taking down the lab to figuring out the flayed to being a fucking general by the end of season 4. and about how she was taking care of the kids during the last half of s3 and how she was the leader of the hawkins group in s4. like, i really cannot emphasize that enough. once the main character with superpowers and the actual war veteran chief of police are out of town, nancy is the unquestionable leader. the person everyone turns to without thinking twice. i’m serious. nancy is a teenage girl who has her every move questioned and doubted and still the only people more powerful than her in the show are a girl with superpowers and a war vet.

and when danger--physical danger--shows up, she doesn’t fucking hesitate. she’s diving straight into the upside down. she’s leading the older group to safety again. she’s shoving aside the 5 different traumatic experiences she just witnessed to put together a multi-step military operation and she’s taking point to go shove a shotgun in vecna’s face. and yeah, they end up not being alone when they face vecna because el is there, but nancy doesn’t know that. she’s fully intending on going to kill an adult man who has control over an entire dimension and has been murdering people with his mind, even though she has no backup, no superpowered el, no hopper and his government contacts, nothing.

and yet.

AND YET

the vast majority of natalia dyer’s press for s4 was about a love triangle. and i get it, a lot of interviewers can’t get away with not asking those questions, but you know what else you could ask about? nancy’s growth over the last 4 seasons. how it felt being the leader of the hawkins gang. how she thinks nancy feels after losing another friend. what was running through her head when vecna had her. what her thoughts are regarding nancy’s plan, or what’s going through her head during that final scene when she’s *checks notes* standing behind the show’s protagonist and looking at The Plot as it rises from the ground.

or, i don’t know, ask her what it’s like being the person handling guns on set. what those upside down night shoots were like. what her thoughts are on nancy’s choice of college! what she thinks about the perm! for fuck’s sake there are only a thousand different questions that would’ve been far more interesting or at least personal to her character. but no. every interview boils down to team steve or team jonathan, as if a tired, already resolved love triangle is anywhere near as interesting as literally any other part of her character

[armands-cuck-chair]

"'Exceptional negro.' 'Thank you, sir.' It was the call and response of my entire life. I had let them talk to me like that so long I stopped hearing it. 'Yes sir', 'of course, sir', 'subject, verb, agreement, sir', smile, nod, 'yes, sir.' They all came from the same organ inside me, an organ unknown to science at the time, because what scientist would look for an organ found only in black men who use their weakness to rise? But I wasn't a man anymore. I was something else. I had powers now, and decades of rage to process, and it was both random and unfortunate the man picked that night to dabble in fuckery."

One of my favorite Louis quotes of all time. And it makes me so happy when I'm watching black reactors watch this scene because it's obviously so cathartic for them. I like watching black reaction content for this show in particular, because it helps me as a white person appreciate the show on a whole other level that I would be incapable of on my own. It was actually a black acter that made me interested in watching the show in the first place!

I had seen gifs on tumblr and I wanted to get a feel for the show before I bought it. I was a fan of the 1994 movie and had read some of the book, but it did always bother me that Louis in both of those versions of the story was a slave owner. And especially in the movie, which adds that whole gross slave master/enslaved black woman romance racist trope that always made me uncomfortable, even before I could articulate why. (At least the slaves get freed and then they burn down the plantation? Seriously, don't get me started on that aspect of the 1994 movie.) I was really intrigued by the fact that the show chose to make Louis a black creole man, instead of a white creole man, and also the switching of the time period. But because some aspects of the source material were...not great, I was worried that that change might not have been handled the best. Vampire media oftentimes don't treat their black characters very well. So when I decided to watch reaction content of it to get a feel for the show, I wanted to hear a black perspective on it.

So I watched ShalayaHomebody TV's reaction first (also her Sandman reactions are so good, she is so funny, you should absolutely subscribe), and I was pleasantly surprised because, you know, the bar is in Hell. I immediately bought the first season and I have been obsessed with the show and have had The Vampire Chronicles brainrot ever since.

A while ago, I watched Syntell's reactions with Mikel Claire on his channel and I was sort of blown away by him saying this about the scene when Sam takes Louis's tickets to the Theatre des Vampires show in the fake fangs and white vampire makeup: "I wonder if that's like blackface to them?" Like, as a white person, my mind just straight up didn't go there, but as soon as he said it I totally got it. It made me think of how Josephine Baker had performed in blackface as a black woman, because she could get more money performing to white audiences and that's the only way white audiences at the time would watch anything having to do with black people. It made me look at the whole Theatre des Vampires differently.

After Claudia proclaimed that the trial was a stoning, Alex of Jessa and Alex Watch said: "No, it's a lynching!" And...yeah! It basically was.

I could keep giving examples, but I'm stoned and rambling and this post is already going to be incredibly long as it is. I just have a lot to say!

The show might not handle every single thing exactly right 100% of the time in regards to race, nothing does, but I really appreciate the show taking pains to accurately cover the typical attitudes regarding race in the time periods it's set in, including the present. That's not to say that any scrutiny or criticism isn't warranted, there will always be blind spots. And like I said, the bar is in Hell, but I think it's really cool and good that they took the time to sit back and say, "okay, how does changing this character's race change their history and how they navigate the world?" Especially when there are white supremacists in the US government who think teaching about the history and the structural nature of racism not be taught because it will "make white kids grow up hating themselves". 🙄

I don't know, man. I just saw people criticizing some of the Devil's Minion fandom for their treatment of Louis when I was browsing the tag and like...I don't want to contribute to making black fans of the show feel shut out and like they don't have a space in the fandom. It's like that meme: "I got so caught up in the euphoria of shipping Devil's Minion that for a moment I forgot racism exists."

I don't say it enough, but I love this incarnation of Louis and Claudia. I love that there are so many black fans who feel seen and represented. I love that the show isn't just a sea of 99% white characters like the books are, but keeping everything that makes the books compelling and great and then elevating it by making it more inclusive.

Don't sideline the black fans in the IWTV community. Watch black reacters. Engage with them. Listen to them. You might not agree with every take they have, but I promise you that it will make you enjoy the show from a whole new perspective.

[oshiawaseni]

My sibling, who is an anime only said they would not be surprised if BKDK became canon considering the depth of their relationship, their interactions, and their character development regarding each other ... despite how Bones added in Izuocha scenes and cut out some critical BKDK moments in most of the seasons so far... And, seeing how one-sided the "love" is between Izuocha, which I believe is deep admiration as of reading the manga- I have to say I agree.

Izuocha, is fine on the surface but is unhealthy. Izuku would not pay attention to Ochaco they he would need to if they were in a relationship. And Ochaco only saw "Hero Deku" rather than all of "Izuku", which would cause her to unknowingly encourage Izuku's reckless self-sacrificial behavior.

BKDK is different because not only they know each other beyond the surface level, but they also have their sights on each other and the mere presence of their partner inspires them to become better and stronger people at heart because they have genuine love for each other...

I honestly do not understand what is in the Dudebros' mind other the fact that they are lacking emotional intelligence and critical thinking... but I will just enjoy what they are missing. (Sorry for rambling...)

Hi anon! Sorry it took me a bit to get back to you (reason in tags). Let me just reply to your ramblings with some ramblings of my own :)

I actually really enjoyed Season 6. The only thing I faulted Bones for, was creating that jarring opening that made out like Ochaco was the hero of the retrieve vigilante Deku mission (which sadly only fueled izuochas more on mhatwt), when it was 1000% Katsuki's doing and there is one panel which proves this beyond a shadow of a doubt.

See this? Who is the one standing in front of Shoto and Tokoyami, addressing the whole class? It's Katsuki! Not Ochaco! She was seated with everyone else. This is why it's so frustrating when they say she was the reason Izuku was brought back to U.A. That arc was all about Katsuki's feelings for Izuku and wanting to return his smile.

He was even so worried he lost sleep over it, wondering where Izuku was, if he was okay… he must have stayed awake in bed, thinking and thinking about Izuku and how he could get him back. Katsuki was used to Izuku being by his side, and it was the first time Izuku had willingly left it. It provided him clarity about how important* Izuku was in his life, which only made him worry even more. (*see also: crucial, vital, imperative, watch me emotionally die slowly inside if you aren't around me anymore.)

Katsuki losing sleep, at a time Izuku was not sleeping was such a symbiotic soul mates power move Hori added in for flavour. I love it SOOO freaking much. There are no lengths this man won't go, to prove how in sync they are with each other, how much they need each other, the empathy they share with each other, even on a completely spiritual level where they share in each other's sufferings, *without even knowing it* such as right here, just like Katsuki wants to share all of Izuku's burdens so that he's not crushed by them.

But with that said, though Bones really dropped the ball on the opening (and 5 previous seasons...*ahem*), there were a lot of curious changes that happened in season 6 that I did love, like Izuku dropping the "tachi" in his sentence which turned his line into "He hurt the person I love…" (instead of people)

and as we saw more of these additional changes Bones made, it got us wondering, did Hori have some regrets with the manga that he was unhappy about and wanted their romance to be more obvious? Was it only natural to get anime viewers up to speed before season 7, because they were going to find out through manga spoilers that Katsuki and Izuku are actually in love? I'd like to think so.

Changes I remember off the top of my head:

Reaching out for little Izuku's hand during Katsuki Bakugou Rising

Katsuki waking up and thinking "Deku…" and remembering his Rising sacrifice and being still hurt from it.

Izuku waiting until he was in Katsuki's arms before he apologised, which made their words of "I'm sorry" and "I know" more intimate and personal to each other. Like Izuku needed Katsuki's forgiveness the most, and Katsuki needed to let Izuku feel that he understands him the most.

Izuku's little "Ka-..." (the English dub did not catch it but I know other dubs did) as he was passing out, which made the entire hug scene feel so much more romantic.

"I'm gonna say your name when I wake up" vs "I'm gonna say your name when I fall asleep." BkDk: Always on each other's minds. All the time.

And one of the most interesting changes of all…

So get this, Ochaco gets a hand hold grab in the opening which canon-wise holds about as much weight as an "illustration" … and in the actual anime content, she grabs his wrist area instead of his hand like in the manga. Making her hand hold IN THE CANON CONTENT so impersonal. Almost as if to make up for the horrible opening they made. Why this was done still remains a mystery to us today… but I hope it's because Horikoshi asked them to make Izuocha stop being seen like a couple, and more like the friends they are.

And then, about the "brothers" "friends" comments antis love to make about bkdk. Well yeah, they're coping. In fact, Hori has shied away from labeling them friends several times when he could have! "Midoriya-kun is our friend" says Iida - with multiple people from the class, including Ochaco, presented in the panel… and Katsuki is nowhere to be found.

Or like when sAFO called Katsuki "Izuku's closest person" (motto mo naka ga ii) where it would have been WAY more natural to call him "shinyu," aka, "best friend." But that's the thing, Hori runs away from calling them friends like it's the plague LMAO

Really makes you wonder… was sAFO (I'd rather just call it AFO at this point because it's his personality being dominant vs Katsuki) alluding to hidden romantic feelings Izuku hides for Katsuki that his secret gaydar quirk picked up? Could be. In a way, at the time it happened, it felt to me like Horikoshi himself was talking to us through him, telling us very explicitly, "You're damn right. They're gay."

Either way, skirting around this label for them is being done on purpose by Hori. Like his hidden way of saying "Yeah they might be acting a bit more like the best friends they were always meant to be as kids, but their feelings for each other are not 'friendly' AT ALL. Because platonic friendship is not where these two are headed." And there are STILL hidden feelings they haven't managed to say to each other yet! The content Horikoshi has been itching to draw for YEARS that he is finally getting to. All that soft bkdk romance we've been waiting for is coming SO SOON!!! and I am HERE for it anon! 🔥

2023 will forever be known as the year of BkDk canon... these are very exciting times. <3

[dust-jacket-analysis]

There's a lot of discourse going on over on TikTok right now regarding Booktok. And as an avid reader, Booktok watcher, and someone who has a deep love for analyzing the media I enjoy, I'd feel remis if I didn't get my thoughts out there.

I know these particular posts never got much engagement when I posted on my old account, but if I could please just have a bit of your time. This is all apart of a larger subject of which I'm extremely passionate on.

Four days ago Booktoker @bookishwithb aka, Celine, posted a video. In that video she talked about the rise of anti-intellectualism, specifically on booktok. She addresses the way books are "marketed" or presented on booktok, and also how that has an impact on the publishing industry.

Her main talking point was how a lot of books are being recommended based on what tropes are in them. More specifically, reduced based on those tropes. Her example being the Poppy War, by R.F Kuang.

She talked about how she's seen it marketed as a book with "a strong female main character." And how infuriating that was to her. She went on to explain how there was so much more to the book and how it was about war, and trauma, and how dark and deep and impactful it is. I highly recommend this video to anyone interested. Because while controversial it says a lot about the "tropeification" of media (which will probably be a post by me sometime in the future).

And as is the ways of the internet, this sparked something huge.

So many different creators responded to her video. Some agreeing, most disagreeing. There's been outrage, and healthy debate. But mainly (and most importantly) conversation. Everyone throwing their two cents in, people defending the right to read what you want how you want.

And since the original video went up, this conversation has taken on a life of it's own. It's now become about reading for fun Vs. reading for analysis.

Many argue that it doesn't matter why people read, or how. Just that they are. Others argue it's a sign of a bigger issue that readers no longer engage in the story's their reading.

I have my own opinions. I agree with both sides on certain things, and am overall enjoying the discussions. But, as always, I have things to say.

There are some books that, while entertaining and a fun read, have no substance per say. No analytical value. I think a lot of those three-hundred page medium spice romance books you find on a table at Barnes and Noble fall under this category.

Now, I really love reading those books. Their quick easy reads that keep me entertained. But, they really cannot be analyzed past surface level. Very much not a time to try and think critically.

Those are the books I read for escapism. When I just want to decompress and turn off my brain. Or make a long car ride pass by quickly. And that's okay. Yes? Because it's still reading. I am still gaining something from it. Physiological benefits, it's encouraging and strengthening my empathy. I am still (in some cases) increasing my Lexile, and keeping my brain working. Which is amazing.

Other times I read things with very high analytical value. Such as High Fantasy Novels with social commentary reflecting our world. Or Dystopia packed full with metaphor, allegory, and symbolism. Or even my most recent read for college: Brown Girl In The Ring, by Nalo Hopkinson. An amazing book commenting on the suburban sprawl, and urban decay. Sprinkled with magical realism regarding Afro-Caribbean culture, and even mentions of Romani practices such as Tarot.

These are books I read knowing I need to turn on the part of my brain that's very analytical. That enjoys breaking things down in that way. Storylines I have to engage with on an additional level, otherwise I miss the entire point of this story. It's not only important, but necessary.

So, yes. Reading is reading, now matter what. And any reading is better than no reading. And we should foster that mindset, especially amongst younger generations. But, that doesn't mean you should never engage critically with a book or show or movie you're consuming. Because some media requires that for a base level understanding. And saying that doesn't make me elitist. Or pretentious or judgmental or a snob. Because it's really just true.

I've seen a lot of creators bring up the literacy crisis in youth, specifically in my country (America). How many kids can't read at a level they should be in elementary schools. Even in Highschool. And that we really should all just be content there's an entire community at least reading at all. That we should encourage any and all reading.

And to that I say... yes, but no.

Because here's the thing. There is in the most literal sense, a literacy crisis. The kid's can't read. And it is absolutely devastating. As someone who grew up devouring books every week, reading three grades above my own, it's soul crushing. So I do think reading should be more pushed and encouraged. In school, in the home, everywhere. As much as possible and appropriate for children. Any and all.

But, there's also another literacy crisis. A Media literacy crisis.

Media literacy, the ability to critically analyze and engage with media, is at an all time low. According to a survey done by Media Literacy Now and, the Reboot Foundation, 42% of respondents were taught how to analyze media. Let that sink in. 42%. That's less than half the people who participated in the survey.

(More statistics generated by AI with the following prompt: Give me reliable statistics regarding media literacy in terms of books/reading:

A Survey done by the National Endowment for the Humanities states 65% of adults have low literary skills when it comes to reading comprehension, critical thinking, and expression.

Pew research conducted a survey with resulted in 57% America adults having read at least one book in the last year. With 26% American adults not having read any form of book in the past year. Including audio books.

The American Library Association has said that the average American only reads four books per year. And more developed countries only have average citizens at ten books a year.

An Survey done by Reading Partners has said that 1 and 4 children read at a below basic level by the end of 4th grade.)

And we see this sentiment echoes all over the internet. Constantly videos are made with people talking about how they were never taught Media literacy, and their should be a class all about just that (Which... I have thoughts on. Again, another post).

Even though you can (rightly) argue that this skill was taught. In English class. That's not the point. The point is that people cannot only not read, but most young adults and fully grown adults cannot read critically. Cannot, will not, and aren't.

And in some cases it's because they don't and still don't have the resources. But these statistics aren't just minorities, people in poverty. These surveys and statistics cover people from every walk of life. Poor, Rich, White, Black, Asian, Hispanic. Queer, Straight, Trans, Cis. All ethnicities, wealth brackets, identities. Every demographic. It's indictive of a larger issue.

So we should encourage reading for fun. Reading to read. Reading for escapism. Reading of every kind. But, to claim that there isn't an issue? To trample creators addressing these issues with insults? To claim it's them being pretentious, snobby, elitest, Privileged etc.? That's feeding the issue.

Recently my friend recommended me a video essay, which I unfortunately can't find (Will edit the title when I can).

But in that video, my friend told me that the creator says something... so insightful. She defines stupid as this: Not a lack of knowledge, but the unwillingness to accept new knowledge.

Which is just... such a perfect way to look at it.

You aren't "stupid" for not knowing how to think critically. For not having learned to analyze media, and for not having the resources to do so. But if you have the resources, have the ability to learn how, and you don't/refuse? That makes you stupid.

And by burying your head in the sand and claiming that there is no issue, by hiding behind pseudo offense and that claims of judgement, you're being stupid.

Don't be outraged that the creator of the video that started this all. Don't feel "called out" or judged. Don't put words in her mouth. She wasn't saying people cannot read for enjoyment. She was simply pointing out a larger issue.

--------------------------------------------

To end this very long and tedious post, I'd like to provide a couple of videos in order to help improve Media Literacy! Just some videos I've watched that I found helpful (Also if you just go on youtube and search up "how to analyze..." you'll find so much more)

Crash Course Media Literacy: A playlist series that breaks down media literacy and the history of media as a whole.

How to analyze a Book- 101: This video gives techniques on how to better understand what you're reading, and how to find the main themes and organize them. It gives tips and processes.

How to Read (and Understand) Hard Books: This video breaks down the three types of reading and even gives book recommendations that touch on that.

A beginner's guide to Critical Literary Analysis: This video is made by fellow tumblr user @bluemooniegif (One of us ✊One of us✊). A very good video for beginners. She literally opens the video telling the viewer you don't need any prior knowledge. She also has another video on her channel, which is just the next step up from this one! It's super great, and perfect if you're younger or have less of an understanding on any of this.

Diving into and developing media literacy skills takes effort. It's not a skill you can gain over night, and requires time. But, if you're willing to take that time, a whole new world opens up to you. And you begin to look at everything through a whole new light.

[twopoppies]

Good morning Gina and Happy Weekend!

Disclaimer: I do not believe Harry and Louis are in a romantic relationship but I am also not about to criticize others that do. With that said, I am SO incredibly glad I at least looked into the relationship because I fell in love with the fan fiction in this fandom. It has been a lot of fun to read so many incarnations of the characters of Harry and Louis and the other boys as well.

With all that said, my perceived idea of who these guys are, based on the interviews they give is somewhat different than how they are usually (not always) portrayed in fan fiction and I was just curious if anyone else felt the same way or if I am a minority in this thought. Were many of these perceived personality traits shown in fan fiction formed at the beginning of 1D and just continue to carry on?

Harry: fan fiction: sensitive, loving, selfless, principled and unaware of his own magnetism. Somewhat insecure.

My perception: Calculated, strong businessman and very self aware.

Louis: fan fiction: strong, leader, selfless, a ball of pure sunshine at times. Likes to be the center of attention.

My perception: insecure. Still trying to find who he is. Loves to be center of attention. Does not like to follow others, sometimes to his professional detriment.

Niall: fanfiction: All around good guy. Loving, supportive, but almost shallow at times. The trusty sidekick.

My perception: Much more layered, very comfortable in his own skin.

Liam: fanfiction: strong, calm, peacemaker

My perception: Hot mess of anxiety and insecurity. I want to hold his hand in therapy.

Zayn: Fan fiction: Liam’s other half, whether as a romantic interest or a soulmate of sorts.

My perception: haven’t paid enough attention to him to form one.

Anyway, was just curious how others perceptions of the boys in real life is the same/differs from how they are usually portrayed in fan fiction.

For everyone: if you haven’t read it yet, go read Danger I can’t Hide by Celtic Sky! For me, hands down, the best historical fan fiction I have ever read.

Gina, thank you for your time and for keeping up with the fan fiction for everyone in the fandom. You have no idea how much it is appreciated!

Hi, darling. First of all, Danger I Can’t Hide is one of the best stories I’ve read, fic or otherwise. I would publish that book so fast.

In regards to everything else, I think what you’ll find is that the fan fiction changed as Harry and Louis’ public narratives changed over the years, as well as just changing with the times. For example, there was a period of time around 2012/2013 (IIRC) where Louis was very often portrayed as having intense internal homophobia and Harry was the pining friend who Louis finally admits his feelings to. 2013 also saw the rise of bisexual/internalized homophobia Harry, Uni fics and “Dark Harry” fic partly because the boys were getting older and because frat boy Harry was being pushed. 2014/2015 You’ll see a lot more mermaid/pirate stories because Harry grew his hair out.

Early days nothing was tagged and there were a lot more PWPs written. Then there was a period where BDSM, Daddy Kink, and rimming was in every fic (I think this mainly started after Ren wrote the driving instructor fic). When Fine Line dropped there was an increase in fics where mostly Harry, but sometimes Louis, was trans/non-binary etc.

I think what you’re picking up about how they’re written may depend in part of what authors you’re gravitating towards (for example, I can’t stand the “ball of sunshine” characterization of Louis. For me that’s just not who he is and I think I’d be hard-pressed to come up with a fic where that’s how he’s written). I agree with your perception of who Harry is now (although I think there’s a lot more to him that what you listed), but I wouldn’t have said his main characteristics were that he was calculated or a strong businessman back when people were writing fic about the boys 2011-2015. Additionally, I do think many authors idealize both of them as well as their relationship, which is often fun to read, but doesn’t always make for the most interesting or complex stories.

As for the others, in many Larry fics they’re just used as fillers and aren’t really well developed characters. Niall is often fun-loving and gives good advice, Liam works out a lot and has golden-retriever energy, Zayn is quiet and cool and an artist of some sort. None of that gives you much of a sense of who any of them are IRL or in a book. Personally, I don’t tend to write them into my fics except very peripherally, but there are many good fics where the rest of the guys are given bigger roles and are more fully developed.

Last, there aren’t a lot of authors who consistently write the guys as older men (the age they are now, or even aging them up), so what you may be coming up against are authors writing young versions of these men you know, but also many people just take the five of them and mold them into the characters that make their fics work best and don’t really care if they’re getting the characterizations “right”. If you’re talking about canon, that’s a whole other kettle of fish, but barely anyone writes canon these days, so I can’t really speak to characterizations there.

Sorry this got so long. Clearly I’ve got lots of thoughts. I’m also on the airplane and I’m really bored. 😂

Glad you’re finding my fic recs helpful ❤️

[soyouareandrewdobson]

Asians are all the same, right? The racism of a company cock gurgling moron

Like herpes and unlike the Dobbear, I am back baby.

At this point, deepest apology for my long absence. Personal issues over the last two years prevented me from writing anything and also destroyed for the longest time any desire to really continue the blog.

However, I don’t want to let things unfinished and seeing how the hypocricyofandrewdobson still manages to get some rise out of old Dobson related stuff, I wanted to just return, in order to properly contribute a bit more critical thinking in regard to his old comics.

And while I will not immediately return to my retrospective of SYAC, here is at least (for a start) my opinion on one comic of his, that in my opinion just proved hilarious and controversial in hindsight, and rather racist even back then.

I admit, I don’t know anymore what the title of the comic here is. All I know is, that it came out around 2018, shortly after the release of his “Black Panther” comic, another malignant piece of Dobtrash that has made the rounds online ever since. However, unlike the Black Panther comic, which became the center of a lot of discussion regarding Dobson’s racist assumptions about comic book fans while ironically trying to present himself as woke, this one was weirdly drifting off into obscurity. Which is kinda weird, cause in my opinion, it is way more racist and actually kinda insulting to the very craft Dobson supposedly “dedicated” his life to.

Let me explain.

First, over the course of three panels, Dobson comes essentially off like he is considering the medium of comics as inferior to the medium of movies. Making it look as if comics are unsuccessful because they cannot rail in the same amount of money than certain flics and calling them at best nothing more but a pitching ground for corporations to create new shallow mass product.

Now I am a bit of a realist and I know that, especially in the world of mainstream American superhero comics, this is kinda the case. Most comic book characters, stories and franchises are owned by multibillion dollar corporations, who either have a direct hand in the creation of the product (via corporate mandate for example) and/or use the likeness of the product to make profit in additional, more valuable revenues than the printed medium. Such as cartoons, merchandise and movies. One example I can think of, to show that it isn’t just an American issue: Yugioh. The card game wouldn’t have come to be if there hadn’t been a manga starring a little boy putting together an ancient Egyptian puzzle, but while the original manga ended way back in March of 2004, the card game makes millions globally still after 25 years and counting.

But that doesn’t change the fact, that comics as a medium still have value. Without the stories told within their pages, we wouldn’t have characters such as Captain America, Superman, the Mask, the Ninja Turtles and so on to begin with. Don’t get me even started on stories that aren’t falling into the American mainstream comic trend, but still succeeded in the printed comic medium partly because of genuine artistic and profound value such as Maus, Barefoot Gen, Watchmen, V for Vendetta, TinTin and a shitton of (other) stuff from Europe and Asia.

So when Dobson, who always acted like he is proud to be a cartoonist and that comics are a superior medium to others, suddenly reduces them to just being a “pitch ground for better stuff down the line” at best, I as a fan of the medium and just the art of creating stories in itself, get kinda pissed.

Additionally, the way how he compares movies to be better than comics, is severely flawed.

He brings up the fact, that “Captain America: Civil War” made over one billion dollars at the box office as an example, while pointing out the fact, that most single comic issues barely manage to sell 100.000 copies, while holding up a copypasted “Civil War” issue.

Already, Dobson essentially compares apples with bananas, while also giving both false and incomparable data, that also ignores many aspects to be considered.

For starters: He compares the earnings of both movies and comics with two different values. For movies, he goes by the monetary profit a superhero movie could possibly make, while for the comic issue, he goes by the total number of copies sold.

But here is the thing: Assuming the average selling price of a comic is at 4 dollars for a single 30 page issue, selling 100.000 copies would ring in like 400.000 dollars. And considering that producing one issue likely costs a company less than 20.000 dollars (obvious costs for mass production and distribution not withstanding) they can still make a decent profit this way from ONE issue alone. One issue. Not multiple issues of a long running, but sadly underperforming series. All of that by the way doesn’t even account for the fact, that most single issues at best tell only a quarter of a decent short story nowadays and ignores later “long term” factors, such as reprints of the issue, late term buying of the issue, tradepaperback sells of the issue, the longterm effect and cultural impact the issue may have on the actual series or plot continuity  (such as Amazing Spiderman 122, aka “The Night Gwen Stacy Died”). Don’t get me even started on the fact, that many of these issues get first sold in the US and only over the course of one year or longer may then additionally be sold in other parts of the world, therefore bringing in even more money for the publisher.

Example: The Duck comics by Don Rosa, which earn more than four times more in Europe, than they ever did in America, despite the guy being from California. Finally, a a little add addendum: that example Dobson gives indirectly via the “Civil War” issue? A quick google search revealed, that Civil War issue 1 sold over 300k copies in May of 2006 alone. Sure, not necessarily the best numbers ever for a single issue (as evident by the following list: https://bookriot.com/bestselling-comics-of-all-time/ )but still nothing to be ashamed of.

And yes, I know that we live currently in a time, where comic book sells have dropped significantly for a variety of reasons, one of them being an overall lack of decent stories. But as long as other stuff still manages to run freaking circles around American superheroes (*cough* One Piece *cough*) I wouldn’t say the medium itself is dead. Just a specific branch of it is suffering from a lack of quality and the customers are jumping ship.

A superhere movie meanwhile is a completely different beast. Ever since “The Avengers” came out in 2012, most superhero movies are 150-250 million dollar behemoths, that get overhyped by advertisement campaigns that are almost equally as expensive and try to trick the audience into believing, that they all are somehow the next big mindblowing thing on the big screen. Plus there hasn’t really been a superhero movie in the last 10+ years, that didn’t release simultaneously worldwide, instead of only coming out in the USA, and then a few months later, in other parts of the world.

So is it any wonder then, if a superhero movie that got advertised like the second coming of a saint, makes 1 billion, when there are already billions of potential customers worldwide all at once when the product launches?

That number btw becomes actually less impressive, once you start to think about how it came to be. Something our blue bear obviously didn’t.

See, on average every movie theater demands like what, 12-14 dollars per movie nowdays?

If we divide the box office of Civil war (1.152 billion btw) with 12 dollars, that makes on average 100 million people worldwide who watched the movie. A bit more than one or two percent of the worlds population. Not to forget, that of the box office success we have to substract such things as production cost of the movie, advertisement, the earnings of the theaters… so suddenly the movie may at best have had only earned one quarter of its box office for Disney as actual profit.

Not to forget, Dobson made that comic in 2018, when superhero movies on average did ring in so much money, because of the hype machine. But now we have 2023 and within the last five years (and especially 2023 itself) we have seen how superhero movies can also utterly fail to make money or even earn just enough to make back the production cost. Birds of Prey, Eternals, Ant Man 3, that Secret Invasion streaming show that still cost over 200 million… Do I need to get on?

Bottom line, Dobson’s indirect jab at comics as the less profitable revenue doesn’t hold that much water really in the real world, where once the hype dies down, comics may actually prove themselves as the more valuable longterm medium. Even if it may just be for the fact, that they end up staying longer relevant in the popcultural subconscious than the current movies, which tend to lose relevance with each new hastily produced and released installment in the franchise.

But where this comic really shines and shows Dobson’s ignorance on a cultural level, is in the last panel. When all off sudden it turns “racial” by claiming that Asian people, unlike “traditional” comic readers (aka white, in Dobbear s eyes therefore instantly racist people), would eat a Marvel character like Amadeus Cho up.

Question Dobson: Why do you assume, they would eat him up? You give no real argument based on anything the character does storywise, that the “target audience” may find admirable. So I can only think, that your reasoning is, because he is ever so slightly east asian coded.

Boy, do we have to unpack not just a can of worms, but a whole package of cans now.

First, the chosen language by saying “eat it up”. When being a writer, you should know that you need at times to choose your words wisely, because of the sheer implications they can carry. And the statement “eat it up” sounds way to close to a negative statement like “suck it up”. Making it come off as if Dobson considers Asian people to be mindless cattle that will consume the grub the House of Mouse will give them without question or any desire for actual quality to it.

Second, it recks of a certain mind set I hate within the American entertainment industry and some of its creators and consumers. That mind set being, that “non-traditional” American cultures supposedly don’t know better than Americans in what is okay for the sake of representation and entertainment or not. It’s a mindset that goes beyond the necessity of e.g. localizing a foreign product to the national market, by e.g. creating a sterilized, corporately mandated and rather unrealistic depiction of another culture within their product, that will fall apart as soon as the people who are supposed to be represented get a proper look at it and realize, how pandering and often times badly researched, if not outright offensive, it is.

Only recently did we see in the world of animation how that can backfire, when Disney released the trailer for “Primos” an upcoming animated show supposedly about a half Latina girl spending her summer vacation with her annoying cousins, people calling it based on the intro (and a leaked pilot) pandering towards a latino audience in a racist manner. And guess what: currently, Disney shelves it and tries to bury its existence like Dobson his old inflation art.

Dobson himself has actually indulged in that sort of shit kinda, back with his infamous Nintendo comic.

Essentially calling the “true”, Nintendo corporation approved depiction of his childhood Nintendo heroes disgraceful, for not falling in line with the late 80s depictions he saw in localized, made in America products such as the DiC cartoons. That and minor homophobia mixed with misogyny by calling Link “girly” for having longer blond hair since Ocarina of Time and blaming fangirls for it.

Third, and that is kinda related to my prior point, the reality of things is, that “Asians” actually did not eat up that sort of thing in the last couple of years. Sure, there is always that thing about a Chinese market. the big movie companies try to pander to and may succeed with some dumb action flics featuring big robots.

But the reality is, that not even people living in a dictatorship will eat up every trash you give to them, just because it comes from Hollywood or is supported by their glorious leadership. Disney tried to create two pandering messes of movies for Chinese people to watch, called Mulan (the live action adaptation) and that Shang Chi movie. And how did they do there? Oh right! The government did not even allow Shang Chi to be released and Mulan was released but supposedly didn’t do so well, considering (COVID not withstanding) it only made 70 million globally!

Don’t get me even started on every human right controversy in relation to the later, starting with filming in China near a concentration camp and ending with the main actress being essentially a Chinese propaganda puppet.

So, if those movies flopped, why would Chinese people for example flock for an Asian Hulk? A hulk that is not even Chinese but Korean.

See, this is another issue that fails with the example: The actual choice of character Dobson name dropped is actually kinda terrible.

For those unaware: Amadeus Cho is a supporting character in the Marvel comics, created in 2005 by American writer Greg Pak and artist Takeshi Miyazawa. The later, despite the name being very east Asian, sounding, actually being from Canada. Now both do have east Asian roots so to speak (Pak  e.g. is the son of an Korean-american man with a Caucasian woman), but they also have grown up within a society that taught them both western social values more so than we would see in east Asian countries. So with the creators already not necessarily having the most real life experience with the average mindset of a Korean citizen, can we really say that their actual creation helps “represent” those people of a foreign, non-american culture?

And that is not even covering stuff like the actual story of the character itself.

See, in the comics, Cho is supposed to be an American-Korean genius (wish fullfillment much, Greg?) and one of the smartest people in the Marvel Universe. His parents named him after Amadeus Mozart (a pretty white motherfucker as far as I remember) and he grew up under Methodist beliefs. So basically the “Korean heritage” of the character has already been thrown out of the window. Now I don’t expect the character to act stereotypical Korean, listen to K-pop, declare bulgogi to be his favorite dish or any of that shit. But when you want to sell me the character as being in some way or another connected to his ancestral culture, shouldn’t he engage at least in some “Korean coded” things?

I mean, the character of Anne Boonchuy in Amphibia is a Thai-American who acts more like a 13 year old girl that learns to be less selfish and impulsive over the course of the show and whose “heritage” isn’t thrown at us, the viewer, most of the time. In fact, Anne herself acknowledges that she e.g. can’t really speak thai, despite her own mother being fluent in it and a season 3 episode reveals, that Anne is “begrudgingly” a part of the L.A. thai community. And yet, in connection to the shows story and as part of Anne’s characterization, her heritage is acknowledged and plays a part of who she is. Even if it simply means she knows how to cook certain thai dishes, loves her parents and their customs, helps out in their restaurant, can speak a few words thai and knows the basics of Muay Thai, a form of martial arts (and fighting sport) from Thailand.

Amadeus doesn’t even have Korean parents anymore, because they were killed as part of his tragic hero backstory. Nor has he ever visited an Asian country. Oppps.

To build further up on it, Amadeus becomes for the longest time simply a major supporting character in the Marvel universe for the likes of Hulk and Hercules, two white coded characters. Sure, he plays a major role in the defeat of some cosmic horror level villains (such as Mikaboshi in the Chaos God storyline most people forgot even existed) but it takes a long time for him to become a “A-lister” so to speak.

In fact, according to Wikipedia, it wasn’t till after “Secret Wars” in 2016 (eleven years after the character was created), that Amadeus thanks to a chain of events eventually got his chance to Hulk out. And then they still had to kill Bruce Banner to make Amadeus “stand out” initially (don’t worry, Bruce came back. I mean, characters actually staying dead in comics, so that heroes can learn there are consequences? Preposterous) In fact, Amadeus hasn’t really proven himself as a decent “solo” act. Instead he became a member of the Champions (among Miles Morales, Mrs. Marvel, Vision’s daughter Viv. Nova and Cyclops), essentially creating yet another superhero team for teenaged vigilantes. Despite the fact, Cho himself should be by now in his mid 20s.

Now look, I do not want to shit talk the character. Partly because I haven’t read everything he was in myself and partly because in the few things I did see him in (both pre- and post Hulk) he was okay. He is a decent hero and person, who tries to do good, even if he screws up here and there. That is something I can admire in a character in general. But he is not a good “representation” of another culture, because his complexion and minor physical features aside, he is NOT embodying even minor values or traditions of that foreign culture. He is simply a Korean-American (or technically Canadian), who falls more on the American side of things.

So essentially, Dobson who virtue signaled on multiple occasions how bad it is when companies he didn’t like tried to speak on behalf of other cultures, would have no problem at all to ask for Asian people to swallow this obviously “Made in American” product. The “Made in America” line actually working both on a metaphorical and a storytelling level, cause trying to google what “east Asian coded” heroes in the Marvel Universe actually come from an Asian country instead of being simply born on American soil, is pretty damn small.

After 20 minutes I only found Shang Chi, as he was born in China, and that character was created as part of kung-fu exploitation in the 70s by white dudes.

Yaiks

However, none of that tops the next two points that really sell Dobson to me as an American centralistic racist. Or at least a twat who doesn’t understand how through bad wording he comes of as ignorant of other people’s cultures.

The way he generalizes Asian people in his statement, while also ignoring the actual accomplishments in the creation of entertainment in multiple Asian countries.

If you’ve read closely what I typed, you may have seen that I used the term Asian at times in tandem with the term “east Asian” to e.g. describe Amadeus Cho.

And that had a very deliberate reason. While I was not a fan of geography in school, even I know that Asia as a continent is not “nationally” as homogenous as let’s say Australia or North America. In fact, Asia is the biggest continent on the planet, hosts more than half of earth’s population and consists of at least 47 internationally acknowledged states.

States such as Turkey, Russia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, China, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, North- and South Korea, Egypt, Israel, Iraq, Iran and so on.

Now what all these states have in common, is that they have their own unique historical, social and “racial” culture and background. Heck, religiously speaking, Asia is the cradle of the world.

As such, Dobson stating that a “Korean coded” character such as Amadeus Cho (who is only Korean on the most surface level and would technically just be a legacy character of yet another white person) would be an immediate hulk smash hit with all these different people of different backgrounds…. Yeah, it sounds like condescending, colonization inspired shit, a smooth brain would come up with.

To Dobson “Asia”, at least based on that comic, is only defined as the “yellow skinned” people from the far east, who like rice, noodles, spicy food and give us anime, Godzilla, fireworks, buddhism and communism. It does not include anyone from the middle east or of more European ancestry. And if you are even remotely familiar about history, you would also know that Japanese, Koreans and Chinese all around do not e.g. like to be thrown into a pot with the others for a variety of reasons. Many of them political.

Or to sum it up even shorter: Dobson insinuated that a very shallow, “east Asian” coded American comic character would be an immediate hit with more than 47 different countries, ignoring that not all of them share the same background despite being part of the “same” landmass. And in doing so, he simultaneously generalized and denounced entire groups of people based on their racial and cultural background, which in as far as I am aware of, is considered racist.

But the “racism” is supposedly justified, because “representation” matters, it would be giving the middle finger to “traditional” comic fans and those nations and their culture are underrepresented globally.

Which is baloney.

Don’t get me wrong, I myself think that representation does matter. But the world does not necessarily rely on the good old US-Ayy only to give it to us.

Cause a lot of the Asian nations I brought up here? They have their own entertainment industry and stories, which again, get ignored by Dobson to make a dumb and false point.

I mean, manga is currently dominating the international comic market, all while Japan has also a booming animation industry and some of the most iconic heroes in modern popculture with the likes of Son Goku, Kamen Rider, Super Sentai etc.

China has a prominent -if propaganda driven- movie industry.

India has Bollywood and delivers some of the most ridiculous but awesome musical movies on the planet.

Russia had authors such as Tolstoy and movie directors, that redefined the “art” of filmmaking.

Korea had a few years ago one of the biggest streaming hits with Squid Game, while also earning an Oscar for a movie titled Dobs- I mean “Parasite”.

Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Turkey… even nations that have not entertainment living up to “western standards” still produce stuff in some way or form to entertain the masses and their people. Just google up the character Kara Murat aka the avenger of Anatolia.

And don’t get me even started on the sheer ton of mythology, stories and history each of their cultures have provided the world with. Journey to the West? Baba Yaga, the entirety of the Gilgamesh epos...

And yet, there is this indirect assumption by Dobson, that all of them would be so deprived of “heroes” in their media and folklore, they would letch on second hand shop Hulk? Fuck off, Dobbear. I know you like to suck corporate cock as long as you think they are woke and you have childhood nostalgia for them, but this is pathetic. Take Amadeus before A Rama Raju comes around and roundhouse kicks him back to Canada. Then get the taste of mouse smegma of your Disney cock gobbling lips.

[sweetshelluvaau]

World/Lore Building - Overlords

The first half of my of my Part 2 of the Seven Rings (p2 focusing on Pride) is basically about finish but before I clean and finish it up, I want to focus on the Overlords being my Pride post talks about them for a bit so I wanted to make a deeper dive on how they work in my rewrite/AU.

Putting under the cut being this will be a bit long.

Okay to reblog, feedback and criticism is welcomed.

Part One: How they work in Canon (or the exploration of why worldbuilding is a big deal and something you need to consider and not just throw shit at the wall and hoping it sticks)

Sorry I have to be a bit of a snarky shit.

So, I do have questions on how Overlords as a whole work in Hellaverse because it isn't really fully explained what they are outside of being 'sinners with power'. I'm assuming they are the ones that are the real leadership over Pride considering how Lucifer and Charlie don't really do anything in regard to running the ring? idk?

Why are Overlords as powerful as they are? Why do they have powers, let alone power in general? How did they gain those powers? Granted, a lot of this also has to do my feelings in regard how Sinners are so high up the caste ladder to begin with to even out ranking Hellborns but but I do think these questions like these matter regardless how big or small they are.

I think we take worldbuilding for granted sometimes being this blog really made me rethink how important it is for your story's universe is to have rules on how things work and why they work the way they do. I'm not asking for the story to stop every second and give us a long exposition lore dump before moving on, visual storytelling is a great way of exploring the world the characters are in and just small details can leave just as much of a big impact of portraying what a story is trying to say about it's surroundings. Hazbin is the kind of show that really needs to take time to breath and not speed run everything suppose to letting us the audience take it all in. Honestly, Hellaverse in general really could have benefit from having a story/lore bible before production ever began suppose to just throwing things at the wall because everything is a mess.

Sorry, I went on a tangent here, but these things do bother me not just as a writer but as a viewer as well but I digress.

Anyways, enough of me ranting, lets dive into my rewrite:

Part Two: So, Overlords huh?

I didn't know what to name this section lol

I kinda talked about this here that I decided that Overlords are both Sinners and Hellborns in my AU and are more close to gang leaders/business owners that gained influence though backstabbing/manipulation/killing their competition and raising though the ranks but they also gain power due to various activities in trust and talent as well. Basically: Anyone can become an Overlord if they have the influence and resources to do so! Even an Imp or Hellhound, even though rare.

Sinners also can't use magic (Alastor being an outlier) in a way most Hellborn could, and not all Hellborn can cast it either (They mostly use it though artifacts such as a Transversal Crystal or Stolas' grimoire just for examples). This makes it a bit more tricky for Sinners to rise up the ladder in power putting aside them already being the lowest caste in hell. They'd have to work up a lot of connections and good will from their Hellborn counterparts which can be hard due to not all Hellborn Overlords look kindly on Sinners. And that's on top of the whole gaining influence in general thing.

Overlords are in almost every ring of Hell but Sinner Overlords are often exclusive to Pride, but there are some cases where a Sinner could make it big in another ring such as Greed or Sloth. There's also the case of the Lust Ring where Overlords kinda play an ambassador role representing Sinners taking matters to Lust's leadership but that's a topic for another day.

Overlords are often more seen in the Rings that more 'lax' in rules/leadership, Pride obviously due to it's title of 'The Wild West of Hell' but they are also big in Greed, Sloth and Wrath. There's a few in Gluttony and Envy as well with Lust being a bit of an outlier in regard to handling Overlords being for the most part they're 'regulated' to the point they're completely a different thing despite still carrying the name (see above).

Part Three: Blood Pacts

This may be a me thing, but I'm not a fan of the fact that Overlords in the show can own souls and the 'contract' thing. Granted this has to do with the sinner issue I already addressed with Hellaverse along with the worldbuilding deal I also mentioned. I'm not gonna repeat myself being I said my piece in part one.

In my AU, Overlords cannot create/form Soul Contacts. Only The Sins and a few powerful demons can own someone's soul physically however Overlords do have an equivalent to them. Enter Blood Pacts!

How they work: Basically, they collect a drop of blood from the person giving up their 'soul' to them and put it into a glass vial lanced with magic that bounds the soul to the owner. Overlords often do this in both a power sense and a way for the soul to pay their 'debts'. Ordinally Blood Pacts were pitched as a way for (un)fortunate souls who in some shape or form got into whatever fucked up thing they landed themselves into that they may need help getting out of or they ended up wronging an Overlord in some way that they choose to make it up to them by working under them for as long as is required (this could be for a good few decades to basically a long time where you might as well say that they own them forever unless one of them kicks the bucket) of them before being set free. Some more 'honest' Overlords do obliged to this once their debts are fulfilled and even fewer don't engage in practice, but most of the time they never let go of there power over there victim and some make it mandatory if you choose to just work under them just because you needed a job so you can never leave (popular tactic used by the Vees).

Because these glass vials are fragile and could easily be broken if one isn't careful or if there victim gets any ideas of choosing to free themselves, these vials are kept in a safe place that only Overlords are given access too. Basically, it's a huge vault, a 'blood' bank if you will where these are sorted and carefully handled so no one can tamper with them and their 'ownership' of their souls are safe. These vaults are secretive, even to Overlords who aren't so high up in the food chain.

Part Four: Notable Overlords

I'm only going to do an overview of some of the overlords here that will or may play a role in my AU/Rewrite being I don't want to go into full descriptions right now. Whenever I get to redesign these characters or just want to talk more about them is when I'll go in more deeper details.

Zestial:

Zestial One of the oldest, if NOT the oldest Hellborn Overlords still alive in this day and age and rumored he's been around before Lucifer's Fall and what Hell is today. Zestial controls The Old Town Historic District (you'll learn about it in my Pride Ring post) and is the creator of the the 'Blood Pacts'. He's basically the same in the show personality wise but Hellborn suppose to a sinner.

The Vees:

The Vee's (all sinners) are the Overlords that run The Red Light district, along with various business and ventures regardless if you have a say in it or not. They're basically the same in the show expect Val is taken more seriously and Velvet has nothing to do with fashion in my AU. She works closely with Vox with fueling the Social Media side of Voxtec and feeding the propaganda machine though the media via mind control thing that Vox has going with him, but Velvet is a popular online influencer in her own right. She's also the youngest Overlord, dying in the 2010's.

Carmilla Carmine:

Carmilla Carmine (sinner) is basically the same character in the show personality wise. She doesn't own a district but is a big player in smuggling, producing and experimenting with angelic weapons. Her engineering and weapon production quality is second to none which alone has gartered her infamously and influence.

Crimson:

A small time Hellborn Overlord from the Greed Ring, as well as Moxxie's father figure (not biological father. I plan on going though Moxxie's backstory once I get his re-redesgin done) who 'inherited' and owns a successful sinner smuggling operation along with plenty of other completely legit businesses you guys in Greed and some influence in Pride as well. I'll talk more about my take on Crismon in my AU another day.

Alastor:

Ah yes, the tumblr sexy man edgelord Radio Demon we all know and love (???). I'm still working on the direction I want to take with his character but he's one of the few Sinner Overlords that has powers (not Voodeo. They're more Lovecraftian in nature and the symbols he uses are radio ones) that he may or may have not made a deal with a demon when still alive that came with him into the after life for some reason. Alastor hosts his radio show at his station in Uptown (where the Happy Hotel also is) every morning (along with the screams of the lives and souls he's taken ya know for shits and giggles). For most, he's an enigma and no one knows what his true goals and where his alliances lie. Even Charlie doesn't understand why he's so invested in helping the hotel if he's not the slightest bit of interested in redeeming himself despite accepting his help. But regardless who you are, what walk of life you're from, hellborn or sinner; he's feared by all.

Anyways, I'm gonna wrap up this post here. Next one will be my Pride Ring post which the first part is basically about done just need to do some last second editing! Likely will post it up Friday...

[becauseplot]

I wrote a thing! Spoilers up through Ordem Paranormal: Calamidade episode 11. Ao3 link provided in the title for those who wish to read it there.

After The Storm

An AU where Joui surives. The Order and its allies have returned to the Leone Mansion after successfully containing Kian. As they wait for news of a hospital they can take their critically injured to, Arthur has decided to clean the blood off of Joui's face. Was written between watching episodes 11 and 12, so all of the background details here were written based on assumptions I made before watching the true resolution in ep 12. Basically, things aren't going to perfectly align with canon, and it's perfectly safe to read if you've watched only up to 11. Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Happy/Hopeful Ending, Late-Night Conversations, Major Character Injury, Implied Suicidal Character. More tags on the Ao3 link <3 (Note that if there have been edits made to this, the most up-to-date version will be on Ao3, so I recommend reading it there if you can.)

3:49 in the morning. Arthur turns off the tap and lifts the dish of warm water out of the sink with a freshly rinsed cloth rag bunched beneath it. He turns around to face the three occupied beds behind him. Two sleeping, one dozing. His steps are careful as to not squeak on the tile as he crosses the room, drags the wheeled stool into the right stop with his foot, and gently lowers himself into it. It creaks as his weight settles on it. He grunts and breathes through the smarting aches as his weight settles on those, too. The bowl goes on the roller cart with the other medical instruments. The rag goes hanging off the lip of it.

Arthur faces forward again. He stifles a yawn behind his hand, scrubs his face up and down. He stares for a moment. A steady rise and fall. Out of the corner of his eye, a silent heart rate monitor blinks in the dimmed fluorescent light. The overlapping sounds of triage, damage control, and debriefs reach his ears muffled by the infirmary’s walls and gently shut doors. 

There are a lot of things that Arthur could be doing right now. Helping Carla and Renan manage the injured downstairs. Helping Dominic and Yuki organize those who are well enough into watch groups. Helping Ivete clean and take stock of their remaining weapons. Helping Mister Veríssimo and Dante plan their next move in regards to transporting Kian back to Brazil and handling the looming threat of the Devil. 

Instead, Arthur settles into his stool. He reaches over, flips the rag into the bowl, lifts it in his fist, and squeezes out the excess. The droplets plink in soft staccato. He shakes the rag around in his hand until he’s certain he has a proper grip on it, and reaches forward.

Yes, there are a lot of things that Arthur could be doing right now. This, though? This he needs to do. And Dante knew that when he passed Arthur the cloth and dish half an hour ago and said, “Take care of him for us. We’ll deal with everything else for now.”

He starts at Joui’s cheek. The left corner of his mouth. It’s a torn-up mess, probably cut by his own teeth from a hard punch across his jaw. Arthur dabs at the mangled skin with the rag as he carefully cleans away the layers of blood and dirt caked to him in a sickly mud. 

He’s just as gentle with Joui’s face as he was when he cleaned around his collarbones and neck: short, light passes of the rag with his fingers, even if the stain is stubborn, and no messing with the straps of the spinal board they put him in. The last thing he wants is to cause any more damage, nor cause Joui any more pain. Joui has had enough of that tonight; plenty of times, in fact, over and over, relentlessly, driving forward again and again and again with a hatred so deep and bloody it could—

Arthur inhales through his nose, sudden air in his lungs. Someone in the hall shouts a name,  French answers, and boots march down the stairs. Arthur comes back to himself and dabs away the last of the grime, finally revealing the corner of Joui’s mouth: mangled and scarring from a desperate ritual on Dante’s part, yes, but a warm tone. There you are. Still here. Arthur adjusts his rag in his grip and starts up by Joui's cheekbone.

A moment later, when Arthur’s gentle poking creeps a little too close to his eye, Joui’s face twitches. Some of that exhausted morphine haze seems to clear. Joui takes a deep breath, as if waking up. 

Arthur pauses in his motions. Quiet relief blooms in his chest. He knows it’s just an effect of the exhaustion and the morphine, but sitting here with his friend staring up at nothing, eyes glazed over and hardly blinking… Arthur prefers his moments of lucidity, if only so that he can check in with him. “Joui?”

A single dark eye flicks to him. “Mm?”

“With me again?”

“Mm-hm.” Before Arthur can even ask how he’s feeling, Joui starts to flex his shoulders and arms, fidgeting in the straps of the spinal board.

Oh, no, bad. “Hey, hey, hey.” He drops the damp rag on the side of the bed and runs his hand up and down Joui’s arm as gently as he can. “Easy. You hurt your neck, remember? Carla says you shouldn’t be moving much right now.”

Joui stops straining. He exhales. “...But my face itches.”

Arthur blinks, and despite everything, he feels his lips twitch up at Joui’s tone: sulky. Arthur will take his sulkiness any day. He’s missed it, even. After all of Joui’s broken cries of pain when they were trying to carry him away from—well. Doesn’t matter. Sulky is good. “I know. I’m working on it, I promise.”

Joui manages a weak smile. “Thank you,” he croaks.

“‘Course.” Arthur gives Joui’s arm a little pat before picking up his rag, dabbing around Joui’s cheekbone once more and steering clear of his injured eye. “They would do this at the hospital too, I guess, but—we’re still not sure when that’s going to happen. Better to do it now than keep you laying here with an itchy face, right?”

“Carina hasn’t…?”

Arthur gives his head a slow shake. He exhales, “No, no confirmation from her family’s contact yet. They’re not sure about getting rooms that are…discreet, you know?”

Arthur pauses, thinking. His eyes stray down to Joui’s neck, still discolored despite the ritual (a massive fist completely encircling his throat bruising grip dangling like a puppet with its strings cut) before he catches himself. He unclenches his fist in the rag and starts wiping up by Joui’s temple. “We might just have to take you in anyway. I mean, they took Fabrício while we were at the Coliseum, but…”

“Devil,” Joui mumbles.

“Devil,” Arthur agrees. They’re still not sure what the Devil’s threat entails, nor where the Escriptas who retreated ran off to. As of right now, it’s not a good idea for them to go anywhere in small groups or without their weapons—and there’s just too many eyes in a hospital to accommodate that. 

Arthur flips his rag around to a clean spot and moves towards Joui’s ear. “Though, the sooner we can get someone to do a proper X-ray of your neck, the better. I think…if Carina hasn’t heard back by the time I finish here, we’ll just take you in and figure it out when we get there.”

Joui frowns as much as he’s able. “It’s not safe.”

You, being here, like this, is not safe, Arthur’s mind hisses. Not safe. Not safe enough. Not. Safe. Your neck should be broken, you could still—

“We can discuss it with the others when the time comes,” Arthur says. Stop it. “In any case, no matter what we do, you need to be seen by a professional with the right equipment.” He finishes cleaning around the curve of Joui’s ear and brings his rag back to rinse it out in the bowl. Red muddies the water, turns it darker in the dim light of the infirmary. “How’s the face? Any less itchy?”

“Mm. Kinda.”

“Nothing I’m doing hurts, right? Is the morphine working?”

“You’re fine. And it…” Joui's face tightens. “I still feel it. The pain. But. Could be worse.”

Arthur scowls to himself. It’s not fair. If he could at least shoulder some of Joui’s pain, finally grant him some much-deserved relief, he would do it in a heartbeat. But that’s not possible. So instead he lifts the rag and squeezes—hard enough that his hand shakes, but that’s neither here nor there. The water droplets plink in the quiet once again, serene. He smooths his expression and looks at Joui. “You tell me if anything I do hurts, okay?”

“Okay.”

And Arthur resumes his work. Across the expanse of Joui’s other cheek now, where Arthur knows his X-shaped scar is. He takes his time. 

Joui’s one working eye stares up at the ceiling, half-lidded. Arthur thinks that he’s zoned out again, but then he speaks, quiet: “...Is it bad?”

Arthur stops. “What, your face?”

“Mm-hm.”

Arthur looks at the state Joui’s face is in and thinks for a long moment. Dante stopped things from getting worse, but it’s not like that ritual can reverse damage done: nose bent at a wrong angle, lips warped where they’ve torn, teeth missing on the left side of his jaw—not to mention his right eye is wrinkled shut in a way that can’t mean anything good for opening it again.

(It was bad. Horrific. Chilled him to the bone, God, the sight of him…)

But they’re half-scarred, now, thanks to Dante’s ritual. Beneath Arthur’s stained rag, he can more clearly see the X-shaped scar on Joui’s cheek, now clean of grime. Old wounds. Near-misses. Nearly, nearly, nearly…

Arthur pats his hand on Joui’s clean cheek. He doesn’t shake. “I think you're as pretty as ever, Joui.”

Joui huffs and squints his working eye at Arthur, but there’s just the slightest twitch in the corner of his mouth. Arthur smiles too. 

Eventually, though, Joui looks away. 

“It’s bad,” Joui whispers. “I know.”

Arthur feels his own smile die. 

(Again and again and again, head snapping back with the force of it every single time, blood flying with every impact.)

“A bit,” he croaks.

A beat.

“It—” Arthur breathes in. “It looks a little better. Now that there’s less blood on you.”

(There had been so much blood. So much fucking blood. His face, his neck, his shoulders, the dirt beneath him. Drenched in it.)

“...Arthur?”

His hand is resting on Joui’s cheek.

(Dropped. Crumpled on the floor. A heap of red in the shape of his friend.)

His hand is resting on Joui’s cheek. 

“Yeah?” he says.

Joui doesn’t answer. He closes his eye.

3:57 in the morning. It’s quiet in the infirmary. Arthur takes the rag and drapes it over the lip of the water dish. Then, he places his hand over Joui’s hands where they’re folded limply over his stomach. He runs his thumb over Joui’s knuckles, all the burns and nicks and scars.

“What is it, Joui,” Arthur murmurs, so low that it doesn’t come out as  a question, not quite. “What are you thinking.”

Joui draws in a deep breath. It whistles past his lips. “When Kian was…hitting me,” Joui starts, a murmur. “It was… I saw something.”

Oh, God. Arthur plants his feet on the floor. He leans in to hear Joui better. “What did you see?”

“My family. We were at the airport again, in Japan. The day I left for Brazil.” Another deep breath. It shudders. “My sister… She looked back when they were leaving me at the terminal.”

“Your…” Arthur draws a blank. “I didn’t know you had a sister.” 

“We’re not—close. But. That day...she looked back when my parents didn’t and I-I…”

Joui’s eye opens, and tears spill over. Rivulets through the dried blood on the side of his head that disappear into his hair. His voice is thick. He looks right at Arthur, his gaze inescapable.

“I-I realized…someone loved me. That my family loved me. I wasn’t alone. And—And it was because Liz was there.”

Arthur swallows. His heart is pounding. “Joui.”

“And Kaiser. And Thiago.”

Arthur feels everything inside of him trembling. “Joui.”

“I knew we won, I knew Kian was desperate, I knew we would stop him, but—they were standing next to me, Arthur. They were smiling at me. I didn’t know what to think, I-I thought I was—”

Arthur doubles over with a ragged gasp. 

“I know,” he chokes. “I know, I know, I know, please, you—you don’t have to say it.”

(What else was Arthur supposed to think, seeing Joui like that? What other conclusion could he have drawn? For seven terrible, blood-blurred minutes, the world had ended all over again.)

Arthur’s forehead comes to rest on the edge of the mattress, and his hand clutches both of Joui’s tighter than it should. There is no stopping the tears, no way in hell, so instead he just focuses on swallowing back what he can and weathering the wave of feargriefpain rolling through him—breathe, in and out, it’ll pass, it always passes; that doesn’t make it hurt any less, but it always passes. 

What makes him finally come back to himself, though, is the sound of Joui sniffling, and the feeling of one of Joui’s hands slipping out of his and coming to rest on top of his head, shaky fingers in messy hair. 

Arthur pulls himself together with a gulp of air. He sits up, takes Joui’s hand from his head and presses Joui’s knuckles to his forehead. He closes his eyes. “God, I’m so sorry,” he whispers hoarsely. “I shouldn’t have cut you off—you’re the one who nearly died, I should—”

“Shut up,” Joui whispers back. It’s sharp but not cruel, not in the slightest. His voice trembles, thick with tears. “I missed you too. I was scared too.”

“I really thought you had died, Joui.”

“I did too.”

Arthur chokes back a sudden sob. “Fuck.” He brings Joui’s hand down a little lower, closer to his nose and lips, and looks up at his friend. Joui’s eye gleams with tears in the dim light. His face, beaten and still half-bloodied, is drawn with deep lines of pain and exhaustion. 

Joui’s hand, held in Arthur’s, smells of salt, and dust, and warm, fresh water.

Arthur closes his eyes. Here. Still here. Despite everything, still here. Not gone yet. Still here. It is the kindest thing they have been granted in a very, very long time. 

“I thought—” Joui starts. He pauses to sniff. Arthur looks at him and sees the way his chest shudders with every breath. “I thought that was it. You know? I-I thought I was—done for. Done. So…” Something like a laugh bubbles out of him, weak and sad. “I think…I don’t know what to do now.”

“You rest,” says Arthur.

Joui swallows. “I’m tired, Arthur.”

“You rest,” says Arthur. “You get better. Okay? And the moment you’re well enough, we’ll go back to Brazil, and you can stay with Ivete and I. Kai—” He takes a fortifying breath. “Kaiser’s room is still open. We left it in case…well. I know he would want you there. And we want you there too.”

Arthur squeezes his hand again. Not the desperate, bruising grip from before; just a quiet reminder.

“We’re okay. We stopped Kian. I think we’re almost there, Joui, and—you’ve done a lot for us. Just get some rest. Get better, feel better. That’s what you do now. Leave the rest of it to me, okay?”

The moment stretches. Arthur closes his eyes again. Nothing reaches him save for the sound of his and Joui’s ragged breaths. 

Then, a pressure around his hand. Arthur opens his eyes to find Joui looking back at him, a try at a smile on his lips.

“Okay,” Joui whispers, his voice impossibly small. “I…I’d like that. To stay with you.”

Strangely, Arthur feels like crying again. But it’s not anguish that is creeping up his throat. No, not this time. “The room is yours. We’ll get you home, don’t worry.”

“Thank you,” Joui says. “For…everything.”

“Bah,” Arthur replies with a smile. He doesn’t quite stop the stray tears that spill over. “Look who’s talking, huh? No—of course, Joui. Always.”

Arthur squeezes Joui’s hand again, because he can, and Joui squeezes back. 

A beat, and Arthur releases him. He scrubs his hand over his eyes, collecting himself. He stifles a yawn. “Alright. Let’s get your face clean, yeah?” He reaches for the rag on the bowl.

“You deserve rest too, you know,” Joui says. “ You’re hurt. It’s been a long day.”

Arthur’s hand pauses on the rag. (And an even longer year.) He flips the rag into the water and starts swishing it around with his fingers. “In a bit. Once things are settled here and you’re in the hands of a doctor, I’ll get some sleep.”

“You promise?”

“I promise. I’ll even have one of the others vouch for me afterwards, if you want me to.”

Joui hums. “Have Ivete do it. Or Dante. They wouldn’t lie to me for you.” 

“And the others would?”

“I don’t know. But they wouldn’t.”

Arthur chuckles softly. “No, they wouldn’t.” Arthur lifts the rag out of the water and squeezes, listens to the droplets run back down into the bowl. “Soon, Joui. Just a little longer.”

4:02 in the morning. Joui closes his eye with a long, steady sigh. The heart rate monitor continues its silent rhythm, the noise of the Order continues its muffled beat against the walls, and Arthur lifts the rag to Joui’s forehead, wicking away the last of the blood there. 

Not gone. Not yet. And that’s all Arthur will ever ask for. 

[plasmasimagination]

Um, hi! I hope you're doing well! I saw your match up event and I'd like to request a Genshin and HSR match up (if you still can ofc, I don't wanna force it owo). I don't really wanna be paired with any of the female characters (as much as I love em, I perceive them more as best friends or sisters than possible lovers, if that makes sense—).

1. My pronouns are she/her. My MBTI is ENFP.

2. I hope you don't mind if I give you more than my big 3 in Astrology, since the planets up until Saturn (especially Venus, since it's in conjunction with my Sun, and Saturn, since it's in conjunction with my Rising) are pretty prominent for me. My Sun is in Aries ♈️, my Moon is in Leo ♌️, and my Rising is in Cancer ♋️. My Mercury is in Aries ♈️ as well (natal retrograde), my Venus is in Pisces ♓️, my Mars is in Aquarius ♒️, my Jupiter is in Libra ♎️ (natal retrograde), and my Saturn is in Cancer ♋️ and a few degrees away from my Rising.

3. As for my appearance, I have a height of 147cm (idk what it is in inches and feet, but it's pretty short, I know, it runs in our family), and I'm on chubby side when it comes to my body, but I sure as hell don't have an hourglass body shape. I have wavy-ish black hair (currently experiencing some form of hair loss tho) that reaches just above my chest. I also wear glasses and my fingernails are often short because I bite them.

4. A lot of who I am is influenced by the fact that I have ADHD (mostly hyperactive/impulsive presentation), so I tend to be restless and hyperactive, energetic and talk excessively, sensitive and emotional (emotional dysregulation go brr haha). I have pretty strong opinions about a lot of things (mostly politics and social issues), but I'd be open to discussion that could possibly change my mind unless I consider the view to be morally or wholly wrong with regards to other people.

I consider myself to be intuitive and able to sense even the slightest change of emotion or energies within someone or in a room, wanting to be the one to support, comfort, and advise someone when they need it. Idk, I like feeling needed and wanted by others. I'm pretty expressive with my emotions and can become easily vulnerable and share/be open about them to others. I do know that I often don't like being told what to do or how to feel, in addition to becoming defensive, closed-off, and silent after being given certain criticism/comments.

5. As for what my friends think about me, they probably find me a bit too overwhelming, especially when I become too restless and overthink and about tasks, but I'm also kind of the mom friend in my friend groups, trying to be a lil level-headed and making sure everyone doesn't get into too much trouble. I'm also pretty affectionate with them, saying how much I appreciate and love them often, confiding to them about how I feel and vice versa. I enjoy showing and giving love to the people I care about, and sometimes I get scared that I'm too annoying or that I'm overwhelming.

6. Other info about me is that I love playing games, designing, and learning in general. My love languages are words of affirmation and quality time. Because of my diagnosis and my experiences in life, I'd like someone who'll make me feel at ease, someone who won't judge or limit me, but instead support and be patient with me, especially when I (inevitably) fuck up. I like being reassured and having healthy communication okay—

I hope this isn't too much— Thank you so so much in advance, and please take care, wherever you currently are! Sending lots of energy and appreciation your way! 🥹🫶

Heyy sweetheart

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ALBEDO

Albedo is calm and analytical, he's a non judgemental being and always open to learn more about his sweetheart

Similar to you, he enjoys learning and designing, he's very open to any new knowledge, so there could be mutual conversations about different topicd

Albedos calm nature can provide you with reassurance, his patient and quiet attitude can provide you with a comfortable feeling without feeling overwhelming

He's willing to support and encourage your interests.

When combining this with his love for words of affirmations, it creates a comfortable environment all around.

As an alchemist, he appreciates you sharing your thoughts and feelings, opening an environment of healthy communication.

JING YUAN

Jing yuan, the perfect man

He's incredibly good at communication and reading people

He's the type of person that you could tell everything that bothers you without feeling like he's gonna judge you or disregard your feelings

He's a general, meaning he's dealt with a lot of new people at the job, he's got more than enough patience and rarely gets frustrated or mad

His love languages are mostly words of affirmations and physical touch

His sweet words and soothing voice could make anyone fall to their knees

Jing yuan is someone you can love for an eternity and he'll never get enough of it, his heart is always open and he'll definitely rainprocrate your love and offer you the same if not more back

[fwckriley]

I wanna talk about something that I've been seeing a lot in this fandom and it's been bothering me. It's about Ghost's backstory (based on the comics). I just wanna make it clear that I ain't judging, criticizing, or belittling anyone.

TW: Mentions of sexual assault, nothing explicit.

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I get that one of the main aspects of the character is the traumas Simon went through, and I totally get - especially as a woman - how that can change someone. But me, who's been through some episodes of sexual assault, I can't help but feel uncomfortable when I see some people portraying Simon as completely shattered-broken man, at least in regards to this aspect. Sexual assault victims don't stay forever hostage to those traumas, some do, but most of us learn to move on. The pain is still there, the memory is still there, but we've learned there's a future ahead and we deal with it. So I just get really bummed out and bothered when I see portrayals of Simon as someone who can't be touched, incapable of having any relationships, unable to feel pleasure. Again, I get that the character is shaped by traumas and a bunch of other stuff that plays into the issue, but when it comes to sexuality, most people tend to be pretty unfair about it. It sucks to be reduced to one bad thing, it sucks that people think you'll never be able to have any normal relationship just because of something that happened to you.

Just to clarify: it's not because I think he is capable of having a relationship, seeking sex, etc., that I believe it to be something easy and common for him. I do think he may face difficulties. But then I believe it's up to each individual's interpretation as we don't have much information regarding this aspect of his sexuality. Only a few pieces that give rise to speculation.

So I'm just asking, for those who like to write and make Simon a bit darker and more realistic, please take that into consideration. Show more sensitivity. He's complicated, but the abuse he went through doesn't make him incapable of loving, wanting, and feeling. I love fanfics that portray the character in a more realistic way, so this isn't a criticism. Just a heads up (?).