#but threats and arguments is not a way for it

[honourablejester]

I feel like I want to say ‘yes but no’ here, because I think there are actually two different arguments happening.

Going to the quoted tags, I think what they are arguing against is scenes that are randomly throw in purely for shock value. Moments that don’t tie back to anything larger in the story but are purely there to discomfit and shock the audience. Which. Can actually be useful, if what you are trying to do is create a general sense of unease and lack of safety and ‘anything can happen’, but that’s extremely tone dependent and can often just not work.

Which, as they say, is not what OP seems to be arguing for, judging by the examples they provided. Because those examples are there to serve something larger within the story. The mistake they seem to be making is assuming that ‘serving something larger within the story’ is the same as ‘following the info-dumped rules that have been established for the setting’. Whereas OP’s argument, I think, is that people find a visceral demonstration of the rules (or the exceptions to the rules) significantly more memorable than an info-dumped recitation of the rules. It’s not that you can’t flesh out the rules of your world, even if just for yourself, it’s that you should also demonstrate the rules of your world in a way that your audience will find interesting and memorable, rather than just list them at people.

And it doesn’t have to be rules. Which is, I think, also a mistake the quote tags are making. Because they seem to imply that the examples given work within the established rules of their setting, which …

I’m going to focus in on the example of Artax here for a second. Because Artax’ death isn’t necessarily within the to-this-point established rules or threats of the setting. And I suspect a lot of people did feel cheated and upset at it. It does, to an extent, come out of nowhere. The Nothing was established as a threat, but random bits of swampland that drown you faster the sadder you are, and this sadness inflicting a horse of all characters, probably didn’t feel like it had been foreshadowed in any way. The Swamp of Sadness doesn’t fit the rules.

But it does fit the themes. Artax’ death wasn’t foreshadowed because it is the foreshadowing. It is the traumatic, memorable warning shot off the audience’s bows from a story that is going to end after the complete destruction of this world. The Swamp of Sadness is a warning precursor of the complete despair, nihilism and destruction of dreams that the Nothing will cause. And Artax himself, in some ways, is a warning of the future threat of Gmork. That when it comes to fantasy, hope, dreams, it’s despair and nihilism that are the enemies, and that those who succumb to them run the risk of destroying more than just themselves.

Your visceral scenes should be grounded in the story you’re telling, yes, they should illustrate something that you’re trying to convey, but that doesn’t necessarily have to be the rules, in the sense of ‘how the magic works’ or ‘how the medieval iron trade works’. OPs complaint is that so many pieces of advice for how to write sci-fi/fantasy are about how to establish rules that mimic facets of the real world so it will seem more believable, when what you actually need to do is build a coherent tone and atmosphere so that it feels believable. You need to create moments and imagery and scenes that people will engage with emotionally, because humans are emotional creatures, and emotions, as unfortunate as it sometimes is, will hook people to the narrative faster than all the rules in the world.

The tags, though, do also have a point as well that it’s not just a visceral scene, but a visceral scene that serves some purpose. You can’t just slap a human-faced bear in there willy-nilly, there has to be a reason within the story for it.

But that reason does not have to be explained or fit within the ‘rules’. It just means that you, as an author, have to think about the effect you intend this scene to have, and does that effect enhance or detract from your overall story.

The scenes OP highlights are memorable, and they’re memorable for the right reasons, because they enhance something else about the story. The Pale Man highlights that the fairy world has its own dangers and horrors, which brings it back tonally towards the horrors of Ofelia’s real world, and makes it feel less dissonant and unreal. The blood test in The Thing shows the characters attempting to work out the rules of the creature, and viscerally and dramatically proves MacReady right about the nature of the creature, but so very wrong about the identity of the creature. It also, as do many of these scenes, demonstrates spectacularly that we ain’t in Kansas anymore, that shit is going to happen that doesn’t fit the rules of our world, which is an important tonal shift to establish the baseline of the genre. These scenes work, and they serve to bring the audience inwards towards the story, to establish the baseline for disbelief. But I guarantee you that everyone out there has an example of a scene from a movie or story that did feel just fully random and out of the blue and all the more dissonantly jarring for it. Something that threw them out of the story rather than drew them further in.

So you do have to think before you put in your bear about what you want that bear to do for the story you’re telling, and whether or not it will effectively do it.

your dark fantasy novel doesn't need a logic-based magic system it needs a bear with a human face

[pukefactory]

•☽────✧˖°˖ HIGH FASHION ˖°˖✧────☾•

(COMMISSION)

★ Summary: A Compilation Of Headcanons Featuring Salesperson ENA As Your Roomate

★ Commissioner: @mrs-potatocat

★ Character(s): Salesperson ENA (ENA: Dream BBQ)

★ Genre: Headcanons, SFW

★ Warning(s): None - Completely Safe!

★ Image Credits: @JoelG

☆ You had no idea how renting worked in Dreamland. You tried to offer ENA some rocks and a torn “coupon” for housing payment. She accepted with a businesslike handshake, then later taped the rocks to the ceiling as “mood crystals.”

☆ ENA never asked if you wanted to be roommates. She just appeared beside you one day, pointed at a wobbly house that materialized on the shore, and said, “Welcome to our entrepreneurial headquarters. Rent’s due in emotional labor.”

☆ She has a business chalkboard in the kitchen. Most mornings you wake up to her jotting things like “Goal: Catch a fish the size of despair” or “Revenue stream: sell bottled sighs.” You pretend you know what’s happening.

☆ She casually intrudes into your personal space without warning. Like popping up from your laundry hamper or pushing through your bedroom window with a megaphone: “Good morning! Q1 goals are calling!”

☆ Her moods flick like a switch. Sometimes she’ll gently ask if you want coffee with a perfect smile, and two seconds later she’s screaming into the fridge about “THE DEATH OF EGG SUPPLY CHAINS!!!”

☆ You often find her in bizarre states of “relaxation.” One time she sat criss-cross applesauce inside the washing machine because “I need to rotate my anxieties evenly.”

☆ Nighttime is when she gets weirdly vulnerable. Laying on the couch, hat slipping off her head, murmuring to herself things like “Some days… I wish I was just static noise,” before immediately snapping back to pitch you a “start-up idea.”

☆ Despite her chaos, she’s quietly protective. If any other Dreamland entity so much as looks at you funny, ENA’s already intercepting with a sales-pitch so aggressive it borders on threat: “Would you like to invest in a lifetime supply of BACK OFF?”

☆ Sharing the same roof means learning her tics. Like how her Meanie side can’t fall asleep unless the window is cracked open exactly 2.3 inches, or how her red side won’t eat unless you pretend it’s “closing a business deal” over toast.

☆ Slowly, it starts feeling less like survival and more like home. Not because the house is stable (it isn’t) or because ENA is easy to live with (she’s not), but because somehow… you fit here. Like two missing puzzle pieces accidentally jammed into the wrong box.

When You And ENA Are Dating:

☆ ENA immediately made a PowerPoint presentation about it. Titled: “Reasons Why Dating Me is a Fiscal and Emotional Investment.” It included bullet points like ‘frequent hugs’ and ‘unlicensed emotional support during catastrophic events.’

☆ She keeps treating “dates” like business trips. “Thank you for accompanying me on this critical mission to the ice cream stand,” she’ll say while holding your hand like it’s a formal contract.

☆ Her Meanie side gets violently flustered when you’re affectionate. The moment you kiss her cheek, she’s yelling: “STOCKS ARE CRASHING!!! MY WALLS ARE DOWN! MY WALLS ARE DOWN!!!” (while secretly melting.)

☆ At home, she’s unbearably clingy in the softest way. Following you from room to room under the pretense of “supervising home operations,” but really just wanting to lean her sharp shoulder against yours.

☆ She accidentally made you matching “Employee of the Month” badges. (“You’re the best co-founder of this messy heart company,” she said, pressing it onto your chest while you tried not to cry.)

☆ Arguments are surreal and stupidly sweet. You’ll be bickering about who left a portal open in the laundry room again, only for ENA to suddenly grab your hand mid-shout and mutter: “I’m only mad because if you fell into the sky, I’d miss you.”

☆ Her Salesperson side plans “business retreats” that are just beach days. Setting up towels like “negotiation tables” and trying to teach you how to build a sandcastle shaped like a quarterly report.

☆ Her Meanie side has a special nickname for you now. She only uses it when she’s feeling too much at once. (Something stupidly intense like “Captain Foolheart” or “Top-Grade Dreamlander.”)

☆ Some nights, you both sit on the roof together. ENA lets her hat fall to her lap, and you both watch the neon moons turn inside out. She tells you, in a voice heavy with the red side’s warmth, “I never thought I’d find someone who understands the wrong parts of me too.”

☆ Living together used to feel like a gamble. Now, it feels inevitable. Like you were both tossed into existence not to be lonely chaos, but to be…each other’s slightly broken, slightly brilliant, slightly ridiculous home.

[penvisions]

bear my weight {a joel miller oneshot}

Pairing: Boston Era! Joel Miller x F! Reader

Summary: You've been keeping it a secret, but one fateful day out on a run exposes it- a disability carried over from before the Outbreak. You brace for the abandonment you're sure will follow since Joel Miller isn't known to be the most accommodating.

Word Count: 2k

Warnings: canon compliant language, canon compliant violence, brief description of injuries, blood, scar tissue, argumentative language, joel raises his voice, tess sees all, reader has a disability, reader has mobility issues, reader has a nickname that joel uses once but no official name, lil time skip, kissing, teasing, some banter, super tame one y'all

A/N: just a thing that's been sitting in my drafts for nearly a year. staring at the document for my paper and losing focus is a part of school, no?

It's quiet, in the aftermath of the threat being taken care of.

“What the fuck is your problem, you said you knew how to handle yourself!” Joel’s broad frame pivots as he takes in the now calm setting. Right in the middle of what was once a courtyard, debris and wreckage everywhere from a bomb dropped decades ago. It was supposed to be a simple exploration run for more supplies outside the zone. But clickers and runners have a way of throwing everything into a frenzy.

When you don’t respond, eyes locked on your throbbing leg, it’s when the man huffs and tries to get a gather of where you two ended up in relation to where you had been and where you needed to go. His low grumbles of whatever he’s saying are barely given any life- underneath his breath as he tries to figure it out.

You leave him to it, completely prepared to be left behind once he figures it out. Sighing, you grit your teeth and take the knife you had used to take down the last runner that chased after you and cut the now useless denim from your jeans where it’s stained with blood. It’s not helping to conceal anymore, wrapped around plastic and outdated technology, the blood slippery on your fingers and saturating the fabric even as you untangle it from around your leg.

Joel turns, prepared to fire off more insults at your lack of action if the twist of his open mouth is any indication but he stills when he sees you. You’re still on the ground, though you had managed to move into a seated position, your left leg bent at the knee as you lean forward to roll up what remains of your cut pantleg on the right. It exposes the aged prosthetic no longer secured to the stump of your leg.

Fingers inspecting the broken clasps that had once connected the artificial limb to the scared and rounded edge of your skin just above your knee. The piece of the fabric you normally keep tight over it is torn from the same jutting rebar that had caught your leg and caused you to fall. You sighed, shoulders slumping as you feel the hard gaze of the angry man on you.

The jagged slice into your skin is red and angry, mirroring how you feel about the whole fucked up scene.

He only watches in silence, jaw ticking and face frowning when you chance a blank look up at him

Silence and a long moment pass, him watching as you just sit there and stare down at the issue with hard eyes.

“You can leave now, since I’m such a waste of a partner.” You don’t bother to look up, fingers reaching for the knife holstered on the back of your hip. You use it to cut the once protective wrap for the end of your leg and tie the strip of fabric around the stump to ease the spots of blood bubbling up along the tear in your skin. “Everyone leaves me behind when they find out, wouldn’t hold it against you if you did too.”

“Roni…” His voice is low, but it’s hollow compared to the anger fueling him just moments ago.   

“I said leave!” You head jerks up, eyes meeting his and you can see the air leave his lungs in a surprised huff, though he schools his expression from you as quickly as it flickers. That same hard stare, reminiscent of the spaced out one you often see on him as he’s trekking alongside you on runs and walking alongside you in the crowded streets of the QZ. Seeing everything differently with the new realization. The way you often trailed behind him, and Tess if she’s with you both. The way you tended to rub at your knee whenever you stood in line for various rations, the way you tended to bear most of your weight on your left side that he had thought was due to similar backpain he experienced.

You manage to lift yourself into a standing position, leaning on the same chunk of exploded concrete that had taken you down. Wobbling slightly at the imbalance of leaning down to pick up the now useless prosthetic. The metal and leather clasps clink together as you lift it up to inspect it closer. “Just go.”

But he doesn’t. He simply takes the ruined thing from your hands and fits it into the pack slung over his shoulders. His face tightens when you flinch at his reaching hands, fear of his known brutality and violence finally landing on you. He pauses, eyes shifting as he takes in the trembles of your body, the way you clench your eyes shut and bring up your arms to shield your face from a hit that he never even thinks of making.

It speaks volumes, the gentle way he reaches for them once again to lower them, how he ducks his head and grips your chin to turn your face to him. All the breath in your lungs punches out, the flinch of your dirt smeared face almost a painful stab in the middle of his chest.

“I ain’t gonna leave you out here.” The surety of his words has you opening your eyes and he’s pinning you with a look you’ve only ever seen aimed at Tess before. The complete dedication he has for keeping her alive is now focused on you, stalling your next breath.

It takes a moment to figure out the best way for him to support your weight and carry you. But you both figure it out, hands hovering over your shoulders or waist to help you traverse the ladders and jumps back into the zone through discovered and kept secret pathways.

-

He lingers on the feel of your fingers and hands gripping him, long into the night once back in the relative safety of the apartment. Tess doesn’t say anything when Joel retrieves the prosthetic from his bag long after you’ve fallen asleep on your bed. The small thing tucked into the opposite side of the cramped space that leads to the bathroom. She simply pats a hand on his shoulder, watching the quiet, determined way he begins to look it over.

From that moment on, they’re both sure to look for any compression material they can, for baby powder or any lotion that they come across. For olive oil or anything that can act as a lubricant for your repaired support, to prevent it from the hinges catching or the materials to creak and give away your position while out beyond the walls. For the painkillers they know you need even if you don't ask for them.

The restless nights you tried to hide from them now act as a siren call fashioned for him. Joel rousing should your sheets rustle in the middle of the night or the phantom pain of a limb you now only possess half of becomes too much, the rattle of the pills against each other as you reach for one pulling him from his sleep.

She doubts he even realizes that his hands twitch every time you go to scale a ladder or make a jump, stop to rub at where that unavoidable pinch occurs over your skin- but she clocks it. Can see how it will all play out if given time. His need to protect and fuel to fight encompassing you just as it did her all those years ago.

Your determination to keep up as you always have not shocking, though they do tend to keep a closer eye on you.

Joel nearly loses it one day, hollering and berating your lack of caution when you all found yourselves trapped in a building, the second way out collapsed and blocked. Without thinking or even relaying the thought to them, you use the oil kept in your pocket and a lighter as a defense against the stalkers that hone in on your group in the dark. Your just as loud argument is that it the only thing you could think of that wouldn’t have drawn more of them shutting up the older man.

It's only because he didn’t think of it, think of the way to get you two safely out of the spot he had cornered you all in. Insistence on just one more block, one more spot- guilt making him lash out in anger that you face head on any time it shows.

She tells you to take care of him once she realizes she’s been bitten. Right in front of him and the little figure of a teenager that was meant to be the last job your trio ever worked before seeking something more than the life of a smuggler and outside of the zone for good. Her last words linger in the air just before you and Joel are grabbing harshly at a fighting Ellie, the explosion Tess ensured your safety with echoing in your ears even miles away from the scene.

-

It’s two years later, after many hours, days, weeks, months of traversing the devasted land of what was once sprawling cities and roads that connected them. You’re now settled into a home created between you both and a teenager that was once simple cargo. Connections and emotions tying your little trio together, giving you all a second chance at a life you had once given hope on of finding for yourself. A new prosthetic made of beautifully carved and stained wood supports you, just like the man who had once shifted his harsh demeanor for one of awkward kindship that could only be found in devastating loss.

The underlying care and need to protect allowing for more time, for both of you. For something new and delicate to bud between you, blooming in the time you spent protecting and fighting, defending each other and the girl who sits across from you now on a worn couch.

“Boom, motherfucker.” Her crooked grin brings out one of your own as all three of you look down at the board game set up on the coffee table. “Looks like I win.”

Once the board is folded up, the pieces back in a velvet pouch and the fire left to crackle in the living room do you say anything. The back door closing as the teenager retires to her detached space for the night.

“You let her win.” You put a hand on the threshold to your room, rubbing at your upper thigh to relieve the ache there as the snow and dipped temperature only worsens in the late hour. He watches the way your back flexes with the motion, the steady strength honed in every muscle of your body.

“Figured she would huff and puff if I didn’t.” He’s at the end of the hall, taking his time to shut off all the lamps but one to bathe the space in a sparce, warm light that glows from the window for anyone passing by.

“She thinks you cheat every time,” You taunt, knowing that he doesn’t really but riling him up all the same over the small things that have become a part of an easier life. “Something about you being too cautious to spend your fake millions.”

“Only thing I’m cautious of is messin’ things up with you.” And suddenly all the playfulness leaks out of you, the air growing charged as he gives voice to the quiet thing between you both. You close your eyes in a long blink, the presence of him behind you sparking something deep in your chest. He’s always there, always looking out for you as you do for him. This thing growing in the time you’ve spent together.

“The only way you could mess things up with me is if you take any more goddamn time working up the nerve to kiss me, Miller.” You tilt your head toward him as you turn around and the light seeping into the small hallway from behind him reveals the curve of your upturned lips.

“Fuckin’ impatient.” He closes the gap in two long strides, pressing you back into the wall beside your door and capturing your mouth with his.

[woman-respecter]

"ok it was somewhat hyperbolic maybe, but just barely. but the point of the post was more that i have never seen the works of neil gaiman, or any other rapist for that matter, blacklisted in the way that harry potter is. there are no posts saying “burn your good omens merch or i’ll burn you with it” with thousands of notes. there are STILL people basing their whole-ass personality on good omens, who get minimal pushback, when i know that if someone did that with hp, even if they didn’t support jkr, they would be getting graphic threats of violence every day. i can see merits of completely wanting to blacklist a work bc of a problematic behavor, and i can see merits of still enjoying the art while criticizing the artist. but pick a fucking lane. it’s the moral inconsistency that gets to me." ok so i saw this post and i had a genuine question: a lot of the backlash i see against JKR is specifically about giving her money which she uses to fund anti-trans (and other horrible) groups, as well as lobbying/bribing, and pushes for laws and bills that will hurt trans people. With Niel i could be misremembering what happened with him (never really knew about him before or after the drama, only that he existed and that it happened) but my understanding was that he had some form of rape/SA/abuse allegations against women, and isnt actively trying to fund/ support laws oppressing more people. With that in mind, what would you think of the idea that seperating art from an artist is something that can happen, unless supporting the artwork in any way would cause more widespread damage and or harm? I dont think this is something that every person threatening people who like harry potter agrees with, im just curious your thoughts on the idea that JKR is a special case because she is actively hurting people when you support the work, and this isnt a moral inconsistency and just a different situation

neil gaiman is using his good omens money to pay lawyers to financially ruin his victims. so i’m not sure i buy that argument.

[a-box-of-stupid-ideas]

I don't like the dmc anime, but despite that I think its stupid to bully people that like it and people that worked on it. Many game fans got it gripes and thats valid the anime certainly isn't the best adaptation but being mean to new fans is not it and being mean because they lack knowledge aint it. HOWEVER reverse can be said too, being mean on games fan criticizing (when it isn't overtly racist, those damn frieren images ain't helping) and dismissing the original games story and themes, and people being rightfully annoyed or disappointed. Both here on Tumblr and on Twitters its a mess but I see both, game fans hating and newer fans dismissing game fans criticisms, its honestly awful.

look here are my thoughts on the anime, spoiler ahead

its just not what I want in DMC, I see what the anime is trying to do but its really not what I look for in DMC. What I look for in DMC isnt political commentary or even worldbuilding its the family shenanigans and the characters. I want to see Dante, Lady and Vergil interact and when they do in the anime its great, I like seeing Dante interact with other people and I greatly enjoyed when the anime have Dante interact with lady and Enzo. But I could not care for its political commentary, its simply not what I want in DMC, nor do I care for science-ing every piece of magic. I would describe DMC as a family soap opera with a fantasy backdrop with stylish fighting and quips and the anime does not do that for me. I would say the main difference on the anime and games is that in the games its the characters driving the plot for the most part but the anime is the plot driving the characters.

What made DMC 3 great is that the all the character and the plot are deeply woven together. Like its not some guy that opens the hellgate and the characters are responding to that. It was lady's father who was obsessed with demons and Sparda that manipulated everyone to open the gate and is meant to reflect our duotagonist Dante and Vergil and their daddy issues with Sparda. Like people say DMC doesn't have a good story and that's wrong, sure its not complex nor does it challenge their audiences political views but nots what DMC is trying to do. Its trying to make a good story about family and specifically the Sparda family and have compelling characters which is what the anime doesn't do. And is why many fans have gripes, but the anime is still entertaining in a vacuum and it has its warrant to exist but I think new fans should not only have the anime as its main source for DMC as its not a good representation of DMC.

The anime is good but its fundamentally a flawed adaptation that doesn't understand why the fans like the games and its story. Obviously this doesn't apply to every fan, as some fans only really care for the fighting part, but I can say many fans can sense something being off with the anime. And it completely warranted to critic that, while allowing news fans to enjoy it and same could be said with Castlevania.

[tariah23]

It’s still crazy how whenever ppl are criticizing Elon musk and getting on his ass, you still have random ppl pulling the “what? So do you have something against autistic people then 🤨-?”

[sokkawordbender]

‎I'm sorry but that's rich coming from someone who's clearly biased by Soowon and abhors Yona

‎

‎first of all, since you are very focused on me making my choices and getting personal using the words 'rich coming from', and by doing that making weak claims in your argument, this is ridiculous.

I haven't personally said anything to you for choosing what you chose. This is no different than name calling.(an ad hominem if you may). IF you have points of argument, bring it to the table instead of being attacking personally. I talked about your narrative rather than talking about you and question your choices. Anyone can like any character. Did I ask why you like yona? You need to defend your standpoint, in his case your character without giving be if it of a doubt and actually with facts and reality.

‎Anyways, the statement still stands, yona has done many blunders and taken risks(which is good, a flaw is good), but the only problem is she has never suffered consequences from it. She always gets the Convenient way out. This makes the character writing loose its charm. You may like it, because you just like it, but its not the same for everyone. I, of course, am looking at this from the point of view from of a literature major. This is what we do there, we dissect the characters and analyze how their development was. Character flaws are good, only if the character learns something from his flaws and mistakes. This makes it a character development. Yona's character writing started to go down the drain when she constantly had nothing to bear consequences for. Se became divine despite the fact she had been claimed as a human again and again. This makes the narrative hard to believe.

Let's say for example, take Classic novel 'Jane Eyre'. The story was so good and showed how the girls got away from abusive relatives and it led her to her academic pursuit. She learned and grew and yet the political and abusive authority at the academia still haunted and affected her because she was a lowborn and the school was for high society. Then she became a teacher in that very school. She later became governess. But then had to run away. And when she was literally looking for craps, suddenly out of nowhere an uncle of hers pops up who gave her all of his generational wealth and now she is all rich and what not. Like. Where was this uncle before? How was he never mentioned before and how come he knew Jane existed or lived.

This made me hate the character development. Because she could have been shown to use that governess title or her education to earn her a spot. That what low or middle income households find relatable to. But the idea that you can never be successful unless you have generational wealth rubs it in their face and makes it unrealistic to approach.

What I'm saying is, that, all of yona's slipups are just fine. What's not fine is her not taking the Fall for it. Like in lighting up the signal in fire tribe and lo and behold suddenly there is an army ready the doorstep in order to cover up her action.

‎

‎ if Soowon truly is a good king, and didn't waste all his state's treasury in military campaigns, then he should have enough money to provide food relief

‎

‎So, you're saying he has not been a good king and has been a warmonger? because he is trying to strengthen kouka's borders because there was so much threat and harm done from Il's reign. And not to mention what his father did at xing. Im not a big fan of neither yuhon nor Il. But he is more of a strategist and loyal to his cause rather than a tyrant who causes wars. He is doing quickly as possible because he knows he has limited time. He is not spending his expenses on military just because he wants to. He didnt even know who will rule after him and was genuinely worried for the wellbeing of the future of his country.

what bothers me here is, after making use of Soowon's character's intellect to get all bordering countries as a Vassal nation, yona will get a ready made store bought state of kingdom to rule. That is if she rules. I would have absolutely loved it if she had been shown to be involved in these political games in another light. BUt that's my opinion. I'm saying this because if she is going to be shown as a candidate for throne, her development along 100 chapters or so should have shown her interest in learning about it. SUre she helped people and it was necessary for her to understand the people, that part I totally agree with. But she had been kept away from these things by her father, not her fault. But if there was background buildup about her learning about these foreign policies or politics directly or in directly or even shown interest to learn about it, it would have been easily under stable they way her character behaved in xing and kai arc. It felt unnatural.

‎

‎It doesn't. Both can be true at the same time

‎YEs it is. That's not how making an argument works. You need to chose a side in your debate.

‎

‎Hate to break it to you but usually when you're kind and helpful, surprise surprise, people tend to be...... grateful! Calling that a ‘fanbase’ is honestly hilarious, like you really imagined them lining up for selfies and autographs huh? Does their gratitude towards her constitue such a threat to your beloved Soowon's reign🤭?

‎

‎I don't know what is making you happy at your own statement. But let me brief this point in case for you a bit. what yona in her travel did, was no doubt an act of kindness. But it didnt even scratch the real cause of situations at the surface. sei and water tribe arc was best IMO. Im saying state level taken by government to resolve an issue even IRL is way massive and different than an activist/ NGO doing it by so many ways. We were just not shown the effects of Soowon's actions taken for the country because the story us being told from yona's narrative. It will accentuate and highlight her action and their reactions.

‎

‎Does their gratitude towards her constitue such a threat to your beloved Soowon's reign🤭?

‎I literally *rolled my eyes* here at the childishness. You added that emoji like you made a really good point or did a prank and is happy about it all on your own.Sure i guess whatever makes you happy.

‎ I couldn't care less about when Soowon's reign's end or start. I don't know why felt need to say what you said here. But let me take this into consideration and just point out that our mc is yona. sure she is kind and whatever, but her actions and decisions are what we need to drive the story forward. Not Soowon's.

‎

Yona did nothing wrong (chapter 267)

Given that we're getting the next chapter soon, I wanted to comment on this matter a last time. Akatsuki no Yona is not a fatalistic story. It showed us that things could be changed to the better through hard work. That's why, this story will never promote the idea that one should surrender to their abusers and accept their fate for the greater good. Because yes, the dragon gods are abusers: they're akin to the toxic controlling partner (or parent) who gaslights you and claims to know what's better for you, who claims their unreasonable behaviour is justified in the name of love, that it is your fault for not appreciating it, and that everything bad that happens, will be because you didn't listen to them.

Neither Yona nor Hiryuu are selfish, foolish or evil for seeking to escape a toxic environment. It is never the victim's fault for rejecting their abuser. And whatever natural disasters befall the innocent people in Kouka will be because the gods chose to unlish destruction with their own hands, not because Yona refused to yield to their suffocating love and oppression.

In fact, Yona's defiance isn't only morally justified, but also logically sound for several reasons:

1- the gods have proven themselves to be untrustworthy, by attempting to kill the very people they promised to turn human and send back to earth, leading to their current descent to madness from repetitive contract breaking. If Yona had trusted them and they later went back on their word, she'd be called dumb and naïve instead.

2- The contracts they're imposing are one sided and self serving. A contract should allow both parties to put their own terms and conditions, yet Yona is denied this right. They're desperate to regain their strength, and once that happens nothing will stop them from breaking a contract or two. Ooryuu confirms that they'll keep imposing increasingly absurd conditions, but Yona is expected to comply with these absurdities?

3- The gods had already started withdrawing their "devine protection" the moment Yona entered the chalice. They were already planning to abandon humanity all together. Their protection of humans so far was only linked to Yona's well-being, that's why, if anything, Yona returning to earth would actually coerce them into maintaining their devine protection out of fear for her safety.

4- by returning to earth, Yona isn't severing all ties with the gods. She can go back to heaven and negotiate a contract whenever she wants thanks to the chalice and a drop of her own blood. Far from "abandoning" her people to certain death, she's giving herself the opportunity to assess the situation firsthand. Is this "devine protection" really necessary? Would its absence really affect the country in an irreversible way? Can't the people actually work through this crisis hand in hand and overcome it? After all, nothing guarantees the images shown by the gods are real, or much absolute. Yona has already defied fate: saving Hak from Zeno's attack, and seeking out the dragon worriers to prevent his death, proving that nothing is set in stone, and that you can change the future through analysing the current situation to decide on the best course of action

5- Kouka isn't facing "immediate" destruction. The sun didn't disappear, it merely got veiled by clouds, much like in winter. People are able to walk down the streets without using torches or candles. While Photosynthesis may decrease, crops will not wither overnight. Kouka also ought to have its own food reserves for similar crises. It also now posses several vassal states that could help providing food and housing for the most affected areas.  This leaves enough time to evaluate the situation and decide on the best conduct to adopt

6- The fundamental problem remains that the gods are apathetic to humans. They're unable to relate to them, and often minimise their suffering. Yona's return to heavens won't be more than a fleeting remedy to a lasting problem. As the protagonist of the story and Hiryuu's reincarnation, Yona ought to treat the problem at its root and find a way to bridge the gap between gods and humans, eventually making a contract that cannot be broken. Can this be achieved through surrendering yourself to vicious fickle beings? What was Akatsuki no Yona about all along? Was it a story praising self sacrifice and martyrdom as the absolute form of strength, selflessness and generosity? Or was it a story about struggling through the mud, relying on your actions, efforts and choices to shape your outcome? About challenging injustice, resisting fate and finding alternative paths? Which of these best describe Yona's actions in this chapter? Think about it, and find your answer.

[anghraine]

Today's unhinged "good God I hate how much extreme generosity I'm expected to extend to the Peter Jackson films by people who make wildly bad faith arguments about things I like" rant:

I am very deeply tired of people insisting with zero evidence that of course the LOTR films are imperfect, but the difficulties of adapting LOTR are such that it wasn't possible for them to be better than they were—in, apparently, any respect. They just couldn't be done better, at all, because it was so hard to make something watchable at all.

This is always just like ... really? Really?? Just what prevented them from making better decisions about anything? What exactly made casting every actor of color as barely differentiated villainous hordes in the twenty-first century so necessary and unavoidable? The glamorization and vast expansions of battle scenes and insertion of "heroic" war crimes was the highest film as a medium could aspire to in the early 2000s because of what insuperable force?

What made it impossible to give Arwen a coherent character arc? The films could not have been made without the underlying assumption that most of the cast are NPCs who will only do the right thing, when they will, if prodded or manipulated or influenced by main characters? In what way is this an inevitability of adaptation or film that simply couldn't have been conceptualized differently, much less better?

There is zero explanation or justification for why any of this stuff (or the myriad other flaws) had to be that way and couldn't have been done better in any way at any point. It's just stated that the films that exist must be the best films that could have existed because they're the ones that do exist and are popular. QED.

That doesn't make any sense, though, and it doesn't convince anyone who doesn't already agree. The idea that they could not have been better in any way (including their worst quality, which again, is the extremely racist casting), that some force was preventing not only the actual filmmakers but any filmmakers that could possibly exist from doing anything better just seems patently absurd.

You can like them and respect what they did achieve without demanding that everyone buy into a baseless and irrational argument that their pop culture success means nothing about them could possibly have been done any better. Look, I was in my mid to late teens at the time. I remember the early 2000s quite well. It wasn't now, but we are not talking about an age so divorced from our own that any of these things were somehow fundamental to the media landscape.

There are ways in which the LOTR films were very good that were essential to their popularity then and now. This does not require anyone to accept that it was literally impossible for them to be better than they are or that some defense is required against every criticism of them ever.

I am not, incidentally, talking about removing Bombadil, an entirely understandable and defensible decision that the film defenders in my notes somehow always feel the need to bring up. I know that changes had to be made, that adaptation is not a word for word transcription, that it would always be a difficult text to adapt, that structurally minor elements had to go, that they are cinematically beautiful films that a lot of work and love went into. I know this. EVERYONE knows this, because for the last 20 years it's been impossible to criticize anything about them without being reminded. Their accomplishments, and their existence, do not mean that any choice made by the filmmakers must definitionally have been the right call and could not possibly have been better in any way.

[itzphynix]

My brain is so full of Bees about Post-Shift 2.

It's a fan game that was delayed for 4 years -- by the time it released, fnaf fangames as a whole were not as popular as they had been, & most people in the scene had forgotten about Post-Shift 1, so not a lot of people heard about it/played it.

Worse still is the people who did talk about the game. Pretty unanimously, the consensus was this: this game is the craziest, most insane fnaf fangame. It's overly difficult with mechanics that have no rhyme or reason to them & tutorials that are wordy, unhelpful, & sometimes actively mislead the player, meaning you need to comb through a lot of text only to be misinformed. It's not as infamous as some other fangames, but it definitely was talked about very poorly.

In general, I think most of these criticisms were blown up out of proportion, but I can't really disagree with most people's problems -- it is difficult & wordy, & rather hard to understand. I think, however, that the game is still 1. Really fun, 2. Not a bad game at all, &, most importantly, 3. Is a free fucking game that was clearly a passion project. Most damn fangames never get off the fucking ground when made in groups because the creators will never make a red cent off the thing -- this game was made by one dude for 4 years & delivered to people for free. It didn't ask anything of you except to accept it as a difficult game & to not go in with wild expectations. The dev just wanted to make a game that was rough, but he also wanted to make a game that felt unique & was fun. & It is fun, too, is the damn thing.

[ivan-fyodorovich-k]

I think if being an incredibly unpleasant and judgmental person is not integral to Christianity and its vision of Divine Love we need seriously to question how it came to be that those rank among the main things for which Christians are known.

And it is not as though they are just rumors and slander and you meet Christians and they aren’t that way at all, we have all seen and felt this version many, many times.

[fudge24-7]

Wondering if tumblr is really good for me

[proudfreakmetarusonikku]

sorry was going to sleep and my brain BLASTED me with the memory that ppl tried to defend giving money to jkr by going “what about lovecraft!” when like. they clearly don’t know anything about how lovecrafts work is actually Handled nor have they actually Read any of it (which I fucking have it’s not hard you can find it easily and his works pretty short). like. hp lovecrafts work is racist as fuuuuuck. the influence of the racism from people taking from him a bit too much is still absolutely an issue in similar works and is like. Talked About. bc like lovecrafts primary Thing in horror is influence at this point like everyone agrees he was a shitty person and that his work while actually rad as shit in some ways is also bigoted to hell and back in others to the point it’s ridiculously distracting. people are reading them with the Context he’s a racist dick and also dead if I saw someone seriously arguing lovecraft was just supporting whites or whatever the correct response would be to kick them in the jaw. want jkr's books to be treated like that? wait until like a century after she’s died, and also like if they’re being viewed like lovecrafts works jkr would be considered a monster and her work bigoted and hateful by default in a way work inspired by it actively mocks like that’s what the comparison implies. like no one’s saying you can’t do that but again the reason lovecraft is treated like that is bc he’s dead as fuck if he was alive right now and pushing that ideology I would in fact condemn people giving him money too. because. that money would be funding hate. which it isn’t bc lovecraft fucking died. you wanna make that argument you better be prepared to kill jkr yourself

[shrekshugebadussy]

now that pride month is upon us and we’re getting ready to see rainbow logos from corporations everywhere, i think we are going to be reminded just how much corporations are not actually on our side. take target for example, it’s not even june yet and they’ve already taken things down or away bcuz of the backlash from the right. i wonder how many more corporations are going to cave at the hands of fascists next month…

[randomtheidiot]

I think some of the more attention seeking political people on Tumblr like to do this thing where someone else could make a post about literally anything in existence and they swoop in to politicize OP’s post to make OP look like a bad person and become the educated, good social justice activist by proxy because they want attention, usually missing the point entirely and making people who actually do social justice work look bad.

Here’s an example.

OP: Someone broke into my house, stole my dead grandmother’s jewelry and killed my dog with an axe. I’m calling the police. Some fucking guy: OP is a racist who supports police brutality against people of color and poor people (there’s no way a white person would be desperate enough to steal*) and also their dog was a purebred so it deserved to die. Fucking jump off a cliff, OP.

*Somehow, they don’t see the irony in calling people of color thieves and indiscriminate pet killers.

[scarletsaphire]

Are you treating her like a girl when she’s not your friend? When she’s a coworker or a regular or a neighbor you don’t know much about, besides the fact she’s trans? When she’s someone online that you’ll never know? When she’s a person you hate for whatever reason, do you still treat her like a girl?

yeah yeah girlcock this girlcock that, but are you sitting next to her on the couch when you dont want to fuck her? are you holding her in platonic comfort when shes sad? are you grabbing her by the wrist at the function so she doesnt get separated from the rest of the girls? are you helping her zip up her dress? is she invited to girls night?

[draconym]

It often feels like mainstream acceptance of queer people, particularly trans and nonbinary people, is contingent on there being few of us. When I was a kid witnessing arguments about gay marriage, statistics about LGBTQ people were so often presented in such a way as to reassure everyone else that we are not dangerous because we are rare. "It's not going to cause societal collapse ... because such a small percentage of people are gay."

And conservative rhetoric against queer people, particularly trans people, which explicitly refers to us as a "social contagion," really underscores that any perceived "increase" in sexual or gender diversity will be seen as a threat. If queer people are permitted to exist, we must be aberrant and isolated. If we are normal and natural and commonly occurring, it is because something has gone terribly wrong.

So. Forgive me if I bristle at the well-meaning argument that "these trans athlete bans are ridiculous, they're only going to affect a few dozen people!" I understand where they're coming from. But I think trans people should be free and abundant.