#but they also recognize how ridiculous it all is like ��. even when theyre fighting over the journal they both r like ok pause r u ok

[lemongogo]

they should get to kill each other at least twice .i think

[roe-and-memory]

headcanons

hi tumblr ihave like three headcanons to share currently (there will be more soon i just need to see how well theyre taken, do we like headcanons on here??)

(based off of him not having headlights but how i perceive it humanized even though racecars cant have headlights in Real Life) lightning has light sensitivity issues with his vision . he cannot see. the sun is too bright sometimes and if its dark he will trip over one of the floorboards in docs house, no matter how many times hes walked this floor. (hes very prone to tripping Always but it just gets worse when its dark) (he has rips in the knees of every single pair of jeans he owns)

docs old sunglasses have his name lasered into the arm, lightning found them basically untouched in a box in docs garage. he pulls them out and starts using them when its too bright outside and doc has learned to just hand them over whenever lightning shows up like

2. lightning just. doesnt sleep ?? he is 100% an insomniac and his nightmares are to blame. he would rather work himself to exhaustion than willingly sleep at a normal time. cue him spending most nights out in the fields or at the junkyard with mater building things or whatever until mater is the one to be like ok im tired im going to bed and lightning is forced to go back home, climb back through his bedroom window, and stare at the ceiling until he passes out. he hates sleeping because every night, without fail, he has nightmares. vivid nightmares about whatever his brain can think of, and when he does sleep hes basically fighting his sheets for five hours because of these nightmares, and then he wakes up early and goes about his day as if he wasn't at war with literal demons 20 minutes ago.

doc knows about these nightmares, of course he does, he's a light sleeper and lightnings room is just across the hall, he's also completely aware that the kid sneaks out the window every night because, although lightning is quiet around the house, he is not too graceful when hes attempting to climb out the window -- he's fallen into the bush beneath it countless times.

because of this, doc has tried everything to help him with the nightmare issue, from melatonin to getting him to just write down whatever he was dreaming about to show himself it wasnt real, and absolutely none of it worked. in fact, melatonin seemed to make it worse, and doc gave up there.

3. doc wears a silver "wedding" band. he's not married, in fact he's never been interested in having a partner or getting married at all (i dub thee aroace) but when he was younger he was certainly eye candy for girls at the racetrack and they fawned over him like nobodies business. he comes up with the great idea to get a silver ring and lie, he makes up some tragic backstory to tell whenever a woman asks him why he has a ring or who the lucky person is, and it makes them back of pretty quickly. in reality, the ring is made from a small wheel bearing, and smokey made it for him when he asked because he thought it was funny as hell and was like yes sure but pls make it sound ridiculous . and dont ever tell the same story twice. confuse them.

word gets around and he's told multiple different stories so everyone is confused, but if someone questions him he just gives them a Look and they shut up about it.

even after his crash and his inevitable leave from the piston cup and thomasville, along with his change of address, he continued to wear the ring just in case he got recognized or something.. (it was for aesthetic reasons, he loves that ring its just his signature thing now)

ok... thats it for now, is this how things get formatted here??? do we Like this???

[sentience-if]

Heyo, i was wondering if I could askkkkl, if they’ve not already been answered, how RO’s would react if they accidentally hurt Io physically or emotionally in like a heated argument, and how they’d react after it’s all blown over (wait till Io approached them or)

Also can you tell who certain anons are by like typing quirks?

Also love the story so far xoxo

maybe if I printed all the asks out and pinned them on a corkboard like a conspiracy theorist I could make some connections but no lol unless you tell me I don't know the difference between anons

Ira: I can't really imagine Ira being that angry. They're pretty good at recognizing their own emotions and would leave before it got that far to cool off. If something did slip out, they'd immediately apologize but ask to be left alone for a bit. Later, there would be a very level headed conversation and a good solid hug. a master of emotional intelligence <3

Klaus: I think I've said before that he only gets calmer when angry, though that certainly won't stop him from saying some fucked up shit he doesn't really mean. unless he feels truly out of control of the situation, it would be up to Io to back out or storm off. there also won't be a real verbal apology unless he's very close to Io; otherwise he just pretends it never happened and is maybe a little nicer next time you see him

Connie: most likely to get physical though it won't be anything more than forcing Io away to gain some personal space. any hurt that comes out of that is 100% accidental and would stop Connie in their tracks. They're still seething, but can recognize when it's crossed a line. Immediately apologizes and leaves; it takes them a long time to come back and Io is probably better off tracking Connie down themself

Val: most likely to accidentally get Io hurt because they're too pissed to focus on what theyre doing and get sloppy. instantly bursts into tears and regrets everything they've ever said or done. it's clear they're not really angry, they're just frustrated and stressed, and all the fight goes out of them like a deflated balloon

kat: is more along the lines of Klaus- deadly chill instead of loudly argumentative. though she may not even realize what she's saying is hurtful and for a long while thinks Io is just being ridiculous and oversensitive. it probably takes her ranting about the fight to Ira and them cutting her off to knock some sense into her for her to realize she fucked up. seeks Io out to apologize, and while it's definitely sincere, it still seems rehearsed, like it's not her words

[sturchling]

aft hawkmoth is defeated, paris banned any outside superheroes from entering bc lb and cn said that they had asked the superheroes (e.g justice league, up to u) for help, but all they got was a message saying that they should not be faking this for attention. soon, said superheroes try to come into paris to help aft hawkmoth was alr defeated and theyre arent allowed in. lb and cn show up and the superheroes insult then abit bc they arent allowed in so paris and lb and cn go off at them

Here you go!! Hope you like the story! Let me know what you think!

Ladybug and Chat Noir were very worried when they first became heroes. They had no experience as heroes, nor any idea how to track down Hawkmoth. They knew that people could request aid from the Justice League for their cities if something was wrong. Of course, it was mainly used to ask for just humanitarian help, typically after some kind of natural disaster. But Ladybug and Chat Noir didn’t know what else to do. So, they sent in a request, asking for their help. They never received a response to their initial request. As time went by, they kept trying to reach out to the Justice League. After their fifth message, they received a response, but not the one they were hoping for. When the two young heroes saw a message from the Justice League help line, they felt excited. They thought they would finally get some help and maybe this nightmare would be over soon. But the message didn’t say that help was on the way. Instead all it said was:

This help line is for real emergencies only. You two should not be clogging the line with these ridiculous jokes. This is not the kind of thing to fake to get attention. Please do not contact this help line again. -Justice League Assistance Requests

Ladybug and Chat Noir were disheartened. They had truly hoped that these heroes would help them. How could they think this is fake? It is true that there is no apparent damage, but Ladybug had explained that was only due to her powers.

 ------------------

Ladybug and Chat Noir did not listen to the message and kept sending messages that became more and more desperate as the akumas grew stronger. Eventually though, it became too dangerous to keep asking for help. Ladybug and Chat Noir both realized that if the Justice League came to Paris, they ran the risk of the League becoming akumatized. If any member of the League became akumatized, it would be disastrous. Ladybug realized that they couldn’t risk the heroes coming to Paris anymore. So, her and Chat Noir went to the mayor. After that day, foreign superheroes were banned from entering Paris.

  ------------------

After three years of fighting, Ladybug and Chat Noir had finally defeated Hawkmoth. His capture was international news. Paris was finally telling the full story. The mayor finally told the world all about Hawkmoth and his reign of terror. The world was shocked that they hadn’t known what was happening. None were more shocked than Bruce Wayne. He remembered those messages from all those years ago in Paris. Those kids had been telling the truth? He could hardly believe it; their messages had seemed so ridiculous that they had to be fake. Magic jewelry that is powered by tiny gods did not sound real at all. Batman knew it was time for damage control. He called a meeting with the other founding members of the league and went straight to the Watchtower.

  ------------------

When Bruce arrived, he saw that most of the other members were already present. Several of them were confused and were asking Bruce why they were there. Bruce just played the news clip from this morning. Several of the other leaguers were shocked. Green Lantern spoke up, “These kids again? They were actually telling the truth?” Bruce turned to him, “Yes it appears they were. This is going to look bad on us, that we didn’t help. Whether we believed them or not, it is important that we go to Paris now. Offer our apologies for not helping sooner and help them re-build. I imagine there is a lot left damaged after fighting such a powerful foe.” Bruce had clearly already forgotten that in the original messages Ladybug had said she could fix all the damage. Shows how much he actually listened to the original requests. With that settled, the different members prepared to leave for Paris. They tried using the zeta tube they had set up, but they got an error message saying the tube in Paris was too damaged. The leaguers assumed it had been damaged in one of the fights and decided to zeta to a different location in France and then fly the rest of the way to Paris. They had no idea about the cold greeting they would soon receive.

  ------------------

Marinette had been at home for the day when the news was announced. She may not have revealed her identity to the public, but she did tell her parents finally about her being Ladybug. They were so proud, and had agreed that Marinette deserved the day off from school, considering she had just saved Paris. Marinette was just planning on spending a relaxing day at home when she got a message. She had set up a website with a way to message Ladybug back when Hawkmoth was still active. This was so citizens could inform her of akuma attacks quicker. She wasn’t expecting to get a message on it today, but around noon, there was a new message. This message came from the mayor’s office. It read:

Ladybug, we have spotted different members of the Justice League approaching the city. Since the ban on superheroes is still in effect, we will turn them away. However, we would feel more comfortable doing so if you and Chat Noir were there to help. Please hurry to the Western border of the city.

Marinette was shocked. The Justice League was coming now? Why the sudden interest in Paris? Regardless, she quickly pulled out her phone and called Adrien, who was also staying home for obvious reasons. They had revealed their identities to each other after the final battle, and were ecstatic to find out they had been that close to each other all along. The rest of the miraculous team also revealed their identities, and everyone was shocked to see that Ladybug and Chat Noir were Marinette and Adrien. Adrien picked up quickly, “Marinette? What’s up?” “Can you talk privately right now?” Adrien knew that meant that Marinette needed to talk about superhero stuff, so he made sure the door to his room was locked and then said, “Yeah, I’m good. What’s up?” Marinette replied quickly, “We have guests coming to the city. Apparently, someone spotted members of the Justice League heading this way and are worried they will try to enter the city. The mayor asked both of us to be there to help when they turn them all away. He asked us to meet at the western border of the city as quick as we can.” Adrien was shocked. Why was the League coming? They hadn’t cared before. “I’ll be right there milady. Let the rest of the team know, we may need the back up. See you soon.” With that, he hung up and transformed. Marinette quickly sent a message in the group chat for they had set up for the members of the miraculous team, telling everyone to meet at the western border quickly. She then transformed as well and went to join Chat. He quickly rushed to the border of the city where he saw the police force, the mayor, and Ladybug all waiting. He joined them and watched for the Justice League. They didn’t have to wait long before the Justice League members appeared on the horizon. Officer Raincomprix used a megaphone and ordered all of the heroes to land before they entered the city. Chat Noir got ready to face the Justice League and tell them to get lost.

  ------------------

When the leaguers arrived, they were expecting the citizens of Paris to be glad to see them. But instead, they were glared at and ordered to stop at the border of the city.  The leaguers were confused, this is a very different reception than they were expecting. They stopped and Batman stepped forward, “We heard about your defeat of Hawkmoth and have come to offer our help in rebuilding your city.” Then a younger girl in a ladybug themed outfit and a boy in a cat outfit stepped forward. Batman recognized them as the kids from the videos, what were their names again? Oh right, Ladybug and Chat Noir. Behind them he saw other kids in similar outfits, however he didn’t remember seeing any of them in the videos sent to the league. He was expecting them to thank him and the other heroes for the help, even if they were still upset from the earlier rejection. But that was not what happened at all. The two kids were very calm, but he could tell they were still angry. The girl called Ladybug took the lead, “Your help is not wanted, or even needed. The city is perfectly fine. Regardless, you are not welcome in Paris. None of you are. Foreign superheroes are banned in Paris. Only the miraculous team is allowed to reside in this city.” The Justice League were shocked, to say the least. Batman tried to argue with them, “The city can’t possibly already be prepared. Fights like what was discussed on the news cause massive amounts of damage. They couldn’t possibly be fixed overnight. And how could you ban superheroes?” Chat Noir rolled his eyes, “Shows how much you actually listened to our original request for help. We told you back then that the reason there was no damage to speak of is because Ladybug is able to reverse all damage caused by the akumas and other miraculous. In other words, the damage from the final fight was fixed immediately. And we banned heroes after you all refused to give us any aid. We needed to make sure that you didn’t just storm in later and try to take over or get akumatized. That would have been disastrous. You can’t just suddenly decide to come and help after ignoring us for three years.”

  ------------------

Superman stepped forward at this point, “We didn’t mean to ignore the situation. But you have to admit it sounds pretty far-fetched. Magical jewelry that is powered by ancient gods and evil butterflies possessing people doesn’t sound reasonable.” Ladybug got angry hearing that, “Why doesn’t it? You have several magic users in the Justice League, like Zatanna. You even have Dr. Fate who is a sorcerer that inhabits a magic helmet and possesses people who wear the helmet. That isn’t much different from the miraculous. Are you all seriously so close-minded that you didn’t even consider the possibility?”

  ------------------

That comment made several of the leaguers angry. They didn’t want to admit that they were in the wrong, but Ladybug was right. They had several magic users, and the Helmet of Fate is pretty similar to a miraculous. But these kids couldn’t possibly know what they are doing. The Justice League needed to step in and help get things back to normal. They were sure that they could get the city to listen. Batman turned to the mayor and said, “That ban is hardly necessary anymore. It wasn’t even necessary in the first place. These second-rate heroes just convinced you of it because their pride was hurt. Don’t you think it is time to lift it? I am sure we could help get your city back on track quicker than these children playing at heroes.” Ladybug and Chat Noir’s blood was boiling after hearing that. How dare Batman act all high and mighty and talk above them like he was superior. He had spent the last three years ignoring the problem and now wants to suddenly come in and take over. This is exactly why they put the ban in place. The mayor seemed just as angry as Ladybug and Chat Noir, “Sir, like Ladybug and Chat Noir said, you are not welcome here. They have done a fantastic job in not only dealing with Hawkmoth, but also helping the citizens return to normal.” Batman was furious, they were still going to deny them entry? The Flash stepped forward now, “Surely, with the focus being on Hawkmoth, crime rates have risen. That isn’t the fault of these kids, they wouldn’t know how to juggle dealing with Hawkmoth and also petty crime. But we can help you get that handled.” Mayor Bourgeois shook his head, “Actually, they handled both responsibilities well. Even though we told them not to worry about petty crime, and that the local police would handle it, they still patrolled every night to help. Crime rates are at an all time low here. Now I am not going to tell you again. You are not welcome here. Leave at once.”

  ------------------

The Justice League couldn’t believe it, Batman exploded, “You would seriously leave the security of your city in the hands of these wannabe heroes?” Green Lantern added, “Yeah, they are just little kids with some fancy jewelry playing pretend. You need real heroes!” The mayor and police were furious. How dare these people belittle their heroes. The mayor was now yelling as well, “Do not speak about them so rudely. They are more heroic than you seem to be. Now get out of my city.”

  ------------------

The Justice League still refused to leave. They hurled insults at the young heroes and demanded to be let in to the city. They even tried to force their way past the blockade of police officers. Ladybug turned around and gestured to Pegasus. The leaguers did not see any of this, they just heard someone call “Voyage!” They saw a giant blue portal open and then swallowed them up. When the light faded, they saw that they were in the middle of a field somewhere. Batman used his GPS and saw that they had been moved all the way to a corn field in the middle of Nebraska. He was furious, how dare they force him away through a teleport. Paris needed more competent heroes than a bunch of children playing pretend.

  ------------------

Over the next several weeks, the league continued to try and enter the city. None of their attempts worked though. They tried just flying through, entering covertly as their civilian identities, and a bunch of other plans. Somehow, the leaguers kept getting teleported right back out of the city, in increasingly strange locations. Eventually, the leaguers just decided to abandon Paris completely. They would not help Paris with any situation. Their plan was to watch the city fall to pieces and not offer any help unless they lifted that ridiculous ban. But that never happened. It irritated Batman and the others to no end that those second-rate heroes were doing a good job and that the ban wasn’t lifted. So, the leaguers resumed their attempts to break into the city. They did not count on the young heroes putting their actions in the public eye.

  ------------------

Ladybug and Chat Noir were still furious at how the leaguers behaved. They had thought that the Justice League was full of good and kind people, but the members they had met were certainly not good and kind. They were forceful and insulting. And even once they were told that they were not welcome in Paris, they kept trying to come into the city anyway. Poor Pegasus was exhausted from constantly having to teleport them away. Ladybug knew they had to do something or those leaguers would keep coming back. So, they made a video. This video told the whole world that the Justice League had ignored their calls for help all those years ago and had left young heroes to fend for themselves. It also talked about how the league had shown up after the fact and tried to bully their way into the city they had previously ignored, despite the fact they were told about the superhero ban. The video ended by talking about how they were fed up with the league members having no respect for the laws of Paris and still trying to sneak into the city. The miraculous team posted the video online and sent it to all the major news networks they could get a hold of. The public was outraged when they saw the video. The heroes they trusted were trying to break the laws in Paris? The video and public outcry seem to have worked. It had been several weeks since the video was posted, and no leaguer had tried to break into the city since. The miraculous team was ecstatic; they didn’t have to keep forcing the heroes out of the city. At last, the miraculous team and all of Paris could finally enjoy peace.

[depressedkakashihatake]

ugh im feeling so soft rn and cant stop thinking about how kakashi and gai are so close gai can (this is canon) grab his leg, touch his hair, LITERALLY CARRY HIM, and lay their futons next to each other while on their honeymoon. we also know thay gai has seen kakashis face. like... gai is kakashis person. kakashi isnt this comfortable with ANYONE. i could write an entire essay if i wanted to. theyre just... hnnnnn

Kakashi let’s Gai Touch his hair, his leg, check him over for damage, and that is all after Gai says hello like this. ☝🏽☝🏽☝🏽 By wrapping an arm around Kakashi’s neck from behind, and hugging him.

We know Kakashi can be very on edge about this kid of thing, as when they’re teenagers he reacts to Gai trying to tackle hug him by putting a kunai to Gai’s throat. So clearly Kakashi has gotten to a point where he recognizes where it’s Gai doing this and knows to keep his guards down. We also know he doesn’t like being hugged by just anyone, because when Naruto hugs him in excitement once Kakashi straight up tells him ‘let go of me’. Physical touch is very personal to Kakashi, and he only grants it to certain people.

We almost never see Kakashi fight back to back with anyone else. The only other person i think he could is tenzo, but no one else. To fight back to back means to allow that person to have his trust in keeping him guarded, and Kakashi does not trust that deeply easily. Even with his speels about teamwork and doong everything you can for your teammates, he is still very closed off and only trusts certain people. The level of trust he displays with Gai isn’t seen with others. Naruto and Sakura can foght side by side with him, but only Gai fights back to back with him.

Pure unadultered goofball. Kakashi is goofy with everyone when he’s comfertable with them of course. Anyone who knows this man know’s he’s a giant dork.

but his goofy levels skyrocket with Maito Gai. There is no chance he would have a race in Konoha with anyone else right after the destruction of the village by pain. There’s no way he would interupt said race mid jump by throwing a pan/ladal at them and hitting them right in the head to distract them. Gai gets a personal look into just how ridiculous this man can get. Something no one else really gets to see.

If anyone else had tried to do this to Kakashi, i have no doubt he would have committed murder. This is not a fun position to find one self in, and he’s definitly emaressed. But he also trusts Gai and knows that this is probably one of the least embaressing things he could do.

Look at that trust. Gai has Kakashi’s back even when they were kids and Kakashi was doubting himself a lot harsher because of Obito’s death. When Kakashi was left alone with almost no one to have his back, Gai was there (thanks to writer sexism we don’t really get to see Rin support and fight by Kakashi’s side while she’s alive, which is bs). Gai has always been there for Kakashi and Kakashi knows that. There isn’t anyone else that he would trust to question him when needed but also support him and listen to him when they know that his plan is the best to go with (except Tenzo who has done countless missions with Kakashi)

Kakashi would cannonly fo anything he could to make sure Gai is safe and healthy. He understands Mirai’s wishes to see her father because he would gladly do whatever he had to in order to give Gai back the use of his leg.

Kakashi, Who has lost his eye in battle and for years either fought have blind or using an eye that drained his chakra at ridiculous rates. Who understands that war comes with loss, and people will die or lose limbs because of battles. Who has two students who lost an arm fighting against each other.

The only person he is shown to worry about, Is Gai. Because Gai is the most important person to him. The person who has always been there for him. He would give anything to give Gai use of his leg back, because for years he thinks that’s what Gai needs to be truley happy. He has seen Gai struggle with his injury and become upset because of the injury. He has seen how it has adversly affected Gai, and so he thinks healing it would make Gai happy, and Gai being happy is such a priority for him that he’d be willing to do whatever it take’s to make Gai happy.

it’s not until Gai tells him that he’s happy how he is because he has Kakashi by his side. Because while he lost use of his leg, he didn’t lose Kakashi and actually got Kakashi to be closer to him. Even going so far as for them to end up living together and going on vacation together. Kakashi’s most important person is Gai, and Gai’s most important person is Kakashi. They make this clear during the race scene and again during this scene above.

I just want to add this because it just... Gai could have used any two characters to visually represent the joining of these two beings in Tanabanta. He choice himself and Kakashi.

This short silly little scene shows how deeply Gai cares for Kakashi. I know it’s a side show and completly silly, but it’s so adorable. Gai litterally made a story where him and Kakashi get married, and it’s not played off as a joke. zthis is absolutly seriouse and it’s adorable

I can’t find a picture, but Kakashi also choice Gai as his right hand during the war when he was made Captain of the third division.

he had to choose from everyone who he knew, who he trusted the most to have his back and help him lead the third division, and he chose Gai without question. There was no one else he would have as his co-captain.

The minute Kakashi got this turtle he could have done a lot of things, but the thing he did speaks volumes to how important gai is to him. He saw an SOS and without question, he went to Gai’s side. He didn’t care what might have happened, and when he found out what it was (gai being seasick) he wasn’t angry at all. He came to Gai’s side without question to make sure he was ok, and upon finding out that Gai was fine he left. He didn’t even bother to say hello to Naruto or check up on him because he knew Naruto was in good hands. That with Gai and Tenzo watching him, he was fine.

[stanharu]

beastars episode 21 thoughts!

legosi and louis have finally reunited!!!

i have a lotta gripes with this episode, but i think overall it was still a very good episode. this week's ep covered chapters 75, 76, 81, and a lil bit from ch69. i was very excited & happy to see legosi and louis finally interacting, and finally seeing some of my favorite legosi & louis moments animated & fully voiced was also great.

the ep opens with an anime original scene of louis and ibuki discussing stolen goods in their supply chain. its very brief and seems to just be setup for legosi and louis' reunion in the BAM later in the ep, so i'll come back to this later.

i liked seeing this lil smoky deer form in legosis head when monologuing about his smell lol. usually this only happened when legosi was tracking haru's scent so im glad they did it for louis too lol. ot3 real.

i really liked the scene of legosi's training. the intense fight paired with legosi's matter of fact tone while narrating was great lol i really love his voice.

the tao & kibi moment in the hospital was great omg ;-; i loved it. no complaints only emotions and tears.

now. the moment we've all been waiting for. the long awaited lougosi reunion. i have mixed feelings about it bc during my first watch i was very excited to see the boys finally interacting, but also in the back of my mind i was filled with dread while coming to the realization that the anime had changed how they meet again. i was kinda right about the anime quishing together ch66 along with ch75/76, but really they only pulled some lines from 66 and put them into this anime original scene in the warehouse :'^)

i dont think this scene is bad tho, i still really enjoyed watching it. but im still disappointed that it's different from the manga djflksjldf. at the very least i wouldve liked if the anime kept their brief interaction from ch66 and letting louis stew in his feelings of seeing legosi buying meat for a couple eps. very sad we were robbed of that.

i liked this lil moment where theyre just looking at e/o and thinking a million things. something i've always loved about this part (in both the manga & the anime) is how legosi got a fur cut so the shishigumi wouldn't recognize him but louis recognized him immediately lol. the music for this part was really great too. and seeing legosi's tail get all waggy was So Cute.

i will say tho that louis' lack of expressiveness in this season continues to be an issue. in the manga we get to see how hurt louis is to see legosi in the BAM and how he's almost embarrassed at legosi's visible happiness at seeing him again after everything. in the anime louis seems rather stone faced for most of this scene. he just looks either angry/annoyed or kinda neutral. his expressions are very subtle, like you can tell he's holding back a bit but we're not getting the same range as manga louis.

i think louis' expressiveness is a lil better in the next part when legosi is eating with the shishigumi and the balcony scene, but still not the same range as manga louis.

it was really funny to me about louis eats the steak and then just looks legosi dead in the eyes while he chews. like louis is challening legosi and legosi is just confused about why he's doing something so ridiculous. i've always wondered what legosi was thinking in this moment lmao.

as for the balcony scene... i fuckin loved it lmao. the voice acting was phenomenal. my lougosi brain was in OVERDRIVE

legosi literally said 🥺 while hugging louis i cant 😭

louis 🥺🥺🥺💕

also i really enjoyed this lil bit of legosi playing with the banner strings out of shyness. very cute.

i also really like how the anime did this part. i gasped and i knew it was coming lmao.

while i think the legosi & louis centric scenes were pretty well done overall, some people have pointed out that the anime doesn't let some of the really important moments from it linger long enough to hit with as much impact as they do in the manga, and i have to agree. i think it's another consequence of adding so much anime original stuff & shuffling many scenes around. like, i think the anime did well, but as a manga reader i know these scenes could have been even better.

the last thing ill say about this part is that when legosi launched himself over the banners i literally laughed out loud

this is the funniest clip ever lmao

i thought the last part of the ep was good, tho im a lil sad we didnt get legosi growling in the anime lol. once again im so in love with pina's voice acting ❤_❤

legosi's talk with pina about riz is supposed to set up the moth scene, which is when legosi's fur grows back, but based on the previews for the next ep, im not sure if we'll even be getting it, which worries me @0@ the preview pics that were posted all show moments that happen after legosi grows his fur back in the manga but it doesnt look like his fur has grown back yet in the anime.

this change is super weird to me, idk why the anime would push the moth scene or legosi's fur growth back so late in this arc. based on how things have been going im afraid the anime may have legosi grow is fur back in a different way, and cut the moth scene, which will be super disappointing for me bc i really love the moth scene. im still gonna hold out hope for it not being cut tho. crossing my fingers!!

[lesbiradshaw]

Genuinely interested in what you think about Bucky being perceived as female-coded in some parts of the fandom. I read that thread years ago and agreed with because it sounded logical, but now I'm not so sure. Recently found out about the existence of this Tony Stark meta essay called "Tony Stark as the most female-coded superhero" and they use the same arguments: loss of agency, playing the damsel in distress role more often than their counterpart, etc. I can't take "fm-coded" seriously anymore

oh boy ...

idk how long this will end up but to preface whatever we do end up with: 1) im a nonbinary lesbian so my perception on what it means to be a woman and femininity in general is not going to be what a lot of other peoples is and 2) im a few months out from getting a degree in gender studies. take that for what you will. no i will not be arguing about this in my inbox.

to be frank, in my opinion, bucky being female coded is bullshit. not only is it bullshit, i have seen it used as a weapon by so many white women and terfs that even if it were true, i wouldnt care! whoever came up with the term “woobify” (which i have most often seen used in reference to how tony stark is treated) needs to tell bucky stans that they aren’t exempt. a lot of them see bucky being a victim as something that needs a continuation into every other part of his life, hence why he’s so often put into these weird dynamics with his ships and given traits he’s never displayed on screen.

i keep thinking of disclaimers to make in anticipation of people coming to my inbox crying so here’s another: if you are a woman or someone who feels a close connection to certain parts of womanhood, me saying bucky isnt woman coded in no way takes away from you identifying with him or parts of his story. that is personal. a woman’s personal relation to him is not reliant on “woman coding” as i’ve seen a lot of white women and terfs suggest, not does it strengthen the existence of such coding. coding is created within the original media, not within the fandom.

i also just realized ive been using the term woman coded rather than female coded, but i think subconsciously there is a reason for that that ties into one of my main points pretty well: the mcu stan’s definition of “female” coding relies on stereotypes, not about female roles, but about what it means in their opinion to be a woman. the issue with this is they take traits they think only exist in (cishet) women and use them to deem these (cishet) male characters as woman coded when in fact these traits are not exclusive to women and enforce weird standards upon people who are women that might not be cis or het or share these traits!

tony stark being short and bucky having long hair is not what would make them woman coded. bucky being rescued by a man while woozy is not what would make him woman coded. bucky being submissive to pierce when LITERALLY BEING BRAINWASHED is not what would make him woman coded. and perhaps a harsh wake up call: bucky’s story hinging around loss of agency issues and trauma in no way shape or form is what would make him woman coded. does it perhaps make him easier for many women to relate to? yes. but is this something exclusive to women? no. a vast majority of trauma victims are going to relate to him, and chalking up trauma to being something female makes me feel really funny.

i know exactly what thread youre talking about lmfao and its right up there on my shit list next to the childlike bucky post. theyre actually very similar now that i think about it ... but anyways. now that ive listed my woes about what doesnt make a character woman coded, what actually would! AND HERE IS WHERE WE GET INTO AN ACTUAL CASE OF WOMAN CODING! mr prequel series anakin skywalker aka my shakespearean downfall dilf. why is he seen as a valid example of woman coding? i will tell you.

the thing about woman coding is that its meant to subvert heteronormative tropes while remaining self aware of that to exploit and emphasize the change. DO YOU HEAR ME? SELF AWARE! anakin is given many of these stupid stereotypical traits i mentioned before, but they arent reliant on physical appearance at all. they are reliant on roles. padme is the levelheaded senate leader, the one with power and stability, while anakin is hotheaded and frankly a bit whimsical while he struggles for his own type of power and control. another classic example of woman coding (which i actually wrote a paper on last semester in my men and masculinities class) is heathcliff from wuthering heights, whose counterpart to his coding is cathy. both men have that whimsicality in common that contrasts heavily with how we would expect them to act. bucky does not act like them at all.

the reason that this is different from bucky and steve’s ‘damsel in distress’ argument is the self awareness i mentioned before. not to mention the weird heteronormative standards being applied as requirements for their gay relationship to be seen as valid because it “fits the narrative” but .. anyways.

anakin and heathcliff both have their subverted traits played up in a way that shows off how ridiculous the women usually written in their roles are forced to act. its tongue in cheek, because woman coding is not only about individual traits, but about how the character interacts with the story because of this as a whole. bucky is often seen as woman coded because he is put into these situations where he is “rescued” by someone that half his stans see as his love interest (steve my baby im sorry) when hes really only rescued maybe twice? at azzano and from the water when the helicopter crashed. only one of those is a real damsel in distress situation. all of the others are cases where hes fighting his own way out ????? bucky doesnt just sit around waiting for a “real man” to get off his ass as that post suggested but i digress.

anyways. mcu stans lack any self awareness that would be required even if bucky and tony were woman coded. calling them woman coded does not count as self awareness! the real self awareness comes with recognizing that woman coding doesnt actually make these characters women and it doesnt mean they forever belong in these “female” roles. mcu stans take the stereotypes they pick out at face value and use them to say “look! bucky is a bottom!” or to continue taking away his agency by ignoring all of his other actions and traits that dont fit in to this mold theyve made around the idea that he needs a man to save him or boss him around. his story as a whole is the only thing that would make him woman coded and seeing as there is no self awareness of this shown, no attempts to subvert, he displays little to no traditionally feminine traits, and loss of agency on its own is not something that only applies to women ...

in short: in my opinion, bucky is not woman coded. mcu stans just like rolling with stereotypes that rely around cis bodies and straight relationships. the end.

[midyearflowers]

ok i havent beat the elite 4 yet but i finished the necrozma plot line in ultra moon and ive got some thoughts

-      i really love this game. the changes they made were great and going back to sun to grab some mons for my dex felt so empty. i feel ultra added a lot more scenic things to routes and the additions of the beaches and mantine surfing is awesome. i didnt really give this gen much thought when it first came out, like i liked it but found some of the mechanics were weird or annoying. i wasnt interested in the new pokemon and thought the trials were too different from the gyms. but now i absolutely love it. its such a breath of fresh air honestly. and i made it a point to have teams of only alolan pokemon and i really came to like them a lot. being able to get the giant totem pokemon in ultra is great too. i cant gush about it enough

-      i was a little disappointed that they scrapped lusamines story with nihilego. it really fit her character in sun and i feel that without it the whole “cryogenically storing pokemon” and her personality were kinda out of place. i think they couldve kept it in and had the story mostly follow sun where she was only working with the recon squad so she could collect the ultra beasts as well, and then once you bring her back from the nihilego event the squad couldve been like “despite her betrayal we would be willing to help heal her so long as you take care of necrozma as initially planned.” like the way the player handled the situation impressed them and they decided to have them help instead of learning pokemon stuff themselves

i just feel like it couldve worked cause with the idea of humanoids living in this universe with the ultra beasts theyd obviously have info on them, and the fact that nihilego is like a parasite and saps the life force from people theyd probably have experience dealing with the aftermath (also lillie didnt get to yell at her to be a better person and that was such a good part of sun)

-      I GET TO RIDE THROUGH THE COSMOS ON THE BACK OF A GIANT MAGICAL SPACE CAT!!!!! that shits fucking TIGHT. i love solgaleo so much my big golden kitty with a big mane and its light form gives it little golden booties. i love lunala too the design is so cool but its wings take up so much of the screen rip. like using it in battle i cant see the opposing pokemon lmao. lunala definitely fits a little better with cosmog and cosmoem in terms of design with the purple and gold in an oval shape but both legendaries are so good

-      i wouldve liked to see more ultra recon-like people but the concept as a whole was neat. aliens from another universe seeking to right the wrongs of their ancestors and also learn about other worlds. i like that necrozma wasnt seen as some big monster that was terrorizing people for no reason, but a creature that had been wronged and even when it lashed out and hurt others they still recognized that it was in pain too and the only way to solve the problem was to help it as well as themselves

and i think this might be the first time in a main game that there was like, almost a justification? for the player character to have these legendary creatures in tow. like necrozma needs its light and will get that light from being near solgaleo/lunala, so to have a trainer that is powerful enough to defeat ultimate necrozma carry them around would be the most logical course of action to preventing another disaster

-      it still does feel weird that you can catch the tapus tho. like these are the guardians of the islands, why can this one trial goer just catch them and keep them in their team or in a PC box?? i get the whole “catch em all” thing but it wouldve probably made more narrative sense for them to just be like a super challenge. either individually really powerful or you fight them all in a row kinda thing

-      z moves are so OP looking and pretty cool and i love them. i love how each type has its own dance, theres a few special ones for specific pokemon like the partner cap pikachus z move is adorable. what i find hilarious tho is how ridiculous they are in the animation. like for example ultimate necrozmas z move is like, total nuclear annihilation through absorption of all the universes light. and then the target just gently faints afterwards lmao. or the dark type move that straight up sucks pokemon into a black hole. theyre just so over the top and i hope they bring it back in some form like how you can have some mega forms in alola

[writing-gifts]

*cracks knuckles* allow me to dhampirfy the gang's backstory: Narancia: born to a sickly human mother and a vampire, got abandoned by his father since he only ever cared about his wife. Narancia's sight is not the best but what he lacks in that department seemingly added up to his hearing. In fact its so sensitive that he'd be driven mad if he didn't constantly listen to music to drown out the noise. On the upside: he can recognize people by the sound of their steps and breathing if he wants to!

im like lowkey obsessed with this now 👁👁

perhaps bruno kind of has a gut feeling that mista wasnt human (kinda like how a magical creature can sense magic) and once he finds out about mista's amazing sight that pushes him to test it out

it would be kinda silly but he could get some human blood (ethically obtained lol) to see if he reacts to it

set it up in his own glass and see if mista is more interested in it than his own drink?

its ridiculous but its not above jojo characters lol

i really like how brunos story was changed btw! its like AH thats why he loves humans so much!, and thats why its gonna hit even harder when abba kills him 💀

omg what if la squadra was just regular vampires?? :0 they probably hate the bucci gangs ideology

the bucci gang of course have their hardships but theyre definetly not on the level of a vampire's, they can pass off as human much more easily so they dont know what its like having to always hide in the dark

maybe some of la squadra just hate humans cause they make them feel like mindless monsters but also some of them might just see humans as lower/food (so pretty much stuff dio would say lol)

so maybe la squadra have their own little territory where vampires can kinda do what they want but they wanna expand, which would be bad for the humans and of course bucci gang is gonna fight against that

HONESTLY this is a lot lol

cause then you have vampire/dhampir hunters in the mix who just want to get rid of them all and then you have vampire/dhampirs who wanna try to coexist with humans even if some want them dead

dont even get me started on all the human-vampire friendships and romantic relationships that are constantly forming...

just know if this was a game i would totally want to play it 🦇

[bepoets]

Review for Trish’s Dream Fic

Trish ( @couragedontdesertme  ) said she’d write an epilogue of the elsarik dream Fic if I made a Formal Review of the elsarik dream fic. So here we are.

Please note review should be taken VERY LIGHTLY this is more or less me re-reading the Fic and loudly yelling about things with too many exclamation points. Enjoy Trish.

Ch1

First of all imagine my fucking surprise I didn’t even know you had gotten work done on the dream fic???? Here I was thinking the link you sent me was the next chapter of city of ice and then I click on it and it saYS DREAM FIC???? E X C U S E M E oh my goodness

The first section is just so entirely domestic and beautiful and you can tell how lived in and content they are in their life as roommates. ALARIK (listen my phone autocorrects ALARIK to be in all caps and I’m too lazy to fix it so y’all are gonna have to deal with reading ALARIK’s name as if I’m yelling it every time I type it) anyway ALARIK just bringing her the chocolate croissants she loves so dearly and Elsa curling up with a book and him fretting and worrying over her being there alone all day and later... it’s just SO DOMESTIC. it’s such a small short moment but it’s so domestic and a perfect opposite of the PAIN THAT HAPPENS AFTER!!! And we al know I LOVE READING PAIN

The fact that ALARIK was only home late because he was doing tutoring to earn more money to by Elsa A PRESENT????? Shut up no one speak to me that’s true love but also PAINFUL the guilt he must feel oh my god

Elsa...stops struggling... because she doesn’t want ,,,, ALARIK ,,,, to get hurt. Because she cares for his safety more than her own because he has protected her and he is her friend and she loves him I am going to SCREAM

The fact that you use the phrase ~marching her out of the warmth of the room~ when she just used her magic to like cover the walls in frost makes my Heart burst cause idk if it was intentional or not but I just love the thought that this room has become Home to her it’s become safe and beautiful and lovely and WARM because it is full of love and friendship and companionship rather than the cold loneliness of say her ice palace of her locked room as a child. I like to think Elsa could have covered the room entirely in ice and snow and frost and it would still feel warm to her because of the love that’s developed there thank you for coming to my tedtalk

Ugh fuck hans

I have literally no words other than fuck hans for any section with hans in it I DONT even want to RECOGNIZE THAT HE EXISTS !!! Making Elsa feel like she’s nothing I am going to punch him in the eye

~ALARIK weeps over smushed chocolate croissant. End scene~

I know that it’s such a heartbreaking sad ending for that first chapter but also I really can’t stop laughing about him crying over a stepped on croissant since I know that your like planning note for that last scene was literally just some variant of ALARIK cried over a smushed croissant and that’s just such a funny IMAGE TO ME EVEN THOUGH ITS SAD

I just like to imagine ALARIK cradling the chocolate croissant in his arms like a bébé as he sobs

Ch2

I’m fucking S A D

ALARIK having like NO MONEY and just thinking about that the money he has was going to go to a gift for Elsa and the guard LAUGHING AT HIM LIKE THATS IT THATS ALL YOU HAVE?? Like shut UP HES TRYING TO SAVE HIS BELOVED

P e t t y c h a n g e HE IS TRYING MR GUARD I WILL HAVE YOU KNOW HE WORKED EXTRA TO GET THAT MONEY

ALARIK is so fucking DEVOTED I’m going to run through a goddamn wall I cannot cope. Willing to sell the clothes off his back have you ever seen an idiot more iN LOVE

ALARIK just going willingly cause he has no fight left in him and he just wants to see Elsa even if it means he gets imprisoned too oh my GOD

THE SCENE ITS THE SCENE!!!!!!!!!

STRAIGHT FROM TRISH’S SUBCONSCIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WHAT STARTED IT ALL!!!!!!!!!!

ALARIK wanting to hold her hands when her hands are what are chained up and seen as dangerous and what ~make her a witch~ the absolute love and power that holds.

LET ALARIK AND ELSA HOLD HANDS

“I promised to keep you safe” the pain I feel oh mY GOD

“They’ll KILL you” they’re really out here trying to protect each other at all costs oh my god nothing matters more to the other than keeping the other safe and for that I want to cry and love them and also I want to ram their heads into the wall because wHY WONT THEY JUST PROTECT ESCH OTHER TOGETHER

The PARALLEL OH MY FUCKING GOD

the P A R A L L E L of ALARIK stilling and no longer struggling when the guards threaten Elsa’s death in the same way that Elsa stilled and stopped struggling when they threatened ALARIK’s death oh my god that broke me right there

U g h hans fuck that guy

A N N A !!!!!!!!

When I first read this,,, I DONT know why??? But for some reason??? I didn’t think Anna would be in it???? Which like thinking back on that it makes no sense of COURSE Anna would be in the FIC why would I ever think otherwise. But anyway I was so surprised when she showed up I literally gasped and went ANNA??? Out loud because I was so shocked

ALFAFA GERANIUM

ALARIK really is just so bad under pressure who thought this was a good idea

AG FOR SHORT wink wink nudge nudge cough cough

I’ll be thinking about ALARIK shouting alfafa geranium on my death bed let us never forget

“No harm, no foul” is literally the most fucking Anna line I’ve ever heard. She absolutely would say that to someone who was being question for a crime she’d be like “it’s not biggy”

Why is it that when hans says “BUT ANNA!!!” I hear it like he’s wining like a petulant child I read it like “bUT annNNAAAAA” ugh I hate him

“Don’t scream” *ALARIK’s inner monologue* “this ,, is the story of how I died”

ILL HELP YOU HELP HER ESCAPE!!!!! HELL YEA YOU WILL ANNA HELL YEA YOU WILL

Ch3

My dumbass really went “why are none of the children named neta” before remembering that is the child of Anna and Kristoff and these...are the children of Anna ,,, and .... ugh please don’t make me say his name

I would die for these kids though I love them and I want to protect them at all costs 

Johannes at 5 (and a half!!!!) being a fine soldier GOOD FOR HIM

Isak owns my entire heart from the moment he started fake crying for his mother what a star performer a true Actor he’s too good

Arendellian Royal Guards, are they guards? Or are they simply baby sitters? The world may never know

JOAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! One of the babies being named JOAN!!! Hang in there Joan!!!!!!!!! That made me cry oh my god J O A N

Bébé Isak lookout supreme with his big eyeballs and smile and goofy lil salute I love him

The fact that Elsa says she felt stupid for being lured into a false sense of security means she felt secure and safe for literally the first time since she was a child when she was with ALARIK and I cannot properly articulate how much that made me cry I love that so much that has to mean sO MUCH TO HER oh my god

“You have to get out!! Do the magic!!” NO ONE SPEAK TO ME ABOUT ANYTHING EXCEPT THIS LINE FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL MONTHS I LITERALLY WEPT

the use of DO THE MAGIC oh my god AND ELSAS HEART LIKE BREAKING BECAUSE SHE FEELS LIKE SHE CANT

DO ! THE ! MAGIC !

Brave little boy with his mother’s determination saying “be brave. That’s what mama said to tell you” oh my GOD THESE CHILDREN HAVE MY WHOLE HEART OH MY GOD

A rooster crow for the signal COUKD they be more obvious I love these kids they’re ridiculous they are truly the children of Anna

Elsa!!! Chose!! To be!!! Brave!!!

IF SHE TRIED TO SAY GOODBYE TO ELSA!!! SHE MAY NEVER LET GO!!!

SHE HAD NO WHERE TO GO!!! BUT SHE DOES BEVAUSE THERES ALARIK WAITING FOR HER BECAUSE GUESS WHAT

ALARIK IS HER HOME !!!!! HE IS HER HOME !!!! SHE CAN GO TO HIM!!!!

Queue another one of my shocked and delightfully surprised screams as I shouted KRISTOFF????? Because blonde dude driving a reindeer cart

Let’s get you somewhere safe I’m going to cry THEYRE finally together again and they can keep each other safe together as. They. Should.

They are cuddling and my heart is exploding oh my god ALARIK seems so surprised like you big dumb idiot you’re both in love with each other it’s a mutual thing get with the program

SLEEP ELSA! ITS GOING TO BE OKAY! AND FOR THE FIRST TIME IN PROBABLY FOREVER! IT WILL BE!

Ch4

*queue another gasp* there’s only one bed?????

Yea I saw it coming yea I was just as shocked even so yea I got very excited about it wHAT DID YOU EXPECT

They’re cUDDLING and he went to move away and she DOESNT WANT HIM TO they could’ve been sharing a bed THIS WHOLE TIME AND I JUST WANT TO SCREAM BECAUSE OBVIOUSLY

ALARIK laying all the credit on kristoff and the kids when he’s kind of the one that steamrolled the whole plan into happening because he’s the one who showed up ALARIK please give yourself more credit

“You came back” “of course I came back... I couldnt ...” “why?” And then ALARIK refusing to meet her eyes has me absolutely weeping this is the kind of shit I THRIVE ON this is truly a gift to us all everyone say thank you Trish for these three bits of dialogue I will be thinking about them for all my days

ELSA KISSED HIM!!!!!!!!!

Yeah I do lose my shit anytime Elsa is the one to make the first move you go girl you go

THE SPICE VENDOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bringing in all my favorites I am going to cry thank you Trish I love Darius

I SUPPOSE YOU TWO HAVE FINALLY GOTTEN MARRIED

listen I SCREAMED WHEN HE SAID THAT I SQUAWKED!!!! MARRIED!!!!!!

I had been observing you two and just assumed!!!!! You would assume right mr spice vendor sir if they WERENT so stupid for so long it’s okay we understand

WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE ??? And Elsa says MARRY US? And ALARIK is going to PASS THE FUCK OUT

He literally got to finally kiss the woman he’s in love with for the first time last night and now they’re getting married poor boy is going to get WHIPLASH from how fast things are progressing but it’s okay im sure he is happy

Elsa’s little vows of just needing each other and keeping each other safe and keeping company and not needing gold or silver ugh TRUE LOVE

And ALARIK hopelessly devoted to her being like I PROMISE

“just you being there no matter what is enough” peak romance true love the devotion the dedication I’m a wreck

LE SMOOCH! LE MARRIAGE! INCREDIBLE I LOVE THEM

~end review~

Okay where is my epilogue please and thank you

[transrightsjimin]

I'm asking as a confused trans and gay person regarding some of your recent posts saying aphobia doesn't exist, etc. Do you consider asexual people to be inherently LGBT even if they are cisgender and straight (heteroromantic)? I don't want to discriminate at all, I'm just confused because I see people fighting on here all the time about whether aces are part of the LGBT community or not. Do you have some insight for me as an ace nonbinary person? Thanks in advance!

no it’s fine lol dw!

i’m not sure how to explain this w/o being too extensive in what i say bc i’ve talked about this before but more in private conversations (and maybe some rants in tumblr posts) nd i tend to ramble abt it.

first of all i do not actually like the common conception that there is one way to define LGBT or the idea that everyone should fall within that category term or not, for example because the English language is colonial and rigid and does not reflect on experiences of all cultures, bc being gay or trans are not distinctly different experiences everywhere while they would be divided into different categories. so whereas i was more insistent on saying ‘you must be gay / bi / lesbian / trans to be LGBT / suffer from homophobia or transphobia’ i’ve come to realize now that this argument is rather exclusive of many gender diverse identities that do not correspond to all experiences or cultures. so i will stay away from using that argument.

however, i am speaking from my experience with online LGBT and asexual communities and have seen how the latter has tried to force itself into the other. i think a large issue with the asexual and aromantic communities is that they are partially based upon the creation of AVEN, an online forum founded by a homophobic and antisemitic man, and partially (though related to the former) by just blatantly made up statistics and history. not once have i seen a good argument or research or even personal accounts that illustrate very well why aphobia is a thing. i am asexual myself but do not want to take the lack of discrimination i faced for it as proof. there have been accounts of ‘aphobic’ discrimination that are either 1. much more a general concern with the OP facing misogyny and girls being sexualized, 2. someone making a remark based on a misconception of OP’s experiences or 3. misappropriation of terms and applying them to asexuality, e.g. ‘corrective rape’ was coined to refer to (African) lesbians who were assaulted under the presumption that it would turn them straight. asexuals have appropriated this term years ago to claim asexual people face rape on a large scale because perpetrators try to force them into liking sex. some people don’t even know the original meaning of the term because of this. i’m also not a big fan of this new interpretation of the term anyway, because legit sexual attraction is not the main reasons people commit rape; it is to seek power. this kind of mindset of asexual people being inherently vulnerable to sexual violence due to lack of feeling sexual attraction is seriously harmful; in the crime show Law and Order SVU, a suspect was let off because some main character said the suspect was asexual and this couldn’t have done it. people can be and sometimes are raped by an asexual person, because it is about taking advantage of someone and not attraction. the sole fact that so many authors of overly fetishistic fanfiction are asexual should prove this much, but instead the lack of attraction is used to distance oneself from the harm one can still cause.

and yes, asexual people can face discrimination, especially if you’re a girl you’re expected to be sexually submissive, which is pretty horrifying on its own. but this is not the same as targeted discrimination on a mass scale or institutional whatsoever. we are not thaught as we grow old that asexuals are disgusting, are a joke, or need to be violently murdered. my biggest issue with the asexual and aromantic community that we (as i have removed myself from it years ago) keep telling it that anecdontal accounts of being mildly discriminated is nowhere near the same as risking being kicked out of your house, being violently attacked due to the way you appear or having a partner of the same gender, being systematically discriminated by all sorts of institutions in society and being thaught that what you are is bad from an early age on. and then the counterargument is that LGBT is more recognized but asexual and aromantic isn’t, so ‘ace / aro’ people deserve to be included because they are underrepresented in media. but that is not the case at all. the speed at which asexuality has suddenly been incorporated and included into LGBT spaces, also offline, has been ridiculously fast. nowadays when you see a bunch of LGBT flags you see the asexual one being included a lot, sometimes in 3 different versions, while the lesbian flag is nowhere to be seen. lesbians are consistently excluded from their supposedly own community and they are not included in LGBT due to a need to change underrepresentation or lack of awareness, but because they face their own version of homophobia. the most mind-boggling thing about cis / cishet asexual and aromantic people being told that they are not oppressed, is that the response is not relief (’oh i’m glad i don’t face systematic oppression for this thing’) but anger (’how dare you not let us into your group!’). LGBT is seen as a fun party that is unnecessarily mean to anyone it gatekeeps, as if it is not actually necessary to keep out cishet people who benefit from their privilege and can use that against the rest in the group if they join.

my largest issue with the asexual community however, and i’ve touched upon this a bit before in the post, is that it victimizes itself, to such a degree where it puts itself oppositional to ‘allosexuals’. the whole idea that people who experience sexual attraction to another person are inherently privileged over abd hold power over asexual people is just not true (and the same goes for this rethoric for aromantic people). this idea is so wrong and the whole concept of the ‘allosexual’ as oppressor collapses once you consider that people who are attracted to the same gender are actually in danger and oppressed for their very attraction. not only are those who experience attraction (that isnt platonic) to other people portrayed as oppressors, but also as perverted freaks. once i decided to stop associating myself with acearo people and instead interact with LGBT people with other experiences, i realized just how much stigmatizing abd frankly, homophobic and transphobic bullshit i’ve adopted within the spaces i used to be in and that i still see gather a lot of traction (now their harmful points are also used on twitter and IRL in the public domain). the community has a huge issue where it teaches you to be puzzled and grossed out by people who want to date / kiss / have sex with other people, and this results in GSAs that now include asexuals to prohibit kissing your partner per request of asexual / aromantic members, asexual people showing up at pride with ‘can we just hug?’ signs, the common serophobic jokes (’at least we dont get hiv!!’ blergh), and for me it led to a great discomfort with kissing and sex imagery and it wasn’t until i left the community that this was in fact subtle homophobia because so much content on here is lgbt themed and to combine that with the increasing aversion to romance or sex without critically looking at that is... very toxic to say the least.

so where it’s standing right now, i don’t think including asexual or aromatic people in LGBT spaces on the basis of those identities is a good idea. one community advocates for the acceptance of sex, whereas the other is stigmatizing it and painting off those who are in fact oppressed for their transness or homosexuality, as the oppressors. it clashes and it doesn’t work. the ‘ace / aro’ community (quote unquote bc i see ‘ace’ being used a lot to imply superiority over ‘allosexuals’ like, theyre being the ace at something) has too many issues, which it is largely based on, to figure out. it can be a community on its own and i do not think you need to join LGBT to have a valid identity that has something to do with sexuality or gender and deals with a form of stigma.

it woukd be a rant, i warned you lol

[booksandchainmail]

nanoha vivid liveblog: episode 11

Time for Corona vs. Einhart!

ok, i know wendi is referring to teo, but i did misinterpret at the start as einhart has been nicknamed kitty cat

... still better than most of the other contestants

attacking from the start, before corona can summon. it’s the obvious weakness of anyone who needs prep in the way she does

but shes ready for this it seems, and starts summoning while still in the air, which is pretty cool

oooh, i don’t think anyone else has used the terrain like this. makes you wonder how corona would fare in a larger or varied arena

damn. the goliath packs a punch

Einhart know the first rule of fighting someone with a summoned creature: directly attack the controller

Or in this case, separate her from the golem to where she’s vulnerable

Oh, seems like goliath needs pretty active instructions at all times, which means with corona knocked away, he just kinda stands there and gets hit

the most brutal attack of this match

I think we’ve seen elements in this in how corona started planning from the assumption that einhart could beat her: she’s very level-headed. That extending into combat is valuable, especially in a setting like this where her opponents are also amateurs and likely to falter under pressure. Though einhart might be less vulnerable to that, due to her war memories

her strengths fit her powers well. She literally creates in order to fight, and she needs to be strategic in order to get time and space to summon.

is she gonna stab einhart

This is a very calm match, in comparison to the others we’ve seen. It’s partly that theyre friends, and there’s no grudge driving them, but also just a lot who they are as people. Einhart and corona are both relatively quiet, but also self-assured. They have good understandings of their own abilities, and you can see that here in how calmly they return to the ring, theres no worry about running out of time or how theyre going to continue

flashback time!

I really love the range of motivations and backstories this show gives the contestants. You do have people with tragic backstories, or who want to prove themselves, or have a deep passion for martial arts, but you also have those who just value the connections it brings, or for whom its just an extracurricular. You don’t need to be deeply motivated to do something, it can still be a meaningful part of your life, and you’re not lesser or shallower for it.

I also like the idea (idk if this is canon) that Corona sought out summoning because she recognized that she couldn’t keep up with normal fighting. It’s a unusual thing in a fighting show to have a character who isn’t at the same level as everyone else, and who finds their own style that draws on different strengths.

this is a great summary of everyone’s motivations, but also einhart is hilariously incongruous with the others 

OH SHIT I THOUGHT THE PARTIAL SUMMONING WAS HER NEW TECHNIQUE

HOLY

FUCKING

CHRIST

shes just knocking einhart around effortlessly

ooooooh

This makes a lot of sense for Corona’s character! She’s a clever and observant fighter who’s willing to innovate but not particularly talented, and who takes motivation primarily from her friends. Of course she studies their techniques, and of course she copies them

And no wonder einhart was caught off guard, it’s like she was suddenly fighting a different person

but einhart gets up

she’s spent her life struggling with hundreds of years of guilt and grief, and just keeps on going through all of that

i think klaus may have been defined by his loss, but einhart is defined by the strength it takes to carry that loss

…y’know, you could have rested a little bit before forcing yourself up, there was plenty of time

oh this is tricky. Can corona press an attack, which is definitely outside her normal mode of fighting, or does she give up the advantage she’s won here?

The other question is if corona also learned anything from rio, or from einhart herself, though I think using her own style against her could backfire badly

… if that’s based off vivio, it’s primarily a counter, and using it for a direct attack might not work as well

ducking like that is both well suited to the height difference, and one of vivio’s signature moves

most of how corona’s moving here fits vivio, or any of the more close quarter fighters we’ve seen, but that arm sweep looked new to me, and seems very indicative of corona’s fighting style. Calm, collected, redirecting the opponent.

and in contrast, you can see how panicked einhart looks, which is very unusual for her

Okay, things are looking bad for einhart here. But she’ll have a chance to heal, and I think the next round will go differently. A lot of corona’s success here is she’s brought out completely new techniques and styles, and einhart’s just been reeling most of the bout: all her fighting’s been very basic hand-to-hand, with basically no hegemon style attacks or more elaborate moves. But with a chance to collect herself and replan, I think einhart’s experience will let her adapt to this fairly quickly. Additionally, a lot of corona’s new moves are based off vivio, who einhart has fought (and beat) before.

so she has copied from rio as well

OH

that’s a neat twist. It explains how she was able to pick these moves up so quickly, and how she can handle without any particular skill at martial arts. This also explains why Nove disapproved: I can’t imagine using techniques meant to control large amounts of stone on your own body is particularly safe.

That’s fucking cool. 

And also a massive weakness, because it makes her predictable. If einhart can figure out what triggers one of those moves, then immediately counter based on knowing how corona will respond, she can retaliate very quickly

from your own memories, or klaus’s?

this is the complete opposite of how I’d expected an einhart vs corona fight to play out

yeah, she’s not just copying specific moves, but entire fighting styles. that is honestly incredible, especially when you consider she had to pre-program them all herself

awww, i’m glad to see she’s in there too

Having multiple settings gives corona a lot more flexibility…

...but einhart’s already figuring out the pattern

I can’t help but think this technique would work a lot better on anyone else. Corona has the disadvantage her of her opponent already knowing all the sources of her automated moves, but imagine a fight where one side keeps pulling out new completely unknown styles every couple of hits.

I guess that’s why this isn’t common

Oops

Yeah the other reason einhart can deal with this is she has a completely ridiculous level of knowledge about this one particular style

And corona is starting to fight wildly, while einhart remains calm. This is a complete reversal of the previous round

Holy fuck is that blood

~tempting faaaate~

and yup, automation is weak to feints from people who know the moveset.

Though to be fair, I don’t know if a non-automated fighter would have dealt with that any better

DOES THIS TOURNAMENT FOR CHILDREN HAVE SAFETY STANDARDS

PLEASE DO NOT MAGICALLY PUPPET YOUR OWN ENTIRE BODY

i feel like that would go badly

fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck

theres some excellent and creepy puppet imagery going on here

And einhart mostly just looks sad here. I’m guessing with memories of actual war, she’s not that happy about her friends pushing themselves this dangerously for a competition?

OR ITS ABOUT OLIVIE AGAIN

because this is einhart, and everything always comes back to olivie

But yeah, the puppet connection would be a bad reminder. And corona’s whole  feeling weak compared to her teammates, and wanting to be able to stand next to them, seems like it connects pretty strongly to olivie’s story 

she just looks so tired and sad here, and i’m remembering how happy she was at the idea of a way to fight without stakes, and she’s just now realizing that even if they aren’t lethal, there are still consequences to these matches

at this point, einhart is pretty in control of the battlefield. she’s brilliant at this kind of fighting, and corona doesn’t have any moves that einhart hasn’t already fought against

I’m starting to think this fight won’t end with an attack, but with corona just collapsing when her magic or body wears out

another connection to olivie with the damaged arms. this must be hell for einhart to have to fight

gods

just, can someone stop this match please? are there any kinds of precautions?

and here’s the hardest part for einhart. Because of her memories, she has a pretty unique first-hand perspective on war. I don’t think mid-childa has had a war, and certainly not recently enough to still have wartime soldiers around. And even with all the pain they cause her, there must be some comfort in the fact that olivie’s dream of peace was achieved, even at the cost of her life. But here, even in this peaceful world, there are still children willing to hurt themselves terribly in order to have the power to fight. And this must feel like such a failure and betrayal of the world to einhart. 

THEN STOP

NO, GIVE UP PLEASE

THAT IS A MAJOR PROBLEM

i want nanoha to show up to stop the match and yell at everybody about techniques that excessively strain your body

THERES MORE?!!!??!!

ok, that’s a fair point. Corona has pulled out some really impressive moves here, but she hasn’t done much in the way of golem stuff. I wonder if in her rush to make up for her weaknesses, she’s discounted her own techniques too much?

finally

corona has amazing terrain manipulation abilities. combine that with her summoning, the automated moves, and even i guess the full body technique, and she’s maybe the most versatile fighter we’ve seen. In a larger area with unfamiliar opponents, or as support for a team, she’d be devastating.

all those anime characters who dramatically slice rocks in half with a sword have nothing compared to einhart

ooh, nice feint using the partial summon as well as the big one. even here at the end, corona continues to fight smart

and now she has a ranged attack as well. no matter the outcome of the tournament, i’m voting corona for mvp

awwwwww

and she uses binding magic as well, because apparently corona reacted to not being as good at punching people as her friends by learning EVERYTHING ELSE

bit of tonal dissonance, but awwwww kitty!

and her golem can reassemble itself.

corona is amazing

but einhart is the martial arts master, and she just stops it stone cold

what a hell of a match. this was definitely my favorite fight so far, and the finale’s gonna have a tough time topping that. The variety of techniques and strategies used, as well as the brilliant character work on corona and einhart, made this incredible to watch. 

it was hard fought, and corona pulled out ten times what anyone expected from her, but in the end einhart managed a victory

but in the aftermath, she just looks defeated

this was a hard match emotionally on all sides

(i count myself as a side)

[everydayanth]

The Liam Neeson Thing...

Okay guys, this is gonna get complex and personal right quick. But it’s been bothering me and I’m working on posting more without thinking about it for two weeks until nobody cares anymore.

So here goes.

Context matters. Context is important and it can be complicated, but it freakin’ matters. 

In my opinion, Liam Neeson’s flaw was that he thought a rapist would be the kind of person to also attack him. 

Here’s the thing guys, if you’ve never heard someone you love confess to you that they have been irrevocably hurt by a person, you need to take a step back for a minute. 

That moment, talking about it, it’s extremely vulnerable, so this is a bit hard for me, but in a moment of chaos and torment, a person you love and care deeply for is breaking apart in front of you and there isn’t a damned thing you can do about it. There’s not a damn thing you can do but hold them and cry with them and hurt for them and try to help and figure out the right thing to say. 

And when they’re tucked safe in bed and you’re researching what you can do for them or laying awake thinking about what you could possibly say, the amount of guilt and hurt and anger hits you in the chest, it fills you so wholly that you just need to find a way to let it out. It’s a dangerous rage, it’s immature and unhealthy and so so so painful. 

We don’t talk about emotions in America. We just don’t. So of course we want to put this emotion into a context we discuss, and idea we understand. 

But it’s not an -ism, it’s an emotion. 

If you don’t think when my sister told me about our cousin assaulting her that I didn’t wander around my ghetto ass neighborhood waiting for some big white guy to try to hurt me, well, you’d be wrong. Our brain makes patterns, my cousin didn’t live in our city, but I knew he was a big white guy with a shitty pencil beard, my brain classified that as a pattern. Every time I talked to a big white guy, I had to check myself, yeah. But when my brain registered a human who looked like my cousin, my heart rate ran up and I would will them to attack me. I wanted to fight because I didn’t know what else to do with all that pain, all that helpless emotion. But I could wander around places where someone was bound to get hurt anyway and invite the fight to me. 

Neeson was wandering around areas inviting a fight. INVITING, not instigating. It is a common reaction of revenge and feeling hurt, and we’re shoving this idea into something familiar - outrage, racism, etc., anything so we don’t have to actually talk about emotions. 

He was looking for a “black bastard,” poor choice of words, I agree, but he was hoping that guy, the one who hurt his friend, would challenge him, and it would just happen to be the same guy and he could get his anger out. It’s not healthy, but if they man who hurt his friend had been white and he’d wandered around lower class white neighborhoods inviting a fight, would it have been racism? 

This had an opportunity to be a conversation about what the fuck you do around a friend who confesses they were raped and hurt to you. After all the #MeToo (or in the midst of it), how do you be a friend to your loved ones who feel ready to confess to you? What do you do to manage that amount of disgust you feel at the world, that rage and hate and hurt and horror that there’s not a single damn thing you can do? 

This could have been a conversation about grief and friendship and growth and complex emotions. But we made it about the race of a rapist instead. 

That’s how much we don’t want to talk about feelings. 

We would focus on a man talking for the first time about the anger of helplessness in the face of a friend’s pain and come out in outrage. 

Here’s the reality guys, racism is forming a series of patterns based on skin color that aren’t true. They can be based off stereotypes or influenced by false representation in sensational news. Racism is NOT fighting your brain’s reality in order to form a more balanced understanding of the world. I was assaulted by a bunch of black kids at a playground when I was 14, it was terrifying and it’s a long and complex story but the short of it is very simple: I lived in a black neighborhood and this was not my only experience with black kids. I went to school with middle class black kids and I hung out with other black kids, this was NOT my only experience, and therefore, my brain was capable of nixing the pattern before it was created. Black kids weren’t dangerous, those kids were just assholes. 

Racism is if Neeson went to those places and started fights. I can’t know whether he did or not, but it’s if he went around and accused every black man of being a rapist, in his head or otherwise. I didn’t have a lot of experience with big white guys, so it took me much longer not to feel nervous around them than it did to write off my brain’s pattern about the black kids. Emotions and how our brains work are important details for us to know, and it’s the real reason diversity matters, it keeps our patterns in context. Neeson coming out of the situation horrified at himself shows growth of emotion, the dismissal of the pattern, recognizing that it is false without acting on it, understanding the power of agency is an illusion because he would never find that particular man. 

Comparing this to the policing issues isn’t the same, because of their place in society, their home culture society, and the results of their opinions. A police officer has a responsibility to the public to understand their emotions and their racial biases, an actor is responsible for displaying emotion. We can’t hold these people to the same accountability, that would be ridiculous, for a police officer, emotions need to be stable and understood and should involve a LOT more psychology training. For an actor... they entertain us with their emotions. They need to be self aware and reflective in order to project our experiences in stories. We still expect race car drivers to follow the speed limits and we understand that doctors have to call in sick sometimes, the world isn’t fair and occupation doesn’t dismiss personal biases or professional demeanor, but context matters. A doctor calling in sick after handling small pox in a lab requires observation and questions, an actor talking about rage and looking for a fight when he was younger and confessing horror at that version of himself while promoting a film about revenge kind of seems like part of the job, of doing the job well.  

And it’s not racist because it was not instigated by the color of skin as perceived by an individual to be less or more - he was inviting a fight with a black man on the word of his friend. That was wrong, and so was me doing it with large white men (also because I am not that large of a white woman, so that wasn’t going to end well for me), but he even said in a follow up interview that they could have killed him. The interviewer says she thinks of the innocent black man that could have been killed and Neeson responds “Or he could have killed me.” BUT HE WASN’T INSTIGATING FIGHTS, he was INVITING them! He wasn’t looking for an innocent man, he was waiting for someone to try to hurt him so he could release the extreme emotions. These are different. These are SO different. 

This conversation can go back to what it could have been. Race of the rapist aside, what do you do when a person you love confides in you that they have been hurt and scared and they are breaking apart in front of you? How do you process your emotions and heartbreak? What can you do or say? How can you feel like you’re helping? Is that selfish? Why do we need to feel like we’re helping? How do you manage your own trauma so you don’t loop theirs in with yours? How do you self reflect so that you stop your brain forming false patterns when you’re filled with so much hurt and pain? How do you not become a villain of the world, hating everyone for always telling you you are helpless? How do you find control in yourself when you’re imploding and be responsible and mature with emotions? How do you talk about it in a society that wants to be angry? How do you not hate them for focusing on your reaction to a rapist rather than being angry with an individual for being an asshole and RAPING your friend?

How do we return to a conversation about emotions and how, unchecked, they can lead to pain and anger and rage, and eventually, if we don’t have a moment of clarity and rationality, if we are not balanced in the world, they can become biases that develop into ignorance and racism? How do we focus on context so that we don’t become arrogant and disconnected, classists by nature because we interact with such a small and similar world? How do we connect and talk about the human experience when society turns away from us in favor of what is familiar? How do we have a logical discussion about emotion when we can’t even talk about meaning and intent? How do we accuse someone of racism when, had the rapist been white, the conversation might have focused on the context of emotion and pain and hurt and the process of healing - it was the outraged audience that pointed at the race as important, as the meaningful factor, how do we look at that hypocrisy and not feel utterly defeated?

How do we scream at the world that we need help, we all need help, without crucifying ourselves? I have no idea, this post is terrifying and I have no idea what to expect. Maybe nothing would be good? To return to not a single note or like or comment, to be unheard and dismissed and navigated around might be good because I want to talk about this reality but it. Is. Terrifying. 

And maybe it’s all a projection. Maybe I’m the racist and I want to defend someone I relate to. But it feels more right that we as a society don’t talk about emotions, we lock them up like these secret things we’re terrified other people will discover. I’m working on vulnerability lately, and what better place to talk about all the shit that’s ever happened to me than the freakin’ internet! I’m just a person and from my experiences, I think I understand what Neeson meant. But that could equally be a self-aggrandizing reality that doesn’t exist. Perhaps he’s just a racist, a professional actor with a successful career who took this exact moment to reveal his true colors, what a sneaky man! 

But more probably, the logic says, he’s a professional actor with a successful career who took this moment to discuss the emotions he’s had to reflect on and relive for the past year or so in order to play a role in a film that he hopes will entertain and reflect something of the human experience. He more probably took the moment to discuss a human experience and we did not listen because it’s more popular not to listen or because we could not relate or because we just want to be angry and sometimes pulling weeds is so exhausting we raze the whole garden instead. We did not talk about the moment he was horrified with himself because we don’t want to talk about growth or greys, we want the world to stabilize so we can see the bad guys clearly. 

We really ought to know by now that there are no clear bad guys. 

And we know Neeson likes to play in those lines. What is good? What is bad? They aren’t a duality, they are a false dichotomy, created by whatever world you grew up in, whatever experiences you had, whatever your society or culture told you, whatever education you discovered, and whatever philosophy you’ve come to believe. But in a moment of vulnerable confession, in all that grey reality, your friend tells you about a bad guy and they become singularly bad. They don’t exist beyond that. And that’s what is horrifying. That you stop seeing humanity as grey and suddenly it becomes good or bad, that’s the scary part about revenge and inviting fights, it encourages a black-and-white view of the world that says the rapist is ONLY bad and your friend is ONLY good. 

A bit ironic that, in trying to talk about that tunnel-vision-rage, Neeson found himself the target of it.

It’s raw, that anger. It’s part of all the hurt that has happened to you and then you couldn’t even protect your friend or family. Why did you go through all that pain if you couldn’t grow enough to save them? That guilt is a liar, you didn’t hurt them, the asshole did, and you need that to be true or else you were also the cause of all your own pain as well. So you look for the assholes because then at least you could be useful, you could protect them from one asshole by taking the hit. We need to talk about that kind of hurt, about sacrificing the self for revenge because you can’t find worth anymore. We need to talk about existential nihilism that hides inside outrage because you can’t find meaning anymore. We need to talk about emotions and how to talk about them so we can be better friends, better people, so when we look for guidance on talking to friends about their hurt, we find advice on how to not be overwhelmed by rage and guilt and disgust and anger and violence. 

That’s the conversation we could have had. That’s the world we could have started to create. But outrage culture is racist and racism gets attention and we all just want to be heard because we don’t know how to talk about our emotions. Interesting how it keeps going around like that. 

[keichanz]

Inuyasha and miroku buddy cop au

I have…literally no idea where this came from??

And anyway you can’t tell me he wouldn’t this *cackles* 

“I’m telling you, Inuyasha, they were hot! And the one inthe passenger seat had the biggest—”

“For the love of god, Miroku, shut up,” Inuyasha groused from the passenger’s seat of the policecruiser and closed his eyes, truly exasperated with his friend and partner ashe let his head thump back against the headrest. “For the last time, I have a girlfriend, I’m very happy with her, and I don’t need orwant to hear about the tits on somebroad that you pulled over solely because you thought she was hot.”

Miroku put a hand on his chest in mock affront, though hisviolet eyes were gleaming impishly as he said, “Inuyasha, I’m appalled youwould think such a thing of me. I was goingto say she had the biggest eyes the color of rich, melted caramel.” He paused.“…But, now that you mention it—“

Inuyasha groaned. “One of these days, Miroku, you’re gonnaget caught pulling all these people over because you want the driver’s number,Sesshomaru is not gonna be happy withit, and he’ll have both our asses because he’s a sadistic asshole who likes tome suffer for no reason.”

The dark-haired officer waved a hand in the air,unconcerned. “So he’ll have a hissy fit, big deal. Not like we haven’t dealtwith a pissy Sesshomaru before.”

“You could get your badgetaken away, you moron.”

Miroku frowned, as if he hadn’t thought of that, andInuyasha resisted the urge to take the idiot’s own gun and shoot him withit.  Taking out his phone, he shot a textto his girl, hoping she’d be able to talk some sense into him before he committedmurder.

IM GONNA SHOOT HIMKAGOME I SWEAR TO GOD I WILL

Just like he knew she would, she responded instantly. lol aww my poor baby. what he do this time?

damn pervert keepsgoin on about all the girls he’s pulled over cause theyre hot or some shit andjeopardizing BOTH our jobs can I PLZ kill him

Her next text was a little delayed. we can’t have sex if you’re in jail

Inuyasha grinned. His girl knew him better than he did andhe loved her for that. alright fine goodpoint. then whose bright idea was it to put me in a profession that has accessto guns?

yours babe? you know,since you were a kid? your lifelong dream of being a cop?

clearly I didn’t thinkthis through

ooh i dunno aboutthat…I like a man in uniform ;)

WOMAN

i love yooooouuuuuu

Chuckling, Inuyasha shook his head and typed back, love you too baby

“—the car!”

His brief conversation with Kagome over, Inuyasha finallytuned into what Miroku was saying and he turned his head to pin him with afrown. “What?”

“That’s the car!” Miroku was saying, his excitement evidentas he pointed frantically out the windshield toward a forest green Ford Focus alittle ways a head at a red light. From their position idling on the side of abusy main street, they had a clear view of the traffic light up ahead and thecars waiting for it to turn green.

A feeling of dread washed over Inuyasha as he asked, alittle reluctantly, “…What car?”

“The one with the two hot chicks!” he replied and the grinthat split his face was slightly terrifying and perhaps a little on the creepyside in Inuyasha’s opinion. “Oh, man, what’re the odds?! It’s destiny! It’sfate! The Gods are smiling down on me!”

Inuyasha suddenly paled and had a very, very bad feelingabout where he was going with this. “Miroku, don’t—”

But it was too late. Miroku was already shifting into driveand merging into traffic. “No, no, don’t you get it?” he asked while hishalf-demon partner groaned and slumped in his seat, dragging a hand down hisface.  “I wasn’t able to the other day becauseI had to respond to a call concerning an accident, but now I have a secondchance!” The light turned green and Miroku flipped the cruiser’s lights on,watching as the cars before him reacted instantly and pulled to the side,giving him a clear path to his target. “The fates have been kind to me today,my friend, for I’ll be going home with two new numbers!”

He cackled gleefully and Inuyasha didn’t bother to evendignify that with a response, choosing to drop his head in his hand and growlin aggravation. “You’re gonna get us fired, jackass.”

Miroku ignored him. “Come now, my pretties, pull over forthe nice police man…ah, there we go.” The green Focus flicked its blinker onand turned into a plaza parking lot that was more or less empty and Mirokufollowed behind it.

“Miroku,” Inuyasha tried to reason one last time, his toneexasperated as he pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache coming on.“Seriously, don’t do this. Come up with some minor excuse, like the car matchesthe description of another one you’re looking for and—”

The car door opened and Inuyasha sighed, shaking his head. “Idiot.”

“Ladies,” he heard his partner greet with faux surprise fromthe open window. “What a pleasant surprise! You see, your car matches thedescription of one my partner and I are searching for—“

Inuyasha snorted. Thief,he thought and pulled up a game of solitaire on his phone. This was gonnatake a while.

“—but I see now that I was mistaken. Please accept mydeepest apologies for pulling you over again. However, since you’re both here—”

“You’re kidding, right?” came a vaguely familiar voice fromthe Ford and Inuyasha frowned, his ears cocking forward under his police cap.“You can’t seriously expect us to believe that bullshit excuse, this is thesecond time in a week!”

“Now, now, I can understand your upset over this—“

“She’s right, though,” said a much more familiar and equally peeved voice and Inuyasha’s headjerked up as his amber eyes finally took in the also familiar green car before him.

“Well—“

“This has to be harassment,” the first voice said andInuyasha’s brows snapped low over his eyes as he finally recognized who itbelonged to. “Don’t think we don’t know why you keep—“

“Isn’t there some kind of official complaint we can fileagainst you?” the second voice interjected and Inuyasha growled as he unbuckledhis seatbelt and opened his door, his ears pinned beneath his hat and his ambereyes livid. “I mean, this is getting ridiculous and a little annoying.”

“Now, ladies, I can assure you I had plausible cause to—“

“You had no validreason to—!”

“Actually,” Inuyasha interrupted loudly as he came up besidehis partner.  “There was a very valid reason as to why my partnerpulled you over, such as texting anddriving?” Inuyasha crossed his arms and glowered down at his suddenly verysheepish looking girlfriend since high school.

The car’s passenger, who he knew now to be Sango, groanedand then muttered, “I told you.”

Kagome bit her lip and then aimed an innocent smile at hercop boyfriend. “Umm…I wasn’t?”

Miroku gaped and looked between the two with wide violeteyes. “Wait a minute, you two know—?”

They both ignored him as Inuyasha continued to glare down ather silently and rolling her eyes with a heavy sigh, Kagome got out of the carand faced her very ticked off boyfriend. “You know I’m always careful,” shemuttered guiltily, a pout etched onto her features.

“That doesn’t matter,” he snapped, and then felt like an asswhen his girl flinched. Heaving a sigh, Inuyasha grabbed her arm and led her alittle ways away so the other two couldn’t hear them. “You have stop,” he saidand removed his hat before running a hand through his hair in frustration.“Sooner or later I’m gonna have to give you a ticket, Kagome. It’s dangerous,and this is the third time. I can’tkeep letting you off with warnings because you’re my girlfriend.  It’s my job to—“

His chastising was abruptly cut off when slender armswrapped around his waist and a head of dark hair was tucked under his chin.“I’m sorry,” she said softly, the regret clear in her voice.

Inuyasha’s eyes softened and he wrapped her up in his arms,hugging her tight. “I just don’t want anything to happen to you,” he murmuredand kissed her head. “You’re my world, Kagome. I see it all the time, andnearly every time I thank the Gods that it’s not you in that twisted up car, oron a stretcher, or—“

“I know,” Kagome interrupted him and leaned back to cup hisface, knowing that as a policeman he’d seen horrific things that he refused totalk to her about because they were so gruesome. “I know and I promise I’llstop. You’re right. It’s stupid, and dangerous, and not only am I puttingmyself at risk, but others too. I don’t ever wanna put you through that.” Shesmiled at him and Inuyasha felt himself relax.

He leaned his forehead against hers. “That’s all I ask,” hesaid lowly. “Thank you, baby.” And even though it was against protocol tofraternize with the public while on duty, Inuyasha swooped in and laid a lovingkiss to her lips, relieved that his girl would stop the potentially lifethreatening bad habit.

Kagome hummed and shifted her hand to playfully jingle thehandcuffs clipped onto his belt and then trail her fingers over the butt of thegun holstered at his side.

“You know it’s a federal offense to touch a police officer’sequipment,” he growled against herlips and then pulled back with a sinful smirk.

“Oooh,” she purred and smiled impishly. “Are you gonnahandcuff me, officer?” Her brown eyes laughed up at him and he had to fight theurge to give in to his own mirth.

“Mmm, right after I press you up against that car and makeyou spread your legs.” Amber eyes flashed wickedly and his smirk turned into anamused grin.

“Frisk me, baby,” Kagome returned smoothly, and thengiggled. Inuyasha sniggered too, and then they both standing there snickeringlike teenagers at the ridiculousness of the entire exchange, holding each otherand both of them wondering how they had gotten so lucky to end up with someoneso amazing.

“If you two are done grossly flirting with each other,”Sango suddenly interrupted and the couple turned to find Kagome’s friendglaring heatedly at a grinning Miroku with a suspicious red hand-shaped printon his face, “Inuyasha, I need your gun.”

Inuyasha frowned and edged away from her. “Why?”

“Because I’m gonna shoot your partner with it.”

As her boyfriend’s expression cleared and he looked like hewas actually contemplating handing it over, Kagome rolled her eyes and gentlyelbowed him in the gut, ignoring his exaggerated grunt of pain. “Sango, youcan’t shoot a cop with another cop’s gun, and you—“ She turned to Inuyasha andraised a brow. “Since apparently he’s your partner, can you please stop me frompulling us over in the future? Seriously, it’s annoying and it has to beagainst your code, or something.”

Snorting, Inuyasha scowled at the officer in question andcrossed his arms. To his credit Miroku actually had the grace to look guilty.“Trust me, I’ve tried. He even does it when I’m not with him, but as long as Iam, I won’t let him since it’s our jobon the line when he does.” He leveled another glare at his partner and Kagomenodded, satisfied.

“Alright, well, we gotta get going. Souta and Kohaku arewaiting for us and I promised Mama I’d take gramps to his appointment. I’ll seeyou at home later, kay?” She tugged him down gently by his hair hanging overhis shoulder so she could lean up and sweetly peck his lips. “Love you.”

“Love you, too,” Inuyasha murmured and watched as she walkedaway, collected a still fuming Sango and hopped back into her green Focus.

“So,” Miroku piped up as the Ford drove away and exited theplaza, “you didn’t tell me you had a girlfriend.”

Inuyasha groaned and stalked toward the cruiser, stillpissed off at his partner for resorting to his lecherous ways while on duty,even if it did result in him gettingto see his baby for a bit.

“She’s a babe,” his perverted friend and co-workercontinued, seemingly oblivious the half-demon’s ire. “Seriously, I had no idea—“

“We’re going, Miroku,”Inuyasha snapped and yanked open the driver’s door. “And this time I’m driving and you’re gonna make it up to me by buy me the biggest coffee theyhave at Starbucks, now get in nowbefore I leave your perverted ass here.”

“Do you have her friend’s number? Because I’d really like—oh, wait, you wereserious—shit, Inuyasha, wait! I need her number! Inuyashaaaaaaaa!”

[thelifetimechannel]

[conflictcrafter]

The Unexpected LAMAW of Madayaw and The lamaw that is deped

the department of education has, and rightfully so, included retellings of the Darangen in the English 7 curriculum learning modules (but wrong pictures!). during one of our classes, particularly in section Gladiola, we talked about the epic and how the Meranaws in the time of the Darangen has put premium on physical appearance over anything else.

whenever we touch the Meranaws in my MAPEH 7 (2012-2014) and in my English 7 classes (2014-present), i'd always tell them about the Kapagipat, among other cool Meranaw stuff, to illustrate how magical and ritualistic and creative and cool the Meranaws are. i had to do this because a considerable number of my students are Maranaws and those who are not will have had the mis-educated, illi-informed idea that Maranaws—Muslims in general—are people to be avoided. i'd always tell them the opposite: that Islam is a religion of peace, and all my Muslim friends are nice and generous and very approachable; i'd always tell them, too, how unfortunate i was to not have been born in an ethnolinguistic group, still connected to its ancient traditions. but i digress.

ive seen and studied the works of Madayaw Cultural Ensemble, among other cultural dance-theatre groups in Davao. and since their piece Singkil sa Laya performed in SM Ecoland back in the infancy of Sayaw Mindanao sometime in 2011, their "tribe in focus" would, except in very rare cases, be Islamized ethnolinguistic groups (Meranaw, Maguindanao, Tausug). no problem with this.

but the plot is done over and over only in different characters and settings. their staple is always like this: a pair of lovers, disturbed by a bitter third party; man fights the third party; pair of lovers marry. this happened for quite some time that i'd marvel at the times when madayaw would not win, and be internally outraged when they do. ive somehow sensed that all they did was show glitz and glamour: no advocacy, no plot, no depth; with only one goal: to fool the eyes of some unaware luzon-based judges—ergo, win. (there. ive said it.)

at first glance of this piece, i told myself that it's gonna be the same thing since 2011. theyve hit the formula. and now this is their forte. and theyre never going to outgrow their motifs. it's lamaw (leftover food). napagkainan na.

but as i was watching it, (insert curse word here) kalami sa piyesa! i was slowly liking the piece every minute as it went. it was like being introduced to lamaw—at first abhorring it for its name—but later discovering that lamaw is not only leftover food but also an effin refreshing delicacy (lamaw is a multilingual homonym and homophone having polar gastronomic meanings depending on which of the philippine languages one is using, making lamaw physically and lexically "lamaw." hello, buwan ng wika na surface level lang pagpapahalaga ng karamihan! hello, schools! but again, i digress.)!

it depicts, in a sense, an etymology of the trance-dance ritual Sagayan: what's its purpose—the Kapagipat, which i always mention to my students—and the rationale behind the skirt-and-hat-wearing male baylans who perform the ritual. in detail, i laud this piece because:

1) it is ritual-centered. it picked rituals (Kapagipat and Sagayan) and established a narrative around it. not the other way around. by doing this, the ritual is preserved, and not the narrative. both should be preserved but it's the ritual that needs preserving now as it has been relegated to the background. and with that, the rituals' meanings and intentions becomes obscured in the long run.

you see, the Sagayan is one of the most obscured trance-dances in our cultural performance history. Sagayan is mostly seen during Meranaw / Maguindanao weddings and it has since been ascribed to such weddings. hence, if a cultural dance has a lemba (wedding celebration) commonly at the conclusion of the piece, it will always have at least two sagayan performers. culturally, it's intention is to ward away bad spirits but choreographically, it's only there to add a sense of cultural precision. nothing about its importance and its true meaning.

but this has put the Sagayan back to Kapagipat. this piece has educated us about the ritual trance-dance and why it looks like that. it has, so to speak, made an etymology of the dance. and this creative and educational decision transcends mere performance. this transcends Sayaw Mindanaw.

2) it attempted to show today's relevant social issues. specifically—

2.a) gender-roles. the process of transferring the mantle of Sagayan practitioner from female to male shows that males and females may share roles and must be open to the fact given the gravitas of circumstances. in the piece, the female baylan was at first defeated by the tonong-possessed person in her effort to cure / exorcise him. to defeat the tonong, she tricked it by making her male companion be the baylan, donning him with female clothes and a headdress that covered the face. in their second encounter, the tonong was confident that it was still the same baylan, only to be overwhelmed and defeated by the female-disguised male baylan.

the Meranaw community has, in the surface, clear-cut, black-and-white, male-female gender roles and it is not to be dismantled or to be ridiculed as this is their norm. but they are also fluid enough to recognize that sometimes gender roles must be reinvented to solve a crisis, and it is this utilization of gender clear-cut-ted-ness that brought resolution to the narrative.

furthermore, this shows that even before philippines was philippines, cross-dressing has been a thing already. and it's rather strange to feel strange about it.

2.b) preservation of community; depression, and suicide to the individual. prior to becoming a tonong (spirit to be appeased), it belonged to a living human body that has experienced depression and who has eventually committed suicide. he has experienced the community's rejection and misjudgment as shown in the second act.

on surface level, it tells us that villains are created by society. and as a society, we have a role in shaping and influencing the decisions of individuals. whatever we do to others, it returns to us. we reap what we sow—making their planting and sowing dance routine more than just petty choreography, it has served a very symbolic purpose (learn, peasants. mao ning art).

on another level. the society's alleged "discrimination" is not something shocking to the ancient Meranaws. you see, in Darangen, Prince Bantugan, being extremely handsome, has won the hearts of many women and men alike, and he is often being favored by the people more than the generally good but not as handsome king, Mabaning. the Meranaws in the Darangen are notorious in describing how monsters destroy villages, and it should not be a shock that ancient Meranaws may ascribe this monstrosity to unfortunate persons who happen to possess faulty facial features. this is merely an instinct to preserve community rather than a community hell-bent to discriminate with no reasonable logic.

as modern audience with no Meranaw background, we get the moral of non-judgement; for Meranaws, they get the moral of preserving community. i must commend Madayaw if this was a conscious artistic decision because (insert curse word here) this is genius layering.

3) it escaped the lamaw trap. like what i said earlier, i have become tired of seeing the plot of the pieces of Madayaw. to me, they have settled, like dust at the bottom of undisturbed water. personally, i feel that they only mostly win because they look so good and shiny. and this is what happens when artists never grow. they stick to what is proven effective, without exploring something new. this is what kills the artist if they cling too long to their aesthetics. isa lang ako sa mga naunang naumay.

but this is nothing i have seen before. like what i said, it has focused on the rituals, and made the narrative complement the rituals. not the other way around. this is already very intelligent. this piece has therefore escaped their tiresome kasal-kasal motif, which to me was effin lamaw.

now, they have evolved into the LAMAW (yes, all caps). this level is achieved (objectively by the artist and subjectively felt by the viewer) when something expected to be artistically low suddenly proves itself as something very highbrow. i say all caps LAMAW because to me, this is the most important level of artistic expression (more about this in the future kay gabuhat kuno kog akong kaugalingong art manifesto alongside verfremdung ni bretch, ostranenie ni shklovsky, surrealisme ni breton, ug uban pa. haha murag korek).

what im trying to say is that they have at last grown and they have grown magnificently with this piece. this has amazed and re-educated me. (insert curse word) nabusog yung mata't utak ko.

i commend the overt inclusion of spiritism in the piece, which i first saw in Sayaw Mindanaw back in 2013 in Saliyaw's first champion piece.

speaking of Saliyaw, another dance-theatre / folkloric group in Davao, i must say that no other group so far has exceeded their creativity in presenting new motifs in the cultural performance community. to note, they started the aforementioned spiritism / netherworld motif; the focus to Sama, an ethnoliguistic group in Davao that rarely receive the spotlight (although this can be argued, but i personally think that the resurgence of appreciation to the Sama has been brought about by Saliyaw's focus to the tribe back in 2014); and the multicultural motif evidenced by their 2017 piece that included the mutual influence of Bagobo-Klata culture to Japanese. creativity-wise, Saliyaw has done more.

take this with a grain of salt.

it is just so appalling that masterpieces, such as this, among others, are not common in educational institutions. and to be brutally honest, it goes down to the interest of the admins and teachers if they so chooses to discuss these extra things in classes. if this does not interest schools, the study of culture and consequently our appreciation of our identity goes to the gutters.

we, especially the schools in the cities, have been lazy in representing whatever sense of culture we have left in our locale. we have not moved on from black tights and leotards with malong sash to represent the Islamized ethnolinguistic groups. to appear cultural, we put malongs everywhere, not even bothering to educate the students which malong motif is appropriate for which occasion. we rarely take initiatives to encourage students who belong to cultural minorities to showcase their identity. worst, we add to the horrible mis-education that Muslims are bad and Atas are ugly and Lumads are uncivilized through our throwaway statements. and sometimes unaware teachers do that (insert curse word).

the efforts of cultural performers during Kadayawan and throughout the year is not trivial. it is an effort to preserve our identity and an opportunity to atone for our misjudgments towards ethnolinguistic groups in the land that we have grabbed from them.

i may have said something about the art of a cultural group but i still respect them as cultural bearers and as they also put forward the true essence of cultural performances: to educate and to make us appreciate our local culture and identity—which very rarely happens in majority of educational institutions.

farce, no? ~~ video here http://bit.ly/2P0dOgL image source  https://www.facebook.com/sunstardavaonews/photos/a.716755768378759/2440892695965049/?type=3&theater