#especially in context with his relationship to Q

[halfbaked00q]

thinking about, like... the exploration of James Bond × the tangled messy web of complications he'd pick up around sex given like past relationships and also the inherently fucky sexual politics of honeypot missions and etc.

it's like. when your body is as much a tool in your aresenal as any of your skills so you're able to handle/tolerate/work through levels of what, in another context, may be considered personal violations, that would be overwhelming to untrained civvies-- but at the same time that very training that gives you some level of divide/partition/insulation from said trespasses on your person, also rather inherently creates bifurcations in your autonomy which then conversely and maybe ironically, still unavoidably act as violations against your personhood

the interesting added layer to that is to go deeper into exploring how honeypotting is/can be inherently traumatic not just to the victim but also the perpetrator, and the resulting psychological effects on the honeypotting agent

anyway here are some fics that I either reread recently, or I remember noting about, that go into these topics

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Further Reading / Web-Weaving / "You May Also Like":

This fic imo does a great job of exploring/interweaving PTSD through the narration in an organic-feeling, believable, and very visceral way. Towards the end-ish of the currently available chaps there's a section where Bond is thinking about sex and like doomspiraling cuz he's assuming what Q would want and having a crisis about it because he's like, I can't provide that without panicking or dissociating - which I find suuuuuper interesting and complex, and it's especially interesting to have this level of exploration on the subject from Bond's POV.

the specific aspect I find really interesting about this is the way I can see this Bond as becoming, like.... desensitized? in a sense, to sex, on a more emotional level, but also how it becomes even in general sort of a trauma in itself, with his concerns about either reacting violently to a trigger, or dissociating during the act and how he worries if that happens that Q will find it hollow and falling short.

the dissociating bit really sticks out to me because it reminds me of an anecdote my high school psych teacher told about a friend of hers who through therapy realized that she was dissociating during sex with her husband and like mentally taking a walk down.. some sidewalk or other, but basically I can't remember if any other fic had this like, aspect of explicitly mentioning dissociating (others do talk about like him going a bit dead-eyed when putting on his TM Seduction act which is like adjacent to this, but not like specifically from inside Bond's head reflecting on this specific type of trauma response)

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Has this banger section that, like, puts the *points above* into words from a third party's POV:

“Part of what makes it work -- with Scar and me -- is that I have no expectations on that front, so she doesn’t have to... perform. It’s second nature to them, to figure out what you want and give it to you…” The pause was horrible, and her expression deeply sad. “Whether it’s what they want or not.” Q felt a little sick. People sometimes joked about the honeypot missions, calling them ‘plush’ or talking as though they were somehow easier. Q had never really thought about it, except to think that it wouldn’t be easy for him. But now…

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the warmth of your doorways:

has whole sections of James reflecting introspectively on honeypot missions. also has the added spicy layer of James being tapped to train/guide the guy who is meant to replace him for honeypot missions, and the added turbulance of all that (this fic also has a lot going for it on other levels that I enjoy a lot- this post us just specifically about JB × his fucked up sex politics stuff)

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Bond and Q talk about sex stuff and Q is horrified to realize how bad Bond's training for honeypotting male targets was, which eventually leads to them talking about sexualuties, which leads to Q introducing Bond to the Kinsey scale lmao, and etc. also this banger from the author in the comments:

Craig has this one facial expression that makes me think, as Q put it in my fic, like Bond's soul has wandered off and left him behind. We see it occasionally when he's laying in wait to kill but most commonly when he's seducing a female mark. The best example of the face I mean is when he's seducing the widow in Spectre. It's a little dispassionate, a lot distant and it really makes me think very hard about what that means. To me, that facial expression makes me think perhaps Bond has a certain distance from his own actions. His body belongs to England, he is Her weapon and he will do as She needs.

[lemotmo]

I didn't even realize some of this.

Q. You liked Sick Day though, you said so yourself. So I'm a little confused to see you criticize it because that doesn't fit with liking an episode. I kind of feel like you're not going to be okay with certain people getting the spotlight over others and so you should just say that. Buck gets plenty of focus. He's not being ignored.

A. I did like the episode. I have been open about that. But I have also been open about the cartoonish level villain being a bit OTT for me and the glaring absence of Eddie. You can critique something you like. Finding fault doesn't erase enjoyment. I get why they did both things. It's not a 'who done it' storyline. They didn't want to waste time having people try to figure out who the villain is so they made it so obvious it was a little cartoonish in execution. I have also said that I think we were supposed to notice Eddie's absence, I believe that was the point. That doesn't erase the fact that he should have been there.

I haven't really framed any of these replies around Buck but since you brought him up, I will explain. Buck hasn't had a storyline since the lightning strike in the back half of season 6. He has had no real storyline focus since then. He has been on and has been involved in other storylines but he hasn't had a storyline of focus since the lightning strike. His bi awakening doesn't count because that was told in one half of one episode. That's not a storyline. Then they stuck him in a relationship with an actor Oliver clearly doesn't get along with, an issue that seems to be a cast wide thing at this point with that particular actor. So they kept Buck in the relationship in name only and showed very little context of said relationship because the point of that particular relationship had nothing to do with that actual relationship. The point of that relationship was to kick off the Buddie storyline which Tim, inexplicably, decided to tell alongside this god awful Vertigo storyline for Eddie. A storyline that has now been dragged out a full year and a half. That's a problem for both Buck and Eddie as characters. The Eddie storyline has been going on for almost 18 months at this point and we still have no clear resolution. Because it was a poorly constructed storyline from the very beginning. It was a bad original story idea that has been dragged on to the point of nauseating for all involved. And I give Tim credit for trying to fix it but taking 18 months to fix it is inexcusable, especially since it's still requiring Eddie to be separate from the rest of the main cast.

In those 18 months how much screen time has been devoted to multiple Bobby storylines? He resigned from the 118. Took a consultation role on HotShots, a storyline Tim dragged out over 5 freaking episodes btw, got involved with the cartel and lost his home. Came face to face with his estranged mother. Went on a cruise that sank, and helped his wife land a plane. That's 6 different storylines told while Eddie is still going through the Vertigo bullshit. Seven now if you count what's coming as a result of Sick Day and Lab Rats. How about Athena? She had the same cruise ship mishap. The same cartel burned my house down storyline. Revisited her past with an inmate transfer that led to her being in the plane Bobby had to help her land. She had the crazy rookie racist cop partner storyline. The shipping cart vigilante, only one episode but it was more than half the freaking episode. The 911 serial killer Maddie kidnapping storyline. That's six separate storylines for Athena, again all while Eddie's one plot is still unresolved. It's lazy. I understand that the Eddie/Christopher storyline could not and should not have been resolved over the course of one episode but there's been plenty of storytime to devote to it; Tim just used way too much of that time on the same two characters, or on nonsensical Brad bullshit, and that's a legitimate problem at this point.

Dragging the storyline out for so long has made Buck stagnant as well. I understand why they're telling the Buddie storyline the way they are. The problem is we get an episode or two of momentum and then we completely lose that momentum to spend time on episodes like this biohazard stuff, which is in no way more important than your character driven episodes. Yes episodes like this have value and merit, but they should be timed appropriately within the season. This event was not. And we also now have proof that the audience didn't like Eddie not being involved. So it wasn't a decision that was beneficial to the show over all. Pointing that out is not an unfair criticism. It's an ensemble show. Spending a year and half on multiple storylines for two main characters at the cost of real and necessary movement in one single storyline for 3 other main characters (Eddie, Buck and Christopher) is flat out bad storytelling.

Thank you Nonny! 😁

I never quite looked at it from this point of view, but Ali has a point here.

Maybe it's time for Bobby and Athena to spend some time decorating their new house, so the focus can go to Eddie, Buck, Madney + baby and Henren for a change.

Just a thought. 🤷‍♀️

Heads up! For anyone who is giving me the shifty eyes for reposting Ali's updates instead of reblogging. Read this.

Remember, no hate in comments, reblogs or inboxes. Let's keep it civil and respectful. Thank you.

If you are interested in more of Ali’s posts, you can find all of her posts so far under the tag: anonymous blog I love.

[purpleheartskies]

About the framing and marketing of the traumas in Robby's story including the SA

TW/SA

This situation with the SA in Robby's story feels like post-s5 all over again. Robby experienced something(s) traumatic, but the audience is not supposed to consider it traumatic for Robby because of the framing and marketing, and many fans go along with it---though in this case, many fans are opposed to ignoring the SA.

Hayden's comment about the SA seems to indicate that the writers don't see the SA for what it is and won't address it in part 3. However, Jon (privately) 1000% agreed with a fan that consent can't be given while drunk, that he was very upset with Hayden's tweet, and that he himself wouldn't have answered that question in that way. Hayden is a known troll, and given how he has always approached answering questions, his comment may have been a tone-deaf statement that pushed the narrative framing. For example, Hayden had also responded to someone in that q&a that Miguel always sees the best in people. This is not true, looking at the context throughout the story. Miguel definitely thinks the worst of Robby and acts on it whenever Miguel feels like it. These and other points I will talk about in this post make me wonder if the SA may still possibly be addressed in some way as SA.

Although there are definitely flaws in the writing, such as in the pacing, I don't think the skills of the writers can be completely ignored. Their character and relationship writing in particular are quite good (as in consistent and realistic) compared to a lot that I've seen across a variety of stories. I also think that, while many view SA as an egregious trauma that sets it apart from other traumas (hence the more resonant backlash about it), these writers are treating the SA as just another trauma in Robby's story. After all, they've handled Robby's other traumas with a similar writing, execution, framing, and marketing approach. For example, the same day that Netflix posted the ig reel marketing the SA as "Can Tory catch a break?", which matches the narrative framing, Variety put out that interview of Billy glorifying Johnny's relationship with Miguel and claiming that Johnny "needed the boy [Miguel] who needed him", which also matches the narrative framing. As I pointed out in another post, the framing and marketing of both situations treat Robby as inconsequential, although both are extremely traumatic for him. 

The storytelling style in the show is very interesting. There's a lot the consistency and patterns throughout the story, especially when it comes to the characters behaviors. For example, my pre-s6 analyses of Miguel's envy of Robby being Johnny's son, Johnny using Miguel to feel better about himself for screwing up with Robby, and the blended "family" not being written genuinely (especially Robby's inclusion in it) are inline with what was depicted once more in s6e8. In fact, the occurrence of Robby experiencing a trauma (the SA) while Johnny was off tending to the Diazs is in line with the consistency of how the writers approach Johnny and Robby's story: Johnny's relationship with the Diazs is narratively in opposition to Johnny's relationship with Robby. It is an either/or situation; it always has been. 

In this case, Robby was left out of the family situation and was, overall, feeling so unsupported (because he is, despite Johnny's words to Miguel) that his abandonment/rejection trauma and low self-worth were at their peaks, with him believing that Tory had abandoned and replaced him too, so he drank for the first time. In fact, the writers reminded us through Sam that Robby doesn't drink. They wanted us to be clear on the fact that he was drinking for the first time, and the rum and coke doubles he was downing would impair him. Robby telling Sam about his intention to drink seemed to be his counterdependence peaking through: he had wanted her to stop him. (In fairness to Sam, no character has understood Robby's counterdependent tendencies. Though, it would have been good of her, as a friend, to stick around after he told her that he was thinking of drinking. I'm not blaming Sam, though, for Robby's decision to drink. It was Robby's decision to do so. I may do a proper s6 part 2 Robby analysis soon.) It's within the context of Robby getting drunk for the first time and being alone and vulnerable that Zara took advantage of him. This was all juxtaposed with Miguel showing his envy once again about Robby being Johnny's son and Johnny once again committing himself to Miguel in comparison to Robby. In the hospital scenes, Robby's absence was felt including Carmen speaking about the baby having her big "brother" win, as if she has only one brother competing in the tournament.

Looking at how the writers have written scenes throughout the story, the SA is written as what it is: SA.

First off, there's no narrative "show" of Robby consenting or intentionally getting together with Zara. They don't show him noticing her, getting friendly with her, or drinking with her. They're only shown to have two interactions: (1) the conversation outside of her hotel room the next morning, and (2) during the brawl. In both these interactions, Zara acted entitled to Robby, his body and him, while Robby showed no interest in her whatsoever. Wrt to the SA itself, Robby was clearly shown to be getting drunk and losing his faculties (he couldn't focus enough to talk back to Kwon) before Zara even approached him. The next morning, his hungover state and his statement that he can barely remember anything also prove that he hadn't been in any condition to consent. He was barely responsive when she kissed, and he looked disturbed/shell-shocked as he walked away. In turn, she was shown watching and approaching him at the bar with intent. The next morning, her bold response "Well, good thing I do" to him saying that he barely remembers, her indifference about his unwell state, and her stealing a kiss from him as if she's entitled to show that she was sober and didn't care if he could consent or not. She had been interested in him, and she'd taken from him what she'd wanted. 

The framing and marketing that we should feel sorry for Tory wrt this doesn't match the nuance of what is shown, only the framing of it. Tory seeing them is written as a coincidence. The framing that Robby had cheated and made a "mistake" is set up by Robby's words: "Tory broke up with me. She hooked up with Kwon. I got drunk and I did something stupid". Some fans claim that Robby "cheated" to get revenge, but there is no narrative proof of this. Robby didn't try to throw it in Tory's face and was shocked that she'd found out. Then, his defensive argument with Tory---that she was upset that he'd gotten with someone even though she'd gotten with Kwon---added to the framing. However, Robby is already established as a character with exaggerated self-blame, who blames himself for his traumas when he isn't at fault at all or isn't 100% at fault. In this case, he can barely remember what happened. He knows that he got drunk because he was upset, thinking that Tory had hooked up with Kwon. But, he essentially doesn't know the details of the "mistake" that he is blaming himself for. He was also already blaming himself when he and Tory got into their argument about it, so he was defensive about it.

Overall, the whole situation had contexts of Robby's underlying traumas. He drank for the first time to deal with his abandonment/rejection trauma and low self-worth. He took this step, despite his goal not to become like Johnny. This is also likely a type of situation that his mother may have experienced in the past, given what had been shown about her in earlier seasons. He blamed himself for it, although he essentially doesn't even know details about what he's blaming himself for. He just believes it's his fault. Robby being SA'd the first time he drank and got drunk seems to be a dark irony in light of all this.

Another thing that stuck out is that Tory cut Robby off when he tried to explain what had happened with Zara. This was after Cobra Kai had lost, and Robby had approached Tory in the hotel lobby. Robby not being able to tell his side of the story or details of his side of the story being obscured is pretty consistent with his story so far. When it comes to the school fight, for example, Miguel's wrongdoings against Robby have been obscured, and only Robby's wrongdoing in it have been explored and addressed. In s3e2, Robby clearly told Daniel that he had kicked Miguel (which is a true statement), while he also told Daniel that it was a mistake trying to help him because he can't change (which is his exaggerated self-blame; it had been an accident and there is so much context to consider for that fight). This is similar to "I got drunk" (true statement) and "I did something stupid" (exaggerated self-blame; he couldn't consent and barely even knows what happened).

In s3e2, Robby wasn't able to say more to Daniel because the cops had shown up. Robby stopped trusting Daniel, was put into juvie, and their relationship dissolved. Robby also stopped talking about his side of the story. Even when Kreese (s3e5) and Tory (s3e8) showed him empathy about it, Robby didn't respond. He finally talked about it in s4e4 when he tried to defend himself to Johnny, but Johnny dismissed what he said. Then, in s5e5, after the abusive apartment fight, he explained to Miguel what had happened at the end of the school fight, in response to Miguel gaslighting him about the school fight. Miguel's question implied that Robby had had no reason to not hold back that day in school, which shows how entitled and lacking in empathy and self-awareness Miguel is as the person who had attacked Robby brutally that day. (Robby having a "fight" response at the end of the fight was quite natural, given the circumstances.)

Robby has been scapegoated for their school fight and is still being scapegoated for it, as depicted in the college essay scene in s6e2. The SA being written how it was---as SA---and Robby being scapegoated for it is in line with how he has been scapegoated narratively before. Again, I think people view SA on a different level than these other traumas and situations, but it is a type of trauma and it is being treated as his other traumas have been treated. The SA was also perpetrated by a new character, who isn't endeared to fans in general, so she is being more rightfully called out and given less of a benefit of a doubt. Those who defend her or make gross comments about the SA mainly do so because she's a young, hot female.

Wrt the SA, a question remains about how and if Zara would have flaunted it in Tory's face had Tory not seen them. Zara also later taunted Tory about it on Zara's livestream because Tory was standing nearby. (Maybe Zara saw Tory alone and purposely went and stood close by. We don't know.) By this point, Zara is depicted as an opportunist. She had taken advantage of Robby while he was drunk, alone and vulnerable, and she was taking shots at Tory whenever the opportunity arose. Zara SA'd Robby because she'd wanted him. Tory coincidentally finding out had been a bonus for Zara, which she used to piss off Tory more.

In fact, Zara isn't depicted to have any positive personality traits at all. She started a rivalry with Tory because she saw Robby and immediately became interested in him, but noticed that Robby and Tory have something and didn't like that. She got in Tory's face after she noticed people talking about Tory, instead of her, as a badass fighter. Then, she threw having been with Robby in Tory's face because Tory coincidentally saw her kissing Robby. Then, just to piss Tory off, she purposely commented on her livestream that she plays hard all night. Tory snatched her phone and told Zara's followers that Zara doesn't care about her karate sisters and steals their boyfriends. She started losing sponsors so that pissed her off at Tory more. During the brawl, when Tory tried to get to Robby, Zara stopped Tory, said that she's hers, and started beating on her. After Robby threw her off of Tory, she was shocked that he'd choose Tory over her. She then attacked Robby. (This Zara-Tory rivalry is pretty one-sided and doesn't parallel the Tory-Sam rivalry which was already two-sided before Miguel became an issue between them.) 

Zara is depicted as vain, egocentric, envious, entitled, lacking in accountability, violent, and opportunistic. She preys on and assaults guys without a care and flaunts having been with them, and she actually thought that that one night and whatever she did to Robby would make him choose her over Tory, who she knows Robby has a history with. She didn't treat Robby as a person at all, but as something that she is entitled to.

As I mentioned, this isn't the first time that Robby has been subjected to an abuse/assault/trauma that has been obscured with framing and marketing. Robby's story is actually quite dark if the framing and marketing around it is removed. I actually feel that the writers were trying to top the abuses from s5 with the SA, as in what other trauma could they give Robby. As the series has gone on, Robby has experienced the most traumas out of all the kids, almost all of which are not his fault at all or not completely his fault, and are still unaddressed. (Out of all the kids, Robby is also the only one to have gone to juvie, although some of the others should have gone too.) Just like I mentioned above, Robby blames himself for almost all of these traumas, regardless of how much fault he bears... as many trauma victims would. Wrt the SA, Robby is 1000% not at fault for what Zara did to him.

Looking back to s5, consider the Mexico trip in s5e1/2. Johnny subjected Robby to emotional and psychological abuse while Johnny did what he could to find Miguel and told Carmen to stay safely at home. Robby ended up staying to help Johnny after Johnny tried to abandon him again. Now, one could claim that Robby wanted to stay. After all, Robby told Johnny, after saving him, that Johnny's trying to fix things and Robby wants to help. But, as I pointed out after s5, this is a people-pleasing statement. Robby was putting Johnny's needs above his own. Johnny had tried to abandon Robby again after kidnapping him to Mexico under the guise of a father-son trip. Johnny had also psychologically and emotionally manipulated Robby with gaslighting and guilting. Robby also repeated what Johnny had said earlier, that they could make stories together, another emotional manipulation. Robby changed himself to stay with Johnny. Robby even did a chili eating contest to fix one of Johnny's screw ups. And of course that whole trip ended with a big heartfelt "father-son" hug between Johnny and Miguel as Robby watched from the background, a blatant callback to the s1e5 scene that was a trauma trigger for Robby. This time Robby had to swallow his trauma given the situation he was in. The trauma and abuse Robby suffered on this trip was framed and marketed as Johnny needing to find the boy who needed him (Miguel), Robby wanting to stay and help Johnny, and the two of them making stories together. This trauma and abuse are still unaddressed.

There is a follow up though, that shows that Robby wasn't okay with the trip. His conversation with Tory in s5e4 showed that he didn't enjoy the trip and he clearly stated that he and Johnny still have some issues that are too big to solve (Robby looked at Miguel when Robby said this). Those issues have not been solved, but have been tucked away because of the news that came later. In s5e3, Johnny told the opposite to Carmen that he and Robby are good now. s5e4 is the last time that Robby spoke about his issues with Johnny. There have also been NO proper one-on-one scenes or interactions between Johnny and Robby since the Mexico trip. Although many love Johnny and Robby's "father-son bonding" on the trip, the context of that trip shouldn't be ignored (but it is by many). The Mexico trip was never used to establish a foundation for them to start (re)building a relationship. In fact, the trip added to the continued narrative thread of Johnny's relationship with the Diazs being in opposition to his relationship with Robby, while Robby experienced more trauma. The trip also set up Robby completely adopting people-pleasing after he would later hear the baby news.

Now, take the apartment fight and baby news in s5e5. Robby had made his boundaries clear to Johnny. Robby didn't want to be Miguel's friend. Robby was also willing to be okay with Johnny's relationship with Miguel. But, Johnny cornered Robby with Miguel and with the psychologically and physically abusive, "Johnny classic"/Cobra Kai solution to "fight it out". Robby noticeably didn't want to fight and hesitated before and after saying yes to the fight, which he only said yes to to posture after Miguel said yes to the fight. Robby, especially, started out fighting hesitantly. Johnny egged them on, and it was after Miguel drew blood that Robby stopped hesitating.

As they fought, the boys ended up on the second floor balcony. Miguel gained the upper hand, and Robby stopped fighting back. Robby looked on in fear but Miguel suddenly stopped fighting, which is stated in the script as "showing mercy"---a callback to how their school fight had ended. The end moments of this fight were juxtaposed with flashbacks of Miguel's side of the school fight, a "tell" that framed Robby as the bad guy/aggressor in that fight. Robby then asked Miguel why he held back, and Miguel gaslit him about not learning karate to hurt people but to be badass and learn balance. This is not completely true. Miguel had just said yes to this fight so that he could hurt Robby with his karate, as Miguel has done a few times before. Also, Cobra Kai, which Miguel had learned first, doesn't teach finding balance. After this statement, Miguel asked Robby why he didn't hold back in school. As I described earlier, this is another gaslighting statement. As Robby explained his actions at the end of the school fight, Robby acknowledged that that was the worst moment of both of their lives. Both of them had also just relived the trauma of the school fight with this apartment fight. Johnny asked if they were good now, and Robby hesitated but then nodded yes. For both fights, Miguel got resolutions completely in his favor and is no longer dealing with repercussions from the fights, while Robby got no resolutions on his side and is still dealing with repercussions. This apartment fight was marketed as a "therapy session" for both boys and the video for it showcased the younger cast minus Tanner (who was filming a movie at the time) watching the middle to end of the fight, the latter of which frames the narrative in Miguel's favor using flashbacks as "tell". Again, Robby's side of the school and apartment fights and his lack of resolutions were obscured in the framing and the marketing.

This abusive and traumatic experience for Robby also ended with tonal shifts, like the SA scene does. Johnny let slip about the baby news. As Johnny and Miguel became excited over it, Robby is visibly shown to be processing the news and only acted overly excited after Johnny pointed to Miguel and said to act that excited. Suddenly, Robby exclaimed that that is awesome, and they all hugged and all was good between them, with a guitar riff score playing. The SA scene also ended with tonal shifts. As the elevator opened, the ominous music that had been playing intensified, shifting the focus of the scene from Robby to Tory. The scene visually focused on Robby as he walked away. Then, Zara spotted Tory, the music shifted once more. This time from ominous to upbeat/playful, and Zara blew Tory a kiss. In both cases, the scenes became about the other characters' feelings and dynamic, while Robby's traumatic experience in both these situations was visually shown, it was dismissed and later framed as him being in the wrong. In s5e8, Robby talked to Kenny about the rivalry as if Robby's hate had been the problem, and once he let that go, all was good. This of course is not true, as Miguel clearly is the one who had started and maintains the rivalry with Robby as Miguel feels entitled to. This is shown again in part 2, with Miguel acting like a jealous ass to Robby until Johnny promised to give Miguel preferential treatment again, compared to Robby. Miguel later gave Robby the pep talk to help them win. In s6e9, Robby took the same approach of putting the blame of what Zara did to him onto himself, despite barely remembering what had happened and Zara clearly remembering. Zara however is the one who is clearly at fault for whatever she did to him. She acted entitled to him and took advantage of him. Her expectation that he choose her over Tory after that night also shows her entitlement.

In s5e5, at dinner after the apartment fight, Robby was now miraculously happy with both Johnny and Miguel. After Carmen came home, Robby kindly asked if he could stay for dinner. After she paused and said yes, Robby cautiously watched her as she walked away. Robby's place in the family is clearly unstable, and this is still indicated in s6, including in s6e8. When Carmen asked about the boys' bruises, Johnny told her that the boys beat each other into submission. This is not true. Miguel had beaten Robby into submission. Johnny's claim is meant to frame the resolution as fair for both boys, just like the marketing attempts to, but this doesn't match what was shown in the actual fight and resolution. s5e5 also added to the continued narrative thread of Johnny's relationship with the Diazs being in opposition to his relationship with Robby, while Robby experienced more trauma.

Robby's story has gotten darker as the story has gone on, though the context and tone of his story remain obscured using framing and marketing that minimizes/removes how dark and traumatic these experiences are for Robby. At the same time, Robby still lacks a stable support system and his mental health is shown to be worsening. After s5, many claimed that Robby had found balance. So far, s6 is showing that Robby never found balance. In fact, his mental health has gotten so bad that he eventually chose to drink to cope with his poor mental health, just like Johnny does, although Robby's goal is to not become like Johnny. 

The SA narratively fits as another traumatic experience that Robby has had and that he blames himself for. The SA is framed and marketed as something that only affects Tory. The narrative thread of Johnny's relationship with the Diazs being in opposition to his relationship with Robby, while Robby experiences another trauma also continued. The SA has been dealt with in the narrative and in the marketing the same way as Robby's other traumatic experiences have been. Throughout the story, the writers have been "telling" the audience to ignore all of the abuse and trauma Robby has been "shown" to experience. The SA isn't a unique circumstance. I've said before that this story is full of irony:

"Irony introduces depth, nuance, and multi-layered meaning. Its ability to present contradictions and incongruities between appearance and reality, or between expectation and actuality, demands critical thinking from the audience to uncover the intended deeper significance. Rather than passive acceptance of face value, irony prompts an analysis of context and subtext — engaging viewers or readers in a richer interpretive experience."

If the SA were the only trauma dealt with in this way, I wouldn't be writing this post. But Robby's other traumas have also been dealt with this way. We have been "shown" what Robby has experienced throughout the story, but the "tell" obscures so much of it, and he and the other characters have yet to understand what he's experienced and how it all affects him.

Since part 2 came out, it's been good to see that people have been calling out the SA by calling out the nuances of the scenes involved---body language, dialogue, and context. I've also seen people say that they recognize Robby blaming himself for it as a trauma victim would, and as Robby specifically would. After s5, it was so hard to talk about Robby's abusive/traumatic experiences during the Mexico trip, apartment fight, baby news and the family dinner scenes. People would dismiss all these storytelling nuances that were clearly portrayed as Johnny used and abused Robby to find Miguel and later abused Robby to force his submission into Johnny's new family. Johnny forcing Robby to be friends/family with these people, especially in such a violent way, is a violation of Robby's boundaries. Zara SAing Robby is also a violation of his boundaries. The storytelling nuances have also always been present and ignored by many the whole time as Johnny and Miguel's relationship has been built at Robby's expense, with the persistent layers of Johnny using Miguel to feel better about himself and Miguel feeling entitled to Johnny over Robby and being jealous that Robby is Johnny's son. These nuances and layers are still there in s6, and especially in s6e8. 

After part 2 came out and especially after Hayden's comment, many said that they needed female writers because of how the SA has been handled. But, two women wrote s6e8 and a woman directed it. In fact, the woman who directed it also directed s5e5, which had the apartment fight, baby news, and dinner scenes. That episode has so much nuance that people choose to ignore. I still remember how some people would openly dismiss Robby's body language in those s5e5 scenes that I've described above. I also remember a lot of people claimed after s5 that the writers didn't remember Robby's traumas and mental health issues anymore. Now I'm seeing some of those same people talk about Robby's mental health being the reason he drank. 

Despite many going along with the framing and marketing of Robby's other traumas, it's a relief overall to see that many still hold the view that this is SA and haven't been swayed to believe otherwise. (Although, I have seen that some have shrugged their shoulders and have adopted the view that Robby "cheated" or had "casual sex", which is not supported narratively with "show" but is framed and marketed as such using "tell".)

I really hope that people keep the conversations going in the fandom about the SA, as well as about Robby's other traumas and all of the nuances in his story.

[mystycalypso]

Hello, me again. This time for your Actor AU, what was it like for the couple to realize that they both got casted in the same show, and these roles in particular.

I can see Jonh as a semi-well known actor who got Mr. Boxx role. Meanwhile his partner, despite his appearance, was just a supportive guy who wanted to see the acting process at the studio and ask John if he could tag along.

While being there to support Boxxer, around the same time whoever originally was gonna play Laserblast quits or is a no show. Desperate for a new Lazer, this turned into a blessing I disguise when they found the myth himself. To the director, he looked too good to be true. But after getting to know him a bit and have him say a few lines. He ended up getting the role of Lazerblast.

(Do with my made up story as you will, I just wanna see how this couple works as actors in these roles pretending they don't like eachother.)

I do like this idea, however, not exactly what I'd had in mind, but tbf that all has to do with- why I made the au designs in the first place

Laser started out acting as a teen. He was much shrimpier, very young, pretty boy, young, Zach Efron, typa thing. The kind of actor that was probably a lot of people's teen crush way back when. He wasn't in as much as he got older and mostly continued acting as a 'projects I find fun first' job (like Nick Cage basically) , which is when he got his role as Laser. He really enjoyed it, especially since he didn't have to do things like wear flippers over his tooth gap, and despite not having kids of his own, he clicked really well with the bodega trio's actors. He and John met on set, John's acting career being more irregular/small roles normally, and they bonded over the years the show was airing, getting married before filming of season 3 started. (Kind of inspired by how Spiderman's actor almost always ends up dating the MJ actor)

But anyway, here's the- entire reason I made these designs haha (I couldn't break it all into drawings so be sure to read the text in between for context)

He grumbles about how audience manners keep dropping year to year

Dynamite Watkins: Oh my, seems like our audience is raring to go! Why don't we just jump into our Q and A section?

"Yeah. Sure."

The first questions are innocent enough, whether or not he likes fingerless gloves normally (he doesn't mind them, but he prefers not to wear them off set as his hands get sweaty), what his relationship is like with K.O. off set, etc. Until someone asks him to clarify his name as they want to know what other work he's been in. In the middle of him answering, someone else jumps in to ask if he enjoys being referred to as Laserblast by fans.

He seems visibly more annoyed the more this happens. Always being cut off by an audience member. The last question was the same person from before, awkwardly asking for clarification again, this time, the B roll footage they'd prepped began blasting from the sound systems, much louder than he can manage to yell over them

Finally, after they get it mostly fixed, and the credits are rolling, Dynamite accidentally calls him Laser, and he loses it, standing up and accidentally blocking his own name, the entire time it's on screen.

"...I uh- I don't think we're gonna be able to air this one, Cam..."

(Yes, I created these entire designs and stuff just for a joke about Laser not having a real name again. I like this bit that much wheeze)

[commandershepardvasfuckit]

NSFW alphabet: Zen’jan

Saw people doing this for their OCs and I wanted to join!

A = Aftercare (what they’re like after sex):

Equal parts likely to need as be the one to give it. He’s a nervous thing with a lot of trauma and he’s got some issues with emotional regulation and being able to calm down after anything intense so he needs a lot of cuddling and reassurance

B = Body part (their favorite body part of theirs and also their partner’s):

His favorite for him is his tusks. He’s got quite a nice set both with shape and size and he’s quite proud of them! For his wife? I mean literally everything, but he really loves how soft humans are compared to trolls and just loves to run his fingers all over your soft, delicate skin.

C = Cum (anything to do with cum, basically):

Zen’s got 0 issues with cum eating, he’ll happy cum in you and then immediately go down on you

D = Dirty secret (pretty self explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs):

Seeing his cum on you drives him wild, whether is dripping out of you or if he finishes on you, something about the visuals of it really does it for him.

E = Experience (how experienced are they? do they know what they’re doing?):

Very basic “just get it done” sex? Very experienced. Zen’s in his early 30s and no stranger to a quickie to pass the time. But anything more than that is new territory to him. Much foreplay, oral, and and more intimate sex are very new to him and he needs some guidance.

F = Favorite position (this goes without saying):

Anything face to face. He’s a very snuggly person and loves to nuzzle his forehead against you as much as possible. Barring that it’s anything that gives him a lot of skin to skin contact.

G = Goofy (are they more serious in the moment? are they humorous? etc.):

He’s too caught up being lovey dovey to be goofy. He can be a deeply playful person in general when he’s comfortable, but for sex he’s too busy being affectionate and romantic to be goofy.

H = Hair (how well groomed are they? does the carpet match the drapes? etc.):

He sucks at taking care of himself and needs help keeping the dense undercoat of his hair combed out. Trolls don’t have body hair so no carpet :P

I = Intimacy (how are they during the moment? the romantic aspect):

Very lovey dovey. He’s spent a very long time have emotionless sex just to pass time or blow off steam so he’s really making up for lost time and while he can get a little intense on accident he really just wants you to feel loved.

J = Jack off (masturbation headcanon):

Used to a lot, especially during a rut. Though really doesn’t anymore now that he’s happily in a relationship.

K = Kink (one or more of their kinks):

Praise kink! He’s not used to praise in any context, let alone in the bedroom. The first time you call him a good boy in bed that definitely unlocks something in him

L = Location (favorite places to do the do):

Zen’s a very private person, he’d prefer to be in his own home behind closed doors and all snuggly in bed.

M = Motivation (what turns them on, gets them going):

Seeing you all dressed up in fancy, traditional troll clothes definitely does something for him. Kissing is a major turn on since the only time he’s ever made out is with you and it turned into him getting a blow job real fast so making out is an automatic hard on now

N = No (something they wouldn’t do, turn offs):

Sharing you. Anything aggressive or rough in bed. Bondage (he will have a panic attack if he’s restrained).

O = Oral (preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc.):

Loves giving or receiving. Is not good at giving head but makes up for it by having a big tongue that really gets in there and purring the whole time.

P = Pace (are they fast and rough? slow and sensual? etc.):

Fairly slow and sensual. Now that he’s able to be romantically involved and intimate he’s pretty much decided that he’s taking things slowly and just enjoying every moment, no need to rush.

Q = Quickie (their opinions on quickies, how often, etc.):

Never intentional lol. If it ends up being quick it’s because it was an accident and he got so wound up he couldn’t last, but he’ll still insist on spending forever eating you out or fingering you so it’s still going to be a good amount of time.

R = Risk (are they game to experiment? do they take risks? etc.):

Technically anything that isn’t a quickie (and probably from behind) is a new experiment to him lol. He’s not going to be too risky though, he’s a nervous, gentle giant so while he’s 100% down to try new things anything rough is probably off the table.

S = Stamina (how many rounds can they go for? how long do they last?):

Sorry everyone! No marathon sex (at least in the beginning lol). He’s so used to quickies or jacking it just to blow off steam real quick, he doesn’t last long. But give him 15-20 minutes and he’ll be ready for another round and he’ll happily eat you out and finger you between rounds.

T = Toys (do they own toys? do they use them? on a partner or themselves?):

Owns none and has never used any. Honestly he just doesn’t get the point when he’s got perfectly good fingers, tongue, and dick lol.

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease):

Not much, he’s jumping right into doting on you and pleasing you. The idea of teasing someone and dragging things doubt that way doesn’t really cross his mind.

V = Volume (how loud they are, what sounds they make, etc.):

Lots of soft whines and whimpers and moans, he’s not a loud person but does make a lot of little noises the whole time. And purring, lots of nonstop purring.

W = Wild card (a random headcanon for the character):

Zen just doesn’t fundamentally care about himself as an individual person. He’s been treated as just his titles for so long instead of an actual person that he has a hard time seeing himself as an actual person now. You doting on him and never really referencing his titles has done him a world of good, to you he’s just Zen and he couldn’t be happier to be just Zen.

X = X-ray (let’s see what’s going on under those clothes):

Pretty big dick, 9-10 inches and not particularly a grower. He’s lighter around the base with a darker tip. Not a super pronounced head and more tapered from base to tip than a human would be. Big balls lol.

Y = Yearning (how high is their sex drive?):

Pretty high. He was used to quickies or jacking it most days so suddenly ending up in an arranged married meant quite a change of pace (he was absolutely quietly jacking it in the bathroom before you got up in the morning those first few weeks).

Z = Zzz (how quickly they fall asleep afterwards):

Pretty quickly. Sex was his go to for many, many years to de-stress and relax so he’s used to passing out right after. If given the option he’s immediately cuddling you and passing out right after

[kyanitedragon]

I'm finally watching The Original Series for the first time (after having watched basically every other Star Trek series) and man is this a fun trip!!

I know all the Trek lore from the other series, but amazingly I've managed to avoid the majority of TOS spoilers. And the few spoilers I do know, I have very little context for them.

And so, with that unique perspective, here are my thoughts:

TOS is equally so similar to and so different from the later series.

The lore, the characters, the set up — it's all the same. It's clear that Gene Roddenberry knew from the get-go what he wanted this series to be.

And yet the series is just so 60's. The dramatic music cues, the dramatic zooms, the over-acting in the fight scenes. Even the starship design looks so foreign to me — so angular and square and with so many buttons.

It's entertainingly frustrating to me how ill-equiped Kirk's enterprise is against inside threats. Kirk doesn't have a main head of security, and he rarely uses security on-board at all. The amount of times that people just waltz out of sickbay when McCoy turns his head, how so many antagonists straight up walk onto the bridge, the amount of times characters enter others' rooms without permission??

Kirk is so casual as a captain and I absolutely adore it. Voyager is my favorite Trek specifically because of how they all become a found family throughout their journey. And TOS has that from the get-go! The very first scene we see is Kirk and McCoy joking around on their mission — clearly old friends.

And it's not just his friends McCoy and Spock, but Kirk is rather casual and lax with his entire crew too. I love TNG and I love Picard but I was never a personal fan of how authoritative and professional he liked his ship.

I like seeing all the likely inspiration from these early episodes. There's so many episodes with mischevious god-like aliens, and I just know they had to be inspiration for Q. Especially Trelane, who literally put Kirk on trial like the very first episode of TNG. So many episodes revolve around computers wanting to achieve "perfection", which likely lead to the Borg. Especially Landru which had a speech that sounded a lot like the Borg.

And Kirk and Spock. Man, where to even begin? Obviously I knew people shipped them, but... Wow.

I'm honestly a little shocked that Trek did go more authoritative in later Treks. Kirk and Spock are just so close. Kirk is so handsy. They banter and joke back and forth all the time. It's so far away from the professionalism of any other on-duty starfleet officer in any Trek. And I absolutely love it.

Kirk and Spock start the show already friends. I had no idea this was the case going in, I thought episode 1 was going to be them meeting for the first time as Captain and Second Officer, the first day of their mission — just like all later Treks do. And I got so excited when I realized they were already best friends.

And I love how, despite already being so close, their relationship just evolves from there. For the first half of season 1, I thought they were cute, sure, and they had some moments, but I didn't see the big deal. But by the second half? Oh. Ohh I understand now. I get it.

And I love the consistancy between episodes. The show isn't serialized, it's episodic, and yet if you pay attention, you can catch little references and connections to previous episodes. Kirk mentioning he has a brother at the start of the season, and one of the last episodes is about his brother dying. Kirk learning that "half-breed" bothers Spock early on, and knowing to use it when he needs to get him angry in the last episodes. Just to name two. And I've poked around the fandom and seen you guys mention so many more little callbacks that I had missed.

Later Treks do a good job giving pretty equal screentime to their large casts. But TOS is so heavily focused on the Kirk, Spock, McCoy trio. It's not a bad thing, I love them together, but it just feels weird to me. Similar to the security thing, it also feels so inefficient and dangerous to have the Captain, Second in Command, and Chief Medical Officer on almost every single away-mission.

McCoy is so interesting to me. Later Treks tend to keep their doctors mostly in sickbay. But McCoy is almost constantly on the bridge just hanging out. It feels weird to have the doctor as a main character, but I had always wanted the doctor characters to have more screentime, so I'm definitely not complaining!!

And on a similar note — Spock is blue. He's the only Second in Command of all the Treks that wears blue and not Command colors. I've been so used to seeing barely any blues among the bridge crew, and now TOS has Spock and Bones both in blue and on the bridge near-constantly. I always wanted to see more Science officers in the main cast, so it makes me really happy to see it.

I've only finished Season 1 of 3, but already I have a feeling it's gonna be competing with Voyager for my favorite Trek series.

[ritsukaaoyagi]

SORRY THIS IS SO LONG. soubi's answers make sense for him cos he is disillusioned by love and isn't going to have any sort of positive feelings or ideas associated with the concept of love I Mean given his Life up until now. I guess his answer to question #9 "would you ever be the first to declare your love?" being "no" is kind of weird, given everything with ritsuka, (as well as "i don't remember having one" to the question about having a first love. also he obviously isn't the most honest person anyway but yea) but the confusion fades once the answer is put back in context of this entire section from the q&a rather than isolated in its own realm of "what the hell does he mean." and also to consider the context of his love for ritsuka. cos we know soubi holds love and affection, but also that soubi isn't operating in the same world as the rest of the cast, due to his insane dedication to the fighter bit... the affection he holds for ritsuka is tied up strongly in his fighter bit, in that it's supposedly, or in his world, inseparable from ritsuka as his sacrifice, because the fighter/sacrifice dynamic is the closest thing soubi can get to "love," it's also the most important thing, so it more accurately represents "love" rather than question of a "normal" love, the kind which associates with dates, rings, marriage, confessions..... a lesser love because obviously this kind of world doesn't really matter to soubi, or at least not in volume 4 which is where i think this q&a is from... omg idk if any of that makes sense... but i also found it interesting because i think his answer to love being obsession still rings true either way for him, though i guess he might not name his thing with love in the fighter/sacrifice sense as an obsession, like it's just his life. obviously his relationship with ritsuka kind of shifts things, in that his affection for him goes beyond his attachment/obsession to ritsuka as his sacrifice, but it's not like he can totally understand or see that cos like how could he. also, as he said himself by the end of vol 1, he's come to actually love ritsuka, but he didn't expect this to happen

which already says enough about soubi's feelings on seimei's "love ritsuka" order. like especially at the start, "love" is really only a spell to speedrun and build up a powerful bond between fighter/sacrifice. and then the disillusionment/confusion with the idea of "love" again, the fact he didn't expect to love ritsuka so much... obviously ritsuka's role as his sacrifice meant something from the start because soubi needs a sacrifice, but ritsuka as his sacrifice must have felt initially cheapened because seimei's death is the second time soubi has been discarded, and if we're including ritsu in the list of soubi's (hypothetical in ritsu's case) sacrifices based off of soubi's earlier + crushed expectations, ritsuka is the Third attempt at the fighter/sacrifice bond, and then of course there's the fact they have different names and are an unnatural pair. but yeah evidently the love grows to be something real, though to soubi this love still heavily relies on the fighter/sacrifice dynamic. i also think it's funny how after ritsuka, at least in the earlier volumes, would always be operating on the assumption soubi's love isn't real because it's ordered, as it's not like ritsuka is aware soubi has that above realization of actually loving ritsuka or whatever... I JUST THINK IT'S FUNNY there's that big scene in volume one

and ritsuka just has to move on and cope. soubi realizes his love is True, but this isn't made clear to ritsuka, he just keeps acting as he usually does and ritsuka just continues to be swayed by soubi and then pulled back from soubi. and then we take into account ritsuka's whole thing of needing to love or care for someone blah blah or needing to feel neded. ritsuka and soubi might eventually have an equal understanding of each other post-goura, but once soubi's taken away by seimei, those initial fears of soubi's feelings for ritsuka being ultimately untrue hits him hard

soubi only ever listened to me as indulgence... KYA!!! anyway ya idk. all rambles I just love them

[littleeyesofpallas]

So I've mentioned before that Hisagi Shuuhei's given name Shuuhei[修兵]: "disciplined soldier" is a homonym with shuuhei[州兵]: lit. "state+soldier" but refers to both the organization and individuals of a "National Guard" and contextually the US National Guard specifically. And I've mentioned how it kinda plays into his characterization in relation to his zanpakutou. But something that maybe isn't as apparent is how he shares a very loose theme with Kensei.

Kensei's got a weird mix of things going on and it always felt to me like part of it kind of pivoted half way thru the series, and really the Visored in general, where he started with a sort of US military theme but got shifted into being more of a Japanese style biker gang leader instead(and how that plays into Mashiro's toku hero gimmick)

Among other things he's got the retroactively named move, BakudanTsuki[爆弾突き]: "bomb thrust" that has a subtle militaristic connotation to it. But then in context it's the same root word for "bomb" used in Bambietta's Schrift The Explode[爆撃]: "bombing(raid)" like in an aerial bombing from a plane.

(The other attack there is just SANDBAG BEAT[サンドバッグ・ビート] which doesn't feel especially thematic, but I guess does kind of evoke him being in something like a more western boxing gym, rather than any kind of japanese or samurai specific aesthetics like you'd expect from Soul Society. And his given name is written as "West(ern) Fist")

And then his zanpakutou, Tachikaze appears to be, at least in my mind, evocative of the Tachikaze class destroyer ship. Although I admit that's largely on the back of my own kind of wild/broad speculation about the Visored more as a group than anything supported by just him specifically.

Shuuhei ga tsuyosou na namae janee ka! Nakuna![修兵が強そうな名前じゃねえか! 泣くな!]: "Shuuhei is a strong looking name isn't it? Don't cry!"

It feels too obvious to need spelling out, but he's not just giving the generic pep talk, he's very specifically pointing out the Shuuhei's name means "Disciplined Soldier" so he should act like one.

I wish I could find it again but I swear there was some transcript of an interview where Kubo more or less reiterated stuff he'd been asked in other similar Q&A but mentioned that he doesn't really design characters with a background in mind, he just draws what feels cool and comes up with a story and personality to match the look. And mroe over that he similarly doesn't design characters with their relationships in mind, he just takes the characters he's already made and imagines which ones look like they'd get along in some way or another. (Among other things this explains why the same women keep showing up in 8th division, not because Nanao and Risa, or even Risa and Kyoraku were ever meant to be meaningfully related but because Kubo just keeps making these women who look the same and ends up pigeonholing them into the same basic network of characters.) Again i can't seem to find this specific Q&A though so take that "factoid" with a grain of salt.

Still it's with that in mind that it feels like Shuuhei and Kensei ended up together. Not because Kensei was ever actually meant to be Shuuhei's childhood hero but because they both had a soldier gimmick and so Kubo's brain filed them into the same general corner together. And it's from that link that he specifically made their meeting in the TBtP arc punctuated with this line about Shuuhei's name.

Also Shuuhei's got his whole motorcycle thing which is weirdly never actually brought up in the context of Kensei's biker thing and his hollow form made to look like car parts; although it's Shuuhei who's only briefly nodded to as the orbital factoid around Jackie's whole gay leather biker daddy themed Dirty Boots. (Very funny that between that and Mashiro's Kamen Rider homage that we have two implicitly motorcycle riding kicky ladies in Bleach. "...two nickles..." and all that...)

[anonymous-dentist]

I think it’s interesting to look at how this villain arc is going already, because people have already started taking things out of context and ignoring any and all subtext going on.

Ex: people saying that q!Cellbit is manipulating q!Roier into still being on his side by saying he’ll get Bobby back.

This is not true. Watch the clip below of their conversation: (let’s see if the clip cooperates this time lol)

If you pay attention, you’ll note that the word “promise” isn’t anywhere in there. Neither is anything like “I am going to get Bobby back” or “I will get Bobby back”. He says that he will try. There’s a big difference between a guarantee and an attempt.

Is this all to say that he isn’t trying to manipulate Roier? Not at all, because this is still manipulative in a way. He’s still out here using Roier’s weak point to get him on his side, but also? He’s been telling Roier that he would try and get Bobby back since the day Bobby died in that dungeon. He tried again in that white room before Cucurucho kicked everybody out. Maybe that’s why this manipulation would’ve worked if it, uh, actually worked.

The thing about q!Roier and q!Cellbit is that they have a… special relationship. We all know about Guapito and Gatinho, but there’s another aspect here, and it’s that they trust each other with almost everything they’ve got, especially on Roier’s end. Cellbit is one of three people on the server who knows about the secret area in Roier’s base (the other two are q!Jaiden and q!Mariana, Roier’s best friends and the only other people he openly trusts), after all, and he’s implied to be the only person that Roier has loved that loves him back. That goes a long way.

And then there’s the matter of Roier saying that he’ll believe in Cellbit because of the parallels here with the ad (which Roier seems to think is the root of the problem here) and with what happened with q!Spreen and q!Quackity months ago. Roier sees the ad and everyone’s reactions to the ad/Cellbit’s investigations into the ad as Cellbit does, as a betrayal. He empathizes with him because he went through what Cellbit is currently going through.

Most importantly, we know that the manipulation didn’t work because Roier isn’t on Cellbit’s side. He isn’t on anybody’s side, actually! He said as much in his stream last night.

He will be Cellbit’s legal counsel for the upcoming custody hearing, but it won’t be because of the whole manipulation thing. It’s because this is Cellbit we’re talking about here.

(Pardon the translation here, but it basically means “He says he wants to support Bobby, and I support him in everything. Even if he can’t do it, I’ll support him then, too.”)

And you see this behavior all night. He’s the only guy defending Cellbit during the Order’s meeting, he says that their first priority should be “saving” Cellbit rather than destroying the Federation, he says that Cellbit might just be sad and lonely, he tells Maximus to take the ad down, and he doesn’t do any of this because Cellbit asked him to or because he’s on his side or anything. He acknowledges that the custody trial is fucked up and he seems genuinely sad hearing that Cellbit is ditching all his friends here. Roier does all of this because he cares for Cellbit as a person, which is something that I’m not sure Cellbit himself realizes.

TLDR: q!Cellbit didn’t manipulate q!Roier by saying he’ll get Bobby back, he manipulated Roier by saying he’ll try and get Bobby back. It didn’t work either way because Roier is a Good Friend.

[the-crimson]

Why does it feel like we in the q!bbh fandom are constantly defending q!bbh from people who hate his character for no reason.

I say no reason because a majority of the time people make things up whole sale to get mad about or take the smallest action completely out of context to get mad about it. There are legitimate things about q!bbh that I can see turning people off from his character but those things are almost never part of the discourse.

It’s always: q!bbh doesn’t care about the eggs, q!bbh is the most evil person on the island and should be killed repeatedly, he and Leo have no relationship and she would dislike him, Dapper’s deserves a father that actually cares for him, etc etc etc

It’s honestly exhausting because all of these things are blatantly untrue and I have no idea how anyone could come to these conclusions even if they never watch a second of bbh. Q!bbb is the sole reasons no egg has died of neglect since Trump. Q!bbh is the sole reason many of the eggs have maxed out armor, auto feed set up so they are always at max health, and an XP backpack with hundreds of XP. Q!bbh is constantly going out of his way to help others the moment they ask regardless of his own plans.

There is a REASON q!bbh is the only character on quesadilla island with access to every egg’s safe room in and out of the Ninho. Q!bbh is the only character on the server who has an actual relationship with every single egg that goes beyond acquaintances. Ramon is Dapper’s bff and constantly hangs out with bbh and Dapper. Bbh has done Leo’s tasks more times than I can count and her last words before being kidnapped were “I love you”. Bbh has taken care of Tallulah and Chayanne too many time to count. It was only after talking to bbh about how she feels guilty about feeling like Philza is more her father than Wilbur that Tallulah asked Philza to adopt her. Pomme is literally his daughter. Richas has spent countless nights hanging out with bbh and Dapper (and Pomme) after his parents logged off. Bbh would literally burn the world for Dapper in a heart beat.

When bbh learned no other egg made it off the island in purgatory, he spent the last 15 minutes of his stream muted because he was crying irl. Q!bbh was literally killing himself after the eggs were kidnapped and is basically a walking corpse rn with a gapping hole in his head that’s been there for two months. He’s been having memory problems for over a month - this development with his short term memory loss is a natural progression of his preexisting condition!

PEOPLE PLEASE criticize his character for things he actually does. You don’t have to like every character - q!bbh is an annoying little menace! But don’t make shit up to get mad about I’m begging.

If you don’t like a character, then ignore them. There are several character on the qsmp that I absolutely despise and get annoyed when every they show up on stream but I doubt anyone following me could tell me which characters those are because I never talk about it! Especially not in the main tag! I think through purgatory - when my frustration was at its highest - I mentioned one of these characters once in the tags of a reblog.

Tldr: if you don’t like a character, ignore them. Don’t make shit up about them to get mad at. You’re just making urself look like an idiot and an asshole.

[tubborucho]

Yeah, I am pretty sure he thought of it as a light-hearted way to explain Sunny why Tallulah is moody. Doesn’t change the fact that it was a fucked up thing to say and genuinely hurtful for a literal toddler.

This and your point about people not being able to let go of the whole Dadza thing are two of my biggest problems with q!Phil. I know it's not cc!Phil's fault how people treat him but the way people overhype his parenting does make it more irritating as a viewer. It's not just fans, though, most characters seem to share this view of him as an amazing Dad. The fact that he stepped up for Tallulah when Wilbur left is great and the effort he puts in is great, but his parenting skills are just okay.

It feels like every time he talks to or about Sunny he ends up doing something bad that's brushed off because "that's just how Phil talks" or "he's just protecting his kids".

His reaction to Sunny's train was awful. I know he has a banter-y relationship with Tubbo but he was criticizing her father and her own choices right in front of her. It felt like he didn't even absorb any of what Tubbo was telling him. Like, why did he keep complaining about it feeling sterile when it was a brand new build and Sunny chose the white blocks themself?

The morality test about stealing the panda was completely unacceptable. Genuinely horrible thing to do to a child especially when he told her point blank at the end that it was a test that she managed to pass. Why would she trust someone who might be secretly testing her?

The talk in the museum was bad for both Sunny and Tallulah. Tallulah isn't "in a mood," she has genuine concerns but has still been making an effort with Sunny even while trying to maintain some distance. For Sunny he was playing up a very real insecurity to make a point. It's not really fair to Tubbo either, his game was having issues and he left his daughter with two of the people he trusts the most. I went to watch from the vod for slightly more context and chat reactions and Phil did not waste any time at all. The moment Tubbo was gone he rolled straight into it with Sunny.

There was also a point a few days ago where Tallulah showed some discomfort over Empanada and Phil responded with this:

Empanada’s nice, you like Empanada. You like Em. It’s Sunny you’re not a fan of. Sunny’s just all in your face with money and sunglasses and shit. But, like, Sunny’s fine too. Sunny’s just a bit much though. Sunny takes a while to get used to.

Sunny was not around for this but it's still a terrible way to talk about a child. They weren't even the egg Tallulah was concerned about at the time. And I do believe that q!Phil wasn't trying to be mean here but he still was. He is consistently unkind to Sunny even when he's trying to make a good point or a joking.

Wait, is the last thing a genuine quote? Because I haven’t heard this one before.

And yeah. Listen, Phil is a good parent. He takes care of Chayanne and Tallulah very well. He is a good parent, but it doesn’t mean that he is good that way for every other child ever. I think people forget that Dad figures in stories don’t mean that they are perfect in every adult-child relationship ever.

He is a great dad for Chay and Lullah. He is genuinely very condescending towards Sunny. It’s like every time they interact he just refuses to even try to see past his initial impression of them. Phil wrote her down for no reason as a shallow and tolerable at best kid in his books, and acts on that judgement in a way that he doesn’t care about her in any way past their basic safety and sometimes teaching them stuff if they need it immediately.

The only reason he pays Sunny any mind at all is that he cares for Tubbo. Also not in a parental way that people (and Tubbo lmao) seem to try and picture it as, but he cares. Sunny is just a tag along.

And don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that he should love her like his own or even really like her. It’s fine. I am saying that he still should treat her with the same grace as other kids that are not his – she is a child, you are speaking of and with a child, being mean about and to them is not okay. Especially because this child did literally nothing wrong.

[mikuni14]

We Are - Ep 6, Only Boo - Ep 5

Perhaps because of I Cannot Reach You, which I watched on Saturday, my view of We Are and Only Because this week was more harsh and less forgiving than usual 😭

We Are My biggest problem with We Are is that this show has no substance when it comes to romance. NONE. Seriously, it's more "meaty" on friendships than romance 😄 EVEN if a couple falls in love with each other at first sight, even if the couple starts their relationship with strong attraction and sex, for the romance to be interesting and engaging, we as viewers must observe some development, progress in the relationship. This is some form of journey for lovers and we accompany them in it. We Are, with the exception of Q and Toey, doesn't show relationship development at all. Tan and Fang have had about 3 scenes together so far, involving giving each other snacks and one scene of helping with a project. We know NOTHING about Fang. And suddenly in this episode, Tan proposes dating and Fang accepts. Where did this come from? Since when has Fang been in love with Tan? Is he in love with him? Their relationship… like what? Where?? When???? I have no idea what's going on with Chain and Pun (will they even be a couple?), especially since Pun suddenly has a great relationship and better chemistry with Mick. Regarding Phum and Peem: I just can't stand the way Phum behaves towards Peem, it's FUTS all over again, i.e. a rich and handsome but dumb guy doesn't know how to talk to his crush and comes up with complicated plans that always somehow humiliate said crush. The way Peem was waiting for him at the pool in this episode, AGAIN, while Phum was gaming with his friends… it pissed me off so much! And this "being a slave" is still treated so… normally and it is shown as something funny and romantic, as if Peem had no sense of self-worth and it was still a form of "fun" for him, and when he screws up and Phum is still nice (as in the food scene), then it is something positive for him. Well, unfortunately this is not my kind of romance, there is NOTHING cool or romantic about it for me and in real life Phum and Peem would not have a chance to be together. Their romance is ENTIRELY based on the oldest tropes, i.e. falling on each other and suddenly being close. Normally I love this closeness, when the characters are lost in each other's eyes and the sudden closeness makes them feel dizzy 👌 But this is literally the basis of their relationship, not one of the many things that make up romance. My beloved @miss0atae described the character of Phum in a very interesting way in this post and I also have the same thoughts. But the series completely screwed up on this matter because this thought occurred to me after his one sentence at the end of episode 5, because Phum simply acts like an ordinary asshole, his behavior was devoid of nuance and context so far. And that's the problem with We Are: this show has potential and, most importantly, it has the TIME to delve into each of its characters, including showing Phum as someone who is lonely and has trouble establishing romantic relationships, which is why he behaves stupid (for which he should face consequences). How unfair it is that Gray Shelter had material for a full season and crammed it into 5 short episodes, and We Are has SO MUCH TIME and can't use it. How much more interesting would the relationship between Phum and Peem be if they met under bad circumstances that would make them dislike each other, but also if they felt attracted to each other due to their expressive and strong personalities, all laced with the fact that they are both young, hot and each other's type 😉 I would love to watch their relationship in which they both mature, discover new feelings and needs, in which their prejudices are tested, in which they make mistakes and apologize, thanks to which they develop. How much more this kiss would feel deserved, long-awaited, important.

Only Boo I love Moo, I love Kang, I don't like forcing feelings on someone, I don't like putting pressure on someone, I hate love serenades, and I HATE love triangles. I know, I know, the series is silly and fun, and not that deep 🤡 I'm just being grumpy.

But maybe it's actually I Cannot Reach You's fault. I should take a 2-week break from watching BL series after every 10/10 drama lol

[bugflies00]

I continue to wonder since you said fostering au wilbur continues to be entirely in denial and Not Realizing for some time after he and quackity re-meet how exactly DOES the Feelings Realization TM go down qcihdtiwdzgd

OOOH well its very gradual and very much a disaster because. well. its him .

i think i said they remeet when theyre around 22-23, and at the time wilbur was in a really bad relationship that he only breaks off two or so years later. his girlfriend was very controlling and always bringing him down and making comments about him, his appearance, his interests, what he ate, etc. so needless to say wilburs already absolute dogshit self esteem is so further down the gutter it’s actually Wow look it pierced a hole into the ground from how far down it is.

this is important context because it’s part of why he takes soooo long to realise his feelings, he’s just so deeply entrenched in trying to make his girlfriend happy and love him and to appease everyone that he doesn’t realise. its what i call his “ghostbur” era - none of this stuff is actually strictly based on the bursonas, but i find he does follow a similar pattern of evolution, and at that point in his life he’s trying to be the biggest people pleaser possible after realising that being the unapproachable loner he was in high school would only leave him alone (also bc his abandonment issues got worse after sally left). his new relationship makes that worse also.

in the beginning him and q are just sort of awkwardly tiptoeing around each other considering they last left each other with a bajillion things unsaid and they are extremely determined on keeping said things unsaid. they start to grow back into friends, albeit more normal friends than the absolute mess of a situationship/frenemies they were in high school. theyre still themselves meaning they can’t go a second without aggravating each other, but its definitely friendlier.

and as time goes by some of their joke flirting gets a tad bit too real sometimes- quackity will make a joke and stare at him a moment too long, or wilbur will stutter out of nowhere, etc.

but wilbur still has a girlfriend!!! so as usual he shoves his head in the sand and he takes melatonin so at night he falls asleep instantly without having the time to yearn or reflect lmao. (for the record i do not condone this if your feelings change communicate that with your partner etc)

time progresses, every stranger they meet think theyre either married, sworn enemies, or fucking each other. meanwhile wilburs relationship grows worse and worse, he’s fallen deep into an eating disorder (while he was already struggling with bad eating habits pretty much his whole life it gets much worse then), hes struggling with self harm a lot, and its just not a great time. his friends keep trying to convince him to break things off, especially tommy who, since he lives with them, has seen a lot of shit and absolutely despises wilbur’s girlfriend’s guts and makes this very well known.

eventually they do break up (its a longer story than that but it would require its own post) and wilbur falls deep into a depressive episode. it makes him doubt for so long if he did the right thing, if he just should’ve sucked it up and taken whatever scraps of love he was given, but in reality the depressive episode had been a LONG time coming its just his brain was in survival mode. he never felt safe enough with her, so subconsciously his brain only allowed falling into depression again once it was safe to do so.

and so my point is that with all these things happening he’s absolutely nowhere near ready to accept his feelings. meanwhile q is pining hard - that man is going through it LMAO trying to support his friend (they still pretend to be frenemies) whilst shoving down his own shit. he’s one of the few people wilbur feels safe with (even though theyve gotten into fistfights and q has sincerely threatened his life on several occasions), mainly because, in a way, q knew him at his worst (high school) and still came back. so he has more trust in him than some of his other friends because hes convinced he’s manipulated them into thinking hes better than he is.

anyway q is planning this trip for an internship he’s doing for his law degree, and he has to leave for a month or two. wilburs 25th birthday rolls around, and he knows q wont be able to be there. he’s already still feeling shitty, not really entirely out of that depressive episode, and he’s ready to just have a lame birthday and go back to rotting in his bed.

and then (this is so cliché LET ME LIVE) theyre about to do the cake whatever and tommy yells announces they have a surprise and he turns around and wham! quackity standing there looking downright exhausted, with his suitcases around him and the airplane neck pillow still around his neck (he came straight from the airport). wilbur runs to hug him and, to me, that moment is the kickstarter that forces him to start actually realising whats happening.

first off because theyre not exactly huggers but that one was so spontaenous and it felt so right!! second because hes already sad and a bit emotionally volatile and the fact that q cared enough to rush and try his best to make it to his birthday moves him a whole lot. and finally because well yeah he’s madly in love with him but the only thing he says is to ask whether the eyebags q got from jetlag are a fashion statement in europe or if hes just reaching for the raccoon look.

theres definitely more moments after that (they take a LOOONG time to get together. and so much pining. its so bad) but i just think that moment is really sweet and also i love how their relationship progresses over time

[eretzyisrael]

Exiled prince:’Jews are part and parcel of Iran’s future’

Iranian Jews may still contribute to a post-Islamic revolutionary Iran, even if they don’t live there, says  the exiled prince Reza Pahlavi, son of the deposed Shah. Wide-ranging interview by Karmel Melamed in JNS News:

Journalist Karmel Melamed interviewing Prince Reza Pahlavi

Q: When you visited Israel last year, you interacted with many Iranians in the country who welcomed you warmly. What surprised you the most about the Iranian community in Israel, and how did their interactions with you, which Persian-language news media broadcast, impact perceptions of Iranians worldwide about Israel?

A: First of all, I wasn’t surprised, because I knew of that sentiment from the very beginning. The Iranian Jewish community in Israel, compared to peers elsewhere, has from the very beginning been the most vocal that we had to flee the country but has remained Iranian, attached to the motherland.

This was not a surprise to me. I knew it from the very beginning. This sentiment is present today more than ever.

I’ll tell you what was more of a surprise to me. On the last day before I returned to Europe, I was strolling on the beach in Tel Aviv in front of the shoreline, and average Israeli citizens would walk up to me excited, knowing full well why I was there. They said how hopeful they were that we can have this relationship again between our two countries. That was an element that I didn’t expect—that level of enthusiasm and interest.

Q: For more than four decades, Iran’s once-sizable Jewish community has nearly completely fled Iran for its safety and due to the persecution it experienced at the hands of the Islamic Republic ruling Iran. What sort of future do you foresee for these Iranian Jews—who live primarily stateside and in Israel and who have achieved significant success there—after the regime is no longer in power? What roles might they have in helping to rebuild Iran?

A: It’s no secret that many of the people in Iran who brought in factories, industry and investments to help the country modernize were Iranian Jews.

Of course, they are part and parcel of Iran’s future. I’d like to stress one point. When Hitler was mounting his war and carrying out the events of the Holocaust, I wonder how history took a change.

The attack on Pearl Harbor propelled America to engage in the Second World War. Until then, it didn’t want to have anything to do with it, knowing what Hitler was doing to the Jews. Even before the war, in Iran, we were harboring Jews and protecting them and we did so especially when the war started.

We had Iranian diplomats in Europe like Abdol Hossein Sardari, who helped get visas to Jews in France. Iran was a country—dare I say the only country in the Middle East—that actually gave refuge and asylum to fleeing Jews.

I think Iranians do embrace that. Iran was a country that was once respected in the world. Iranians were one of the few peoples who would travel to many countries without visas. The Iranian passport had value. They were respected.

Today, they’ve been humiliated and painted as terrorists.

All that context of course includes Iranian Jews rebuilding the nation. It goes without saying. It’s obvious.

There were those that had to but didn’t want to leave Iran who were murdered by the regime. It forced an exodus and exile. Many would have preferred to stay, but how could they do so under such a level of immediate discrimination?

They don’t necessarily have to return physically, but they can contribute to Iran in a hell of a lot of ways. They still have that attachment and can still find that role.

At the end of the day, history will not repeat itself if we do not forget what happened before. Today’s new generation of young Iranians needs to understand a little bit of what contributed to that development in the past. It was not imposed on them, but Iranians participated in it voluntarily.

Imagine how much more can be done in Iran once the atmosphere is opened, outside of all of these discriminations, and everybody has equal opportunities to contribute and what a bright future we could have. That’s the message we should spread around the world far beyond whether we are Jewish, Bahá’í or Muslim, or whatever ethnicity or whatever political thinking. The country can in fact help itself.

Read article in full

[hanszoe]

i dislike anyone who likes romantic depictions of hansi with men, non-reclaiming feminine depictions of them, or anyone who is otherwise included in the below criticism. do not interact with me without understanding that.

disclaimer that snk contains fundamentally problematic premises, themes and messages. isayama is a citizen of a country that committed terrible war crimes and culturally is not much better today, which is reflected in his own ideals and morals as depicted through his storytelling as well as in corroborative statements made by him about japanese imperialism. i recognize that he is not much more ignorant than the average racial majority in any imperialist country or beneficiary thereof, but i personally believe in individual responsibility and the possibility for a better world which will only be formed through accountability. with that said, it should be clear that i disagree with almost every message of the narrative. i am just here because i am in love with hansi.

on use of my translations: repost is fine as long as you do not edit or claim as your own, especially not to misgender or misspell hansi's name. would prefer to be credited in case someone has a question, but without is also fine.

cause it keeps coming up: i dislike levi and eruri fan centeredness and believe it is inseparable from the reason why hansi was killed. please do not tag me in levi or eruri centric metas, especially not to use hansi as a comparison to their relationship. eruri is subtextually canon, and i believe isayama had a responsibility to address it explicitly the same way he had a responsibility to address hansi's gender identity, but far too often is hansi ignored, sidelined, and regarded as less important by fans, and belittled and discredited by one of the men in the pairing. misogyny and transphobia are not negated by gay identity. i will always defend it, but too little do i see the same extended to femininity and genderqueerness. if levi being nonstraight is canon to you based on author commentary, hansi being genderqueer must also non-negotiably be so. i do not feel prejudice against any eruri fan nor do i dislike the pairing, but if you feel targeted by criticism of cispatriarchy then this blog is probably not for you.

-isayama has requested hansi's english pronouns be they/them ("avoid gendered pronouns") or "at least" he and she with equal frequency. using single gender for them is misgendering them (which kodansha usa and many other "official" sources do). please do not send me asks or tag me in posts misgendering them. -hansi's (smartpass) commentary on their romantic preferences is that "everyone sure likes that kind of topic".

if you're curious about my overall interpretation of parts of the narrative, please read my narrative analysis masterlist.

below are my page translations/commentary: -Hansi's conversation with squad Levi in 52 -Marlene’s comment to Hansi about Keith, its context and elaboration on the meaning of 憧れ -Full translation and commentary on the first 7 pages of 126 and additional commentary on misinterpretations of 大人しく and grammatical nuance of ん(の) in hansi's response -Correction of the mistranslation of Hansi's dialog to Yelena at the beginning of 132 -The last part of Levi's thought soliloquy in 136 and commentary on his use of お前ら

commentary on author commentary: -「役割を担う」 and 「飛び回る」 hansi in a post rumbling world -「疎遠」 hansi's relationship to their family -why these questions? bessatsu 20th anniversary edition q&a -「上位ではなかったですね」 "zoe" -「女性好きなんですかね」 does he like women though?

hansi-related: -name romanization (not my research) -estimated birth and training entry year isayama's comments on their age, as limited by age difference constraints, and final commentary -all pronouns -everything gender related -eye injury

translations -scenes of sheltering from rain volume 6 [originally 7] Nanaba & Hansi Zoe and discrepancies between my translation and the official english translation -qna about hansi from the SnK 15th anniversary edition of Bessatsu Magazine -JR東海 Original Voice Levi&Hansi course and common start and goal points

poetry that reminds me of hansi -october by louise glück -september by jennifer michael hecht -the poem by franz wright -meditations in an emergency by cameron awkward-rich -straw house, straw dog by richard siken

also my character songs how i feel about hansi are foreigner's god by hozier and je te laisserai des mots by patrick watson. foreigner's god for their shameless wonder, loving despite unbelievable suppression, the way our pasts are indelible influences on us, the nameless impression of power of the institution that hurt them in a way irremediable by me, and the pure grief of it transcending language. and je te laisserai des mots for how lonesome that loving ends up being, how it must be left unseen, unfelt in the hidden places, only to be held in quiet moments when you're alone (embrasse-moi can mean anything from "hold me" to "kiss me").

#for hansi

[somerandomcryptid]

Techno and Phil are here yipeeeee!

(This is two tiny comics not one big one)

Ok so context/lore drop:

Techno and Cryptid at first run into each other by absolute pure chance

The whole; Cryptid's wearing Tommy's clothes at the time is also a coincidence. And I guess for fun I'll leave that a mystery for now :3 their friendship is important to the plot, like hella important but I'll cover that when I finally draw them together

When they meet Cryptid's heard enough about Techno to recognize him, but they're honestly surprised with how chill he is, given most of the things they know about him are from Quackity's angry rants about anything and everything

But he's chill, and they both basically immediately realize they just vibe with each other

They have many of the same ideals even if their methods are very different , but they can agree to disagree, also on Cryptid's side, Quackity absolutely hates Techno so befriending him is absolutely a way to say "fuck you" to Q

And yeah, once Techno introduces Cryptid to Phil, they pretty quickly gain another bonus dad (I swear this little guy has so many dads, if you don't count Sam(which is.... complicated and weird but sam does kind of view Cryptid as his kid, sort of, like I said, it's weird) than they've still collected 3 at this point(not including their bio-dad since he's currently out of the picture))

Anyway, beyond that, Techno and Phil can tell there is something off about Cryptid, they never ask them about it, but their chats actually know about them being from another world, and tell Tech and Phil about it

So yeah, they know, and they sudtly hint, but they don't out right admit they know till.... well... That might be a bit too much spoilers so go wild with your imagination for now

But yeah, overall they have all have a pretty good relationship!

And especially Techno is one of if not Cryptid's favorite person

Techno, like Punz, doesn't treat them like a child very much, (he's more responsible about it than Punz though) , even if he teases them about it sometimes, Techno's just their friend without him underestimating them/being actually condescending ever

And on his side, Techno genuinely likes Cryptid's company, and they agree on a lot of things so much that he invited them to the syndicate after a bit of knowing them

Yeah their good friends :)

He's also the one to finally give them some damn battle training

I think that's about it for the stuff I can think of right now but I like them, they are friends <3333

(obligated Dreaming of Death is an au of the fic PenPal by @calamari-minecraft-corner, though literally all of this is just my own thoughts, but context ya know?)