#can't BELIEVE that guy posted an opinion on the internet. WHY would he do that

[capricioussun]

Will probably delete later but genuinely WHY do so many ppl hate uf papyrus. "He’s horrible and a bad brother and abusive >:(((" my guy. YOU made him that way

[thenatashapulleyuniverse]

🍬🔪🥐

🍬- post an unpopular opinion about a popular fandom character

This question was hard to answer, but I thought of a response after like two hours of thinking in bed. Before I say what it is, I would like to preface this with the fact that if any of you guys disagree with me, you are free to send me an anonymous ask saying so, or DM me to discuss, or whatever. I am open to changing my mind and love discussion.

That being said, I do not think Takiko Pepperharrow should have been half-white.

I can think of no major and essential reason for her being biracial besides the fact that her being half-English allowed for her to have an interesting sounding last name for the title and her being able to learn English.

Authors are allowed to write in biracial characters. And the biracial experience is no monolith, so who am I to stop a half-Japanese/white person from seeing themselves in Pepper. But Pepper lived in Japan all her life, has been racialized as a Japanese woman, is seen by others as a Japanese woman—and the only thing “foreign” about her appearance is her gray eyes. In her POV, she doesn’t note anybody who pauses to wonder if she’s half white (if I recall correctly. I haven’t read Pepperharrow since last year in January). By all accounts, Pulley could have made her a full Japanese woman and the story nor her character would have changed. 

Pulley's characters of color are written in this interesting way where a lot of them come so incredibly close to introspecting their racial identity in a very English and white world, but do not delve any deeper because Pulley wants to add diversity but doesn't have the experience to say anything more. (Think: Matsumoto talking to Thaniel in Watchmaker about being as English as Francis Fanshaw, he still feels like he's constantly performing whenever he wears Western clothes.) Which is valid. I can understand if she wants to stay in her lane or whatever

And there’s also the argument to be made that well Pepperharrow’s biracial identity doesn’t need to add anything to the story. A person of color can simply exist to be a tool for the narrative and we don’t really need to dwell on their racial background because it simply isn’t important to the larger story. LOOK I GET IT! But this thought can also coexist with the idea that a character’s racial background can affect who they are as a character! How they view themselves, how they act in public, how they act behind closed doors. It adds another interesting layer of characterization!

I can’t help but compare her to Pulley’s other biracial Asian character, Joe Tournier. Whereas I believe Pepper didn’t need to be half-white, I could not say the same for Joe at all. His being half-Chinese creates an interesting contrast to Kite in that both men are hiding who they really are; both men have changed their last names in order to be taken seriously (Kite even lets his Spanish accent show when he’s feeling vulnerable!!) and both have never really felt like they had a place to truly belong to. Joe’s racial background doesn’t add anything world-changing to the overall stakes of the narrative, but it adds a depth to the themes of The Kingdoms about characters finding home. 

tl;dr: my girl pepper didn’t need to be half-white ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

🔪- what's the weirdest topic you researched for a writing project

I can't think of anything absurd right now so here's what I've researched in the past and you decide if they're that weird:

pre-colonial filipino boats (because i didnt know if they used sails or not)

victorian dinner party etiquette

victorian stocks and investments

🥐- name one internet reference that will always make you laugh

"they call me the fujoker. why so yurious?"

[renardtrickster]

There really is no bottom for the Green Horse, is there

As part of my ongoing campaign to be understanding towards people who will never in 12,000 years provide a fraction of the same level of charitability towards me, yeah he's basically cooked forever. It's not an innate thing, I have a low opinion on him, and his intelligence, and his ability to take criticism or consider new information, and his ability to not freak the fuck out when agitated and start CAPS LOCK SCREAMING AT PEOPLE HE DISAGREES WITH, but it's not because his brain is broken. Consider the following:

From what I recall, he lives in the South, was raised (and still is) Christian, and I think even alluded to his parents being not that positively receptive to the possibility of him being bisexual. So he's been inundated with conservative beliefs basically from birth.

The inundation continues to his online life. For at least a decade he's been embroiled in right-wing discourse, exposing himself to arguments with "SJWs", caricatures of what Föminists believe, all designed to confirm the existing biases while cementing in your head that "the other" is basically delusional or dishonest and not worth considering. Once you've been in this rut for years, you need to devise a *reason* to not keep doing what you've been doing and what's always worked for you.

All of his peers are similarly conservative, or "classical liberal" at the most. Once I broke with common consensus and started railing against him, everyone instantly turned, mutualisms were broken, respect was lost, I became persona non grata. I was not the first, nor the last. He also tends to conceptualize ex-friends and ex-mutuals as "betrayers". Basically his social circle ensures that everyone will basically agree on most things, or else be ousted and mocked. Which, if you don't have other social circles to fall back on, can be another reason to not change your mind. Isolation is a killer.

He's never been the most skeptical of whatever he reblogs. I've seen, on multiple occasions, him reblog a post that reads something to the effect of "city-dwellers don't have souls, if you don't stand in a field barefoot you become spiritually retarded". And when his friends point out "dude this is asinine" he reblogs that as well, equal amounts of no commentary. In and out.

The internet, and society, has slowly gotten more radicalized over time. This Haitians Eating Cats thing would have been unthinkable in 2016, but he's already under the operation of "the left is always wrong, the Republicans aren't *that* bad and they're treated unfairly".

He already believes in Cultural Marxism, the Deep State, and that the 2020 election was stolen. The only reason he doesn't believe in the "trans groomer epidemic" is because he's queer and has trans friends, but even then he sure was charitable towards DeSantis and denied that it was a "don't say gay" bill.

With all of this in mind, why *wouldn't* he believe that immigrants from Haiti (who are mostly Christian) went to Ohio so they could steal people's pets and perform voodoo rituals? He's basically stuck himself inside The Contraption. It is a hell of his own creation, all working perfectly as designed, in order to make him not smart and keep him from being able to accurately assess anything. The only ambiguity is whether it's malicious ignorance or genuine ignorance, but it's mostly academic. I can't tell you his internal thought process or what his heart is. All I can tell you is that, at the very least, even if he is a "proper" left-of-center guy, he does not have the proper intellectual rigor to prevent himself from going along with whatever fascist argument or lie that he stumbles upon. He lacks the discipline to *prevent* himself from becoming a fascist, if that makes sense.

These are the conditions and circumstances that can create a mindscape like this. But lest you be mistaken and think I'm portraying him as a victim of circumstance, I'll repeat what I alluded to before. There are "understandable" (as in "they can be comprehended and explained, even if they're wrong, which they are") reasons for why people become groypers or nazis. Functionally, he is stuck in the alt-right pipeline, trapped in that onion cult model thing. His posts are even indistinguishable from that of the average nazi's, he was doing the "Tim Walz gargles horse semen" thing. As though that's a bad thing, when he thinks Rarity is best pony. Curious.

Which is the important thing to take away from this, I think. takashi0 is not a notable or exceptional person in this regard. "Notable" in the sense that his only real presence outside of tumblr is a kiwifarms thread (and twitter I guess), "exceptional" in the sense that this exact same song and dance has happened to thousands of other people, mostly young men, frequently homosexual, always mentally ill. I guess he's "a very popular anti-SJW/alt-right blogger on tumblr", but this describes many other people who I do not know the names or backstories of. The only reason why I or anyone else possesses this knowledge is because of a passing personal connection, which has by this point ended. Having beef with him is like having beef with any of the 5 nameless MAGA Toms, Dicks, and Larries at the top of your blocklist.

Keeping up with him is interesting in the sense that he's a part of a broader trend, "what talking points do the moderate wing of online reactionary thought think is acceptable to say", but it's almost demeaning to be any more personally invested beyond that. He's not going to see this because he has me blocked, but if he does he'll be bitter about it for a week, and come to the conclusion "well Renardie says stuff like that because she's brainwashed, like all lefty commies are" because his analytical abilities are capped around there. He's beneath me, and so is his ideology. Once that's consigned to the dustbin of political irrelevancy, so too will he vanish. In that respect, paying him any mind is pointless self harm. I only indulged in my very quick research today due to a moment of weakness and sick curiosity. My reward was a lack of surprise.

[landhoe-norris]

i only follow about 13 people on here, which is a conscious decision on my part.

my favourite drivers are a) lando norris, who can't do anything right according to many f1 fans, especially the fans of dan, charles and lewis, and b) carlos sainz, who apparently is the sole reason why charles leclerc hasn't won an f1 championship by now, as if ferrari's ineptitude and charles' own mistakes don't exist.

why am i telling you all of this, you ask?

because i live (almost) in utter bliss. the people i follow normally don't partake in drama (something i feel the need to do every now and then). they live their f1 lives just enjoying the races and cooing over the same men that i adore. i have a safe space on this site that i've constructed to fit me to a tee.

but sometimes, things infiltrate it. i get anons who rant about things other drivers or tp's have said, and i welcome it. it makes me feel like someone who people want to come to with their pent-up frustrations. i don't always answer them because sometimes it's just for my ears or something that they need to get off their chest to a person that won't judge them (and i am open to that as long as the rant doesn't wish harm on anyone). sometimes people reblog my posts with less than savoury things about the people in the posts, normally carlos and lando. if that happens, i block. no questions asked. don't care who you are or who you support, if you talk shit on my posts, i obliviate you from my space.

what is my point?

i don't know tbh. i've just seen some posts where people are apparently talking shit about carlos and lando after sunday's race and i can't even fathom one reason as to why that is happening.

carlos is someone who has stuck up for other drivers that have been fucked over by the fia. the biggest ones are ofc abu dhabi 21 and lewis. still, apparently, lewis fans are saying, "fuck carlos, where was he in 21?" the answer is right beside lewis, talking about how the fia shouldn't get away with what happened. and now apparently lando is the bad guy cause he spoke his truth about red flag regulations which makes him "anti lewis" when he was one of the few that lewis actually talked to during the winter break, and just recently went golfing with him.

there seems to be a real disconnect in this fandom, and it's nothing new, not really. people would rather chop up videos, make up stories online or believe clickbaity headlines instead of looking at things critically or actually taking the time to watch and read what has been said. i know critical thinking and the internet doesn't go hand in hand, but i think some of you might like it if you tried it.

you don't have to like my faves; there's a chance i don't like your faves either. but being a decent human being who doesn't spend their time online being perpetually bitter or angry and sending abuse to people who either a) are just doing their job aka mechanics and strategists or b) have another opinion/point of view than you does not make you a better person, or a "seeker of truth".

when it comes down to it, we all have confirmation bias. i've been guilty of that as well, taking things someone has said and interpreting them in a manner that i want. has that ever made me feel better? no.

does it make you feel better taking things out of context or spending your precious time being angry at someone else for existing in the same sport as your fave? if it does, then lando talking about things he's passionate about in regards to racing or carlos (and other professionals) pointing out that his penalty was unfair is the least of your problems, and i'd recommend you try to figure out why that is.

[secretoreimo]

Hello I can't resist the obnoxious urge to blabber about my feelings so long analysis under the cut!? JHSDHJKJS

Okay, so. Indeed, while I understand that the game couldn't keep them blood-related for censorship reasons and such, I do think it killed the impact of them getting together a good bit.

My suspension of disbelief kind of tanked when Kirino asked Kyousuke to be her boyfriend right after he poured his heart out, expressing his insecurities that something might change between them. The game really does treat it like it's not only a non-issue but also a logical step to take, now, and I honestly have the capacity to ignore that for what I'm here for (them interacting, period), but it was definitely jarring.

I will say though, I did like that this began because they sat down to have a genuine talk about it. That felt much more organic and in-character than the nonsense we got in season 2, with the screaming in public and whatnot. And it did a lot more to stress the lengths they've changed since the beginning of the series, letting them sit down and confess to each other nervously. Well, I'd have liked if it were significantly more nervous, personally.

The thing about their relationship is it is inherently fucked up, like. It is at the center of all of their problems. Kirino has a crippling obsession with "imouto eroge" and this stemmed from the fact that, from a VERY young age, she believed herself to be a freak who had improper and disgusting feelings for her older brother, and eroge was something she latched onto as an escape from that reality. Sure, it did end up just being plain her favorite thing, but it came from that place.

I think if there's one thing I'd credit the anime for, it's that she didn't admit to her feelings ever, not until the very end when it was absolutely undeniable that they were reciprocated. She was repressed for so long I truly don't believe there'd be a reality where she'd say it first. Kyousuke has his own daddy issues, but there's something to be said regardless of a guy who is otherwise pretty normal, but finds himself falling in love with his little sister, however estranged. He's pretty fucked up, himself. Although I wish he hadn't screamed it in the center of the street at the top of his lungs in the most soulless loss for his character ever, I think the only way for them to actually move forward in a relationship would be for him to come to terms with it and say something first, however long a process that may or may not be.

I love the scenario the game poses where their relationship starts to take a "maybe I'll invite her out, just the two of us" turn, and she actually agrees instead of being flat out disgusted and disparaging. Sure, the beach was a little random and the game could have picked a better excuse than "idk why im inviting her to the beach it's almost like i got her route in a video game", but like. Idk, I like it when they interact, it feels natural for the most part. The game feels really good when you scoop out those little moments of "we're not siblings actually we're just a boy and a girl and it's natural".

Even just this scene post-confession, if I were to pretend that part had happened a different way, the banter over how they're gonna continue as a couple is pretty cute and in character.

I'm rambling about all of this not like to bitch I just have so many feelings and things I like and don't like and there are parts that I'd mix and match between anime canon and game canon and things... it's kind of fun. All in all I'd say this feels like an extremely well-written (and well-voiced) fanfiction. I'd accept these things in a fanfiction and move on, just as I'm gonna do for the game, but since it's official I get to be a freak on the internet and write paragraphs about it jhfhjsg

I am ultimately of the opinion that them being blood-related is the better story, it says more about their flaws and their personalities, and tbh I'm a sucker for characters who shouldn't be in love falling in love. Especially when they're as lovingly crafted as the characters in oreimo are. This series really is something special, I think, and it's kind of impossible to describe that to someone who hasn't seen it and just knows it for its reputation as "the anime where the brother and sister get married and kiss on the mouth at the end", which I guess is all anyone was gonna get from season 2

I rambled so long that I don't even have time to continue playing past their confession!! Now I have to go to sleep, but continue I shall soon, because... I love them...

[synonymouswithanonymous]

It's funny that certain "fans" of a certain actor claim that she's (his gf) a problem, his family likes her, his friends like her, her family likes/loves him and her, her friends like her, coworkers like her, what makes people on the outside of their relationship actually think they know better than anyone who actually knows her? Or better than people in said relationship? Do people not understand that they don't know them in a real way? We see clips, a few seconds long, they see each other way more. Maybe every day and night. They've worked together twice now. They probably know each other inside and out by now. Bc that's how relationships work, after a while you can read each other like a book.

Love isn't blind, it's "O no, it is an ever-fixèd mark, That looks on tempests and is never shaken." Shakespeare

Do people on the internet think, really think, they know or see better than all those other people? Everyone that knows her is wrong and they know better? Some are dead serious in they really believe they can see a stranger, to us all, better than those that really know her in real life. Tell me you're delusional without telling me you're delusional.

Why would he find her or her posts embarrassing? He's clearly not embarrassed by her, or mad at what she posts BC he took most of the pics of her, in Paris, and sent them to her phone, then she posted them. And he posts her too. They're mostly private. It's not like we see them every day, or hour by hour, min by min.

And what's with this trend of people calling everyone they don't like a toxic narcissist? As if you can really diagnose someone you've never met? Never had sessions with, let alone a conversation or any in person contact. Bc you can't legitimately. It takes away the credibility of anyone who actually suffers from such people bc of people just wanting to use it as a slur against people they don't even know.

And now people are calling his mom toxic too, bc she's a supportive mom that actually likes his girlfriend openly in public? She's toxic bc she doesn't fall into line with certain people's opinions of his GF? What the hell? The lack of common sense, decency and introspection is appalling to me.

There's a reason he liked a post calling some fans insufferable, the reason being it's true. Some really are insufferable.

PS I wish I had a sticker of my guy's name for my computer or phone. May have to order one. Shame stickers don't last long. I think it's cute. We do have multiple Christmas ornaments with both our names on the little people though. 😊😊

[skepticalarrie]

Can I be honest? As a football fan ( who's also a queer woman btw ) it's quite sad on how Louis isn't tweeting about the World Cup, some people here with LITTLE knowledge of what FIFA does and made a literal discourse on why Louis shouldn't tweet about the WC like it's one of the biggest problem in the world. The fact that England won and how they play is quite great GOD I WISH TO HEAR LOUIS' EXCITEMENT AND COMMENTARY ON THAT, like babes, Louis is JUST supporting England, not the whole movement of what Qatar is doing and two, some takes people said about the WC was so Xenophobic in so many ways and I swear- the fact Harry was also watching the WC and what happened 🦗🦗🦗🦗🦗🦗, like there's no day that this fandom wouldnt hate Louis for being Louis and it shows, quite sad actually in so many ways. The fact some of them who said he's a toxic masculine person and hated him for tweeting about England had the audacity to say "I miss Louis 🥺" like babes stfu. Really hoping that Louis isnt tweeting because of the amount of stupidty some people enforced him to do.

Hey, anon! I agree with a lot of what you said there and I very much respect your opinion. I think there are a lot of issues concerning the world cup this year (I mean... there always is, but this year specifically the human rights discussion is very relevant). There are 1000% a lot of xenophobic takes and I absolutely understand where you're coming from because I've seen some shit that left me baffled, it's unbelievable.

I'm not into football myself but since I come from a country where football is such a massive cultural identity, I really tried to educate myself (and I'm still trying, so if anyone wants to talk about it my DMs are always open) about all the shit that was going down in Qatar. I think a lot of things are just heartbreaking and should be dealt with empathy and sensitivity. For me, it has been important to be vocal about it and to support the things I personally believe as a human being. So if I were Louis, I'd probably choose to comment on that, maybe very vaguely, but I don't think he's indifferent to any of it and I do think he has a lot of opinions about it. And it's just his cup of tea, so that would be a good opportunity. But since he didn't say anything we obviously think differently and I mean- that's fine, I'm sure he has his reasons, I still think he's a good guy. But again, that's what I would do. Which is different from what he *SHOULD* do, and that's the bottom line for me. I'm going to say he needs to shut the fuck up about football at any time of the day because he's super obnoxious 😂 because England is not going to win, because I don't like football, because it's hilarious how much he stresses over it! But like, come on.... actually thinking I'm entitled to say what he should or should not be doing sounds absolutely insane to me. He can do whatever he wants to do.

There are a few corners of the internet these days (especially twitter) that ppl don't know how to suck it up, so they think they can tell people what they should or shouldn't post, what they should or shouldn't talk about. And I'm sorry but I can't interpret that any other way than targeted harassment, oppression... it's so mindblowing on so many levels. So, like I said, although I would deal with it differently, I was shocked when I saw the comments under his tweets and people were dead serious saying he needed to stop tweeting. So I'm not surprised he's not tweeting about it. I'm not going to pretend I'm sad about the lack of "it's coming home" but yeah... it's for all the wrong reasons and it really sucks! So I imagine that since you're a football fan you're probably a hundred times more frustrated. It sucks. People suck.

[what-even-is-thiss]

Changing people's minds on major things is actually a very long and difficult process for both parties. I didn't actually believe that pedestrian-centric city design would be better for people that drive cars until I spent almost a year living without a car and watched hours of youtube videos explaining the issue to me. Turns out that traffic actually does go down and driving does become more pleasant if you make it harder to drive a car and easier to walk. I just straight-up refused to believe that for years. Because people just talked about it like it was obvious. But it wasn't. Because I had spent my whole life in a car-centric city going around in a car and also I was an English major in college who did not study urban planning. You can't expect me to change my entire mindset around transportation all at once. I did reach a eureka moment like two weeks ago but that was after like three years of getting exposed to these ideas periodically and living without a car for 11 months.

And yeah this post is about my big dumb animal brain accepting the science behind narrow roads and the evils of certain types of zoning laws, but it's also about stuff in general. If you don't know why someone isn't changing their mind on something, it's probably because the information they're getting hasn't reached a critical mass in their monkey brain yet. Whenever you hear stories about people changing their minds on things or leaving a certain ideology the story never goes "A person on the internet did a slam dunk on me and then I changed my mind."

It's usually a long process that happens over the course of months or years. Seeds planted here and there that coalesce eventually into a new thought or ideology over the course of years or snap together or send someone down a new path after a certain event. Same with me about pedestrian-centric cities. For me the tipping point was finding this video, which isn't necessarily super special or the best and the guy who runs the channel, in my opinion, isn't the most qualified or the most sympathetic towards every city in every situation, but it was the feather that tipped the scales in my brain to "Oh, wait. Maybe everything I thought I knew about how cities work is wrong actually." But that video alone didn't change my mind. With the amount of stuff and people that have gradually and gently been giving me information over the past couple years, something else was bound to eventually change my mind.

People on Tumblr yelling about abolishing the car, if anything, slowed down me changing my mind. Every time I saw a person saying that driving cars is stupid and that cars are bad I took a step back into my old way of thinking in defense. Because I grew up only ever using a car to get around. Rhetoric like that felt like a direct attack on my family, who I know to be loving people who care about other human beings and who drive cars literally everywhere.

And you might say, posts and videos like that aren't actually an attack on people that drive or have to drive. Okay then. Why are they phrased like that? Because that makes you feel good? Because you're angry? Alright, your anger at how it's currently impossible to get around if you don't own a car and how people who don't actually want to drive are being forced to drive is reasonable. And now I understand why it exists. I'm kind of angry too now that I get how this stuff works. However, is calling the people you're trying to convince stupid to their face and immediately bombarding them with your most radical ideas that might be completely detached from their reality and how they understand the world really the most productive way to channel your anger?

What about a guy with a knee problem that lives in rural Appalachia? Do you think he is gonna be convinced by your angry rants about bike lanes? No. He lives on a mountain that he can't climb or bike up because he's disabled and has only ever known getting around in a car. What about a person who overheats easily living in a suburb in the middle of the desert? Do you think she is inspired by your green lush pictures of trolleys running through parks in The Netherlands? No. If she leaves her house for too long without ice water she could literally die and you're going on about getting rid of, in her mind, the only thing that lets her go to the grocery store and not faint.

And again, this post is about my inability to comprehend walkable cities, but it's also about everything else you might ever want to convince someone of. The way you talk about things with your in-group that knows exactly what you're talking about should not be the same way you talk about that thing with people that you're genuinely trying to convince of something.

[tamelee]

Hi:) saw your art on Twitter it's really breathtaking. Apart from that I also saw you ship a lot for sns and do really support them more than most of the shippers. But here is a opinion I had, you guys believe sauske and naruto should be together as a couple. It's not a wrong thing to be gay as it's 2022 xD. But kisimoto doesn't state they are gay Or sauske love Naruto sexually and vice versa. I mean Naruto and Sasuke’s relationship is based off of Kishimoto and his twin’s relationship. He has a twin brother whom he’s very close to, and who he says he shares pain with - not in a literal sense, but in the sense that if his twin is in pain and he knows this, he also suffers pain emotionally. Naruto and Sasuke’s brotherly bond is written to emulate that. If he wrote Naruto and Sasuke romantically, that would be turning his feelings for his twin into romantic/sexual feelings. I think you can see why he didn’t want to do that, and why he repeatedly underlined that they were brothers.Naruto called Sasuke his brother as far back as Final Valley. He did it again when confronting Itachi before Itachi’s death.

Romance was never on the table.

I am honestly confused how some people equate a brotherly bond into a romantic one. 🥴

It’s important to note that in Kishimoto’s story, a bunch of people tried to sway him from his plans (like doing Narusaku) but overall, he has always stayed on tracked on how he wanted the characters to end.

P.S. I know there is not really LGBTQ+ representation in anime but forming baseless assumptions does not help, especially if the author already conveyed their ideals. :) if author didn't create this universe our childhood would be dead. Arguing with author, well doesn't make sense does it.

Also before people say (but kishi was going to make them before), send me proof of him stating that, I will wait, I have literally searched it up, and I can’t find it.

Anyways, Naruto and hinata are suppose to be together, heck, it was hinted on SINCE THE START, it's a fact.

Ah, either way, they’re straight, its official, Naruto and Sasuke are just, beyond a brotherly bond, Im not saying its gay (of course not) but it is a very tight brotherly bond, even though by blood, they are far from brothers. We can't rewrite the story anyway because it's already been published and ended with hinata with naruto , sauske with sakura.

Either I respect your opinion on the ship and definitely love your work. Hope you are all well mate.

Hey @wingedluminaryfox !

Thankyou! I’m happy to hear you like my art *-* I appreciate it 🙏🏻

It may surprise you, but we agree on a lot of things!

Of course, I can’t talk for everyone so if anyone wants to follow up on this post feel free to do so.

[Long post ahead, read when you have time ✨]

 “It's not a wrong thing to be gay as it's 2022 xD. “

Naturally! Naruto the character exists since 1997 (Sasuke 1999), it wasn’t wrong back then either of course.

"Also before people say (but kishi was going to make them before), send me proof of him stating that, I will wait, I have literally searched it up, and I can’t find it.” 

No one is saying that. Fortunately, with the complete story accessible to everyone with access to the internet, we don’t have to rely on interviews, data-books or non-Canonical novels, movies and filler episodes to base our fundamental conclusion on, which is SNS, wouldn’t that be absolutely silly? 

I assume you read/seen Naruto, right? So, no need to look further! 

(And do yourself a favor.. don’t simply Google things. I’ve been there.)

“But kisimoto doesn't state they are gay Or sauske love Naruto sexually and vice versa."

He didn’t, I agree! At least not to my knowledge, I don’t know him personally. And neither did I (or did I see anyone) say that either. 

Okay just for fun - Imagine this with me, just for a second. 

We have a Mangaka that uses a Visual Medium that primarily relies on components like spacing, lines, shapes, tones, contrast, rhythm, composition etc- to effectively convey things like moods and emotions and with that utilize important relationships within that story structure, agree? 

Naruto is a visual blend that has become one of the most successful manga in the world in which Kishimoto is the director and staff (screenwriter, cinematographer, costume designer, director, art director, actors, props, set pieces, special effects, makeup) all by himself while creating the story (in all its glory) and carefully draws the pages which then go by the extremely meticulous editors from WSJ every week.

And you say that he, Kishimoto, a visual storyteller, has to “state”.. as in express in words, in some interview, how a character feels after the whole story is over, because we didn’t understand? He couldn’t fit it in? There was no time? His favorite pancake shop had a free delivery deal and that took priority?  

Embarrassing. 

If anything, I think we understood it well enough ;)

"I mean Naruto and Sasuke’s relationship is based off of Kishimoto and his twin’s relationship. He has a twin brother whom he’s very close to, and who he says he shares pain with - not in a literal sense, but in the sense that if his twin is in pain and he knows this, he also suffers pain emotionally. Naruto and Sasuke’s brotherly bond is written to emulate that." 

Oh?

You sound like you know him personally. Kishimoto has said a lot of things in interviews, one thing more contradicting than the other. There are a multitude of “interviews” going around, more often than not without sources and yet, even in favor of SNS, I wouldn’t use them in an argument. Especially in later interviews the man seemed to have forgotten what he had said in another- now… why would it be so quiet? 

Interviews are not valid arguments (imo), but I’ll entertain you since I know which interview you’re talking about. 

Funnily enough, when you look for it, mainly SS pages come up seemingly in a very desperate attempt to push the whole “SNS are brothers”-scheme under everyone’s noses. 

Which is even more funny, no? If the strength of faith in their ships were completely rock solid, surely they would have been able to dismiss contrasting information with a pitying smile. Or might not even feel offended at all.

But when I say desperate.. I mean, desperate.. 

This is just one account and it is full of posts like this that go from “oh they’re brothers, aw, uwu, so cute :3” to very aggressive nonsense that proves these posts are only meant to emphasize on the “brother”-part in the first place. Not caring about Naruto or Sasuke AT ALL. Taking a tiny excerpt from a whole interview and completely milking it as much as possible.

If that is of more importance than intellectual content.. like.. I dunno, for example.. the whole story of Naruto(!?) then that just means, for what it looks like, resentment, anger and hurt pride.. why exactly?

When you can’t even hold a rational discussion anymore, because a contrary view causes you to step on a minefield of emotional responses and you have to preach to 35k+ people that your ship LOVES each other, because “I found a written sentence online so it must be true and you have to believe me✌🏼”.. then what does that imply? 

"I am honestly confused how some people equate a brotherly bond into a romantic one. 🥴”

Yeah no wonder.. man, if this is the kind of shit you’re reading (and I don’t know, but these are the kind of results one gets by “Googling”) then I don’t blame you at all @wingedluminaryfox ! 

Well the interview with Kishimoto was from “Entermix Magazine” 2014. You can read more about it >>HERE<<

If the translations are correct then he didn’t say Naruto and Sasuke have a “brotherly bond”. He said their friendship is modeled after the one he felt with his brother. Which is feeling the pain of the other. And that love/bond feeling and friendship for him is the same. It wasn’t necessarily about his brother. There is a difference in context there. 

Besides, he also has said that he couldn’t “put in words” what their relationship is and how hard that is for him to describe. He dodged that question several times too. But sure, hold on to that, I guess. He’s an artist, creator, author.. surely he would know and surely such questions aren’t needed, but hey, here we are. 

(Also.. “everything doesn’t always go as planned”, aye?) 

"If he wrote Naruto and Sasuke romantically, that would be turning his feelings for his twin into romantic/sexual feelings. I think you can see why he didn’t want to do that- "

Saying that Naruto and Sasuke loving each other romantically is the same as then forcing the idea that the author feels sexually attracted to his twin is comically outrageous. Can you at least, for once, agree with me?   

Which is also why, luckily, there is a very clear and distinctive difference in how Sasuke treats his brother and how he treats Naruto.. or you know, anyone for that matter. 

"and why he repeatedly underlined that they were brothers.Naruto called Sasuke his brother as far back as Final Valley. He did it again when confronting Itachi before Itachi’s death.” 

Now, this is where I’ll disagree with you. Please go back to VotE1 and count the number of times they call each other ‘friend’. (This includes side-notes.) No, I’m serious.

SNS naysayers love to use this here:  

And are delighted to call this proof of them seeing each other as brothers.. and yet, that’s not at all what is happening. Let’s talk about the context. 

Sasuke never acknowledges Naruto being his brother or feeling like he is his brother OR his bond with Naruto feeling “brotherly”. (Where do “you guys” (your words) even get this from anyway?)

The only reason Naruto brings it up here is because he was wondering if being with Sasuke was what it would feel like to have a brother, because he obviously felt something. Yet, as they both acknowledge, Naruto never had such bonds, so he wouldn’t know, but Sasuke does since he has/had Itachi. (And grew up with a family.) Therefore he doesn’t answer to that, yet calls Naruto his closest friend.  

“It wasn’t all meaningless. To me you have become my closest friend.”

Note in manga: Important bond

Naruto questions Sasuke's choice of words. Why? Well, for one, they're fighting and Sasuke is seemingly trying to kill him here, but also hearing Sasuke say this made Naruto even more confused.

“I have to make sure.. what Sasuke’s talking about.. about me..” (Naruto doing everything he can to try and understand.)

“How are we friends?”

“I don’t understand.”

“But if..”

“Maybe I thought..”

Naruto in VotE1 is so confused. (Can we blame him?) The whole fight includes Naruto’s confessions about Sasuke, what he initially thought and felt to then: “I aspired to be like you” “I always wanted to be like you” “I was truly glad you acknowledged me” “I wanted to talk to you”. Him saying “when I’m with you I wonder if it’s like being with a brother”, followed up with mutual silence makes a lot of sense if you take everything into consideration and not just copy/paste one panel so you can say: “See? Brothers.” Because that is not what it is. But then again, I’ve read enough pro-canon posts to not be surprised. 

(This includes Naruto wondering whether being with Iruka is what it would feel like to be with a father.) 

((And if you really, REALLY want to be picky and hold on to the little cut taken out of some ‘Kishimoto interview’-theory, then remember these details, because Naruto is a child here. And if there is anything Naruto has done throughout the story then it is doing his best to try and understand. This includes himself.)) 

Anyway, here are posts from wonderful people in our fandom who can explain it way better than I ever could: Here, here, here and here. Bonus: here.

If I had the time and I wouldn’t scare people away from my blog with it, I would type endlessly about VotE1 & 2 and how insanely accurate the details are when it comes to them ‘growing up’. How they really have gone from A to B physically, but especially mentally. 

In particular, the childish way in which Naruto is arguing with Sasuke in VotE1. Gosh, the people who are complaining about him and how “pushy” he is and that he “doesn’t understand Sasuke” and blablabla.. yes!! That is the point!!! And that is what is so beautiful about it, because it comes from a heart that tries to reach out to Sasuke in order to protect. To protect a bond, to protect someone that is precious to him (as is established in LoW-Arc). Naruto knew what "going to Orochimaru (of all people.. snake.. being(?))" would mean for Sasuke. He was scared for him.

"You might get killed! I can't let you go somewhere like that!"

(NarUtO nEvEr caRed fOr sAsuKe. Stfu.)

In no other anime or any other medium are two characters this focussed on each other calling each other friend this many times as if we as an audience perhaps would forget or something. (As if.) Neither is Sasuke satisfied with that word, but we’ll let that slide for now.

Yet on one single occasion Naruto felt the need to say: “He’s like a brother to me.” 

Uhm?!

“More of a brother than he ever was to you!”

Ah see, now it makes sense. I mean at this point we’re already aware of Naruto’s personality and his intense care towards Sasuke, no?

Even Itachi himself says so. 

Itachi isn’t stupid by any means. In fact, if you go back to this scene Kishimoto made sure to draw several panels of him with just a “knowing look”. 

“You just said.. 

“I’m asking what you’d do if your “brother” attacked Konoha.” Now why couldn’t he say something like: “I’m asking what you’d do if Sasuke attacked Konoha?” Itachi is not a petty person. He’s trying to illustrate to himself, but Naruto even, what Sasuke truly means to this blonde dude that fights tooth and nail for his little brother. 

“What is it about my brother that makes you care so much?” 

Itachi keeps questioning Naruto, his intentions are too obvious if you’re willing to look beyond a hetero biased shipping lens. (If only.)

(Also, I personally always found it interesting that Itachi never asked "why are you doing this?", "why are you doing this for Sasuke?" or something similar. Could be that I have wrong translations though (let me know!), but "what is it about my brother" Really?)

Yeah its all so very hetero.

This is just another case of “he said the word brother so they’re brothers” without taking in the whole scene. Or the whole story for that matter, because in literally any other scene Naruto is screaming, begging and pining over his friend Sasuke. (And the amount of unfinished sentences in this manga are killing me.) 

And boy does it all look so friendly.

"Romance was never on the table."

Undoubtedly Kishimoto wrote a love story even if you don’t see it as ‘romance’ necessarily. If the journey between these two characters is described as anything other than “love”, again, take it how it resonates for you, then that’s quite ignorant. You’ll have to completely ignore the author’s intent and complete substance that essentially is “Naruto”. Why make it so boring for yourself? 

But anyway, yes, it’s Shonen Manga “cool battles between the hero and monsters and they win through the power of friendship!”. At least.. it’s supposed to be. On a surface level. Can we not disrespect the story and Kishimoto like that? Thank you.   

"Anyways, Naruto and hinata are suppose to be together, heck, it was hinted on SINCE THE START, it's a fact."

Didn’t you just say “romance was never on the table?”. A little contradicting, no?

Besides, if I were you I would fact-check those so-called hints. I would LOVE to know more about them since I can’t recall any. If you’re hellbent on defending NH/Hinata though be my guest and stick around. I’ll have a post for that coming soon. Glad you shared with us which hints these are btw, lemme guess: little, sweet Hinata has always been there for Naruto, right? Supported him from the deep, dark shadows of trauma that has become her favorite hiding place: behind a tree. And that earns her the right to become his wife, because that’s all that matters. Who cares how Naruto feels anyway. “Female empowerment!” Yay~ Or just because Hinata is seen in a sketch with a necklace that holds the Uzumaki symbol somehow that should overshadow 699 chapters of story substance, because look. at. that. necklace. Except, everyone with a flak jacket is wearing the Uzumaki symbol and since everyone is Uzumaki family now does that mean Naruto is fucking the whole damn village?

Dunno, for the sake of “NH logic”, I’m just asking.

Yes, pure love.

(Naruto wore the Uchiha symbol on a robe in an illustration though, omgosh!! Foreshadowing!!! ITS A FACT.) :')

"It’s important to note that in Kishimoto’s story, a bunch of people tried to sway him from his plans (like doing Narusaku) but overall, he has always stayed on tracked on how he wanted the characters to end."

And by this you mean “the couples”? But “romance was never on the table”, right? 

Again, do you know him personally? I’m really starting to wonder if you do. I mean, what else could possibly be your source? 

Luckily for you again I have one. In the interview with Jo Otsuki (editor of WSJ) >>here << (btw, this interview is also full of contradictions, so don’t take any of it too seriously) “fans (not stated how many or to what degree) wanted Naruto to end up with Sakura” as did “quite a few of the female staff at Studio Pierrot”. 

This literally says nothing. 

Nothing at all. 

Unless you have a better, more reliable source, like Kishimoto himself, be my guest. 

"forming baseless assumptions does not help, especially if the author already conveyed their ideals. :) if author didn't create this universe our childhood would be dead. Arguing with author, well doesn't make sense does it."

Now you’re just mocking me and I’m not here for it. Especially since you haven’t been specific with anything at all. “Arguing with the author.” Is that what you’re insinuating that I’m doing? How?

By reading his story intently? Falling in love with the characters, the parallels, the work that went into every single detail and picking up on them? Smiling to myself at the insane things Naruto and Sasuke say to each other? Understanding the things I see? The emotions, implications and meaning of what is visualized canonically? 

In fact, I’m quite aware that I’m kissing Kishimoto’s ass more than I should. (Hey, he’s inspiring to me, I’m kissing anyone’s ass who inspires me. Run.) 

Do you even realize what you’re saying? 

No, really. Do you truly understand what it is that you’re accusing me of here? (Except for: “You say they gay.” “I say nay.”)

And that without any evidence at all. Doesn't make sense, does it?

"Ah, either way, they’re straight, its official, Naruto and Sasuke are just, beyond a brotherly bond, Im not saying its gay (of course not) but it is a very tight brotherly bond, even though by blood, they are far from brothers. We can't rewrite the story anyway because it's already been published and ended with hinata with naruto , sauske with sakura."

That's a lengthy way of saying: "NH/SS are canon."

Yes.

So?

The clouds are in the sky, fire is hot, wood is hard, water is wet and you sound homophobic as hell. 

“(Of course not)” OF COURSE. How dare we. It’s like saying: “I’m okay with you thinking they are, but keep it to yourself. I want nothing to do with it.” 

A man who uses his real life experiences and relationships that evoked emotions within himself that he used as an example to express within the characters he cares so deeply about I’ll take any day while certain others willingly pluck out of thin air half-assed after-the-fact “statements” that hold no expressive significance whatsoever to satisfy their skimpy ships. 

In which case, I’ll agree for one last time. What we consider quality within a story or within a development between two characters in order to give it meaning is different from yours. What we prioritize, you might not even reflect upon. 

We simply have different values. 

And that’s okay. 

I hope you’re well too and have a nice day. 

[thetravelingmaster]

Anonymity - Shield or Weapon?

The most common thing among us in this community is Anonymity. We all use it to some degree when indulging our Kinks. Our first and foremost reason to do it is, of course, to keep us safe as we explore this strange and for some, embarrassing kinky world of non conventional arousal. The internet is a heaven for everyone to learn and explore ANYTHING their hearts may find desirable.

Are identities aren't needed to indulge and discover new things about ourselves. You can call yourself Jack, Jill, Fran or Hornybabyslut. It doesn't matter. It helps create a sense of security that enables you to dive into what ever kink you feel you can't indulge in your every day life.

And even if you can indulge IRL and are fully accepted as the kinkster that you are, Anonymity affords you a a free shield for you to protect your wonderful life from the dark and ill intentioned predators constantly surfing the World Wide Web for prey.

Anonymity isn't bad at all. It's recommended.

Exploring and enjoying our different kinks can lead you to wonderful and emotional places. Places you may not go if you couldn't be someone else.

Anonymity is a perfect and accepted shield we all carry.

But it doesn't mean you can't be yourself. It doesn't mean you can't be honest and true with yourself and the people you engage with.

You can call yourself Gina64 and be a full on kinky bimbo slut that talks and acts so dumb and dirty that the people you engage with online think you are nothing more. If that is your way to explore and escape, there is nothing wrong with that. You can become anyone you wish once you fire up your phone or your computer.

That is the beauty of this wonderful and dark internet.

When all is said and done, Gina64 is just a persona you try on. She may or may not have the same beliefs as you promote in your every day life. That's perfectly fine.

Anonymity offers that possibility. That safety...

However...

Anonymity can also be a weapon.

That same safety can protect the bad people that are looking to take advantage of others.

Just like a sword, it can be used to defend and protect as well as divide and conquer. It all depends on who wields it and what they choose to do with the sword in their hands.

My point is very simple: Anonymity doesn't half to mean that you can be 100% yourself.

For the purpose of this post, I'm going to exclude the people that come here to become someone else. It can be a very therapeutic and I definitely not saying that being a completely different person online is wrong in anyway.

Well not in itself...

And that's what I mean. You can play at being fun and fluffy or dark and brooding, what ever fills your cup of tea. As long as you are being honest with yourself about why you are doing it.

The problem I have tonight as I write these lines is when the kink in question involves hypnosis. Not fun roleplaying, but REAL hypnosis and subsequent play.

You have to be very honest and open to engage in that sort of kink and Anonymity can offer you that safe space to indulge from.

BUT ANONYMITY DOESN'T MEAN YOU ARE BEING DISHONEST.

Being dishonest has nothing to do with anonymity and here is an example of what I mean. Say Our Gina64 is into hypnosis. Say she searches out potential erotic hypnotists online to explore and indulge that itch. She can call herself Gina64 and be a dude. It doesn't really matter as long as you are being honest and about the level of things you wish to reveal to the hypnotist.

If you are being honest with yourself and the person you are engaging with, no harm no foul.

But say that Gina64 doesn't want to reveal that he is in fact a guy. It could be fine if the hypnotist doesn't care. But what if the reason you are engaging in hypnosis is to experience erotic hypnosis? And that Gina64 leads the hypnotist on being saying again and again that they are a girl. For all of us, erotic hypnosis in our Kink community is arousing and erotic for both parties. So a hypnotist that decides to engage and offer erotic hypnosis to Gina64 while under the impression that he is a she when in fact they are a HE...

Well... That can create confusing and even dangerous things down the road. If the connection develops and more and more the hypnotist is made to believe in this falsehood, then it creates an invisible rift between them. A very dishonest rift...

A rift that can actually hurt... Especially if the hypnosis kink also includes flavours of Domination and submission. We all know and understand that D/s play can stir up incredibly powerful emotions. As the lies pile on to covert up more lies, the cycle becomes deeper and darker with every dishonest reply.

Until Gina64 finds himself in a position where the lies have boxed him in and he has to bail out instead of admitting to everything he led the hypnotist to believe and experience.

And I'm not even going to talk about people who create elaborate and complex fake personas to actively catfish people...

I'm not saying that all people who indulge in hypnokink and D/s play should always reveal everything about themselves, far from it.

What I'm saying is that you just have to be HONEST as to what type of person you are and what you want to experience. Our community can be very open minded. It's the very nature of our kink.

And anonymity provides the perfect way to be 100% true to yourself without fear or worries.

To properly demonstrate how one can be completely anonymous and still be incredibly honest, I'm going to talk about friend @qu1etsleep.

Theo is an incredible human being and hypnotist that is, like me, adamant about keeping his online life separate from his offline life. He doesn't shy away from telling anyone who contacts him that Theo isn't his real name and that there is no respectful way in hell that you'll ever get a glimpse or a clue as to who he really is.

His Anonymity is a shield meant to keep the lines clear between his hobby and his life. We all do that in some form or another.

I might not know Theo's true name and identity, but I do know that if I were to ever sit in a cafe somewhere and end up chatting with the man behind the blog, then those 2 persons would be identical.

I'd have the same exact conversations and learn about all the exact same opinions Theo and the man in front of me share.

Because even though his name has changed, he will still be the same person. he just changed out his name tag. Nothing else changed.

Theo is authentic with himself and with everyone that takes the time to talk with him. His Anonymity doesn't affect or change that at all. It just offers him the same safety we all crave.

This authenticity is what makes him, in my humble opinion, a terrific and accomplished 'amateur' hypnotist. Make no mistake, he is no rookie and he WILL drop you if the rapport is there. Authentic and Anonymous...

That is what this community needs above all else.

Some of you MIGHT just understand why I'm ranting about all this tonight, and you would be right. I've felt the sting of this double edged sword and it took others to help me see just how far down the fake rabbit hole I had been led into.

But now I'm out, dusting off the creepiness of the experience and moving on.

So by all means, soak yourselves in Anonymity until people in our kink community aren't even sure who you are...

But BE HONEST. And if you do, I think you'll find even more incredible people and exquisite experiences to be had. You'd be surprised how much someone can accept and understand.

As a point of fact, if the person you are trying to let into your mind isn't opened minded enough to accept your own authenticity, then perhaps you should seriously rethink the fact that you are giving them the keys to your mental palace.

There is no gain from being dishonest and stringing people along.

Unless that is the pleasure you are seeking here... If that is the case, then maybe you should start understanding that you are no better than a full blown predator.

And that is something our community needs the least of all.

We are all searching and indulging ourselves in our forbidden and delicious kinks, there is nothing wrong with that.

Enjoy your safe and secure anonymity, but do it responsibly and above all, do it while being honest with yourself and others.

[kuronokiseki]

A Few Years Had Passed, the BL Genre has Changed Alot... Yet I Still Love Romantica

But seriously, if you love something, is it necessary to have a reason? xD Can't I love something merely because I want to? Like, you don't need to have a reason to like fried chicken amirite?

Ahem. Anyway. Long post ahead.

First of all, it's merely because of a certain shot.

After seeing this for the first time, I was like "This is going to be one of my faves for sure. I'll enjoy every seconds of it. I believe this is a story that I will never forget. I'll constantly look forward to knowing the two and their story more and more."

Proud to say, this still rings true even now!

I have already listed the reasons why I love them so much, so I won't do it again in this post. But for this time, I'll explain why I still love them even after several years, even after I've transitioned from a teen to an adult which would affect my tastes over time, even after I've seen more BL works... even after knowing that there are things that other BLs managed to pull off better.

Flashbacks to the 2000s which I assume was the golden age of this series, where it was the only "watchable" BL anime back then and Sakurai Takahiro did a phenomenal job in portraying Misaki. Almost all of the fujos in internet would at least have heard of this series, and naturally it was massively beloved that 90% of the fujos would hold it as the no. 1 in their top BL list. However, since it is popular, of course there will be a fraction of people who strongly hate it because of a certain scene. Hence, citing it as the epitome of toxic BL lmao.

But of course, things will constantly change as time passed, just like how it's growing evident that BL is only consumed by cishet women is a huge myth, as queer men themselves have started to voice their love towards the genre as well. And it is also possible for ppl who aren't interested in men to enjoy BL, such as the straight guys, lesbians, and asexuals.

Likewise, BL itself is also evolving - newer ones are more aware about the idea of consent although some may still clueless of how healthy relationships work (relationship is more than just sex!). While this may sound subjective, technically there are more and more quality BL works to consume nowadays. In case you are bored with the slice-of-life BL, there is a plethora of fantasy and horror BL out there to choose, moreso when you're aware of webnovel sites like Syosetu. Isekai BL? They're out there.

And it isn't just from Japan, China and Korea are also capable of producing good BL as well. Even BL is getting praised for the more genuine M/M representation compared to how it's generally done in the West (coughcough performative diversity coughcough).

And it doesn't stop there. The series doesn't even need to have a BL label, the MC can still be gay, and the gay romance can still happen despite the plot not centering around that.

There should be no reason to think that it isn't possible for two men to fall for each other nowadays, the teases shouldn't amount to nothing, which alot of non-BLs were guilty of back then. Well, I'm talking abt series that would tease two male characters together but the creators will allow them to be anything but gay for each other. The only time you'd see them as canon gay is in doujins or fanfics.

Hence, you'd only get canon gay couples from series that have been labelled as BL. Luckily, it's no longer a reasonable thing to do in 2021 onwards.

So, thanks to this new golden era of BL or LGBTQA+ representation, since there are so many quality works to indulge yourself, the Junjou Romantica series is getting outdated. I believe alot of the new generation haven't even heard of it ahahaha. When compared to other BL, I'll admit that Junjou won't even fit to be the best or the worst. I'm not saying that Junjou is bad, but it's simply because there are so many BL works now compared to in 2000s. To the point I bet they would discover Junjou because of sheer luck.

Now, I'll get to the point. Why I still love Romantica through these years? Well, just because there are more and newer BLs, doesn't necessarily mean that it is better. While it's true that there are stuff that other BLs do better such as the plot, the characters, and the art, there's something that Romantica does better than others too, in my opinion. That is, Misaki and Akihiko's dynamic.

I love how Misaki and Akihiko are characters of their own whilst loving each other very much. In many BLs I've seen, the dynamic doesn't feel equal, where the MC is generally too busy to think about the ML most of the time (to those who are unfamiliar, it's referring to the main love interest), whereas the ML serves no other purpose to the story other than being the MC's love interest. In comparison, as the MC, Misaki's POV is always 90% USAGI-SAN USAGI-SAN USAGI-SAN in every chapter although he faces different problems every single time. As for Akihiko, yea he loves Misaki so much but his character arc isn't limited to that. As outdated as the series would be, this aspect of their relationship, will always be timeless to me.

I've grown to love them so much, that I'll get happy from merely seeing them. Yea I do understand that others will get disappointed of the slow and repetitive plot, the bad art, not to mention after waiting for months for the update, spending money to get it... but all I think when looking at new acts is "OMG it's my babies I miss them so much T-T".

So yea, that's it. I don't ask much, I just want to see Misaki and Akihiko, and nothing more.

[i-need-air]

King & Queen. – Bakugou Katsuki x F!Reader.

Summary: Fluff, Baku being extra while confessing, social media shenanigans.

Word count: 1784.

It's 4 AM, I'm a mess but I needed to get this off my chest. I'm testing the waters with my writings, it's been forever since I wrote anything and I wanted to throw myself a little bit into the fandom I've been obsessed with for the past months. I do hope you enjoy it. ♥

Bakugou Katsuki took pride in having such a large following online. Ever since the first year UA Sports Festival, both his Twitter and Instagram accounts got thousands and thousands of followers, mostly crushing over him and others just hating on him, and in both ways he loved the attention.

The Aesthetics™ he had were always on point and his Twitter was just filled with one sentence tweets, re-tweets of famous heroes, a somewhat dry, dark and/or sarcastic meme from time to time, only and only if it fit (again) his aesthetics. Sometimes he'd engage with the Bakusquad, specially Kaminari and Mina, both very active users, and [Y/N], answering to her tweets with a one word roast and little more.

After the second year UA Sports Festival though? His social media reached the 100k mark, skyrocketing into a small celebrity as he won the first place for two years in a row. But what made him reach such a large number was the way he won. Their battle for the first place was insane, such a difference compared to what he had to deal with Todoroki in the past. [Y/N] put an amazing fight, there's no doubt to that, but the woman overused her quirk and he knew her weakness, mostly since he sometimes (rarely, almost never, pft) observed her train with Icy-Hot or Deku. It was a spectacle to watch and it has even been televised for a whole week afterwards, critics applauding how promising UA's students were. And that's how it all started.

The shipping.

Images and even fucking edited music videos of their fight were everywhere. It was so obvious both of them enjoyed the fight, the little grins they shared as they attacked each other, the small comments both threw and the camera and mics everywhere picked, the look Bakugou Katsuki gave [Y/N] when she kicked his ass. Such an adoration, followed by his insane grin, ready for a challenge. The look [Y/N] gave him, as he took the first place medal with pride from Endeavor, thriving at the applauses from the public. Stars were put to shame compared to the sparks in her eyes. Oh, and the moment their orbs made contact exactly after that? The chemistry.

Bakuy/n was one of their names online, apart from variations of their hero names mixed together. The fandom was slowly picking up a name, mostly going with the first mentioned. And Katsuki? He was fucking aware of everything. Her social media was on radio silence, but this event made him think. Actually think, not half-ass an idea and just throw himself head on into it. And the conversation he overheard was just making him plot now.

Mina and [Y/N] were actually discussing this exact topic. The pink girl was thriving for it. Her Twitter account was now filled with subliminal messages about love and it made her poor friend anxious. Basically because this issue hasn't been addressed at all with Bakugou and she planned to keep it that way. Yet Mina, sweet, adorable, loving Mina was just pressing on it really badly, but thankfully she never did when both sides of Bakuy/n were in the same room/conversation.

"Isn't it like so romantic?" Mina's eyes shined, hands clapped, her gaze looking somewhere in the distance, daydreaming.

"No, it's not, it's weird..." her [h/c] haired friend answered, falling more into the couch of their living quarters, trying to hide from the world.

"It would be if it wasn't obvious you pin for each other!"

"Oh, god, please stop saying that."

"You're not denying it though!"

"MINA!"

Laughter coming from the pinkette filled the room as the blond man decided not to interrupt and leave, small grin on his face as [Y/N]'s groans just told him what he needed to hear. She definitely did not deny the attraction and whatever chemistry they had.

Which leads to the current situation.

The girl was sitting in the cafeteria, waiting for Ochaco and Mina to come around, phone in hand as she scrolled mindlessly through Twitter, watching as her most recent tweet, the first one in ages, was getting attention. She giggled at Denki's stupidity, as he just posted a selfie of himself drenched in Diet Coke clearly in the UA bathrooms. Checking his replies she saw the boy she's been [kinda, lowkey, just a lil bit] trying to avoid for the past days.

[@BakugouKatsuki:]

"Dumbass."

[@MissPinky:]

"So THAT'S WHY U NEEDED MINTS!?!!!!!?? 🤣

She giggled again, entertained by her friends when her interactions just exploded. App actually crashed as she blinked while munching on some french fries dumbly.

As she tried to open her app again, both her friends landed by the table, joking about Kaminari and his never ending stupidity. Notifications popped again and again, legit confusing the girl to no end, making her ignore her two friends as they asked her what was going on, mainly because of her expression.

"The hell...?" she muttered, throwing the phone down while Twitter took its sweet, sweet time to load and open and just as she opened her mouth to answer Mina, she made eye contact with some very intense red eyes.

Clasping her mouth shut and ignoring Ochaco as she took [Y/N]'s phone to see what's going on, the girl could only focus on Bakugou, sitting a few tables away, facing her direction. She almost shivered in place under the intensity he was giving away, although his position was laid back, phone in one hand, chin in the other. And, again, gaze on her. He barely even blinked, his neutral expression giving nothing away and she knew she was blushing. Why was she a blushing mess under his gaze? Well, answer was obvious for everyone, even the whole internet now, but oh, she wished Bakugou Katsuki wasn't that sharp. Who are we kidding though?

Ochaco started to shake her out of her daze, interrupting the intense eye contact battle as she shoved her phone in her face.

"Oh. My. God." She muttered, stuttering her following words "Please, look at this, I can't believe it... Mina, check Twitter."

"If Kaminari threw Diet Coke and Mints in one of the bathroom toilets to 'experiment', I'm done with him." Mina responded but froze in place, just as [Y/N] looked away from the explosive boy. "Wait... WAIT!" her eyes almost popped out of her skull. "WHAAAAAAA–?!"

On the screen of her phone was the profile of the guy she's been crushing for... A year now? The guy that at first ignored her, then screamed at her, then beat her ass in training, then got his ass beaten by her, that scoffed at her shitty jokes, that actually chuckled at her shitty jokes, that studied with her, that smiled at her... The guy that complimented her when her quick improved. The guy that took her opinion seriously even when acting like he didn't care. The guy that stole her heart when he showed little glimpses of his complex persona only to her. The guy that fucking retweeted:

[@onlybakuy/nhere:]

"King & Queen."

And a picture attached, them shaking hands after their battle, ready to go get prepared for the podium. Bloodied, sweaty, yet both smiling at each other.

"I can't believe this–[Y/N]–" The brunette started rambling and fangirling besides her, but... With a careful glance, she peeked under her eyelashes to look at the boy again, her heart almost stopping when noticing he was still observing, small grin on his face hidden behind his hand, perfectly angled for her to see. "There's another one!"

Everything started to make sense, as she quickly checked her notifications to see the Internet™ just going crazy over that retweet. People started mass-following her, fans and stans just living for it, tagging her username with a screenshot of the retweet and now it hyped up again with... pictures of his profile? Did he change his description? He... changed his description. While there was absolutely nothing in there, now there was one single word. King.

Her eyebrows just rose so high her forehead hurt, the 3 braincells that were still somehow functioning were catching up to what the hell was going on and now she was positive, 100%, without a doubt that she was blushing like a mad-woman, a smile forming on her lips as she hit the retweet button on the same tweet he did and instantly opening her profile to edit.

Both her friends were freaking out by her side, accusing her of being way too calm in this situation, to explain but [Y/N] knew she couldn't utter any word, or even look up at them or at him. If she did, she'd break the spell, the moment, and as she deleted her description and only wrote a single word in her profile, her smile only widened. Hearing Mina screech after seeing her retweet, the girl giggled like an idiot.

Bakugou Katsuki was loud, brash, maybe a little bit emotionally constipated, rough around the edges, incredibly smart, observing, caring, awful with words but straight to the point with actions. And he was, without a doubt, fucking extra when doing things.

As she pressed the button Save on her profile, she caught him looking at his phone, being patted on the back by Kirishima, that somehow appeared in the frame yet was so distant in her field of vision as only he mattered at the moment. Waiting his reaction patiently and waiting for the internet to start freaking out again, her chest was hurting from the drumming of her heart. Hell, she knew she looked like a disaster with a flushed face, phone gripped so hard in her hand that it could break, a group of girls forming around her, noisy yet so distant. The world going in slow motion, seeing his crimson eyes widen for a fraction of a second, hiding more of his face in the palm of his hand as he still tried to look so casual, Kirishima's "Yeaaaaaaaah!" filled her ears as he tapped his finger on the screen, destination already clear. And when he saw what he needed...

He got up, leaving his tray of food behind, shit-eating grin basically parting the sea of people forming around them both as he marched towards where she was seated, and for the third time they made eye contact. His cheeks flushed, such a boyish expression coveting his normally angry features, mischievous and happy, relieved, just... Perfect.

Everything went in slow motion for her, his march, decisive and bold, as he always was, took to an end as he got to her, just giving her a hand and a raised brow, inviting her to leave with him anywhere but there.

And she took it without hesitation.

[bbq-hawks-wings]

Different anon and I don't know about your interactions about mutuals a lot since I'm new to stuff but I think I see you interacting with other Hawks tumblrs and stuff and you guys seem to present things that are not to your liking as if they are wrong or beneath you. Like people can't create or enjoy different things. There's almost an automatic judgement. Like someone enjoying romantic Hawks stuff is wrong or shallow. I dunno. Sometimes you guys are very unwelcoming.

And now to address you.

Listen, if you are new to a blog, do not go chiming in on the slightest bit of discourse if you don't know everything going into it and then add on it.

Case in point: when Hawks first appeared in the manga more than three years ago, I was one of the first people on this site writing reader-insert fiction for him. I stopped because I got sick of people treating me like a content machine, but it's all still there. I am so clearly enamored with his character, and I jokingly refer to him among some friends as my second husband.

How do I talk about people who enjoy romance-centric Hawks stuff as if they were wrong or shallow?! Is it my demisexual headcanon for him? Is it my discomfort with the hypersexual way he's often portrayed? Is it because I didn't like some of the nicknames that got popular because a fan of the series made some popular fiction I personally didn't like?

Because I don't see how that works, especially when I still publicly enjoy, consume, and sometimes still produce romantic Hawks content. I have a dislike for certain flavors of it for my own personal reasons, but I don't go blowing up the inboxes of people who make/like it or those who hate my favorite series/characters nor do I put hate for it in the tags, and I couldn't get people to stop if I wanted to because people are going to enjoy what they enjoy and vice versa.

Where was this attitude a while back when someone came complaining to me that their favorite author didn't include their headcanon for a character in their writing and I told them no author is obligated to like or include what the reader said they wanted but the reader was free to turn around and make as much content about it as they wanted?

Over and over and over and over again, me and my mutuals have talked about things we didn't like from as rosy language as, "it's not my cup of tea" to as blunt as, "Yeah, I hate that. Lol" because all of us are just people who like what we like. Even in just our own private circle, we have such WILD differences in preference and opinion around Hawks alone, and we're still pretty good friends despite the differences and the way we talk about things.

If I held you to the same standard, would I find you and your friends talking like that, too? I bet I might, because you're just a person enjoying and disliking content others put on the web for free just like me. Why am I held to a special standard?

Besides, what did you have to gain by chiming in with something completely unrelated to the last anon's post? What was the desired outcome? Also, why are the goalposts moving? First it was about how I was too hard on people who liked "baby bird" (which I wasn't) and now it's about how my expressly stated set of personal opinions on the internet is not Friendly ™ enough.

This was a situation that didn't have to exist. Even in the first message I offered a good faith opportunity to get the disagreement straightened out no matter who was in the wrong, and I even was willing to believe I may have said something carelessly out of turn I needed to apologize for if I had been given the proper evidence. That never happened so I put my foot down. There was no reason to add your message on top of it. If you don't like what I post or talk about, you can get up and go. If you just have a problem with something I say, you can talk to me off anon and I will keep it as a private disagreement between reasonable individuals instead of airing this out for everyone to see - even if we don't end up seeing eye to eye - because the drama and public attention is just not worth it over a stupid disagreement or difference in perspective.

It is not fair that some people think they can avoid all of the backlash for saying something out of line on anon just because I can't see who they are but they can see me. That's not how this works.

I am not a content machine, and this is my personal blog. Clown on anon and I will invite everyone to watch the circus.

[princess-from-another-galaxy]

hiii, i really don’t know who to go to for expressing on how i feel about lucas's scandal on here & since i saw you first on here about his scandal, i really hope you don’t mind reading on me ranting/expressing! i would appreciate it sm plsss <3

ok well firstly, i do wanna say that at first it was so hard to believe about all of these rumors, accusations or whatnot about lucas - even tho he & sm apologized about it which had me thinking that this might be true sadly :( but tbh i am having so many mixed feelings on this - confused, hurt, disappointed, sad, betrayed & many more i can't express enough!! :( </3

i've been a lumi for quite awhile now & stan him sm & i genuinely do like, adore & admire him due to his caring nature he gives to us lumis & others. lucas really do seem like a genuine person - just by interacting with him on bubble (lysn) & watching his videos & everything. he's always the type to show & give love to others & interacted with us fans so genuinely & truly. his character is just so lovely imo & after hearing his scandal, i just thought how? how is this true? that boy wouldn't even hurt a bug to be doing this? he doesn't seem like the type who would manipulate & use someone for the sake of his own pleasure. the reason i'm saying this is bc the way he interact with fans & his members, staffs etc. & their honest thoughts/opinions on him, it was all good thoughts/opinions of him. nothing negative or bad.... :/

also i do want to add & say that i do not know lucas personally nor know how he is as a person but based on my own observations from what i said above, it's really hard to even believe that lucas, who is such a soft & caring guy, would do all this to the girls :( like whuut..?

like half of me is telling me this may be true and the other half of me is saying no, this might also be fake & even if he really did do this, there has to be a reason behind it all right!? i'm really the type to believe that anyone who chooses to do such things has to have a valid reason regardless on how bad or good of a person they are. ig i'm the type to not jump into conclusions or assume right away or believe anything so easily. i always want to hear from the person directly out first & then analyze the whole situation after before coming to a final conclusion that oh, whatever they're just an a**hole. forget it but what else am i to say.. lucas apologized publicly so.. *cries*

we never really know what happened behind closed doors between lucas & those girls & knowing how strict the kpop industry is, we don’t know what orders or whatnot that kpop idols have to go thru whenever a scandal comes up

anyways, about everything.. i am truly heartbroken & devastated. also, why do i have a feeling that maybe lucas was going thru a hard time at the time & probably felt overwhelmed by everything & needed someone to comfort him?? idk for sure but let me wear his shoes..... the fact that he chose to be with these girls, who use to be a fan of him from what the scandal says, maybe he trusted them at first then things escalated into something more which probably made them all uncomfortable? IDK i do not want to come off as if i was there & knew what happened fr like I AM JUST TRYING TO PUT MYSELF IN HIS SHOES (don't come @ me pls) ;(

but then again, it's reality & that maybe all of this could be true unless they do gather more evidence & investigate further more that it's not. (which idk if it will happen..) i really do feel bad & sad for him... c-fans are wanting him out of NCT/WAYV & tbh it will never be the same without him if he does get out or leave.. it hurts to see these comments/posts that he does not belong in the group & that he deserve to rot & calling him names etc. it's painful to read it honestly.. pls stop

lastly, whatever it is that lucas is going thru rn, i hope he comes out of this dark place & take all his past experiences/mistakes & learn from it to better himself toward his future. i wish for all the good things to come to him bc i truly believe in him that he will have a better & brighter future & life ahead waiting for him. hate me or whatnot & call me stupid or delusional but i forgive lucas & his past experiences. he was just young at the time, probably lost & confused & didn't know how to control himself. i will continue to stan/support him regardless of his past that just surfaced just now. he deserves a second chance & i believe in giving ppl second chances no matter what <3 spread love, not hate. life is short to hold onto past grudges so i rather forgive & move on & forward. with love, i wish him (& ofc everyone else reading this) a stable & happy life ahead. things probably suck now but they really do get better over time. 💞

ok, that's all. thnx for reading! ❤❤❤ (brb crying, i am getting emotional all of a sudden AHHHH) :'(

Bestie, your message was so long I thought you were the one that was going to come at me lol 😅

I feel everything you said!! It's true that we don't know him, but we do have critical thinking skills, and everything the girls (and now a guy!) have been saying sound clearly fake (and many have been proven to be fake), so we have the right to be skeptical.

And personally unless an investigation proves them to be true, I don't really believe them.

Idk if you've seen the new rumor of a man claiming to be Lucas ex (saying he's bisexual and that Lucas was "proud to have lost his virginity at 13"), saying that he believes the girls. This entire story keeps becoming more and more messy, like a bad season of a tv show, and I'm not really buying any of it....

(sidenote: if he really is bisexual, I'll be really proud of him and super supportive, but if it's true it makes me so sad that he was outed like that)

Don't cry!! I'm here if you need anything!! Stay strong!! And if you need stay off the internet for your mental healths sake 💜💜

[talldecafcappuccino]

Title: Between Close Friends

Rating: General Audience

Chapters: 1/1

Relationship: Ted Lasso/Rebecca Welton

Summary: Ted is bad at social media, but is that a bad thing?

Ted, what the fuck are you doing????

Ted peers at his phone, rubbing sleep from his eyes and reads the message again.

He scrolls down and sees he has twelve more texts and three missed calls all from Keeley Jones. He turns off his nighttime notifications with a few exceptions for emergency contacts, so it’s not surprising he slept through the messages.

He scratches at the stubble along his cheek and checks his clock. It’s seven o’clock here in Kansas, so it must be . . . early afternoon in London. He thinks through the last day, but he can’t remember anything interesting enough to have Keeley on the case.

Henry came over to his extended-stay hotel, they went to an American football game, got a late dinner in downtown Wichita, and watched a movie before bed.

They did make it on the Jumbotron for the Lasso-off, the team’s half-time dance contest, but his moves weren’t especially embarrassing. At least not in his opinion. Unless one of the moves was actually an insult to the English in which case, oh jeeze, he needs to get on this quick.

The call barely connects before Keeley’s voice echoes in his ear.

“Oy! Ted!”

“Keeley, I am so sorry for whatever I did to offend the great people of the United Kingdom. I am ready to make a statement and an apology tour as soon as you tell me which dance move I need to retire immediately.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, but I need you to log out of the AFC Richmond Instagram account. Like, now.”

That stops Ted in his tracks.

Does he even have access to that? He remembers a post-it note of accounts and passwords from Beard on their first day with Richmond.

There was an account run by the previous manager, but Keeley had taken it over long ago, converting it to the official team account. She had also made Ted a personal Instagram for his own use and brand development, but he never posted publicly.

He puts her on speaker phone and opens the Instagram app. She’s right. He’s logged into the team account with all 25 million followers. Well, shoot.

There are about a dozen stories posted from last night. All of Ted and Henry’s day together. There’s puns (“having a cow” at dinner with an image of Henry holding up a beef rib and screaming his head off), Ted and Henry singing at a dueling piano bar, the two brushing their teeth together in the bathroom mirror.

“No offense, but I think this may delay the Tom Ford deal you asked me about.”

“Yeah. I get that.”

“It’s just, you know, dads aren’t quite their brand. Or our brand. I mean we’re not anti-dorky dad, but you know with the whole comeback narrative during the season hiatus . . .”

“No I get it. You’ve put a lot of work into rebranding this team and I just undermined that.”

She sighs, but it’s fond.

“Sorry, Ted. It’s not like what you posted was bad, it’s rather sweet actually. It’s just a little different from the posts I had scheduled.”

Ted nodded. It wasn’t the most embarrassing thing that had ever happened to him, but he felt bad for making Keeley’s job harder than it needed to be.

“No, I’m sorry Keeley. I swear, it won’t happen again.”

****

“Can you believe what Ted did last night? I’ve never seen someone so bad at social media.”

Rebecca has no idea what Keeley is talking about when she walks into her office. She flops onto the couch, feet splayed on the coffee table, clearly exhausted by whatever Ted has done from 4,438 miles away.

“So many puns. Which, don't get me wrong, I love word play more than most people. But I don’t think it’s right for the team right now.”

Rebecca shuts her laptop.

“You’re right about puns not being part of the team plan, but what’s this about Ted? What did he do, exactly?”

Ted hasn’t posted anything in at least 24 hours. Not that Rebecca is keeping track.

“Oh he managed to switch to the team account on Instagram and posted about his entire evening out with Henry. It was quite sweet, actually. The ones that made sense,” but then she pulled a face.”He’s like, really, really bad at social media.”

Oof. Well that isn’t great, but Rebecca doesn’t think there’s anything particularly terrible about Ted’s social media use normally.

“But everything seems under control? No big PR actions needed.”

“It’s fine. I had him log out and wrote a post about Coach Lasso’s surprise social media takeover from America.”

Rebecca nods. Okay, so it was all sorted. Keeley has things totally under control.

But she reaches for her phone anyway. She opens Instagram, taps through the AFC Richmond stories, and snorts at the image of Henry with the rib as big as his head.

“Are people at least being kind?” Rebecca hopes Ted logged out without seeing any messages about Henry. Not that she could see any reason for it, but people were shitheads on the internet.

“Well, wanker is still the most common response. But many of them are wanker with a little heart at the end, so I think it’s fine. We actually got a lot of responses, proper engagement and all that,” she looks up at the ceiling, considering it for a moment before rolling her head to look back at Rebecca.

“If we weren’t trying to present the team as a badass phoenix rising from the ashes, I’d say a Ted takeover isn’t a bad idea. He just needs some supervision. Maybe a phone with a better camera.”

Rebecca is only half listening as she taps to the next story.

“Aw, they went to dueling piano night. That must have been fun for Henry.”

She’s smiling at her phone when Keeley asks, “Dueling piano night?”

“Yeah, you know at Jim Bob’s Bar.”

Keeley is looking at her blankly.

“Fine. I know it’s not really Jim Bob’s bar. It’s probably not even a bar if Henry’s there. But I can’t remember the real name off the top of my head.”

She’d looked it up once, after Ted first posted about the dueling pianos. For some reason she started calling it Jim Bob’s. Ted didn’t seem bothered and had even started calling it that himself.

When she looks up again, Keeley is staring at her, eyes narrowed.

“What are you talking about?”

“What do you mean?”

“How do you know so much about some bar in Kansas?”

That gives Rebecca pause. She isn’t sure what Keeley means by the line of questioning.

“It’s not some totally random bar. Ted posts about it whenever he goes for dueling pianos.”

If he gets to the bar early or she has a particularly late evening, Rebecca catches the story before going to bed. When she does, she always asks him to put in $5 for Wannabee by the Spice Girls. She owes him a small fortune by now, but it’s worth it to see the bar explode with cheers and jeers.

Some nights she misses the story, but he puts money in anyways and she wakes up to a shaky video of, Yo, I'll tell you what I want, what I really, really want.

Rebecca thinks this is a good enough explanation, but Keeley is still staring at her.

“I’ve literally no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Keeley, you know social media is not my thing. All I know is that sometimes Ted posts about this bar on his tiny friends list thing,” she waves her hand around, trying her best to describe it. “The one with the green ring around it.”

Keeley leaps to her feet, eyes wide.

“Am I not on Ted’s Close Friends list??”

Before Rebecca can say a word, Keeley is halfway out the door, texting furiously.

“Roy, better not be on there, if I’m not on there. Ted knows how I feel about being left out!” she shouts over her shoulder. “Sorry Rebecca, I need to do some investigating, asap.”

Oof. She may have just created a problem. It’s probably best to give Ted a heads up before Keeley gets through interrogating Roy.

She drafts a text once, twice, then deletes it and presses call instead.

“Hey Boss, let me guess. Keeley got a hold of you?”

It’s been a while since they’ve chatted, what with the time difference. It’s bizarre how familiar his American accent has become.

“She just left my office, yes.”

There’s a loud crack in the background and a metal clang.

“Where are you?”

“Oh, just the batting cages with Henry,” he says, cheering loudly. “Hey, do you guys have a sport called baseball that has nothing to do with American baseball? You know, like football and football?”

She chuckles, “I don’t believe we do. However there is always cricket.”

He hums, considering it.

“Now Ted, I think there’s something you should know.”

“Lay it on me Boss. I know I caused a headache this morning, what’s the damage? What do you need me to do? I am at your disposal or I’ll lay really, really low as long as you need me to.”

“It’s not that Ted. It’s Keeley.”

“Keeley?”

“Yes, she’s on a bit of a mission at the moment. It seems you left her off your Close Friends list? I think that’s right. On Instagram?”

“Huh. How did that come up?”

“I was telling her about Jim Bob’s. Apparently she had never heard of it and realized you had a whole social media life she was unaware of.”

“Right . . .”

“So do what you will with that.”

“You haven’t talked to anyone else about this yet, have you?”

Rebecca is confused by this new direction.

“No. Why? Ted, is something wrong?”

It takes a long moment for Ted to respond.

“What can I say, I’m just really bad at this social media stuff.”

It's a non-response and an overly folksy one at that. But Rebecca can’t be fooled by the aw shucks routine—not anymore. She tries again.

“Ted. Who is on your close friends list?”

“Uh. Not a lot of people.”

“That doesn’t answer the question.”

“What can I say?” He huffs, a little frustrated. She would feel bad for prying, but she can't help herself. “The list of people I want to share silly life things with is small.”

“How small?” she wonders.

“Very small.”

The line goes silent and Rebecca swears she lost him. But then she hears him take a deep breath.

“It’s you. You’re the list.”

Rebecca feels flush. That’s not where she was expecting this conversation to go.

“I know that might be a lot. You don’t have to say anything. I just, that’s the honest truth and I’d like to get ahead of it before Keeley harangues the entire team.”

It’s a lot to take in, but it makes sense. Sometimes when she’s watching his posts, she wonders about his audience. Who else cares about his biscuit recipe improvements or Broadway Sundays (a recent development that’s turned into a shared movie night.)

“Rebecca?”

She realizes she’s been quiet for a while. The moment feels tenuous and she worries about saying the wrong thing, sending him running faster than Keeley during a social media snafu.

Finally she settles on, “You know, you’re welcome to text me silly life things. It wouldn’t be a bother.”

She brushes invisible crumbs from her desk, listening carefully to his breathing on the other end of the line.

“Yeah?”

“Yes. Maybe I can send some, too?”

Rebecca can hear his smile from across the Atlantic.

“Well, alright then.”

****

That night, Ted’s phone pings and he rolls over to see a text message from Rebecca. It’s a picture of the sun rising over her garden wall.

Something silly to start the day.

But it doesn’t feel silly. Not at all.

[araeph]

Conversation with prune-balled-blog

{NOTE: This is unedited, so please excuse spelling and grammar errors. With one exception--colons, which automatically bold anything in chat, have been replaced with [colon] where necessary to preserve the original formatting. Also, this is NOT an invitation to harass prune-balled-blog. Please do not @ him about this.}

prune-balled-blog: Sorry for the confusion. Should asked this. Do you know WHO talked with Aaron Ehasz?

Should have*

araeph: There are various tumblr and message board users who claimed to have talked to him. Some on the Kataang side[colon] http[colon]//araeph.tumblr.com/post/152660740000/web-archive

Some on the Zutara side[colon] http[colon]//araeph.tumblr.com/post/159119946362/kataraandzuko-terminaschosenone

But I don't know any of them by name.

prune-balled-blog: Thanks for the reply.

araeph: You're welcome. [smiley]

prune-balled-blog: It's all fake by the way. Aaron confirmed it on an Reddit AMA. The whole "Season 4/I had a different vision" thing was debunked.

Also, this for good measure.

[two screenshots inserted of reddit AMA]

araeph: Yes, I saw that post. However, what he said was the studio asked him to think up ideas for Season 4 and that he discussed them with Mike. So he did come up with ideas for it, even if they never went into production.

I also would call The Legend of Korra daring and beautiful. I just don't think it was any _good_.

prune-balled-blog: But those ideas were never outspoken.

It's all smoke and mirrors.

araeph: You mean, he never spoke to anyone else about Book 4? We don't know anything about who he did or didn't talk do between the period when Nick asked him to think up suggestions and the time when Bryke shut it down.

Of course, neither do we know that he said any of the things he allegedly said in those tumblr posts. [smiley]

prune-balled-blog: It's very easy to infer that he said absolutely nothing to anyone about anything.

He certainly would have gotten into more detail, but he didn't.

araeph: It's certainly possible. But nothing is certain.

prune-balled-blog: I mean, i would say the chances of Unicorns existing are pretty low.

araeph: How do you know he would "certainly" have gone into more detail?

prune-balled-blog: Because he seems to know of "Fake interviews", and i'm sure he would been able to go into further detail explaining that he didn't discuss any details of a possible Season 4 with some random. My point, is that had those claims been true, he would feel the need to address them further to clear further confusion. But his post implies the entire shebang was a ruse.

prune-balled-blog: There's no need to speculate any further. It was all a big hoax made by Zutara shippers putting Aaron on a pedestal to expand on their agenda. And people who didn't like Korra.

araeph: I think the opposite is true. If he'd said, "I never discussed it with anyone but Mike, and all the interviews from fans are fake," that would have been easy. He said there were some fake interviews out there, and that he did discuss it with Mike, and that's all we know.

Since it was suggested at the studio level, no it was not a hoax, and no one ever put Ehasz on a pedestal.

prune-balled-blog: I'm going to have to disagree with you there.

prune-balled-blog: And oh, yes they certainly do.

araeph: That's fine if you disagree.

prune-balled-blog: Look everywhere. People praise Ehasz as the sole reason why Avatar was good only because he was head writer.

prune-balled-blog: This whole thing reeked of angry fans methodically building a boogeyman because they were unhappy with how things went for their favorite show.

araeph: Actually, it's more of a process of elimination.

Before I saw Legend of Korra, I too thought Bryke were the be-all-end-all of Avatar.

Then LOK's writing let me down, and I started realizing there were people with power to influencing the writing of ATLA.

prune-balled-blog: You don't have to go through the motions. I know exactly your point of view.

araeph: Maybe it was Tim Hedrick or Joshua Hamilton? But they went on to make Voltron, and while that show was good for a while, it's headed off the rails now.

prune-balled-blog: Yeah but were we REALLY shocked when things didn't turn out perfect? Any show would have a stark difference in quality had an army of writers left a project.

araeph: Yes, it would.

prune-balled-blog: Assuming Korra would be just as good as Avatar, due to some naive 'understanding' that Bryke is the "end-all-be-all" is just silly.

araeph: Since almost everyone outside the fandom knows Bryke as /the/ creators of the show, and since they were the executive producers, it actually makes sense.

It just happened to be wrong.

prune-balled-blog: All you had to do was look at who was in charge, and marginalize your expectations accordingly.

prune-balled-blog: Actually, not entirely. It's dumb to assume two guys from Rhode Island (?) who had no prior experience running a show or writing a script, that they would churn out gold a second time without the 15 or so extra writers on board.

Not to mention a missing Head Writer.

What this fandom did to Bryke was shameful.

They kicked them in the dirt and spat on them for making something they wanted.

Aaron was a talented guy, and likely a massive contributor to what made Avatar a great piece.

prune-balled-blog: But what people did to demonize these poor guys was a complete and utter disgrace.

araeph: If you think fans (most of whom have no experience in television) should have known better than the studio heads who banked on EXACTLY the churning out gold a second time premise that we did, I don't know what to tell you.

araeph: Bryke aren't poor, and they're not victims.

prune-balled-blog: Would you forgive a thief for committing a crime because he didn't know stealing was wrong? This should be pretty obvious, no?

They certainly aren't villains.

araeph: Hahaha, so people who are ignorant of the details of television production are comparable to thieves?

prune-balled-blog: And if you think so, you're delusional.

araeph: Let me make this simple. Bryke accepted the credit for being the overall creators of the show.

prune-balled-blog: It was a hyperbolic example. Should have been obvious.

araeph: They got the accolades, so they get all the criticism for not living up to expectations.

araeph: Thievery is not an exaggeration of not delving into production details from a medium you're not an expert in.

prune-balled-blog: That's bizarrely unfair.

araeph: It's called "with great power comes great responsibility".

prune-balled-blog: I know. I saw Spider-Man.

And honestly, the people who spread this bull online should have listened to Uncle Ben.

araeph: How much power do a bunch of online fans really have, compared to successful showrunners who can snap their fingers and get a press release into the news?

prune-balled-blog: A lot, actually. For example, when Microsoft announced the Xbox One, they had a slew of controversial shit under their belt. After 2 days of nonstop harassment from fans, they reneged on that deal. And boom. Huuuuge change.

The internet is a powerful tool.

prune-balled-blog: Granted, that was a good change. Considering Microsoft went out of their way to enslave gamers wallets and playful freedom.

araeph: True. But for every example like that, Microsoft as a thousand other unpopular practices that they continue with no matter how many people complain.

araeph: I don't know of Bryke ever admitting to changing something about the way they took care of business, just because people complained.

prune-balled-blog: I would happen to agree with that. But the bottom line is that the internet is a tool.

prune-balled-blog: My main point is this. Pleading ignorance to how a show is made is not a serviceable answer for what fans have said/lied about with Bryke. That's all.

araeph: I disagree. When a show is marketed by creators like Bryke as a true successor to their previous work, and they make NO attempt to tamp down expectations themselves, they can't blame people who are not industry professionals for believing the hype that THEY and the studio they worked with spread far and wide.

araeph: And if your argument is, "Well you should have known better than to believe what they said," then you can't also make the argument of "poor Bryke" if the latter were intentionally misleading and exaggerating.

prune-balled-blog: What they said? No, i said you should have been able to infer you miiiight just be getting something a taaad bit different if you only saw they were returning, and no one else.

araeph: But this is exactly the problem. You're blaming fans for not reading between the lines, and not Bryke, who put out those very lines, despite the latter having vastly more power and experience at their disposal.

araeph: They, as showrunners, had a greater responsibility to inform fans of what LOK would really be like than the fans had to research and acquaint themselves with the intricacies of making television.

prune-balled-blog: Let me ask you something. Is it probably a fair/good idea to create a fake hoax that basically claimed Ehasz had been at odds with Bryke the entire production, claimed a Season 4 was supposed to be made, and that he had different plans for Korra had be been involved?

Bryke said Korra was going to be a sequel in the future, with a new Avatar. They were also the only confirmed writers. You can infer A LOT from that.

araeph: If any (or all of those interviews) are hoaxes, they should be condemned and the people who made them up should be criticized for it. I personally still believe there was some tension, but stating my opinion, even if it's based on speculation, isn't dishonest unless I pass it off as fact.

prune-balled-blog: That's fair enough.

araeph: As for what they said about Korra ...

http[colon]//comicsalliance.com/the-legend-of-korra-michael-dante-dimartino-bryan-konietzko-interview/

:I really love when Korra arrives in Republic City and sees Aang's statue for the first time. There's a moment where she's almost in a trance. She's in awe of Aang and also wants to become as great an Avatar as he was. The Legend of Korra is a little like that for us. We know we have a big legacy to live up to, but hopefully this series will be even better than the original."