#and i don't mean “not have written”

[letmetellyouaboutmyfeels]

I am incredibly serious right now when I beg you all, please, and if you have Twitter or Tiktok or whatever to please spread the word: click on an author's profile on Ao3.

You want to know if an author has written more? Want to know if they're still writing? Want to see more from them? Want to know if they've written a trope or kink or sex scenario you enjoy?

Click on their name. And look at their profile.

I cannot tell you how many times in the last six months someone has read a new or newer fic of mine and said they (a new reader who has read nothing else I've done) "can't wait to see what you do next!" I've written 50+ fics and over a million words already.

"I don't know if you're still writing..." click on my profile. I am. I literally wrote a 128k+ fic for that ship last month.

"Would you ever do X?" "Please do Y!" I already did. Click on my name and look at my works.

Archive of our Own is a library. It's an archive. Not social media. It is your responsibility to fight back against the laziness that corporate algorithms have trained into you.

Click my author name. Just click it. Just click it.

Before you demand more, or ask if a writer will do XYZ, or wonder if the author still writing, or anything - click on their profile. Click on the author's profile.

I'm not trying to be mean or condescending or anything like that. I'm just exhausted. It's disheartening and frustrating to repeat myself ad nauseam, because someone couldn't take thirty seconds to do the tiniest bit of work to see if I've written lately, if I've written more for their ship, or scan my works to see if I've written what they're asking for. Please. Please. I'm begging.

Click the author's name, and explore before you ask.

[getsusun]

Trouble is waiting, don't be rude!

Timeline: a little less than hundred years ago. Project Spearhead is closed, the remains of mod-souls became a part of Thirteenth Division. Was it a good idea? We'll see, but it is certainly a potential for shenanigans.

It is not the first big mission out of the Seireitei walls when everything goes to hell. Not even the second or the third one. It is the forth, when everyone had already calmed down and gain some confidence.

So there they were: sixteenth seat officer Kajomaru, fifteen unseated officers and three rookies fresh out of Academy, Nova and Kurodo. Considering that the whole Division consisted of something like two hundred shinigami, plus thirty-two mod-souls, twenty one was a pretty significant number for a team. Especially since their mission was almost a usual patrol, slightly spiced with evidences of people missing and strange footprints noticed in the forest.

Nova personally thought that Captain Ukitake was just playing safe. Well. Not like Nova was against it. Even with more shinigami that was almost certainly needed, he was a little worried about Kurodo.

Because, well. Kurodo could and will fight, Nova had seen that and knew that his friend would not hesitate to place himself between others and danger. Kurodo could fight any shinigami – at least for a while – with his versatile tricks and plain power-copying. But they were going on a patrol – to hunt for Hollows. And Hollows were not shinigami. You don’t need a complicated strategy to fight Hollows, you need to hit them and to not be hit by them.

Also, Kurodo’s stamina was bad. And Nova knew well that Kurodo would be much better back in Seireitei, doing paperwork and somehow solving problems which could not be solved with a good hit in head but required – unfortunately – more paperwork, and also going around and talking to people. Total magic, in Nova’s understanding, and much harder than fighting.

But Kurodo decided that he needed to get field experience, and Nova decided that at least with him nearby Kurodo would be as safe as possible. Well, on the second place, actually, since the safest would have been with Getsu. But Getsu was doing something else in his undercover as shinigami Hanaro Ri, and Nova was not going to disturb him unless it was strictly necessary.

Which it would be not, because they had a big team of okay fighters, and Nova was sure that everything would be all right.

So, back to the business. Their small group had spend ten days traveling to Fugai, which was the district by number… Was it twelve or twenty one? Nova was still somehow mixing up on what positions digits meant dozens and on what they did not. Must have been thirteen, because Nova heard one of the officers once said that going further than District Twenty in any direction meant at least a month on the road for shinigami and much more for usual souls.

So. They were in Fugai, District Thirteen to the east from Seireitei. Nova was still amazed by the sheer distances and the world in whole. To think that he thought the 12th Division underground facilities to be big and widespread! During these ten days they traveled by the road through cities, towns, forests, fields and even a small rocky area where no one lived except some really big ants.

It was nice. Well, it would have been even nicer if other mod-souls were here too, not only Nova and Kurodo, and also Getsu… But Nova knew that it would be too bold to ask from the world. May be it was for the best that Kurodo was here.

They finally arrived to the small city from which the reports about people disappearing came. The local folk were pretty tense, and Nova felt for a moment like it was more because of their uniform than from Hollows probably lurking nearby. Which would have been strange, because shinigami were protecting the souls without spirit power, right?

Kurodo and Kajomaru asked around for more info, got close to none and all squad went to explore in the direction that mostly answered the question “when were going all these people you never saw again”. An hour or so, Nova stumbled on a terrain, big clearing in the middle of the forest, that looked like something went wrong here. Like, really-big-fire and also may be meteor-falling level of wrong. Charred trees, scorched land, big rocks laying in strange positions, like if there was an explosion? And there was an area which looked like if something sliced the upper layer of land, creating clearly lined hole in the ground. But it all didn’t looked new, young plants already overgrowing the consequences of whatever happened here.

Kajomaru commanded to be on guard, and they were, but everything was quite and peaceful, except Nova felt something strange in the air, sour and bitter, and may be if he had a couple more minutes Nova would have realized that only he was feeling it, and therefore it must have been connected with his powers, but horde of Hollows literally fell onto their heads before that.

At this point Nova did get a slight feeling that this mission may not end up being all easy and without trouble. But he threw this thought away, because, a) fighting Hollows was what they came for, and b) Nova didn’t have much time to think.

Nova makes a short dash to avoid the bone-covered limb, long and sharp, hitting him into chest. The world blinks briefly, and Nova is suddenly ten steps further than he expected to be, almost stumbling into another Hollow face first. Fortunately the monster is facing the other way, so Nova strikes with his sword, separating spiked tail from black body which could have belong to a frog, if that frog was giant, black and with white skull on its head. The Hollow screeches, loudly and angry, and turns around, and while Nova dodges, two other shinigami at the same time cut into Hollow’s flesh, making enough damage for it to disperse in a short burst of black mist.

Nova throws a quick glance to the side - Kurodo is holding okay, evading the attacks of two Hollows at once, white fingers tightly grasping a handle of his wakizashi. The next strike of clawed limb is too fast, and instead of dodging Kurodo shrinks down, briefly transforming into someone short, and uses his newly obtained size to slip under the other Hollow, along the way cutting through its thigh.

- Hanaro, keep an eye on rookies! - Kajomaru yells from somewhere, and Nova follows his voice, moving through the battle field, shortcutting with teleports. He places more strikes here and there, distracting Hollows, and pulls one of the shinigami from under the blow of another spiky tail.

Three rookie shinigami, one of which was actually joined the Thirteenth Division after the mod-souls became its part, fight back to back with mixed success. No one is dead or badly injured, but the bold one has a scratch on his head, and the big one is clearly panicking, because the swings of his katana are looking more dangerous for his teammates than for the Hollows. At least no one is screaming or running for their life.

The third rookie, a solid build girl two heads higher than Nova (which is, unfortunately, not a rare trait to have, but Nova hopes to grow up in the future, now, when he is actually eating and sleeping as a human being), has a lot of determination in her eyes, and when Nova cuts the Hollow’s leg from the behind on the knee level, she severs the upper right limb of the monster. It doesn’t kill the Hollow, but it roars angrily, and it seems to help the big rookie to concentrate and to finally stop his katana from threatening to end up in his teammate’s leg.

Nova manages another look around, and there are a lot of Hollows. Big, small, strange-looking, a couple is even floating in the air, slowly flapping their wings. Their squad seems to be at least two people down, but not dead, and Kurodo is standing over one of the wounded, defending him from the greedily circling them hollows. Well, it must be Kurodo, because Nova is sure that this big-muscle-scary-looking guy was not in their squad.

Things are going mostly fine for some time. Nova manages to keep all the rookies in one piece (although the bald one DID tried to have his arm bitten off), and with common efforts they even managed to kill one Hollow and are working on another. But then Kajomaru is yelling something, and his voice cuts off into a scream, and a scream stops, and then there are more screams which start and stop.

And okay, at this point Nova did panicked a little, and the time begun flowing strange, both too slow and too fast, because he was diving in and out of teleports, trying to understand what was hapenning. Shield now in his arms instead of position on his back, Nova rushed to the spot where something strange was happening.

Kajomaru was laying on earth, no visible blood pooling under him. Two more shinigami near him, faces down, swords fallen out of their hand. The third one Nova saw falling, clutching to her side, scream cutting short. The nearest Hollow, medium sized wolf-alike creature, leaped for her, but Nova teleported unmoving shinigami away to where the rest of the squad formed a loose circle around the second wounded not-by-mysterious-something. The bodies – which felt like live ones, and were not dispersing into reishi particles, which was a good sign – followed, and Nova stumbled, slightly lightheaded. He was fine with moving one human at a time without tactile contact, shield was helping, but four in less than ten seconds were a little too much.

Hollow-wolf didn’t looked like a reason for four shinigami to be down. Usual Hollow, and Nova dodged another leap and sliced beast’s neck, disappearing before a clawed paw grabbed him. Unfortunately, it was not enough, and Nova continued dancing around the monster, trying to cut its limbs. While he was cutting the third one, the first one was already half-regenerated, and not each Nova’s strike was strong enough to separate the limb.

It takes almost three minutes, but Nova manages, and only one time Hollow blow hits him, making a long gap in clothes over Nova’s left shoulder. It stings, but Nova shrugs the pain and concentrates on the rest of the battlefield.

Shit.

Half of the squad was down, and this time there were pools of blood under some of the bodies, and most of the still fighting shinigami were not unscathed. Something roars, even more loudly and gloatingly, and there are even more Hollows popping out from nowhere.

Okay. So mission had gone to hell. Nova still could work with it. Nova still could work with it, even if his strikes are not even half that strong as of shinigami’s zanpakuto, even if their commanding officer is down, even if Kurodo is thrown out of his transformation and barely dodges the Hollow’s attack.

And may be somewhere on that point Nova thought about calling for reinforcements, but he didn’t actually had a way. There should have been hell butterflies, but Nova had no idea who from shinigami had them, and – more importantly – how to use them. May be someone had already sent them back to Division?

Then Nova remembered, that they were ten days away from Seireitei, and stopped thinking about butterflies, because while he had no idea how fast could they fly, he had a pretty good idea of how fast reinforcements can arrive. Shortly speaking – not fast enough.

Something bites into Nova’s chest, and he shudders from sharp wave of pain, but it passes soon enough, and Nova has no time to see what it was, because Nova is striking, dodging, jumping in and out of portals across all battlefield to pull out fallen shinigami from finishing blows. Overusing is not the word for how much Nova strained his powers, and his mask is wet with blood tricking from Nova’s nose, but he still can teleport, even if his shield is fervently hot to touch.

He has no idea how long it continues.

Breath in. Red darkness. Breath out.

Scream nearby, shinigami dropping his sword. Nova clutches the shield in his left hand, grabs shinigami’s arm with right hand and teleports with this alive cargo to where the other bodies lay.

Another sharp flash of pain, this time under the left knee.

Nova sticks his sword into Hollow’s eye, teleports on the monster’s back and repeats the process, severing the spine. Hollow’s death howl is muted in Nova’s ears, drown by the voice of another shinigami, which signals that one more human is down.

The fight goes on and on, and Nova is not even sure how many shinigami are still fighting.

At some point he sees Kurodo stumble, transforming back into his baseline body, blood out of mod-soul’s nose.

Another shinigami falls down, Nova finishes off two more Hollows, plus one half-bitten through shoulder, which would have become a bitten of arm, if Nova hadn’t teleport away from Hollow’s mouth. Sharp flashes of pain across all his body are getting annoying, but Nova has no time to think, no time to do anything but fight.

Another scream. Nova manages to concentrate Hollow’s attention on him, so the fallen shinigami are not being eaten alive, but it makes evading claws and fangs that much harder.

The next scream flicks the switch in Nova’s mind, because this is Kurodo screaming, and this is where the real panic starts, because Nova don’t have a plan further than ‘not to die’, its Kurodo who always has a plan, who knows what to do, and – much more important – Kurodo is screaming, and he is in pain, and then there is nothing, no sound, and Nova rips the distance into red splashes and the Hollow bending over Kurodo is dead, but Kurodo is not moving, and his eyes are closed and his nose is still bleeding, altogether with wide wound over his chest, shihakusho ripped apart.

Nova is scared, and exhausted, and his mind is kinda clouded, but he moves, because now if he stops even for a second, Kurodo may die, and Nova can’t let that happen.

At some point there is no one fighting Hollows beside Nova anymore.

It is a good thing that all the monsters concentrate their attention on Nova, because it means that they are not going for motionless bodies. It is a good thing, but Nova feels blood in his mouth, and shield almost melts through his clothes, burning his back.

Before, in underground labs, Nova would have thought that the reasonable thing to do in this situation would have been grabbing Kurodo and teleporting far, far away. Now Nova doesn’t dare to even admit this thought, because these shinigami are people too, not faceless figures in white coats. Also, Nova would not bear to look into Getsu’s eyes after leaving them for death.

It seems like Nova may not get to see Getsu again anyway.

Already half-familiar flash of pain bites Nova’s right hand, and it is suddenly much harder to hold the sword. This time Nova notices the source of hot agonizing feeling – a small thorn, the size of a fingernail, barely sticking out from his skin. Is it poisoned? But from where…

Nova fights, and fights, and the world blurs into mess of red-black of portals, white-black of Hollows and just red of his blood. It continues for an infinity, and then Nova is standing in the middle of the clearing, surrounded by Hollows, and there is something else in front of him, something that feels like danger and acid and blood.

It is taller than Nova, which, again, is not a rare trait to have. This Hollow is mostly humanoid, with proportions warped a bit and a mask riddled with cracks, and… Is it clothes it (he?) is wearing?

Not really important, because Nova can barely breath, and each shift of his ribs is painful and obstructed with overwhelming exhaustion and numbness. But Nova moves anyway, raising the sword for a strike, and then strange Hollow spits something small and fast, and it hits Nova in his neck, and the next moment Nova can’t move can’t breath why it hurts so much stopstopstop…

The white-clothed figure in front of Nova shifts closer and thrusts his clawed hand into Nova’s chest. It should hurt, but it does not, and then it suddenly does, and Nova feels like he is floating above the ground, and everything goes darker and darker, and then just. Disappears.

Nova passes out.

[anneapocalypse]

So, just curious how many writers and creators will have to be forcibly outed by relentless harassment before we acknowledge that "This queer characters was written by a cishet person and that's why they're bad" is not good criticism.

[egophiliac]

LET THE BOY HAVE AN EDUCATION

officially at the point where we're starting to see where it's all headed and I am just going NYEEHEEHEE in delight at it all. ahhh...next week can't come soon enough...

[eveningdawn222]

people who act like batman isn't "judge jury and executioner" because he doesn't kill people are like. genuinely so funny to me because. they're very obviously thinking of "executioner" as like. the stereotypical guy with axe who chops people heads off, and not, yknow, the literal definition of the idiom itself, which is about someone who has the ability to judge and then subsequently punish someone unilaterally. which is quite literally what batman does.

he has the ability to decide what is a "crime" to him, he is the one who decides whether people are guilty of those crimes, and he is the one who executes their punishment. the severity of the punishment doesn't matter - he is unaccountable to anyone else, and indeed is allowed to commit as many crimes as needed to reach his arbitrary ideal of "justice."

the ideal of batman is this: a man who is so fundamentally changed by an act of senseless violence that he takes it upon himself to fight back against the rot and corruption in the world. he does this not through political activism, not through ridding himself of his wealth in favor of a greater good, not through community outreach, but through an individualistic fantasy of being a hero.

and you'll say: charlie, but he does do that !!! he donates his money all the time, he funds social programs, hospitals, orphanages, gets people jobs -

and i will say this: so why don't things get better?

because here's the base of it. gotham, at its core, can't get better. no matter what bruce wayne does, there will always be more crime, more villains, more death, more people for batman to beat up in back alleys. because that's what sells.

reoffending rates don't matter in gotham, prison reform doesn't matter in gotham, what actually causes crime doesn't matter in gotham because that doesn't sell books.

and so here it is; dc has unintentionally created a world where batman can't win, but can't be wrong, and where thousands of nameless, faceless, only-created-to-die civilians must be pushed into the meat grinder that is gotham, to fuel bruce wayne's angst and vindicate his constant, tireless, noble fight against the forces of evil.

and then: a new robin, who is poor and who's parents are dead or gone because of this cycle; who is happy go-lucky and hated by editors and fans for being robin, for not being dick grayson, for being poor.

and this robin is written, unintentionally or not, to be angry at the ways in which batman's (the narrative's) idea of justice is detached from its victims. bruce seems perfectly fine to allow countless unnamed women to be at risk from garzonas in his home country, yet robin is the one who is portrayed as irrational and violent.

this robin is not detached from gotham in the way bruce wayne is: this robin is a product of gotham.

(and here's the thing. you can't punch aids. you can't fight a disease with colorful fights and nifty gadgets. and how would robin dying from aids add to batman's story; it would call into question the systemic changes that haven't been made in gotham. how does a child get aids, in batman's city?)

so robin dies, and then bruce (the narrative) spends the next couple of decades blaming it on him. it is jason's fault; he was reckless, he just ran in, he thought it was all a game. if only bruce had seen what was coming, if only he could have known that jason wasn't rich enough or smart enough or liked enough to be robin.

batman gets a little more violent, a little more self destructive. he hurts people more and almost (!!) kills a couple guys. this is bad because it's self destructive and "not who he is." it is not bad because batman should not be able to just beat people up when he's angry.

and then he gets a shiny new robin - who is all the things jason "wasn't": rich and smart and rational and he doesn't put who batman is into question. batman and robin are partners, and jason is a grave and a cautionary tale, and (crucially here) never right.

the joker kills thousands and it doesn't matter because they were written to be killed.

batman beats up thousands and it doesn't matter because they were written to be criminals.

and then jason comes back, and nothing has changed. there is a batman and a (shiny! rich!) robin and the joker kills thousands. (because it sells)

and jason is angry - he has been left unavenged - his death has meant nothing, just as willis' had, just as catherine's had, just as gloria's had, just as -

thousands. ten of thousands. hundreds of thousands. written to be killed.

but one of them gets to come back.

and he is angry - not only at the joker, but at bruce (the narrative) - because why is the joker still alive (when thousands-)

here is the thing - jason todd is right. not because the death penalty is good, not because criminals deserve to die, not because of everything he says -

but because of what he calls into question. why is the joker alive?

because he sells books.

and dc has written a masterful character, through no fault of their own, because jason knows what is wrong, and he knows who is at fault - batman. (the narrative)

so the argument that bruce can't kill because he's not judge jury and executioner; the argument that jason is a cop or that jason is insane or that jason is in the wrong here; they hold no weight.

batman can't kill the joker because the joker sells comic books.

and jason can't kill the joker because the joker sells comic books.

so he will beg and plead and grovel - he will betray everything that is himself, he will forsake his family and his city and kill himself - just so that bruce (the narrative) will let the joker die.

he was condemned to death by an audience, and after he came back he has spent his whole life looking us in the eyes and screaming, asking, pleading; why is the joker still alive?

why are thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands (the number doesn't matter, see, because they're just a number. not people. not real.) why are we expendable for his story? why did i have to die just for nothing to change?

and the answer is money. and the answer is the batman can never be wrong. and the answer is shitty writing. and the answer is -

nothing jason can ever change.

which is the worst of it all. he is a victim with no power, and no one else in the world can see it. he is raging and crying and screaming at his father and his writers and you - and it doesn't matter. jason doesn't matter. and he knows it.

[jadewritesficshere]

Thinking about Eddie Munson who was complaining to the rest of the band about his shoulders and neck hurting post show. One of them convinces him to go for a massage.

Eddie shows up day of and is told to strip to level of comfort and get under the sheets laying on his back, his masseuse will knock before coming in. Eddie has not an ounce of care or shame, strips completely naked. Scars and tattoos on full display. He climbs between the sheets and waits. After knocking and hearing a "come in", his masseuse enters and-

The most handsome man he's ever seen walks in. A bit of stubble on his defined jaw, soft pale lips Eddie wants to kiss, big brown eyes Eddie wants to get lost in, slutty little waist and an ass Eddie could-

He introduces himself as Steve. Verifies where Eddie had said his tension was on the form he hastily filled out. Then it starts.

And maybe, maybe, Eddie is a bit touch starved. He could have anyone he wants, but they don't want him just his fame. Pushes them all away. Only gets close to his band, but they all are busy and have their own people outside of work.

And Steve is just touching him. Rubbing smooth circles into his temple, down his cheekbones towards his jaw. Pressing on parts of Eddie's face he didn't even realize were tense. It's relaxing.

And Eddie regrets not leaving at least his boxers on to help hide that he's becoming hard. Kind of embarrassing, which makes his dick harder- which, that's a lot to unpack right now-

"Hey, relax man," Steve says, laying a gentle hand on his shoulder. Eddie can see Steve's eyes dart towards the obvious situation," It's natural. Happens to the best of us." "Does it happen to you?" Eddie blurts out. Eddie wants to shove his face in one of these soft plush pillows and scream, but Steve just snorts a laugh and shakes his head at him. Doesn't even respond as he continues the massage.

Eddie tries to hold back his groans as Steve turns his head to the side and rubs his neck into his shoulders. He can feel the tension leave his body slowly. Feel the knots in his muscles release.

Eddie can't, however, hold back the noise he makes when Steve grabs a hold of his hair and tugs it. Eddie's eyes pop open and he stares into Steve's face, who has started blushing. Steve just clears his throat and let's Eddie's hair go before continuing the massage.

[namisweatheria]

One Piece means a lot to me as a disabled person, which I think would be pretty surprising to anyone who only has a surface understanding of it. The supposed central theme of "follow your dreams" would be pretty alienating to someone like me, right? It really, really would be, if that's what it was actually about.

However, that ignores that Luffy's dream is to be the most free person in the world. And to attain that goal, the first thing he does is find friends to live life with. Over and over again, from the very beginning, he takes on their burdens, all in the name of being the most free.

Do you see what that would mean to me, as someone who needs more help to get by than is considered culturally normal, to the point that it puts me in a whole socially manufactured category of "other"? Not to mention, because of the infantilization of me due to that category, because of being forced so squarely into the "cared for" role, taking care of other people is deeply meaningful and empowering for me. However, the myths of independence and universal natural ability often make it emotionally difficult for my loved ones to accept that care.

The fear of asking for help, the guilt of being cared for, the weight of someone you loved who could not be as free as you, the insecurity of not contributing enough, the fear that you were born wrong, the self-hatred that says you are not worth the effort, Nami Sanji Zoro Usopp Robin Chopper Ace they all explore the painful obstacles to free connection. Through deeply impactful stories that weave beautifully into the larger one.

All centered around this one person who views loving them and living with them and carrying them as essential to his freedom. Who cannot, for countless reasons, live a normalized life of Structured Relations. Who views exploring and bickering and suffering and laughing with them as the ideal way to live. Who repeatedly puts his life and limbs on the line to do so.

To me, it is an ultimate privilege and freedom to carry other people's burdens. To care for them and live with them. This is central to my whole perspective, and is completely informed by my life experience as a disabled person. I rarely see it reflected back to me. Let alone as powerfully and beautifully as Luffy does.

Nor the other half of it, of wanting to create this life with people in ways that aren't socially normal or approved. Of creating many varied lifelong intimate relations among equals, rather than conforming to the expectation of choosing One Person to live life with and then Creating More.

The utter lack of roles and norms is just as integral and powerful to the exploration of freedom and connection! It is meaningful to me as a queer person, yes, but even this is deeply influenced by my disability. I could never be that One Person, despite everything I have to offer, there is logistically far too much that I cannot do to be someone's equal partner in this society that demands so much from all of us. However, even if I could, I wouldn't want to! It doesn't make any sense to me to only have two people navigate life together on such intimate terms. Can't the demands of society be more comfortably met in a group? Isn't life more fun that way?

We are taught that we can and must do everything ourselves, I just happen to be one of the people that never had a chance to buy into that lie. To learn very early not just the necessity of interdependence, but the joy in it. To learn that it is most comfortably lived with more people involved. To me, close relationships are, love is, a natural extension of that understanding. One Piece celebrates interdependence constantly from the start, while never pretending that it is always easy.

The obstacles to free connection that I mentioned before, they are interspersed throughout the story, and they are always met with "I do the things you can't do, and you do the things I can't do." With, "Of course I can't use swords you dumbass! And I can't cook either! I don't know a damn thing about navigation! And I can't lie!"

These are intentionally impactful moments, and they define the series. I found it very fitting that the Fan Letter focused on a character who was empowered by Nami to feel free and live adventurously despite not being the most physically capable. The character is able by our definition, but the story is very affirming in a disability way, and it was extremely One Piece. I loved how it acknowledged this deep connection between One Piece and the lived reality of disability and celebrated it as integral as it is.

I also believe that absolutely none of this is intentional. It is simply an earnest exploration of human relationships, emotions, and behavior, and it naturally arrives at a radical and disability-affirming viewpoint. Because we are the monkey wrench in the deeply unhealthy (lol) and dominant line of thinking that independence is all. So naturally anything that also disputes that thinking has a disabled-perspective feel to it. The best part is how much it doesn't give a fuck! One Piece is aggressively against conformity in human relationships, in a way that is hard to find in our new world of self-conscious authors.

It's also, you know, the worst part, in terms of all the outrageous bigotry and offensive character design, but god damn it if it doesn't elevate the good parts to unbearable heights. Even the bad character designs can sometimes be more impactful for their intentional "ugliness", when those characters are inevitably taken seriously despite their appearance and the stereotypes they play on, it hits hard every time. I do have a simple hatred for many choices, there is no pay-off for much of the awful problems in numerous character designs and dialogue. But no matter how upset I can be by those things, in the end they can't succeed in pulling me away from One Piece. It's just so crazy and unique and great and terrible and beautiful and I LOVE IT.

[colorfullyminded]

TLDR

Okay I cannot believe I'm about to go off like this, but this has been bothering me for awhile, and it's only making me more spiteful. I have been enjoying the influx of Billford art lately. Amazing, great wonderful. What I have Not been enjoying, is the absolute vitriol the Billdip fans have been getting since the influx of TBOB. I was a billdip shipper for awhile. Hell I was a billdip shipper when I was a Parapines shipper-- I liked shipping Dipper with boys. I was also like 14 or 15 at the time. Obviously, if you follow me now, you'll probably notice what my main ship for Dipper is. I grew out of Billdip, and moved on to Pinescone. I have been shipping Pinescone for 10 years. However, not once did I go around saying "Lol, glad I matured and became a better person and shipped something healthier", nor did I post in the billdip tag, condeming people for a fictional ship! And saying mine was better because it was less problematic.

"I'm really glad people stopped shipping Bill and Dipper together. Bill is a 1000 year old triangle demon, and Dipper is 13--" Stop. Repeat what you just said.

"Bill is 1000 year old triangle--"

Repeat that last word to me. "....triangle?" TRIANGLE! I'm sorry what?! This ship is already completely wild enough. You're getting mad at this fictional age gap-- AND BILL IS A FUCKING SHAPE! A FUCKING SHAPE! This ship was weird from the moment GO! And Billford isn't any better. IT'S STILL A SHIP WITH A FUCKING SHAPE! And you're going to sit on your high horse and look down on the Billdip community. On top of it-- they have an age gap too! Bill is still thousands of years old or whatever-- however long it's been, who knows? And Ford was in his 20s or so when he met Bill. That's still a huge, ridiculous age gap-- that Bill could easily use and manipulate; which he did....and then also caught feelings and became a sad ex, but that's beside the point~ Both of these ships are still insane. And again, the bigger thing I think people are just ignoring about these ships--is that Bill is a TRIANGLE! THREE LINES CONNECTED TOGETHER! And this is the hill you're going to die on? ...Cause apparently it's mine. First of all-- as many people pointed out-- Ford Pines did not exist until the second half of the final season. People couldn't ship Fordbill because there wasn't any Ford to introduce.

"Well, even before Ford, I never shipped Billdip! I always disliked it." ...Okay, that's totally fine. Not everyone needs to like or agree on the same ship. Lord knows there's probably people who don't really care for Pinescone either. There's a lot of popular ships that I can't stand. But I'm don't go into a ship tag I don't like, screaming to a void for self validation. I don't go around mocking other people for ships that they had in 2014-- or even still today! It doesn't matter! I did that when I was a kid-- and then realized that was rude, and it was better to just ignore the ships I didn't like and enjoy the ones that made me happy. And grow a community of kind, like minded friends. And listen, I am all for safe spaces and being able to block things that make you uncomfortable. I am not saying people who find the BillDip ship uncomfortable to be idiots or babies or overly sensitive-- or anything like that. I think if something makes you uncomfortable, that is okay and I think it's perfectly fine to blacklist a tag that you don't want to see. I also think it's imperative that people tag things as accurately as they can so people looking at your work can know if one of your pieces has a thing that they don't like-- and therefore can avoid. What I don't appreciate is the fanhate for this ship that is sprouting up like weeds. You can not like something, you can be disgusted by it (I have my Gravity Falls ships I can not stand, nor do I feel comfortable with), but attacking real people for a FICTIONAL SHIP-- two characters who are drawings on a piece of paper and can not be affected mentally, physically or emotionally by fanwork; who still retain the same shape after everything we put them through-- to the point that you send death threats, or threaten to Doxx, or just harass relentlessly, I have always found that more childish and disgusting. You are causing real world pain to people. Me fucking up Dipper Pines is not going to do anything to him-- because he doesn't actually exist. He's a cartoon character. I could squash him and stretch him in Wonka's taffy machine--- I could throw him mock speed at a wall and watch him explode on impact-- but he still exists. He's not dead; I can pick him up and dust him off, and If I wanted-- I could decide that eh, 'Not a scratch on him'. And I'd be right. Because he is a cartoon character, and I am just a fangirl. I can not change anything about him-- I have no ability to make anything I headcanon canon. And even if I was the original artist-- it doesn't change the fact that Dipper would still be nothing more than a creation. A construct of shapes; he can not be hurt or traumatized in a way that leads to real life consequences-- because he is not real. I am not a cartoon character. My friends are not cartoon characters. Artist and Writers who stay in their lane...are not cartoon characters. If you hurt us...it will linger. It will leave a scar. If you can not tell the difference between Fiction and Reality, then I think maybe media might be too much to handle-- and I think you need to really reevaluate yourself.

And just to vent some other things that i keep seeing that are frustrating: You can't claim the twins are only 13-- and then on August 31st go "Happy 20-something Birthday Mabel and Dipper!" And then proceed to drop a picture of them as adults. Well which is it? Do they age or not? Because Gravity Falls showed them canonically aging. If you think the twins age-- then you can't suddenly turn around and go, 'no you can't ship them-- Dipper is a child!' but you drew him as an adult. So sorry, it looks like you can't draw the twins grown up anymore. You claimed they're 13, so better draw them 13 forever--. Aged up stories and works exist for a reason, especially for a fan who grew up on the series. The characters might have grown up alongside them. It's not unlikely for a person to ship Billdip when Dipper is much older.

And on that note, for people who are like 'well older billdip is fine-- it's just people shipping him during the show that deserve to die.' Okay... and like I said, this rant is coming from a recent influx of Billford shippers spitting on Billdip shippers. You know? The TOXIC Old Man Yaoi!

You're still shipping something that is problematic. You are still shipping something twisted and wrong. And I am not judging you. I am here for this divorced arc. I am thriving. But you can't just pick and choose what is and isn't okay. And let me first off explain; if there is something that personally triggers you about a toxic ship, and you want to avoid that-- again, perfectly understandable. Perfectly reasonable. You are the makers of your content space. And I am not judging anyone for that. I want people to be safe. I want people to have a good time in fandom spaces. I want people to not have to deal with the things that upset them or frighten them, or disgust them. But you can not say one is fine, and one is not. They're both bad! They're both toxic. In real life, these ships would both be charged with serious crimes! And yes, there are some crimes that are worse than others, and if you asked me what I thought was more problematic-- I'd say Billdip-- but both of these ships are extreme, and severe in their problematic content. You are still consuming problematic content. If it's a personal thing, that's fine; avoid it. But don't sit there throwing stones from your glass house.

[kingofthewilderwest]

Those leaked images look like ass, y'alls.

They're matching everything exactly to what it looked like in the movie. The result is everything looks very, very fake. The final product should have more refined visuals (we ain't done editing). But I don't see how we're going to take those shots and de-ass-ify them.

The movie's whimsical designs don't translate to a brick-by-brick recreation. You aren't selling me that people made an arena like that. You'd be better on live sets that lie closer to reality than forcing a pastiche of the movie's over-the-top whimsy.

Part of HTTYD's charm (to the delight of the animators!) was getting things scruffy, dirty, lived-in, imperfect. I was talking with @hcsp1 today and I agree with what he said: "It looks like a cool cosplay image, not a big budget studio film." The arena pic feel like a hyper-edited, visually-scrubbed Photoshop rather than a lived-in world.

If you're going to match visuals exactly, it highlights how redundant and pointless it'd be to make that live action.

I could be wrong regarding the cove because they're blurry images, but: the color, lighting, and differences in graininess / resolution / definition / whatever-word-goes-here between the foreground and background make it feel like a cheap greenscreen. Also: the foreground is ass, and the background is ass.

Toothless is an example of "try so hard to be 'realistic' that we render it ugly." Guess what word I'm going to use to describe how I feel about the model? Looks like ass.

A person can't make an accurate analysis on something with so little data. But. Something something something ass ass ass. My takeaway is this looks like ass.

I still want folks to know I'm not following live action news and don't anticipate answering questions on it; I'd prefer to see and know as little of it as possible. But I am voluntarily providing my opinion here. ;) And my opinion is... [dramatic drumroll with the most glorious of winks] (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ ......ASS! ∘* ✧･ﾟ

[arthursfuckinghat]

There needs to be a scientific study done on how Rockstar Games' Arthur Morgan is able to provoke the most earth shattering emotions I didn't even know I had in me

[canisalbus]

Different Italian anon, but the thing with Tuscan C is that it's pronounced like a very strong H sound, which is extra weird cuz the letter H makes no sound in Italian, normally. It sounds the way Spanish pronounce the J. We say it's "aspirato". So then people from there will say things like Hoha Hola (coca cola), and it's funny. It's also extremely contagious, I got family in Florence, you spend 3 days with them you start doing it too before you even realize.

.

[fromtheseventhhell]

I have a question for people who fervently argue that Arya has no potential for politics but think that Sansa will be one of the main political characters, and I'm asking this seriously.

If Arya learning multiple languages, how to tell + detect lies, how to rule her face so she doesn't reveal her emotions, being able to blend into different situations, thinking quick on her feet, knowing the importance of gathering information, being someone who makes friends wherever she goes, convincing a FM to help free Northern prisoners and participating in a coup, etc. don't make Arya capable of participating in politics...what exactly is it that you think Sansa will be doing as a political figure?

[jakeperalta]

potentially unpopular opinion but I think taylor could benefit from releasing EPs occasionally instead of putting everything on albums. I don't mind living in a post-vault world where seemingly everything she makes gets released, but I think sometimes it would maybe be better to go "here's a small collection of songs I want you to have" (either tied around a theme or just a random assortment) and then keeping albums a bit more selective and focused. e.g. I personally think you could put cassandra/robin/thank you aimee (+ potentially others) on a separate mini release without detracting from ttpd as an album.

[yuseirra]

ch 109 and Mephisto~

even someone in their right mind would have gone insane in his place I'm pretty sure I mean, his beloved got killed upon the reasoning they had his children, if he acted with the belief that he should reverse that somehow, I'd understand the despair and desperation.

[island-in-the-shadows]

Truly, my sympathies to people watching IWTV and are getting tired/bored of different perspectives. I'm not bored or even remotely tired.

Interviews by their very nature are perspective based. The story has this specific framing. As did the first book. They added to it with Armand now being an active participant and Daniel being more seasoned at interviewing. I understand how Armand's very edited and hyperbolic take on events that Book Lestat describes in The Vampire Lestat rubs people the wrong way. I do think that one could argue the way Lestat writes his own autobiography is the objective truth (note Armand in his book does not contradict Lestat). However, sorry to say, there is never an objective truth. The truth is always subjective.

I was raised by a whole family of lawyers and if I learned anything is that you can spin things in any way, but an objective truth will never exist. Not in crime, not in person to person storytelling, not in fictional storytelling. Hell, viewers seeing the SAME show CANNOT come to a consensus. Why? Because we all put our thoughts, experiences, and feelings to it. That's all perspective.

We see Louis give Armand a kiss in bed. Some think aw domestic and cute. Some think Louis is deliberately withholding and rewarding Armand for good behaviour. Some saw the act they put on in E2 as some version of truth and domesticity and some think it's only an act. Some think Dreamstat is actual Lestat out there somewhere and some think it's Louis' conscience.

Yes, the narrative will confirm one thought or another on some things but not all of them. They're deliberately left up to interpretation. Something btw, Lestat urges the reader to do in TVL when he does not go into details about his time with Louis and Claudia. And part of that has to do with perspective.

We could have a straightforward narrative with no corrections and no perspectives. But would that be as interesting as seeing how minds that far exceed our own twist and bend and interpret events? Would it be as interesting as seeing a vampire who tells himself a story so that he can carry on living despite being miserable? Would it be as interesting as this vampire who tells himself a story get pushback on what he's saying by someone who notices errors and inconsistencies? Would it be an interview at all? Or would it be, as Daniel put it in the very first episode, "a fever dream told to an idiot."

If you want a straightforward non-challenging version of the story, the 1994 movie exists. It's not perfect and a lot of details are missing, but there's only one, unchallenged perspective to it. And even then...how many people didn't (want to) see the queerness in it?

TL;DR I get being frustrated or tired or bored by the way the show is trying to tell the story, but at least it's doing something a little different and not word for word.

[griem]

ijbol idk man releasing screenshots of very polarizing things said in a private discord server between friends in a public "callout" post is #the most #tumblrific thing ive ever seen LOL.

#opinion 😱 in tags