#as if my media degree wasn't bad enough

[essektheylyss]

what people expect when you sign up for an LIS degree: haha quirky book nerds, so fun, I remember toddler storytime at the library are you gonna read to children

what they actually get when you sign up for an LIS degree: smashing Alexa isn't enough anymore I need to learn how to run my own internet and also build a house on a totally closed circuit system.

[underscore-jude]

i take back any and all narrative critiques i had of firebringer when i was a bougie 14 year old thinking i knew my shit. this is par for the course in terms of starkid's narrative cohesiveness and the chorn twist is the funniest fucking thing ive ever seen

[celtrist]

Hazbin & Helluva Vs. Aromanticism

(Aka: I have a problem with the Spindlehorse team about this, not shippers.)

(Also this is mainly about Alastor but can go for Octavia and Mammon too.)

Alright, so I've cleaned up this uh... rant, to make things a little more clear hopefully. But to summarize here, this is about the team's lack of commitment when every other character is allowed full confirmation of their orientations but these (potentially) aromantic characters aren't.

While I have no beef with shippers (I think you can ship whoever with whoever you want, I ship Alastor too on occasion), there is some conversation about how the fandom might be a bit of a reason WHY they "can't" be confirmed as aro. But again, my main problem is more with the showrunners than the fandom at this point about this.

I'll also be getting into why it's "important" and the double standards against characters being aromantic.

This is not an attack, ship however way you wish (again, I do it myself). My intent isn't really to stop the shipping, that would be ridiculous. But more so to give my thoughts on why it's BS characters like Alastor can't be confirmed as aromantic when other characters are allowed confirmed orientations.

I will start off by saying I don't mind the shipping of Alastor. While it's NOBODY'S business but mine, I suppose it's important to clarify that I'm someone who does currently identify as aroace. I might be wrong but who cares, it's how I think of myself now at least to some degree (I do after all still have fictional crushes. Real-life romance is not an interest for me though, don't like 'em).

I'm gonna get what I don't think people talk about enough on both sides of being for and against shipping Alastor, and then I'll talk about the shippers as they're (I realized) not my main issue at this point.

A little history: So Alastor has been long time confirmed as an ace character. He hasn't been confirmed as being sex-repulsed or anything, but I can personally say I don't mind either flavor of him being repulsed or favorable (though I imagine the series will lean towards the former to counter everyone else's sex-favorable attitude and for jokes). This statement was initially taken VERY poorly by fans who, at the time, were shipping radiodust and radiobelle/charlastor, one more than the other. Care to take a guess which? The answer will not surprise you.

But then people realized "Oh, asexual doesn't mean he COULDN'T get with someone" and people even went further to "Being asexual doesn't mean he CAN'T have sex", both very true statements. So shipping was back on the menus boys! And his asexual was certainly blurred a bit (to the point where it wasn't even him being sex-favorable asexual as much as just not asexual, something that still happens but certainly not as bad). But overall, people were taking his canonicity as asexual with as much grace as a duck.

So here's where MY problem comes in. While I have some gripes with shippers, I had an epiphany that "Oh. It's not really the shippers I have a problem with. It's the people WRITING THE DAMN CHARACTER". Which, might I just say, is so much worst.

The shippers, while they got annoying at some points and certainly can be still, are just having fun. Because shipping just happens to be the way most people like to interact with characters in the media they're into. Hell, I am no different. I just have the misfortune of only really getting into rarepairs most of the time (curse you my bizarre tastes). I've even shipped with Alastor, I like AngelicSmile/radiojoy quite a bit.

Back on track. Now, what do I mean by my main problem being with the writers more than the fans with this? Well, queue this darling of a clip about the topic (this is the only clip I've found of the live stream, feel free to watch the whole video but just wanted the clip here).

This. Single. Clip. Infuriates me.

Vivzi, while I'm sure not meant to, pretty much implied "Alastor being aromantic and 'non-shippable' would ruin people's fun". I'm sure she meant it as a way to keep others from policing shippers (which didn't work, it still happens), it really just reads as "a character being aromantic is not a fun character". Like there's something wrong with being aro.

Not to mention some other things that would contradict this statement:

Viv in the past said "fans are allowed to ship outside character orientations", so... what makes that so different here with confirming Alastor as aromantic?

It being confirmed is not relevant to the plot. Great, so is every other orientation not relevant. Why can't Alastor be confirmed as aromantic but Vaggie can be confirmed as a lesbian or Vox bi? What does Vox being bisexual have to do with the plot? Neither is relevant to the plot, but one can be confirmed but not the other?

People were gonna ship him ANYWAY. Like, there's really no point in pretending. They were going to anyway because of the first point I already mentioned, but also people ship against canon orientations ALL THE TIME. It's just gonna happen and there's nothing wrong with that in of itself.

You've kind of just implied it's canon by not wanting to say specifically him being aromantic is canon or not. If Viv had just said "I don't wanna confirm his romantic orientation because...", then this statement would be fine and fair I suppose. But she had to call out him being aromantic specifically. And I mean, he COULD be something else (he was slated to be a couple with Mimzy originally after all), but the context doesn't seem like that would be the case. Plus, would she really feel the need to hold back from saying "Alastor is homoromantic" or biromantic or heteroroman- actually yes for that last one probably.

So riddle me this, with these points, why the FUCK would it be so wrong to confirm Alastor as a canonically aromantic icon and help get MORE REP for this very very very VERY underrepresented orientation? And I've thought of a few reasons to this, one of which being to avoid the same backlash that they got for Alastor being ace. Which, DID HAPPEN WHEN THE VOICE ACTOR AND SOMEONE ELSE ON THE SHOW CONFIRMED ALASTOR AS AROMANTIC BUT BACKTRACKED ON THE STATEMENT.

To which, fine. THAT'S on the fans (especially as no one would've complained if he was confirmed as homoromantic, which is a double standard VERY PRESENT in this fandom, but also many others quite honestly). But I can see another reason is to avoid others policing shippers about it.

Which, if that's the case, shit luck it's happening anyway.

To cower away from this orientation because of fans being upset says a lot, both about the fans and the creators. There is a whisper of "Alastor isn't allowed to be aromantic". That "being aro isn't allowed or appreciated".

We live in a world that at this point has a lot more lgbtq+ characters than ever before. At this point, there's just a lot of gay/lesbian and bi characters, and that's wonderful. But, there's barely a handful of aroace characters. And when they are, nobody wants to pay attention to that part of the character. So why can't the deer man be aromantic? I would imagine it would honestly make things a little better ship wise because ship wars wouldn't occur seeing as, well, there's no ship to be fought for. None of them could be canon.

So you might see where I'm leading into this, but I can only really think of one real reason Alastor being aromantic just "can't be confirmed" where as everyone else's orientations can be.

His popularity. Like, that's weird but walk with me here. Alastor is the most popular character in the fandom. There's honestly no denying it, he just is. And what do people do with the most popular character?

THEY SHIP THEM OFF IN A LOVEBOAT.

But wait, if he's aromantic, he can't be on a love boat. THIS IS BS-

And then... the outcry. And we HAVE seen this happen. I mentioned before, he was stated to be aromantic on two occasions by two people who work on the show, one of which is his voice actor (which I'll be fair, I personally don't think VAs always know the characters they play the best, that's the writers). But they had to backpedal because people DID complain. People WERE upset. So it's kind of shown just aromantism isn't really welcomed, at the very least not for a character like Alastor.

And that's the key: "Not for a character like Alastor". But if it were say, Niffty or Mimzy who are either overlooked or just not very popular, THEN it's probably more than okay for a character to be aromantic. Because no one wants to ship with them much, so they can be aromantic all they want.

AKA. The aro community is allowed the scraps but not the dinner.

At this point, you've probably noticed I switched gears from the creators to the fans because I DO think they could be a reason why Alastor "can't" be confirmed as Aromantic. I'll give credit, I'm pretty sure it's mainly on twitter and wouldn't be surprised if it was a "loud minority" thing going on, but the people have spoken. They vehemently cannot STAND the idea of Alastor being aromantic.

But I don't have a problem with these people quite honestly- I mean I kinda do, but my main issue is the lack of commitment when the other characters are allowed confirmed orientations. Why can't aromantic people get confirmed rep? Because "it'll ruin people's fun?" That's such a crappy reason because it's just saying being aro is bad on some level or isn't okay. Why can't the aromantic community get the dinner this ONE TIME? It's one character in a pool of many others that are canonically gay or bi, so why can't the aro community have this ONE popular character?

I'm not even asking for people to stop shipping him, I think that's perfectly FINE. It wouldn't change the canon. I'd appreciate more LOVE given to the aromantic identity (and I'm talking about the far end of it, so absolutely NO interest in romance as many have used aro Alastor but it still comes off as just normal shipping, but that's just me). There's such a double standard to the treatment of aromantic characters to the other characters in these shows (because Octavia and Mammon are in the same boat here), and the reasons given are so crappy that they sound more like off-hand excuses.

Again, I don't MIND people shipping Alastor, or Octavia, or Mammon who is randomly shipped with Adam the most. Let me repeat:

YOU. ARE. ALLOWED. TO. SHIP. THESE. CHARACTER.

But what I have a problem with is that these characters aren't allowed to be OFFICIALLY aromantic. How would it feel if this was a gay character? That they didn't want to confirm it but there's been indications with past statements and even in-universe stuff indicating so? I WANT Viv and her team to STICK with what route they were gonna go with.

And some might argue "what's so bad with nothing being confirmed?" Other than the fact every other character's orientations are allowed confirmation and Viv's crappy way of putting it in not confirming anything. There's, by all technicalities, nothing wrong.

However, if I may pose a counter, why is it fair for people to demand or ask for gay representation or confirmation but not aromantic? Because it's "not ruining anything"? If that's the case, I'm inclined to say that may be a bit aphobic. Because how is it that a character being aromantic can "ruin" the character or something, but a character being gay DOESN'T "ruin" the character. It's a double standard that I don't think most people realize or want to say because you don't want to be dissing on gay stuff.

But WAKE UP SHEEPLE. The gay stuff has PLENTY of things by this point. Whether through fan works or official media, it is growing and it is growing rapidly. And we should be HAPPY about that. But alternatively, Aromantic (and asexual) rep BARELY gets any attention in either fan works or official media. People would be UPSET if a ship like Angel Dust X Vaggie or Stolas X Verosika got into one of the top most popular ships. But Alastor? Nah, it's fine.

Again, while I don't mind the shipping itself, hopefully, you can understand how it might feel to see one of the most popular ships involve a character that goes against their orientation and it's YOUR orientation. It doesn't. Feel. Great.

And not everyone who ships Alastor even would LIKE him to end up with who they ship. Some people just like it staying in fanon. I have met SO MANY nice people who ship Alastor with characters that I personally don't really like him shipped with. But it's clear that I don't think THEY'D mind if he was confirmed aromantic because it doesn't change their life. They'll still keep shipping him because that's fun for them and that's FINE. People explore themselves through characters with confirmed orientations and they don't always line up with canon, and that's FINE. I don't think people should be policed on shipping with the deer man, they're just having fun. Would I appreciate a little more love for the aro identity? Sure (I mean just look at Alastor's ship weeks activeness vs. his aro week activeness), but if that's not how people have fun they shouldn't be forced to do stuff with it.

But Alastor being seemingly "not allowed" to be confirmed as aro has set a precedent that there's something wrong with being aromantic. And personally, it makes me feel a tad unwelcomed sometimes.

It's the precedents. Again, why is every other character's orientation allowed to be confirmed but Alastor's isn't? What is so wrong with him being aromantic? Hell, he might not even BE aromantic. But at least I'd KNOW instead of floundering around hoping upon a star for some aromantic representation.

It's okay to be gay but- WHOA HOLD YOUR HORSES THERE. WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO PUT A PAUSE IN THAT ARO BUSINESS YOU GOT THERE.

A character's worth is in how shippable they are. And if they're aromantic, they're not shippable. And unfortunately, there are just enough people to throw a hissy fit about it that Viv doesn't want to confirm it.

Because apparently being aromantic would "ruin" things.

[themeraldee]

I think Homelander would love someone who gets jealous. Not 'i need space to calm down for a bit' jealous but 'i'm gonna either be super clingy or fuck you into the bed for the rest of the night' type of jealous. Because his SO doesn't kill people even if they're chill with it.

But imagine them having a jealous streak and Homelander finding it out because after a while he connects the dots of people flirting with him or Vought pushing a relationships for media purposes to the times his SO is suddenly VERY clingy or is pouncing on him

yes yes YES!! My man's ego is gonna be through the roof. As if it already wasn't. But if it's the kinda jealousy that makes his SO clingy he is SOO gonna indulge in that anytime there's a chance (upon finding out about this in the first place).

With all his previous relationships not caring about him to that degree to finally have someone who literally FIGHTS for his attention? He's smug as hell. Teasing you about it when he figures it out.

"Don't tell me you're jealous." He's biting back a grin, instead cocking his eyebrow.

"How could I not be! She was all over you!"

"It's her job. Madelyn wants her to be my public girlfriend." He keeps riling you up. Especially mentioning the new superhero meaning to act as his new 'girlfriend'.

"Well maybe you should tell Madelyn that it's not happening." You walk him to the couch and he lets you push him down on it. Immediately straddling him. "You..." You start off with fire in your eyes. "Are in a happy committed relationship. It's not fair that I have to see you with other people." You're close enough to nuzzle into his warmth, your face stuffed in between his neck and his collar, inhaling that intoxicating scent of his.

"Mhm you're right it's totally not fair." You feel the rumble of his voice in his throat.

"Stop taking this lightly!" You're already peppering kisses across his neck. Your hips having a mind of their own are already grinding down against him.

You have this intrinsic need to make him smell like you, to touch him and kiss him everywhere you can. If you can't be out there in public with him you'll make sure that he remembers your fingers and lips all over him. Not a part of him that's been untouched by you.

"I'm not. I just love when you get like this." He finally lets himself grin at the needy way you're pushing yourself against him and he couldn't be happier that you want him this bad.

He needs to make you jealous more often.

[bsof-maarav]

I just talked to one of the handful of friends I have left from my former community and found out that a specific former mutual friend, one who particularly prides herself on being a feminist, is straight up denying the hamas rapes, demanding "forensic evidence" and claiming it's all "Israeli propaganda."

I just have no more words left. I knew it was bad and I left behind what little social media I had in the first days after October 7th because I saw enough to know that I wasn't going to be able to be in this community anymore, I saw enough to know that I wasn't going to be hanging out with this crowd ever again. But I didn't stay long enough to watch every particular individual do and say the monstrous things that it turns out so many of them have been doing and saying.

I just left. And for a lot of them, I deliberately didn't look. I deliberately didn't look too closely at anything this woman was doing, for example--I thought it would hurt too much if it was bad. I thought it was better to just consider this part of my life over, to remember these people as they were to me before. I didn't want to know. I was leaving anyway.

Piecemeal, I saw some egregious things from some of my former friends. Glorifying self immolation...calling for the genocide of Jews...Holocaust inversion...claiming the hostages deserved it...denying that Jews are indigenous to anyplace on this earth...people who have utilized our words and symbols for their own liberation movements, wholesale denying the humanity of the people who made those words and symbols in the first place.

Every new piece of news I learn about who is dehumanizing us and with what rationale is just profoundly dispiriting.

No matter how many ways these people should be able to relate and make a human connection, they refuse to. Everything in their supposed values should enable them to hold the truth of what is happening to us. But it doesn't.

They're willing to treat Jews, especially Israeli Jews, in a way they would never accept for anyone else, in a way they would strenuously resist for anyone else--in fact, they strenuously resist much less serious things for anyone and everyone else! and that just breaks me. It means they never had the values that I thought we shared. It's all been a lie.

I froze things in time for some months, to some degree, accepting it was bad enough to be over, but not wanting to know the details. But with every new detail it's undeniable: there is no moral compass there. That world should have been a home for me and for years, I felt it was, but this hate was there the whole time. I never understood the conditions of my "belonging."

I can never forgive them. Not least because they'll never stop feeling righteous about their evil.

[randomfoggytiger]

I view his public persona as a sad, sensitive and pessimistic man with reservations - I don't even think he's an introvert. Much of his speech and how he presents himself to the public is calculated to keep certain controversial personal choices out of the spotlight. And that's fine, I don't care about his personal life, I admire him a lot as a professional - he'll always be Fox Mulder and 90% of the character's success was his doing. But it is possible to be a fan without losing sight of the fact that actors are loyal to their desires and their bank accounts - and have no qualms about using everything they can to stay in the good graces - and pockets - of the fans. He's no Bill Crosby, but he's far from being Gandhi.

I do and don't agree, I think. Gonna put this below because the discussion got a bit hefty:

Let's break these into points, keeping his girlfriend last.

Firstly: I do agree... somewhat. What's shown to the public is calculated-- he admits it, too: the juggle of keeping enough of yourself out of the public spotlight, away from constant speculation and criticism, and enough "in" to market your brand. But so do other celebrities, politicians, front-facing corporate workers, YouTubers, streamers, etc., etc. Often times, it's not directly calculated for results-- though it always has to be, to a degree: our bad or boring sides aren't marketable-- so much as what he calls "podcast face": a persona he uses for his work, be it in fan interactions, on talk shows, with associates and cast and crew, etc.

Regardless, to my knowledge it wasn't until really recently that he wanted to be seen as an emotionally sad, vulnerable person. He's alluded to this side of himself before through "hee hee, hah hah, I feel pathetic all the time" snippets but always accompanied that reality with a joke or witticism to divert attention. The podcast has been the most open I've heard him talk about his struggles and pain.

Secondly: I strongly believe he's an introvert, since there is plenty of evidence that that is likely the case. He himself admitted, years and years back, that he goes home from the X-Files and needs an entire day to decompress, alone. Tea confirmed this and was fine with it (don't know what changed after kids, but they did pretty good, regardless.) The cast and crew of each movie he shot or tv series he worked on echoed similar observations: withdrawn, soulful (i.e. moody on bad days), not really hobnobby outside of work. I've also read the same from personal interviews with his family and from fans who've continually met him; and I've seen footage and pictures that point to the same conclusion (i.e. when he's unaware fans/bts people are filming v. when he is.)

Does he have fun making connections, friendships, and contacts? Oh, yeah-- but that doesn't make him an extrovert or introvert. To make a long and more complicated story short: introverts, boiled down, are people whose brains intake information differently than extroverts-- information goes in, and stays in, until they have time alone to process it. Extroverts process (mostly) everything in the moment, around people and external situations.

Thirdly: Yes, I remain staunch that you, I, and others can acknowledge where someone might live differently or make different choices and still be a fan. There will always, always be something about a person you strongly dislike, be it their thoughts or how they live their life or who they support or don't support. Humans are human. Even Ghandi wasn't "Ghandi", after all.

Lastly: I don't agree in that.... Hm, how to approach this. I've done a lot of deep-diving into the polarization in this fandom because it fascinated me; and at the end of the day, evidence against fell through and evidence for remains what it is.

David didn't really keep Monique Pendleberry private. He's said, again and again, that he doesn't trust social media and doesn't really want to interact with it; so engaging with the discussion via that angle was a fruitless moot point. So, what did he do in his personal life? He took her on tours; he invited her onstage to sing with the band and his behind-the-scenes people; he engaged with (to my knowledge) her filming or snapping his photo for her Instagram account-- or at least wasn't bothered when she uploaded pictures of him "behind his back" (and he would have found out about later through teenager West.) They were snapped together in photos with the event coordinators of his concerts. He teamed up for a few of her workout collaborations with a California gym. He brought her to Gillian's play, and they and GA and PM (allegedly) were spotted eating dinner together that night. He's taken her routinely to spots that are celebrity pap hot spots, and hasn't shut down articles with pics calling her his girlfriend. For those that wanted to know, their relationship has been public for years-- most, out of this space, just don't care.

The only thing he didn't do was engage with her Insta... but he's also said publicly that he has someone managing his social media accounts (we all suspect it's either her or his manager Brad, anyway.) And during the years since their first appearances and now, his family and friends didn't seem ashamed to be publicly seen with him or to do repeated public events together (e.g. Tea voice acting Miss Subways, Tea posing at a music studio with him, Tea and he being friendly while engaging with paps if necessary, etc.)

The only points one could argue are: he didn't take Monique to a red carpet event; some fans report that he wasn't loving towards her in person; his kids don't interact with her; and he doesn't mention her name publicly. The first three can be checked off because fans have also reported, repeatedly, that he's affectionate and loving with her when pap cameras or crowds aren't pressing into their personal space (I've seen evidence from Twitter fans and various pap sites to back up these statements); that he's taken her to a couple public events since then (after his kids were out of the home-- which is smart); and that his kids have interacted with her, without a problem, since 2023 (West continually, Miller in a set of pap shots.) Further, I've seen footage after footage of Monique shrinking from the attention from paps (or the public in general), and looked into theories that she keeps them dialed up-- and, you guessed it, all "substantial" claims fell through, leaving me to believe that she doesn't want to engage with the public except on her own terms (Instagram.) But whatever the truth may be, it hasn't chased away his kids, publicly distanced Tea, or put off feminists Gillian Anderson, Pamela Adlon, and Samantha Bee who A. don't need him for their careers and B. don't seem to mind linking his name with theirs (amongst many others.) That doesn't say a lot in Hollywood, I own; but it does say a lot in the fandom-- namely, those women are often used as "proof" that his peers are ashamed of his "lecherous" lifestyle. I'm sorry, but there's no tangible proof of this claim, let alone that he keeps her away from important people in his life.

At the end of the day, is it my business? No. Do I know them and vice versa? No. Do I see the point in letting their personal business consume my life when all parties involved seem A-okay? Pfffft, no. I've got meta to write.

This got long, so thanks if you stuck with me, anon. :DDDD And if you have different opinions, that's great-- tell me about 'em! I truly want to know.

[racingline3]

Unexpected ~ Charles Leclerc

Charles Leclerc x reader

Description: Small blurb about idiots that can't communicate

~ Fluff ~

*********

"Charles?" You interrupt the interview. If anyone asks, its because of time constraints.

It may or may not be because you were jealous of the interviewer getting the full force of Charles charm.

"Yeah?" He turned his head at your quiet tone, you were surprised he had heard at all, but he didn't meet your eyes. He rarely ever looked you in the eye.

It was probably for the best considering you had a crush on him and would probably melt under his gaze but you couldn't help but want the attention he so easily gave to everyone else.

"Time's up." You say more to the interviewer that was standing too close to him than to the Monasque himself.

He nods, apologies to the interviewer, then turns and trips over his own feet before righting himself.

"Should you be really driving such high speed cars?" You joke with a smile. But like everything you had done to try and be friendly with Charles since starting your job with Ferrari 3 months ago, it seems to fall on deaf ears.

He mumbles something you can't understand and his cheeks turn so red they compliment his shirt.

"I have to go get Carlos for a sit down interview with a magazine reporter, I'll catch you later for a debrief on the media debrief?" You cringe at your own words as you try to joke and fail.

"Sure whatever." He says, suddenly looking like a kicked puppy. You huffed, it wasn't your fault he had to spend more time with you than the interviewer he obviously liked.

**********

The sight before you should be criminal. Charles is waiting for you at the board table in the empty office room in a soft hoodie and freshly showered hair.

He sits up straighter when you enter the room, "How is Carlos?"

You shrug, "He's not too happy, bad strategy call all around, wasn't it?"

You could feel his eyes following you as you sat down with your laptop and folder. "I wasn't too harsh with the media afterwards?" He asks, taking the stats sheet you hand him.

You had to squash the jealous monster rising up your throat, if anything he had been all too comfortable with them.

"No, you followed the points we had set out." You said. "You were great...like usual." You admit.

It feels like watching the sun come out on a rainy day as a soft smile dawned on Charles face. "I'm great?" He asks.

You urge the ground to swallow you up to no avail. You were just an assistant working on different marketing projects, you were supposed to be professional and not be crushing on one of the drivers.

"I...that's not...I mean..."

You could not have been more delighted when your manager appeared in the doorways ask how Carlos interview went. By the time you got back to Charles, he had backed away, both physically and emotionally. Giving one word answers and not looking at you until he was leaving the room.

"I think....you are great, too." His accent seems to smooth the words over. Enough do that you know they will slip easily past your defences and nestle under your skin for a long time. You already know you'll hear them on repeat in your head while you walk around pretending you aren't hopelessly crushing on Charles.

**********

"So today is my last day being your media handler" You try to keep your voice light but you had not been looking forward to this. At all. You know you are going to miss Charles, but it wasn't like you ever had him in the first place.

"What?" Charles stops mid step, eyes wide.

"I thought someone would have told you." You say.

"You're leaving?" He sounds like he does when his car goes out of control on a spin in the rain.

"Yeah I'm moving to what's Carlos' side of the garage, the assistant manager there has the same degree as me and I really want to see what I can learn."

"So I'll still see you around?" He asks. You frown to yourself, he never seemed so eager to see you much before.

"And its good for your career?"

"Yeah it's a great opportunity."

He leaves you completely surprised when he goes into the media conference room like he's just won a Grand Prix

***********

You hear your name being called and you'd recognise that accent anywhere.

"There you are. I was looking for you." Charles says as he catches you before you leave the Paddock after practice on Friday.

You rack your brain for something you'd forgotten but you had finished your to do list for the day and Charles name hadn't been anywhere near it.

He gives you a lopsided smile, "You didn't forget anything." You wonder when he started reading your mind. "I just hadn't seen you since before the summer break. How was yours?"

"Oh." You blink, "I had some work to do but I did get home to see my family. Yours?"

"Stressful."

"Oh I'm sorry..."

"No." He groans, "I'm sorry I keep putting my foot in my mouth. What I mean was that I did a lot of thinking..."

"Dangerous." You quip with a quick grin.

"About you."

"Me?" You're voice comes out in a squeak.

"Yes." You finally notice that he's gazing into your eyes.

"I cannot stop thinking about you. I make a fool of myself in front of you. I can't talk, I replay our conversations over and over. I like you, since the first time I met you. Do you want to go out sometime...with me?"

You presume this is what driving an F1 car is like, adrenaline coursing through your veins.

"I thought you hated me."

He looks stricken, "No, no! Dammit Arthur was right..." He mumbles more to himself than to you and you can't help but find it adorable.

"I didn't mean for you to think that."

"But you're so charming with everyone but me."

"Exactly, I can't form proper words around you. And we were working together so I couldn't let you know I liked you. I don't want to affect your career."

And that was the Charles you had developed a crush on, the earnest, caring man.

"Oh." You never would have dared to hope for this scenario.

"You're smart and funny and beautiful and would you consider going out with me?"

You assume this is what it's like when the lights go out and the cars roar into action.

"I would really like that."

[phoward89]

Based on this ask

Written special for my amazing moot @swiftieblyth

Everything seemed to be looking up for you. The last couple of months have been great. Your old friends, the ones that had backstabbed you, were no longer in your vicinity and you made new friends out of Clemensia Dovecote and Persephone Price, the girlfriend of Festus Creed. Coryo was leery of Persephone tho; even called her a cannibal because her father, Nero, had cut a dead maid's leg off to feed his family during the war.

Yea, that disturbed you a bit, but you didn't hold it against Persephone. She was a kid; most likely didn't know what she was eating. You always swatted your boyfriend's chest when he started his cannibal talk.

And talk about Coryo, oh he was just the best boyfriend to you. Truly, he was amazing. Despite his cold, stoic, callous nature he was very loving, genuine, and thoughtful with you.

Everything was going great, until it wasn't…

It was mid-June, University’s spring semester was over, Coryo graduated with a double major degree in Political Science and Military Strategy, and he was now deep in his work as the youngest assistant gamemaker in the history of Panem. And that happens to be whenever the bullshit drama with your ‘friends’ started up again. It started with little things, really.

Like they'd walk past you when you're at the mall with Clemmie and Persephone- making snide remarks under their breath. Remarks that'd have Clemmie serving them cunt with loud clap backs that made your ‘friends’ recoil with embarrassment. Clemmie and Persephone wanted you to tell Coryo about your old friends stalking you on shopping trips; saying nasty things about you under their breath while passing by, but you told them that it wasn't bad enough for Coryo to know. That they're blowing it up into something bigger then it is. You even made Persephone promise not to tell Festus, for fear that he'd tell Coryo since they're like best friends.

Of course your girls agreed to keep the low key mall drama about your ‘friends’ to themselves. But they did make you promise to tell Coryo about it if it got too bad.

And you didn't intend to keep that promise, until one day you had to.

Things were escalating with your old friends to the point where they were trash talking you on social media- again. This time tho, well, they're dragging your boyfriend into it. Saying that he has to fight your battles, that he fights dirty by fucking up people's lives just cause you can't deal with being called out with shit, that he has to ruin everyone that looks at you the wrong way, etc, etc, etc. You knew that Coryo wasn't big on social media (he had a Pangram account, but he rarely posts or goes on it) and hoped that he wouldn't find out about the ‘friends’ drama 2.0, but unfortunately for you his other friends did have social media.

And of fucking course Festus Creed had told Coryo all about the drama. Even showed him the slew of nasty posts that the salty bitches were posting about you and him. And to say those posts pissed your boyfriend off was an understatement. He was absolutely livid.

So livid that he wants to kill all of these ‘friends’ of yours that’re talking shit. Between trash talking you and dragging the Snow name thru the mud, well, those girls better run far far away from the Capitol and fast.

But now that Coriolanus knows what's wrong he understands why you've been sulking lately. It's been frustrating for him seeing you stay in bed, buried underneath the blankets all day for days on end; not wanting to do anything. But now he understands why.

And he's determined to make you feel better.

“I bought you a new book from that author you like.” Coryo told you, walking into the bedroom you share only to see you in bed, reading a book that he swears you reread about 5-or-6 times already.

“Thank you, Coryo.” You weakly smile, feeling blah even tho you're reading one of your emotional support books.

“Festus showed me the posts that those girls are posting about us, my darling.” Your blonde boyfriend confronted you while walking over to the bed and sitting next to you. Placing a supportive hand on your knee, he asks, “Why didn't you tell me they started their bullshit again?”

Closing your book, you looked down in embarrassment and sighed, “I don't want you thinking that you have to come to my rescue over this. It's my problem with these girls, not yours.”

Placing the new book he got you on the bedside table, he gently cupped your cheeks in his large, calloused hands and tilted your head back slightly so your eyes met his baby blues. “Y/N, baby, it's my job to take care of you and protect you because I'm your boyfriend; I love you.”

Your eyes began to well up with tears. “I don't know why, I'm such a loser. You could do better, find somebody that doesn't need you to defend them all the time.” You sniffled.

Hearing you talk like that because of those ‘friends’ of yours broke his heart. Coriolanus thinks that you're amazing. You're a beautiful person with a beautiful soul who made his dark withered up heart bloom and beat with love again. How could you think he deserves better when all he wants, needs, and loves is you?

Rationally, Coryo knows that it's depression and anxiety due to the situation talking and not really you, but that doesn't mean he truly understands your words. They hurt him because he just wants you to be happy; to be happy with him.

Your platinum blonde boyfriend pressed a soft feather light kiss to your forehead only to wrap his arms around you and pull you down onto the bed to cuddle with him. “You're not a loser, darling. You're perfect for me.” He assures you, kissing the tip of your cute nose. “You know that I'm here for you, baby. You can talk to me or not, but I'm here.”

And Coryo was there for you. He did everything in his power to pull you out of your depression and to help you settle down your anxiety. He ordered your favorite pastries, coffee, and refreshers from the high end coffee shop down the street from your penthouse, only to surprise you with brunch in Grandma’am's rooftop rose garden. It was a very romantic and thoughtful gesture. One that brought a smile to your face.

Coryo also played all of your favorite board games with you in another attempt to cheer you up. The two of you sat on the bedroom floor, rolling dice, dealing fake paper money, and trying to line up little letter blocks to make words while playing game after game over glasses of wine.

Coriolanus never played board games before he got with you because, honestly, his family was too poor to afford them. But when you moved in with him and brought your game collection, well, he'd play them with you once in a while. But now that you're in a funk, well, he's busting out the games more often than not to put a smile on your face.

Even when he comes home dead tired from preparations for the upcoming 14th Hunger Games, he's still finding the time to cheer you up. To support you.

And then when he's too tired to do anything and sees that you're having a hard time with your depression; that you haven't left the bed since he left in the morning, he orders pizza for the two of you and binge watches your favorite movie series with you. He cuddles you in bed, letting you curl up in his side, while watching TV in bed and reminding you how much you mean to him.

Coryo's also devising some plans to permanently get rid of the girls that are so mean to you, but you didn't need to know that. All you needed to know was that he's your loving and devoted boyfriend who will always be by your side no matter what.

And one day when he's President Coriolanus Snow and you're his First Lady Y/N Snow everyone will be too scared to say anything mean and hateful about either one of you. And if they do, well…they won't be breathing too long afterwards once he has a special afternoon tea with them.

Tags: @kuroosbby001 @purriteen @poppyflower-22 @meetmeatyourworst @whipwhoops @bxtchopolis @readingthingsonhere @savagenctzen @ryswritingrecord @erikasurfer @tulips2715 @universal-s1ut @thesmutconnoisseur @squidscottjeans @sudek4l @wearemadeofstardust0 @mashiromochi @gracieroxzy @belcalis9503 @shari-berri @aoi-targaryen @whiteoakoak @spear-bearing-bi-witch @gisellesprettylies @loverandqueenofdragons @qoopeeya @mfnqueen1 @permanentlyexhaustedpigeon88 @v-love @joyfulyouthlover @harvey-malfoy @tian-monique @chxrrybomb22 @marvel-hiddles-stark @xjinnix @devils-blackrose @zombicupcake3 @jacesvelaryons

[goobleck0]

hi okay a friend sent me a twitter post of yours and i just HAD to send you an ask. im not gonna say my account but i personally identify w/ the profic label and am active in the proship community, so ignore my ask if you'd like, but i am genuinely just. so curious.

in the post im referring to, you say that you wish that portraying toxic and/or abusive relationships in fiction wasn't stigmatized by proshippers writing about them with sexual intent, because they are extremely interesting to explore. but i'd like to inform you that that actually is what proshipping is! and especially profic. i consider proship as more of an anticensorship identity than anything else - ship and let ship, live and let live, write and let write.

of course, many do write sexual things w/ those relationships, but i don't see why that's a bad thing. i assume that you mean that profic writers writing about sexual concepts poisons the public perception of these abusive relationships, but i don't think that's a fair perspective. puritans will always be puritan, no matter what you are doing. you can't appeal to them enough to be good enough for them - you just have to be yourself.

if you just generally see writing something for sexual gratification bad, then i can't agree at all. that would be a very puritan perspective and actively harmful to free speech and the freedom to write what you desire. and, really, THAT is what proshipping is. it just so happens that many people desire writing things with sexual themes. that's just how people are - sexual themes are interesting in the same way that dark themes are, as a facet of the range of human experience. it might surprise you to learn that a lot of my fellow proship/profic writers who write about sexual themes are actually asexual themselves, and I am on the asexual/aromantic spectrum.

also, i too am autistic, and i too have a fascination with exploring dark themes in media. i consider myself an academic, and i want to become an author in the future. the things that i write now are dark fiction, and they would be considered "proshipping" because they portray dark ships. i never intend to stop writing what i do. i intend to continue writing dark fiction, and to publish it, even if it includes sexual themes, because that is contained within the spectrum of human experience and i believe it is incredibly important to portray. in fact, that would be a necessity to include in stories of many abusive relationships, which often contain degrees of sexual abuse.

if you want to post this, go ahead. if you just read it, that's fine! if you want to reply to it privately you can dm onthelamby and they can put u through to me

I wasn't going to (seriously) respond to this initially, but I agree with most aspects of your take here.

I am a huge on anti-censorship and free speech, always have been. and, I would even consider myself "proship", if the label still meant what it did during its early days. I love to see the portrayal of taboo topics in writing and other forms of art, especially by other victims. but, a lot of the proship community today has made itself into something else entirely, I fear.

as you said, you're profic yourself. and being in the community, it's very difficult to see how it is seen by outsiders. a lot of the proship community that is seen by antis are shotacon, pedos, and things of the like, I don't know the terms... I will give it to you that these people give your community a horrible wrap. the content that these people consume and produce are so damning and make genuine, educational and interesting dark-fiction hard to find for people like me that are into exploring the topics at hand.

I will never be against exploring taboo topics in media, fics where abuse happen, explicit or not, can AND SHOULD be in the mainstream. something like lolita (Vladimir Nabokov), for example, is exactly what I'm talking about, even if this work was misconstrued as something praising the topics at hand. that is what I like to see, that is what should be read and spread around! however, a lot of what I see nowadays are less like lolita and more pornography.

I am not against pornography, but that is not a media that should not explore serious topics. browsing ao3, I often see fics where characters are just abused for no reason other than the idea of the abuse being sexy. that is something I will never, ever support. that is where the stigma comes from, works that explore dark topics in such a way that promote, endorse, and support them.

several people in this community stay in their eco-chambers where they only dig themselves deeper into their trauma by consuming and creating meaningless, nothingburger abuse pornography. I want art, I want things that create a message and spread awareness. I don't want content that purposefully gives even one person the idea that these topics are erotic.

I'm sorry if I repeat myself in this, I don't normally lock in this hard on discourse posts, lol...

[kimbureh]

In the past, I have sometimes watched series because mutuals I don't even really talk to blog about it. This way, I came to watch some interesting media. I watched the first two seasons of True Detective (worth it, especially the first), watched Chernobyl (whilst infuriatingly incorrect in places, I appreciate it as a piece of television), and now I started The Terror.

And The Terror has been a weird experience so far. For one, Jared Harris is in this one, too, and he basically plays the same role of a herald of warning like he did in Chernobyl (and seems generally prone to playing). But also, and here I might be biased since I watched Chernobyl right before, I expected a historic recount of the events. Not some... bear-dude fantasy horror. And it's incredibly off-putting. I tried to overcome my preconceptions and lean into the fantasy horror, but it's just so incredibly frustrating.

The Terror is about two British ships getting lost in the arctic. That's quite the setup, right? People fighting for survival in a place that, and I quote, "wants you dead". But apparently extreme circumstances and deadly cold aren't enough drama. Hollywood needs A Bad Guy. Therefore the crew is being haunted by a *literal* bear beast. Chernobyl applied this standard Hollywood narrative too, and ended up changing the historical facts to the degree of a blatant lie, but at least the Soviet Sense of Unity wasn't personified in some murderous bureaucrat that made everyone underestimate the radiation.

It's difficult to portray collective responsibility, and thanks to the US-influenced storytelling style we are primed to expect A Singular Bad Guy. But that's not how reality works, and therefore it's especially jarring to see this narrative device applied to real life events that are infinitely more complex than "this guy is to blame".

To Chernobyl's credit, the texts *tells* us there are more people to blame than those put on trial, even insinuates a systemic failure. But the the overwhelming majority of the series still *shows* us: look, these are the villains you've come to expect from a narrative.

[statementlou]

Louis might not be chucking bricks at No. 10, but people are responding like he’s never displayed leftist politics or challenged a government position on anything. He supported demands to the government about a fix for UK touring musician post Brexit and Marcus Rashford’s petition about food insecurity. He fought the police about their social media use in 2018 and criticised the UK government position/support for factory workers in the pandemic. The things he speaks about are usually UK issues and meaningful to him or his family and friends. He’s also most likely to speak when he isn’t working. Also that specific anarchy has a punk anti authoritarian message as well. That statement fits Louis pretty well. He has been a poster boy for not sitting down and shutting up and doing what you’re told since 2012. If he was he probably wouldn’t have a solo career and he definitely wouldn’t have sold out the O2.

I like this point about him speaking out more when he's not working, I think that's a really great and useful observation and makes so much sense. I feel like it makes sense in two ways right now: like first, I don't blame him for not wanting to do things that would jeopardize how beautifully everything is going for him right now after the number of setbacks and troubles he's had to get here, it must feel so precarious. And knowing for a fact that any political statement you make will spawn a dozen tabloid stories and all kinds of outrage is bad enough, but add to that the fact that it's simply impossible to predict which thing will turn into a huge viral mess- it's a lot. And second, he's not just working, he's been on TOUR! I've been around musicians my whole life and one constant is that tour is time outside of normal time and life, it's a bubble, it's only paying attention to right where you are and what's in front of you and the people there with you and everything else is put off and neglected, is for when you get home (and have massive post tour letdown depression and fatigue). I'm not saying he can disconnect with the outside world entirely... but putting everything on pause? I would be surprised if it were any other way, and I would be surprised if he's been following the news and counter news and so forth closely enough to feel comfortable speaking out publicly about anything when it will be so scrutinized and picked apart. I would add to your list supporting the rail strike (something we wouldn't even know about if it hadn't been tossed in as an aside by an interviewer in the print only version of a piece, he didn't post about it or anything) and attending and posting about the BLM protests (not to mention telling people to pirate his stuff come on how punk is that), and I agree he is much more likely to speak out about UK issues which makes sense: most people are most moved by issues that are close to their lives in some way, and it's his brand. And I agree that even though as an anarchist I love talking about what anarchism as a political ideology actually is, the symbol does also have a common meaning in the world as just basically standing for anti-authoritarianism, and Louis as a guy who rejects authority and the status quo is nothing new at all and one of the reasons we love him, and in the last few years I feel like he's been going further in that direction both aesthetically and politically, and we love to see it! Plus he has pretty much always sported this slightly punky aesthetic to some degree, even when he was being dressed up like a little ken doll he snuck in skater looks and indie band tees and so forth (something something it's part of why his fanbase was so primed to love his new sound and it wasn't the risk he feared it was because people were always drawn to him who were already into that aesthetic even when his sound wasn't that yet) it's not like it's just a brand new out of nowhere side of him or something.

[shihalyfie]

Why do people like Saban dubbing digimon but really hate 4kids for dubbing anime?

To be honest, I don't think that's quite the case. I think most people who tend to have apologia-level worship of the Saban Digimon dubs also have similar sentiments towards 4Kids dubs. It's "my childhood", so it's sacred and you're not allowed to say anything bad about it.

That said, it is true that 4Kids is the one usually thrown under the bus to blame for radical dub changes while Saban is treated as "comparatively loyal (for the time)". This is misleading at best. If it's loyal for the time, it's by a very small margin, and certainly not enough to claim that it's "practically the same" as the Japanese version as many do.

Saban's Digimon dub looks closer to the original because all of the surface elements supposedly look closer:

They kept almost all of the names in Japanese and only gave them "nicknames", unlike other dubs that changed the names radically! (Except they functionally never mentioned those "nicknames" again after the first time, and no matter how many letters each name may share in common with their Japanese versions, that doesn't change the fact they treated most Japanese names like hot potatoes because they sound too Japanese.)

They left the setting in Japan instead of making it a fictional American city! (Except they tried to do that until the number of Tokyo landmarks made it too recognizable, and it's still something they were able to get away with because the Digital World is prominent enough in the narrative for them to not worry about it too much.)

They didn't cut any episodes! (Probably the only one that does hold legitimate water in comparison to 4Kids actually cutting entire episodes at times, but one also has to consider that Digimon is a heavily serialized narrative where dropping an episode would create serious problems for the story, whereas you could get away with a dropped episode from 4Kids' longer properties with filler episodes since more of their shows were based on manga.)

They didn't make any huge changes to the overall plot! (Almost nobody watched Adventure or 02 for the plot alone, and it's only natural that slowly changing every single line to suggest completely different characterizations from their Japanese counterparts would have a massive effect, especially on 02 where it didn't have an extremely linear in-your-face plot that offset that to some degree -- and even then, Adventure wasn't completely immune, because it didn't stop Koushirou and Mimi's Japanese characterization changes from still remaining relatively unknown in the English-speaking fandom.)

"The Digimon (American) English dub didn't change that much" is the biggest lie the fandom will ever feed you, yet it still persists to this day because people will look at these surface factors and call it a day (and even worse, because this myth persists, fewer people will be inclined to check it out in Japanese and confirm whether this is actually true or not). It's never been about how many actual changes there were; it's about how many were noticeable. Few people talk about how there's actually a significant difference in how dub changes were handled the moment Disney took over (late Tamers to Savers), because it's hard to notice unless you actually have seen the Japanese version. Fusion gets treated like a laughingstock dub just because people were actually able to watch it in Japanese first and see how much got changed later; in terms of actual changes, it's not that much worse than Adventure or 02, it's just that it happened during a time it was less socially acceptable to do that.

So because of that, Saban is seen in the lens of a localization company that did its best to be "loyal" in a market where the 4Kids method of drastic changes were more dominant, when in fact they were aggressive about it in different ways (and you can see a very fair share of derogatory, dangerously-racist-leaning comments about Japanese media, writing style, and content from people who were involved in Digimon localization, so it's frankly kind of absurd to imagine they were doing all of this because they cared so much about loyalty to the origin). On the flip side, it is on record that a lot of 4Kids' radical changes were actually requested by the Japanese side itself, because they themselves wanted to push something that would be appealing to the American market, and 4Kids would sometimes go as aggressive as they did specifically because they got the Japanese licensor's blessing to go as hard as they wanted.

(I actually personally prefer 4Kids' original music and theme songs to the Digimon ones -- they come off to me as feeling like they have a lot more genuine spirit put into them -- but that's just my personal subjective opinion, and everyone has their own music tastes. Anyway, that's a digression.)

I personally don't think it's productive to be mad at the dubs themselves. This was all more than 20 years ago, the market was very different, the attitude towards localization was different, Japanese companies had their own varying stakes in the situation, and most importantly, what happened happened and I'm not going to blame kids for watching the only thing that was accessible to them at the time and developing an attachment to it. I don't think there's any point to speculating how Digimon would have been accepted in the US/UK/etc. if it hadn't been changed so radically, because the fact is, we don't live in that alternate timeline, so we won't get anything useful out of fixating on that idea too much.

The only thing I have negative feelings about regarding the American English Digimon dub is, simply, the way the fandom still talks about it. With things like Pokémon or One Piece or Yu-Gi-Oh, where everyone already understands that 4Kids made super drastic changes, if you say you're talking about the Japanese version because what you're discussing wasn't in the dub, people will easily believe you and acknowledge you're talking about something different, but if you try to claim the Adventure or 02 dub was different enough to merit a distinction, you get called nitpicky or accused of being delusional. This is what I really wish would stop. The dub was different! I know localization discourse loves to conflate "different" with "bad", so people don't want to admit that their childhood dub changed a lot, but it did! That's reality! Please don't make this more frustrating to talk about than it needs to be!

[sarnai4]

College Days (and career plans)

After seeing a really fun Yona of the Dawn AU fanart with the characters in college, I started thinking about the Dragons crew.

Hiccup: Engineering. He's going to become an inventor and has already done some of that. He'll probably have his own company after graduation that makes just about everything. Need a replacement limb? Phone? Cylindrical item that will lead you to various reptiles and the journey of a lifetime? He's got you covered on all fronts. If it can be built, it will be.

Astrid: Law enforcement. She's eventually going to a police academy (cue the movie of the same name), so she wants to be prepared. She'll become a police captain in the future. It'll be very obvious why crime rates are plummeting in whatever city she's in.

Fishlegs: Zoology. He's always been into science, so he's going to become a zoologist to study animals all over the world. He absolutely loves his work and probably brings a few creatures home to study for a little longer before taking them back to the lab.

Snotlout: Drama. He's planning on becoming an actor. His work as Sir Ulgerthorpe has convinced me that he at least could be good on a stage. Plus, he's a drama queen. Maybe he'll get on the screen one day too. He's also considering if he wants to try out screenwriting and/or directing eventually. If he does become a director, he'll be one of the best and most bossy somehow.

Ruffnut: Digital communication and media/multimedia. She's honestly not here for any reason other than it's where Tuffnut and their friends are. That said, the twins are going to become YouTubers, so she figures she might as well become good at making videos.

Tuffnut: Crafts. He missed how Ruffnut's idea will actually be useful in their future job and thought this sounded fun. His reasoning is that he'll make some cool crafts to show off to their viewers. He's probably right, but there are still a dozen sighs directed his way because of this choice.

Dagur: Undecided. He's gone through business to see if he wanted to be an entrepreneur, then wasn't sure if he should just go to an entrepreneurship degree, had a few in between, and the latest one was psychology to try to understand his mind. At this point, he's hoping he sticks with something long enough to graduate on time with the credits. Can't say he isn't getting a well-rounded education, though. Just don't even get him started on career plans. He figures that he'll teach martial arts to pay for bills until he comes up with an idea he can keep for longer than a month.

Heather: Music. She's going to become a singer and probably be a vocal and guitar teacher later on. She's the only member of the group who we've heard sing and not sound bad (minus Snotlout surprisingly in my opinion. Oi oi oi), so I can see her doing this. She's not planing on being some superstar or anything. Just most likely at some venues and on YouTube, so maybe Ruffnut's new skills can help out.

Mala: Doctor of medicine for surgery. She's in the doctoral program (because I'm convinced she is a nice amount of years older than the others) and going to become a surgeon. This is something she's wanted to do for a while since she enjoys healing people. Meeting the others made her want to do this even more since she's sure at least one of them is going to be in a terrible accident one day and will need a good surgeon. Her bet is on Hiccup, the twins, or Dagur.

Throk: Criminal justice. He's already graduated, but he is receiving specialized training to become a body guard. When he gets free time, he comes around to spend time with the others. He's part of the bet with Mala and bets that Ruffnut will NOT need a surgeon because there's no way he's allowing such harm to come to her.

Atali: Women's studies. She's going to run a women's shelter when she graduates. She is also considering getting a master's.

Minden: Physical education. She's following her bestie and going to teach self-defense to the women Atali helps out.

(bonus)

Gobber: Welding engineering. He loved this in his university days and started up his own company. This is how he got Hiccup into making things too.

Stoick: Political science. He joined the marines when he was younger and became a high-ranking officer before coming back home to care for Hiccup.

Johann: Law. He became a slimy lawyer who always gets the really dangerous criminals off and puts away innocent people.

Viggo: Economics. He wanted to be very shrewd with his spending. He owns a company that seems like it's a tech manufacturing company on the outside but is actually smuggling a bit of everything.

Ryker: Criminology. He did this to understand just what risks the criminals who work for/with him could face. He works for Viggo (because of course he does) and is the VP of the business.

Krogan: Business management. On the outside, it seems like he's got a weapons manufacturing company, but he uses it to work with the Grimborns and hurt people.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for not telling my partner that someone else had feelings for me?

This happened some 5-6 years back, so I'll be using the ages that applied when the situation was ongoing. I (19NB) had been in a relationship with Aiden (19NB he/him) for about a year when I realized that I had... some sort of feelings for a friend of mine, let's call them Gloria (24NB they/them). I am arospec, so I didn't really know how to define those feelings, but I knew that they extended beyond normal friendship feelings.

I sat down with Aiden and told him about these feelings, so as to be transparent, and he told me that he thought I just didn't have a lot of experience feeling safe with friends. I tried to insist that I didn't think that was the case here, but I was brushed off. I brought up the concept of queerplatonic feelings, but he said he thought I was trying to use labels that didn't apply because of my lack of experience in relationships. I dropped the subject. I also talked with Gloria, and they agreed that they felt the same way about me.

Fast forward a few months, and I felt pretty much the same way, but Gloria had realized that the feelings they had for me were more romantic in nature. I indicated that I wasn't comfortable with a romantic relationship, due to the fact that I didn't think Aiden would be okay with it, and I didn't think polyamory is something I had the bandwidth for. They indicated that this was fine for the time being.

I did not tell Aiden that Gloria had confessed their feelings for me. I did not want to have to choose between my partner and my best friend, and I knew that if I did that, Aiden would probably ask that I distance myself from them. I figured I would wait a little bit before telling him, because I didn't want him yelling at them, and maybe he would be less upset once the situation had cooled down a little bit.

...Apparently not, though, because a few days later, Gloria wrote a post on their public social media, tagging me directly, saying basically "I am in love with you". I panicked, and I commented something to the degree of "awww thanks bestie! i feel so flattered <3 love you! :)" to try to cement the idea of: I am not pursuing a relationship with you. You are my friend, but please stop.

A few hours later, Aiden texted me with a screenshot of the post and said something along the lines of "So, when were you going to tell me about this." I explained the situation, and he was extremely upset, because with the new information of "Gloria is in love with my partner", it colored our earlier conversation in a new light.

Aiden told me that he thought I hadn't tried hard enough to explain Gloria and I's feelings for each other. I told him that I had been 100% honest about my feelings, and that those feelings hadn't changed. He said that I should have told him about Gloria's feelings for me sooner.

He asked me if I wanted to be in a romantic relationship with Gloria, and I told him no--not right now, at least. I told him that, if I was being honest, I could see the potential for a romantic relationship, and that I could see myself wanting to date them if Aiden and I weren't a thing. However, at that point in time, I was committed to Aiden, and I didn't want to compromise that. After talking about it for a while, he told me that he could try polyamory if it would make me happy. I told him we didn't have to, but he insisted he wanted to give me the opportunity to try it.

A few months down the line, I did end up giving in and starting to date Gloria, which Aiden said he was fine with. I told him he didn't have to be, but he insisted he was. I had a suspicion he was not happy, but didn't try to press further, because I didn't want to accuse him of lying or start a problem where there wasn't one.

A couple of months in, he finally told me that, yes, he had been lying, and that he actually wasn't okay with it. I felt really bad, because I wouldn't have started dating Gloria if he had told me up front he wasn't okay with it, but now I was in this relationship, and didn't want to end it. Aiden and I ended up breaking up, and we haven't spoken in several years.

I already know that there are several points where I could have behaved better, or done something different. I know I really hurt Aiden back then, even if that wasn't my intent. I've told Gloria I feel guilty about how I handled that, but they told me that I was as honest about my feelings as I could have been, and that it's not my fault Aiden didn't take me seriously.

I still feel dirty when I think about it. Even though everything was TECHNICALLY above board (besides the few days where I knew Gloria was in love with me and didn't tell Aiden), it still feels like I cheated on him. AITA here?

What are these acronyms?

[its-a-branwen-thing]

Just the Way You Are

This volume of RWBY isn't one that I've felt like writing a ton about. It's existed as a bit of background noise to my weekends, a must watch but in passing. It was a wonderful journey, but not as impactful as I thought it should be to me. It hit all the right marks. Well-written, well-animated, great music. It wasn't until the finale, where I was reminded, again, of why I loved this show in the first place.

I've been seeing an outpouring of love for V9 that seemed to spur a re-examination of it as a series, in both what RWBY means to fans and what Ruby means to the audience. This whole volume she's been a proxy facing the show's vocally decried imperfections: for what the could have beens and should have beens keep saying. In Ruby's own personal doubt, we see the seeds of the show's very own history of grappling with fan expectations, critical analysis, commercial success, and the complicated legacy of the tragic passing of the show's creator.

But CRWBY's love for this volume is so evident it seemed to drown out any bad faith arguments: this is RWBY as it was always meant to be.

In finishing this volume, I see once more that fiction can help us suture the parts of us that seep. That its creators are people we may never know but whose ideas we stitch into the membranes of our core. RWBY doesn't have to be a masterpiece emerging fully formed from the minds of its writers and animators. It is a vision expanded upon, a messy beginning built up, a work of surfeit love, flawed and lovely in the mess.

As a perfectionist I tend to chase that critical clout, to draw from external sources the meaning of my own art, to wonder if the interpretations are good enough, if the writing and characters are done with enough mastery that I can succeed in other's eyes. But RWBY will never be a success to some, and in that we see that even the most collectively beloved things are criticized by their detractors. We will never create a bulletproof thing.

Life is exposure. Love is vulnerability and art in service to that love - of self, of others, of vision - exacts the same toll of knowing. Even against the diatribes on Youtube that have stated otherwise, RWBY's heart is worn on its sleeve. It is a show fully sure of its sincerity. This volume seems meant to present that to us and to Ruby, as a character. She has always been the heart of the show. Pursuant of hope in the face of insurmountable odds, always picking up the pieces of others, always with the weight of the world on her shoulders. But, at her core, she has always been a simple, more honest soul.

RWBY and Ruby have faced failure after perceived failure. Ruby always tried hard but never quite got it and now, in the sea of her doubt and the under the current of others' expectations, she sees herself as less than. As incapable of serving the people she loves most. Ruby's fear of failure does not come from her need to be beloved, it doesn't come from a selfish interest in public opinion, but rather from a stalwart need to do what she believes in.

RWBY has long been the scruffy underdog of the animation world, an easy little show to poke fun at. This isn't to say that critiquing is inherently bad faith, or that there's no place for it. There is, and there always will be things that irk or bother us to some degree with every piece of media we consume. But, much like the people we love in our lives, those imperfections are part of them, and we can either take them as is and have faith enough that they'll grow just as we do, that their center is good and worth it, or we can simply let them go.

Choose for yourself one who can leave your burdens behind, or chose one who can be enough to bare them.

There's something to be said about the moral simplicity of a show like RWBY, in which things don't always work out, but in which the characters have enough faith in themselves, and the world, to still seek to save it. This is a fairytale, but it is one that hopes to impart on reality a little bit of that kindness.

It is wholly intentional that RWBY is thus stylized as a children's fairytale. It lacks the tonal shift of grit and anger that adulthood seems to impart on innocence, and posits that: no, you don't need to be anything else, even if others decry that self as naive or emotional or exposed. There is a beauty to RWBY's vulnerability and it's always been there, baked into the show itself.

V9 feels like a love letter to RWBY as a whole. It has always been a show set on positivity, on pursing that goodness at all costs. RWBY does not partake in the labor of being something else more gritty or mature or indifferent. It is what it's always been.

A simple, more honest show.

[theeccentricraven]

My Writing Journey

I'm still writing my NaNoWriMo Novel in late March, with April right around the corner. Almost 200,000 words now.

How did I get here?

I chose to be a writer when I was eleven. By the time I was eighteen, I had three incomplete novels, a thick packet of writing notes, and a long list of story ideas I wanted to write before I died. I also had a short attention span that I can blame on my ADHD and ASD, a declining love for reading due to required school reading, and competition with distractions like the internet/social media. I was able to devote a good deal of my spare time on my prize WIP, a unique fantasy titled The Keeper of Maralla. I didn't spend as much time writing as I should have. My writing confidence was low. After I earned my first bachelor's degree in Child Development, several amazing things happened. First, I worked briefly as a custodian (aka janitor or caretaker depending on what part of the world you're in) when I got the idea for my current primary WIP, The Blood Cleaners. At that time, I thought TBC would be an urban fantasy. A few years later, I realized the story worked best as a post-apocalyptic dystopia. I personally feel that you don’t find the stories; the stories find you. Such was the case with TBC. Then, in 2008, I won my first NaNoWriMo when I wrote the first draft of The Star House Club, an MG/YA urban fantasy. It meant the world to me when I finally had a complete novel in my hands, even if the writing was really bad. My next complete novel was finished in 2009, a Christian historical fiction novel called Miriam and Yosef. Then, from 2010 to 2011, I wrote my first really long novel, my sci-fi first contact story called Columbus Day. It was 170,000 words long! The best part was when I wrote my first complete second draft by rewriting Columbus Day. I saw how rewriting really can make things better, even if only a little better. It was also at this time that I earned my second bachelor's degree. I earned my post-baccalaureate degree in English. Then, things kind of shattered. I lost all of my confidence in my writing. I almost gave up completely. I also stopped reading. I've learned that the less you read, the worse your writing is. I went nearly a decade without reading and writing. There were some pluses that happened during that time, such as getting a technical writing job with my current employer. For the most part, I had little ambition and few goals. That was until early 2023, I experienced some epiphanies. I went through some religious/spiritual experiences that allowed me to realize I was meant to be a writer. I needed to get my ideas down on paper before I died or else the world would never know them. I opened up my old writing notes to get to work. I thought about which of my WIP's I would make my primary WIP. It was hard when I felt passionate about a half dozen of them, knowing I would regret failing to finish and publish either. I was hit hard with reality when insomnia hit me. I had been in denial about my need to read. Just as I had to get back to writing, I had to get back to reading. I wanted to say I had read enough and needed to spend time writing. When I discovered reading was the best medicine for insomnia, I realized what I needed to do for both my physical health and writing health. I read about 15 books in 2023. The more I read, the better my writing got. My best read was Scott Westerfeld’s Uglies, a book that reminded me of why I love the dystopia genre. By July, I made the decision to focus on The Blood Cleaners. I spent four months brainstorming and outlining. I began drafting in November for NaNoWriMo. I wrote 50,000 words in 30 days, but the story wasn't over. That brings me to where I am now. My manuscript is almost 200,000 words long. I hope to finish in the next few days. I can’t wait to rewrite and cut this thing. Writing is hard, but it's worth it. My journey isn't over, obviously. I can’t wait to see where this journey goes.