#don't you feel sorry for them?

[egophiliac]

Since book 7 part 5 (the part where we meet Meleanor/Maleanor 👀) is coming to EN this month, i would love to see your take on lilia’s proposal to meleanor! i mean they were like little kids right? it couldn’t have been that serious…i think the only reason she even brought it up again is because she could tell lilia still genuinely loved her…(even if he didn’t realize it himself?) but, oh well! Let’s think about silly childhood shenanigans to numb the pain! ^_^ (orz)

oh shit?! get ready for a doozy guys, it's comiiiiiing ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

I chickened out of posting the whole thing (look, I get VERY carried away when it comes to these wacky kids and their Tragedy), but I do believe that it probably ended with Lilia getting embarrassed and just shoving the first thing he sees into his mouth to try and cover for it.

(we're just lucky it wasn't a frog this time)

[allastoredeer]

FUCK YES!

Fuck. Yes.

@nyipi you get it. I've been enjoying the "Apology Tour" fan-art, and the Alastor versions of them (particularly StaticRadio), but as soon as I see any blame on Alastor for not reciprocating Vox's feelings, I am out.

Or with any ship in general, though I do see it the most in RadioStatic.

Now, I understand the angst of Vox falling head over heels for Alastor and all the hurt and painful feelings that come from not having those feelings reciprocated whatsoever, but as soon as it looks like the blame for the relationship falling apart is on Alastor because he didn't share Vox's feelings, I just...I can't. Nope. Nuh-uh. No thanks. Get that shit out of here.

"my problem is if it actually reflects your belief that the aro/ace character is at fault while the other half of the ship is a precious baby for catching feelings and did nothing wrong."

This right here is literally it ⬆️

It's very telling when the aro/ace character is made out to be at fault while the other half of the ship is just a poor, precious angsty baby who did nothing wrong but catch feelings for someone who's "unable" to do the same. (I have so much to say about ace-aro people being seen/drawn/written/depicted as "unable" to love, or "unable" to form deep and meaningful relationships, or "unable" to feel and understand the emotions that other people do, especially when it's worded as something they "can't" do - but that's a topic for another time!)

I rarely see people really consider the perspective & emotions of the ace/aro character on the other end of the relationship, and how much it affects them.

I mean, think about itm you have this person that you love hanging out with, they're fun, they're great to talk to, and they like being around you in turn. You have good times together and love them. You do. You love their presence. They're companionship. Your friendship means the world to you.

But then, suddenly, things start to change and you feel that change. You notice the shift in the relationship. That there is something new coming into play. You notice the look in their eyes and the expressions on their face, and feel dread. Anxiousness. Uncertainty.

You start to avoid these new interactions and tells. You side-step them, because either you're wrong and they don't actually feel anything for your--you're just seeing things--or you're right, and confronting this outright can lead to so much awkwardness and embarrassment. It's a hard conversation to have, for both of you, and it's a direct line to the relationship changing, no matter which way it goes, and that's scary.

You don't reciprocate the hints they're dropping. You don't even try to. You pretend not to see it in hopes that, eventually, their new feelings will fade. You emphasize that you're friends. You try to drop you're own hints that this is a friendship and you like it this way. Sometimes, you think they see it and understand.

(And other times, you may not even notice the change in the relationship at all. You didn't pick up the hint. The signs weren't obvious. They wanted to go to a movie? Hell yeah! You love seeing movies! They want to go to dinner? Going out to eat with a friend sounds awesome. They got you something super special for your birthday? They're such a good friend and you love them so much for how much they care about you in return).

And then, suddenly, the shoe drops. It's out in the open. They're crushing on you. They're in love with you. They're attracted to you. They want to date you. They want more than you're willing to give.

And when you tell them you don't feel the same, when you tell them you still want to be friends and you mean it with you're whole heart, your heart breaks when that isn't enough for them. They start to break away. They distance themselves. They tell you that it hurts too much not to have you in the way they want, and that's why they can't bear to be around you.

And you're stuck with this feeling that you're friendship never actually mattered. That it was never enough. That the way you are and what you feel isn't enough. You're angry. They're hurting, but you're hurting too because they're not the only one who lost someone. They're not the only one who's feelings weren't reciprocated. You lost someone important to you too. You lost someone who didn't think you're relationship with them was important enough, valued enough, to keep when it didn't go the way they wanted.

They caught feelings when you didn't. They wanted more and you didn't. You didn't reciprocate, you're not obligated to, yet, somehow, it's still feels like it was your fault. It's painted as being you're fault. You're responsible for they're broken heart. You're responsible for their hurt feelings. You're responsible for the relationship falling apart.

And that's. Not. Fair.

Bringing this back to Hazbin Hotel and Alastor, and using RadioStatic as an example, you know how amazing it would be to actually dive deep into Alastor's perspective/POV of his and Vox's relationship? And I'm not talking about a mean, manipulative and cruel Alastor who noticed Vox's feelings right away and decided to play with them, and didn't actually care about Vox, he was just being a big meanie who wanted a new plaything.

No, I'm talking about an Alastor who did enjoy Vox's company. Who enjoyed talking to him. Who loved meeting him in bars, or roaming the city, or killing people and rising to power in bloodlust and mania. Who had a genuine fondness for Vox and their friendship.

Only for Vox to catch romantic and/or sexual feelings.

I imagine Alastor doesn't have a LOT of friends outside of Mimzie and Rosie (and Niffty and Husk if you want to include them - though that's WAY more complicated in Husk's case), and I imagine he has even less friends who are men.

So this friendship he developed with this other man. This true, genuine friendship where he felt comfortable and sincere, is suddenly ground to a halt. He doesn't feel what Vox feels. Nor does he want to. He likes what they have. He wants to keep it here. Romance was never in the picture, he just wants his friend.

Only for it to feel like rejection when that isn't enough for Vox. When Vox starts getting upset because he wants more, when his feelings get hurt as he realizes Alastor doesn't feel the same. Vox getting angry. He's hurt. He's embarrassed. He's been rejected and that stings.

And all of that is being funneled on Alastor all because he doesn't feel the way Vox wants him to feel. And that stings. That makes him angry and embarrassed. Maybe he's the one who feels used. Maybe he's the one who feels foolish for ever letting this relationship develop.

There are so many complex and complicated emotions that go into a relationship like this. It's so much more than "the ace-aro person doesn't love them back and now they're a sad, heartbroken little lamb who's only mistake was thinking that the ace-aro person would love them back."

We, the audience, is so often made to feel more sympathetic for the one who wanted romance and didn't get it. For the one who was "rejected" and "heart-broken," even though that is a two way street. If you think the person who wanted a romance feels more pain than the person who wanted friendship/companionship, then you need to re-evaluate your perception of love and friendship, because that's just not true.

Sorry OP, I didn't mean to hijack your post, I guess I just had a lot to say XD but yeah, very much agree with you! As soon as all the blame for a broken relationship is put on the ace-aro character, I am OUT.

I love unrequited love like mad and all the apology tour fanart but alastor ship ver. are great, i eat them up like spaghetti but if i ever see genuine critique on alastor (ace, implied aro) for not liking the other character back and putting blame on him -> it's block on sight 😊

I eat hanahaki fics for breakfast, the guilt-trippy nature in apology tour isn't my problem. if the guilt-tripping is just for a tasty narrative, i'm good,

my problem is if it actually reflects your belief that the aro/ace character is at fault while the other half of the ship is a precious baby for catching feelings and did nothing wrong.

I don't want genuine blame being put on the aro/ace character for just, not being able to give what the other wants. It sends me into a spiral of feelings i cannot explain as an aroace.

[wistfulwatcher]

EMILY & HOTCH DANCING in 7.24 RUN

[mewtwoandme]

I was hoping this would all blow over, but since it's continuing to happen, now with people attacking other artists of the commewnity. I'm putting out my two fucking cents! Cause this whole art/character theft and pointing fingers, who stole what from who bullshit it driving me up the fucking wall!!

Long story short, it started with me and one other blog whose name I won't mention publicly. Despite the horrible light they tried to paint me in, I don't want anyone going to this person and ganging up on them. This person had some serious bitterness towards more "popular" artists and claimed that I've made characters similar to theirs and once used a pose they apparently used before (which was a very common pose, considering it was a reference from the game version of mega Y). Since then, they had desperately tried to conjure up evidence, narrowing down to the most miniscule detail how I've been stealing from them when I hadn't even known their blog existed until I was forcefully thrown into that unnecessary drama with the unhinged call-out posts they've made. With this being said, I'd like to point out that they never came to me or addressed this concern with me in the first place. They had every opportunity to privately DM me if they had suspected I was "stealing," but no, simply because they already made up their mind that I was a thief, that was a good enough reason to lack common fucking sense and decency, making what should have been a private issue public, going on to villainize and dehumanize me. And apparently, it hasn't stopped with me either, cause recently I've been seeing other artists in the community having to deal with this where people are being white knights on high horses, pointing fingers on how one artist's mewtwo looks "the same" if not "totally identical" as another artist's mewtwo. I refuse to believe it's a coincidence. But what makes me disgusted is that since TC's post, apparently it's had the opposite effect on some people and they're hopping on this blame bandwagon like it's some damn media trend!!!

This is NOT okay! Nothing about this kind of behavior is funny! It's upsetting to all of us. We dont need you causing problems where there isn't any, thinking you're doing us a favor! The majority of us are adults for gods sake! We are old enough where we don't need other people coming to us being tattle tails saying this person did this and that. That's what little children do! If you suspect any form of theft, I think I speak for ALL creators in this commewnity that we'd prefer you DM us privately saying something like "Hey, I think this person is copying you, might wanna look into it." And if possible, provide a link to the art in question, for which we would kindly thank you for making us aware and we'll handle it ourselves from there. Just a brief, yet SIMPLE interaction...that's all we ask!!! Don't even come at me with "Well, it's scary attempting to talk to an artist that's well known." Or dare I say ~pOpUlAr~ If you claim that taking the first step to send me a quick DM makes you nervous, yet you have no problem making public call outs in posts or asks, belittling and degrading what could actually be innocent artists doing nothing wrong, literally leaving yourself open to all kinds of comments and opinions from all kinds of people....I'm sorry but your anxiety isn't as bad as you say it is then, if being rude and ignorant in a public post/ask is easier for you. If you come to us, shaming someone else who 9/10 probably isn't doing anything wrong, thinking you'll be in our good graces for doing so, sorry, you're not going to be told, "Good job!" with a pat on the back and given a lollipop! You're just being an asshole.

Quick reality check for everyone who's made it this far before I end this train wreck of a rant:

People can have similar ideas that coincide with one another! There's only so much you can do when a whole community is focused around drawing the same character! We mainly draw mewtwos and mews, you're bound to find a plethora of similar colors, patterns, and designs because of it! Creativity only goes so far when trying to stay true to a character and not stray too far. It's not a crime to take inspiration from other artists' characters, we actually encourage this! It makes us feel good that you liked something we've done and you want to incorporate it into your own designs! It makes us happy that we inspired you! The line is crossed when someone does a literal copy/paste of a character down to the exact detail, and they call it their own original creation. That my friends is what stealing actually is!

[lazylittledragon]

ok i swear i'm not going to talk about my breakup forever but the thing that just keeps bothering me:

i know that not getting what you need in a relationship is a COMPLETELY valid reason to end it but also. i feel like having a very vulnerable moment where i opened up about my struggles with intimacy and being relieved that i didn't have to keep doing things i wasn't comfortable with, then being dumped a YEAR later because of my lack of intimacy. is something i should be allowed to be very hurt by???

[floccinaucinihilipilificationa]

[slymanner]

God dude these two scenes and how roxie moves hurt my heart so so bad 🥹

it's like a mix of anger, feral, emotional breakdown, and complete sadness that just fucks me up soooo fucking bad.

it's like she's a pet who got abandoned by their owner but they see them again after years of sadness and depression of them being gone and leaving them like that and all that anger and sadness just manifest's into one bundle of emotion's towards them they cannot control.

roxie baby ur gonna be okay u deserve better :[

[royalarchivist]

Etoiles: Guys, can we please– can we please give the $100k to Felipe?

Roier: Eh? What the fu– Ay ay ay ay– pendejos! Don't speak English, ok? Español. ¡Español!

Etoiles: Uh, uh, uh– [Singing] ¡Un, dos, tres!

Roier: [Also singing] Un, dos, tres, un pasito pa'lante María–

Phil: [In despair] ¡Inglés! Por favor!!! 😫

Roier: No, Inglés no, Inglés no. 😌

Phil: Inglés, por– 😭

Roier: Aqui Español, aqui Español. 🇲🇽 🇲🇽 🇲🇽

[gunstreet]

sorry I'm not a photoshop master but would someone mind hanging this up in the SNW writers' room because I think we have all had enough

[canisalbus]

So i remember an ask mentioning your mortal enemy, Felis Atra and their cats, and i thought it'd be fun to draw what Felis Atra's version of your italian dogs would be.

I think they would be called Butter Knife and Flamengo! Butter Knife is not his real name, it's an nickname given by his peers because of how harmless he is. I choose Flamengo because that's the name of Vasco's rival football team here in Brazil, so i thought that was the perfect name :)

Cat Machete was slightly inspired by the Oriental Shorthair cat because of their long noses and thin head shape.

Cat Vasco was inspired by the Scottish Fold cat, because FLOPPY EARS. I gave Flamengo longer ears and orange fur to make him more like his look-alike.

The last doodle is a reference to this ask (https://canisalbus.tumblr.com/post/728923918314946560/me-i-am-machete-ear-fan-number-1-those-ears) and contains the tumblr ask stand-in dog, whose cat version was inspired by the American Curl cat! They have round ears that are slightly floppy outwards.

Final notes: I know cardinal clothes don't come in vibrant blue, but i was ADAMANT on switching Machete's and Vasco's clothing color patterns. I would draw the rest of Butter Knife's and Flamengo's clothes, but i suck at designing cool outfits.

Speaking of outfits, for Machete's iconic void outfit, i figured it would be fun to make it more baggy for Butter Knife, in contrast to Machete's, that looks very tight-fitted. I think it's cute, it kinda looks like a sweater. Also i can't imagine a Machete doppelganger without high heels boots, so those HAD to stay.

Oh, and just to be clear, i'm not like, claiming ownership of these guys or anything. I just thought it would be a fun exercise. Hope you like them!! I love your art and your characters.

.

[coddda]

Light's relationship with his father is such a heartbreaking multi-faceted tragedy to me I hate it so so so much.

Soichiro loves his son so much, and while he's certainly not a perfect father I know that he cares deeply about Light. He wants to prove Light's innocence so badly but he can't let go of the underlying doubt that he might really be Kira and it gnaws at him. He does not know that from the very beginning he was being used by Light, whether it was to obtain information about the investigation, or to get to L, or to strengthen the foundations of his own lie that he wasn't Kira, this entire time he was simply another resource. He'll hang onto this doubt for years, even after L is dead, even if he doesn't express it in the latter half of the series, until he himself is on his deathbed, with what he believes to be undeniable proof that Light isn't Kira. (It's a lie, of course.) He dies happy, but it's on the foundations of blissful ignorance. His own son brought him here, brought him to the point where he had to sacrifice half of his own remaining life span, to his own death march, and was still trying to use him even now to kill someone else, but he doesn't know that. Soichiro said that what was evil was the power to kill others, and that whoever used it was cursed. Light was that cursed man, of course, and he tried to bring that curse onto Soichiro too by making him kill in his last moments. Soichiro was happy regardless, because he didn't know. He'll never know. (In the manga/anime at least. More on that later).

Light loves his father but it's not enough to turn him away from the terrible decisions he's made, if anything it only fuels them. His idea of "justice" is a twisted model of what he parroted from Soichiro, and he uses his father as another pawn (and a powerful one at that) in his plans. If he can prove that Kira is justice then perhaps his father will no longer call Kira, and therefore Light, evil, so he just needs to ensure that Kira becomes justice, right? It's Light's own actions that land his own father in the hospital for a stress-induced heart attack and yet he says only a few minutes later that he's the happiest he's ever been in his entire life. Even after Soichiro denounces Kira by calling him evil, even after he calls the Death Note's power evil, even after he unknowingly tells Light that he is cursed. When Soichiro dies Light is too deep in his own plans to actually properly process the fact that his own father is dying past what it means for his goals, but at the same time he still cares enough that after the fact he'll genuinely cry, only to brush it all away later. (Personally, I don't have a single doubt in my mind that Light's crying in that scene was genuine and I Will die on this hill). Soichiro had unknowingly denounced Light one last time just before his death, openly relieved that he "wasn't Kira after all", which also reveals that he has had doubts about Light this entire time, even after L died. By the time he's caught at the Yellow Box Warehouse Light will have denounced his father too, seeing him as someone who was made to be a fool, someone who was naive, even, too earnest for his own good. He won't realize that part of this description of his father might have applied to Light himself, back when this all started. Light takes after his father so much in so many ways already, so why not in this way too?

Ough. And honestly the other adaptations never miss out on this tragedy either, and I love them for that. (spoilers for the musical and 2006 live action movies I guess?)

In the musical we see Soichiro express his doubts and conflicts about who to believe, Light or L, if the son he raised really is a murderer, if everything he knows about him is just a lie. Like, there's an entire song about this, and you can tell how torn he is about it all, how badly he wants Light to be innocent but about how he also needs to face the truth no matter what it is, but at the end of it all he doesn't even get the answers he wants. At the end of the musical the only thing he finds is two corpses, Light's and L's, with no answers. No last words, no closure, only dead ends and a dead son and a grieving daughter. It's so awful I hate it here.

And the live action movie is fucking Insane. Like, wow. Okay. (Spoiler for the ending of Death Note The Last Name I guess) In the 2006 movies/novels Light writes Soichiro's name in the Death Note himself, and it's such an inconcievable move that it leaves even Misa shocked; Light tries to make Soichiro give him the Death Note for the last part of his plans, seeing his death as a "necessary sacrifice" (insert tangent essay about why I think 2006 live action movie Light is actually the most "coldhearted" Light Yagami, despite how infamous anime Light is). It doesn't work, and Soichiro does end up finding out that Light is Kira this time, and they have a confrontation, but he doesn't even sound truly hateful towards Light for it. He Never seems to outright hate Light for it, even after Light calls the whole confrontation a waste of time and instead tries to continue killing with the piece of the notebook in his watch, even after he tries to get Ryuk to kill everyone. When Ryuk inevitably writes Light's name and he collapses, Soichiro still reaches out for him and holds onto him as he's dying. Light literally dies in Soichiro's arms, still looking for the validation that he was right, that this wasn't all for nothing, that he was doing the good thing, trying to make Soichiro understand that he was trying to enact justice based on what he learned from him in the first place. Soichiro not only learns but sees for himself what his son has become, and Light dies in his arms leaving no closure for either of them. Soichiro will announce Light's death in L Change the WorLd on the news without saying his name, saying instead that it is only Kira who is dead, even though he and Light are one in the same. Sachiko and Sayu will never get to know the full truth about what happened to Light, instead Soichiro will lie and instead tell them: "Light was killed by Kira."

And then holy Shit the jdrama. If I write about it here this post is gonna literally double in length and also I don't really wanna spoil it but. Man. Man. If you watched it you know. Holy Shit dude I Cried.

It's the fact that, canonically, Soichiro will die oblivious to what Light has done, but even in the instances where he does find out, it doesn't make it any better, and it doesn't make him love Light any less, it just gives him more to grieve.

It's the fact that there isn't a single universe where Light doesn't use his father for his own gain, whether to gain information, or to try and control him with the Death Note, or make him write in the Death Note himself, and not a single time will he realize just how far he's strayed from Soichiro's ideals, and not a single time will he not forsake him for it by the end of the story.

It's the fact that, despite everything, Light will always refers to Soichiro as "dad/my dad" (informal) rather than "father/my father", even after he has been "denounced" (and this is true in every language that Death Note has been translated in, as far as I could find. Man, isn't that so cool! :) <- Through tears).

Anyways that's what I've been thinking of how's your guys' days going

[luna-loveboop]

Oh so he's legally adopting them

They no longer have a choice, he's their dad now

Time's looking at this group with detectives, pranksters, and some having mental or physical health crisis, like yeah I can handle this

Look at this picture and tell me it doesn't look like a group of kids with One clear adult:

The rest of the chain thinking:

Alright Old Man yeah we need to see this through and finish this

Time, internally:

You are my children now. That thing is still out there so you are coming with me, and you will not get hurt. No Malon, it is not abduction it's adoption, they're children at heart-

From @linkeduniverse au :)

[joyfuladorable]

Couple Mikeys (+ Klunk), a Koya for a friend, and an interpretation of the future Casey crumb we got from the 40th Anniversary Comic

[vaguely-concerned]

having seen at least the rough outlines of all the romances now I have to say that I think emmrich's is probably objectively the best in terms of coherence and completeness of story arc (with the understanding that ultimately the 'best' romance is whichever one makes YOUR heart sing anyway so objectivity is a silly thing to claim that way, it just felt like it's the arc with the most well-paced focused content and the least dangling threads)... but lucanis' is my favourite haha. just. the whole kneeling before your beloved full of reverence but without any of the distance that usually implies??? his complete undramatic certainty and calm in every scene with rook after this, having spent the whole game caught between fear and longing???? mr. lives in a pantry but it says nothing about my psyche don't worry about it it's purely for tactical reasons that I keep myself contained in a small dark room not entirely unlike a cell, love among the parsnips -- finally coming to rook in their room and it's so comfortable and comforting???? after all the times rook supports and comforts him through the game he's finally able to return the same to them when they need it while being so calm and steady and it's so fucking sweet and feels so effortless and with no price attached?????? he basically assigns himself the role of your bodyguard and he WILL stab a god over it??????????????? the turn to protector (which was in his heart all along longing to get out and find a place) of it all????? he sounds like he's found himself unexpectedly stumbling into such a soul-lightening state of revelatory existential relief, full on 'you only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves' mary oliver style, and he goes and he shares that with rook and protectively envelops them in it when they're hurting??????????????????????????? hello for the maker's sake hello can anyone hear me?????

[nomlioart]

🥀 when touch averse becomes touch starved 🥀

[menlove]

like man just the layers of internalized homophobia w john and paul are soooo crazy and depressing. bc it's literally just that like. paul knew he was in love, he knew he was jealous, and he knew he wanted to throw a fit about it. but he didn't feel he'd earned any of that, no matter how serious their relationship was, bc he was A Man and a relationship between two men could never hold the same weight as a relationship between a man and a woman. like john continually later referred to paul like an ex spouse/ex partner in life & they both saw each other that way but it just. wasn't allowed to be Real. no matter how real it was. and it also makes me think about that interview a few years ago where the interviewer referred to john as the love of paul's life and paul sputtered a "but the women!"

like. no matter how strongly they felt about each other or whatever depth of a relationship they had they just wouldn't let themselves feel it like it was as real a relationship as it was...... absolutely sickening. i feel eternally Terrible for the shit queer people had to go through i'm ngl