#and then i'm always ALWAYS thinking about that dk quote

[kveom]

@svtsource carat revival 2024: Picking Favourites and Fights

↳ Bias: DK | insp.

[saints-who-never-existed]

I'm choosing violence: least favorite popular Terror fanon?

Apologies for the delay, mate - I wanted to think a bit longer about how violently to reply to this one, only for it to get lost temporarily in my drafts!

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One of my least favourite aspects of Terror fanon is something that's quite broad and common to many fandoms, and that's the rampant flanderisation of characters and relationships, and the overemphasis on shipping and sex.

Like, if that's your thing then more power to you but it's never been mine, and I can't help but feel that you miss out on so much nuance and intrigue and enjoyment when you only consider things in those narrow terms.

I hope @laststandx3 doesn't mind me including their excellent tags from my Hickey/Tozer Face-Cupping Incident post here because they really do sum up my own feelings on the matter, and I've been thinking about them for days:

#I love that dk is like we can have such interesting complicated relationships with characters that don't always have to be flattened in #A sexual relationship and the fandom response was 'let them fuck' #Same with jopson crozier. Like i get the ships need i get it. But once in a while can we like entertain the idea that not everything #Needs to be a sexual relationship every single time #Like hickeytozer is much more interesting like this (they've barely touched before but committed treason together anyway) than just having #Them be lovers right away or even during the mutiny #It flattens them #You guys are finding those relationships SO interesting exactly bc they aren't as easily defined as romantic/sexual

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(Also, just as a side note, I do sort of regret not including a longer quote from the Q&As in that post that would make it clearer that Nagaitis and Walmsley - presumably mates in some capacity having worked together multiple times before - BOTH discussed the idea of the face-touch, and BOTH came to Dave K with it.) #JusticeForDwalms

[kingofbodyrolls]

Hiii Lissa, just saw your post and first of all, thank you so much for mentioning me in your latest post, it truly means a lot 🥹❤️‍🩹 tbh i don’t usually write reviews for the fics I read but after finishing the "Coming Home" series, I felt I had to because it was so beautifully written and I’ll hold it close to my heart 🥰 Most of the time, I'm a person who read everything in author's/blog m.list; so i will make sure to read your other stories andddd Im actually planning to binge read friendcation too hehe ✌️

Anddd based on your recent post, It sounds like you’re going through a really tough time and I want you to know that it’s completely okay to feel this way. I’ve been there myself many times when doubt sets in and it fades my passion :(( Taking a break to think about your passion and your space is really important, so don't worry <3 also remember that your worth as a writer isn’t measured by likes or comments BUT it’s about the joy and fulfillment you find in the process ✨️ It's your blog, your creations, your emotions, your feelings; don’t ever feel sad or hesitate to take the time you need bcz its also important to prioritize our mental health.

those who appreciate your work and your kindness are still here, cheering you on always ❤️✨️ When you’re ready to share again, I'll be excited to see what you write and will always support you !! I wish i was your friend irl so that i could hug you and tell you many times that it's okay to feel all this emotions 🫂 Since couldn't, I'm sending you virtual hugs 🤗 "Believe in yourself, trust the process and go with the flow, the nature will always guide you" - this is something i always tell to my friends and myself :) Lastly, we dk each other at all but if you ever feel like you need someone to talk, I'll be always here to hear you.. Cheer up and take care of yourself, love youu lissaaa 😘🫂❤️

(pls ignore my grammar mistakes here and there 🫠)

Oh Honey 🥹 Of course! Your review meant so much to me, and it cheered me up so much 🥹 That’s so sweet of you, but you don’t have to read it all if there’s one or more stories you don’t vibe with! But I hope that you enjoy those you decide to read (if not all, there’s a lot lol), and you’re always welcome to write a review or comment, but you don’t have to if you don’t want to (silent readers are also okay) 🫂 Oh, and thank you so much for saying you find my writing beautiful 🥹 Friendcation is a banger! I’m sure you’ll have a lot of fun reading that one 🫶

Wow, that was a really beautiful way of putting it; and you’re right. Honestly, I’ve been struggling with mental health on and off for many years, but this is the first year that I’ve really done something about it by being consistent in going to therapy (quite many times before until I found the right fit), and now I’m also on medication, and it’s helping a lot. I still have a lot of work to do, mentally and emotionally, but I feel like I'm on the right track and I’m getting there. Step by step. I’ll get there. Doesn’t matter how long it takes, but I’ll get there. I know it. I’m sorry to hear you’ve gone through rough times too 🥹🫂 If you wish to talk or anything, my dms are open 🫂 This is honestly one of my biggest passions, and I’d hate to end up not loving it anymore (that has happened to my love of photography, but that’s another different talk lol). Mental health is so important! So if you want to talk, you’re always welcome! I feel like talking helps a lot, and also knowing that there’s people out there who have been through similar stuff or felt the same—knowing you’re not alone 🫂

Thank you 🫂 I’m honestly very surprised by how many who cares—but it really warms my heart and I appreciate it so fucking much 🥹

Oh you’re just so sweet!!!! Thank you for the hugs!! 🫂 Virtual hugs are also good 🥹 I wish I could hug all of you irl too!!!

That is such a good, sweet and inspirational quote and it really resonates with me, it’s very beautiful 🥹 Thank you so much! I’ll take that to heart, believe, trust and let nature guide me ✨

Thank you so much Honey 🫂 The same goes for you, even though I don’t know you—you seem very sweet, lovely and nice, and you’re always welcome to my asks or dm 🫂

Love you too and take care too 💜😘

(and what grammar mistakes? I didn’t spot them, but please do ignore mine)

[kiawren]

Ok uh recent kiawren stufffff??

This one is the redraw of that yaknow that "draw as your otp" the idea is.. honestly.. i also dk.. it's kinda timeskip after kiawren parted (it's an au they don't actually part) and kia/we became a kahuna but he would probbaly look slightly older than this so idk and kinda just ignore my s/i hes not the focus here I also dk what timeskip design to give him. I just wanted to draw kia/we being beautiful

This one is cuz I've been wanting to draw something for this quote

And i thought of that scene where he explains his aspirations and ofc replacing ash with myself here if I were there something in my heart would stir and i would be whipped forever. But like. Idk when I'm gonna finish (never) (cuz I often draw finish kia/we and lose all motivation becuz the whole point is my admiration for him)

Ok i added the pic of the lineart I took for this cuz I really like it lol as if I didnt just trace ace but ok

This idea when it came to me I was like Wow. so au where kiawren is like ya/mato and ace one piss Becuzzz I couldn't stop thinking about kia/we with the mera mera no mi! Like it fits him so well and I always thought they had a lot of similarities and if I watched op with kia/we he'd be like ohh he's just like me for real

Yeah so I'm kinda ya/mato here except Idk whether to keep the height diff becuz i never related to being tall I woukd not see myself in that role. But since I alrsady have ideas of my op s/i having tiangou (chinese mytho dog who eats the sun&moon) which to me is very similar to ya/mato's Japanese mytho wolf devil fruit, It's pretty fitting. I think that changing into anthro/hybrid form would make wren bigger and taller so I could still keep the aspect of being slightly bigger than kia/we and being able to pick him up muahahsh but maybe not as large as ya/mato ok im just rambling here. Anyway I was listening to caraphernelia by Pierce the veil a Lot while thinking about this au

SORRY THE LONG WORDS LOL

[luwupercal]

Abnett When He Put a reference of Emps possibly being Alexander the great probably thought is was a cool thing but I can't stop thinking of Hephaestion's death and Alexander's grief of it, because if we say Emps is Alexander that shows a lot of his old personality if he did change from Molech or time. It showed that he did care once and showed real emotions. And Oll story can still make sense since Alexander is a conquer and did sometimes call himself god I think. That and Alexander actually died about 8 months later after Hephaestion's, at about 32 it puts lots of thoughts of what the Emperor was during it. Sorry for this rambling but this is just really interesting to me. I'm kinda surprise no one is talking about it. Sorry again

NO THIS IS FASCINATING THIS IS FASCINATING I HADNT HEARD OF THIS. i hadnt ever considered the emperor as alexander the great but now that youve put the idea in my brain i kind of LOVE it. thats a very good historical figure to put the emperor as having Secretly Been tbh

in fact in a brilliant moment of serendipity one of my favourite historical factoids is that apparently (APPARENTLY. do not quote me on this. alleged statements & hearsay only no sources) to transport his body for burial they laid alexander the great to rest in like a tub full of honey bc it slows down rotting since honey doesnt rot at all + lemon demon has a song called Sweet Bod about a different practice involving burying corpses in honey (this time for pseudo medicinal purposes) that ive always strongly associated w the emperors corpse and the cult built around it lololol

also do not ever apologize for sending me asks, zero worries, I love to hear peoples thoughts on warhammer even if i disagree lololol. I like to see different perspectives!! It's enrichment to me. like a zoo animal given a hollowed out pumpkin full of hamburger

a lot of times im like ehhh... about the whole "emperor having had compassion once" thing but i do think him having been Alexander the great is actually really good for this. as far as I know this dude (which isnt very to be frank!) he was a guykissing boyking mass conqueror who was a historical figure when julius caesar was alive who died of twink death which ticks a lot of boxes for my thoughts on what the emperor couldve theoretically been while young (super long time ago, still a conqueror, immature in a way that makes a lot of sense with the ways the emperor remained immature to his sorta-death) with the bonus of making him a menliker 360 which as a fellow menliker series x i approve of very heartily. this might be how it works for me.

AND the whole hephaestion thing u say is SO FUN AND INTERESTING as a characterization thing... forget shipping the emperor with malcador or whatever the one person he considered his soulmate died before oily josh was a twinkle in marys grandmothers eye. which is i think so fucking true and real to him. + the like rage of being nearly allpowerful but you still cant bring back the person you loved most who died young slots really well into the emperor i think it gives him an achillean flair just a little bit of. you know when dads casually drop Lore about their life and its the most deranged shit youve heard in your life and hes just made it such a normal part of his life he never really thought to bring up his Backstory. i feel like this is the vibe by 30k. im imagining the custodes furiously sharing memes in their custodes only discord server about every completely bananas Emperor Lore Drop

the questions im mostly bubbling with rn about all of this are stuff like. at what points the historical record was lied to. like in 40ks version of history was alexander the great adopted or did the emperor do a kill and replace w the original alexander (Erebus/Marneus Calgar style) or was the backstory completely different and if so, what were the historical ramifications...... i obviously dk a lot about alexander the great but I just Think it Works™️. It Works Great

thank u Very much for the ask this is cool as hell to think about o7

[fma03envy]

envy!!!! and also winryy for the ask game :]

Favorite thing about them: Gender :) Also the whole desire for revenge brainrot thing

Least favorite thing about them: Off the top of my head how cruel they can be to Wrath. Like I wouldn't change it it's fair characterization but :/ Also I feel like he's a bit underwritten sometimes (this is an opinion I am. Extremely undecided on)

Favorite line: His "I'm really more of a pacifist" bit to Ed at Lab 5 in the dub

brOTP: Envy and Lust! I feel like there are a lot of parallels between the two esp wrt their dynamics with Dante, but this scene does a great job highlighting their differences (I have watched it a normal # of times). After Lust realizes Dante has been misleading her, I would have loved to see her+Envy have a conversation about it for characterization reasons (my bet would be that Envy's sunk coast fallacy would come out so strong)

OTP: N/A, do not put him in a relationship

nOTP: Most things but pairing him with Ed or Kimblee are the shitty ones I see most commonly

Random headcanon: I think Envy would probably like using neopronouns if they knew those were a thing

Unpopular opinion: I feel like people overestimate Envy's fighting ability, kind of? Like he's good, but a lot of other characters are really more creative - Envy is technically capable with shapeshifting of mimicking Lust's ultimate spear or Greed's ultimate spear or most of Wrath's more shapeshift-y alchemy things but he just never does that. Not complaining though their silly little random flips amuse me

Song i associate with them: I have a whole playlist

Favorite picture of them: Oh there are tons but here's one

Ik it's an animation error but I like how their fingerless gloves' design looks a bit different here

Winry:

Favorite thing about them: She's so blatantly autistic it rules

Least favorite thing about them: the hitting Ed with a wrench thing (ik it's slapstick not serious characterization but it's unfunny)

Favorite line: Can't directly quote from memory but the bit just before they meet Izumi where she confesses to Ed that she blames herself/her own mechanical abilities for him getting into dangerous situations

brOTP: Ed or Sheska! Also maybe Wrath and Rose during the timeskip

OTP: Idk I'm not too big on shipping.... She's cute with Paninya

nOTP: Her with Sheska romantically kind of makes me uncomfortable bc I'd always assumed Sheska to be an adult (seems to own her own apartment + was already working at Central Library when Ed was 12 and came there). Like ik Sheska + Winry interact like peers so Sheska could just be her age and have gotten a job really young like Ed but we dk that so

Random headcanon: When trying to make automail for Wrath in the timeskip (since he's a creature made from alchemy not a human) she did a bit of research on alchemy. She's now fairly fluent with general theoretical concepts of the practice (though doesn't have the knack for actually transmuting)

Unpopular opinion: IDK if this is unpopular but it's not canon..... I would've liked if she ended up on the same side of the gate as Ed + Al (preferably Amestris side but yk). Idk if it's feasible from a plot and themes aspect but it would make ME happy

Song i associate with them: None really

Favorite picture of them:

Just off the top of my head this. Autistic girl moments

[princess-of-the-corner]

Ia it just me or does name order for ships matter?

Like Bakugo/Midoriya has different vibes then Midoriya/Bakugo

THIS WAS THE HILARIOUS DISCOURSE I WAS TALKING ABOUT

Okay I'm gonna be putting a bunch of /// through some shit so it doesn't come up in tags but this whole thing is fuckin ridiculous.

So here's the thing:

In the long run? The order of names means nothing. Ship names usually just go with what runs off the tongue better and/or how to better identify their ships(which is the reason why DP ships have such odd names) so that people can find content easily. Early fandom might have a few different names as they hammer things out but usually they'll come to general agreement on one even if another is used sometimes.

However!

And like. This has always been a thing I am not blaming the bn//ha fans for this it's an ancient thought I first saw back in the DeviantART days.

Some people think that the order of the names indicates top/bottom. So in the above example, bk///dk is top!Baku///go and bottom!midor///iya, while dk///bk would be the reverse.

Now. This is pretty ridiculous. It's smut-specific rather than general fandom so really only applies if you're looking for smut content rather than ship content. And even within smut content, there are much easier ways to indicate this stuff(like just putting the ship name so everyone looking for the common name can find it and then adding top/bottom dynamics in tags or description). Plus there is a discussion to be had on the way of assigning gender roles to positions in a ship but that's a whole different bag of chips.

Back to this ship in particualr!

I have, legitimately, seen people taking on how shipping those two characters is toxic unless it's the dk///bk version because, and I quote, "It completely reverses their original dynamic and evens out the power imbalance".

Which just has me cackling because that is not what those words mean at all!!! None of those words connect and even if they did it's the most ridiculous fucking thing because what people like in bed is not equal to what they are like in the rest of the dynamic!!!

[anbu-legacy]

In canon Kakashi is too unstable and morally sound for anbu. He cannot live with what is being asked of him in anbu even though he completes his missions with extreme diligence. When he is kicked out it is for his own good. legacy Kakashi has absolutely 0 problems killing even innocent civilian children and babies. I can think of few things worse than that and yet he does it almost blithely and sleeps like a rock after. I'm curious to know if you went with this diverging take as a logical consequence of the things Kakashi would be okay doing had he been doing them for Minato and not hiruzen? Or was it something else which made you deviate from his canon characterisation in this regard? (Hope i'm not overstepping by asking I'm really fascinated with the legacy universe and love the world you've built so I'm curious about the process of it all)

The simplest answer to this is that the section of canon you're talking about came out after Fallen Leaves and ANBU Legacy began.

The less simple answer is... oi, canon.

So, in canon, Kakashi's journey is thus:

Rin is kidnapped by Kirigakure at the end of the Third War, who implants the Three-Tails into her (how??) as part of a Cunning Plan to have it unleashed on Konoha when she inevitably loses control. Kakashi 'rescues' her. Rin begs Kakashi to kill her, because that is clearly the only solution to this issue, it's not like there are MULTIPLE SEAL-MASTERS at home who could unimplant the Three Tails, death is the only option. Kakashi refuses. Convenient Kiri-nin attack. Rin commits suicide-via-Raikiri by jumping in front of Kakashi. Kakashi gains the Mangekyo and we fridge yet another female character, hooray.

Kakashi becomes depressed. (In the anime, people start calling him Friend-Killer Kakashi. Wow, Konoha.)

Minato decides the fix for this is to toss Kakashi into ANBU. Because what 14-year-old wouldn't be cured of survivor's guilt by committing more murder? It's the perfect plan!

The plan does not work. Kakashi does splendidly in ANBU, becoming a captain and taking command of Team Ro, but -- and I'm quoting from Naruto wiki here -- 'his successes were owed to his cold behavior and his ruthlessness in combat, signs that he was still upset by Rin's death'.

(A little aside here: Kakashi is effectively becoming god's perfect killing machine, the blade of Konoha, the tiny angel of death; everything you want in, you know, your elite special forces, and I'm still trying to figure out what Minato's actual goal was here. Did he tell Kakashi that the point of ANBU was to make Kakashi get over Obito and Rin, or did he just say something like 'Konoha needs your services', and has been moving the secret goal posts ever since? Because it's very hard for someone to participate in their active recovery if they don't actually know they're in therapy.)

Anyway. ANBU isn't working to make Kakashi get over his death wish, so Minato decides, hey, why don't you look after my pregnant wife instead? Except that he assigns it as a mission, so Kakashi treats it like a mission, which means he stalks Kushina from the shadows like a feral cat for several months.

Which brings us to the Nine-Tails. So, Minato dies. Kushina dies (failed your mission AGAIN, Kakashi!). The Third apparently imprisons most of Kakashi's generation in a bubble of protection to stop them from helping, for which there isn't enough "what???" in the world, so we're gonna skip right on past that.

Next is a whole series of events where Danzou tries to corrupt Kakashi, Tenzou is introduced, we find out about Root, Orochimaru does his various war crime experiments and escapes, Root is destroyed (or is it??), Tenzou joins ANBU, we meet Itachi, Itachi massacres the Uchiha, and so on. This all takes place over several years. After the Uchiha massacre, the Third feels like "individuals with kind hearts" don't belong in ANBU, so he pulls Kakashi out, and instead charges him with teaching teenagers how to commit murder.

And that's canon.

So, Legacy. Here are the key differences:

Rin doesn't die

Minato doesn't die

Kakashi's mother doesn't die

The Third does die

Kakashi doesn't join ANBU until he's eighteen

The Uchiha massacre hasn't occurred

Instead of getting knocked from pillar to post and punted into ANBU, Kakashi spends the ages of 14 - 18 on (mostly solo) Jounin missions, building up his skillset. He has support from Minato and Rin, an entirely new, anchoring, and happy relationship with Naruto, and more time to grow into himself. His ties to Konoha are much, much stronger. In Legacy, Danzou would have no chance of tempting Kakashi (and knows it).

When Kakashi joins ANBU, it's a choice. He goes into it knowing exactly what's going to be asked of him, and if he wasn't sure before, Minato removes all doubt:

“The Special Assassination and Tactical Squad is neither Konoha’s oldest division nor its noblest,” Minato said, with a conversational air, and Kakashi realized this wasn’t a prepared speech. This was just Minato laying out the facts like he always did, grounding the extraordinary in regular context. “Even inside the village, ANBU are feared more than they’re respected. Citizens of our own village still call them baby-killers. Some ANBU have earned that title, under my command. You may.” He paused. “I have given those orders personally. Every order the ANBU receive comes through me. Sometimes the command is to protect the village, or to conduct a high-risk mission into enemy territory, or to assassinate an exceptionally strong ninja. Sometimes it’s to sustain the village’s lifeblood—to accept a mission so foul I can’t offer it to the regular forces, to work for a client whose motives and methods are reprehensible but whose coin will feed and protect our children. You’ve accepted that first kind of mission, and excelled. Can you accept the second?”

“Yes,” said Kakashi, without hesitation.

(From Take the Mask)

The oath Kakashi swore was this:

I am Hatake Kakashi, ANBU. I have no face but this face.

I have no heart, but the heart of Konohagakure.

I have no will, but the will of my Hokage.

Which is a little worryingly vague, when you think about it.

Kakashi knows he will be asked to kill. He knows he may be asked to commit much worse actions for Konoha. As much as he can, he's made his peace with that. There are orders he would struggle with, but ultimately his moral compass points to home.

He's a shinobi first. Personhood comes second.

-- DK

[notasapleasure]

Lymond for the ask meme?

Thanks! Sorry it took me a few days to answer :D

Fandom asks:

   the first character i ever fell in love with: I think probably Christian Stewart. Or maybe Turkey Mat, I can't recall who I latched onto first in GoK, but...it didn't end well for me either way. Though I think I always suspected Turkey Mat was a gonner, he gives off such a heavy vibe of Retirony.    a character that i used to love/like, but now do not: hmmm my feelings about Sibylla grew a lot more complicated through Checkmate - not, I stress, for her backstory, but for her actions in Checkmate.    a ship that i used to love/like, but now do not: I don't know that I can think of one.    my ultimate favorite character™: I latched onto Jerott, for reasons I can't entirely fathom (ok, there may be something about being the less naturally talented second, hanging around with people who quote things effortlessly and feeling like you're incapable of the kind of verbal wit they display so naturally, feeling like you're missing the point half the time). But he sticks around for Francis, even when he can't really figure out why, and Francis lets him help (or can't stop him from helping) at times when no one else is brave/stupid enough to try it. Jerott's struggle to understand Francis and his self-destructive side is actually something that can be so personal idek. I can't stand the man when he's around Marthe, but around Francis he's willing to learn and strive in a way that doesn't seem to come to him otherwise.    prettiest character: are Francis's hands a character?    my most hated character: Bailey. No question. Grotesque, horrible man.    my OTP: I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It's Francis/Jerott. But I am an easy-going, ship and let ship multishipper and Francis/Philippa brings me much delight too, especially. Um. Post-canon, let's say. I'm also being slowly won round by the idea of Jerott/Danny. Slowly.    my NOTP: Jerott/Marthe keep! them! away! from! each! other!!! This is the opposite of mlm/wlw solidarity it's two people who bring out the absolute worst in each other, one of whom actively goes out of her way to encourage the most destructive and self-destructive habits in the other. Ughhghfdgdhf I hate it why did she ever agree to marry him.    favorite episode: hmm favourite scene? It's hard to choose over the whole course of books. I famously love the horse show in PiF, but that's because I always forget about Jerott shouting homophobic slurs :/ The hall of revels is of course delightful - though I maybe slightly prefer the wet and muddy ride where Philippa follows Francis out to Bailey's house. Any and all rooftop shenanigans, with Robin, Jerott and Philippa. And any scene with Kate Somerville. I also really love the scene with Marthe and Danny towards the end of Checkmate.    saddest death: wow. well how do you choose? I'm going to stick with Christian - for the sheer pointlessness of it and for the way Margaret Douglas crows about it.    favorite season: my favourite book is Disorderly Knights. I love how vivid the sense of place is in all the books, but it's highlighted so well by the switch from Scotland to Malta and back again. In terms of Lymond getting caught up in Actual Historical Disasters it's my favourite too, because he's brought along as a witness, but isn't actually close enough to the powers leading things in DK to have any influence on averting the disaster - the cruelty of the way things go wrong for him in TRC I find particularly painful because he's there to be a voice that understands what we already know about history and he's in a position to be listened to, but he can't be listened to because that's not how things happened. In DK he can be apppalled by the Knights but the stakes are different, he can succeed in small actions to save people - rallying the farmers and helping Salablanca and stopping the explosion - but he's not made it his fight in the same way. Ok, there's a bit of the actual painful history in terms of Will and Wat's deaths, and Wat's death in particular hit hard for me - but again it doesn't feel like something where Lymond's trying to negotiate with someone who *can't* listen for historical reasons (Ivan), but like someone desperately trying to hold things together even as entropy takes hold, which I think is just more relatable/timeless than the advisor not being listened to role. Also I love Philippa's arc in DK, and we have Margaret Erskine around still, who's an absolute lamb, and Gabriel's a fantastically awful, quietly unhinged villain, and Jerott's redemption in parallel to Philippa's and the tragedy of Joleta. It's a story where Francis realises the importance of control - of the self, but also of information and all the vying parties around him - and though he maybe does not come to healthy conclusions about it, with PiF as a digression, it leads directly into the kind of person he is in TRC.    least favorite season: it took me longest to read QP, I think because I had no patience with the eleventy million French courtiers who were referred to in various ways, by various titles, and many of whom were actual historical figures and I wasn't sure to what extent I needed to be aware of this. But I think TRC left me...cold *puts on sunglasses* more than the others. There's a lot that I like about it, but reading it wasn't *fun* like reading most of the others was (ok so I'm sorry, the torture of two toddlers and crippling opium addiction is fun to me in a way that seeing a character regress into emotional frigidity and make a series of inevitably pointless attempts to change history isn't). The last quarter has some fun bits, to be sure - Philippa at court is a delight, and the hall of revels - and of course there's everything in TRC that is touched by Daniel Hislop the bishop's bastard and perfectly pansexual agent of chaos this book needed. But the Russian bits, my god, too bleak for me, too hopeless, especially when you know about Chancellor.    character that everyone else in the fandom loves, but i hate: I'm not sure there is one? I don't *love* Gabriel as a villain to quite the extent some of fandom does, and I definitely don't stan Marthe as hard as lots of you (and I constantly feel like a bad person because of it, don't worry).    my ‘you’re piece of trash, but you’re still a fave’ fave: Jerott, obviously.    my ‘beautiful cinnamon roll who deserves better than this’ fave: Christian, she is a cinnamon roll in a way that many others who nevertheless deserve better are not.    my ‘this ship is wrong, nasty, and makes me want to cleanse my soul, but i still love it’ ship: ngl I will read Gabriel/Francis/Jerott because it's so fucked up and the idea of them fighting over Jerott spiritually, intellectually and physically all at once is great.    my ‘they’re kind of cute, and i lowkey ship them, but i’m not too invested’ ship: I guess Kate/Adam? It's a bit sudden, but I really just want nice things for both of them by that point.

[izukukuzi]

(1/?) I'm back with a rant..... I am definitely with that fellow anon about their dislike for bkg. Like I didn't like him for the fact that what he did just was shoved to the side and never talked about to begin with. Then I came into the fandom and I was like "!!??!!??" like people are not only doing what canon has done and forgotten what he did, but now they are literally shipping them together? And thinking he's "soft boi" and he has drastically changed and made up for what he did? Like where

(2/?) Because while yes in some aspects he has changed. He no longer physically attacks Izuku outside of training (besides bk v dk #2 and finals), but that doesn't mean that he's learned right from wrong. He just realizes in bk v dk #1 that Izuku won't put up with his violent outbursts anymore and also sees that he is not the only one to have a powerful quirk in 1-A. Izuku also changes by being able to gain actual friends and not the toxic and abusive one he had with bkg so he breaks away from

(3/?) Bkg and thus Bakugou realizes he can't control Izuku anymore and he also would have back up and seeing as most of the class wanted to be his friend at the beginning he knew if he pulled that shit no more UA whether the class rats him out or Aizawa won't put up with his shit. But Jesus the stans..... like they don't listen to canon because they have their own views on what Bakugou is like. I have written an analysis on him in volume one and got a "cold take" response.... like I put

(4/?) actual quotes and scenes from it and somehow that's a cold take even though it literally happened??? Also I'm fine with ships like that's you not me, but I don't understand where people can ship BKDK because before they date they "talk"? Like yes they need to talk about the shit that happened in middle school, but talking doesn't erase what Bakugou did. Like at all. It would still be a pretty toxic ship because it's obvious Bakugou scarred Izuku with the use of his quirk like those don't

(5/?) Just up and leave because they talk? And basically I got a response that "no no no you don't understand they have chemistry because they are linked and they have most scenes together" like do the shippers know that like 90% of those scenes Bakugou is either beating Izuku up or yelling insults at him? Like how could any abuser/victim relationship be healthy. Then there are the stans that also blame Izuku for overexaggerating because he's the main narrator. Like ah yes because we don't have

(6/?) Scenes from Best Jeanist, Aizawa, All Might, other pro heroes, and other UA students that express their worries over Bakugou's behavior. Then there's the stans that think antis don't want to see him grow, overexaggerate him, or think we hate him because of his past actions, instead of thinking on why would someone hate this character who 1. Never faced any consequences and learned that what he did was wrong. 2. Has yet to apologize to Izuku for all the shit he did to him. 3. Everytime he

(7/?) He grows he then goes back to his old ways and sometimes contradicts what he just did. 4. Some people have been abused and so he reminds them of what their own bully/abuser did and so they cannot like a character like that. Like I have yet to meet an anti who just up and says "I hate Bakugou for no reason" and also antis get yelled at by his stans for "not understanding his character" or are even given death threats and are told that we just spread hate. Sorry for the long rant, I can't

(8/8) I can't stand his stans because they can get quite obnoxious (even putting their love in the anti tag to rile up the antis) and for reasons above and just argh never have stans made me hate a character even more. Because Bakugou isn't like Karma from Ass Class no matter how hard hori tries or how much his stans depict him that way. Because I'm pretty sure if Karma was in MHA Bakugou would have been put in his place the instant Bakugou realized he could harm Izuku and get away with it. 🎤🎤

I definitely think this can all be indications of how important it is to consider the humanity of those you interact with, and how that takes priority over the... dignity??? the perception (I dunno what I’m trying to say) of a fictional character. more often than not, I think bakugou is a shitty person; I think it’s shitty to ship him with his abuse victim (of ten-ish years); I don’t really understand where most people are coming from with their Very Positive feelings towards bakugou, and I will rant and rave about that on my blog for as long as it bother me because that’s my space to do that.

HOWEVER, what’s more important to me than my dislike of bakugou, is the well-being of the people I interact with while talking about his character. I would never send bakustans hate, regardless of how much we disagree with each other; I may get sassy with rude anons, but I never aim to harm anyone because... like, it’s bakugou lmao. he’s not real. so, in that same sense, I wish people were a bit kinder on the other side of things too. you can like bakugou/bakudeku if that’s really what you’re into, but there’s no real reason to be hateful or send death threats to someone just because they disagree with you over a ship/anime character. those things aren’t that important and, like you brought up, plenty of people see the characteristics of those who have hurt them in real life in bakugou, so it’s not always a matter of just fighting over (dis)liking a character for the fuck of it (and I understand that the same can be said for those who do like him. there are understandable qualities that people may identify with, but I think that’s all the more reason to approach and treat those who disagree with you how you want to be treated).

but anyways, ignore my rambling. thank you for sharing your thoughts!

[ladyjaneasher-blog]

Hey I came across Philip Normans book and as I'm not familiar with him I was wondering what was wrong with him as a lot of people seem to dislike him

short answer:

pictured here is philip norman writing anything ever.

long answer:

i honestly don’t know where to even start, dear anon. it would be easier for me to list what isn’t wrong with philip norman. i can’t tell you what people as a whole dislike about him, but i can tell what i dislike about him. my immediate kneejerk reaction to your question was this poem of norman referencing paul published in the sunday times in the early 70s:

O deified Scouse, with unmusical spouseFor the clichés and cloy you unload,To an anodyne tune may they bury you soonIn the middlemost midst of the road.

to paraphrase a comment i read on heydullblog a while ago: nothing like a biographer hoping for the speedy death of one of his (later) subjects. 

it exemplifies my problem with norman: he’s made a living out of holding a grudge for the pettiest reasons. he envied paul, not only because he was “good-looking” (and boy, does he veer off into paragraphes about paul’s “doe-eyes”, “angelic” “delicate features” only “saved” from girlishness by his “five-o’clock-shadow”) but also for his “mounting riches” and his dating of “a classy young actress”. his envy turned into outright dislike for paul. norman saw paul’s failed relationship with jane as his “public sense of duty” weakening; he blamed paul for the end of the beatles, felt that he had turned into a “self-satisfied lightweight” and you can almost feel his satisfied glee whenever he feels that paul’s life veers of its “perfectly polished-rails”.    

i’ve read a few books by norman – most recently paul mccartney: the life – and excerpts of others, and each time i’ve come to the same conclusion: norman comes across as a very peculiar mix of a self-importantance, jealousy and nastiness. much like other authors of his caliber – sounes comes to mind – he seems to have been motivated by these emotions that had left him embittered enough to write books, rampant with confirmation bias, one-sided accounts, mistakes, snipes, digs and disproven or outdated anecdotes, hardly offering any new insights. yet i don’t want to dictate how you think about norman, so i present to you some pearls of wisdom by our dearest of beatles biographers to make up your own mind about how much he’s on the mark – or how far off:

“Barrow later discovered that when they’d signed their management contract, Paul had told Brian that if the Beatles didn’t work out, he was determined to become a star on his own.”

‘[And] unlike John (and Brian), Paul did not seem to have any half-concealed demons to deal with.’

“Over the next six years, Barrow would realise that the inexhaustible geniality Paul showed the world was not always replicated in private.”

“[…] Frieda Kelly[…]” (throughout the entire book, I might add)

“With the Beatles brought a radical change of image, illustrating the vastly altered demographic of those who were now with them. On the Please Please Me album cover, four cheery, unabashedly working-class lads had grinned down a stairwell at EMI’s Manchester Square headquarters, with Paul’s good looks barely noticeable. Now they were shown as solemn, polo-necked faces half in shadow against a plain black background, less like pop musicians than a quartet of Parisian art students. It was an ambience which suited none of them better than Paul, that one-time art student manqué.”

[1968/1969] “John had always been recognised as an uncontrollable maverick, but being a Paul fan involved a strong feeling of proprietorship. Like so many tut-tutting aunts, the gate pickets now observed the change from his former dandified, fastidious self; the bushy black beard, the perceptible weight-gain, the baggy tweed overcoat he seemed to wear all the time. To the fans, it signified how ‘she’ [Linda] had got her hooks into him; what it actually signified was that he was happy.”

[1968/1969] “His [Paul’s] personal life thus replenished and stabilised, he now turned his attention to replenishing and stabilising the Beatles after their ordeal with the White Album.”

“Knowing now just how much McCartney meant to Paul–and feeling a twinge of compassion for one who’d never before invited such an emotion–Ringo talked the others into reinstating its 17 April release.”

In the same week, Stella’s first collection for Chloé was shown in Paris with the help of her ‘mates’ Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell and Yasmin Le Bon. Paul and Linda were both seated beside the catwalk: he [Paul] in the novel position of applauding someone else, she still with close-cropped hair, the result of prolonged chemotherapy, which gave her face a new gentleness and repose.

The order of [Linda’s] service was as meticulously planned and arranged as a McCartney album tracklist.

However, when the Beatles made the Decca tape, Best had still been with them, so was due a share of royalties from ten tracks used on the Anthology. The first he knew about it was a phone call from the one who’d been so keen to get rid of him [Paul] –the first time they’d spoken since it happened.

all of the above quotes – and keep in mind: these are just a select few that i had at hand from a book that spans around 800 pages of much the same quality of writing – are from paul mccartney: the life, published in 2016(!!!). while norman proclaims to have had a change of heart over the years from his previous assessment of paul in shout!, which he in the very same breath during promotion claims wasn’t really anti-paul:

…it rings hollow. to the point of where i’m not the only one wondering about how much he truly means his words, and how much of it is simply trying to save face in light of his waning monopole on being an authority when it comes to beatles history. he still heavily relies on the same old tired clichés: paul the master manipulator of all around him lacking heart and substance, paul the ambitious starlet ready to sacrifice everything and everyone, determined to make it big, paul the stingy boss of wings, paul the borderline abusive husband to linda’s dichotomy of easy american groupie vs fraught shy housewife trying to escape her domineering husband by way of her career as a photographer and writer. some of them may perhaps contain a kernel of truth, but norman seemingly lacks the ability to acknowledge nuances and the willingness to dig deeper, search for other viewpoints, or consider context. 

he still uses every other opportunity to get his digs in no matter how macabre it may be in the light of events he’s referencing as evidenced by his description of linda’s funeral procession; he, at times, solely relies on people with questionable motives like peter cox for entire chapters without questioning a thing they are saying, or letting the reader hear other voices to provide a more balanced view; he lacks the insight into his subjects as portrayed by his claim that paul’s weight gain and drastic change of looks from ‘68 to ‘70 was brought on by being “happy” with linda or his equally outrageous claim of ringo never having felt a “twinge” of “empathy” for one of his closest friends; paul and john’s relationship is reduced to a rivalry that even to john’s last breath was defined by one-upping each other. although, is it perhaps no wonder considering that paul mccartney: the life seems to be mostly a copy/paste job of his previous books (here a part of shout!, here a part of his john biography).

the less said about shout!, published in the early 80s, the better. suffice it to say that during its promotion, norman titulated john as “three-quarters of the beatles”. yes. i repeat: the less said, the better. it’s only sad that this book helped shape entire generations of authors that would buy into norman’s narrative and perpetuate it decades later.

yet my excerpt of philip norman’s books simply don’t do the man’s tastelessness and scope of grudge-holding justice. for your reading consideration i present you philip norman’s letter to paul from 2005 as well as his obituary for george harrison and his complete dismissal of ringo from an interview in 1987.

to not let this already too long post end on such a note, i feel obliged to throw in this quote by mark lewisohn, who was partly motivated by norman’s… skill, to research the topic on his own:

Mark Lewisohn: “I came to meet Philip Norman. He wanted to meet someone who was a kind of studious Beatles fan, if you like. And when we met it became clear that there were certain areas of the story he was unclear of. There were certain areas that were cloudy. And I said I would research them for him. I was 21 and he said, yes, that would nice. So I still had a job, but in my weekends and evenings I did this research for him. I was so intrigued by the findings, that I just carried on after that. I gave him what he wanted and then carried on researching and I haven’t stopped to this day.”DK: “By the way, what do you think of his book, Shout!? I don’t mean to be putting words into your mouth, but your intent, I think, is to correct a lot of mistakes that have become fact as a result of other people’s biographies of the band. Could you bring that into perspective?”Mark Lewisohn: “Well, when I was less mature, I did want to correct other people’s errors. Errors always offended me, particularly when they resulted from laziness. And I had always wanted to correct other people’s errors. But I’ve grown up, a bit, since then, and with these three books I’m writing, I’m not interested in correcting anything. I’m just telling the story from the beginning. I am starting fresh. And along the way, I am debunking myths right, left and centre. But I am not pointing out what they are, because it is not relevant. Shout!, when it came out in 1981, just after John Lennon was murdered, was the second Beatles biography, with the first being the Hunter Davies biography which came out in ‘68. And it was reckoned by a lot of people to be better than the Hunter Davies book. And because I am in it, and because I was young, and because I was blinded to it, I thought it was a great book. And a lot of people do. It is so stylishly written, and all of that. But the older I’ve got, the more I see where I can no longer agree with my original opinion. Well, Philip Norman came up to me at a recent event and said he professed himself unhappy with some of the things I’ve been saying about his book, so I need to be delicate here. But I do think that it is out of date. It left scope for the job to be done again. That book has had 30 years in the sunshine, but it is in no way the definitive book. I am hoping to write the definitive book that is a lot more comprehensive and is also much more deeply rooted in research.“

mark lewisohn: beatles researcher extraordinaire and classy thrower of shade.

[abnormal-angel]

Im not sure I understand all the "drama" around DK and Norm. What happened? Why is everyone hating on her? Are they a couple or not? What did she do that makes people so angry? Where do people take their info on their relationship? I'm so behind on the gossips. Sorry for asking. I hope you'll be able to light my lantern.

Hey Anon! How much time do you have? Pull up a seat and I will tell you the tale of dk (lol). I’m going to try and stick the main points here, if I leave anything our anons will let me know.

First please check out the dk wank tag I created, this will start you at the very beginning of what started all this for me. Which was he trolling the fans on IG. Anyway here some main reasons why fans are upset with her.

1. I have known about DK since she started dating Joshua Jackson about a decade ago, I have never been a fan of hers and have always thought she was just entirely fake and only in it for the fame and attention. She used Joshua’s name to become “somebody” in Hollywood, from which I hear isn’t her biggest fan. 

2. She is a serial cheater and known to leech off of one guy and then jump right into bed with another. She has cheated on her ex husband and cheated on Joshua with Norman while making the movie, Sky. Cheating on Joshua right under his nose, even though he helped get the film publicity by cameoing in the movie, which still flopped.

3. She carried on cheating on Joshua with Norman and who knows who else tbh after Joshua gave her another chance. After a year Joshua finally kicked her to the curb when she was caught cheating on him again. For some reason dk is the one who sought out Norman for the role in sky and had apparently wanted to get her hooks in him that early. What is even more sick is that Norman and Joshua had been friends and had known each other for years. 

4. From what we known dk and norman have been casually screwing around with each other since then (2015) but Norman has also been screwing around with a lot of other women on the side at the same time. dk has been pushing really hard the past few months to try and force norman into saying they are exclusive, going so far as to set up her paparazzi rag (The Daily Mail) to snap shots of them out on the town or her going to his apartment (showing everyone where he lives btw). She then has her people there type up hyped up articles with headlines like, “Sorry Joshua, but she’s taken!!” Using Norman’s name to throw shit towards Josh all the while pretending she really cares about Norman. Who she was quoted to call, “a very broken,” man in an interview while filming sky. Uh what?? So you love your men broken do ya dk? Twisted.

5. She is an emotional manipulator and many of us worry that she is going to hurt his heart. She has already proven all the cares about is her face in the spotlight and she uses guys to get this attention. Literally, no one thinks she can act, so her life legit has become siccing paparazzi on Norman every second he has been in NYC on hiatus and then leaking them to her rag. All the rag articles mention Norman Reedus, even in ones where it is just her picking up her laundry or some shit, because it gets clicks and she gets paid.

6. dk has a sick and twisted tie with the Daily Mail. Check it out. Not only are most of these articles just plain click bait, but it shows her connection to the rag is a deep one where she is basically paying paparazzi to setup norman and her and norman on the town and then she pays the daily mail writers to write whatever b.s. story she wants us to believe. Not too mention her IG appears to be filled with paid trolls who help her block and delete all negative commentary on her IG and fill it with bullshit, “you’re so beautiful we love you and norman,” comments. Which again Norman has NEVER come out and actually said they are dating so this just again shows her lack of respect and willingness to spin things her way, even in fucking IG comments. lol hilarious. She spends her days trolling fans and stalking norman, she has legit not left him alone this entire hiatus, except when he is at cons. Bitch is scared of fans and should be, we are catching onto all her b.s.

7. Don’t even get me started on the video she set up with her and norman about a month back. He was wasted out of his mind and she was parading him around like a puppy on a leash, while the paps snapped away. Then she set up up so we had to watch her attacking him basically while she gives him a hickey and he stands there awkwardly and tense af, knowing they are being filmed. Then she smacked his ass, as if to claim him, he looked pissed. If you can stomach the video (seriously the grossest thing I have ever seen tbh *shudders*) google “diane kruger daily mail norman reedus makeout” or something like that and you will find it. But be forewarned it is gross. 

8. Also this very same day she paid paps in L.A. to follow Joshua around when he was on a date with his new girl. She then leaked those photos because she had been bugging Josh to go public for a while with this new woman and he wouldn’t. So she legit set him up so that he was forced to go public, at least in paparazzi rags. No major media magazine ever picks up any of these things it is tabloid fodder that she gets paid for and spins to her advantage. So that very day she leaks Joshua on his date pap picture is the very same day she set up and leaked that video. 

9.She is trying to lock his ass down and show people he is hers, when in reality he has never come out publically about being in a relationship with her or it being anything exclusive or official. Norman also has always loved his privacy and has a hatred for paparazzi and has a well known history of this. So her using paps to force himself to out himself with her is really sick and twisted of her. And her setting him up at his apt, showing where he lives in also very disrespectful.

10. She is an emotional manipulator, she is very good at trying to spin everything so that she is the victim when in fact she is victimizing him. He is also not completely innocent in all of this, but I believe he has a good heart and she is playing with it. She is literally using him for everything she can squeeze out of him.

11. We also found out last week that it was her and her people who set up and propped up the false pregnancy rumors that have been flying around the past few weeks. Even though every event she is at she is caught drinking, just another way to troll fans and gain clicks on her rag. Also again if you respected Norman you wouldn’t be spreading false rumors and purposefully playing into them. Just shows what kind of person she really is, a user.

12. Norman is obviously hating the paparazzi be sicced on him all the time and some theorize this is a way she is keeping him on lock down. Think about it, he can’t fuck around if they are watching his every move. Another way to force exclusivity when it is obvious Norman does not want that. She traps and uses him and then calls it “love.”

[EDIT ANON ADDED ITEM]: Add to your list. DK was only allowed in Spain on the promise she would not call paps. She begged NR to go. She broke it before she left because she alerted the DM paps she was leaving the country for everyone to see. DK has also said shit about one of NR’s closest friends  She has also said bad things about Norman himself last year to get what she wants.

[EDIT ANOTHER ANON ADDED ITEM]:  Do not forget she is a plain classic stalker. She stalked NR fan blogs and saw about his ex-gf ig he commented on. She tracked the gf down and liked posts on her account about NR. She must spend most of her time researching his name. She went to Italy and when she saw he was hanging with his twd friends she flew back the same day because she is so crazy. And she keeps up comments about them marrying in secret on her social media.

—–

Whew! I think I got most of the main points here Anon. Long story short she is bad news and making Norman look awful in the industry’s eyes right now, which he doesn’t need or deserve. We all hope he gets away from this toxic manipulative woman soon. He deserves to be treated so much better!

WE LOVE YOU NORMAN! And we love Joshua! Who didn’t deserve any of this (after ten years with her she does this to him) And we hope that they both get away from her as soon as possible.

Hope that clears things up. Thanks Anon! Send Norman some love and clarity, he is really grappling with big decisions about this situation rn if you ask me…

[kwibu]

SVT quotes I think about a lot

SC: Flowers never did anything wrong. Only men did.

JH: No matter what time it is, I'm always holding a spoon so I can eat.

JS: *angry* You get the carrier for the entire day!

JH: Mirror mirror on the wall, is there anyone in all the land prettier than me? No there isn't *leaves*

HS: Why didn't you make the chicken wear something??

WW: *to plants* Hello. It's been a long time, my children

WZ: *cheerfully* hey, hey, let's kill him!

DK: I'll imitate Voldemort Sunbaenim

MG: Do fish blink their eyes? Do they??

MH: I want [Vernon's] looks. Not the personality.

SK: Are you kidding me? Kimbap kidding?

VN: It's gonna be lit, like these candlez.

DN: What am I doing, you ask? Photosynthesis.