#also happens in western media too lol! no one is safe

[dangerliesbeforeyou]

one of my favourite things is how shows choose to depict a young version of a character vs an older one

and one way that i frequently see in asian dramas is this and it makes me laugh every time lol

NO ONE over the age of 30 can have a fringe!!!!!!! exposed foreheads ONLY!

[4dmc]

I made this vent post quite a long time ago. I still stand by what I've posted, though there are grammar errors AND looking back, I feel that it looks hateful on the og but that couldn't be further from the truth.

Also someone said that they thought I interpreted the og Dante as lacking depth, so I'll clarify now.

I do like DMC. Its oddball blend of gothic supernatural Judeo-Christian themes with a ridiculously cheesy and too powerful for his own good protagonist are always fun and intriguing to try around.

The og Dante, despite all the B-movie Japonized Western Noir shenanigans he has running for, is a man of many interpretations.

I do think Dante has MORE he has going for. Manga after manga of him in it, Dante is shown to have baggage. Kamiya Hideki saying he's "afraid when doing his thing" is nice to know but... I feel like we SHOULD know that by now, right?

To me I think it's not just fear but exhaustion. Perhaps it must be exhaustion. He's killed thousands of demons by now, including his own brother (And Vergil has PLENTY of baggage as well..). And nothing's changed much in his world. That aspect would be nice to explore even further right ..

But it's been 2 decades already, and I feel like despite loads of supplementary media (some are in this vague state of semi-canon? Retroactivity?) about Dante and the characters, there's this distance or gap in between the tone/focus on their stories when we're experiencing them in the games.

Like it's okay to have supplementary media to support the games' on-going narrative..😬.. but I feel like it became the other way around, if that's even what happened.

I also have to say this..as much as I deeply appreciate the DMC fandom's efforts on providing more interpretation on the gaps of the franchise's lore (especially before 5 came out), I can't help feel that Capcom has to really rely on the efforts of the fans when it came to polishing out what were even the events that game didn't provide.

Sure, it's interpretation and lore-diving that has so many of us clamoring like bees to pollen, and it's probably a very lucrative move on their end.

But on criticizing it on how legible it's narrative is structured and the on-going story has gone so far, all I'll say is that I've managed to understand the fandom's collective interpretation and it's trajectories, MORE SO than what Capcom has provided. It's so colorful, and there's at least an understanding of Dante's characterization AND pushes the envelope even further with him when it comes to fanfics, compared to the Too-Safe-Everything-Is-Cool-Again-Nothing-To-Worry-Look-He's-Doing-Wacky-Wahoo-Pizza-Moments-Again!-Isn't-That-What-You-Wanted moments he's always expected to go through..

And now that DMC has Pinnacle Of Combat and an upcoming Netflix Anime (and I'm calling it now, even if it's not from Adi Shankar or the one being teased in the Tudum Drop Trailer, it's still the one that's gonna be made because Capcom has already seen how lucrative enough DMC seems to be for their higher-ups & shareholders and such..), what are they adding and subtracting in the lore now, or is the anime gonna be like Arcane LOL type of adaptation, etc. IDK...

In closing this new mess, I just wanna say that DMC fans deserve a much bolder move on the og as a character.

I remember (quite vaguely, if anybody has any research on this article/artbook, lemme know because I'd read that, I crave for info) how their lead writer Bingo Morihashi has wanted to do something about DMC's story for quite a while now, but Hideaki Itsuno himself advised against such a move because it wouldn't fit the style and expectation about DMC.

If this is true, I'm like ??????? 😨

Bingo Morihashi is a novelist by career. I'm not wondering why so many of the supplementary novels are written AND taken well by the fans because I believe what he has written was always crucial to DMC. However why such skills aren't put in the same vein for the games? The games are the highlight of the franchise! It would be even more lucrative if they had let Bingo Morihashi do his thing (I really want to find this article/written interview..)

Video games today benefit a lot from narrative. It always did but with the tech today, video game screen writing is even more significant today!

I don't blame Itsuno (again if that was true....) because I actually understand because he knows the DMC fans😓 and yes I'm sure his experience with DmC has lent to some decisions from his part.

But imagine the better possibilities with the og Dante. I really think it's been long overdue to push some new boundaries with DMC.

[negrowhat]

this is really random, but i just watched "IT 2" (idk if you have seen it) and it had this big homophoic scene at the beginning, where one guy litteraly died (i think the scene even was passed on a real life event long time ago) so i just love watching youre blog, since its so lgbt positive (and im not even queer myself) and bls, since they mostly show us happy stories without much hompohobia lol

Hi Anon! I haven't seen any of the IT movies...I don't generally watch horror but damn that is terrible! I am happy that you enjoy my blog! I'm glad that it comes across as queer positive and not a fangirl page lol! As a person who is questioning her sexuality, I want everyone to feel welcome here.

I love watching BLs that end happily because Western media has a thing about killing off one half of a queer ship in the end or just making the queer ship the side pairing even though it's clear more people are invested in them than the mains.

But there are tons of BLs that end sadly or have a bittersweet outcome and A LOT of them feature homophobia...sometimes the main characters exhibit homophobic tendencies until they "fall in love with a man or woman."

Luckily the genre has evolved to including more real life queer content into the series like the battle of same-sex marriage, basic human rights being respected, being able to make medical decisions on the behalf of a partner (or even being able to see them after an accident), safe spaces being shown for queer people, and also just labeling themselves as part of the lgbtqia in general.

The homophobic parent trope seems to be evolving too, typically in BLs we've been seeing the homophobic parent have a change of heart suddenly which is good and well in theory but doesn't happen that often or at least not as quickly as what is portrayed so now we're getting more realistic outcomes for that but also we're seeing tons of series where the parents have a progressive way of thinking from the beginning and want nothing but happiness for their children.

But anyways this has gotten long lol. I'm gonna stop here.

[fishylife]

Spoilers for Hyena Ep 6

- Ok I admit the end of this episode was preeetty hype, with the witness Kim Yeong-jun feeling secure and confident now that Son Jin-su has been arrested, and both Geum-ja and Hee-jae feeling out of their depth.

- The politics going on between Geum-ja and Hee-jae was pretty interesting. Boo Hyeon-a and Ga Gi-hyeok already had preconceived perceptions of who Geum-ja was, so she had that working against her. But she successfully wooed Kim Chung-uk over to her side. How so? I think the thing about Chung-uk is that even though he’s a partner, he’s not exactly ambitious in the traditional sense. We see that he’s introverted and kind of lives in his own world, which is why it’s easier for Geum-ja to win him over. Geum-ja is currently pretty unpopular around the office so for those who are career driven like Hyeon-a, it’s automatically not good to be associated with her, and Gi-hyeok was already best bros with Hee-jae already.

- This team of Geum-ja, Ji-eun, Chung-uk and the first year associate Na I-jun is kind of cute though?! Ji-eun is super used to all of Geum-ja’s ways of doing things, so there’s nothing new there. Chung-uk is the brains and the information gatherer and I-jun is just...the moral support XD It’s cute!

- As much as Geum-ja and Hee-jae hate each other, they do take their jobs seriously, and thus they put up a united front when conversing with their client Son Jin-su. I half expected the writers to make Geum-ja and Hee-jae argue in front of the client which would be so unprofessional, and so I’m super glad that they went with the path of common sense lol.

- I though it wouldn’t be as fun to watch Geum-ja and Hee-jae work together, but I am actually enjoying it. Hee-jae does the above the ground stuff and Geum-ja does the underground stuff. They both have very different approaches, and that way, they get all the bases covered. And what’s better is that Geum-ja is the one who takes the underground aggressive approach. When we have a duo consisting of a male and female character, I think normally people expect the woman to be like, refined and precise and totally courteous and the man to be the brute, but that’s subverted (somewhat) in this show. Hee-jae makes use of his reputation and his connections, though because he’s strictly dealing things in the “proper” way, he doesn’t necessarily always get the answers. As for Geum-ja, since she’s already bending the rules, she typically goes all out and bends them as much as she can to gather the evidence she needs.

- Who is Geum-ja’s informant? The last time we met him, it seemed like he and Geum-ja were at least on friendly terms, and the same happened this episode. Are they related? Past lovers? I wonder if he becomes an actual character later on.

- We got some internal politics from the supporting characters too. So apparently Kim Min-joo is Song Pil-jung’s sister-in-law, so I’m guessing the reason that they’re not at each other’s throats is because of family reasons.

- I can’t tell what’s going on with Yu-mi’s story line. I know she was supposed to be comedic relief, but she’s also the one with the testimonial evidence that Geum-ja had faked her identity to get evidence for the Ha Chan-ho case. Is that going to come back, or is the secret going to be safe? But the thing is, it was already established before that Geum-ja isn’t as scared as we may think she is for being disbarred. So I’m just wondering how big these stakes are supposed to be.

- Hee-jae was kind of exasperated with Geum-ja when he said that she was only into law for the money and I’m like ??? is anybody into their job not for the money??? I mean a lot of people are, but a lot of people aren’t. There’s an ongoing theme of class difference between Hee-jae and Geum-ja. Hee-jae comes from a wealthy background. He could pursue whatever he wanted and his family wealth would’ve been able to support him. Geum-ja has been on her own for a long time. And unfortunately in this world we live in, we need money to live. Again, she’s just ensuring her own survival. But with Hee-jae he sees everything about Geum-ja as less noble.

- Geum-ja had that violin music on her phone. Is it supposed to imply that she liked Hee-jae at least a little bit? The execution of that felt a little clumsy. I’ve never felt that Geum-ja felt anything other than like, a friendship born out of rivalry for Hee-jae. I’m not ready to accept that Geum-ja had real true love for Hee-jae.

- A note about violin music and the interiors of Song & Kim. Kdramas and even Korean movies seem to interpret Western culture in a similar way artistically speaking. The style of classical music isn’t necessarily classical music imo, it’s dramatic instrumental music, but a little bit modern so that it can seem cool and accessible to the modern viewer. This drama keeps using the same opening line of violin music throughout the drama so it’s very easy to recognize, but it gets real old real fast. But this kind of instrumental violin music is something I recognize in a lot of other Korean media. As for the interior design at Song & Kim, some of the more extravagant offices are like...a bit too dressed up (e.g. Song Pil-jung’s office). Like, I know the intention is to make it look like his office has a lot of fancy stuff, but the version presented in the drama just looks like a pop version, with all the colours, like it was a young person’s impression of what a rich old person would want in their office. So what I’m trying to say is that when this show is trying to express something that is high class and from Western culture, it tends to go for a version that is a bit more pop-ish, like a diluted version of it, but it’s diluted with very modern and young elements. I don’t know if this point made sense at all. Maybe I’ll be able to explain it better when I’ve thought about it more.

[axemetaphor]

im definitely not ripping off my friend by making a list of au ideas i have no siree //gonna slap this under a readmore cause i. well i say a lot. all of the time. i tried so hard to format this Good but tumblr fucked me up i am so sorry

so first-off i know i already have one WIP AU (Auckland) on ao3 so i wont talk about That one cause like. spoilers. i actualyl have it like 80% created so its likely gonna truly get finished for once and i dont wanna ruin shit

the other one ive posted about is something me and ben (catgirlrepublic) have worked on together its not at all close to done or anything but it's. a fun little crossover. Between jdate and my fuckinuhm. Original characters story “Untitled Villains Project”. the sketches of the comic version ive started is actually my pinned post 👉👈 its like the first chunk of the story, i think half of part 1? yea.

Tldr john fucking Somehow is able t oget into contact with a certain curious scientist from another reality who’d just love to study the Soy Sauce, most certainly not for her own nefarious purposes

John and Dave meet up with the scientist, her name is Boss, and her lab assistant, Toxic, and after a bit of a preliminary Vibe Check where john determines her trustworthy (which Dave doesnt agree with,) the two agree to be taken to the world UVP is set in. from there they stay in Boss’s lab (big old fucking abandoned military lab). John and Toxic are fast friends due to mutual love-of-chaos. John n Dave get to fuckin, camp out on an air mattress.

The day after they arrive, the two get split up, not exactly intentionally; big plot points of UVP are liek. Fueled by Boss sending Toxic to go fetch her “research materials,” which are usually important artifacts

Fuckin side note i guess i have to explain my dumb bullshit: Boss’s, uh, field of expertise so to speak is actually fckin, basically the scientific study of magic and superpowers n shit like that. This shit’s all real in that world. Toxic’s got fuckin superpowers, so do 4 other main characters, whatever. It’s got a bit to do with spirituality, iss Boss’s hypothesis. So she has Toxic fetch important artifacts that might have “energies” to them. The thing is actually way more fuckin complictated than that, this is just Boss’s initial hypothesis.

Motherfucking anyways. So Boss gives Toxic a job to do, and John get excited about how Cool that sounds, and ends up going with Toxic, leaving Boss and Dave alone. Neither is thrilled about this. But Dave and Boss get to have a bit of conversation (while Toxic and John are off bonding and having a good time) and come to a… mutual grudging understanding of some kind. They still dont like each other though lmao

Theres gonna be deeper shit going on but we havent sorted it out yet/tbh havent like Written For It in a while but i still like thinking about it a lot lol

Also pretty sure our endgame is john and dave steal toxic and bring them back with em lmao boss is kind of not nice and toxic would most certainly be better off in Undisclosed. Actually theyd fucking love it. Theyd become a local cryptid im sure. Undisclosed’s mothman is a teleporting spike baby.

I have. Another crossover AU that i might. Post something about for halloween? Maybe? If i have it finished?

Crosses over into, you guessed it, another one of my original-character projects. God, am i vain or something?

I promise this is just because i think blue and dave should get to team up to beat up some monsters

Quick briefing on my fuckinuh. Original character story, this one doesnt have a name (yet? Idk lol my work never actually goes anywhere sso who gives a shit). It centers around two grim reapers, Red (26, bi woman) and Blue (22, aroace agender asshole). In this reality or whatever, grim reapers function kind of like low-level office workers. They get told who’s going to die + when by some middle-management types, and upper management only involve themselves when punishment needs to be doled out. These Higher-Ups can be seen as analogous to Korrok; they’re decidedly not human, never were, and fucking terrifyingly powerful. Additionally, grim reapers are sort of .. designed to be “background noise” people. In reality theyre supernatural beings and, uh, look Real Fuckin Weird (the whole deal has a neon aesthetic im terrible at drawing uwu) but most humans just perceive them like extras in a movie. A body’s there but the camera’s not focused on it.

To the narrative: the shit starts when Red n Blue get relocated to Undisclosed. Relocation is something that just happens every now and then to reapers; they usually work in teams, but they get split up into different cities to avoid any strong bonds forming (a counter-union strategy from the Higher-Ups).

Red, Blue, John and Dave end up running into each other for the first time in a McDonalds where John n Dave are getting some 4am “hey, we just survived another horrific monster fight” celebration burgers. John and Dave are the only two people who can see how… strange Red and Blue are. Nobody else notices.

John unintentionally pisses Blue off, leading to Blue whacking him upside the head with a dildo bat. They all four get kicked out of McDonald’s. Dave and Red both are less than thrilled

Blue and John end up resolving their differences, somehow. Red and Dave briefly bond over their dumbass best friends being, well, dumbasses. They all part ways amicably.

somehow-or-other (idk yet) they end up running into each other a few more times, and eventually john invites them over to his place, and the four (plus Amy now!) get to know each other a little better

while there, Blue gets a text about some guy who's gonna die and John offers to drive them to where that's gonna go down. they take him up on the offer and get to have a bit of one-on-one conversation

after that ordeal though Blue has had Enough of people and bails, leaving John to head home alone

theres a sort of mirror-development going on with the five of em. Red, John, and Amy would all like everyone to get along, though theyre a bit tentative about it (John moreso than the other two, actually, jsut cause. well Red n Blue could still be Sauce Monsters). Dave and Blue on the other hand do Not like people enough for this shit, and Dave's not unconvinced theyre Sauce Monsters. he will not trust them until proven he should

the story's kinda nebulous but i got an idea for some Shit going down that involves both Sauce Monsters and also the Higher-Ups to have some fuckin absolute chaos go down.

Oops! All Trans

Everybody is transgender. Everyone

Ive actually workshopped this one both with ben (catgirlrepublic) and ghost (ghost-wannabe) lmao its a fun lil concept ive had from the get-go cause i mean. What’s an internet tran gonna do other than hit all their favourite media with the Everyone’s Trans beam

Dave transitioned post-high school and faked his death for it. People go missing in Undisclosed all the damned time, after all. He moved to the next city over, transitioned fully, then came back as a completely new man. Yes i know this doesnt exactly fit with the “everyone knows David from high school” thing alright, hush.

Anytime anyone brings up John’s old best friend (pre-transition Dave) John throws an entire fit like an overdramatic grieving widow. Full-on sobbing “why would you bring her up?! I miss her so much—” to the point that people just stop bringing up because Jesus Christ That Sure Is Uncomfortable KJHGFDS.

This is a scheme he and Dave came up with prior to Dave leaving, though Dave hadnt exactly anticipated John putting on this much of a performance about it— but it’s stopped Dave from ever having tto hear his deadname again, so hey.

Amy transitioned sometime in middle school/early high school. Her family was super supportive and loved her a ton and most people just know her as Amy. she was super shy her whole life really so. Yeah. people just dont think to bring it up lmao also i Feel Like big jim would absolutely wallop anyone who gave her trouble of any kind

John’s nonbinary (genderfluid specifically) and not exactly Interested in transitioning ? like hes fine with how he is. mostly.

he came out to Dave in high school but hes not out to anyone else exactly. Maybe his bandmates. Probably any other trans person in Undisclosed knows, too, cause theyre safe to tell lmao. Johns mostly a “he/him out of convenience” kinda nb who’s cool with any pronouns but does prefer they/them most. Dave and Amy use they/them when the trio are alone

Also this is a totally self-indulgent caveat that i think would be great, Dave’s actually agender but because he's transmasc and transitioned when he thought there were really only two options, and being Boy at least felt less weird than being Girl, he just kind of assumed he was a dude. It’s only through a lot of (like fucking years and years hes probably in his 30s/40s when he puts 2 and 2 together on this one) talks about gender with John that he realizes he actually feels like No Gender. Masc aesthetic with none gender.

I Just Think It’d Be Neat Is All Okay

Also Amy came out to Dave about being trans early on in them seeing each other and his response was to get very nervous before blurting out “me too” and then just being too embarrassed to talk about it for the rest of the day. Hes got a lot of hangups on talking about it actually it takes years for him to get comfortable in that

by contrast when Amy comes out to John about it his response is to yell “EYYY ME TOO” and give her a big ol hug lmao

I think itd be neatt if Amy ran a like. Transfem help/advice blog on tumblr. Kind of helped-with by John who can give her transfem nb insight for certain asks. I also just think that would be neat.

Cowboy AU - i put this one last cause its got drawings to it actually. Theyll be at the bottom

Basically just. Hey you ever watched a western. I think they look neat

This is another one me n ben have come up with lol

The soy sauce and all that shit still exist, im not sure where korrok fits in yet but ill figure it out

Theres no real like solid narrative yet ? but heres the barebones of everybody’s arcs.

John

Johns an absolute troublemaker, Of Course. Hes wanted in several towns for absolutely stupid shit. Hes a loner who shows up, causes chaos, gets drunk, does some drugs, runs away if people get too mad at him

He definitely had the same kind of deal with the soy sauce as in canon— he was at some kind of party, somebody offered it, he took it cause why the fuck wouldnt he, now he can see monsters and shit

Hes kind of a mooch also. Like. dont let him stay in your barn man he’ll never fucking leave and drink all your booze.

He runs into Dave when they happen to just, cross paths in the same town. the bullshit John stirs up ends up involving Dave in a way that makes it seem like it's his fault too, and they both get run out of town

after that he just tags along after Dave. hes decided this guy's Cool he wants to stick around. Dave is pissed at first, but not enough to shoot him or anything, and eventually, John grows on him

Dave

Dave also is a loner but unlike John hes simply so fucking awkward and bad with people. He doesnt feel like he belongs anywhere so he just travels

He’s the stereotypical Lone Ranger tbh. He wanders from town to town, solving their problems, though hed deny its out of any moral obligation (it kinda is, a little bit, tbh. He does like feeling useful). He shows up, fixes things, leaves. He's kind of a legend but most people think he's hiding something dark. other people jsut know him as that guy who farted real loud in the middle of the saloon and promptly skipped town out of sheer embarrassment. you know how it goes with Dave

He ends up involved with the Soy Sauce when a snake (not Actually a snake,) bites him. The snake’s more like the wig-monsters, really. Anyway, it injects him with the soy sauce, he fucking trips balls in the middle of the desert, he can see monsters now

He runs into John and shit goes tits-up, as said, but they become traveling buddies after that. he'd never say so, but he's glad for the company, actually. it's nice. hes not used to companionship but he feels a strange kind of easiness hanging out with John....

not sure how the Monster Dave concept will like fit in to this reality but like. trust me i want it in here. I'll Figure It Out.

Amy

Amy’s been living in a town John and Dave end up passing through and she is very curious about these two new Handsome Strangers who claim to fight monsters and just kinda. Persistently tags along til they let her join for real

Her family’s all dead, unfortunately, just like in canon, and she’s been living alone for a few years before meeting John n Dave. she had nothing left in that town to stay for, she'd been fantasizing about escaping on wild adventures for a long time and this felt a little like a dream come true. (Dave still gives her a spiel about how Difficult it is, but really, her fantasies were pretty grounded-in-reality already. i jsut think thats how she is, yknow?)

Shes the first person to react to the whole “we see monsters” shit with a kind of “oh, okay. neat” kind of response lmao

John and Dave fix whatever the fuck is up with her town (maybe that’s where the Korrok shit can fit, who knows) and Amy ends up being integral to that. After, she insists they take her with them because “they need her now” and Dave just cant really say no. John too is very much "the more the merrier!" and hes actually glad to have another person along he loves people lmao

At the start she has long hair but after she joins them she chops it short with a knife for convenience

also she still is an amputee. justt. idk. it was a wagon/stagecoach accident rather than a car accident lmao. just to clarify since i hadnt mentioned it, i wouldnt rob her of her ghost hand or yknow. all of the significance to her character that Missing A Hand has. although also now im going to have to research what was used as painkillers way-back-when, but im betting shes still got, like, her pain pills, they probably had those, maybe i wouldnt have to try too hard there. old timey medicine could be WACK though,

Shitload

Yeah hes in tthis shit mostly cause i liked designing his cowboy self lmao

Hes a kid (like 16, 17, technically i think in those days that was more Young Man than Kid but whatever. Hes Young i mean.) who got possessed by the Worms out in the desert and, by his family’s perception, just went missing!

Hes also a wanderer, but he ended up at the same town john and dave met in, at that same time, and starts following them after, already aware of who/what they are.

He keeps his face covered 24/7. actually he covers a Majority of his self for reasons. kinda want him to be a slightly more horrifying Worm Entity rather than human idk,

I kinda dont have much for this boy yet sorry Shitload

images !

with some editing notes for me cause im doing a very specific aesthetic with this lmao. i might change some lil details/colours though ...... idk

im also kinda 🤔 about shitload's colour palette. i want things assoicated w the sauce to be black'n'red predominantly but i think his palette might mirror dave's too closely. also im working on a korrok design i jsut am too busy to draw it now

[sysba]

I’ve always used your IF list to find more games to play and right now I’m torn between two, either The Soul Stone War and A Tale Of Crowns. Which one is better in your opinion and who do you romance in each one?

ohhh this makes me so happy, i’m glad my rec list is useful to someone 🥺💖 also, i’m honoured you chose me for advice!! tssw and atoc are both stories i love but they have a VERY different feeling to them, so it would depend on what you’re in the mood for.

the soul stone war is more your typical european/western-based high fantasy story. you get your magic, you get your dragons and fantasy species, you get your duels and weapons... think of game of thrones or dungeons & dragons. it’s definitely more uhh crude than atoc? and i think it’s safe to say there are many more possible triggers compared to atoc, so i strongly recommend checking out the content warnings before playing (especially for one particular backstory you can select for the mc). that said, it’s really well-written, especially the romance routes because they have a great pace and they’re all very different from each other! i was mostly interested in the polyamory routes, since i identify as polyam, but i was worried they might lean too much on the s*xual side of the relationship (it happens quite often when it comes to polyam media rep, especially when there’s a mlm couple included) but i didn’t find that in tssw so it was a nice surprise!! my favourite route is definitely the morkai x straasa x mc, while my second fave is the straasa solo route because,,, he 🥰🥰🥰 i just love straasa okay jkdhfjkdf anyways, i played almost all routes (i didn’t finish all of them but still) so i can give you more specific info if you need them!!

on the other hand, a tale of crowns is just marvellous. everything from the story to the way it’s written to the ROs and the setting,,,, it’s just so good (and it’s on itch.io which i personally like more than dashingdon for practical reasons). it’s still high fantasy but it draws inspiration from middle eastern historical/cultural settings, so like i said, very different from tssw. for now we’ve seen a lot of magic, not much action yet but that’s only because atoc is a demo and it’s still ongoing (tho the last 2 chapters 👁👁 we’re really getting to the exciting parts of the plot). i do like the atoc mc a whole lot, i would die for the crown jfkd and my favourite part is definitely the characters: while in tssw i clearly have faves and characters i dislike, i literally love everyone in atoc so much. i only played A and X’s routes for now, tho I’ll definitely play R’s as well. Azad is my absolute fave romantically speaking (for me it goes A>X>R>D as love interests), but ever since the last chapter you get to start building deep friendships with everyone and i am STOKED because YES gimme all the friendship 😍😍😍😍 i would say, between the two stories atoc is more up my alley but it’s really just a question of taste rather than quality. it’s just a much ‘gentler’ story, and this isn’t to say there’s no angst (LOL there’s a lot of angst and hurt/comfort) but it feels less violent and idk lately i’m having troubles with that.

[crazycookiemaniac]

Omg why are you losing so many followers youve been drawing gay shit for forever??? (Or maybe i as a gay was just interpreting it that way)

Because I literally spammed people every day for one week lmao. And also, a lot of people follow others for specific content. The moment I stop drawing that exact thing they followed me for, they unfollow me. There are also accounts that follow just to make you follow them & if you don’t, they unfollow you after a while. There’s people who followed me for haikyuu & weren’t interested in BC content, and there were people who followed me for BC content but got showered in gay art instead and that was not their cuppa tea. 

But mostly, i start appearing on people’s feed the more I post. So having me post incessantly for one week made me show up on feeds that I hadn’t shown up for  a good while, so there were probably people who forgot they had followed me in the first place & me posting was a reminder to unfollow.

Truthfully, follower counts are dumb. Yes, it is important for you to have a high follower count for you to get attention, but the amount of people actually following you if you don’t have a consistent art style & rarely ever post something with different vibes than your usual ones, is equal or less than 1% of your total amount of following.

My instagram tells me I have 43k. I do not have 43k people following me. I’ve had 43k that once saw my account & pressed the follow button, but their feeds are filled up with other people’s accs that interest them more than mine (as well as my own feed does not show all the content of the 200+ something people I follow, unless I scroll down till the depths of hell to find every single post on that day and then do so on the next day as well).

Essentially, 95% of your followers are there because of content. They want to see what entertains them. Most of them don’t care about the artist and don’t interact with them at all. Many of them are scared to, given the high follower count. Social media & big accounts make people forget that there are other, real, living & breathing people that are behind them all.

So, to many, I was just a random artist they found and “lol”ed at one of my comics & pressed follow without thinking about it. Most of them don’t go to my account and see all other art I’ve posted to see if they actually like what I do, or me as a person and as an artist at all.

People who don’t know this get really discouraged when they don’t earn a lot of followers, or when they lose a lot (like I did). And some people think you gotta have hundreds of thousands to be famous. I’ve seen accs going around that paid for ads, that had over 150k followers and less than 1k likes on their posts.

Truly famous, loved, growing and/or steady accounts have an amount of likes per post proportional to their follower count. For example, if someone has 150k followers, most of their posts will vary from 20k to 100k likes.

When I was growing my account because I hopped in the fandom bandwagon and stupid little me didn’t know that would only make me crash later, I had like 20~30k and some of my posts reached more than 20k likes (because people liked my stupid comics). Nowadays, I’m not part of the fandom that made me grow anymore. I’m part of a very underrated one (Black Clover), as well a I am drawing a very underrated ship (LuGna) that above all else is getting hated on. I have everything against me in this, so it’s no wonder I lost so many followers.

They didn’t wanna see gay art. They didn’t wanna see Black Clover. They didn’t even know what the fuck was going on. Not everyone paid attention or kept up with my warnings. Despite me explaining multiple times in multiple posts what the Thunder Flames project was about, a lot of people still didn’t know what I was doing that for.

The thing about being a big follower count is that, unless you’re actually loved for what you do (and to do that, once again, I need to emphasize that you need to keep a steady rhythm, a steady vibe, a steady you. Because people follow you for your first impression on them, and you gotta keep up to that first impression if you wanna keep your followers.

I’m unsteady. One look at my gallery and you’ll see how disorganized everything is. Oh, lookit, a 1 min speedpaint of a random drawing I did on an old piece of paper! And right on the left there’s a stupid random comic I did–on the right there’s this super detailed, shaded drawing I’ve done that actually looks terrible to me and I will 100% archive it later, and then there’s B&W mixed with gray shaded, flat colored and fully shaded characters of different fandoms + OCs from commissions and whatever else. 

The thing is, I made my follower count based on a fandom, and now that I’m not there most of that follower count does not have me on their feed. And most of them do not want me on their feed. Now, I’m trying to build a follower count for who I am as an artist, because the few people who have actually stayed and followed me throughout the years know how inconsistent I am in terms of art style, fandoms and everything else.

A solution to this would me either keep creating/posting the same thing all over again (just in different patterns), or creating original content (which I do plan on doing at some point). But for now? Since my follower count does absolutely not reflect on how many people actually like me and/or my art, I’m going to be as chaotic as fucking ever and do whatever the fuck I want.

So yes, I do find it comical that I lost 1k followers over this and am not fazed in the very least, especially because I literally foreshadowed losing 1k and hit the fucking jackpot.

The only reason I’m talking about this at all is because 1- it’s impossible not to notice my follower count decreasing, especially because every new 1k I thank people publicly through stories; 2- some people were actually worried I was upset over it and I have to 3- show that I am not, while simultaneously trying to show people that just because you’re losing followers doesn’t mean you have to stop doing what you want to create content to please people. It doesn’t mean you should be upset, and it doesn’t mean that what you’re doing is bad or wrong.

It means you’re fucking renewing your followers & you’ll now grow for what you’re trying to grow for, bitch. That’s what it’s all about.

Obviously, people do take a great risk doing this. I am taking a great risk doing this. I could’ve lost 5k, I could’ve lost 10k. But I only lost 1k! And that’s because I believe in the project I worked on; I knew there were people out there who enjoyed what I was doing and it’s on them that I was focused on. On the people who supported me AND my art, not just that one single funny comic post I did 3 years ago.

This answer is 100% a lot longer than what you could’ve possibly expected for and I am typing this while being awake for more than 24h so I’m sure that I’ve repeated myself a lot and that there are a lotta typos or w/e and I apologize for that!! But I’m too lazy to go back to read everything over & turn this into a neat post & I’m pretty sure I could answer your question in the first paragraph.

Oh and also. Yes. Yes I have been drawing gay shit ever since I’ve become an artist because I’m so fucking pissed at the lack of canon gay content in a way that it’s depicted as a normal fucking romantic couple instead of having eeeeeeeeveryone point their finger to the gay couple and scream “HEY THAT’S GAY!!! THIS CAN’T BE PART OF THIS VERY HETEROSEXUAL SHOW WHERE EVERYONE IS OBVIOUSLY HETEROSEXUAL EVEN THOUGH NONE OF THE CHARACTERS HAVE EVER SAID THAT EXPLICITLY BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT THE CREATORS ARE EITHER HETEROSEXUAL OR TOO AFRAID TO LOSE AUDIENCE IF THEY TREAT GAY PEOPLE AS NORMAL PEOPLE!??!! WHAT SORT OF ABSURD NONSENSE IS THAT??!! GAY PEOPLE AREN’T NORMAL!! THEY’RE GAY AND THEY SHOULD HAVE A GAY SHOW JUST FOR THEM IF THEY WANNA GET SCREENTIME” and yadda yadda yadda.

I’m tired of this bullshit. Ever since I was an artist I’ve been rooting for gay ships in shonen manga while knowing they would never happen just because they were gay, and now that we are in our Blessed-By-Satan, Pandemic-Chaotic, What-The-Fuck-Is-Going-On, We-Don’t-Know-If-We-Wanna-Go-Back-Or-To-The-Future-Or-Just-IDK-Fucking-Die year 2020, in which the LGBT community is thriving and being louder than ever to fight for our rights, Me, in my twenty four years of fucking age, having gone through several fucking disappointments ONLY regarding this matter, am sitting here on my ass, hopeful as all galactic, glittery shit that for some fucking reason, my new OTP formed by very underrated characters from this very underrated franchise in the southern and western communities, becomes canon because my stupid eyes can see chemistry between them even though those stupid haters’ can’t. But that’s because they’re stupid and homophobic, and they really should just shut the fuck up. I don’t wanna dream, I want to believe. Let a bitch pray in peace.

But even if I’m getting ready for disappointment, I’m gonna make this project happen and I’m gonna have a shit ton of artbooks from this Thunder Flames project inside my fucking garage if no one wants to buy them. But I am going to invest a shit ton of money in it and I am going to have these artbooks come to life. Because I am spiteful and petty and homophobes should shut the fuck up, and I wanna do what I wanna do bc as an independent artist, I’m building my future with my own two, very toned and buff by now from all the drawing I did, hands. 

God fucking damn it.

Jesus christ I’m just rambling at this point, I’m so sorry. If anyone ever reads this out of context people are going to be so confused.

But that’s fine. They won’t. You know why? Cuz I got almost 11k followers here on tumblr but less than 0.5% gives a shit that I’m here, so I’m safe.

Have a nice day, drink your water and fuck homophobes. Peace

[xxsealitwithakissxx]

“We’re more ghosts than people.”

After around 5 months (I know that’s basically ages these days, but I wanted to take my time... then quarantine happened) and a lot of patience, boah that’s an understatement, I can say it was worth it.

I figured it was fitting to end on the character we started with.

                                         “Vengeance is an idiot's game.”

I know most post stuff like this on reddit, but honestly I rarely feel comfortable posting there. I’m not exactly a prolific ‘cowgirl’, what long history I’ve accumulated over the course of many months can possibly be said that hasn’t already resulting in hundreds of upvotes? I mean, I’m happy for those people, it simply makes me all the more nervous. Also, ignore the Compendium. Just.... jesus, I can not. 360 is close enough, imo. Anyway, knowing it’s over feels equally like having a weight lifted and leaving a close friend behind knowing you might not see them again. I was literally a day from getting this on my birthday, lol.

Does that sound exaggerated? Probably. Yes, the game managed to hit me in the feels more than once on certain occasions. Ngl, I imagine my day one horse Sauron was probably in horse-y heaven looking down like ‘fuck all you had to do was leave me in the stables but naw fam, you had to be a hero’. That scene had me pissed more than anything. The fact that we left him there, without a grave or anything just... pffft. That actually made me turn off the game for a bit. That and the Lenny plus Hosea bit. And the Molly bit. And Susan bit. And I may have gone back and burned a rat. But you know what? Let’s move on.

It didn’t help that my dear mother had taken to alternating between watching and helping me make decisions throughout the story (*cough*novel*cough*) and became attached to some of the characters, notably Orthor. I spelled that correctly, I swear. She was on the verge of tears more than once, just don’t tell her I said that. :p

What baffled yet continued to draw me in most is watching the downfall of the charismatic, prideful (c’mon look at that gif), and arguably hypocritical leader Dutch and his loyal fanbase gang. By the third chapter’s ending, shit hit the fan so much I wondered how everyone still alive managed to stay within the group, or be relatively sane enough by the 6th chapter. I had never seen such loyalty in a video game before. Seriously. Mind you, I hadn’t played the first game (I will eventually once my recovery period is over, lol) and still knew some of what happened to the ‘Miltons’, so the ending didn’t hit too hard.

Perhaps it’s just my personal rl issue with the ‘blind leading the blind’, but I had a little gripe with a bunch of... mostly capable adults following this one man by word alone from camp to camp while running from the law and not once questioning if they should wake up tomorrow and go, hey, maybe I’ll try to think for myself today. Granted, they were a makeshift family of sorts, I can understand how they all came to trust Dutch after hearing each individual backstory. It’s teetering on the very edge of CULT LEADER I AM A CULT LEADER, but I can still understand the why’s and how’s that came to be the Van Der Linde gang, jokes aside. He is above all, human, and coupled with his inability to ‘fight nature’ I think that is what makes him so intriguing to watch (Not to mention Benjamin‘s phenomenal voice acting...and the whole cast for that matter). I notice a certain theme that people rarely, if ever seem to speak of in old westerns that is sometimes present. One man strolls into some obscure  town and threatens to take over, be it with violence or by other means, with or without a gang of dunderheads trailing his wake, and the townsfolk willingly surrender. Until of course one unsung hero snatches said villain’s glory of badassary from under him and all is right again.

RDR2 isn’t like that. Not entirely. My point is it has elements of this sprinkled inside its storyline. At least, for the first and second half. It both confused and irritated me that most people were so easily brought back then, maybe it’s still like that now at times with Social Media so present in our lives, but I digress. I’m not writing this to step on toes or tell you what to believe, I just wanted to share this experience. A 120hr (hello fellow completionists) or so journey into a redemption story, a remarkably immense detailed landscape, and its colorful yet very complex characters. Despite some plot holes here and there, which I’d expect for a prequel of this size, I think I identify with John the most. Charles as well. Not trying to downplay his shortcomings, but he never really brought into Dutch’s bullshit plans, not truly anyway. As they say hindsight is 20/20. When listening those early camp dialogues and later ones you can tell just how in depth the writing goes, I’d argue that half the specific lines at camp and reading Arthur’s journal are better than what the cutscenes have to spell out for you.

I won’t linger on what’s been said a hundred times, how much a lot of us love Orthor (I’m sorry I’ll leave) and most of the other members, along with the immersive gameplay. It certainly didn’t become boring as I initially thought. I’m not too big on westerns... Roy Rogers, Bat Masterson, Maverick, and of course the Fist Full of Dollars trilogy suffice really. I actually wonder if R* will be able to top it. Two years later and some people are still in their feelings about it like it came out yesterday. With that type of impact, it will definitely be a challenge.

Now what’s left? Oh, a few stranger missions and some places I haven’t explored fully... Hmm. Or maybe I’ll try out 100% on pc...

Ha. The epitome of my humor ends there because I’d rather be hit by that train. How my hands aren’t broken or severely bruised is anyone’s guess. But really, thanks for reading if you made this far. Stay safe, guys. <3

[jyndor]

Cop-thing-anon here:

(I don't believe in the blue lives matter thing by the way)

I do get where you're coming from. I guess I see the thing about cops and cop AUs differently because the police is different and not as fucked up in my country. The thing about the fanart is just..I think you're reading too much into it. I don't think the artist really focused on the skin colour of Sokka, I mean, it's a kids show. Skin colour was never really mentioned or important in atla. But Sokka's personality is most likely why the artist was inspired to draw him as a "gangster", with azula (the villain) being a cop. It is kind of insensitive to draw that with the events going on, but I think that a lot of people in the fandom take some things way too seriously, for a kids show back in the late 2000's anyway.

hey anon, I say this with love and I am being sincere. I'm gonna need you to rewatch the show if you think skin color didn't matter. and it doesn't matter where you live because there is no part of the world, no culture, that isn't shaped by colonialism. I don't mean to be condescending so please bear with me, I truly believe in educating people as a part of allyship and anti-racism.

Anon, please know that I am not angry or anything but sincere in what I’m about to say. Just bear with me because I know that unlearning shit is difficult and can be painful, but we’ve gotta do it. I do appreciate you wanting to have this conversation at all. And I’m not writing this just for your benefit - this is for anyone who wants to learn about why A) race is a part of ATLA’s narrative and B) why critical analysis of mass media is actually important. So I’m not assuming you don’t know basic things about this stuff, I’m not trying to be condescending.

Now we’re gonna fix colonialism and imperialism XD wee okay here we go.

No matter where you live in the world you have some awareness of skin color. Your understanding of race might be different than mine, in fact it probably is. Race as we know it today is a social construct that stems from many things (and I wrote several hundred words on it but it was too much and too far removed from the point I’m trying to make so I edited all of that out. Yay.)

You don’t usually see imperialism, one of the major themes in Avatar, without colonialism. Imperialism is slightly different than colonialism - you can think of it like the ideology behind the practice of colonialism.* Imperialism can be used to describe expansionism in general - which has been going on since the bronze age lol humans, I stg - but usually when people today refer to colonialism and imperialism they’re talking about imperialism starting in the 17th century.

Now imperialism is not just a European concept. ATLA is set in a world that we know is supposed to be like a combination of different Asian cultures (with some influences from the Americas). And the Fire Nation is clearly influenced by Imperial Japan. So briefly:

Japan had a policy of sakoku (chained or closed country) which kept it mostly isolated (out of concerns that Japan would fall victim to something like the Opium Wars in China, among other things) from the rest of the world for a couple hundred years until the 1850s when a US Naval commander named Matthew Perry (I am not kidding) forced Japan to open its borders for trade to the United States by gunboat diplomacy, an oxymoron if I have ever seen one before.

Japan ended up signing unequal treaties with a lot of Western countries, and this bred xenophobia and hostility in Japan. The Emperor who signed these treaties died of smallpox, and after some internal conflict his son decided try to renegotiate these treaties. The US and European countries were not interested in renegotiating dick but the mission wasn’t unsuccessful because the diplomats A) exchanged some islands with Russia and B) were inspired by western economic policy and society to “modernize” Japan. Japan began industrialization and it converted to a market economy with the help of the US and other western powers.

So over many years, Japan went to war with China, Korea, Russia (and took back some of the land they exchanged with them), and others. From wikipedia:

Using its superior technological advances in naval aviation and its modern doctrines of amphibious and naval warfare, Japan achieved one of the fastest maritime expansions in history. By 1942 Japan had conquered much of East Asia and the Pacific, including the east of China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Burma (Myanmar), Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, part of New Guinea and many islands of the Pacific Ocean.

But ATLA is not a Japanese story. The Fire Nation is not Imperial Japan. The Earth Kingdom is not China or Korea, the Air Nomads are not Tibetan monks, and the Water Tribes are not Inuit. The creators definitely drew heavy inspiration from all of these places and others, but ATLA is a story written by American people in the United States for American kids. It is an American story.

And it was created at a time when the United States was victimizing people in Afghanistan and Iraq (and other places) in many similar ways to how the Fire Nation victimized people. In fact, the show starts in the Southern Water Tribe, which represent Inuit people, indigenous people in Alaska, Canada and Greenland, I think it’s safe to assume that the genocide being referenced here is not one by Japan but rather by European colonizers and later by the United States and Canada.

Imperialism is in the show’s DNA. 

And so is racism. In our world they are inherently connected. And visual cues from the show along with things the characters say suggest that we are meant to make the comparison between our world and the ATLA world. Every story has a purpose - it doesn’t have to be political, but for Avatar it is political, it is anti-imperialist.

In this article about how ATLA resonates with us in 2020, Aina Khan of the Guardian interviews Professor Ali A Olomi about using ATLA to teach at Penn State. “One of the things we see with the Fire Nation is the ideological justification for what they’re doing. We are a glorious civilization. We have abundance, we have wealth, we have technological advancement; we need to share it with the rest of the world. That’s almost word for word European colonisation.”

Zuko and Azula both call Katara a peasant. In fact, Azula calls her a dirty peasant. This is one step away from calling her a s*vage I mean come on. While peasant might just be purely classist (lol no) because Zuko and Azula are royalty, um it’s clearly racialized classism because of real life context. There is real history with colonizers calling indigenous people this, dismissing their cultures as primitive and barbaric.

Add into the mix colorism, which is bias against darker skin and privileges fair skin (which is a byproduct of imperialism) and you have clear race shit happening in Avatar.

When I saw that fanart, I was immediately reminded of black lives matter of course, but mainly of the fact that indigenous peoples are also at high risk of being victimized by police. Not just in the US. And how gross it is to depict a colonizer like Azula as an angry cop (representing the state) turning her gun on an indigenous man who is dressed like a gangster which... yike.

Mass media influence everything we do. The messaging we get, our politics, what we want to eat for dinner because we’re hungry and have been writing this stupid essay for three hours LOL. It’s important that people think critically about what they consume. Otherwise you get the goddamn United States with half of our population stanning a racist fraud. You want to know why US Americans are so ignorant? Because our education system sucks, because we don’t have any real media literacy. But apparently the rest of the world has some fucking nerve making fun of Americans** because all of us suck at it. No one is thinking critically about media.

A really terrifying thing about people is our ability to take whatever message we want from stories, even if it is in direct contradiction with the narrative of a story. There’s a movie called American History X which is explicitly anti-fascist, but because it’s a drama and Ed Norton is cut and looks badass and uncucked or whatever LOL, the iconography in that movie is fairly popular with neo-nazis. Yike. This is not at that level of course, this is some random niche fanart for a rare pairing.

For better or for worse, US media and entertainment gets a lot of attention and people around the world eat it up. Maybe you don’t need to know every little detail about US American shit, and I know we tend to dominate media, but black lives matter is not just a 2020 thing. People have known about it for years, since it started. If that fanart was created in 2019, which I think it was, the BLM movement had already existed for six years. If you’re watching an American show like Avatar and you’re making fanart on social media but you don’t know what BLM is in 2019... well educate yourself lmao.

Considering that Black fans have expressed frustration and discomfort in fandoms over and over again, and I am sure indigenous fans have too because fandoms are racist sometimes, it’s important that white fans help make fandoms better. And I am a white fan, and I consider myself an anti-racist. Which means I have to be active about racism when I see it.

btw I found this great essay by @cobra-diamond which you should read if you want more details about the similarities between Japan and the Fire Nation.

* that is very reductive but it’s fine lol

** I am kidding, unless you are english feel free to make fun of americans for non-gun, non-trauma related things pls

[heartshapedcreaturefromcriptoon]

So @cartoonshi (te) is still a huge piece of shit and I’ve been bard from his comment section but that didn’t mean I wasn’t gonna screen cap my final reply when I had the chance.

Though if  @diregentleman could please speak with this piece of cartoon shit and tell him that he needs to take every single comment from me and response to me in the thread down and delete and un-favorite the  initial comment that started people picking on me if he wants me to think that he has half of the amount of human decency that [you] dirementleman actually does... That would be great, thanks.

I’m actually gonna write an ID for this one for context.

CartoonSHIT* responding to me responding to some more harassment I  was getting for my original comment that I left that Cartoonshite himself favorited and “hearted” because he apparently thought that him and his fanbase making a Crippled girl puke was the funniest thing ever and then called me “triggered” for calling him out after giving me no explanation or context as to why he favorited my original comment or found it funny other than putting me on display for the concept of “cringe”, which he confirmed to me when he proceeded to call me ‘triggered” the first time*: “Hey so before you say I deleted your comments that were in my spam folder again, I wanted to you that I’m deleting them because you’re making a fool out of yourself. Not only did you track me down on Tumblr just to try and call me out with an account I don’t even use, only to immediately delete  your posts the second I responded, but you are also ....” [And that’s where I cut him off because I just don’t care also he blatantly publicly lied twice here and gaslit me to make himself look good but we’ll get to that...]

   HeartshapedCreatureFromCriptoon @cartoonshi (te) [My response]: 

“How about you give me and Diregentleman a real, proper apology you British Virgin Weeaboo? All I did [insert link HERE]: https://heartshapedcreaturefromcriptoon.tumblr.com/post/619943308717932545/cartoonshi-heartshapedcreaturefromcriptoon

Was call you out and provide evidence of your 12 year old fanbase harassing me because you put me on display and made a spectacle of my comment and [I] told you the truth that no women would have sex with you and this is the reason why. Because you’re exactly the kind of grown man who would say a women deserved to be raped because of what she was wearing. No girl is gonna “send [you] nudes lmao” on twitter and Esmé Bianco is NEVER gonna splosh with you! :D If you’re gonna delete my comments they best be every single one of them [including responses].”

[END ID.]

Okay so, that’s the final comment I could leave because Cartoonshi bard me from commenting and this final response I made to him doesn’t show up when I refreshed the page and I knew that was gonna happen so that’s why I screen capped it, but uh... He’s a self important piece of shit and a coward and a liar. Because:

I love how he makes it out like I “tracked him down” on tumblr as if that’s some kind of stalker-ish behavior as if I didn’t just assume that his tumblr would probably be the same as his YouTube handle and as if I couldn’t find that basic information out in 2seconds just by @ing him because, ya know. I couldn’t accurately provide the evidence of his fanbase sending me virtual dicks and calling me a cunt directly in his comment section, but... He’s trying to frame the fact that I had enough common sense to just @ him the screenshots over tumblr as the big harassment fiasco here. Yeah I can totally get where his fanbase who call me an “absolute fucking creep” for being excited over basic public information like the fact that Eden Sher is an author and the fact that Daron Nefcy is having a baby and the fact that the voice actress of my favorite adult character in Star vs. The Forces of Evil has the exact same freaking kink as me and I can finally put a name to it and not feel ashamed of wanting to practice it and study how to do it safely one  day because Esmé Bianco A.K.A Eclipsa (”Yes My Kink”) Butterfly has it so proudly and causally listed on her Twitter profile that she occasionally does this, get their logic from ... As for me mentioning the fact that me and Esmé just so happen to share the  same kink here... I mean what? It’s Pride Month! (The children reading this should be sensible enough to know not to follow Esmé Bianco on Twitter yet and not to look up what that word is...)

Cartoonshite outright telling me that he “barely uses” tumblr after this because he thinks I’d even want to look twice at his tumblr as if I barely did because he somehow thinks that I’m somehow interested in his tumblr usage habits. Would you prefer I @ -ed you on twitter, bud? Because you know I’m not sending you my nudes! :D

“Just try to call me out ‘with an old account that I don’t even use’”. Okay I know this is a big grammar/wording mistake because you and your audience have like, never taken an English Class despite you being English but, calm down Lil’ Benny Weeaboo I won’t be hacking your account or leaking my nudes anywhere near you and even if I was skilled enough in my trolling to be able to hack one of your accounts, I’d make sure it would be your YouTube so I could delete all of your Cartoonshite Videos!  :D

These next two things are just blatant lies and gaslighting on Cartoonshites part even though I didn’t even read that far until I realized so I’m just gonna point out these lies for what they are now because, for one thing not only was my original post with the  @cartoonshi and the screen-caps linked in my last reply to him as well in the ID above, but will no longer show up in the original thread because he’s censoring me from defending myself at this point because he probably knew I would just link him the aforementioned “deleted” post in response, which I did, because that was my first instinct of what to do without even read through his accusation of having deleted my post and just pointing out the fact all I did was defend myself providing direct evidence of his fanbase harassing me, which the exact reason why he censored my comments, because he knew that I would just respond with the direct link to the post he had just said I deleted without my own even so much as realizing he had claimed  I had deleted that post because I couldn’t even care enough to read all the way through his comments so he knew I would just reply with a direct link to the post that he just got through telling me and everyone else I had deleted along with publicly shaming me for deleting a post that I clearly DID NOT delete and that would make him look bad. But for those of you keeping up I obviously didn’t delete anything and that’s why Cartoonshite censored me because he knew damn well that the original post that he’s talking about me having deleted is right HERE:     https://heartshapedcreaturefromcriptoon.tumblr.com/post/619484366035353600/so-cartoonshi-te-want-to-tell-me-again-how

And I clearly DID NOT “delete my post the second he responded” because both his oringinal response to me and my final response to what he had to say for himself are both RIGHT HERE: https://heartshapedcreaturefromcriptoon.tumblr.com/post/619943308717932545/cartoonshi-heartshapedcreaturefromcriptoon

And the reality is that, I know I certainly couldn’t have reacted that fast a la “immediately” as he claims I apparently did, *the seconded he responded* because, I was only aware that Cartoonshi even responded to me, one or two days after the fact that he reblogged my original post where I first @ -ed Cartoonshite, as I know that the time stamps in between both my original post and my original reply to cartoonshites reblog will probably tell so, we all know that’s a lie.

The reason cartoonshite is this angry is because I called him a creepy virgin and told him to get a life and blocked him and I can tell because at the very end of spouting all of his self important, exaggerated, babble on bullshit which contained bold face lies so good thing I didn’t read through anyway, he told me to “get a life”, but the reason I didn’t ~“immediately”~ in his own words, drop everything and reply to him “*the second he responded*” as he informed me I had apparently done so in his self important fantasy, but in my reality only two days after he had reblogged my original post, containing examples both his harassment of me as well as his fans, which cartoonshi also was so kind to inform me I had apparently deleted in his self important fantasy, was because I was too busy keeping up with the protests and sourcing information and making donations and buying a new set of bedding  from IrenHorrors Society6 to even notice him in my notes until two days later. Because that’s what people with actual lives that don’t revolve around being angry and bitter about what happens in western cartoons about magical children and making bad, angry, bitter videos about media aimed at pre-teen children and the political ramifications about the goings on in a fictional teenagers life do- Actually support artists and care about in real life people. When has Cartoonshi ever cared about or supported anyone? You can say it was harsh of me to bully this Virgin Weeaboo Britfuck but in my opinion any fully grown man who would respond to my personal concerns with: “LOL why are you so triggered?” deserves it and I don’t care what they have to say especally now since they blatantly spewing bold face lies after they’re the ones who made me throw up. I had absolutely no intention of arguing with such a blatantly ablest fuck boy to begin with and even more so now since he’s proven to be blatant liar who censors peoples perfectly good burns because he thinks he gets to dish but he shouldn’t have to take it so now he’s just making his shite up as he goons along. But at the very least I think diregentleman would want be made aware of this because I truly think that the treatment we’ve been receiving here has been WELL FAR AWAY so far from what I would personally deem a proper debate or explanation/apology. At least on my end. Probably because of a combination of ableism and sexism. Ether way I’m saying that if cartoonshite will not let me comment or reply to defend myself anymore, then at the very least I’d like an explanation as to why he originally thought I was so funny, or I’d like to at least be able see and know that my original comment on Cartoonshi’s video, along with all the other obnoxious replies baiting me, including Cartoonshi’s, are gone. You know I’ve done absolutely nothing wrong in this situation expect respond to every single one of the replies to my original comments in kind until people couldn’t stand me any more and I personally think that Ms. Skullnick would be so proud of me for achieving this.                    

[starlight-matrix]

Nabari no Ou 15th Anniversary!

@nabaridays wrote up some prompts to celebrate the 15th anniversary of NnO and as it’s my favorite manga series of all time, I had to join the fun!

Unfortunately, I wasn’t aware of the prompts’ existence until we were about four or five days in, so instead of starting in the middle of the prompt list, I wrote all mine up in a Google Doc and decided to do a big masterpost in the day of the anniversary. And here it is! Beware for a lot of reading, this shit’s at 4.1k words.

- Catherine Lynne / catielynnelove.tumblr.com Fan of NnO since 2012 -

DAY 01 (Jun. 3rd) - Favorites

My favorite character has always been Miharu, though I do struggle to choose between him and Yoite. I have always been fascinated by his apathetic nature, the way he uses is as a shield while loving the people in his life so incredibly fiercely. He appears neutral and uncaring, but the moment you look beneath the surface, you recognize that he would give his life for those he loves in a heartbeat - and has shown this on multiple occasions.

I also love his development over the series. His apathetic facade slowly falls out of use after he meets Yoite, and he learns that feeling your emotions is important, that letting the people you love know when you’re happy or sad or pissed the fuck off is important.

In the first few chapters we as readers honestly can’t tell a whole heck of a lot from what we’re shown of Miharu. He’s plain, uninteresting, even to us (unless you’re the kind of person who automatically reads between the lines, but let’s face it, not a lot of people are). But by the end of the series, he’s such a vibrant and expressive character that I marvel at Kamatani’s ability to drastically a character’s personality in a way that feels so gradual and natural.

Another reason Miharu is my favorite character is because I tend to see parts of myself in him, as many people do with the characters they like most. I can understand and relate to his apathy in the beginning of the story. His memory of his parents deaths is so deeply traumatic and that the very fibre of his being (objectively, Shinra) locked the memory, and most of his childhood, away for years to come. Because at that time in his life, the pain of it all would’ve broken him.

(E/N: I now remember that Asahi actually erased Miharu’s memories of that event, but I think a good chunk of this will still make sense, and I’m lazy, so I’m not gonna edit it out. Enjoy.)

Emotions, especially ones he didn’t understand - or couldn’t understand, like his feelings toward his childhood that didn’t quite make sense because of his augmented memories - were simply so overwhelming that Miharu pretty much just went “lol don’t wanna deal with those so yEET now they’re gone” and locked them up in a box to be dealt with at a much, much later date. That speaks to me, as a person who has struggled with depression, and the fact that he finds a way to recover from this is very reassuring.

Overall, Miharu is a very complex and realistic character that undergoes more vivid character development than I’ve seen in almost any western media. I love him very much.

DAY 02 (Jun. 4th) - What got you into Nabari no Ou?

This is actually quite a funny story, so buckle up for a wild ride y’all!

When I was 12 years old (God, this sounds like the setup for an angsty villain backstory), my family had a housemate who liked anime. One day I came to beg for him to let me use his video game console to play Little Big Planet and he happened to be watching the second half of the anime - I distinctly remember the second Alya Academy episode being the first one I ever saw. It was my first anime experience outside of a Studio Ghibli film, and to this day remains close to my heart, even though the anime adaptation itself really… just… well, it sucked.

After I finished watching it with him, I went and found the first half of the series on Netflix (back when Netflix did the whole send-a-DVD-to-your-house thing) and watched the whole thing from episode one. And then very quickly became obsessed. I probably watched the anime four times in two months. I had every single one of the English VAs names memorized. I was dedicated.

Eventually I looked up the manga online, and HOO BOI, this is the point where my Nabari no Ou origin story becomes ridiculously hilarious (and stupid).

When I read the manga, I was disturbed by the idea of Kouichi being a villain-type character, as he had been one of my favorites when I watched the anime. And, at the time I was first reading the manga, the apparent “ending” from my perspective was the scene where Kouichi takes the newly-made hijutsu scroll from a bleeding, dying Thobari.

Looking back, I figure the website I was reading it on just didn’t have all the chapters, or perhaps I had happened to start reading while the manga was on hiatus, but at that age I didn’t know of or understand either of those concepts and accepted that sad scene as the end of the manga.

And as such, I wrote the manga off as terrible and ignored it for years.

Flash forward to about 2014, two or three years after writing the manga off as a Fat Mistake, I finally decided to give it another shot. And BY GOD did I cry reading it a second time. Whether it was the two years of maturity, my experiences during those two years, or simply the fact that I read the whole thing that time - I was sobbing in my desk chair over NnO.

It was the most beautiful story I’d ever read. Even now, after five more years of reading beautiful manga, Nabari no Ou remains my absolute favorite, and likely always will.

DAY 03 - What are your favorite scenes?

I’ve always had a soft spot for the Alya Academy arc, even back when all I’d shunned the manga and all I had to go off of was the inaccurate anime adaptation, simply because of how well the character relationships are shown during those sequences (this is one thing the anime did really well in my opinion, actually - Shijima’s verbal reflection on how humans connect to each other and how important those connections are is stunning). Not to mention the displays of how the characters care for one another regardless of what side of the war they’re technically on.

I’ve always loved Subaru as a character, too. I find her motivations to be very realistic and really quite understandable, and I love the little easter eggs in later chapters that imply the Kouga ninja are helping Miharu’s side of the fight even though they’re not visibly involved. The scores from the Alya Academy arc are especially chilling and memorable as well.

Another of my favorites are the chapters following Miharu and Yoite’s escape from the Kairoshuu and their travels afterward. They feel mundane and peaceful, yet blanketed with this layer of grief, like we’re all aware that at any moment their calm could be destroyed and lost forever.  

The scenes about Yoite’s gender were very special to me as a teen still learning about the LGBT spectrum and how different people could be, and the scene of Yoite bandaging Miharu’s aching feet? My heart literally swells every single time I think about it! It was so sweet and loving, my fragile fangirl heart does flips when I read over it.

DAY 04 (Jun. 6th) - Photos & Fashion

I like to think that Miharu keeps every photograph he’s taken and has them stored safely away in a box or chest or drawer. In my experience, people who have lost loved ones tend to treasure photographs, more than someone who hasn’t experienced loss might. A lot of times a photo is all someone has of someone they loved outside of a memory, and contrary to popular belief, if you don’t look at someone - physically or in a photo - for a long time, you do forget how they look.

Miharu has lost many people: his parents, Yoite, Kouichi and Shijima, even Shinra, in a way - so I imagine this observation would be doubly true of him. Especially if he has Yukimi as an example to go by - pretty sure that guy has kept every photograph he’s ever taken in his life!

(As far as fashion goes, I honestly think everyone’s fashion in NnO is horrendous, so...)

DAY 05 (Jun. 7th) - Favorite character design in the series?

Gosh, it’s hard to choose, I love so many of them! Gau is fascinating to me because I figure his hair must be difficult to draw, with all those little curls and cowlicks. Shijima’s too, with the way it frames her face and leaves just a tiny little opening for her eyes to peer out at you through.

But, as with most of these character-specific prompts, my answer will have to be Miharu. The idea that Asahi reshaped his face to look more like her own when she used Shinra to save him is very interesting, and the fact that Kamatani manages to draw Miharu in a way that both clearly shows their resemblance to one another and establishes Miharu as his own character with his own unique features and gestures and ways of carrying himself is incredible.

Miharu’s stance are also very telling to me as a reader: he often stands loosely, almost lazily, as if he really couldn’t care less about where he is and what they’re doing, which rings true for a good chunk of the story. It matches well with his (mostly) fake apathy and kind of makes him seem bland and boring as a character. But as the story progresses, he becomes more open, shows affection more easily. He’s quicker to stand up for his beliefs and the people he loves. All of this shows in the way he carries himself throughout later chapters.

DAY 06 (Jun. 8th) - Favorite location in the series?

The Shimizu estate, without a doubt.

The secluded area, the forest in every direction, the house itself - it’s all so beautiful to me. Ot gives me the feeling of rural Japan and more traditional Japanese living. Even after the house has burned away and all that’s left is a field full of Spider Lilies, there’s a kind of sober beauty lying over the place, made even more intense when Shirogamon stands watch over it.

DAY 07 (Jun. 9th) - Positive Influences

The thing that I preach about the most when I talk about NnO to others is the fact that the series has no absolutes. There is no true right or wrong, no clear villains nothing that actually puts our heroes above anyone else. Which, in a way, means that are really are no heroes in the story at all, which is a very rare and interesting way to tell a story.

The entire series deal with a greyscale in morality. There’s no bad vs. good or moral vs. immoral, just your own goals and people whose goals don’t match yours. Opinions and ambitions differ vastly even between people on the same side of the fight - Thobari and Raimei want to seal the Shinrabanshou, Kouichi wants to use it to defeat his immortality, Miharu even changes side on a few occasions - yet they all work together together to achieve their own very different ends.

Even those who can be coded as villain on the surface have something motivating them to do what they do, and more often than not, those motivations are understandable to the reader and actually have you sympathizing with the character. Hattori wanted to rid the world of the need for war. Subaru wanted to save the person she loved most in the world. Yamase wanted to win his family back (I think? It’s been a while).

Even Katarou and Kannuki, two characters who have practically nothing to redeem them, at least have motivations that are pretty damn realistic. Kannuki wanted to capitalize on Kouga’s Forbidden Art and use it to grow Alya Academy’s profit and power through the surface world. A Lot of people are like this in real life, and while you may not sympathize with him over it, it is a motivation that is true of our own world as well as the one in this story.

An Katarou, as far as I understand, is obsessed with Shinra herself, rather than the hijutsu and the power it holds. He manipulated hundreds of people and hundreds of situations to suit his own needs, then literally got himself killed - just to see her one last time. And… yeah, I don’t think anyone really sympathized with him, but hey, I can see what pushed him to do what he did.

To me, Katarou is symbolic of someone with an addiction - their mind is so clouded by a need for some specific thing that all other human aspects of that person just fall away, and they’ll do whatever it takes to get what they want.

I also appreciate how the characters handle their differences throughout the story. Their honesty with each other, the way they support each other even when they’re all heading in opposite direction. The Alya Academy arc (I really love this arc okay) especially shows this, in how the ninja from Banten and Kairoshuu - two very opposing factions - fight together against the Kouga without hesitation, despite the fact that in most other situations, they’d be fighting each other.

It’s a wonderful thing to promote: that even though people might have different opinions or goals, it doesn’t mean they have to hate each other.

DAY 08 (Jun. 10th) - Favorite Extra?

I am IN LOVE with the little between-chapter 4koma pieces, especially the ones from the Alya Academy arc (God, I’ve talked so much about this arc). Subaru fantasizing about Miharu being her little brother and making her birthday cake? Adorable. Miharu and Yoite getting stuck behind a bookshelf and terrifying an opponent by asking for help out? Hilarious.

I love that Kamatani put those in, both as a peek into happier aspects of the world he created, and as a way to add a bit of sun in between the much darker, much sadder chapters.

DAY 09 (Jun. 11th) - Headcanons

I’m not much of a headcanon person, to be honest, and especially not with this series. It feels off to me, to try and add to something that’s already so perfect. However, I do agree with a couple of headcanons I’ve seen - particularly the ones theorizing that Yukimi is aro-ace. It makes a lot of sense to me in how his character is portrayed when nearly every other character in the series has a romantic match, and as an ace person myself, more representation is always welcome.

DAY 10 (Jun. 12th) - Alternate Universe

I once started (and quickly abandoned out of shame) a very cringey, very out-of-character fanfic, in which the Nabari world didn’t exist and all the characters meet through natural means in the surface world. Other than that, however, I’ve not put much thought into Nabari no Ou AUs.

But something I would LOVE to see is a crossover between NnO and Shimanami Tasogare, as the two stores canonically take place in the same location - NnO being in Banten, a fictional town  based on the real town of Onomichi, and Shimanami Tasogare being confirmed to take place in plain old Onomichi itself. It’s been a while since I’ve read Shimanami Tasogare, but I remember the leader/owner of the little house the cast gathers in as giving me a distinctly Nabari-world vibe, and I think it would be interesting to see the NnO characters react to a community like the one presented in Shimanami Tasogare.

(And also perhaps have some romantic relationships and sexualities proven canon. Perhaps.)

DAY 11 (Jun. 13th) - Favorite song from the OST?

It’s a firm tie between the opening theme and the second ending theme. I have every song in the OST memorized after years of hearing them day in and day out, but those two themes always give me this tingling nostalgic feeling, like rereading a book from your childhood or finding a toy as an adult that you’d thought was lost forever. The animation and symbolism in those themes are also very telling of the series and the character’s connections to each other (a bit obviously, at times), and the lyrics are special to me in a way I can’t describe. They’re precious to me, and  to me experience of NnO as a whole, considering I started with the anime first (a bad idea).

DAY 12 (Jun. 14th) - Are there any songs that make you think of NnO?

“Neopolitan Dreams” by Lisa Mitchell ( X ) ( X )

I once watched a cute Raimei/Kouichi AMV set to this song listened to the lyrics, I understood how the author had put them together. I very much feel like the lyrics echo Raimei’s thoughts on how Kouichi starts to act in later chapters, becoming more and more distant until he almost appears to be an antagonist rather than one of the perceived heroes. The song also makes me think of Raimei’s stubbornness and pride, her unwillingness to accept option besides her own conclusions until she’s had the full story and nothing less.

I can never get their faces out of my head while listening to this song, which I guess means the song reminds me more of Raimei and Kouichi than NnO in general, but it still counts, right?

DAY 13 (Jun. 15th) - Food

I’ve never really thought too hard on it, but now that I am, it’s actually very interesting to note how different characters use food - the Rokujo Okonomiyaki shop, in particular - to their advantage.

Thobari uses his (implied, before the start of the overall plot) regular visits to try and get Miharu to believe him about the Shinrabanshou and the Nabari world. Thobari uses the close proximity to explain his motives to Miharu, who physically cannot leave the situation, lest the food burn to a damn crisp (and I figure Naoko wouldn’t be pleased if that happened every time Thobari came in). He also very clearly uses this to keep tabs on Miharu when outside of a school setting where Miharu has no choice to be in Thobari’s sight, and later, as a way to either catch up on what’s going on in the Nabari world or - as in several cases - simply demand answers from Miharu.

Raimei uses the shop as a way to get closer to Miharu. She charms her way into getting free food (and sometimes, free lodging as well) and I assume her thinking is probably something on the lines of “Free Food + Spend Time With Miharu = Information on Where Raikou Might Be.” Of course, this likely isn’t her motive in later chapters, because, well, character development.

Food is also an important bonding thing for Yoite and Yukimi. In a lot of the scenes where we see Yoite and Yukimi in their home, they’re eating together, and I always took it as a display of their familial relationship - cooking dinner for Yoite the way a dutiful older sibling would for their younger sibling - thoughI doubt either of them would admit they’re like brothers. The significance of lemonade should also be noted for this topic - I could go on for ages about it.

(But I won’t unless people ask me to, because this piece is long enough already!)

I don’t have much memory of this scene being as big a deal in the manga as it was in the anime - but I also haven’t seen either in a while, so I could be wrong - but the birthday cake scene from the latter half of the anime left an impact on me even back when I’d only seen the anime, and it was the first thing that came to mind when I saw the prompt was “food.” Gau’s pride in the cake he made and his determination to get any kind of praise out of Yoite is very touching, especially when you take into account that Yoite literally saved Gau’s life, and that Gau knows this, as well.

The Kairoshuu - particularly Yukimi, Raikou, Gau, and Kazuho - are all shown bonding on more than one occasion at Kazuho and her husband’s sushi shop, and there is significance to those occasions in the rather heavy conversations they have during those visits. And there’s also the time Miharu cooked okonomiyaki for all the main Kairoshuu member after he’d first joined their clan - similar to how a recently hired employee would bring cookies for their new boss.

Food has a lot of significance in Nabari no Ou, no matter where you look.

DAY 14 (Jun. 16th) - Favorite village, and thoughts on the Forbidden Arts?

As far as morals and motivations go, I would have to choose Banten, as their (or at least Thobari’s) main opinion is that the Shinrabanshou shouldn’t be used because it throws off the balance of the universe. I definitely understand this opinion, because a lot of things can go wrong if the wrong kind of person is making wishes to Shinra and having them granted.

Although, I think that if anyone were to use the ability in a way that leaves the balance of the world intact, it would be Miharu, and this is even shown in the series itself. He doesn’t have the kind of greed or anger that would taint a person’s motivations when making their wishes, he just wants to do what is best for others- especially Yoite. Yoite is important to him, and therefore Yoite’s wish is also important to Miharu. And, as we see in later chapters, Miharu puts granting Yoite’s wish above even his own happiness. I feel I would make a similar decision were I in his shoes.

(For aesthetic, though, I’d choose Fuuma. Their village is hidden and surrounded by forest and in that lovely traditional Japanese style, and their uniforms are great. If Saraba were Chief I’d join.)

DAY 15 (Jun. 17th) - Favorite minor/supporting character

Gau! Definitely Gau! Gosh I love him so much. He’s optimistic and tries his best to look for the best in situations and in people, and his smile is so freaking sunshiney, I bet he lights up rooms with it. He’s awkward and quirky and I can relate so hard. But he’s also strong? He stands up to other ninja even though he really doesn’t have the physical ability to defend himself or others. He puts his life in danger to tell Raimei the truth about her family immediately after swearing silence to Raikou, his boss, who could 100% kill him if he found out Gau had broken his promise. And I bet you Gau would’ve told Raikou about him telling Raimei as soon as he’d gone home, if the bullshit at the Shimizu property hadn’t gone down the way it did.

And speaking of that scene- he throws himself in front of Raikou’s katana to save the life of a girl he hadn’t known for more than a day, who had threatened to kill him, who was seeking to kill the person he treasured most in the world. Who does that?! Gau apparently. He literally gives his life for just the possibility that Raikou and Raimei can make up and be happy siblings again. He gives his life so that the person he loves can maybe reconcile with someone else they loved.

He makes a conscious effort to include Yoite in conversations in which he would otherwise be largely ignored, and while I doubt Yoite would care either way, it’s the thought that counts, right? And, at least in the anime (it’s been a while since I read the manga) he puts his life on the line to help Yoite and Miharu even though, as I said before, he can’t really defend himself all that well.

Basically, I’m in love with Gau and want him to be happy. Sweet baby!

DAY 16 (Jun. 18th) - Free Day

I don’t really have anything else to say but I’m posting all of these today (I was late for the original posting by like four days so I figured I’d write them all out and post them together) so I’ll count this as my day 16 entry! Thank you so much if you’ve read this far, I know it was probably daunting to look at this long as fucking post but I’m glad you took the time to read my personal reflection on NnO! This manga means a lot to me and it’s nice to discover other people who love it as much as I do (I’ve literally met two people in my entire life who’ve read it without me suggesting it).

Keep the love going y’all, I hope to see you again! And feel free to hit me up if you’d like to talk about NnO, I’d love to connect with other fans! Seeya owo

[phynxrizng]

THE SUPER BLUE, BLOOD MOON ECLIPSE

Skip to main content OLD FARMER'S ALMANAC Search Enter keywords... GO  Main menu THIS WEEK'S AMAZING SKY A SUPERMOON, BLUE MOON, AND LUNAR ECLIPSE ON JANUARY 31 SUPER BLUE BLOOD MOON ECLIPSE Jan 29, 2018  Facebook Twitter Google+ Pinterest Email PrintFriendly Cancel rating Give A Supermoon, Blue Moon, and Lunar Eclipse on January 31 1/5 Give A Supermoon, Blue Moon, and Lunar Eclipse on January 31 2/5 Give A Supermoon, Blue Moon, and Lunar Eclipse on January 31 3/5 Give A Supermoon, Blue Moon, and Lunar Eclipse on January 31 4/5 Give A Supermoon, Blue Moon, and Lunar Eclipse on January 31 5/5  Heard about this “Super Blue Blood Moon” on January 31? Let’s break this down: That’s a Supermoon, a Blue Moon, and a Blood Moon on the same night, thanks to a total lunar eclipse. A convergence of all three events last happened 150 years ago. Find out the best places to see this event. “Super Blue Blood Moon Eclipse” is the description many Web sites are giving for the full Moon coming up. So, what does this mean? A Moon that’s super-big? One that’s blue? One that’s blood red? Maybe a combination of blue and red! A purple Supermoon? A supermoon occurs when the Moon is closest to Earth during its orbit, and theoretically larger than average. A Blue Moon is the popular name for a second full Moon in the same calendar month. A”Blood Moon” refers to the Moon’s hue on the night of a total lunar eclipse; it normally turns a coppery red. Put ‘em all together and that’s what you’ve got. Actual astronomers smile and shake their heads at these catchy names. They really want more people to watch the sky, and having names for things helps with publicity. Call it what you wish! Each celestial event is interesting in itself. When you put them together so they occur on the same night, it’s unique. Sometimes the celestial rhythms just sync up to make us wonder. SUPERMOON January 31 is also the grand finale of a trilogy of Supermoons that have been taking place since early December. “Supermoon” is a new term. No one used it until a few years ago. Instead, the Moon’s closest approach to Earth—full or otherwise—was called a Perigean Moon. The problem is that even the very closest Moon does not look any larger than your average normal Full Moon. The size difference is too small for the naked eye to detect. But, okay, call it super.  A Moon at perigee can appear up to 14% bigger. January 31’s total lunar eclipse will occur 1.2 days after perigee so the Moon’s diameter will appear about 7% bigger than average. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech. The “Supermoon” term has not been used merely for the closest Moon of the year, but also for the second closest, and third closest, and so on. This one coming up on January 31 is, for example, the third of a trilogy and the second closest of 2018. It’s 358,816 km away, as compared with the January 1 Full Moon which was 356,565 km away. People post telephoto pictures on social media, depicting enormous-looking Moons in the sky. So astronomers like myself are concerned that the public will look up, see nothing unusual, and just shrug. See more about Supermoons. BLUE MOON “Blue Moon” has become a popular term for the second Full Moon in a month; the name arose because of a Depression-era mistake in an astronomy magazine. The term was never used by astronomers or the ancient Greeks, or Native Americans, or anybody else. Despite the name, the Moon won’t look blue at all. Indeed, the expression “once in a Blue Moon” doesn’t apply since it’s not that rare; the event occurs every 2-½ years. That said, the Total Eclipse of a Blue Moon hasn’t occurred since March 31, 1866. That’s 152 years ago! Read more about Blue Moons. BLOOD MOON Okay, what about Blood Moon? Well, a fully eclipsed Moon turns coppery orange. Actual blood is not copper-colored unless you have a serious hematological problem. But let’s not be picky. Blood is more dramatic than pennies, and there’s no reason not to call a totally eclipsed Moon a blood Moon even if this, too, is a very recently coined phrase. BEST PLACES TO SEE VIEWING TIPS First, note that this event is perfectly safe to view with the naked eye, unlike a solar eclipse. Everyone in North American will witness the “Supermoon” and “Blue Moon” aspects. The “Blood Moon” color, however, is tricky because the Moon will set before it’s totally eclipsed in the entire eastern half of Canada and the U.S. West Coasters Live in the Pacific Time Zone? Those in Western states and Canadian provinces, Alaska, and the Hawaiian islands will have the best view of the coppery, totally eclipsed Moon. Look low in the west just before dawn. Its lowness will greatly deepen its ruddy hue. On Pacific Standard Time, the lunar eclipse begin at 3:48 a.m. PST. Totality will start around 4:51 a.m. PST and last until 6:05 a.m. PST. If you set your alarm, you can see the entire lunar eclipse, from start to finish. Further East Those further east will see a partial eclipse of the Full Moon—early morning before the Moon sets and morning twilight arrives. If you live in the Eastern Time Zone, head outside about 6:45 a, EST. Look west-northwest and find an unobstructed view, ideally at a high point since the Moon is near the horizon at this time. At 6:48 a.m. EST, the darker part of Earth’s shadow will begin to blanket the moon and create the blood-red tint—and the Moon will set less than a half-hour later. If you live in the Central Time Zone, head outside around 6:15 a.m. CST. Johnston said. The Moon will appear to be a blood-red color—and the view will remain until 7:00 a.m. CST, when the Sun rises. In the Rocky Mountain region, the lunar eclipse will begin around 4:48 a.m. MST, as the darker part of Earth’s inner shadow blankets the Moon. Viewers in this area will see the eclipse peak around 6:30 a.m. MST until 7:00 a.m. MST, when the Moon will set. See Moonrise times. FULL MOON NAMES With all these newly-hatched Full Moon names, let’s have some fun. The year’s lowest Full Moon has no official name. That’s the Full Moon closest to the June 21 summer solstice. Its low height makes it pass through extra air and usually gives it an amber hue. Let’s start calling it the “Honey Moon.” If we keep repeating that term for the June Full Moon, maybe the media will pick it up and run with it. Let’s see if, five years from now, that becomes the established name for that Moon. Let’s all do it, and we can say we know how it started! Whatever names you use, look at the Moon on January 31. We’re watching all of the Earth’s sunrises and sunsets at that moment reflected from the surface of the Moon. ABOUT THIS BLOG  Welcome to “This Week’s Amazing Sky,” the Almanac’s blog on stargazing and astronomy. Bob Berman, longtime and famous astronomer for The Old Farmer’s Almanac, will help bring alive the wonders of our universe. From the beautiful stars and planets to magical auroras and eclipses, he covers everything under the Sun (and Moon)! Bob, the world’s mostly widely read astronomer, also has a new weekly podcast, Astounding Universe!  RELATED ARTICLES ECLIPSE FULL MOON TAGS SUPERMOON BLUE MOON BLOOD MOON TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE WHAT DO YOU WANT TO READ NEXT?  WHAT IS A SUPERMOON?  FULL MOON NAMES  WHAT IS A BLUE MOON?  MEGA-HARVEST-BLOOD MOON TOTAL...  DON'T MISS! THE MEGA HARVEST TOTAL...  FULL MOON FOR JANUARY 2018  FULL MOON FOR DECEMBER 2017  SKY WATCH: JANUARY 2018 READER COMMENTS LEAVE A COMMENT FULL MOON/BEST TIME reply Submitted by Nina Carreiro on January 30, 2018 - 11:29am I live in Westport ma What is the best time for me to see the moon tomorrow? JANUARY 31, 2018 reply Submitted by Kim Van Dyke on January 30, 2018 - 9:57am I love reading about the moons and the eclipse. My question is: I live in MST zone and am wondering if the viewing of the blood moon will be the early morning of the 31st or is it actually visible in the early hours of Feb. 1st? I don’t want to miss it! Thanks. TIME TRAVEL reply Submitted by Patrick on January 30, 2018 - 10:53am Today is Jan 30th - and somehow your comment says the 31st!!! But it will be on the morning of the 31st, which for the rest of us is tomorrow... lol FULL MOON JAN.; reply Submitted by Anne on January 30, 2018 - 9:33am I ought to have a fabulous view of the Supermoon touching the Tree Tips near the Eclipse;; Connecticut); LOVE READING reply Submitted by Carolyn Ann Cox... on January 25, 2018 - 3:38pm Love reading about the differences of full and big moons. As a scientist and as a Christian, I studied full and blood moons. Never had I heard about the blue full moon. Now, you have given me more to study, thank you so very much to ponder, wonder and more study! FULL MOON reply Submitted by BELLA on January 25, 2018 - 2:34pm love everything about the moon at it's fullest. thank you for this display of the full moon in Jan 2018 MOON reply Submitted by Pat Yonchek on January 25, 2018 - 1:02pm Thank you for this fascinating information about the Jan. 31st moon.  MOIST TURKEY, CRISPY SKIN.  Prize winning Pilgrim Turkey recipe.  email address FREE DOWNLOAD You will also be subscribed to our Almanac Companion Newsletter  LIVE WEBCAMS  VISIT THE ALMANAC HQ WEBCAM  VISIT THE ALMANAC GARDEN WEBCAM  SOLAR ENERGY PRODUCTION TODAY 56.20 kWh Live data from the solar array at The Old Farmer's Almanac offices in Dublin, NH.  YOU ARE HERE Blogs » Astronomy Blogs » This Week's Amazing Sky  GENERAL About Us Contact Us Web Site Help Terms of Use Privacy Policy RESOURCES Sell the Almanac Where to Buy Media Relations Newsletter Archive Free Newsletter Signup Pay Your Bill ADVERTISE Advertise With Us Custom programming and server maintenance by Reinvented Inc. ©2017, Yankee Publishing, Inc. Old Farmer’s Almanac, 1121 Main Street, P.O. Box 520, Dublin, NH 03444, (603) 563-8111 CONNECT WITH US TwitterFacebookInstagramPinterestGoogle+LinkedInYouTube  SOURCE, OLD FARMERS ALMANAC.COM REPOSTED BY, PHYNXRIZNG

[ledenews]

What Stinks Most about this COVID-19 Crisis?

It’s different, that is for sure, and aspects change from day to day. Grandparents can’t see their grandchildren. Commencement exercises cannot take place in a traditional fashion. Proms are canceled, nursing home are closed to visitors, and unemployment has soared since non-essential businesses were ordered closed by governors in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. In those three states alone, nearly 20,000 citizens have been diagnosed with the COVID-19 coronavirus, and more than 400 have passed away. Nationwide, the death toll is expected to reach 13,000 this week, and schools are set to remain closed at least until May. “My mother cried when I told her I wouldn’t be there for Easter dinner,” said Brad Worls, a Wheeling Park graduate who works in western Pennsylvania.

Terrific organizations like Street Moms and Project Hope have been working hard to help the city of Wheeling’s homeless population stay safe during the pandemic. “(We’ve) not been able to hold and play with our grandkids,” explained Rick Healy, city manager of the city of Moundsville. “We see them through the window or as a drive by. It’s just not the same.” Healy is not alone. “I’ve not been able to see my grandkids,” said Tammy LeMasters-Gross. “One day I stopped at their house, stayed in my car, they came out on the balcony just so I could see them and have some small talk.” “We live over 70 miles from the grandkids, so we usually have them every other weekend,” explained Lara Williams. “We attend all sporting, dance, gymnastic events, so what has bothered me the most is the social distancing from my grandkids.”

Administrators of Ohio County Schools have worked with faculty and staff to continue educational and nutrition programs.

Unofficial Facebook Poll

With the “stay at home” in place throughout the tris-state region, many have flocked instead to social media platforms for social interaction, and that is why this question was posed earlier this week: "What has been the biggest inconvenience for you during the past four weeks? No school? No job? Boredom? Loneliness? Working and schooling at home? You tell me, and please explain." Nearly 100 comments later, it was clear people were social distancing in order to avoid infection, but it was also apparent that online communication just isn’t the same. Jason Treuman, a local musician in the Wheeling area who plays solo gigs and is a member of a few different bands, relied on those performance for the majority of his person-to-person contact. “No job, loneliness,” he answered. “My job was how I stayed social.”

Officials with the city of Wheeling have been in contact with the owners of the OVMC campus and they have discuss a possible sale. Robert Gaudio can relate. A public defender out of Ohio County, how Gaudio goes about performing his duties has changed, and so has his “Troubadouer” performance schedule. “Not being able to safely visit my clients, particularly those in jail,” he answered, “(The) inability to visit family and friends, and no music gigs at local establishments.” “I’ve been put on the FMLA Leave at 75 percent of my pay,” posted Heidi Howard. “(I’m) grateful I still have a job but as a single mom this is a struggle. And the BOREDOM. “Lord have mercy I don’t know how people stay at home and don’t work,” she said. “My house is spotless, and the laundry is caught up … ugh; BORED is an understatement. Lol.”

Playgrounds like the Wilson in North Wheeling have been closed throughout the upper Ohio Valley.

Closed and Canceled

Wash your hands. Don’t touch your face. Stay six feet away. And wash you hands again. Over and over we’ve been offered those pieces of solid advice to remain safe during these pandemic times, but life has changed in ways never imagined. “Watching it emotionally affect my family and not being able to do anything about it (is the worst part),” explained Charlie McCord, a Wheeling native now living in South Carolina. “My oldest son is locked down in San Francisco; my second son's wedding this past weekend was cancelled; my third son was to start a job in the kitchen at QS&L; and my poor daughter has not only had her college graduation cancelled, but also her boards for the Doctorate of Physical Therapy.” Others can relate, too. The interruption of my daughter’s senior year of high school,” said Kara Gray. “We had to postpone an educational trip to Spain, and have no idea if prom, senior dinner dance, and graduation, will happen.” My granddaughter and I were looking so forward to her senior year,” explained Linda Stradwick Scott. “Prom dress (was) bought. and now it’s cancelled, (and) graduation is in limbo. “I miss my grandsons, especially my youngest, because it’s hard to explain why we can’t physically be with each other. Just FaceTime, which I’m grateful for,” the Wheeling resident continued. “I worry for the safety of my family. Not being able to hug and plant a kiss, I miss that connection.”

The crews at Panhandle Cleaning and Restoration have been very busy the past few weeks disinfecting areas where employees will return sometime in the future.

Through a Window

For some, it’s about the grandchildren, but for others this pandemic has prevented them from visiting parents residing in local nursing homes because those facilities had halted visitation in mid-March to avoid a saddening situation like what has happened in the state of Washington and in the Morgantown area. “I am missing my grandson like crazy! And there’s the stress over grocery shopping and especially getting things to my mom in a senior building,” said Janie Murray. “Plus, not being able to help and see her and not know if she's taking her medications. The anxiety and paranoia about having to go out for needs is getting to me.” “There are two things,” added Keri Boring Schultz. “Not being able to visit my father in the nursing home, and not being able to witness my son officially being sworn into the Air Force on Wednesday at MEPS in Beckley before shipping to basic military training on Wednesday.” Connie Cilles Roy, a resident of St. Clairsville, summed it up for many others living here in the Upper Ohio Valley. “(I haven’t been) really inconvenienced,” she posted. “But I sure miss being around people.” Read the full article

[secretsofthemasquerade]

But what is wrong with Light Yagami? What is wrong with the classic anime Death Note? Why does it have to be Americanized, whitewashed and tossed into theaters? Why?

*Netflix

It doesn’t “have to be”, but spreading culture and media sometimes means localizing the original work for it to suit the target Audience. And the target audience of Death Note (anime and manga) in Japan is certainly not the same as the target audience of the Netflix version.

Why was Ugly Betty localized? Why was The Ring? What about the Hunger games? They’re all localized works. Ugly Betty was a telenovela, The Ring is a Japanese horror film, and obviously, Hunger Games is a blatant rip off of Battle Royale (while the other two did respect the original works and paid licencing :p).

Death Note, the manga and anime, both place themselves in a very specific context that just cannot be transposed into the Western. First Japan does have the death penalty, but only apply it so scarcely. There’s no crime and violence culture in Japan (at least not in that kind). A serial killer in Japan just weighs so much more than in the US, because in the US, y’all have one every three days (even adjusting for population). The police investigation that follow and the lack of army also play a big role in the originals. 

Changing the name, dropping the story in the middle of nowhere, Ohio just fails to explain why and how Light is insane. The meanings behind the originals are lost in a pure transposition into a western society (at least the American one. Had this happened in England I would have been less pissed off :p)

There’s two ways to bring something from a culture into another; subtitles with reading guides, and localisation. Plain transposition does not work. 

This is why in 99% of subtitled work, you have pauses, translator notes, and stuff that needs to be spelled out loud for people who do not live in the context. That the school year is from April to April in Japan, so you don’t change grades in September after the “big holidays” (which isn’t even that big). That the police has an overwhelming positive reputation. That people spend 3-4 hours per day in public transport. That there is public transport. That classrooms have assigned spaces and being 40 in one class is nbd. Shintoism. Buddhism. School pressure, contests, grades. Non taboo sex. Teen dates. Tengus, other creatures…

Subtitles led to this stupid lol (obviously keikaku is a specific word for plan which implies a bunch of connotations that should have been explained in the translator’s note, but wasn’t…)

I love me some culture learning, but having to get a BA to understand and enjoy a series is a hassle and I understand why people don’t want to.

This is where localisation works for us lazy entertainment consumers. 

Card Captor Sakura’s Kero has an accent from Okinawa in the original, and to avoid explaining that to 10-12 year-olds, France chose to have him have a southern accent. Sakura’s age was also changed (by mistake, she was in fifth grade of primary school, while “5th” in France corresponds to our second year of middle school, so she went from 9-10 to 12-13 yo, which actually allowed to explain why there were different teachers and allowed mature words and romances to work better). Everyone’s names were also changed as to allow watchers to get attached to the characters more easily (this was only in the anime, in the manga they kept the original names). 

Overall the fact that the story happens in Japan isn’t really the turning point or the main approach of CCS. So they could get away with minimum work (change of currencies, change of grade names, and because it’s aimed at kids, the relationship between wood, fire, earth wind and water is explained to everyone).

But for Death Note, this is not enough. If you want to tell the story of death note, you have to change 95% of the setting and really “adapt” the whole thing. Light being part of the majority (straight A smart student) is fine, and this is why him being white in and out of itself is not the problem. To me the problem is the whole thing ; you can’t transpose a story about a serial killer who thinks he’s doing the world a favor into gun-loving America just like that. Shinigami? Yeah, gods of deaths, that’s easy. Misa fangirling over the guy who killed the assassin of her parents? That’s fine too. 

I think the problem lies fundamentally in how the theme is taken and adapted to the American context. Death Note isn’t about murder, it’s about where do you draw the line and how far will you go to “do good”, all with a delusion of grandeur. It’s about what’s acceptable and what isn’t, about the respect of the institutions (trial and execution of a sentence) and immediate justice. And how, of course, the gods of death are playing an olympian game with punny mortals who are given powers they shouldn’t have.

The death penalty is far too common and misused in the US to be shocking as to the American public. Kira, in this context, just becomes y’alls judicial system, it’s y’all’s power structure already, but Kira in the original context is rogue, goes against the establishment. This is why it really fails (and this is why a plain transposition of Battle Royale would have failed too, the Hunger Games fits the American narrative so much more.. much to my cringy self).

Who know what does great localization work?

Blizzard. Play World of Warcraft (or Warcraft 3) in French, (Latin)Spanish or German, and you’ll see how all Feats and Achievements, quest names, character names, and other winks are directly related to that language’s culture and common frame of references. There’s a few “international references” that are kept (”Over 9000″ for instance), but many others are rebuilt from scratch for puns, cultural references, and of course, TV series, movies, politics and stuff. Some references are from shows that are American but who became huge in France too (Forest Gump reference for instance :p the chocolate box)

Those of y’all who speak French.. https://www.youtube.com/user/gybet37/videos (Warcraft III)

But these are just easter eggs :p Localisation for content is harder and needs very very skilled writers. That Netflix show, meh.

About GiTS, it seems they missed the point of the original, tbh, but the iconic scenes being redone with today’s technology was cool and they really seem to have used the 3D really well. Considering the high budget and how the American general public needs to have a "big name" on the billboard... it's a safe thing to do when you're pouring millions into it. I mean as a general random person can you name 10 great Japanese American actresses? I can't. I would have preferred a better Japanese actress (seems there were some fails) but I don't blame them for using white actors to sell in their own country. It's why it's an adaptation. So yeah. Of course we need more diversity but the public in general needs to care, and tbh they just don't. It's entertainment, it's not social justice for 90% of them and they just want a nice pop corn stuffing waste of time stuff and not author philosophical shit. Then again I did say they missed the point of the original didn't they ;)

[dianapocalypse]

I got tagged!

I forget to do these things constantly but @zeldabard​ tagged me so here we go

(I’m sorry if you tagged me in something ages ago and I forgot)

1. What is the strangest movie you have ever watched?

Rare Exports. Thanks, @arrispect

2. What can always comfort you when it’s been a bad day?

Friends and cookies, not necessarily in that order; the friends portion is generally more crucial but the cookies help

3. Current favourite album or song?

 The Fiddler on the Roof movie soundtrack, oddly enough, is my current obsession. As far as Regular People Music, probably Green Day’s “Still Breathing” is my favorite song right now. (My all time favorite is Jess Chalker’s “Said the Raindrop to the Seed”)

4. Least favourite trope/cliche found within stories?

Women being killed to further mens’ character arcs

5. A crossover between books/shows/games/movies/etc. that you would like to see happen?

Overwatch Mean Girls. (I just spend the better part of my morning discussing this with my friend. It’s beautiful. Ask me about it.)

6. Hot tub or swimming pool?

Swimming pool! As long as the water’s not too cold. Which it is usually not in NC.

7. What types of games do you tend to play most?

Lately, Overwatch, but generally, I prefer RPGs. JRPG or western are both good. I like a game with a solid story that I can really get lost in.

8. If you had an unlimited budget, what would your dream vacation look like?

A week in Tokyo, a week in Kyoto, a week in Osaka, a week in Takarazuka--basically Shoot The Works in Japan and really take my time getting to know each place. Stay in really nice hotels. 

9. Earth, fire, air, or water?

I always have trouble with this question, lol. I think I’m earth. I like my routines and I’m pretty strong willed.

10. What is the best book you have ever read?

Tough question, but I think I’ve gotta go with How To Win Friends and Influence People, as far as books that have actually taught me the most, or Carl Sagan’s Cosmos. My favorites, though, are The Princess Bride and A Tale of Two Cities.

11. If you could live in a fictional setting, where would you live?

Pokemon! Safe and affordable enough for 11 year olds to travel to world, universal healthcare, super cute awesome and smart animal buddies. Also, I’m good at battling AND contests, so I could rule the earth.

So I’m supposed to come up with 11 questions and tag some ppl, right? Here goes:

1. Dream cosplay! Or if you don’t cosplay, dream Halloween costume?

2. Opinion on whether real pants are the worst? (Hint: Pants are the worst)

3. If you had to pick one genre of music to listen to forever, which would you pick?

4. Favorite color?

5. Favorite show/book/movie/game from your childhood? Any media really.

6. Beverage of choice with meals?

7. Favorite type of cookie?

8. Do you have original stories? Tell me about one.

9. Are you the kind of person to make New Years’ Resolutions? What was yours this year?

10. I snuck in a two parter so FREE SPACE. Tell me a random fact about yourself.

11. I also want to ask the fictional setting question, because it’s a good one. Which fictional setting would you live in, given the choice?

AND I tag @jalules, @reptilixns. @wombochrombo, @dapper-banana, @pixelatedidiot, @nerdqueenmari, @bonesmakenoise, @arrispect, @spacedisco, @debeste, @floatslikebricks

You don’t have to do it if you don’t want, but since I never do these things Properly I figured I would this time, lol.

[torchsense]

also can i just say talking to this one person on discord today about what we jokingly called ‘postcolonial rage’ has REALLY sorted me out on why am*rican culture and w*stern culture in general seriously screws with me. like, i can’t stand it. i lose my shit when i feel like i’m becoming too “western”, not “chin/ese” enough, too ‘banana’. and i’m slowly starting to realise why.

it really just boils down to one thing: it’s a white man’s world.

and i’m not talking about ethnicity. i’m not talking about whatever the fuck kind of wh*te privil*ge drugs am*rica is on. i’m talking about the idea of “culture”.

(and before anyone @s me for being xenophobic, honestly, yeah, maybe i am. or maybe i’m trying to figure out why i feel so negatively about western culture so i can come to terms with it and actually be more accepting of westerners. but you know how tumblr culture is, eh? anyway this is just me bitching, don’t take it personally because it’s not about you. it’s about me.)

anyway. western culture, most notably am*rican culture, is basically the rule in the world right now. at work when you talk to ‘western’ customers you feel obligated to be more accommodating, smile and make nice even if they’re blatantly racist, and while this is an expectation that applies to any customer, it’s extra evident when it comes to, well. westerners. (and by westerners here i mean people who subscribe to western culture: am*ricans, including asian-ame*icans, asian-african am*ricans and whatever other immigrants exist there, eur*peans, hell, most of the internet population. it’s hard to define something when you haven’t thought in depth about it)

online, it’s all-american. this could be because the shared language here is english, and for some reason the br*tish are all too ready to suck up to am*rica, but. well. it’s just a thing that happens. in fandoms you’re expected to subscribe to the communication method and ideals that are, well. western. sjws are everywhere, and what are they angry about? western problems. (of course this is understandable, because who cares about the third world when you’re living in relative stability in a relatively prosperous country, and even if you aren’t, you’re safe in the knowledge that the rest of the world probably has it worse.) popular media: am*rican, am*rican, the fucking mouse, br*tish. oh, and did i mention am*rican?

the thing is that this, in itself, is understandable. it’s inevitable considering the way ww/ii ended. it’s fine, it’s bearable, i can deal with it.

what i can’t fucking deal with: people talking down to me. people assuming they know about the problems my country faces just because they’ve read about it in passing, or they used to be from here, or they have friends here. you’re not living in it. you’re not dealing with this day-in-day-out. you’re not the one who will face the consequences when it comes to a head.

what i can’t accept: being spoken to like i’m stupid, just because i don’t follow the western values or belief systems. just because i’m not a westerner doesn’t mean i’m less intelligent. just because i don’t agree with you on how parenting should be doesn’t mean i approve of abuse. just because i subscribe to the values of my ethnicity, my country, doesn’t mean i’m uncultured. it does not give you a reason to talk to me like you’re enlightened by virtue of your “western”-ness, and i’m some poor savage. we’re not living in the colonial era. you don’t get to do that anymore.

there are so so so many things that bother me about it. there are so many experiences that i have yet to parse through and break down and understand. there are so many things i can’t stand about how the world is western-centric, how for some reason a country’s growth is measured by how well it fits the western standard, how unfair it is that in g*rmany they retain such a strong grasp on their roots while progressing but we see the same thing elsewhere in asia and it’s called a completely different name.

what i know is that whenever i see a white person in the street i instinctively draw back. am*rican accents in real life bother me. eur*pean accents in real life bother me. but why don’t ind*an accents? why don’t midd*e eas*ern ones?

anyway if you read all the way down here i’m sorry lol i genuinely do not have anything against you, personally, if you’re a westerner - it’s just that this west-centric worldview that i find everywhere seriously bothers me something bad. why is it that we are all measuring ourselves against a standard set by people who were our oppressors? this reeks of daddy issues