#am I afraid to criticise it

[hilacopter]

leftists have created for themselves a situation where they have to either be islamophobic or antisemitc, because to them anything even mildly criticising islam or muslims and not treating them as a pure, primitive and peaceful culture is islamophobic. acknowledging jewish oppression under muslim rule or our indigeneity to the levant interferes with their narrative of the perfect noble savages, so now they have to choose between supporting jews or continuing to be unconditionally islamophilic. guess what they chose.

[hadleysmis]

Montparnasse finds Gavroche

... In Hadley's AU, that is

May contain sensitive topics

Setting: The Northern island of Japan formally known as Ainu Mosir now adorns the name Hokkaidou after its official annexation. It is the 1930s and the engine of war does not pause in its acceleration.

There's two things I would like to establish happens in my AU: 1) Jean Valjean takes care of Cosette ever since she was a baby unlike in the book where she is a child ; 2) Cosette represents that no one can be a perfect victim.

With my Ainu storyline headed by Éponine largely in the prior sections and by Gavroche in the latter, I handle how I can insert Jean Valjean and Cosette's bucket scene with Montparnasse and Gavroche; and I also will handle the theme about the violent, ultimately justified minority.

Long post.

Some time ago, I wrote about my AU's Éponine being lynched in one of my posts.

After Gavroche grieved for her, the family decides to bury her before any authority got a hold of her. As M. Thénardier used to be paid to dig up bodies and earn money off from handing over skulls and buried accessories, he was scared in what they would do to his daughter.

After they had buried her, they notified the Police that she had simply gone missing, and that there were no known suspicious, potential perpatrators.

After the initial grieving days pass by, Gavroche finds his parents to continue living in Hakodate and not consider travelling 'back home'.

As Gavroche was too young to remember the time he had spent in Asahikawa (more up north than the southern-located Hakodate which was also the family's hometown), his constant pleas were ignored.

Because he was a child, and none of his siblings were born during the mass starvation tactic for assimilation of the Ainus, he did not know how harsh the situation was in Asahikawa.

Paralleling one of the great mistakes from Jean Valjean when caring for Cosette wherein he refused to correct and her and educate her on the reality of the past due to the desire of not reliving the trauma, the Thénardiers also pay the price for the miseducation of their later generation with Éponine and Gavroche.

Azelma, closer to her mother and therefore know more about her mother's life than Gavroche, makes her conclusion at the current age of sixteen to stay in Hakodate with her parents.

They argue, and Azelma argues that she wants to be Japanese.

"Even after all that the Wajin have done to us?" Gavroche almost screams in defence. In shock and horror from the dissonance from his sister, he holds himself back and instead speaks in bursts, much like a scared young dog barking.

After the multitude of attempts in maintaining an act, the walls of water in her eyes well up, and she speaks in a low, harsh whisper which echoes through the house. "What other choice do we have?"

It seems Azelma had a call of realisation earlier than Éponine had; perhaps at the same time despite not having been together. Perhaps she had felt a shiver or a severed connection as Éponine predicted, her words jagged by the involuntarily rhythms of gasps, "They're going to wipe out every one of us."

Azelma then spoke like a bee's sting: "I mean look at us. We're not even Ainus anymore."

Her words injected into her brother's bloodstream, and like how a bee tears its bottom, separating itself from the venom, Azelma gasped in shock, her mouth open, pulling in her falling tears like a slow black hole.

In terror of her own words, and in shame for still believing in her stance, Azelma rushed into her room, and thus never seeing Gavroche again.

The young teenager then took his part, planning to run away at last. He had dreamt of it with Éponine. She was the one who could've agreed to his adventurous whims and patriotic protest; only if there had been more time to convince her.

As a last farewell, he goes to his sister's grave and finds two men chatting and laughing as they dig u her body. One speaks of how grave digging is below him as a job for his status (reference to Gribier), and another who was an anthropologist.

There is also implication of rape as Éponine is a fresh corpse and not a skeleton; the two men must want either the treasures (like accessories) buried with her, or they wanted her.

Gavroche, fuelled by anger and disgust never known to him before, attacks both, and ends up killing one with a rock. The Gribier character had ran away.

Gavroche realises that he's going to die, and that this was the end for him. And he never got to go home.

It is then here we have an unexpected reference to the book; except, it isn't the father-daughter dynamic from Jean Valjean and Young Cosette, but instead father-son dynamic from Montparnasse and Gavroche.

Rather than a bucket gently being lifted, it is the bloodied rock.

However, the moment Gavroche realises there was another strong man in the scene, he is afraid. Montparnasse is a Wajin, and Gavroche tries to flee, but due to his adrenaline and energy being all spent, along with the brutal partner of realisation of murder, Gavroche crawls away and coughs deeply like he was unwillingly summoning vomit.

Montparnasse had watched on, and he makes a statement to the young boy that there is no such thing as a perfect victim.

This branch of the story is a more clear cut message from Cosette's storyline. While Cosette sympathises with the Japanese to an extent, and believes that there may be peace in the future (much like the relationship the indigenous populations of Japan on paper have today), Montparnasse, a yakuza, believes that this engines which crushes minorities to survive will perpetuate forever.

He believes that there is no rebellion, no revolution, and no change given to the system unless there's violence. If there's passive protest, then peace may be reached with a flip of a coin long after their deaths, or never at all.

He tells Gavroche that in order to live one must fight, and therefore he reassures him that he is not going to tell on the authorities about him. In fact, he was on his side.

The bloodied rock that Gavroche didn't even realise he was still grabbing tightly onto is then lifted by the yakuza, and Gavroche feels as though much of his burdens floated away with that rock.

When Montparnasse tossed the rock away, there was malice in his mind, but no anger shown in his throw. He just tosses it near the dead man's head as though it was a mere coincidence.

Montparnasse didn't care about death anyway; he had murdered himself in order to get to the point he was in.

When Montparnasse offers his cool hand, Gavroche takes it, much like how Cosette had when Jean Valjean offered his.

Montparnasse asks where Gavroche had intended to go.

"Go where?"

"You said you were dead. And that you never got to go back home."

"I have no home."

"Then where did you mean by what you said? Isn't a home what you make of it? Where did you want to go?"

Gavroche doesn't answer.

He instead presses for Montparnasse to leave so he could bury his sister again but Montparnasse suggests they go further deep into the forest and dig a new grave elsewhere.

Even though the task was carried out completely silent save for Gavroche's sniffs and whimpers, the meaning was huge.

Gavroche and Montparnasse bury her and this takes all night and day.

Exhausted, Gavroche reveals where he believed was his home: "Asahikawa." He did not elaborate beyond that; echoing the characteristic of Éponine's speech patterns.

But Montparnasse understood, and they got on a train together and headed up north.

Some of Montparnasse's enemies were on the train, and he fearlessly kills them. Gavroche is tasked to be a lookout as Montparnasse washes up.

They chuck the corpses out of the moving train, and Gavroche realises what a dangerous man he is trusting— and feeling comfort to.

Gavroche sticks close to Montparnasse as they sit in their seats, and the latter imposes authority if anybody dared to question Gavroche.

We don't get to see them actually arrive at Asahikawa nor what happens in their stay. Them heading off is more of me saying goodbye to Gavroche's storyline as I think it reaches satisfaction.

There is many problems in between why Montparnasse would find Gavroche, though. He does have a connection with the Thénardiers, but why would he favour Gavroche's side?

I'm guessing he had already met with the rest of the Thénardiers when Gavroche was absent and on the run. Or maybe Montparnasse visited them when Gavroche was off in his 'high' in his acceptance of indigenous identity where he was celebrating by doing rituals and wearing traditional clothes, etc.

Montparnasse, other than being a yakuza member, is very mysterious to me. He first appears in the AU when the Great Kantou Earthquake Massacre was happening, and provides the viewpoint of the mass executions the officials were making of communists, socialists, and pro-union citizens. (Meanwhile Javert provided the viewpoint of officials encouraging the mass lynchings of Koreans, and Jean Valjean and Cosette being the viewpoints of many ethnic minorities being slaughtered by the public.)

He calls the communists and whatnot his friends, but I have not created scenes where he directly converses or associates himself with them.

As far as I have made him, he could possibly be a communist, or Korean, or any other minority that was killed within that short period of time.

This is important of a detail as it would then explain why he would take pity on the Thénardiers and even come to visit them and eventually take Gavroche in.

When it comes to this type of history and its inseparable politics, I always stood on the ground that connection and communication between minority groups are important in order to keep the majority on a leash or outright cause a change through international pressure.

I'm supposing this was my reasoning for writing this storyline— as it emphasises empathy and togetherness, with the painful string of oppression and trauma grouping them together.

Anyways, while Cosette and Marius' storyline comments on my support for better education on history, this storyline represents more of my social beliefs in how minorities should stick together.

'If one minority isn't free, we all aren't free.'

The storyline was also inspired by one of the beginnings scenes, if not the beginning scene, from the 1996 Korean adaptation of Les Misérables, the Priest Francesco (Bishop Myriel) watches an insect struggle in the snow. it seems to be a metaphor on how the underprivileged act in away that is natural to the circumstance: just as the ant flails and struggles to stay alive in the snow, we are later shown a mentally unstable man with a knife having stabbed a woman.

I just came up with this storyline, so it's a baby. Who knows how this will develop, if at all.

If you did make it down here, ahhhhh I'm so happy and grateful. You have a nice day!

[kelpermoosee]

hii its the anon who asked abt the samus thing, ngl id love to read a a post abt your opinion on the series since you hinted at that in the initial response

Hi again! Glad you're willing to hear my thoughts about it because, ohhhh boy, do I have a lot! I'm not the best at articulating my feelings, but I will definitely try!

Not entirely sure how to structure this, although I do want to make it clear that I am probably NOT the target audience for this show. So most points might seem a bit nit-picky if anything, but then again I am just rambling about my personal thoughts haha!

To start off, I obviously enjoy the show a lot. Like, way more than I ever expected. I get super excited every time new episodes come out, and I have re-watched the entire thing multiple times. I think the music and artstyle is nice, and the voice acting is surprisingly good for a web series like this. There's no denying that a lot of time and effort was poured into it, and you gotta give credit where credit is due.

Despite this, I do have a few personal gripes, mainly about how they utilize their characters. To make things easier to read, I'll put them into a numbered list:

1. The Constant Romance

Okay, most highschool AUs are going to have some sort of teen romance, it's practically inevitable. However, with Nintendo High I can't help but notice how its a constant thing in nearly every episode. Granted, a lot of teen dramas probably do the same thing and they're just playing off that, but I don't really watch that kinda stuff. I'm also aromantic (and again, NOT the target audience), so I am more critical of how romance is portrayed in media. Other people might not mind it at all, and that's completely fine! It’s all up to preference!

Yet after some time, I found the constant romance plots to be a bit tiring. There's a lot of ideas you could do with a highschool AU outside of romance, especially if your cast consists of Nintendo characters. Have the cast establish a new club! Face off in grade-wide competition (like a version of senior assassin)! Go on a field-trip! Pull an all-nighter for an assignment! There's a lot of fun highschool things they could twist into something unique, and I'd love to see it!

Maybe this is why I enjoy episodes like Identity Theft (S1 EP 4) and Rivals (S2 EP 1) so much. I think all NH episodes are creative in their own ways, but these plot lines certainly stood out the most.

2. How the Show Handles its Female Characters

In addition to the constant romance, I'm not the biggest fan of how the female characters are portrayed in the series. Generally, they only seem to be included/described when its regarding their relationship to a male character.

When most of them get screen-time, they're always talking about crushes, gushing about a hot guy, or fighting over some dude. Even if they're not talking, they're probably blushing at another male character. This part also falls under the constant romance thing, except I think it fits better here.

This is very apparent in minor characters like Rosalina (and maybe even Zelda and Samus?). She hardly gets any time to be her own character outside of her relationship with Waluigi. Even her series introduction was when Waluigi fell in-love with her at first sight. This may be due to time constraints, though it still bothers me to an extent.

I can say that the series is trying to get better at developing their female characters. Royal Pain (S2 EP4) clearly tries to do this by moving away from Mario and Luigi to instead focus on some of the girls. In fact, you could argue that Rosalina and Zelda get to show off their personalities more, but to be honest I have mixed feelings about this episode.

This is definitely crossing extreme nit-picky territory, because I think I'm just disappointed by how it was about babysitting of all things. Of course, I understand that this is a common trope in lots of shows. But when compared to Mario and Luigi-centric stories, the boys get to go on a fetch-quest around school, deal with an alter ego, find out about their (presumedly deceased) parents. While on the other hand, the one episode starring the girls as main characters is about...babysitting.

Sure, the babysitting plot line is a neat way to include Ness and Lucas (actually, I loved how much chaos they caused), and doesn't center itself on romance. However, I think it pales in comparison to the scope of other plot lines. It's not a boring episode by any means, I just feel weird about giving the girls attention outside of their relationship to the boys, to then immediately put them into a caregiving role. That's probably me overthinking it though, for sure.

I believe Peach and Daisy are handled way better in Mall Brawl (S2 EP8), specifically during the Mario & Luigi-inspired fight scene. Not only was it fun to watch, but it also shows how capable they can really be. Overall, it's a great step forward and I would love to see more moments like that!

3. Mario & Pauline's Characterizations

In a show like Nintendo High, it's obviously going to have its own interpretation of the characters. Nearly everyone is a teenager after all, you can't expect them to be exactly the same as their original counterparts. Yet, even with this in mind, I still dislike how Mario and Pauline are characterized in this series. They feel so far removed from the source material that they're practically OCs.

For Mario, they trade his cheerful, happy-go-lucky nature for something more sarcastic and nonchalant. These traits aren't a bad thing to have, but it doesn't feel like Mario anymore to me (even if the show tries to imply that this behavior/teenage angst stems from the loss of their parents). I don't need him going "Oh yeah!" or "Let's-a go!" in every sentence, I would just like to see a little more enthusiasm is all.

Maybe I'm over-exaggerating, since he's gotten slightly better across the course of the series. It's small, yet noticeable I suppose.

For Pauline, they twisted her to fit the "mean girl" archetype because they needed someone to be Peach's rival. This drastic change tosses away all of Pauline's core personality traits, so she's no longer kind-hearted and confident. Instead, she's egotistical and overly jealous, which doesn't really sit right with me. Especially after the elephant fruit joke at the end of The Date (S2 EP7), it really rubbed me the wrong way.

If NH needed to have a rival for Peach, I believe there are a handful of existing characters they could've used without changing Pauline. Maybe Princess Shroob would've been fun, even if she's more obscure in comparison.

With Season 3 currently in production, perhaps these points won't be as relevant anymore. Again, I obviously care a lot about the series and I wouldn't have so much to say about these aspects if I didn't. There's some room for growth, and these are simply my personal feelings. Although, if anyone wants to discuss more about these points, I'm willing to listen!

It's been a while since I've re-watched the entire series, too. So I'll probably get to that once the next episode comes out. <3

[fumekara]

ALL THE THINGS I HAVE DONE (Part 2)

SatoSugu x Gn reader 

Plot: Your relationship with the strongest sorcerers in Japan was falling apart after they yelled at you and broke your heart. 

n/a: English is not my first language, there will be a final part of this writing experiment, I am not very satisfied with how it came out. 

Tw: A lot of angst, season 2 spoilers, mention of sex, polyamorous relationship, mention of the death of one's pet, the reader has a cat, in this version Geto is a sorcerer. 

If you are sensitive to mourning for your pets, do not interact with this fic. 

WC: 1.9K

Click here for part 1

You had lain down and held Nuko in your arms the night you found him under the bed in the guest room and, without your noticing, you had fallen asleep, but no one seemed to care, Sutoru and Suguru had not come to wake you up to join them. 

You were sure they were still angry with you for what had happened the night before and you didn't want to think about it, since you now had another problem to deal with, Nuko's. 

He wasn't well, not at all, you could see it from the way he was lying on himself, the way he avoided moving and the way he occasionally meowed as if to warn you that he was still alive, for now. 

You stroked his back and he let you, after all he couldn't do much. 

Suddenly you heard the sound of approaching footsteps in your room. Immediately you rolled onto your back and pretended to be asleep.

When Suguru and Satoru entered your room, trying to make as little noise as possible, Nuko lifted his head as if to find out who was interrupting your fake sleep.   

You felt their weight sink into the bed when they sat beside you and then you felt a hand gently stroking your back.

"Y/N?" Satoru called you in a low voice. You didn't answer hoping that would be enough to convince them to leave you alone.

"We know you're not sleeping," Suguru said as he approached you from the other side of the bed, being careful not to crush Nuko with his weight. 

"How did you know?" you asked resigned by the fact that it was now useless to pretend.

"Your breathing was too irregular, that's not what you do when you sleep. We know better by now after so long sleeping together." you heard Sato chuckle as he rested his head on your shoulder. He was uncertain of the movement because he was afraid you would reject him because of what happened yesterday, but when you didn't he kept to your side. 

Suguru who was in front of you removed a lock of hair from your face very gently, as if you were made of glass, the same gesture you had made to him yesterday, and it broke his heart when he thought back to how badly he had treated you after you had given him a taste of your love. 

You reached out your hand again, but not to return the affection of the two men beside you, but to stroke your cat again, who was taking quick, heavy breaths.

"He's sick" you broke the silence.

"What's wrong with him?" asked Satoru looking at Nuko.

"I don't know, but he doesn't eat, breathes poorly and sleeps all day." You rolled onto your back and the white-haired man pulled away from you to give you space.

"Is that why you didn't sleep with us last night? Or even because of what happened yesterday?" asked Suguru worriedly, but you had a hunch he was using it as an excuse to criticise you. 

"What do you mean, that I use my cat being sick as an excuse not to sleep with you?" you asked without hiding your irritation.

"I didn't mean that, we're just worried." 

"Really?, so why didn't you come to wake me up if you care so much?" you sat up and so did they. "Don't pretend you care so much, I know you don't" you spat, by now you had a feeling you didn't care what they thought anymore, not after the words they said to you last time. 

"Y/N, we do care about you. We came here to apologize to you," Satoru told you, trying to find the right words to keep you from getting angry. 

"We went too far yesterday, Y/N, we shouldn't have treated you that way" Suguru picked you up and made you rest your head on his chest and shortly afterwards Satoru joined in the hug "We are sincerely sorry for what happened".

You felt the strong urge to cry and let them wrap their arms around you, but part of you did not believe their words. By now it seemed to you that they were only pretending to really love you. All you had been thinking about for weeks was how you felt like the third wheel in your relationship, as if they were only with you for convenience, because you were fun for them and not because they cared about you. 

The way they talked to each other, cuddled and had fun without you had started to make you feel insecure about your role in the relationship with Suguru and Satoru, even though those moments made you suspect that they didn't really need you, it still remained an assumption. But you also suspected that they were more aloof and impatient with you in a different way than between the two of them, and yesterday's discussion and the fact that they didn't want you with them in bed seemed to have awakened in you the confirmation of your worries. 

"How many times do we have to go through this again?" you said trying to hide the urge to cry "Now you apologize, but I know it will happen again in the future."

They looked at each other not believing your words.

"What do you mean, sweetheart?" asked Suguru. 

Then you confessed: "I am not part of this relationship.". 

"Yes, you're part of it, we love you Y/N," Satoru told her by taking her chin mat so she could look straight into your blue eyes "I know what we said to you was mean, but you mustn't think we don't love you just because we had a fight once. We..." 

"It's not just that" you interrupt him "I watch how you treat each other and you don't do it the same way you treat me. It's not the first time you've made me feel clingy, when you often do things as if I'm not there, when you change the subject as soon as I butt into the conversation or when you get nervous about the smallest things I do." you continued "I feel like that all the time, when we're together, when we talk to each other, even when we make love I feel like I'm just a fun for you, not someone you love."

After you opened up to them, your boyfriends stared at you, not believing what you had just told them. They were not sure what had made you doubt the love they both had for each other, but they thought back to the fact that the two of them had known each other longer than you, worked together and always together had faced so many problems and dark pasts that, although they had hurt them deeply, they had learnt to face them together and, no matter how hard you had tried to support them, as they had supported each other in the darkest moments of their lives. You were not to blame, they were simply part of a world of which you were not and could not be a part. 

Together they faced the death of Haibara and Riko and both shared the scars that had been inflicted on them by Toji Fushiguro. For years they supported each other and loved each other unconditionally, sharing everything with each other, everything they loved most, including you. 

They loved you, really loved you, but they knew that they had both shared something in their experience as sorcerers that had allowed them to strengthen their bond and their love, but they had left you behind.

They both did not know what to say because they knew that was the truth. The only thing they felt able to do was to hold you in their arms again, this time with more strength, with more affection, as if they did not want to let you go. Their faces were buried in you, Suguru in your back and Satoru's in your shoulder, and you heard them crying. 

"I have to take Nuko to the vet. But I think there's not much to do with him," you said, letting a silent tear slide down your cheek.

"Let us take you," Satoru told you, holding you tightly, rubbing his head in the crook of your neck.

"No, I need to be alone," your voice broke. By now you knew you had lost the boys you had fallen in love with and you just wanted to run away.

By now you could no longer contain the tears that fell uninterruptedly from your eyes, they let you go, and as you left the room carrying Nuko with you, you heard their sobs and your heart broke. 

______________

And now here you were, in the driveway of your backyard sitting on the seat of your car holding Nuko's yellow collar. 

You had been there for fifteen minutes already, but you hadn't yet made up your mind to get out and go into the house; you didn't know how you would face Satoru and Suguru. You were afraid that after all you had confessed to them before you left them alone in tears it would be the final turning point that would end your relationship. You didn't want to hurt them, just the thought of making them cry made you feel bad, you loved them, you loved them so much and you would probably separate. 

You took a couple of deep breaths and got out of the car. 

After entering the house you closed the door and took off your shoes still holding the collar. 

You had been out of the house all day and by now everyone must have gone to sleep. The house was silent and shrouded completely in darkness except for a light coming from the kitchen. 

As you silently entered you saw Suguru and Satoru sitting on either side of the dining table who, as soon as they noticed your presence, although you could glimpse tiredness and sadness in their eyes, tried to show you their best smile. 

They had been waiting for you.

They both extinguished their smiles when you approached them pointing out the traces of crying on your face, and only then did they realize that you had returned alone. 

You sat by Suguru's side with Satoru facing you and placed Nuko's collar on the table, letting them know that your cat was gone forever. Suddenly you felt tears fill your eyes again.

"Oh love, come here," Suguru hugged you, while Satoru got up from his chair to join you and do the same. You stayed like that for you don't know how long, despite everything that had happened, they were there for you at that moment, just as you were always there for them when they needed you. They let you cry and vent, hugging you as if to protect you from all the evil in the world. 

At one point you felt your body lift off the ground, you didn't know if it was Satoru or Suguru holding you, but you buried your tearful face in his neck as he carried you to the bedroom. 

They laid you in the middle of the bed and held you close all night, even when you all fell asleep together. 

Perhaps there was still hope between you, perhaps all was not lost.  

Click here for the final part

Tag: @tatahungry

[skullofrome]

Hot take from the JTHM fandom: I don’t think a JTHM movie should be made. Never. Not because of some weird purity nonsense like “iTs NoT tHe SaMe As ThE cOmIcS” because- yeah, that’s the fucking point. It’s because I am terrified of one thing: Incels.

Okay, here’s the deal:

We all know that Nny isn’t supposed to be idolised or looked up to, right? Like there are multiple times in the comic where his way of thinking or philosophy or whatever else you can describe the disastercore crockpot shitstew brewing in his mind as are criticised and questioned. He’s a great and genuinely fascinating character, I love him to death, but in real life he’d be a horrible, horrible person.

With all due respect and appreciation, he’s a dangerous, irrational, impulsive, hair-thin triggered, pathetic, cowardly hypocritical loser who tried to kill Devi, the one person he loved because he was afraid of a possibility he had no reason to worry about or even believe will happen. He is a sadistic monster who knows what he is doing is wrong but does not have the capacity and/or willpower to stop himself from hurting the people around him.

Point is- most of us should understand that Johnny is not meant to be looked at as an almighty prophet or a philosopher equivalent to the likes of Socrates or Confucius or this, that and any of the other. I believe we are meant to look at him as a force of nature: something that is chaotic and horrible and unwanted but is cursed to exist anyway. Something to study and analyse but never to admire or aspire to be. As relatable and funny and, dare I say, cathartic as he is, we must never give into the temptation of being like him. Incels and people like them, on the other hand, absolutely do not understand any of these things.

You see, incels are stupid. It’s why they blame women and minorities for the fact that they’re unlikeable and subpar. This applies to how they consume media, too. Characters like Walter White and The Joker were completely misunderstood and butchered by incels. If a morally grey male character pushed to the edge is even thought of within an incel’s space, they will devour and kill and consume it like bloodthirsty piranhas without giving it a second thought. As “intellectual” as they larp themselves to be, they have none; they don’t self-reflect, or analyse, or do even the slightest amount of critical thinking about anything. Their lack of self-awareness should disgust and horrify you. When those people read JTHM, they don’t see Johnny as who and what he actually is - a force of nature to avoid and only take in from a distance - they see him as a misunderstood genius; a pillar of supreme and almighty intellect; a based Chad among the sea of soyjack virgins that is Society™️. They take him seriously.

They’re literally Jimmy. And nobody likes Jimmy.

[utilitycaster]

Finally seeing Bells Hells/c3 biggest fans and supporters after 3 years saying, "Some of you are so afraid to criticise CR that you end making other people feel like shit for voicing their valid criticism. We are allowed to complain about media that we’ve invested so much time on and paying for 😐". Its ironic because JUST last week everything was perfect. Or c3 is perfect but all the other parties, breaks etc. Im like that IS c3. The Villian is fr MN and the party is tied to VM. C3 is all party

going to give the mean and sarcastic answer (not to you, to the people you're talking about) and then the thoughtful one because I think both are important to voice here

mean sarcastic answer is "actually Matt was homeless once so I can't believe you're resorting to leftist infighting and criticizing him like that? You can't criticize anything involving Bells Hells because all of the characters are queer and also Beau is a brown lesbian so it's really racist of you to be upset that she showed up in the charity one-shot and most of the Mighty Nein and Vox Machina have trauma so it's actually really problematic of you to be mad that they're showing up in the wrap-up? smh C3 fans are just mad this isn't The Bells Hells Search For Their Neighbor's Missing Cat In The Alps show."

The serious answer really is that like, yeah, this campaign has been The Moon Plot And Past Parties campaign the entire time. I'm not going to link my entire blog here but my archive is extensive and if you were to cross-reference my opinions over the course of the campaign you could see that I (and my many other allegedly evil Campaign 2 stan pals with which this fandom is crawling, as if we are apparently the invasive species here and not the bears in whose neighborhoods you built a cul de sac and tried to shoo out) started out with high hopes for a third campaign on the heels of two excellent prior ones. Our disappointment is that at every turn we had to lower our bar; forgive me if, after a campaign in which every time anyone else said "wow, fucked up that they yanked away the football, that's disappointing" you harassed and mocked us, no one has any sympathy when the campaign ends at, frankly, a not unsurprising place for it to end. It's openly been called the Avengers Assemble campaign by the cast. Like, actually, almost everyone else had the opinion of "I wish this campaign focused primarily on Bells Hells"/"I wish this campaign were more rooted in Marquet" from, frankly, the second that Vox Machina appeared if not earlier, and that's when a lot of the people currently melting down started watching. I have been here so long that the people sending me anon hate have had full turnover. And yeah, just last week everything was all going to turn out okay, and it's like while it's fair to have had more hope for the campaign around episode 50, if you're in the endgame and nothing's clicking, I think it's okay to say "well, I'll see this through to the end but here are the many failures of this campaign over all".

I think it's extremely valid if, when the people lobbied every insult and accusation they could think of at you when you criticized the campaign or any of its characters before 9:00 AM Pacific Time on Thursday, January 30th, 2025, suddenly find themselves realizing that yeah, this campaign has a track record of jumping around to other parties when Bells Hells should probably have been in focus, and that the character arcs were mostly cut short in favor of the singular moon plot and it's virtually impossible to end in a way that is entirely satisfying, though the world state will probably be intriguing and the characters will probably get some blandly happy endings in between cuts to Vox Machina and the Mighty Nein; one's reaction isn't "oh, you poor thing" but rather "We told you so." The party may have fucked around and never really found out. I will have to take my satisfaction that (as multiple mutuals who have seen this all unfold pointed out) the people who have used their fandom of this campaign to throw rocks at anyone they didn't like and feel morally righteous in doing so are reaping what they sowed. I have no control over the outcome of the end of this campaign but I can certainly control whether I have any sympathy for those who are reeling from a revelation most of us figured out months ago, and they've been so consistently awful to everyone else at every turn that I cannot say I do.

I think it's valid to criticize Critical Role. I've been doing so all campaign. I was against toxic positivity in the fandom during Campaign 2, and while I'm not entirely proud of everything I've done and said this campaign, at least I feel secure in never demanding anything from others I did not practice myself. If the fandom is better during a hypothetical Campaign 4 I think it will be in part because hopefully a C4 party won't be as much of an attraction for that kind of dish-it-out-and-never-take-it loser Bells Hells appealed to; and because hopefully those same losers will have either left, or learned a bitter lesson for whom they have only themselves to blame.

[asexualbookbird]

Ah, I read some books in 2024, huh? And eight rereads? Who am I. Tried a lot of new things this year which yay! Go me! Branching out! Not all of those were successes, but I did it and therefore no one can criticise me. But we all know what's important here. So here you go, THE BEST AND WORST OF 2024 (in no particular order)!

THE BEST BOOKS OF 2024

The Adventure of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty - yes, I am still thinking about this, thank you for asking! A full entire adult of a person, a mother even, going on adventures? Fighting and killing and fucking and living? Hell yeah! More of this, please! I would also love to see a prequel of Amina's adventures before the book timeline. Everything about this was so great, I look forward to rereading it.

The City We Became by NK Jemisin - I was wary about this because it was so polarizing to readers. On one hand, even my least favorite Jemisin was still fun, on the other hand, I know nothing about New York. HOWEVER. The audiobook was FABULOUS. I wholeheartedly believe the audio is why I enjoyed this so much. This was FUN this is what reading should feel like all the time.

When the Angels Left the Old Country by Sacha Lamb -FRIEND TO MY SOUL. Again, beautiful audio performance. Beautiful story. I need my own copy so I can reread this to my hearts content. It's cute, it deals with heavy topics, it's gay, it's the friend to my soul.

WORST BOOKS OF 2024

The Novice by Taran Matharu - Ugh. Bought when released, knowing nothing, which seems to be a Theme with books sitting on my shelf I end up not enjoying. Learning about the history of this book made me more angry than the book itself. What do you mean his entire series was bought and published without an editor? It shows, but. Come on. Wattpad born and it shows.

Last Heir to Blackwood Library by Hester Fox- this was only for a summer reading bingo challenge, but come on. There are ways to pull the memory loss, or altered memory plot line and have it work. This did not do that. Wish a library would eat my memories of this book so I never had to think of it again.

Red Sister by Mark Lawrence - Mark Lawrence is one of those authors who writes long books because he thinks it makes him a Good Writer. Mark Lawrence is one of those writers who is afraid to write adult characters because he thinks they won't sell, but continuously puts them in adult situations to show how Hard their lives are and Isn't This Dark And Gritty And Sad without doing the work to actually get there. It toes the line between fantasy in scifi, but not well. It feels more indecisive than anything else.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Firebreak by Nicole Kornher-Stace -more like fireBROKE MY HEART!!!! It was on my tbr list for years, and I finally found a copy and I'm glad I own it so I can reread it at my leisure. It's what Ready Player One could have been if it was actually good.

Godkiller by Hannah Kaner - Okay honestly, this and City were fighting for a spot in the main top three. Either could be there. I do honorable mentions for this very reason. I was surprised to learn this was a tiktok book, because yknow. It's actually Good. Witcher vibes, but with more respect towards women. Why isn't book three in my possession right this second.

Someone You Can Build A Nest In by John Wiswell - I Am Normal About This Book. It was fun to read and annotate it for a friend. It was fun to be around as two friends read it and I loved seeing their reactions to it. Loved cheering on Shesheshen, still think she deserves to eat more people. Friends and I will still share biting goop memes with the caption "Shex3 posting". It's safe to say this has rewritten my brain.

DISHONORABLE MENTIONS

Legacy of Ash by Matthew Ward - I was hyped about this book before release. I bought book two before even reading this because I was that sure I'd enjoy it. What a fool. This did NOT have to be 800 pages. It was another example of someone writing many words because they think that's what Good Writers Do, and not stopping to think about what those words even SAY. Which, in this case, was ~Absolutely Nothing~

Ghost Station by SA Barnes - crying sobbing this book was so fucking stupid. Best thing to come out of it was seeing a friend read it and confirming that yes, it was That Fucking Stupid. Learning the author mainly writes YA Paranormal explained why everyone had Too Stupid To Live disease.

I'm Afraid You've Got Dragons by Peter S Beagle - Admittedly only here to make things even and because it's still pretty fresh in my mind. I was soooo excited when this was announced, and now I'm soooo happy I didn't preorder it. More boring than anything else, but I don't wish it was longer because it already felt Too Long.

Once again, ignored rereads because I feel like that's cheating somehow. Let these be for highlighting new and fun books I discovered! I feel like the last few Bricks I've read have been Very Bad so I hope a couple of the bricks I have planned for 2025 are actually good. Considering one of those is Labyrinth's Heart, I think we're okay.

[ihopesocomicask]

HELLOOOO! I actually wanted to send this ask a week before but ig tumblr decided it was the best time to shadowban the blog :( Anyways before I say something I love love LOVE your comic and the character writing, it actually helped a lot on writing my characters too! I’m currently trying to put up a webcomic script that also tackles ableism and abuse with those characters, but I was worried about something you guys pointed out in the MP analysis video. Specifically, the idea that the way Nothing is literally rigged against the narrative and gets tossed at in every direction is not at all empowerment for disabled characters, and is what can be most likely summarized into “trauma/suffering pxrn for plot”. The fact that you guys are VERY RIGHT makes me kinda worried because I also have a disabled character who is abused by their family in their childhood, but is shown to be perfectly capable and does overcome the influence of their abusive family eventually. The REAL problem would be that after all that character development, I’m…killing them. Yeah. I can’t even remove it bc this will act as a point of an “everything goes downhill from here” moment and is CRUCIAL to the plot. I’d been thinking about it ever since I saw your analysis and if this event will just, quote on quote, “…a message that - regardless of your limitations - you can achieve just as much as anyone else and, for the majority of its run, it repeatedly rams the counterargument down your throat.” Not repeatedly, I suppose, since you can’t kill someone twice, but still, I do think killing a character after all that development might not be good. The fact that I AM partially doing this for the plot does not make it better, and now I’m wondering if this will end up conveying a message that is Not Very Good like how MP did. I’ve been thinking about this for a while and it would be a honor for me to get your points of view about this. Sorry for the long-ass question, and I wish both of you the best of luck. Love you two!

Oh hey, I remember your ask and yes, Tumblr did indeed eat it. That's another symptom of the shadowban, I'm afraid. Tumblr shall render any asks in your inbox invisible and therefore you cannot answer them. We sincerely apologise for that. oof First of all, thank you so so much for your kind words concerning the comic and our characters. That's super sweet to hear. Now to your question. An important thing to point out - and what we shall keep pointing out until we're blue in the face - is that My Pride was sold as an inspirational, empowering story to the disabled and promised a story where the disabled main rises above her oppressive society.

Which... never happens.

The narrative kinda tries to do that with story beats such as Nothing fighting Quickmane despite only being a kid, her 'chosen one' subplot and - more infamously - Feather's speech.

But it very much feels like it's going through the motions that all "pro-disability" media that has been criticised in the past goes through. Whatever progress Nothing makes always has to be undone by the plot kicking her in the groin. Her final battle against Fire is a major example of this: not only does the plot demand she lose her brother - one of the few characters that truly cared for her - but it also demands she get her ass kicked, even though there was no reason for her to have lost the fight aside from her being disabled.

And that's one of my major issues with My Pride: it reels you in with its seemingly empowering plot and some choice quotes that do not reflect the full script and then it ultimately offers nothing but a depressing ride. Now, to the secondary issue of 'is it bad to depict ableism in your story'? Despite what people of a certain online persuasion might try and say, our issues with My Pride is NOT because the show has ableism in it and no, Tribble is not automatically an ableist because she has ableism in her story. She is an ableist because she put on a front of being an ally to physically disabled individuals and then presumed to know better than us whenever criticism was given while writing ableist tripe and presenting it as empowering.

That's literally it.

So, no, having ableism by itself in your story is not a bad thing on its own. It's how you ultimately handle the topic and present it that plays a part. I'd have a lot to say if you were presenting this story as a form of escapism for disabled readers, but that doesn't appear to be the case. As for the subject of your disabled character being killed off: I think you really need to stop and ask yourself what kind of story you wish to tell.

Naturally, this also depends on the type of story you wish to tell. For example, is it a tragedy where everybody in the cast is treated the same and they all encounter hardship or is this just specific to your disabled character? You need to be straightforward with your genre.

Why does this disabled character have to overcome all obstacles just to die in the end? You mentioned it's 'for the sake of the plot' and acknowledge that this on its own isn't really a good reason for making such a decision.

I agree with you. It just sounds like a bit of a letdown and actually very soap opera-esque to do this purely for plot reasons. And I don't mean 'soap opera-esque' in the essence that it's cheap or lowbrow. I mean that this is the kind of thing that soap operas do when an actor doesn't renew their contract, has no intention of returning and they therefore have to kill off their character.

It's just very obvious and on-the-nose, if that makes sense? And it's something that disabled people have seen many times in media.

And what's more, it's done because there's often no choice outside of replacing the actor. Whereas you do have the opportunity to explore other options and ways to tweak your plot, especially when you already sound uncomfortable with this development anyway. Not just because of what we say but because you personally see a point in what we say. I don't know the ins and outs of your story and you shouldn't have to share it for me to get it but, from what little you've told me, I'd personally be rooting for this character to not have their struggles be all for nothing as an audience member. And this actually reminds me of a trick that Richard Adams pulled when it came to the ending of The Plague Dogs. Snitter and Rowf were destined to die. However, because we as the reader naturally willed them to live as we followed their journey and bonded with them: Adams decided to have the dogs fished out of the water and have their happy ending. Because we as the audience willed that into existence without us even realising because of how real Adams made these characters.

What I'm saying is that - sometimes - going for the most obvious and 'cliche' ending can often be the most creative choice, depending on the type of audience you're trying to appeal to and the type of characters you write and how exactly you write them. You're already writing about real issues that affect real people, so your writing shall evoke a deep connection from your audience. Take advantage of that but also reward your audience for their perseverance rather than trying to make your audience feel a certain way through cheap means (i.e. through shocking moments that seemingly come out of nowhere). You don't need to fall back on a shocking twist to make your plot interesting. You're already there with the abuse storyline, in my honest opinion. I appreciate that the depiction of abuse has been watered down by media but - trust me - it is still a topic that - if handled correctly - can evoke certain emotions that a character death often cannot. Anyway, I'm very sorry this got extremely long. I really hope my rambling was helpful to you, anon, and I wish you the best of luck with your story! c: - RJ

[lavenderdropp]

HOW TO BE A GOOD BOYFRIEND

Characters: Michikatsu Tsugikuni x Female! Reader [slight Muzan x reader under cut]

Synopsis: In which, Michikatsu Tsugikuni tries to be a better boyfriend for her.

[Author's Note] : This is going to be a small fic— a small continuation idea that is taken from one of @echantedtoon ‘s oneshots called 'Presidential Vise' from her book 'Demon Slayer Posts', which I had requested her to write a long time ago. ^^

It may not be well written— I had only decided to write it because I felt like doing so. It's mostly for fun. So please do not criticise.

Also, Michikatsu may seem a bit out of character because in this book he's 18. His personality would be affected by his teenage— he would be acting like a teenager.

Enjoy!

"SCHOOL IS DISMISSED— YOU MAY LEAVE." The announcement followed right after the bell. It was truly a pleasant thing to hear after surviving an entire lecture of history. The dismissal from the school was something that the students always look forward to— and they didn't need to be told twice to leave.

A smile graced your lips as the final bell rang—school was finally over. Good grief, it had felt endless. You were certain that if you'd had to hear one more word about the French Revolution, you might've had a stroke. You quickly gathered your stationery and slid it neatly back into your bag.

Wearing your bag over your shoulders, you made your way out of the classroom. You couldn't wait to get back home and lay down on your soft, comfortable, and warm bed—

"[Name]-san! Would you like to join us? We're going to try the new café near the bus stop!"

Alas, your daydreaming was interrupted by your fellow classmate, Hiroshi Kusukabe. The said raven-haired boy was a bright individual, known for his warm and welcoming attitude—which was truly refreshing, especially when most of the students were too afraid to even talk to you. Truly, a ball of sunshine.

But wait, did he actually just invite you to hang out?

The poor guy must've noticed how lonely you looked and decided to let you to tag along—despite the looks he was getting from his mates. What an angel! You could practically see a halo above his head.

Your face lit up like a Christmas tree. Maybe bed can wait.

Dear God, thank you!

This was too good to be true! You could finally make some friends and—

"I apologise but she won't be joining you. I am walking her home."

Ah, you should've expected that.

A sigh slipped out past your lips upon hearing the oh-so-familiar voice of your boyfriend, as he appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, beside you. There goes your golden opportunity to make some new friends. You felt like breaking down right there.

You looked up, staring blankly at the ceiling.

Dear God, why?

"Oh..well then..excuse—"

Before Hiroshi could even say anything further you were dragged away, quite literally, by Michikatsu Tsugikuni— aka the school vice president of the student body, and also your boyfriend. His hold on your hand was as firm as ever, as he pushed past the other ungraduates to make some room for both of you.

Your boyfriend is known for being an infuriatingly silent, intimidatingly solemn and irritatingly irresponsive individual, whom you couldn't help but relate to a cold winter morning— practically freezing.

He had a scary reputation in the school. And you weren't surprised. This guy could be intimidating, especially when he is helping you with your math homework. You'd rather attend those boring lectures of history twenty four hours straight than studying math with him. Too bad, you were neighbours with him— the said aloof teenager lived next door. That meant you would end up doing your homework and study with him, even if you wished not to do so sometimes.

He insists that you should have a study session with him— since you sucked at maths. Don't get me wrong, you do pretty well with other subjects. But it seems like your head stops functioning once it comes to maths.

You remember that one time you pretended to be sick to save yourself from the terrible study session with your tutor of a boyfriend, and he somehow managed to figure out that you were just pretending to be sick.

Well, your cover was blown and let's just say your hands felt like falling apart once he was done with making you solve mathematical problems. Not to mention, he bonked your head with a folded newspaper every time you got the wrong answer.

You’d consider doing math with your father instead of Michikatsu.

Ever since you’ve moved in here, in this new city, things have not been easy for you— transferring schools, having two guys holding the highest ranks in the student body swooning over you, actually ending up falling for one of them and ended up being girlfriend— which also led to the other students being too frightened to be friends with you.

"Stop glaring draggers at me." That made you roll your eyes at the burgundy haired male. The audacity he had to say that after absolutely destroying your opportunity to finally make some friend without them running away— literally.

You scoffed, which made him look at you, his eyes betraying a hint of annoyance behind the curtain of his spectacles. "Then stop taking the away every single chance I get to make a friend!" you retorted.

He looked away from your stupidly adorable pouting face, fixing his spectacles with his free hand. "You have me." came the murmur from him.

"But that's not enough! I literally have no one else to talk to at school!"

"You have..Yoriichi too."

"Michikatsu..!"

The said vice president ignored you— which made you want to throw your bag at his stupid head. Stopping by the shoe locker, you both slipped out of the school slippers and put on your respective shoes.

You were used to the looks that you were receiving from your peers and underclassmen whenever you and your boyfriend pushed past them. But, nevertheless, it was embarrassing.

"We've talked about pushing past crowd." That earned you no response, much to your frustration. "And holding my books without even asking me—when I'm done with attending my lectures." As you both stepped out of the school grounds, you were immediately greeted by the ever so lively city road.

"Yes, we have." from him was brief.

His lack of response has always bothered you and so has his overprotectiveness. He is too possessive for his own good sometimes. And it made you feel stuck.

You wished the he could be just a little more..open.

But he wasn't. You did not even feel like he was trying to be better. Does he not realise it? Or does it not bother him?

It was definitely the later.

The setting sun drowned the world into the warm hues, and it seemed to bring out your inner conflict as you glanced away from him and stare blankly at the ground beneath your feet. The dying glow of the sun, who was slowly slipping into the deep slumber of night beneath the horizon, seemed to plant a seed of melancholy in your heart.

Step. Step. Step.

Have you made a mistake—

Whoosh!

You stumbled upon your step as the tight grip of Michikatsu's hand, on your yours, pulled you back, saving you from nearly getting hit by a car. A gasp left your throat, eyes wide as you snapped out of it.

"Be careful of where you step." His eyes narrowed, his hold tightening on your hand as you both waited for the signal to go green. "Or would you prefer lying on the hospital for a month?"

"..I-I am sorry."

————————————————————————————

The ringing of bell indicated the end of another day of suffering. The classroom was filled with the chatter of ungraduates, who were enthusiastic to go back home. However, this usual bustle felt like a distant hum to you.

Last night, you pondered about Michikatsu.

About you both.

The relationship.

And his attitude, which he was unwilling to change.

It was weighing you down— as if you were chained. Your peers refuse to talk to you out of the fright. You felt so lonely. And Michikatsu too is so closed off, it did not help at all.

It hurts you. You ended up catching feelings for the aloof, solemn and stoic vice president of the Kizuki High. You thought understood you him. You were aware that it's just who he is— very reserved, overly protective, but he cares..right? You were sure that it will get better with time, that it would pass, he'll open up to you eventually, try to understand you and learn to trust you.

But it seems like you were wrong.

No matter how many times you try talking about it, try to make him understand, it seems like you were talking to a wall.

Sliding your bag over your shoulders, you made your way out of your classroom. Perhaps, you should try again—

Bump!

You blinked, startled.

You spaced out again, didn't you?

You were now facing a solid chest, that you had collided into. Dragging your gaze up, you were met with the familiar pair of maroon hues, curtained by spectacles.

"You really need to be more conscious about where you are walking." Came out the murmur from your boyfriend, followed by his hand suddenly gripping yours.

"Hello to you as well." You mumbled, being guided through the hallway by Michikatsu. You matched his pace, falling into the steps beside him. You couldn't help but stare at his profile.

Should you try talking again?

Would it be worth it?

Haven't you tried it again and again multiple times already?

Would—

"You are staring." You looked away from the taller male as his voice snapped you out of your thoughts. Gaze now focused on your feet, you couldn't help but notice that your pace was still not synchronised with his.

You did not notice the burgundy haired male staring at you from the corner of his eyes, his gaze calculative.

"What is bothering you?"

You swallowed a lump down your throat.

You glanced around, meeting the gazes of the students around you. They were there, like usual—intimidated—by him. But today seemed oddly judgmental. Or was it just you?

It was eating away at you. The weight on your chest felt heavier than ever.

You were exhausted. You needed a break.

"Yeah..no, I just feel a bit unwell."

It came out of your mouth hesitantly.

You felt the back of his hand press against your forehead almost suddenly. You couldn't help but blink in question as you lifted your gaze to meet his, which seemed to betray a hint of worry, a slight crease between his eye brows and a frown tugging on his lips.

"You don't seem to be running a fever." He retreated his hand.

You pulled away from him gently, letting your hand fall free from his as you slipped into your shoes by the lockers.

"You can't trick me into believing that you are sick. We are not skipping the study session."

You decided not to reply.

The setting sun's dying rays of the summer evening were the first to kiss your face as you both stepped out of the school building. Yet, they still seemed warm enough. You were never the one to dislike the summers or the harsh lightings of the said seasons. It was quite the opposite actually.

Though, today, it felt like a bother.

Everything did.

Step. Step. Step.

"Michikatsu."

Halt.

As you paused in your tracks, so did he. You lifted your gaze to meet his, glowing dimly under the evening hues. The noise of the world around you faded into a distant hum.

"I..think..I need a break."

————————————————————————————

The sound of the entrance door opening and then clicking shut made the woman cooking in the kitchen smile. Ah, there he was. He'd been coming home later than usual. From what Yoriichi had told her, he'd been walking their neighbour's girl home—the one he'd been having study sessions with.

This almost made her chuckle. It was very unlike Michikatsu to spend this much time with someone. She wondered if it was—

"I'm home, Mother."

She made her way out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on the apron tied around her waist. A welcoming smile made its way to her lips, gracing her features.

"Good evening, Mi-chan. How was your day at school—"

"I'll be in my room, Mother."

Akeno watched as her son made his way upstairs. A frown tugged at her features as she stood there, bewildered, wondering what was wrong with her child.

Meanwhile, Michikatsu had reached his room. He shut the door behind him as he entered, then threw his bag onto the nearby chair—uncharacteristically so. Slowly making his way towards his bed, he finally sat down, not bothering to slip out of his uniform yet.

It did not sit well with him.

Where did he go wrong?

Was this actually his fault?

No, it couldn't be—

A sigh slipped past his lips, hand running through his burgundy locks before he took his glasses off. At first, he felt a surge of anger boiling up to the surface— mixed with his conflicted thoughts.

He took a deep breath in, trying to calm himself down. He needed to think clearly.

He exhaled, closing his eyes.

It was his fault indeed.

Michikatsu is aware that he can be difficult at times. This relationship..it was a foreign territory for him.

He remained seated. His mind replaying her words again and again like a broken record.

"You never listen..You don't try to be better—no matter how many times I've tried to talk. You..feel too distant at times and..the other moment you are too protective. No body talks to me. I don't have any friends. They all seem too scared and judgemental towards me. One person finally tried to befriend me and you scared him away as well."

"I try to understand you, always. But I fail— because you are not letting me in...you are not letting me have a say in it and I'm tired."

"I need a break..from us. From you."

Was he too much?

Perhaps so.

What should he do?

Should he try talking?

He opened his eyes.

No. It wasn't the best option. Not right now. He should give her some time.

Yes, she needed it.

Yet, he couldn't help the clawing ache in his chest and the fogginess in his mind. Maroon eyes stared aimlessly into the void before drifting towards his hands.

He closed his eyes shut again.

Was it okay to say that..he missed her already?

No. Shut up. You are not that weak.

Yet, all he could think about was her. Her smile, her voice, her touch—Eyelids opened to reveal the hues of maroon, glowing dimly in the dark room.

He couldn't afford to lose her.

She chose him.

She fell for him.

She..tried to be with him.

And he had to mess it up.

He needed to fix this mess.

Slowly but surely.

But what should he do?

A frown tugged at his lips, a low groan escaping his throat. His usually composed facade slowly slipped away.

He felt frustrated—lost.

With a sigh, he slowly reached towards his phone. Turning it on, he was met with his wallpaper— a pic of him and her. She had insisted to click this picture. And even though he was pretty reluctant to do so, he gave in.

And he didn't regret doing so.

Unlocking the device, he went to a certain application to look for his answers. He tapped on the search bar, then typed in his question.

How to be a good boyfriend?

Numbers of websites opened before him. He decided to click on the first one.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Showing results..

Key aspects of being a good boyfriend are:

—> Communication:

Honesty, open dialogue, and active listening are crucial for a healthy relationship.

—>Respect:

Respecting your partner's boundaries, opinions, and personal space is fundamental.

—>Support:

Being emotionally available, offering encouragement, and celebrating their successes are important.

—>Quality Time:

Prioritizing time together and making an effort to connect, even amidst busy schedules, is vital.

—>Vulnerability:

Sharing your thoughts and feelings, and being open about your vulnerabilities can create a deeper emotional connection.

—>Shared Responsibilities:

Equally sharing emotional labor can foster a balanced partnership.

He has to work a lot.

[zenchii]

THANK YOU

I was afraid I was going insane by thinking season 2 was bad and cowardly and being heartbroken about it because the Arcane fandom feels like an echo chamber but i'm glad to see other people that also think this

Criticising a popular piece of media (or god forbid, one with a reputation for being 'deep') will always make you feel insane, I feel your pain 😭 Every day I am grateful to the arcane critical tag for existing.

I understand the urge (I mean, I was part of the camp defending Act I's pacing) to want to defend a show you love, to consider it above criticism, but bad writing is bad writing. A lot of people will act like just because you're being negative means you didn't pay enough attention or that you love the show less, but that's not the case.

The reason I'm disappointed and heartbroken is because I was invested and expected better from a show I considered above many shows in quality, and that's the case for most people who are criticising Season 2. So it sucks when people treat you like you're stupid or "media illiterate" just cause you're not willing to just accept whatever so long as it's not 100% awful.

[alcoholicweiwuxian]

how do you expect people to get better at writing, analysing, drawing, creating, whatever, when youre a complete asshole when they do it "wrong" ? arent "good enough" ? no one steps out of the gate being "good" at it. it takes time, and effort, and passion. If you kill that passion, that joy, they wont continue, and wont put effort or time into it. "yeah I complained about this person's fic because it was badly written/had bad takes/etc" congratulations ! you are killing fandom

controversial but if you care about the preservation of fandom, especially in the face of ai, if you care about people contributing and creating and earnestly loving fandom ? you have to be okay with people being bad at it. you have to be okay with people being "cringe" about it. you have to be okay with things you think are dumb. you have to be okay with it. grow up.

[tubbytarchia]

literally so sick of everyone telling you to stop disliking scott. I see ppl complain abt it and it literally drives me up a wall. the block button is right there that’s all it takes.

anyway just trying to be a breath of positivity that its really nice to see someone criticise him for doing things that make me as a queer woman super fucking uncomfortable. Thank you for being a person who just who can actually think about creators critically and not back down in the face of assholes.

on another note, I’m sure you’ve talked about this before but doesn’t it drive you crazy when everyone chalks up the Scott crit to homophobia??? I’ve had to narrow down the people I can criticise him to, to about 3 people. and while I understand internalized homophobia is a thing, I AM VERY GAY AND TALK ABOUT IT. It’s not about that at all! Drives me crazy when people do that.

again thanks for being so unafraid to share stuff because I’m sure you get bullied a lot about it. I’m really glad to see other people sharing my opinions especially someone so bold and unyielding as you <3

Boy do I get bullied... that is putting it very nicely haha, but people like you anon make it worth it to stand my ground. The rampant toxic positivity of this fandom that shuns and alienates its own kin for not abiding by their belief that criticism equals hatred and reason to dox and attack people, isn't going to go anywhere if no one stands against it, and I'm certainly not going to make any difference but if I can just provide a space obsolete of that and encourage people to speak up where they've previously been too afraid to (for very good reason), then I think that's good enough for me. If people want to be so biased towards someone for being gay then by that same logic they should stop attacking me because I am incredibly queer also, as are you and so many others who share these sentiments lol. How these people don't grapple with the fact that it's fucked up to view Scott as gay first and Scott second, I will never know

[the-analytical-bostie]

question why do you guys fight against criticism against Jared but allow criticism against Jensen and even Misha to happen. whether you like it or not but Jared algae done about it things in the past that deserves to be criticised over and don’t say he apologised because we both know he never apologised. Now I am NOT SAYING JENSEN OR MISHA IS PERFECT BECAUSE THEY ARE DEFINITELY NOT PERFECT but it seems that criticism about Jared is not allowed and mental health only matters when it comes to Jared and no one else

Yeah, you’re right anon. None of them are perfect. No one is.

That being said, the amount of hate that gets thrown Jared’s way is disproportionate compared to the hate flung at Jensen or Misha. Jared’s transgressions, which I’m sorry, are honestly minor, are never forgiven and used against him on a regular basis years after they occurred. Along with the near constant amount of people wishing death on him or his family. That is not ok. So forgive us for wanting to defend him. That doesn’t mean we don’t know he’s done less than savory things in the past. We know it, we’ve accepted it, he’s not continued to do it and we’ve moved past it. Just wish others could do the same.

While Misha could be out there killing puppies and his fans would somehow find a way to say “oh, it was just a joke”. Misha’s behavior hasn’t been blemish free over the years. Though even the AntiMisha crowd doesn’t typically resort to death threats against him the way Jared Anti’s do to him.

Jensen’s fans (mainly the AA crowd), treat him like a Ken doll. They have him living in a fairy tale world where he can do no wrong. I know that’s not true, and my friends and I on SM platforms regularly discuss his shortcomings and are not afraid to call it out. We do it all the time. I am a J2 fan, but Jensen holds my heart and I’m not afraid to say he’s done wrong.

Moral of the story, they’ve all done things they shouldn’t. This fandom is toxic as hell. We defend Jared a little harder because he gets it worse than anyone else and deserves it the least. Sorry not sorry on that one.

[hamilando]

ੈ✩‧₊ One Step ੈ✩‧₊

Pairing : Seunghan x Gn! Reader

Genre : Idol au, Angst

Song : Happier than ever ( rock version) by Billie Eilish

TW: Depression, cyber bullying, idol life , suide

A/N : This is a very sensitive fic, I wrote this because all that's happening with Seunghan is absolutely not fair, not only him but other idols also suffer. We need to realise they are also human and it's their first time living too.

･ﾟ·:｡･ﾟﾟ･ ✩ ･ﾟ ･ﾟ·:｡･ﾟﾟ･ ･ﾟ·:｡･ﾟﾟ･ ✩ ･ﾟ ･ﾟ·:｡･ﾟﾟ･･ﾟ·:｡･ﾟﾟ･

The car horns were blaring, the wind forcing the boy to keep his eyes open. Standing on top of the roof edge, his eyes blurred, with tears or with regret, he could not tell. He may have made mistakes in the past, but he wondered how much he could take before he could give up.

His ideal dream of debuting in an idol group, discovering the wonders of the world while touring and singing his lungs out had been reduced to an hope which was being extinguished by some jealous friends of his on the Internet. Seunghan debuted as a member of RIIZE, a group under the biggest entertainment in South Korea, fame finding them before they could even step out of the basement.

It scared him, how he was not afraid to die, rather afraid of being wrong in front of some users on the internet.

The life he sacrificed everything for, snatched away because he had a few moments of joy, but now he was fighting for the courage to live than kill himself. He felt broken, like that last piece in a puzzle that was not fitting. He was only human, 'it was your fault' ringing inside his head. He brought disgrace to his group, he brought disgrace to his family, all would be gone if he took a step. One step to his freedom, one step to his new life, one step to happiness.

"Does it ever stop hurting?"

Seunghan turned around and saw a person's shadow, but the tears flowing made it difficult to make out who it was.

"Of course it does, once the blood seeps out." His voice quavered.

"Go ahead and leave then, everyone does."

"They hated me in life, maybe they could love in death."

"It's worth giving a try to relive."

"Reliving where I don't have to starve myself to sing, carve my name in trophies to redeem myself."

"You failed in living, what makes you think you will succeed in dying."

"I kept running behind success, let this fall make it run after me."

Seunghan could feel a smile creep on his face, the feel of ending it all making the adrenaline rush in his body, the same adrenaline feeling he got before his first ever debut stage. Oh, but look at irony, a smile starting the movie, an even bigger smile to finish the movie. A movie well criticised by those who could never feel the making of it.

"If all you had to do was run, you should have joined a marathon team."

"At least there I would run towards my goal and not away from it."

The person took a few steps forward, hands in pocket due to the cold wind blowing, Seunghan just staring at the person in front of him.

"Is this you speaking or the adrenaline in you speaking because you are standing on the edge?"

Seunghan scoffed at the question, he was considering taking his life right here and this person was taking it as a joke,

"Of course it's me, I won't be standing here because of a dare."

"Well, then I dare you, come down the edge and say you want to jump off, look me in the eyes and say you want to jump off."

"I can say all that from right here."

"I know you can, but just come down once."

"Once you reach the top, it's difficult to come down"

"Then don't look down, look at me, I am here for you."

"I am glad, but it's a little late to be here for me."

Talking made it all the tougher for Seunghan to clear his mind. With a last glance at the person in front of him, he turned facing the city lights and said with confidence,

"Why would I come down when right now I feel the happiest man on top of the world?"

With that he took the step, deaf to the screams of the person behind him, deaf to the car horns blaring, deaf to the screams of his fans on debut, deaf to affections of his parents, deaf to the laughter of his members,

deaf to the little voice in his brain saying "one more chance was all that was needed."

[tutanchanup]

Was the real Vlad III. more of a sadistic choleric or tragic antihero? You'll be surprised

Disclaimer: As Vlad III. still refuses to pick up my calls, note that this is, once again, MY OPINION ONLY! It doesn't necessarily need to be the correct one!! And I am afraid that until Vlad picks up the damned phone, we'll never know for sure how he really was like.

So please, do not in any way despair if Vlad in your works acts differently. Your take is as good as mine!!! I do not wish to criticise anyone's work!

The purpose of this article is only to compare various psychological approaches, and compare the two most depicted ones to mine, because a lot of people are wondering why does my Vlad look so different from what they usually see.

I'm not saying my approach is necessarily better!!

I am not some divine authority to tell you how you should write him from now on! You do you!!

I simply wanted to show how I approach him, and what can you expect from me in my works, including the story I write, Io, Draculea.

~°~°~°~°~°~

I still can't believe that my prediction about Vlad learning sewing out of boredom was confirmed by history!! Hah! 🤩🥰😄

You see, while writing about Vlad as a vampire, I wrote that he learned sewing when he was slowly getting bored by eternal life. I wrote this 3 years ago.

And few days ago, thanks to @voievod and @vladvodashitposts I learned that we actually have a preserved testimony from the 15th century that says that Vlad the Impaler learned sewing out of boredom while in Visegrád prison!

Btw 2 years ago in my story I predicted that Corvinus would let him see his family while imprisoned and the text confirmed that too!! Ahhh I can't believe it!!!!!

Now, I'd like to tell you how I came to this prediction. Because I am actually not a fortune-teller. How then could I have possibly correctly predicted something as improbable and crazy sounding as Vlad the Impaler learning sewing? I understand you have your doubts about this claim of mine.

So I'll tell you my secret 🤫:

I approach his personality a little bit different from the two most abundant ways found in literature, who depict Vlad either as an angry choleric, or the tragic antihero.

I noticed he went through horrible hardships in life, but I also noticed that it never broke him. That means he never let fate make him into a victim.

And then I realized that I know what such a person looks like.

Because I am surrounded by people like this.

I live in Czechia, which was under harsh communist rule for some 40 years. For many people - my family included - it was hell on earth. But many Czech people survived that because they didn't fall down the victim mentality route, instead they accepted that which couldn't be changed, and found ways how to cope otherwise and make use of what they can do - it's no coincidence that during these hard times one of the best comedic films were made, or that Jára Cimrman was born (a way how to make fun of communism in a way that would circumvent censorship), or that we perfected the art of finding legal loop-holes during that time.

My father, whose whole family was imprisoned just for being intellectuals, and who couldn't get into university because of where he came from, is a person with a brisk sense of humour. My mother, when she was diagnosed with cancer, still heartily laughed every day, and now that she's okay, she helps other cancer patients to keep their spirit up. I also knew a Jewish person who had actually survived concentration camp as a child (he saw all his family die there and went on the "death march" when he was 10 yo!) - and he was one of the most humourous and good spirited people I knew! (RIP Mario P. 🥲)

This is the mentality of survivors who were not broken down by fate: pragmatic, not wallowing in grief over fate they cannot change, instead grabbing every chance to enjoy their life in those short moments when they can and use their hardship to their advantage.

And you know what, that's exactly what the real Vlad would be like as well!

When he found himself in a situation he couldn't change, he didn't fall down crying like a tragic antihero, neither did he yell at heavens like an angry choleric. (Well, I am not saying he NEVER did cry or swear, he surely had moments like these too, I am talking more about the general approach to life).

Instead he accepted that which couldn't be changed, and made the best use of what he could do. See when he was imprisoned by the Ottomans at the age of just 11: he didn't break down, instead he found out that while he was there already, he can learn their battle tactics, and so he did and then used them against the same Ottomans later.

Thus I can totally see that while imprisoned by Corvinus, he would try to occupy his mind with something useful so he wouldn't go mad with boredom, even if it would come down to sewing.

But enough of boring talking, let me illustrate it (literally), that will be much more fun!

Disclaimer: I do NOT want to criticise or make fun of other authors! This is just a thought experiment depicting various psychologies. The text is entirely made up by me. It's NOT made to mock any existing work, I just wanted to show you how I write Vlad in my own story, Io, Draculea. If you like writing Vlad as the tragic hero, I am not here to stop you! 😉 (okay I am a little against writing him as the angry choleric, because we've had 500 years of that already 🙃)

Actually I wouldn't even be that much happy if you were to copy my approach, I want my story to be original 😆

Now let's do a little experiment of how the most common depictions of Vlad would deal with a situation where fate surprises them with something cruel and unexpected, like Corvinus imprisoning them in the middle of war:

Vlad the Choleric:

-> this Vlad spends his time in prison impaling mice and rats

Vlad the Tragic Hero:

-> this Vlad spends his time in prison starring out of the window contemplating his fate

Vlad the Survivalist:

(and also how I approach him):

-> this Vlad spends his time in prison trying to find out whether he can succeed in building a model of Târgoviște from the hay his bed is made out of

Now, I hope you all don't hate me now 😅. I really didn't made this with the intention to mock anyone. It's only that I realized that maybe I can give an insight which is a little bit different than what can usually be found on the internet, so I wanted to create some material which talks about the less known perspective, for it to be accessible out there as well.

Do not in any way hate on other writers (or yourself) if their perspective is different!!!!

The thing is, that every approach offers different advantages. The "Vlad as angry choleric" served the purpose of depicting him as a sadistic tyrant (which was extremely useful to his enemies). The "Vlad as tragic antihero" serves the purpose of humanising him, and lets a modern person realise the hardships Vlad went through. And that's incredibly important and useful work!!! Please continue!!!!

My way is that of someone who has almost never - or extremely rarely - read or seen an adaptation of Vlad (although my knowledge there is limited, I admit) that would reflect the "Vlad as survivalist" approach (which I think would be more historically accurate, but that's just MY OPINION, it doesn't have to be necessarily the correct one!!)

So I took it as my role to depict Vlad like this. I am prepared to be alone on this path 😉

[olderthannetfic]

My experience with shippers has been such a mixed bag.

Sometimes there are those "controversial fandom takes" threads and some comments go like this:

"Shippers are the worst. They only care about their romance and never talk about anything interesting in the story outside of that!"

Which will be responded to with either:

"There are lots of ways to enjoy content, mind your business!"

Or

"Shippers are the backbone of a fandom. We can discuss the intricacies of the work AND be horny at the same time!"

I'm sure that's true, but that was rarely how it went in the fandoms I was part of, unlucky bastard that I am. Out of the languages I can understand, I only saw a few times fans engaged in discussions about several topics concerning the show or the book. The rest were either quiet or balls-deep in messy shipping behaviour that is often criticised.

The irony is that it was always the shippers who got angry when people complained about them being "that kind of fan" who would engage in huge blown-out public arguments online. The last time I saw it happen, a group got super angry when a random person online, who none of them followed, criticised their favourite ship in the quotes of a tweet that wasn't theirs. It was a dumb criticism from a person who didn't understand the characters nor cared to understand the chemistry that fans of that ship see. Very stupid and, to me, easy to ignore. But the shippers got so angry that the fight spread outside of their bubble and more random people got involved. Eventually, their fight reached a big artist from that ship and that person shaded their holy war by saying: "I love [pairing] as much as you guys do, but fighting over this is so unnecessary. Ignore them and stop doing this shit! How tiring and boring that this always happens!" and it eventually stopped. Later, I caught one of them wondering if the artist was talking about them, afraid they would get blocked for bringing toxicity to the artist's page, which I found out is something that the artist does to curate their online experience. You know, like a sensible person.

I wish I could say they were teenagers, but they were between 22 to 29 years old.

And let's not talk about the civil wars. God forbid a ship be interpreted in a way that the others dislike, or explored in darker and more controversial themes!

I just can't wrap my head around the behaviour of getting into fights with strangers on twitter dot com or anywhere on the World Wide Web because someone out there said something stupid about a thing I like. Why do some people get so aggressively defensive rather than just blocking and moving on? Maybe throwing in a "spoken like a true tasteless bitch" if feeling particularly vexed?

I'll never say shippers are useless fans like some say, but they can be some of the most consistent shit-stirrers in fandoms. My biggest struggle with them is that the crazy shippers aren't vile in the same way that some fans can be when a black woman is cast for the role of a character that isn't black, for example. They are vile in the way that they will send death threats to the directors, the animators, and the actors if their ship isn't made canon by the end of the story.

At their best, shippers can be some of the most engaged and passionate fans anyone could have the pleasure to find in their fandom. But at their worst... man...

--

I'll eat my hat if like 90% of people reading here don't ship a bunch of ships.