#denial is the first step

[arabian-batboy]

Can't believe Cassandra being called a butch is a canon thing.

[funkwallace]

I simply do not understand all of y'all getting upset about Izzy when he is absolutely Not Dead!

[boogey-blockers]

in honor of my most popular post

[hilariousrabbit]

Critic of Stage in Playful Land - The Worst Event in Twisted Wonderland

I'm not gonna lie, I had high hopes for this event. The cards were gorgeous, I loved the new outfits, and we even got new characters! I'm quite a huge fan of the gothic circus aesthetic, so I was even more hyped for what's to come. Of course the stakes would be high for something like this, but unfortunately...the execution of this event has completely brought it down.

This is gonna be a very long and angry critic, so beware! I might be mean too!

The translation screenshots provided are from Ekala on YouTube. TW: Insensitive portrayal of human trafficking

The first part of the event felt SUPER stretched out. I understand, the main cast may have been overwhelmed with homework and losing the basketball match against NRC. But I also feel like they could have summarized this quicker? Plus, Fellow Honest also talks A LOT. I know it was supposed to be extended flattery to the point where it became suspicious, but it was taking so long to get to the main point that I quickly became bored.

The character's reasons for going were also very strange...but let's focus on the Octavinelle twins for a second. Floyd and Jade wanted to visit the amusement park specifically because it seemed suspicious. The twins are seen as a very shady duo, and having conflict with an even shadier duo (Fellow Honest and Gidel) is bound to be something that would be super interesting to watch.

Similarly as to how Idia played a crucial part in the Masquerade event, I thought they would have a larger role in this story, and I was disappointed when they just frolicked around the amusement park. They're not the type to just walk right into a dangerous territory without a plan/strategy, and it felt really weird seeing that happen. With them doing no preparations for this situation whatsoever, it feels like a waste to even state that detail in the first place. Speaking of that...I had heard some other fan theories on the role Ortho would play in this event. Some speculated that he would be representing the puppet in this event, as he isn't human. But then again, none of that ends up happening in the event because there was no thought as to how these characters would be used. My friend made an interesting point about the character choice in this event. They speculated it was just the company gathering up characters that haven't been in many events before book 7 ended, and I honestly wouldn't be surprised if this was the case.

When the main cast was exploring the park, it was just filler content. Nothing interesting happened, at all. They explored the park that was filled with references from the Pinocchio movie. Now if this was any other Disney film, I would be like "Yeah alright, that's from the movie. That's cool". But if you know what happens in the movie, then it might be a different story. I was deadass filled with dread when they put the references in, and I was so uncomfortable. Especially during this scene:

Also this was uncomfortable to see. Like okay...I didn't need to know that.

Anyone who watched the Pinocchio movie must have known that something bad was bound to happen (most likely some form of human trafficking). So when Fellow Honest's intentions for selling guests as wooden dolls was finally revealed, the entire story went from 0 to 100 real quick. And not in a good way. I know the previous filler was supposed to put us in their shoes, and how we as the viewer could also get distracted from the carnival's attractions. However, there should have been a better way to transition these two contrasting moods of the story. Plus, I can't help but feel like this is an unnecessarily cruel twist compared to the original movie. When it comes to more darker/sensitive topics such as human trafficking, there should be some sort of caution as to how they portray these kinds of things. I felt like this was solely added for shock value to make up for the slow pacing in the first parts of the event, and I can't help but feel really uncomfortable about this. I also REALLY don't like the possible implications of this line:

The insensitivity of the topic of human trafficking is further fueled by how the chase is played out. They needed a reason for characters to be kidnapped one by one, and I know that's usually how these types of events play out. But considering the severity of their situation, I feel very weird about it. Also, the characters are unusually calm about being sold as a literal slave? And the topic is just not dealt with seriously at all.

Important Detail: The Playful Land theme park functions as a ship, which sails away from land as soon enough guests are lured into the park. This is literally a human trafficking ship, there's no sugarcoating this.

Another part I'm upset about is how Kalim dealt with the entire situation. I'm unfortunately used to Twisted Wonderland dumbing down his character for cheap laughs but this has really gone off the rails. Ace gave him a clear reality check. They were at risk of being sold as dolls to whatever rich freak paid money for them. It was clear that Fellow Honest wouldn't converse on the subject over a fancy dinner. Honestly...I need you guys to read this for yourself.

So when Ortho came back, why in the world did Ace apologize to Kalim? Sure, what he said was harsh but it was completely true! There was a real threat to these characters and it wasn't being taken seriously.

For some reason, every time there's a chance for Kalim to develop, all of that is just completely reversed. Even if this was an issue before the event was released, I also feel like the writers forgot one very important thing...

Kalim has literally been kidnapped before! SEVERAL TIMES TOO!

He was targeted several times because he's from a rich family, they were planning to do malicious things to him for the sake of MONEY. Literally, just like Fellow Honest! He should know better than anyone else how horrifying it is to be taken away from the ones you love, and having no idea what will happen to you. But noooo instead he went full on Steven Universe on Fellow Honest! I'm not even taking the excuse that he's desensitized to it because he was putting the lives of his classmates at risk by giving this human trafficker a fucking chance. While he's not the smartest in the group, his character IS compassionate. How did he give more compassion towards this stranger he met a day ago instead of his own classmates?! How did they botch his character this badly?!

Lastly, when Fellow Honest's reasoning is stated in the story...I really have no words. He engaged in human trafficking, because his former teachers told him that he wasn't a good mage? ...I'm sorry? What the fuck kinda reasoning is that?!

He's literally committing a random act of malice because of his own personal issues. I can't even say that he was merely projecting his hatred onto students alone, as there were other guests attending the park too! I don't know how old they are, or if they're even in school anymore, so these are literally just random victims to me! It looks like the writers attempted to add a tragic backstory for this character in order to get the audience to have some sort of sympathy for him, but this just makes him look fucking stupid.

During this event, he talks about school being worthless and about how he and Gidel had a hard time surviving because they didn't get an education. Like...he chose to drop out of school. Of course that would happen! What was he expecting?

This event made an attempt to go into class dynamics and it's just...oh my god. Let's do a character comparison for a second. Ruggie grew up in a poor area, but because of that he was always on that grindset. Instead of bitching about how educated people are entitled and snobby, he takes advantage of every opportunity around him. And this includes the education at Night Raven College! He even takes financial advantage of others if necessary! He doesn't mind working for others as long as he can get something out of it.

Now let's talk about Fellow Honest's unique magic. I'm not gonna lie, I do think that concept is pretty cool! However, let's take a look at how it's implemented in the event. Now this is where I get critical of this. Having an increased amount of optimism doesn't mean being dumbed down. I'm still confused on how none of the characters were at least a little bit skeptical when walking through the park. There were red flags all across the park, free food, surprise gifts, a whole ass outfit for free, and a freaking 10 minute roller coaster! It was clearly too good to be true, so I can't understand how nobody among the main cast doubted it even for a second?

Also the reasoning why a magic-sensitive creature like Lilia didn't sense his magic before is so bullshit. I'm sorry, they just needed a reason for him to not notice this in order to make this event work.

And then when the cast started talking about how great school was for them, and even offering him admission to Night Raven College... Sorry just a moment, I just need to...

He is a literal human trafficker, and they decided to sympathize with him because of his bad school past?! WHAT???

I'm not even taking the excuse that the main cast are based off villains. HOW CAN YOU JUSTIFY THAT AT ALL?!?!?! HOW???

We don't know how many people he has done this to. It's clear that this isn't the first time this amusement park has hosted customers. If this was merely his first attempt by means of survival then it might have been a different story, but he's experienced at this. There's a good chance that he has turned people into dolls before.

And then after a super prolonged chase scene and even more battles, we get to Kalim going full-on Steven Universe on Fellow Honest. Then his employer deducts his pay because of the damages in the park...and he finally had enough. He frees everyone, asks them to destroy the park, and now he's a good guy and he's gonna open a school!

...

Now I'm confused about this for a couple of reasons. So first of all, how did his opinion of schools completely do a complete 180 after talking with them for a few moments??? Change in a character doesn't occur this quickly, and we've seen this be the case with multiple characters in this game. Even if this was meant to be rushed for the sake of this being an event story, not even Rollo had a change in opinions after his event! So what was up with this?

The second reason is that Jack specifically stated in this event that his brother can't use magic but is still attending school. Magicless people DO get educated, and there's many pathways for them to choose from.

They aren't barren from society like Fellow Honest thinks they are. Take a look at the people in Epel's hometown and in Fleur city, they're pretty happy! I don't think the concept of schools for lower magic users/non-magic users is as revolutionary as they're making it out to be, and I feel like this is a super last-minute decision on the writers behalf.

Another thing is that...

Fellow Honest has NO REMORSE AT ALL for what he did.

He wanted to quit because he just didn't wanna work for the higher-ups anymore, not because he actually realized what he was doing was fucked up! Yeah sure, he might be focused on his new goal to open up a school. But is he just gonna ignore the fact that he fucking SOLD PEOPLE AS DOLLS? HUH? How am I supposed to wish him well on his newfound journey when this entire thing is just left unaddressed!

I'm also confused about another thing. Fellow Honest asked the cast to destroy the amusement park after he freed them, promising to turn the park boat around to Sage Island if they did so. This caused the boat to sink, and Ortho had to push the entire park back to shore.

They were able to get back to shore before any serious damage was done, so can anyone tell me why Fellow Honest and Gidel decided to ride off into the sunset WITH the park? It's literally sinking as they speak! So...huh? Where will they even sail to? It's pretty hard to not notice a huge ass amusement park sinking like this in the middle of the Sage Island, especially when it's right beside the port! What is going on?!

Who the hell even wrote this? I can't with this event man...

I know the lesson of this event is to realize the importance of going to school and being a good kid like in the movie. However...let's step back for a bit. The target audience for Twisted Wonderland is young adults and teenagers, and the fanbase DOES consist of these people. I don't think they need reminding of why education is a privilege...? Pinocchio was specifically made to scare little kids, so it just does not translate well to their target audience AT ALL. While I do love Twisted Wonderland, I really do feel like this is their worst event yet. I hate how almost all the characters were dumbed down to make this story work, and I don't care if it was because of Fellow Honest's unique magic. When it comes to sensitive topics, Twisted Wonderland is usually good at portraying them appropriately. So I really have no idea what happened with this event.

I think the company saw the positive reception with Rollo Flamme, and decided that this type of new character was something to be implemented yearly. Surprisingly, Fellow Honest and Gideon seem to have a large fanbase in Japan...so they probably took the popularity of these characters as their next material to work with. This could have worked out wonderfully if they were to treat this like its own story rather than a remake of the movie, but unfortunately that's not the path they decided to go with.

I have never felt this way about any other event, and the urge to write this critic was STRONG. I have no idea whether Yana wrote this, or if another employee just decided to pull some last-minute shit with this entire event. Regardless, I'm praying to god that this is merely a one-time occurrence and that the next event will be better. I think for the sake of my sanity, I need to pretend this event doesn't exist.

Thank you for reading my thoughts on this.

[coolfunstrawberry]

toothcup soulmate au would be so funny like. imagine everyone gets a human soulmate and then you get a fucking dragon as a soulmate AND your town also regularly hunts them down LIKE LMFAOOOOOOOO HOW UNLUCKY COULD YOU GET 😭😭😭😭😭😭

[royal-they]

💚💛

[compil]

A Reinterpretation of 1941

The idea of Aziraphale offering Crowley road head in return for rescuing him in 1941 is HILARIOUS, but given that (1) the Holy-Water-Incident-At-St.-James-Park came right before that and (2) Crowley mentioned Holy Water again at the church, perhaps Aziraphale was asking because he needed to verify where their relationship was at. He just got his tweed pants romanced the hell off him, what with the saving and the books... but with everything that happened at the park...

He believes in Crowley's goodness, of course, but after all they said about "fraternizing" and not needing each other in their last conversation a few decades back, he probably couldn't help but think that maybe Crowley was just being nice this time to get the holy water. Maybe all this sweetness— redirecting the bomb, tapdancing on consecrated ground, saving the first editions, offering him a lift home —is just for the purpose of buttering him up for the big request. And Aziraphale is fine with that — he opens the conversation to Crowley's request himself. After all, haven't all of their transactions under The Agreement gone the same way? I do something for you and you do something for me?

But then Crowley does something unexpected. He doesn't ask for anything in return, not even to keep the favor for a later day. He shrugs everything off, tells Aziraphale to forget it, and gets on with his errands. He doesn't even mention what happened at St. James' Park. He takes Aziraphale along on a little adventure, encourages his aspirations as a professional conjurer, goes along with the miracle-blocked bullet trick (btw, they haven't been on good terms for decades at this point), and wine-and-dines him by the candlelight at the end of the night. So Aziraphale has to confront the fact that Crowley isn't hanging out with him because he wants something. He's here because they're friends. He's being nice and sweet because he's kind and because he wants to be around Aziraphale again and maybe even because he missed him.

Throughout the entire minisode, we see Aziraphale struggling to even call them 'friends' — perhaps because he needs that plausible deniability (they are hereditary enemies) or perhaps because of the way they left things last time. But after everything that happened that night, he had to realize and accept this budding thing between them for what it is. Though hushed, he pointedly recognized, perhaps for the first time out loud, this thing between them that for so long they have refused to acknowledge — "I knew you would come through for me, you always do". "You said trust me. // And you did". Shades of gray.

[rachalixie]

oomf just revealed themselves as a furry...

[depravedangelbaby]

hehehehe i'm not supposed to masturbate.. sooooo, i think you all should tease me n send me gross asks n posts <3

[calamitoustide]

I have a question about the sad James/sad Harry au you just posted about. Regulus seems to be the one really holding them together since he isn’t dealing with the same things as the other two. So I’m just curious how you think James and Harry would handle it if he wasn’t there to help/able to help. Like how they would react/communicate if he suddenly died or if he was injured or in a coma or if he had a really important work trip or something and he couldn’t physically be there to support them/help them communicate

okay so like Regulus is holding them together but that's not to say that James is doing nothing and I do think they get to the point where James is okay and not just depending on Regulus for a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to helping with his and Harry's mental health.

That being said in this case James isn't as mentally unwell as you might think he is, at least not the idea I had. His feelings are a lot of his old feelings resurfacing. He's seeing his baby go through he same things he did, so he's looking back at it. He's feeling a lot of guilt, but it's not the same as it was. So in that case I do think James would push through for Harry and could hold him up knowing everything he knows. He is in a better place, and he does have coping strategies. He'd also probably be going to therapy since his teen years which would help him work through it to fully be there for Harry.

If it's the case where both James and Harry are slipping I still think James would step up, he just would put off all his feelings for Harry. No matter how tired he is or how awful he feels Harry comes first. If he doesn't have anyone to lean all he'd figure out a way to stand anyway. For Harry, he'd do it.

Also in my original idea it was divorced jily so there is also Lily who would be able to help with Harry, and Remus would come in and help James stay on his feet when Harry isn't with him.

I don't think there's any world in which James doesn't have a support system around him to help him with Harry, but I also think if it was just him and Harry in the house he'd step up. Maybe he wouldn't be the best at communicating how he feels at first. Maybe he wouldn't be the best at seeming open for Harry to come to him, but they would figure it out. In no world does James just give up on Harry especially since he knows how isolating it used to make him feel.

Also with Regulus, there would come to a point where Regulus needs to be taken care of too. There's only so much a person can take, especially when his main support system is down. They would need to figure it out for him too.

All in all, yes I do think they would figure it out. I think it would be hard and James isn't good at talking about it, making it really hard for Harry to talk about it. But if James needs to talk about it for Harry's benefit he'd talk about it. I feel like without Regulus he'd just come to that conclusion even sooner.

[quibbs126]

Oh yeah, so my grade for my Physics exam came out today

Turns out I got a 35 on it-

Actually you know what, question: how do I study for Physics? How do I understand Physics? Because I cannot understand it, but I need to pass it because I’m in engineering, it’s a required class, there’s no getting around it. But like, I just cannot understand it for the life of me

(Probably doesn’t help that I can’t understand my teacher and I only sort of pay attention in class)

[girl-bateman]

it sounds so obvious now, but im pretty sure my physical problems rn can all be traced back to the fact that my brain and body has been in a constant hypervigilance and cortisol overload for 3 months straight. the dizziness, the blackouts, the acne, the constant nausea, the giant eyebags and sudden crows feet ?? Like yeah, no shit thats what happens when ur every waking hour is the equivalent of that camille preaker crying gif

[myownprivatcidaho]

.

[suncast-moth]

:/

Gordon Ramsey fursona reveal!

[football-in-tuxedos]

What's distressing, but also important to understand, about JK Rowling hitting the "Denying trans people were targeted in the Holocaust" point is that it's kind of the last stop before she just goes full alt-right weirdo.

Joanne is denying the Holocaust (if a group was targeted, denying they were targeted is Holocaust denial) and that's going to lead to pushback from historians and experts. But Joanne is too deep in to believe what anyone who disagrees with her says, so she's just going to dismiss what those historians and experts tell her. And once she's disbelieving them about that one thing, well it's just a tiny step to start disbelieving them about other things.

This isn't by accident either, transphobic circles are swarming with far right agitators, ready to use hatred of trans people as an in to recruit people into their causes. They have handbooks for this sort of thing and they are, unfortunately, good at it. I suspect Joanne will be spouting coded versions of Great Replacement stuff by the end of the summer.

This is not a plea to try and pull Joanne out. She's too deep in, and even if she wasn't, she's already demonstrated an inability to examine her own prejudices, an unwillingness to hear criticism and a weakness to flattery. She is perfect recruitment bait for people who know what they're doing, and my impression is she's surrounded herself with people like that.

No, this is to understand two things: First is to use her as an example, to understand how a well meaning liberal can chase their own prejudices down a very dark rabbit hole. We are none of us immune to propaganda and even if we can't change what's happened to her, we can at least use it to protect ourselves.

And second is to understand that one of the main reasons you can't pull Joanne out of the transphobic pipeline is cause she is the pipeline now. She is the transphobic banner bearer now, she is funneling money and attention to these groups, she is their most famous celebrity and she is helping recruit people. Being able to show people how far she's gone, how deep into the right wing rabbit hole she's going, is important to help other people who still think she just "Had some concerns" know where her path leads.

[dnangelic]

She sets the little bundle of flowers carefully on Dai’s desk before school. A little bundle of chocolate tucked in the middle of the arrangement. She just wants to see him smile that adorable smile of his that makes his eyes sparkle so cutely! She then skips happily off to her own desk, she’ll let him figure out his secret admirer’s identity when he was ready.

@musedriven

and for him , it's a completely ordinary , hopefully boring day ...

--- minus the flowers and chocolate sat mysteriously on top of his desk .

he's gotten here early , which is something of a feat for him , but it isn't until one of his classmates beg him to move a little from behind that he realizes he's been standing slack-jawed in the doorway for a long sum of minutes already . what in the world was --- THAT ?!

a mistake ? a prank ? some kind of messed up delivery ? it had to be , right ?! the same girl that had entered behind him practically shares in his surprise : wha , niwa-kun ! is that yours ?! no way , i would have never thought that you would ever get something like that !

... ouch . it hurts a little , but there's nothing he can say when it should have been the truth . ' n-no , i ... ' congratulations ! the same girl chimes , and moving to put her bag away , the niwa's left to himself and the presents on top of his desk . already , he can feel the growing , burning heat in his cheeks ... he wouldn't have to run out of class and rush back in late after coming early all because of his transformations , right ?!

no , no ! he wouldn't transform , and something like this --- had to be a mistake ! but there's no letter , no left-behind evidence , absolutely nothing for anyone , even a great phantom thief to be able to tell who it was from , or 'properly' for . his head turns about the room as if someone might suddenly stand up and walk towards him to explain themselves , but when the bustle of the classroom remains the same as always , he turns his gaze back to the impromptu present , flushed and somewhat intensely into the bundle of flowers and chocolate both in his grasp .

it ... wouldn't hurt to hold onto everything , right ? maybe ... maybe someone would come running by for it . ( was it wrong to want to hope a little that someone wouldn't ? ) he slips everything carefully into his bag before putting it away . if he asked and questioned around a little after class , maybe someone would have an answer ... but --- he might not have had the courage to do something like that either .

in the end , maybe he'd just go home , and hope his nigh-practically psychic mother didn't suspect or interrogate him over receiving an anonymous gift for the very first time in his life . something like this would leave him puzzled and haunted --- but also just a little happy , for a long , long while .