#and me wanting to respect it even if i don't agree with it

[fun-k-boards]

Comment by @inth3world that's real so I'm putting it in the reblogs 👍

The only thing that confuses me about this is why is being a virgin an insult? Much less comparable to incel?

But what is wrong with being a virgin? So what if you haven't had sex yet? Some people don't want to or would like to wait. That doesn't make them lesser than other people.

And being a virgin doesn't make them better than the others either. It's a personal choice each individual makes that should be respected.

(I am aware that not everyone gets the choice. I know several women whose first time was stolen from them. Again, that doesn't make their value as individuals lesser than others!!!)

The only time I can see virgin as an insult is if an incel themselves is using it to either a. pressure someone (of any gender) into sex or b. to feel better about themselves the same way a bully is when they take their anger/pain/loneliness out on another person.

TL,DR virgin shouldn't even be an insult.

And I agree with op; if calling someone out on incel ideology is viewed in the same way as degrading someone for being a virgin, something is very wrong with society and our collective understanding of morality.

sucks that "incel" is just like a generic insult now synonymous with "virgin" bc if people had much of an idea of what incel ideology actually entails, we could have a conversation about radical feminism being quite literally, beat for beat, incel shit for girls

[thewertsearch]

GG: listen fuckass GG: i am going to need a password before we continue GG: plz <3

There’s those passwords again. Karkat’s returning to his old habit of non-linearity, and Jade is having absolutely none of it. It’s still possible for a future Karkat to pop in with an old password, but no past Karkat can break the sequence with a future one.

...unless he gets a password from his own future self, I guess. But I Don’t Want To Yadda Yadda

GG: do you even remember the right password? CG: SOMETHING ALONG THE LINES OF GRATUITOUS SELF DEPRECATION FORCED INTO MY MOUTH, INVOLVING REFERENCE TO SOME KIND OF WEIRD HUMAN COUPLING RITUAL? GG: youre being deliberately dumb GG: it was… GG: IF I HATE MYSELF SO MUCH, THEN WHY DON'T I HATEMARRY MYSELF?

lmaooo

Yeah, Karkat. Jade ‘forces’ you to be self-deprecating.

wheeeeeeeee! :D

GG: i wonder if we will ever be able to start a conversation without having a ridiculous argument about the password system? CG: IF YOU WOULD DROP THE PASSWORD SYSTEM AND LET FUTURE ME TALK TO YOU, HE MIGHT BE ABLE TO GIVE YOU AN ANSWER.

Future Karkat could jump in here. Like I said, he knows all the previous passwords - but he hasn't shown up, and I think that's because Karkat does respect what Jade's trying to do here. He might complain about it, but he understands her logic.

GG: you have no patience to do things the right way, youre always just looking for the shortcut! GG: even if doing so has brought you nothing but trouble a hundred times before

Sounds like Karkat's been taking lessons from Vriska. He might want to ask her how this approach has been treating her, lately.

I definitely agree with Jade’s point. We shouldn’t be trying to short-circuit the normal flow of causality, because that’s how you get self-generating ideas. I want real ideas, damn it!

[velvetvexations]

since i know the other side, in both good and bad faith, looks at your blog, i do have a question for them; let's posit that men categorically and universally are not oppressed as the ideology states, with the "splash damage" hypothesis and all. sure. definitionally, how do you define a man/masc/whatever you want to specify here, in a way that does not define any other gender or presentation of gender? what is Man?

it's not the testosterone unless you're very cruel to pre-transition trans women, or women that use t cream for various reasons. it's not genitalia or boob growth for the same reason. certainly not skin texture or hair for the same reason. so lets rule out personal body choices; i feel we can agree those are an individuals choice.

is it just saying you're a guy or using he/him pronouns? what about trans girls before they even know it's an option for them to transition? do you think trans women cannot be butches and want to use he/him some or all of the time? how do you intend to stop the girls who do? what about the women who don't necessarily identify as always having been women? especially when you transition later in life, that lived experience isn't wrong to have. is a woman who says she was a man someone who was privileged and now is not, or is she also exempt forever? do you care if she feels differently?

how do you separate what someone internally feels, which you cannot know, from what they physically show you and tell you? i boymode at my job; i AM physically transitioning, but i just keep saying i am a man. would you respect what i tell you? would you treat me like a man on the days i shave my face because i asked you to, or would you treat me like a woman because you think you know what i want better than i do?

where is Man? what is Man? you cannot define genders out of each other, i don't think; there's more diversity within the individual groups than between them. they regress to the average. Woman is not what is leftover when you remove Man from a person.

The answer they'd give is "someone who has male privilege." It's tautological as hell.

[bladeshowers]

Amara gave a shrug. "I'm not sure. Most of the time I spend the winters…elsewhere? The Starlight festivals are always held in Gridania." She hadn't really asked her mother about it either. His lab comment was met with a sigh. "You already have several labs. You don't get more just because you need to clean up the others." It wasn't as if anyone was currently claiming the areas in Azys Lla for their own anyways. Maybe they were in Ishgard territory, but she wasn't overly familiar with it. Amara doubted anyone would actually bother her over it much.

Amon's next choice of statements had her giving him a look. "Dear," Amara said in a strained tone. A tone that said 'We are not arguing about the soul transfer again in front of a guest'. Even if she was sorely tempted to just for the sake of having someone agree with her. "Besides, you make a lavish dish for me every time you cook."

Themis' beauty was ethereal and when he graced Amara with that smile of his, her annoyance melted away quickly. It was easy for her to suspect that he would have a calming effect on both her and Amon. Their fiercely stubborn tendencies would now have a bit of a buffer. "You only ever wanted what was best for the Star. There were times you sided against your brethren even when your memories were gone. I would assume that is something he can respect." That was merely speculation on her part though.

As Themis spoke again, she had no clue where he was going, until his follow up question caused all her neurons to promptly cease functioning for a split second. "You…want to meet my family?" The question had rendered her fairly speechless and more than a little flustered. The bravado and drama she usually wore were completely forgotten as she scrambled to reconcile everything in her head. "I uh, can, I guess. If you want to. I'm not entirely sure how to…go about that though. I've never really introduced anyone to them. Not even my friends."

Amon shrugged. “Limsa? Mm….gets awfully cold in the winters, doesn’t it? Not to mention the storms….but maybe, I suppose. Given the choice I just want somewhere with lab space. Oh how I miss my home in Allag….” He tilted his head toward Themis, then smirked. “Oh yes, certainly. You can join us if you want. I’m quite the good cook and the last time I made a lavish meal no one appreciated it properly!”

Themis huffed a soft breath and looked to Amara with a smile. “Then I will stay for dinner.” Amon rolled his eyes and minced his way back to the kitchen. Themis turned his head to clock his location, then looked back at Amara again. “Well, this is going better than I thought. Though he never clashed with me the way he did with Emet-Selch, so maybe this will all work out.” It wasn’t as if Amon could really do anything to him. His body was the closest to being his own since the sundering, but he was still an Ascian. Poison would do nothing, and unless he had white auracite and knew how to use it, he couldn’t kill him in any way that mattered. He didn’t think Amon would risk poisoning Amara though. “So, your family is here?” He continued. “Will you be introducing us to them at some point?”

[almondmilkcleanser]

𝐖𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐀 𝐃𝐈𝐏𝐏𝐄𝐃 𝐈𝐍 𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐃 𝐂𝐇. 𝟑

𝐈𝐍 𝐀 𝐍𝐔𝐓𝐒𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐋. You're a fox youkai who's just been betrothed to be married to this anonymous demon. But is he really that anonymous? He looks.. familiar.

✥ ` ■ 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒. f!reader x sesshomaru ✥ ` ■ 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒. Arranged marriage; opposites attract; ✥ ` ■ 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓. my perfectionism don't like det. ✥ ` ■ 𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐎. Teresa - moments x where roses bloom ✥ ` ■* 𝐀/𝐍. — Happy holidays <3 Leave a comment to be added to the update list! ✥ ` ■ 𝐄𝐗𝐂𝐋𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐊𝐀𝐈 - @hisokaswaifu32 all-the-thngz-i-nvr-said traumatizedgirly meontheblock002 tcapter luv-for-fictional-characters rlurvey obsessedalpaca bontensbabygirl bunniotomia

“Explain this “arrangement” to me right now!” the castle consorts hid their faces in their palm. Your brash mannerisms were nothing new. They were encouraged even by your father despite your mother’s attempt at teaching you to be a studious, demure, quiet lady. 

“Oh, Y/N. This arrangement was long arranged since before you were born. You see, Sesshomaru’s father, the great Inu Taisho-” Sesshomaru nodded his head slightly at your father, giving him the OK to continue. 

“Him and I would meet during the seasons. “Oh, my daughter!” your father clapped his hands together. A triumphant smile plastered across his face. You stood next to Sesshomaru, your face flustered, grimacing and grumbling under your breath.

“Daddy! Explain the meaning of this!” you stomped your feet against the wisteria covered steps. Your father met the two of you outside of the castle gates inside the garden. Speckles of violets and morning glories danced in the air around the two of you; bright pigments of lavender, green, sage and yellow in preparation for the spring. It was going to be a beautiful spring according to the season oracle. But none of that mattered right now-

And its through his skilled knowledge of the land that we were able to expand our kingdom into such a beautiful creation that it is today. No war. No famine. Our kingdom has been designated to aide in a kingdom’s beautification from near and far. Sesshomaru was but a child then, but we agreed that if and when i have a daughter, she would be his bride. 

“Well, what if I don’t want to be his bride!” you protested, glaring at him from the side of your eye. Sesshomaru returned your stare with a his own. Letting off a short chuckle as he looked away.

“You see, daddy! He doesn’t even want to proceed with the arrangement. And besides, he’s too soft-looking. You said it yourself that my husband needs to be a warrior!”

“Y/N, don’t be so crude, sweetheart.” your mother looked over at Sesshomaru apologetically. His expression remained neutral. “You can’t outwardly judge someone so harsh-”

“I’m assuming you’re going to blindly negate from the fact that I saved you from that large demon outside in the fields.” your father’s eyebrows shot up. “Your life was nearly over if I didn’t find you when I di-”

“I didn’t ask you to do that!” you huffed, crossing your arms as you looked away. “I would have figured out a way to take him down.”

“With a measly hand blade? I would have enjoyed watching that happen.”

“Tsk! Daddy!”

Your father pressed his fingers on both sides of his nose. He knew this wasn’t going to be an easy 1-2 process. 

“How’s this. Get to know him till the end of summer. By the time the last hydrangeas fall to the ground to welcome the winter and you still have your apprehensions, we will cancel the arrangement. And in exchange, I will let you choose whether to stay or go. Whichever you

decide.”

Your face softened. Your father must have really respected this Inu Taisho person. With a brattish glance at Sesshomaru, you took a deep breath and dropped your arms.

“Fine. But if this doesn’t work. I want that jade necklace you promised me and 2 horses for myself.” you walked off to the right towards your chambers, leaving your handmaidens no choice but to follow you.

“And he’s not staying in my room!” was the last thing you said before disappearing into the distance.

Your father looked at Sesshomaru with the deepest, most silent apology. “I promise you she’s not normally like this..”

Sesshomaru grunted in response. “If its alright with you I’ll take my stay outside of the castle. I suspect if that one demon was so close its best I linger around for a little while longer.”

“Ah! Yes! A-are there any other acquaintances of yours that we should accomoda-”

“Lord Sesshomaruuuuuuu! Wait for me!!!!!” Sesshomaru’s face showed its first expression this whole time; annoyance. A small green creature with buggy eyes and a large stick sprinted through the garden, his breath ragged and fumbled.

“Ah! My Lord! You ran away so suddenly and I- Hm? What is this place?” the creature looked around frantically, his eyes both in wonder but also in.. permanent worry?

“This is my wife’s kingdom, Jaken.”

“Your wife.” Jaken repeated. He looked around at your father and mother, the servants, and the flowers until it hit him,

“Your wife!?”

“This simply has to be a mistake. No women is worthy enough of the Great Lord Sesshomaru! Just what kind of bribery must have- OOF!” In a blink, Jaken’s face was to the floor with a large knot to his head. Sesshomaru pivoted on his heel, walking out of the castle, leaving Jaken on the floor to catch up to him.. Eventually. 

—

“Y/N! Are you crazy! You have to marry him. Do you not see him? He’s incredibly handsome.”

You crossed your arms, eyes darting bullets at your friend, Saya. Saya put her hands to her cheeks, her bright brown eyes glimmering at the inert fantasy playing in her head.

“To have such a strong demon under your arm and bear his children must be a dream come true!”

“Not for me! I don’t even know this man. He could be an absolute psycho.”

“Or a dream!” your other friend, Miko, piped up alongside Saya. You could see the soft envy in their eyes, but it wasn’t harmful. Your own friends didn’t even understand why you were so apprehensive. 

“I don’t know…” Miko sighed, rubbing her temples. “I just feel like I’m still young. Still wanting to explore the world. Or-”

“Still wanting to pickle yourself for that fool Hachiko. I’m telling you, Y/N. You’re going to get yourself hurt all over again and this time its going to stick.” Saya looked at you and Miko, who you felt was more of an older sister type of friend, with curious eyes.

“Who’s Hachiko?” Saya asked.

“Oh he’s some soldier in training in the neighboring kingdom that Y/N is head over heels about. But he’s just a peasant boy, no grounds for a pri-”

“Peasant boy or not, I love him. And no Sesshomaru is going to stand between us.” You stood to your feet to escape back into the garden.

“Y/N.” Miko piped up, her eyebrows scrunched in concern. “Just- think it over. Opportunities like this don’t come around often for women like us.”

You looked back, your mouth pressed together. Without saying much else, you walked out of your room, into your personal garden.

[highladyjane]

The assault at Sangravah happened in early ACOMAF (before Elain's existence even came into picture for Azriel - 3 days before he even got to meet Feyre)... So I don't get how G and Az are supposed to be mates when he's had all that time to feel something?

There's the parallel of Rhys' father feeling his mating bond snap into place the moment he met his mother being assaulted.

"One look at her, and he knew what she was..." (ACOMAF, ch. 16)

Or Rhys himself feeling the bond when Feyre was being tortured by Amarantha...

"And I knew as I picked up that knife to kill her... I knew right then what you were. I knew right then that you were my mate." (ACOMAF, ch. 54)

Or Cassian simply meeting Nesta. "Say what I've guessed from the moment we met" he breathed. What I knew from the first time I kissed you. What became unbreakable between us on Solstice night." (ACOSF, ch. 62)

Bonus from Nesta: “‘From the moment I met you, I wanted you more than reason. From the moment I saw you in my house, you were all I could think about. And it terrified me. No one had ever held such power over me."

Or even Lucien after Elain was Made and maybe even while being thrown into the Cauldron... I don't even need a quote for them, but even Lucien knew and has tried seeking Elain out after the incident.

It's stated in the books and shown again and again that it's the males who are deeply affected by the mating bond. That they can know from the moment they meet. They all in one way or another sought after the females. Even Nesta and Feyre felt something before they knew or opened themselves up to it. And since they all met - They. Couldn't. Stay. Away.

But there's like... no hint of it from Az after stumbling upon G? Like he just literally stumbles upon her - never actually even actively seeking her out through all those years? He hasn't even actively tried to stay away? He's just... *crickets*

It's been Gwyn making noises and attracting his attention through all their scenes together. It was Gwyn asking for dagger lessons. It was 'Gwyn' making Az the new ribbon (whatever that means). And it's Az's shadows reacting to Gwyn, not Az himself. But there's no real hint that Gwyn feels anything romantic for him. There's barely any interactions between them without linking it to her assault in Sangravah and her growth from it.

Besides Az's shadows reacting to G, and that ribbon moment that everyone deems so pivotal when Az realises what it means for the Valkyries (that he's had a hand in training) and maybe even reflects upon Gwyn's character development and therefore what the ribbon means for Gwyn - which made me feel proud too, and that's how I interpreted it - but I can't see an undeniable sign of it being a mating bond anywhere.

I thought at first that mayhaps he was giving her space because of the assault, but then the BC came and he went "It was too late to bank without appearing like he was running," and then "He wouldn't go so far as to call Gwyn a friend,". (ACOSF, Azriel's Bonus Chapter)

Let's not even mention the part where Gwyn was actually in danger (no matter how capable she was at that point), while Cassian was going ballistic at Nesta being in danger, but Az is all like "Let's go save Eris". Eris who both he and Cassian hates. Eris who Az himself nearly killed during the HLs' pre-war meeting (before he exhibited actual mate behaviour and sought and risked his life to save Elain who's not even his mate). But no, he gave just as much or even less action and reaction about Gwyn as Tamlin gave when Feyre was UTM.

And I was like...

How are they mates? Where's the mate behaviour every male - mated or not - in Prythian has exhibited throughout the books? Why did I keep seeing things about them being mates and endgame?

The only hint between them that I could even begin to consider it from is the second to last sentence in Az's BC.

"But Azriel tucked away the thought, consciously erasing the slight smile it brought to his face. Buried the image down deep, where it glowed quietly."

But I basically have the same interpretation about that as this post from @merymoonbeam. (Although I'm still neutral about the lightsinger theory, it's the most interesting take.)

Because again.

Why hasn't Azriel felt/shown anything or actively sought her out or even actively stayed away if he's known Gwyn since Sangravah?

If they're mates, shouldn't he have felt and shown something - like that glow - and Gwyn be the one to snap him out of his 'love' for Mor before he even had the chance to meet Elain? If he's just lonely and jealous of his brothers having mates then... Why has he barely noticed or sought out Gwyn who's supposed to be his mate?

What, he had to wait until his shadows reacted to her to even think about her?

I'm not an expert at analysing things - I wouldn't even say I'm good at interpreting things especially when I've got my rose-tinted glasses on, so/but I'm always open to being wrong and changing my mind accordingly.

But/so convince me with actual canon and not just your biased opinions, delusions, self-insertions, or ships.

[thefirstknife]

Hi Bel,

I keep seeing comments about people complaining about the quality of destiny’s writing and story in the last few weeks. I haven’t really engaged with destiny since season of defiance, what’s currently gotten everyone so riled up? I thought that people were enjoying Season of the Deep/Witch in terms of narrative, why is Season of the Wish causing people to deride the destiny writing staff again?

I don't know!

Deep and Witch have been absolute bangers in every aspect to me. I've been enjoying all interactions and lore tabs we've received. A lot of them are stuff that we've never had before, a lot of reunions and closures, a lot of development and interactions between characters who you wouldn't really think would have much in common.

Sloane's return and healing from what she's been through has been fantastic, Drifter opening up with her to help her because he also got help from others was fantastic, Sloane reuniting with Aisha and Shayura brought me to tears (Shayura's descent into madness was triggered by immense trauma of Sloane staying on Titan and Titan disappearing), everything with Sloane and Zavala...

Witch was just incredible in every single way; the focus on Eris, the amount of Eris and Ikora content!!!!! Everything about Xivu and Savathun and their interactions together!! Eris finally fulfilling her goal she promised Savathun YEARS ago, getting that closure.

Wish so far has been equally great to me. All the new stuff about Ahamkara is amazing, finally giving us proof for long-standing speculation about Ahamkara and how they aren't universally evil creatures and expanding on them as a species. I love all interactions we've had so far; finally we have Petra back, Mara's singleminded focus on figuring out how to defeat the Witness and her continuous work to improve as a person, ALL SJUR MENTIONS!!!!! I won't talk about the "leak" because we have no context for it so I will wait for the full story to be revealed before I can pass judgment; something that I think should be a lesson to learn from this entire year. Maybe wait for the story to finish before judging the story.

Literally everything this past year that involves Osiris, but especially this season now that he's back in his element with the Vex. And of course every little detail we get of him and Saint. Osiris honestly shaped this year for me with everything that he's done to uncover the biggest mysteries. I think a big reason is that a lot of people just don't like Osiris, which I consider a massive skill issue.

Other than that, I don't know what are the issues people have besides just not being interested in any of these storylines and attributing it to a nebulous "bad writing" claim. I also genuinely believe that way too many people get wrapped up too much in fandom, imagine storylines they want to see and then get disappointed when the actual story doesn't go there. Almost like people forget that this isn't their story and these aren't their characters. A lot of it is also fandom completely warping characters into not what they actually are and then feeling like the canon story is the one that's wrong.

Whatever is the reason, I guess everyone is entitled to their perspective of the story and everyone is free to explore the story in different ways through fanfics and AUs and whatever. I do that too!

But I would definitely ask people to be normal with how they engage in criticism, especially in the current state of affairs. Writers are developers; they experience a ton of harassment and negativity from the community and also from inside the company. And they are online: they can see what we're saying. It's been documented that community commentary has been used to harass writers:

Imprint this into your brain and never forget what these people had to go through. Let's not forget also the way people treated Seth Dickinson on social media when he was active with Destiny fans. "Fans" were actively arguing with him about his own work (telling him that HE is wrong) and were utterly disgusting towards him when he tried explaining what he wrote. His works are now hailed as the best writing in Destiny and people want him back. If I were him, I wouldn't want to come back ngl, not with how he was treated and not with how fans are still treating writers (and hey, Seth wrote LF Collector's Edition! So he was back, technically, this year!). Let's not forget that a lot of writers are members of various marginalised groups. And I'd definitely not want to go back with zero support from leadership.

Which is also an important aspect for all developers, including writers: sometimes they have orders they may not like, but can't argue against. They do the best they can with what they're given, the time they have and directions they receive. And with that in mind, I am enjoying everything we've gotten this year, obviously with some specific complaints about things I didn't particularly enjoy (like the universally mid reception of Defiance; I've spoken about my gripes with it before, a big one being the shafting of Suraya who should've at least been mentioned in a lore tab).

I can tell that there is passion in their work, even if maybe they would prefer to do more with it, but can't. Maybe even if they want to take different routes, but can't. But from what we got, I can feel that they care about this world and these characters. I can tell that someone lovingly wrote about Sloane and her friendships with two grieving women. I can tell that they deeply cared about Sloane's friendship with Zavala and that they loved showing us Saint and Drifter caring about a fellow trauma survivor.

I can tell that the writers are immensely careful and loving towards Eris; everything she went through was crafted with love and passion from both writers and her VA. Eris' story is such a fundamental aspect of Destiny and I can tell that this was important to the writing team and that they gave her everything they could to do justice to her character and her arc and her healing and her release from the cycle she was trapped in for so long.

I can tell that there are writers who care a lot about Osiris and Saint and their relationship. I can tell that someone cared a lot about expanding on Ahamkara and giving them more personalities. I can tell that someone cared DEEPLY about Sjur and Mara and that her repeated mentions are the passionate work of writers who want us to remember her.

I could go on. And I know that not everyone sees it this way, which is fine; we all have different ways of perceiving stories. I enjoy discussing things we in the fandom disagree on and I enjoy hearing different perspectives! Unfortunately, this has recently become rarer and rarer. And for the love of god, please try and treat writers with some respect, especially now, especially those who are still working and doing their best with the shitty situation they're in. None of the cries of "poor devs" ring true to me unless the same is given to writers, instead of treating them like punching bags.

[nose-rice]

OH MY GOD YES. YES YES YES. I mentioned this in my og post but with the whole Nuru being raised differently, I mainly focused on her being a girl and royalty. But being a black girl also plays a huge roll with the whole "you're either the mom friend, or sassy". I've seen her portrayed as straight up mean before which is personally infuriating to me.

And with Yong!! Like you said he's a pre-teen! While I certainly wasn't matured, I wasn't thinking surface level thoughts. You start to overthink, find yourself, and your rose-tinted glasses start to fade just the tiniest bit. He's more than just "wow.. ypu guys seem really sad," or "wow! I'm so happy my fireworks worked!" And him being the fat asian kid leads is also troubling like you said. He's never taken seriously beyond the surface level "I don't wanna bother you guys" It's just really sad to me because I see so much of myself in Nuru, and I absolutely ADORE Yong and his absolutely vibrant personality. I feel like he holds immense power when it comes to shifting the tone of the story since he's the main source of optimism in the group, which could also set up a character arc that deeper than one short little moment of introspection.

Also this is a more personal thing but as a mixed poc, I am STARVING for literally any fun cool story I love with MAIN poc characters with complex thoughts and arcs. And I mean the MAIN. STARS. I'm a little tired of seeing the white lead with their poc friends that serve them in every way, and if we're LUCKY, perhaps a poc love intrest, which we didn't get here lol. Ofc I still love them. I just have been craving more diverse characters that can be seen in a complex light, which is what started my whole Nuru rant (i love Nuru soso much)

And i do agree that part of it is the way the story was set up fundamentally, with there being almost no info on Nuru and Yong, and being centered more on the main white couple. But I think it's great that it was just a first draft, and Anna and Kay have said they enjoy seeing different interpretations and chages. It's just unfortunate that most people tend to grasp onto what we're given a little too much, and not exploring so many possible concepts. The whole point I feel was that it was an idea thrown out there to whoever wants to add on to it or simply just enjoy what's already there, but the fandom pretty heavily tilts toward the "enjoy what's given" side.

Not to mention DONELLA AND ULLA?? EVEN CYRUS!! I personally am biased towards Donella but I feel a lot of the things with her can be said for Ulla too. I feel that a lot of the time they serve as plot devices for Varian and Hugo respectively. Obviously they're all very important to eachother, but I wanna see more of THEM. Just Ulla. Just Donella!! There are some good fanworks and art out there that do dive deeper into them, at least a big chunk more than Nuru and Yong which is a little sad. But I feel like I never see any fanworks that focus on their backstory aside from the library and "sons". What about THEIR parents, where they grew up? Their little quirks and their cultures? I especially find the way some Donella redemptions feel half hazardly taped on for the plot infuriating because to get to her state, you have to be pretty set in you beliefs!!

And to be fair Cyrus is very much less involved as he is Don's "side kick" sort of? Bodyguard? It's up to interpretation. But I really like seeing people giving him a bigger role in stories. Like. PLEASE. This is more just me asking for things I personally wanna see but I sorta wanna see a found family dynamic between Cyrus, Hugo, and Donella. The "villain trio". I think it would be super fun! Love seeing people rant about this stuff because I never see it talked about!!

Guys I NEED to rant about my thoughts on Nuru because i love her <3 ramblings ahead

Like I feel like in almost every fic i read, she's just like, a side character that's there to make whitty remarks to Hugo and be the levelheaded one. If she has an insecurity or problem it's usually pretty surface level and solved quickly, or only mentioned once or twice. I think there are SO many aspects of her character that are so cool.

Okay first, I think we sometimes forget that she's a nerd just like the rest of the gang. Yes, on the outside she's definetly the most 'normal' one, but I think we should concider the fact that she's the only girl in the group, and she's literal royalty. She was raised with a completely different set of standards than the other three. I don’t think I've really ever seen anyone cover that. I feel like she would get called "mature for her age" when she's only 15/16, and almost always gets critisism when she talks back with her own ideas (like her concerns about the meteor shows for example). I feel like out on her journey, she would finally get the freedom to just be herself, and be a kid and be able to rant on about her intrests with the rest of the group. It could be a struggle at first, but it would be awesome to see her getting more comfortable with the group the longer they spend together! Nerds encouraging nerdy rants lol

Since she is a kingdom figurehead, you could also argue that she always has a lot on her hands (especially since she's very proactive when it comes to science and solving problems). This could bring up a need to be productive, or always feeling like she needs to make the right decision, even for the littlest things.

I also feel like a lot of the time she's potrayed as the "right" one, who is 100% right when it comes to stuff like arguing with Hugo. Since they're opposites when it comes to class, they often are compared through that lense. I think it's cool just having Nuru tell Hugo off for judging a book by its cover, but I feel like they have a lot more in common than they realize. I think it would be interesting to see Nuru judging a book by its cover too. Maybe not to the degree that Hugo does, but I feel like calling out both their judging would not only call out character flaws, but it also enforces that even though they hate eachother and would never want to be like the other, they have a lot of the same flaws.

Also, being sheltered in a palace her whole life, I think she might think kind of black and white sometimes, and while she knows when people are just being mean as an act, she might struggle when it comes to people like reformed criminals.

Maybe she's able to be meaner to Hugo because she justifies it by telling herself he's criminal, and therefore bad, possibly glossing over the reasons he might be like that (maybe it crosses her mind, but she tells herself it's not a good enough reason, because stealing is still stealing, and he literally steals EVERYTHING. Even little trinkets and stuff he definitely doesn't need!). When they find out about Varian's criminal history, maybe she reexamines her views on morality and how she used to see people, because by her standards, Varian is a 'bad guy' who's caused harm to SO many people, but he's also the kind, caring, helpful friend that she's been traveling with who would never willingly hurt anyone.

Moving on to Amber x Nuru, I honestly never find myself liking the ship because Amber isn't developed enough which is fine. I don't think every character has to be a magnificent work of art. Side characters are side characters, but their romance is usually written like: "wow that girl is cute! I have a crush now!" Which is cool, but then that's about as far as it gets, then timeskip! Or offscreen they're a couple now. I know it's a side couple so it won't have as much devlopment as something like Varigo, but I never really see their dynamic play out in different situations. Like I don't know how to explain it, but it feels like they solely exist to be a couple? Amber sometimes just feels like an extention of Nuru, and their relationship feels surface level a lot of the time.

I feel like too often she's just watered down to the nice, smart, grounded friend, and I don't know I just think there’s so much more to explore with her. She’s not just some side character. She's literally part of the main cast! Even in fanart I feel like she doesn't really get a lot of stuff besides funny art and just like, pictures meant to look pretty. Unlike something you get a lot with characters like Varian or Hugo.

And honestly I get it. Some characters you just don't take an intrest in. I know I find Varian, Hugo, and Nuru more relatable than I find Yong, but I feel like part of that is developing their characters rather than just seeing them on a surface level. Ofc there are exceptions and there are some stories that dive deeper into Nuru's character out there! I just happen to see this A LOT.

Wow i said "surface level" a lot didn't I 😭😭

Anyway thank you for reading my rant i wanna know what you guys think!!

[shikai-the-storyteller]

One of the funniest things about the QSMP finale was Pac going "Yeah, Cucurucho transferred my consciousness into this Egg body to save me," and Mike is immediately like, "Wait, why the hell didn't they save me?!?" pfttt

[artheresy]

An argument over whether or not Dan Heng is Dan Feng seems to have begun getting sparked again in certain parts of the Fandom and it does nothing but hurt my head to no end

Both sides cherrypicking or treating it like a strange situation, making false equivalents. "Yknow governments don't consider people who've lost their memories to be separate people" that's a flawed argument to use in favorite of DH = DF because it's not just he lost his memories. He literally grew up, experienced his own childhood, had a whole identity cultivated based on those experiences and that life and continues to live his own life. To treat the situation like it's just him getting a bit of amnesia is wild to me

But also I hate when people continue to insist he's running from Dan Feng and his past and how he's miserable and shouldn't ever confront the past and deal with it as if his and Blade's whole stories aren't centered around rebirth and karma, paying for your past life's karma. He needed to confront the past to ensure a freer future! He literally has!! And he will continue to do so because he realizes this, DH isn't dumb and he's grown since we first saw him. He understands

But yeah uh I'm so tired

This whole thing feels very Ship of Theseus. What makes the ship what it is, the physical aspects of its planks, its sailing history, or both?

For him, the question is what makes someone who they are? Is it the body that makes them up and any inherent genetic factors (like traits)? Is it their experiences, how they've grown up, and the identity they've developed in that time? Or is it both factors mixed together?

Personally in the case of Dan Heng, I think it's both! Yeah he has a lot of traits from Dan Feng. There's a lot inherently there. But we can't disregard his own experiences and the identity that has formed based on his history and what he's seen.

Again I can't stress this enough... It is a false equivalent to compare him to people who lose their memories or get amnesia, he didn't just lose those memories. He started life from the beginning, a whole different kind of life. And even then, the amnesia topic comes with its own debates. Isn't there a whole other thought experiment regarding someone put to trial who ends up with amnesia and what their verdict should be?

I guess in the end, it's all up to people's own philosophical beliefs after what constitutes a person. My personal belief that DH and DF will always be connect but the separation between them is also meaningful is something based on my own ideas of what consisitutes a person and their individual identity, similar situation with how I see Rukkhadevata and Nahida as connected but still not the same person exactly. At the end of the day again, it's personal beliefs

But what I can't stand and can't stand by, is someone acting all high and mighty like they're perfectly right and everyone else is wrong, especially when they're cherrypicking or not holding all their evidence to the same standard. According to some ppl, apparently it's better in the CN fandom where instead of treating it like "I'm right you're wrong" people have divided themselves into "DF and DH one person" and "DF and DH two people" groups and most importantly of all, they treat both like theories and just keep to their space and tag which they believe when it's relevant. Why can't we just do that? Why can't we follow in their footsteps instead of bringing up this argument every so often with the same tired flaws from both sides?

[trentcrimminallybeautiful]

you know if we do accept the last epilogue-esque sequence as a sort of dream/wish of ted's and therefore not necessarily canon, very funny if we then simply go "yeah, trent's book is called 'the lasso way' actually. he didn't change that. nope."

[rikeijo]

I'm sorry to butt in, I hope my reblog is not a bother to you.

I just want to say that I raise my both hands and feet to agree with everything that you've said, because that's been my impression as well, of this situation, including the academic standards of discussion (as a literary scholar turned scientist, my research topic used to be motifs in Japanese children literature pre-WWII in comparison to European folktale😆).

But academic knowledge is absolutely not necessary to be in the fandom and write metas 😵 The attitude, however... I also saw all these posts about how the fandom lacks intellectual abilities to engage in discussion about what's canon and what's not canon on the same level, that you've mentioned, and I believe that I could have been the trigger of some of them, for disagreeing with their claims of "what I felt when I watch the show = canon" (also I've been called an acephobe, the next step is being called a nazi, from what I know, probably as convenient method of making other people believe my opinions are invalid and okay to disregard - the same tactic has been used against other people in the fandom). That's just not how it works... not only it automatically erase the creators (whom I happen to love to death), but also what other people, that are not you, felt when they watched the show.

The lack of respect towards fellow fans is not only rude, but I believe it also discourages other people from engaging in discussion, which is sad. The fandom is a place for everyone, every person with different opinions, because it's okay to disagree or have a different approach to canon - they are all equally valid, and the 'canon status' of many things is simply 'unknown'.

(I want to take this opportunity to thank @alexseanchai for all the times when you discussed stuff with me, even though we didn't always had exactly the same opinion - for me that's the best part of my experience in the fandom💜🥺🥺)

The last thing - the language thing, though - it's an objective fact, sb either speaks a language or they don't. Imo, it also says a lot about what the person concerned thinks about everyone else in this fandom (the creators included), if they are ready to talk with this much superior attitude about something they are clearly no expert about.

Hey, just wanted to reach out to say that I found you pointing out and calling this person was really great and you shouldn't have apologized. It was incredibly true what you said, and to be honest it seems out of touch with the reality of a great deal of the japanese fandom, the nuances and their culture. Also, it was as you pointed out, extreme and may I say rude. I want to mention too that the way it was written, as if entitled of the knowledge and the 'explanation' made it all worse in context of the 'fucked up'. The original poster always gets away by using the 'well-written academic'' statement of their 'metas' as an excuse to do or say and make everyone else agree and if not, uses victim narrative and discourses exactly selecting wording for people to agree on it or feel bad.

I don't know if they tagging you in the way they did made you reblog and apologizing/backing up, but no one thought bad about you pointing it out. On the contrary, a lot of people had been bullied and discriminated by this person when they called them out/disagreed going onto lenghts of sending their friends to harass people, and the other persons can't even defend themselves because they are effectively blocked. To quite a few people in the fandom has been done, even accusing them as 'acephobes' (when they're not) or even Nazis by spreading lies. So yeah, I just wanted to say that. I think you were right to call them out publicly.

Thank you very much for this ask. To be completely honest I agree with everything you said here and don't actually feel bad about pointing anything out. I mainly apologised because I didn't want any potentially poor phrasing from my side to cause unnecessary hostility and because I myself have gripes with this person's behaviour but didn't want to cause a scene.

My honest opinion is that they have a serious issue with taking accountability for their own mistakes and highly overestimate their own intellect. If you're reading this, @thegirlwhorideslikeasamurai, sorry if I seem harsh, but it's true. I saw your post lamenting how you're the only academic meta writer / fan in the fandom and I didn't interact then because I honestly do not care enough to start that drama but with the information Blonndiec has just given me, I think it's necessary that someone calls you out.

You're not an academic. You're not beyond the mental capabilities of other fans. You're actually incredibly childish in your metas and analyses and I am not kidding when I say that I was halfheartedly writing essays more academic than every analysis I've seen from you when I was barely a teenager. I don't know how old you are and I frankly don't care. You're not as clever as you think you are.

Also, don't think I didn't notice that you didn't reblog my correction (link here to my correction and here to their "response" for those who didn't see that exchange) of your post so that you could control what your followers saw of the exchange. You're the opposite of an academic. You control information to tailor the narrative, you don't cite your sources properly if at all, you don't format your posts in anything close to how an academic analysis would be, you make unbased claims, you reference posts and canon material without in any way indicating where that information is from, you reference your own (equally unacademic) metas and your conclusions from them without indicating what post it's from or that it's your own theory this new one is based on and instead present it as a common fact, and I could go on and on and on. Your posts are also riddled with logical fallacies and you talk in absolutes and opinions when there's no canon basis to claim such things. I'm sorry, but that's not academic in the slightest.

To be clear, you don't have to be an academic to post on the Internet. You don't have to be anything at all. You could up front be a genuine idiot with no remorse and that's fine. But when you claim to be an academic and also put down the rest of the fandom for not being on your level, you have to be able to back that up. It'd still make you sound like a prick but at least your arrogance would have a basis. It currently does not.

I haven't personally seen the discussions that Blonndiec is referencing and I'm not going to claim anything definitive (because that would be unacademic of me, take notes) but if what they're saying is true and did happen as described, which I have empirical, if anecdotal, evidence to believe could very well be (a friend of mine has personally been blocked by you after they criticised you without actually mentioning your name which I of course can't prove is the reason for the block but the timing is awfully convenient), you should know that you should be ashamed of yourself.

If there's context missing, feel free to enlighten me and call out any incorrect accusations. You have every right to defend yourself. However, I encourage you to cite your sources since you're such an academic. If you don't, then it's just your word against Blonndiec and anyone else who might comment's word and that doesn't prove anything. Don't misunderstand, acephobia and nazi rhetoric should absolutely be called out but only if it's actually happening. False accusations can ruin lives. I hope you know that.

I'm not a fan of calling people out publicly and, again, thank you for this ask, Blonndiec. But considering many of the issues I've personally seen and those I've been informed of by second hand sources were posted publically, I don't really feel bad about calling this out. I could do a full breakdown of just the insulting "academic" comments alone and how there's no academia to be found in said academic metas and, Samurai, if you give me reason to, I will show exactly what I mean point by point (and academically just to give you an example of even low level academia).

If you respond to this, do it in a reblog. That's what a real academic would do. If I'm wrong and you can prove it, you'd have no reason to not show my post in your rebuttal. If I'm right, you'd have every reason to be upfront about your mistakes and how you intend to rectify them. There's nothing wrong with being wrong but there's a lot wrong with refusing to admit to it in a way that lets others peer review you (academic thing, look it up) and come to their own conclusions about the situation. That's what you did when you just @'ed me instead of reblogging my response. A true academic wouldn't hide a peer review. You'd know that if you were one.

I swing in many academic spaces and yet that doesn't make me any kind of expert and I don't claim to be one because I'm not. But since you want to be one so badly, reblog this with a response and show us all how smart you are. I'm dying to know what your academic take on this is.

[onepiece-polls]

I love your polls and it’s great you try to be on both sides to give fair chance to everyone, but the way you talked about shanks/buggy is crazy They’re fine together but in canon they’re brothers and your shipping googles got so tight you actually sounded like you could believe they’re anywhere close to canon which is u know stupid af

lmao, okay, this came out of nowhere 😂 Like... I talked about that months ago. But okay.

Anyway, Shuggy is canon. They're making out behind you right now.

[swinging-stars-from-satellites]

I usually like living with my parents and don't even entertain the idea of moving out and then there are the moments that I recognize that the older I get and more I experience life outside of my house, the more I realize that my mother can drive me crazy

[teaandinanity]

I miss having access to Respected Lawyer Friend to be able to ask questions re: justice system voting, because rn I'm just like 'I don't know what 'apply the law as written' means but given all the Republicans are using it I feel like it's a dog whistle for SOMETHING.'

[meejijis]

People who age up Jeanne just to be the same age as Ren are cowards