#even the novel is full of Arguments this is just how I am

[teddywesworl]

I hope everyone knows that when I say I’m creatively driven by spite, what I mean is that many of my works of fiction are arguments. I’m doing a persuasive essay but it’s prose. It’s spite insofar as I have had a negative reaction, and often an emotional one, to someone else’s text, and I need to express and explore that reaction. Everyone writes stories in conversation with other stories, whether or not they mean to, and I mean to.

Tulips is a reaction to the almost universal structure of soulmate stories placing the soulmate reveal as the climactic event that resolves the narrative tension. That doesn’t mean I hate those kinds of stories, but I did feel a need to dig into and contradict the pattern. Anemone is FULL of love (and lbr mostly in conversation with jeff and jules) but I did have some stuff to get off my chest about gender expression and omegaverse tropes. Vino and sihaw are fully contrarian on purpose—vino came from a desire to flip the vampire!eddie fanon tropes on their head, and I started sihaw annoyed at how often ship fic and art takes aesthetic as equivalent to character. I call it spite, and it is spite, but I hope it’s also a constructive contribution to. Well. The discourse, in the traditional sense. u feel me??

anyway im writing a dragon age fic rn it’s about that blond ex church cop I hope u will all forgive me

[yoredoesmore]

hii can i pls ask for an argument with hoshina and how u fixed everything after jsnshsbshsbs 🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹

a/n: thank you for your request (´∀｀)♡ this took longer than it should have, I apologize ╥﹏╥

pairing: hoshina soshiro x fem!reader

summary: a small misunderstanding turns into a huge argument.

genre: romance/hurt & comfort/jealousy/fluff |

[wc: 1,6k]

enjoy!

Kiss and Make Up | Hoshina Soshiro

You were mad, beyond pissed even. Your heart was beating in irregular motions and the irritation practically oozed off your face. The tension laid thick in the air as you and your boyfriend continued to ignore each other, sitting in complete silence in front of the television.

So many thoughts roamed your head– insults, counter arguments and statements, yet you refused to give the man another second of attention.

He has truly done it now.

“I'was just another celebration with the squad, nuttin that big of a deal. You would have known if you had come.” Hoshina slurred his words as he dragged his drunk self through the hallway of your shared apartment and into the bedroom.

“Bet that Okonogi was there too, right? That smartass wannabe who always seems to be in desperate need of your help.”

“Oh pwease, you're overreacting. Okonogi is not like that so stop bein so annoying.”

That last statement had sealed his fate (and almost earned him a slap in the face). Before you knew it, the two of you fell into a fully blown out fight that lasted through the entire night. Insults were dropped, his hands pushed you and yours shoved him as well.

“Why are you acting like this all of a sudden?! It's honestly so irritating!” Hoshina yelled out.

“Your stupidity is more irritating! Maybe if you stop being so full of your fucking self all the time and start using that brain of yours, you would see the issue at hand!” You snapped back.

Fights were uncommon in your relationship but when the two of you fought it was messy and draining. But most importantly, they stung.

Even after the night had fallen and sunshine arose, the atmosphere in your apartment still laid thick in the air. Half the day had passed and neither of you said anything to each other, until the both of you ended up in the living room at the same time. He was busy taking care of the cats (who had run into the wide space) while you were already sitting there, reading your favorite novel.

At first silence kept the situation at bay, neither of you forced to interact with one another, until a phone call broke the tranquil atmosphere.

“Your work phone, huh.” You said, eyes remaining on the book as you flipped to the next page. “Wonder who that could be.”

Hoshina refrained himself from answering your remark and quickly picked up the call. Although he had turned the loud speaker function off, you were able to hear a female voice from the other side.

“Yeah of course I can help, no need to thank me.” He hung up.

“Let me guess, little damsel in distress needs your help again?”

“That's enough, Y/n.” Hoshinas voice cut sharp through the room, silencing you temporarily, before you spoke up again.

“Don't talk about Okonogi like that, alright? She is a good friend and your coworker. Ya being so unreasonable.”

“I am being unreasonable?? Oh, I'm sorry for getting upset when my boyfriend spends more time with his good friend than his partner!” The book was no longer of any importance to you. You had tossed it while standing up from your seated position.

“How long has this been going on now?? Every other day she asks you to hang out or do this together or she needs help here and there. Are you fucking kidding me??”

“Oh please, look at the way you're acting, it's ridiculous! We work in the same department so of course we spend a lot of time together!”

It felt like your words went right past his ear and vice versa. Both of you were now standing right across from one another, anger evident on both your faces. Even the tension grew in size, swallowing up the entire space and forcing your cats to run out.

You hated the surge of anger that rushed through your body. Feeling this way, jealous and annoyed when the man who normally solved all your problems was right in front of you, it pained you deeply. In moments like these, all you wanted to do was break down and hide away, preferably in his arms, but that was not an option right now.

“You sure that's the only reason you spend so much time together? Because it sounded different a couple weeks ago.”

“A couple..what are you talking about??” Hoshina asked, genuinely confused. You broke your gaze, looking at the ground in hopes that the pressure would disappear.

“At the bar..don't act like you don't remember!” And without allowing him to even respond, you dashed into your room and knocked the door shut behind you. Your boyfriend simply stood there, unsure of how to react to this sudden change of events. A long sigh escaped his lips as he followed you into the room.

“Y/n..”

“Leave me alone!” Your head was buried deep into the pillow (the one on Hoshina's side). Tears had made it out of your eyes and you desperately wanted to hide them.

“What exactly did I say at the bar..please tell me.” The regret in Hoshina's tender voice did not go unnoticed by you. It tugged on your heart and only caused the pain to increase. You truly hated seeing him like this.

“You..you said that you like smart women..” Repeating those words from weeks ago now made you feel stupid. “When Kafka asked you what your type was..you said that you prefer smart women and then you..proceeded to look at Okonogi! She was sitting right next to Kafka, so maybe you were looking at him instead, I don't know, I was just as drunk but still!”

Hoshina stood in front of the bed, disbelief holding him back from talking. He could barely remember the events of that night, only that it involved too much alcohol. But hearing you say those words, with tears in your eyes and a broken voice, it made your boyfriend feel like shit.

“But I was obviously talking about you, love, You are smart” He said as he placed himself next to you on the bed, hands rubbing your back. “Wait..is that why you didn't join us in yesterday's get together?”

You nodded hesitantly.

“I am not smart, not at all. I work as a damn secretary for the Kaiju Hunters while Okonogi is a skilled woman who runs analysis and she is the Operations Leader. And not to mention, she is so pretty too.”

Up until now, Hoshina did not know that you were harboring such emotions. Your sudden confession left his mind blank, it was as if he had temporarily lost all thoughts due to the shock. You on the other hand couldn't have felt more embarrassed.

You had no right to go after Okonogi like that and blame her for your insecurities. But when Hoshina spoke those words and afterwards looked at her, you just felt too heated.

Moments like these made you wonder, why Hoshina refused to leave you. Unlike the other women in his life, you were hotheaded and emotional, pushing and shoving when someone messed with your feelings instead of talking it out.

Little did you know, that this was exactly what Soshiro liked about you. He loved you for being hotheaded and a tease, but also sweet and caring during the right moments. You were the perfect match for him and nothing could convince him otherwise.

“Y/n, don't you ever say that about yourself ever again. You are my smart, beautiful hotheaded woman, the woman I love and cherish. Plus it takes hella brain to work as a secretary, especially for those jerks.” Soshiro placed his hands on your shoulders, pulling you back up into a seated position.

Your eyes were slightly puffy and a soft frown pulled on your lips.

“I'm sorry for not expressing myself clearly enough and for making it seem like I prefer Okonogi to you. You are the one I love and care about, I promise.”

“But..but I am so mean to everyone and to you as well, Soshiro.” Hoshina's words had touched your heart and caused the tears to resurface, even though they never truly left.

“Plus I get jealous way too easily and don't..I'm just too..” You hiccupped.

“Shh, there there. I don't wanna hear none of that, you hear me?” Your boyfriend wrapped one arm around your waist while the other patted your head. A soft kiss found its way on your cheek, drawing a pout from your lips.

“I'm sorry Soshiro, for being so irritating. You are a great friend and coworker to Okonogi and you are a true blessing for constantly helping her out. I shouldn't get jealous over that." Hoshina smiled and placed another kiss on your face, this time on your lips. It felt sweet and comforting, you wished it could have lasted forever.

“And I'm sorry for being so stupid.”

You pulled him into a tight hug, the sweet scent of his body filling your nose. The hug lasted quite long, as long as you both needed it to, and it patched up all the wounds that were still left open by the argument. As you pulled away, you gazed into each other's eyes, losing yourself temporarily.

“Lucky for you, I love my women slightly irritating.” He joked.

“And I like my men stupid.”

“Hey!”

The both of you laughed, the content of the argument already forgotten.

a/n: i know its not obvious at all but i was actually going for a hori x miyamura type of relationship

(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) (do we as a society still use this emoticon?)

i just love hori’s and miyamura's dynamic, they could never make me hate them! plus i wholeheartedly believe that Hoshina needs a partner who is more emotional/teasing than him so he can be sure that his attitude is handled ^^

[do-you-ship-it-polls]

Do you ship it?

reason under the cut! there is a lot.

PLEASE THEY WOULD BE SO FUNNY. Man clocked her fujo ass IMMEDIATELY right after she went on about fanfiction being beneath her. They are trash and they love trash and being dysfunctional as fuck. Stupid bickering over bullshit my beloved. Imagine her cussing him out in public and then secretly commissioning him to make nsfw art of her blorbos in private or something. YOU KNOW SHE WOULD. Bonus points he won't even draw it and she never lets it go. Or he accepts the money but draws them as like, stick figures. What's she gonna fucking do, call the cops because he drew porn bad. Is she going to admit to ANYBODY she commissioned shit from his loser ass after she's done nothing but shit talk him for the whole semester. He's not even cute enough to reap Genocide Jack. Fuck

MORE IMPORTANTLY. Dumb bullshit aside they're creatives with insane output, imagine the critiques and professional rivalry. Starts off like "Don't you think you rushed x here? This is super corny." "Philistine!" "Hack!" "HACK?! KYS HOW DARE-!" and several arguments like that. One of them releases a new work? Guess who's first to comment! But the thing is, they're still consuming eachother's work. Obsessively. And it can lead to "This scene is in poor taste!" "Well what would YOU have done?!" "Maybe the lead could *inserts an actually good plot point*" "...huh". Imagine them overtime getting engrossed in eachother's creative visions and analysing their processes, even for the most seemingly simple of pieces. Hifumi drawing content for her characters he knows she'd like. Toko giving him pointers for his first original novel and actually trying to support him in her own incredibly awkward Toko way. Aha, you thought this was just here for the pervert4pervert crack, didn't you? Didn't expect this to be about two profoundly unpopular social rejects with issues comprehending the real world falling for eachother because they see a brilliant, lonely, artistic mind reflecting back, did you?

"That's dumb. I want it FULL toxic" i mean if you WANTED you could go the route where they settle for eachother in an "i resent you but the person I actually want is a fantasy and you're the only real person who talks to me" way. Ig. But I like the former more.

Did I mention they're both pervs. They would accuse the other of being terrible and filthy while simultaneously trying to one up each other. The godawful sex jokes i am cringing on the spot this is so horrible. -11/10 they deserve each other. im going to be sick no one Is safe. Actually I changed my mind. I can't ship this. For the good of planet Earth oh my fucking god they can't be alobe in the same room together longer than 2 minutes abort abort abort abort what have i wrought

[maddiem4]

Well, I wanna be working on a novel right now, but apparently it's time to make a certain kind of post again, as is periodically necessary, because young queer folk keep trying to reinvent the Hayes Code for a variety of misguided reasons. So you know what? Let me lead with the TLDR, and then give my reasoning. If you DNI stuff like incest, I am not just going to unfollow you, I am going to block you.

Now, if you're the type to make assumptions, you might be surprised to hear that I'm not into incest. Sorry to disappoint. Well, unless you count selfcest, but people don't usually lump those together except by technicality. But incest is really not my thing.

That said, I have mutuals who are into it, and harmless about it. Whether it's fictional, RP, or consensual, it's not my business and it hurts nobody. Get used to those words, they're gonna be a mantra here. Further, I've seen how Hayes Queers (hey, I needed a term for them) talk about harmless members of their own community who give them The Ick. The post I'm writing here is a direct reaction to seeing a Hayes Queer post from someone I followed! Reading that, and the comments on it. And lemme tell you: y'all are very quick to throw your peers under the bus with the exact same logic (respectability politics, personal disgust, "making a bad name for us as a larger group", lurking threat to our moral purity) that the conservatives are using to argue for the mass extermination of queer folk. You are bringing pitchforks and tiki torches to the party. So no, I am not going to give you access to my vulnerable mutuals. That's the heart of it. You are a danger to your community, and I'm going to limit the scope of harm you can do. The broader queer/kink communities have worked hard to define harm more carefully than "well I just personally think it's gross." Scat and piss are gross to me, but my mutuals who are into those things do still deserve love and safety, not to be sacrificed on an altar of conservative family values for imaginary "one of the good ones" points. I have a responsibility to look out for my people. So do you, FYI.

So here's the recipe for living online with people whose kinks aren't your business and hurt nobody: learn to scroll past those posts or block those tags, or even block that person. Be an adult. The world does not exist to be personally palatable to you. You are not being harmed, you're being inconvenienced. If you can't handle that, you're the one bringing real-world (rather than imagined) danger to your community. Fuck's sake.

This also finally convinced me to look up what "proshipper" means after seeing it in discourse for years, these dreaded dangerous devils who apparently must be purged from the internet, and... holy fuck, how is this contentious? It literally just means you can disagree about fandom pairings without harassing people? That's just mature behavior in a shared space. That's what the argument is about? Oh my god. If you're arguing about this in 2024, your Aunt Maddie is fully ashamed of you for real.

The dumbest part is that people get doxxed for saying the stuff I'm saying, and maybe it'll happen to me. Guess I'll roll the dice. Which comes full circle: if you're looking at this post and trying to decide how to punish me for it IRL, you are literally being the danger. Stop and think for 30 milliseconds. Maybe I have a point that you are a bigger threat than two trans girls who like to pretend to be sisters for sex reasons. And I don't wanna hear no trauma excuses from any of you little monkeys, fetishes come from trauma a decent percentage of the time, so a lot of the people you're persecuting are victims of the same kind of assault as you.

This is more words than I ever should have to write about a self-evident topic. I know if you're young enough and still figuring out a lot of life stuff from scratch, it may not be self-evident to you. But hopefully it is now before you fucking hurt somebody. Thanks.

[fallen-gravity]

Playing Favorites

“I don’t like you.”

Now that’s something Maui’s used to hearing. He gets it so often that he honestly forgets it’s supposed to be an insult. It stopped hurting his feelings about five hundred or so years ago.

…But he usually gets that from people he’s actively gone out of his way to bother, or from gods he’s stolen from for the good of humanity, or other demigods who are clearly just jealous of all of his accomplishments in comparison to their own. And sure, okay, he’s heard it from his fair share of humans after he stole Te Fiti’s heart, but they usually use much…stronger language, and the people saying it to him are usually adults.

Simea’s only…what? Two, three years old? What could he have possibly done to her?

~~

AKA: Simea suffers from jealousy because Moana has more than one favorite person

Notes:

Hi, I'm Cindy, and I like writing interactions that canon will never have the bravery to address 💔

Maui and Simea have so much potential for having a silly little rivalry for No Reason, it's so cute. Maui calls her "Mini Moana" in the junior novelization when he's looking for her to give her Moana's gift and that just solidified my need to write them interacting more. I love them dearly, I am the only one who understands them.

[Moana doesn't actually make a physical appearence in this fic, please be very careful about how you tag this should you reblog]

AO3

Y’know, this isn’t exactly what Maui had in mind when Moana had asked him to do her a “huge favor”. 

Okay, well, in her words it was less that she asked him for help and more that she needed to “get rid of him for a few hours”. She wanted to make trade negotiations with some of the other chiefs from visiting islands, and told him she didn’t want him there because she was afraid he was going to “skewer things” and “intimidate everyone else into giving everything to Motunui” instead of the actual conversing she wants to do with them.

Which…yeah, okay, Maui doesn’t really have an argument for that. He’s definitely a punch first, ask questions later kind of guy. If he were there and he saw some wise guy trying to skimp out on his side of the bargain, peaceful definitely wouldn’t be the kind of word Maui would use to describe that conversation.

Even so, Maui would’ve expected Moana to send him somewhere a little more…dignified. 

Though, knowing Moana, who is he kidding? She’s too full of pride to ask him for help with anything that involves any physical strength, and he hasn’t been around the island enough times to really help out with any of the average daily chores (since, you know, he doesn’t even know what they are), so this is probably exactly what he should’ve expected.

Truth be told, he doesn’t even mind telling stories to kids. He’s done it on hundreds of other islands before and he’ll do it on a hundred more islands before the century is even up. 

But it doesn’t bode very well on his whole all-powerful demigod image. 

Which is probably exactly why Moana asked him to do it in the first place. Sure, she claimed that it was because he’s the best storyteller around, and where better to hear the tales than directly from the source, but there was a mischievous sort of glint in her eyes when she said it, and Maui didn’t trust it one bit. 

Whatever. He’ll show her. He can be the all-knowing, all-powerful, can-rip-a-coconut-tree-in-half-with-one-well-timed-punch demigod while telling stories to small children, thank you very much.

It does certainly help wonders that kids have always been his most captive audience, and that the children of Motunui are no different. They’re starstruck by his embellishments, enraptured by his overly dramatic gestures, and they erupt into fits of giggles and cheers every time Mini Maui starts dancing around on his chest. It’s times like these where he feels the most like himself, where he can be as loud and exuberant as he pleases without a care in the world about who sees. 

Or, well, it would be, if not for the familiar, nagging feeling that someone is glaring at him. 

He looks around the crowd of children huddled together to try and figure out if any of them look like they’re having a bad day, or if any of them are afraid of the story he’s telling, and…

Locks eyes with Simea, just by chance. 

It’s unmistakable. 

Honestly, even if Moana had never mentioned having a little sister, Maui’s sure that he would’ve placed the pieces together himself just by the way Simea’s looking at him. She and Moana have the same exact glare, right down to the way their eyebrows furrow together.  He has to fight back a laugh, really, the way it feels like he’s gone back in time and this really is Moana as a toddler.

As for why she’s so upset…he’s stumped. Maui’s sure that Moana told him that her sister loved listening to stories about his legacy, and he knows she’s not bothered by how he’s telling the story, because he’s seen the way that Moana embellishes the stories she tells, too. He can’t imagine that it’s because Moana isn’t the onetelling the story, because Maui’s also bared witness to Moni telling stories and Simea seems to eat that up.

Is it personal?

Maui can’t think of anything he’s done to hurt her feelings. He hasn’t stolen anything from her, which is usually the reason people are mad at him, and he can’t imagine that he’s exactly said anything to her that could be considered that offensive. They’ve only spoken a handful of times, and Moana was there for all but one of those times, so even if he had said something wrong he definitely would’ve gotten an earful from her about it.

Weird.

Maui makes a mental note to ask Moana about it when she’s finished with negotiations. Maybe she’ll know why her little sister’s so upset. He benches that thought for the time being, and continues on with his stories for the rest of his captive audience.

~~~~

He lucks out, because just when he starts to run low on stories to tell, he notices a small crowd of adults starting to form around the outer edge of the fale tele. If his experience with other islands are anything to go by, that usually means that they’re finished with trade negotiations and that they’re here to pick up their kids.

Maui waves silently in acknowledgement to the crowd of adults behind him, and does his best to quiet the whines of the kids in his audience and assure them that he’ll be back to tell them more stories soon, he promises, before he stands to his feet to start to head off towards the direction of where he last saw Moana. 

He takes about ten steps before he gets the feeling he’s being followed. 

He turns around, and there’s Simea, right on his trail with her arms crossed over her puffed-out chest.

“Uh…” he tries, but she pouts angrily at him before he can get a single word out. 

“I don’t like you.”

Now that’s something Maui’s used to hearing. He gets it so often that he honestly forgets it’s supposed to be an insult. It stopped hurting his feelings about five hundred or so years ago. 

…But he usually gets that from people he’s actively gone out of his way to bother, or from gods he’s stolen from for the good of humanity, or other demigods who are clearly just jealous of all of his accomplishments in comparison to their own. And sure, okay, he’s heard it from his fair share of humans after he stole Te Fiti’s heart, but they usually use much…stronger language, and the people saying it to him are usually adults. 

Simea’s only…what? Two, three years old? What could he have possibly done to her? 

(Then again, he thinks, at the back of his mind, he thought the same thing about Moana when he first met her; “She’s what, twelve? What could he have possibly done to her?”) 

“I’m…sorry?” Maui genuinely tries to apologize, his utter confusion turning it into more of a question. He kneels to meet her eyes better, hoping it’ll help fix whatever her problem is with him.

“I don’t like you!” she repeats, like she thought he didn’t hear it the first time, and she sticks her tongue out at him. 

Spitting image of her sister. He’d laugh if he weren’t afraid she was about to start yanking him around by his ear.

He settles for raising his hands in a defeated gesture. “Heard you the first time, kiddo” he replies gently, but he can’t help the tinge of amusement in his voice. “Do you want to tell me why you don’t like me?”

She firmly shakes her head no, but she looks at him with this baffled, incredulous look, like the reason’s supposed to be so obvious. 

“C’mon, kid, you gotta give me something,” he tries. “You keep staring at me like I stole something from you.” 

“You did,” she replies instantaneously. 

He blinks. “I did?”

For the briefest of moments, the anger in her expression falters, and she looks like she’s about to burst into tears. “You’re always taking my sister away from me.”

…Oh.

Okay, actually, Maui doesn’t have a good response to that; he’s never been great with the whole jealousy thing and it’s not like he’s exactly had that much family to base his experiences on. As far as comfort goes, he’s stumped.

But he does know Moana. 

“Kid, you’ve gotta know that it’s not one person that keeps drawing your sister to the water, right? Curly’s practically got the ocean in her bloodstream. She’d probably live in the ocean if she could.” 

Simea sighs. “I know. She introduced me before she left on her big journey.” She shakes her head, and returns to crossing her arms over her chest. “But it’s different when it’s you!”

That gives him genuine pause. “When it’s…me?” 

“Yeah!” She throws her arms in the air, exasperated. “It’s like, she’s always talking about you! She always tells me that I’m her favorite person in the world, but when you’re gone she’s always looking around for you, or she’s talking about you, or she’s talking to that one drawing of you, or-”

“Wait…she talks to what?” 

She freezes. “Oh, oops, I don’t think I was supposed to tell you that,” she twiddles her thumbs, looking genuinely embarrassed.  “But, um, sometimes she talks to the siapo of you like it’s really you. Mostly when you’re not here. I never really hear what she says, but I think she talks to it when she misses you” she nods sagely, but then she’s back to glaring daggers at him. “But what about me?” she cries. “When you’re not here, she’s always talking about you, and when you are here, she’s always gone!” She wipes at her eyes with her little wrist, trying her hardest to hide the tears building in her eyes.

Maui’s floored. Honest and true. His rattled mind isn’t sure what it wants to focus on more. The part about Moana missing him when he’s gone? The part about her missing him so much that she talks to tapestry of him? 

Or the part that Simea thinks she’s not as important to Moana?

It’s baffling, honestly. He’s sure that Moana’s heart would be shattering to pieces if she heard any of this, given how much he’s seen firsthand how much Moana treasures her little sister.

Maui shakes his head at the thought. Then, glancing from side to side like he’s about to disclose top-secret information, he leans forward.

“Well…do you want to know a secret about her too? Since you told me one?”

Simea’s eyes widen. She doesn’t reply with words, but she nods her head, like she’s afraid someone will overhear. 

Maui smiles. “Moana talks about you all the time, too. Practically every time you’re out of her line of sight.”

Her eyes light up. “Really?”

“Oh yeah,” his grin widens, because it’s contagious. “It’s always Simea would love this and I can’t wait to bring Simea here this, and I need to make sure to pick up a souvenir for Simea that. You’re all she can talk about. She loves you to bits, kiddo. Did she ever tell you that she still keeps your shell in her locket?” 

“She does?” That little smile of hers just keeps getting bigger and bigger.

He doesn’t want to talk about how she almost died with it in her grasp. Or that he almost had to bury her with it in her palm. He hopes he can get the point across regardless.

“Yep!” his voice cracks as he attempts to wave off that train of thought. “Matter of fact,” he tries again after clearing his throat, “she’s always telling me that it’s her motivation to make it home safely. No matter how long or dangerous our voyages are, I always see her gripping onto her locket for dear life like she’s trying to reach out to you from across the sea to promise that she’s coming home. I believe her, too” he nods. “The most upset I ever saw her get on our way to Motufetū was when she almost dropped it into the ocean during a storm.” He shakes his head. “As if the ocean wouldn’t have done everything to give it back to her.” 

He laughs to himself at the thought; of Moana going that much further for someone she loves, just because she can. Even when it involves putting herself at risk.

There’s a deep fondness in his voice as he continues on. “My point is that she’s happy. The happiest I’ve seen since I’ve met her. I thought she’d never stop bouncing on her feet when we sailed to Te Fiti together, and then you come along and that increases tenfold. When she’s out on the water it’s less about getting away and more about finding something new and bringing it home.” He shakes his head, the warmth in his chest only growing stronger. “It’s almost like…you gave her someone to fight for.”

“...Oh,” Simea replies, and when Maui meets her eyes again her expression’s unreadable. She’s not angry or sad anymore, that much he can tell, but that’s about it. She almost looks…embarrassed? Whatever it is, she’s deep in thought over it. 

“Well…” she taps her at her chin quizzically, “I think you’re that for her too”

“I…” Maui stammers, genuinely caught off guard. “Me?”

“Yeah,” she nods, bouncing shyly on her feet. “Like, she’s always happy! She loves doing Chief stuff with Dad, and she always gets so excited right before she goes on a voyage. But she always gets sooo excited when she sees you, or when she thinks she sees a big hawk, or something like that,” she shrugs, “and everyone notices! She gets all bouncy, and happy, and starts running down to the beach as fast as she can, even if she was doing other important stuff.” She looks to the ground. “I think you give her something to be all happy and excited over.” 

Maui…genuinely doesn’t know what to say to that. It’s one thing to think that Moana likes spending time with him and another to tease her about him being her favorite person ever for all time, but it’s something else entirely to hear it from someone she’s close to.

“In that case,” Maui taps at his chin, doing his best to convey the humor in his tone despite the slight waver in his voice, “Maybe we can both be her favorite, huh?” He extends a hand to offer a handshake. 

“Hmm…” Simea considers, tapping at her chin. “I mean, I do have two different best friends. I guess it can be like that” she replies, but doesn’t move to shake his hand. She squints at him again, but there’s not nearly the same amount of anger and hurt that there was earlier. “But how do I know you’re not just gonna run off and tell Moana I was being mean to you? And then take her away again?” 

Maui laughs at that, genuinely. He supposes it’s what he gets for being so proud of his status as a trickster demigod. He pauses to think, eyes gazing around his surroundings as he searches for an answer, but then-

Oh!

Of course!

He knew there was something he’d been forgetting. Maui sits up, reaches into the back makeshift pocket of his grass skirt, and pulls out a small pink-and-white conch shell.

Simea gasps. “Is that for me? What does it do?”

Maui nods. “There’s legends that if you hold these up to your ear, you’ll be able to hear the ocean from anywhere in the world.”

“Woaaaah!!!” Simea squeals, bringing the shell to her ear to test out his theory. “You’re right!! I can hear it!” 

Maui smiles. “Well, yeah, consider that an apology gift. Y’know, for being Moana’s other favorite person.”

Simea’s barely paying attention to him anymore. She’s just turning her little seashell in her hands over and over again. “That’s okay,” she replies haphazardly, like she barely even heard what he said. “As long as you bring me more shells, you’ll be my favorite person too. Then we’ll be even and we can all be each other’s favorites.”

He laughs at that, and stands to his feet as she continues to turn her shell over in her hands, her eyes sparkling in awe. 

“You’ve got yourself a deal, kiddo.” 

[p1zzaparty]

Dennis the menace vs Bart Simpson…u get it dude

THANK YOU KAT HHAGFKJG i had no other way to properly express it..

Obviously there's more personal things i enjoy with them in the 80s compared to the 50's, i effin love the 80's!!!! As a concept!!! Not the getting called a fag for breathing bits!!!

However i get peoples preferences for the losers taking place in the 50's vs the 80's. I have big feelings about the modern remakes and what they did right and how MUCH they did wrong. But i loved it personally, the losers to me always felt perfect as 80's nerds who were outcasted before nerd culture would become beloved. The peak of science fiction, pop culture, riding off the coat tails of Disco and Jazz as New Wave begins to take more of a hold. The Talking Heads, The Go Go's, The Police, MEN AT WORK. Granted this is also a good argument for them being adults at this time period, i just prefer them being kids and growing up with peak geek. It would become almost a sore spot for most of them, seeing how accepted nerdy shit is now. Imagine getting bullied for being a Star Wars fan just to see people praised for their sexy jabba the hutt cosplays now. AND BEFORE ANYONE CORRECTS ME the same thing can be said about the 50s and the rise of comic books and more dorky culture. Stan in his little boy scout uniform?? So cute and so essential in establishing his raw dorkness. But i still lean towards them in the 80's and their own individual nerd fandoms. I've actually got a project ive been working on with them in their little nerd fandoms 😭 Richie obviously was a Star wars kid Eddie was heavily into Star Trek and thinks Star wars is a cheap light show trying to copy the popular show at the time Bill is into dnd but after Georgies death his love for it begins to taper off, he does host a campaign every now and then when the inspiration strikes Stan has started to enjoy Thundercats as it premiers the winter before that awful summer And the group makes obvious Heman references all the time and have arguments over which Marvel character each person in the group would be (Which again could apply to the nerd group of 50s losers) I am in full agreeance that they botched the losers badly in the modern remakes; Ben?? Mike?? Bev?? Its not even funny how badly they were written. I could write a badly written novel about how much they fucked up Mike and Ben. But i still have such a soft spot for the modern remake. They feel more like jerk losers in the 80's, like kids who are bullied and because of that bullying have built a sort of defense mechanism to be pricks back. I would love to have seen more of the micro details King writes for his characters in the modern remakes, but i understand how difficult that is to express it in the movies. Though, personally, i'd watch a 5 hour long movie of The Losers just doing stupid shit to build their character

also im so sorry Kat you got me going and i had to write 30 paragraphs but THANK YOU 😭

[nightshadehoney]

I never watched James Somerton's shitty Killing Stalking video because I was trying to be good to myself and avoid something that I knew would make me very angry. In fact, I never watched any of his stuff because the fact that he made a video like that was enough to discount any thing he ever had to say (also I heard about the Celluloid Closet plagiarism).

But man, is the James Somerton discourse bringing a lot of Killing Stalking-related feelings back up for me. Because I'm mad; I'm still so mad. There are a suprising amount of people on social media who are saying they never watched any of his stuff except for the Killing Stalking video. I'm annoyed not just to find out that the vid had that sort of reach and influence, but also because Somerton's unmasking hasn't seemed to make people reasses the validity of the kind of thing he was saying. People are just now being like "hmm I think this guy might have Issues With Women" but that doesn't warrant any reflection on what exactly the motivation is of people who complain about women enjoying a niche webcomic? Because I don't actually believe you're concerned about the influence of some obscure piece of media when you advertise its existence to your large audience many of whom had not heard of it and would never have heard of it but for your transparent outrage porn video. It's rage bait and the target was women that are perceived as straight. A big channel has publicized the fact that they excised a section that endorsed the opinions in this video from their own because they became aware of Somerton's plagiarism and dishonesty (presumably; if it was actually because they recognized his views were coming from a sexist place I would welcome a clarification). And you know, I don't think that's a good look actually. That you needed to be told he was a bad person and couldn't idependently put together that the misogynist man was saying misogynist things.

The comic ended years ago and the fandom has gone mostly quiet, but to this day people are still the peddling the"fujoshi/stupid teenage girls who don't know what's good for them are shipping these characters because they are too braindead to realize it's not a romance; it's a horror, two things I believe are mutually exclusive. I am smarter than all of these cringe degenerates" bullshit. It's in the comments of the hbomberguy video even; one comment was such a gross misrepresentation of the series that my friend needed to talk me down from getting into a pointless youtube comments argument (bless him) because these people are officially making me lose my marbles.

This narrative is full of shit, it's demonstrably not fucking true. You can go on the artist's twitter right now and its full of her retweeting shippy fanart of that pairing readers were apparently never intended to ship.

(I don't think Koogi knows or cares about James Somerton; she just reblogs the works of fans who tag her. This made me laugh though).

Now this is all speculation because he died decades before social media existed, but I think if Nabokov was alive today his twitter would not be full of Humbert Humbert x Dolores Haze fanart. And yet, I have unironically seen people compare shipping Sangwoo and Bum in Killing Stalking with the misreading of Lolita as a precocious sexual temptress more than once.

And this isn't me saying that Killing Stalking is the disgusting"pro-sexualized abuse" comic that tumblr purity police used to characterize it as either. One of these days I'm going to go truly bonkers and end up banging pots and pans on the street corner, yelling at random innocent passerbys about how stories about romantic and sexual relationships are not required to be Hallmark movies. You can make art about the negative, dark, and troubling parts of these feelings and relationships without creating a pat morality tale. You don't need to approach media analysis like your 7th grade teacher has assigned you an essay on explaining what a novel's "message" is.

Nobody, not the author and not the fans, genuinely thinks that Sangwoo and Bum have a healthy or aspirational relationship. This hypothetical person that does not understand the relationship is toxic doesn't exist. Because girls and women, even the ones having cringey fandom fun on tiktok or whatever, are not so stupid and naive that they are unware that breaking someone's legs and locking them in a muder basement is bad. The type of concern troll rhetoric Somerton employed in his video is directed near exclusively at women interested in men and there's a reason for this. Women are not responsible for abuse that men do to them; nobody is responsible for their partner abusing them. If I never saw people spit this bullshit again it would be too soon.

[queenlua]

unvirtuously subtweeting a Bad Take from elsewhere in the discoursesphere

there’s something i find viscerally nasty about responding to the observation that e.g. recreational reading/study of “the classics,” literature, etc used to be more common among working-class people

by being like “oh well nowadays we are simply Better At Sorting People Smart Enough To Read Into Upper-Income Jobs”

like jfc

i don’t think you have to be a full-on “the tvs/phones/etc are making us dumb” truther to consider that perhaps the way the information/entertainment ecosystem has changed has rather more explanatory power than “lol yeah we’ve just gotten super-good at sorting The Smart People Who Like Books from The Dummies”

particularly given that, y’know, i don’t think there’s a ton of reading going on in the upper-income brackets either!

like, the Culturally-Important HBO Series Everyone Feels Like They Need To Watch has taken the place of the Serious Novel Everyone Feels Like They Need To Read in upper-middle class culture here in the US, and you can argue whether that’s Fine Actually or Terrible, but that’s a transformation that’s taken place even in my own lifetime, c’mon, extrapolate out a bit

and that’s all without even touching the original claim that this “sorting” is working the way they think it is, which, uh. i am skeptical of to put it mildly!

and like 99% of the time these guys are trying to smuggle in incredibly gross/anti-democratic/bizarre ideas under the hood… (e.g. oh wow you think there's a group that's The Dummies and it's Those People, how fucking convenient for you)

idk i have fond memories of my more Spirited Public Debate kind of years but i’ve now kind of gotten where you have to prove to me you’re not evil or a useful idiot first before i’m willing to treat certain types of claims/arguments as being in good faith.  just a lot of hagilehagl heebie-jeebies in the air

[nicawritesandwhines]

I’ve wonder if I should post this and I came to the conclusion that yes. If only for my peace of mind. I apologize in advance for my mutuals that always found my blog as a free ship war content, full of positivity, laughter and kindness. That’s the pillar of who I am as a person and my account was always a reflection of it.

It’s no surprise people found so unusual for me to be involved with arguments.

So please stop here if you want to protect your lovely bubble and polemic is not your thing. I will give you my POV of it all, below.

I’ve been writing since I was 8 years old. In this long journey, a few proud moments of my life stand out: like when I was invited for an interview in a major printed media when I was 15, because one of my sapphic fanfics got real buzz on the internet, in a time that femslash romance was real taboo, but I was terrified of people finding out that I was indeed a huge nerd and wrote fanfics in my free time. Or when around that age, a group of dear friends and I founded a NPO to help children in poverty to have access to education and playing through literature. At 17, I became a tutor for kids with difficulty in traditional learning. I also worked as editor with a published Russian author for non fiction. I worked for years with producing, revising and teaching technical documentation, managing a team of 25 talented professionals. Currently, I’m finally living my dream: I’m writing my first novel, with the support of published and non published authors (including one that is very dear to me, a very well stablished and well known among fans of MM romance.)

So can I say I have experience in producing, editing and teaching written materials, in multiple languages and genre? There’s always so much to learn and improve, but I think I can say that I lived my fair share in this field.

That said, I want to be clear: I did not criticize the work of a 12 years old child behind a screen that is venturing in creating their first fanfic and exercising their creativity. I’m called out a grown woman that after years of antagonizing an entire community decided to post a very triggering fanfic about the couple she hated for years, claiming she was always a multi-shipper, all while not properly tagging her work.

On that note, It’s not the first time I argued with this creator. The first time, I had my blog not even for a week, I had no idea what ship war was, how Tumblr worked and I commented on one of her posts about SJM multiverse and she was the rudest person ever. And I was nothing but kind as I am, ALWAYS. I was clueless about why so much hate, and another person reached out to me saying I shouldn’t lose my time, the account in question treats everyone outside her circle like that. I was so lost, feeling humiliated. My anxiety skyrocketed and I considered deleting my Tumblr because if there’s one thing that makes me sick to my stomach is people misunderstanding me, being rude and mean for no reason whatsoever. I was 36 weeks pregnant, by the way.

I bet she doesn’t remember that, after all I’m just another account she treats this way, but I do. I remember how rude and disrespectful she was and can be. And how she and her gang team up on me in the comments, even when the discussion is as simple as different interpretations of literature. No ship involved at all.

Since my post, two of my mutuals that were TRIGGERED by the fanfic reached out appreciating that I called it by what it is: A BAD WORK. “Oh, but you can’t criticize and call a writing bad, it’s not polite.” Why should I be polite? You are saying I lack fandom etiquette? So be it, let me be the mean girl. I honestly don’t care, it’s not a few strangers in the internet that will crumble my values and confidence in how good of a person I am and my contribution to make this world a better place.

Why should I offer my best side if I already did that and was treated so poorly I almost quit Acotar fandom? You already proved before that you don’t deserve my best.

But is it the work or the creator the problem? Both. Both are the problem. The not properly tagged work and the creator that already showed her true colors for years.

So, when a bully comes to a safe space claiming she is just responding to her friends’ challenge with a tasteless and triggering work, I can and will pick a fight right back. I recognize bad intentions miles away. Because sometimes bullies need to be called out in their own language. Even if in the process, I have to go against my very nature of being kind to all, and indeed, become a very mean girl.

Thank you if you read all this and gave me the opportunity to share.

[ijichi-nijika]

Warm - by Butterfly-Latte/Krispy Cat.

So this might be a bit strange, seeing a random game review from random tumblr user ijichi-nijika. I have wanted to have a list of games I play in general and to write down my thoughts, immediately upon finishing them. I apologize if this is strange, but I will put my thoughts below a drop down so you can simply skip past these if this isn't anything you wish to read.

However I will link to the game above my review with my own score, so people can read it for themselves proper without any spoilers, and an except from my review so you can get a general feel.

"As a person who has felt numb for a large portion of her life, I really connected to Warm. I really think its worth a read. Short and sweet, with tense moments. I really loved the characterization of Megumi a lot."

Score: 9/10.

When I randomly went through my downloads folder tonight looking for a few files before I went to bed, I didn't expect to stay up to read a visual novel. Let alone one that I think is genuinely good. I had gotten Warm from a bundle years ago, but never touched it since I had no idea what to play from said bundle at all. So, flash forward 4 years and now I have.

To describe Warm in one word, it would be - Healing. Warm takes place in a small town in what I assume is Japan, from context clues alone, and is centered around a 11 year old girl named Megumi. Megumi has gone through most of her life so far feeling, what I can only describe as numb. Unfeeling, lonely, depressed. This continues, until one day a transfer student named Hinata, moves in only a few blocks away from her. They, with some predictability, become friends, much to Megumi's confusion. And she outwardly expresses said confusion, on why anyone would even want to be around her. To which Hinata simply says "Because you're nice."

I won't go to further into too much detail, but the slow friendship that the two grow into warmed my heart a lot. Megumi, not easily understanding social cues, to Hinata's simple and quick solutions such as when she starts doing a hand gesture to show that she is joking. And the feelings beginning to grow into liking one another on both sides, made my heart feel extremely full. While the plot gets a tiny bit predictable, I do think for such a short visual novel, the detail and events that take place are still extremely well written, and felt real for the most part. Even the final act of the VN, while I could tell it was coming from a mile away, still felt impactful, at least to me. As a person who has been hurt before by people who simply were not in control of their emotions, I felt for what happens to Hinata in the final hour of the game.

The way that the game treats another character, Inoue, on the other hand, I don't like as much. In the first few acts I felt for the character. There was simple characterization to imply that she had some sort of social or learning disability. The game, doesn't make fun of this, and attempts to sympathize with her at least, a tiny bit. But I don't personally agree with her being the crux of why the final act happens as it does. Conflict is fine, I am all for it to make a better story, and mistakes also happen. But it didn't feel very good to hear that this character, after severely burning another character, is simply expelled from school and we never hear from her again. In fact, any plot point after the final argument of the game that involves discussing Inoue, just didn't feel good to me. I could tell, at least from my reading of the novel, that the character had a lot of jealousy, and needed help but couldn't vocalize it in a way or attempt to get the help in anyway that would possibly lower how people saw her, even if the other way was pushing every character to hate her. But once again, I am reading the feelings of children characters from my adult perspective, so perhaps I am reading too much into it.

The music, fits the game exceptionally well. The best way I could describe it is melancholic and at times, tense. There is at least one happy track in the game though, for the many scenes that warrant that. I think the score of the game really helped me get into how Megumi feels.

As a person who has felt numb for a large portion of her life, I really connected to Warm. Megumi's depression and general anxiety, to even her disconnect from how she can even perceive herself being so vastly different from reality? That's how I used to feel a lot. And sometimes I still do. I think while simple, the lens of numbness that the novel shows us from her lens is realistic, and not blown to proportion. And it made me think of how I've felt with others for most of my life, and how it could have possibly played out. Food for thought.

Warm is a really good yuri vn, with a heavy focus on relationships from the perspective of a young numb girl. And I think reading it, was probably extremely beneficial to myself. And not too many games nowadays really make me feel like that.

[suffarustuffaru]

If you don't mind me asking but when did you first get into re:zero

yeah i dont mind at all :o ig yallre gonna hear my full origin story now haah. its my—my… ok id say tragic backstory but i dont think this is really that tragic LMAO. my humorous backstory? silly backstory?

anyway i got into rezero in summer of 2020!! this was months before s2 started airing and by around this time there was just s1, s1 directors cut may or may not have been out?? i forgor :<, but then s2’s first teaser came out right about now.

it was quarantine…. i was bored one day and wanted smth new to watch… and by then id only really briefly seen rezero—like you know that s1 promo poster with subaru standing there while surrounded by some of the main girls in s1 (beatrice felt emilia rem ram)?? yeah id seen that. in the back of my mind i kinda assumed the show was just another one of those abt a dude surrounded by his harem of girls or smth?? :< but then i learned the Real Premise is the time travel. via death!!!! and ive always loveddd angst and whump so i was like “NO FUCKING WAY I HIT THE JACKPOT” and eagerly looked into rezero some more to see if it was worth watching. and then i saw all the shit reviews on rz that never seemed to agree on if it was good or not…… and then gigguk’s video…… and then i saw mother’s basement on youtube make a defense of rezero s1 and i was like!!! ok fuck it im watching this show. i want the angst i want the complex time travel shit. i think id spoiled myself on a couple of subarus deaths by this point trying to decide if i should commit to rezero and then i started binge watching s1!! esp when i was like ok this is a good time to get into it s2 was announced right??

anyway i got hooked on rezero fr 👍👍 the first s1 emisuba lap pillow had me quaking in my boots ;-;;; and i was already invested from ep1 bc i liked the characters a lot already!!! i am simply BUILT DIFFERENT i loved subaru from day one!!! by the royal selection episodes ofc i was dying of secondhand embarrassment but tbh i grew even more invested in rezero after that!! i was and still am super impressed that the narrative had the balls to have subaru fuck up sooo so so bad there. like seeing that emisuba argument and the julisuba duel for the first time was crazyyy. the conflict was really good and the latter s1 development…. woagh.

and then you know i finish s1 and i immediately get to researching how to read, i read arc 4’s wn and bawl my eyes out from the sheer amount of rollercoaster both the emotions and Long Ass Novel gave me (yes i was bawling my eyes out at parent and child) (yes i was bawling my eyes out at choose me) (yes i was bawling my eyes out for all the suffering loops) (yes i was bawling) (i have no clue how i read all those pages fr like that arc is massive), i speedrun arc 5, i accidentally spoil certain bits for myself (arc 6 stuff), i read most of arc 6 in spurts, tune in every week for s2 (and bawled my eyes out seeing the s2 part 1 op for the first time) etc etc!! one thing lead to another and now i am here…….. three yrs in this fandom… nearly (?) a yr being active on rezero tumblr… HAH

also i made a reddit account back inn…. 2020 or 2021 bc i wanted to be a tinyyy bit active in rezero reddit (this was half a mistake btw. i think i have more balls of steel now but my younger self was sooooo naive. shaking them by the shoulders. this is an anime fandom!!!!!! and this is reddit!!! whatre u expecting???? i am less shy now on the internet thats for sure!!). anyway im still a tiny bit active on rz reddit now after not touching it for like a year. now i use my reddit account for spreading otto propaganda and slander /lh …../hj

but anyway ive never been active in fandoms until rezero and thats bc id usually lurk and a lot of my past hyperfixation medias were :< big fandoms :<<< but then. ok im a fanfic enjoyer and i didnt write much fanfic or publish fic at all before this fandom but then in 2020 after watching s1 i checked rezero’s ao3 page and *sniffles* *sobs* thERE WAS ONLY LIKE 2 PAGES ON THERE MAN….. A WHOLE DESERT…. yes and then one thing lead to another and now there is more fic and also ig id be considered an english fic writer elder maybe…… i started posting in like fall/winter 2020? and maaaan im one of the only ppl from that era whos still posting i think!!! ive seen the entire english fanfic scene pop up!! ive participated in a bunch of community events… sooo wild to think about. i feel old guys!!!

but now i have gotten more and more active in the rz fandom yes :3 its been fun!! rezero is very important media to me and ive met lots of cool people in my time here :) when october 2024 rolls around itll be s3 time (AAAAA HYPE HYPE HYPE) and like four yrs of me being in this fandom?? its wild but my lifes genuinely changed a lot bc of me getting into rezero!! met lots of cool people… made pals… gotten my writing and art out there and improved on it via. large amounts of rezero fanart HAH.. became more unhinged.. etc etc :D even got to meet one of my buddies i met via rezero irl 👍👍 more irl crossover events will happen i swear.

also gigguk in my eyes redeemed himself for his old rezero skit vid by making a glowing review for rezero s2 with his pals. i can forgive him i suppose :<<<

in conclusion: idk if i count as a fandom elder but i sure have a lot of my own fandom lore pfft :<<<

[burningvelvet]

Excerpt of a letter from Claire Clairmont to Lord Byron discussing her step-sister Mary Shelley’s new novel, Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus, 12 January 1818:

“I have Faults. I am timid from vanity; my temper is inconstant & volage. I want dignity. I do not like our Mary sail my steady course like a ship under a gentle & favorable wind. But at thirty I shall be better and every year I hope to gain in value. What news shall I tell you? Mary has just published her first work a novel called Frankenstein or, the Modern Prometheus. It is a most wonderful performance full of genius & the fiction is of so continued and extraordinary a kind as no one would imagine could have been written by so young a person. I am delighted & whatever private feelings of envy I may have at not being able to do so well myself yet all yields when I consider that she is a woman & will prove in time an ornament to us & an argument in our favour. How I delight in a lovely woman of strong & cultivated intellect. How I delight to hear all the intricacies of mind & argument hanging on her lips! If she were my mortal enemy, if she had even injured my darling I would serve her with fidelity and fervently advocate her as doing good to the whole. When I read of Epicharis the slave in Tacitus & of Hypatia of Alexandria in Gibbon, I shriek with joy & cry Vitoria! Vitoria! I cannot bear that women should be outdone in virtue & knowledge by men.”

[the-grove]

Whenever a comic company does some really dumb event or status quo changing storyline(thinking stuff like "Hydra Cap" and "superior spider man") the defenders will often have a particular argument that doesn't really work for me. There are two variations of it, one for while the comic is still ongoing and one about it in hindsight. While the story is ongoing it's something to the tune of, "You are judging it before it's even finished." And once the story is over it's " we'll see the finale pointed out how the entire premise of the narrative is bad actually. The point was that the idea is bad/wrong." ( I will admit I am a bit tired and that phrasing might be a bit of a straw man but I'm struggling to find the exact words.)

And I think these are genuinely fine arguments for most serialized storytelling. TV shows often ask you to trust that by the end of the season things will make sense and the overall experience is enjoyable even if there are some episodes that might feel awkward or uncomfortable or won't make sense untill the final episode.

The difference between TV and comics... Is that you purchase comics ala carte. Be it subscription or cable you are never just paying for a single episode of television(well I guess I think YouTube or some other apps does something like that now? I think. But thats dumb) you are never even just paying for a single show. You are paying for a service that will give you access to hundreds of episodes of a variety of tv shows and films.

Comics are. Which means you are asking for the audience to spend money each month on an issue(sometimes multiple issues) of a storyline they do not like... In hopes that eventually it will be good, that eventually the awful premise will fit and make sense.

A season of television is also usually only a handful of months, while some of these comic storylines can last an entire year or longer. Spending an entire year, of your life invested in a storyline in hopes that it will eventually get good also sucks.

The hindsight variant of the argument makes a bit more sense. But maybe if your story requires the full picture to make for a satisfying story.. then maybe it should be one cohesive story from the get go.

Now I'm certain some of these controversial shock storylines exist specifically because comics are serialized. They want to break up the status quo and try something "new," and the idea of a shocking new twist is suppoused to bring in new readers.

With that.. I say, maybe it's time comic companies start to switch to more self contained graphic novels. We can still have serialized comics, I don't think they should go away completely. But maybe stories should be able to stand on their own as, well a story and not a shocking cash grab. Another alternative could be to go the route a lot of manga publishers due and release anthologies with multiple series in it. I don't think it will solve everything but might be a worthwhile idea to explore.

[polutrope]

By the way, do you have the impression that Turgon and Thingoil are characters that I think Tolkien liked and admired much more than most people who write fanfics, that Tolkie really admired them and has better opinions of them than many people in the fandom in relation to fanfic about them.

Hi Anon!

I am probably not the most knowledgeable about fandom-wide opinions because most of the opinions I'm exposed to are from people on my dash that I've chosen to follow, and I read fic by and recommended by that community of people. That being said, I try to branch out and remain open to various interpretations. My experience participating in fandom this way has actually led me to a lot of people and writers with quite nuanced, generally favourable opinions on Turgon and Thingol! It's only from those people that I have heard that this is not necessarily the norm 😔.

Based on what I have heard and occasionally encountered, I do think Tolkien "liked and admired" Turgon and Thingol more than many readers in fandom, but, crucially, I don't think he was approaching them with the same mindset as most of those fans who take an unfavourable, even hostile, view of them.

I'm not an expert on Tolkien the Man, i.e. who he was as a person and how that was brought into his writing, but I do know that he was a scholar and enjoyer of literary traditions that did not follow the conventions of dominant contemporary storytelling. Many of the stories that inspired Tolkien were about legendary, epic heroes who were violent, fallible, selfish, etc... but still heroes -- basically because the genre said so. I didn't study Norse and Anglo-Saxon culture and traditions like Tolkien, but I did study Homeric literature a bit and the stories and heroes of the Silmarillion have always reminded me of those legends and characters (it's why I love it!).

I think it's impossible to reach a conclusive argument about the morality of or a verdict on the actions of e.g., Homer's Achilles or Odysseus. It can be diverting, an interesting mental exercise, creatively fulfilling, but I think the storytelling is ultimately incompatible with that kind of analysis. The characters just are what they are, and if the text says they are Great then they are. That's that.

I believe it's that way with Thingol and Turgon. We are told they are glorious and wise kings but a lot of what they actually do doesn't seem very glorious or wise. (Feanor is like this, too -- big time lol.) I think that's because the genre/traditions the Silm is inspired by do not necessitate that the story back up a character's "quality of excellence." We are just invited to accept it.

My sense is that that is not satisfying to many people (works for me though!). It is interesting to judge characters for their actions. It's what contemporary novels/TV/film/etc invite us to do, and many like doing it (again, not really me, but I'm strange).

(Tolkien's later writings, like LotR and some of the post-LotR writings, do invite this kind of reading, and I think that Tolkien at that stage was taking pains to show as well as tell us that X character was noble/wise/brave/etc. Which brings me to an issue that I think is at the root of so many interpretive disagreements about the published Silmarillion, namely that it's compiled from a selection of drafts written over decades and those drafts are not always compatible with one another in terms of genre and tone. Christopher did his darned best, and anyone who has read through HoMe will appreciate what an impressive job he did, but while he could iron out inconsistencies, without extensive rewriting -- which he was determined not to do -- I think incompatibilities like this were unavoidable. So we get Tinwelint from the 1917-19 Tale of the Nauglafring blended in a soup with Thingol of the 1950s Narn i Hin Hurin and the result makes for a bit of a strange aftertaste. There's even some full-on characterisation whiplash for those who are looking very very closely, as us fans like to do. Turgon is another character whose story is drawn from disparate strands of the Silmarillion's textual history, hmm... maybe something there.)

So, I have been theorising that all this is possibly why there seems to be a disconnect between Tolkien's presentation of characters like Thingol and Turgon and how much of the fandom receives and interprets them. Storyteller and reader are looking at things through incompatible lenses. Which is interesting! I think the problems (and vitriol) arise when people are not recognising that their opinions are filtered through a particular lens.

Probably far more than you were looking for with this Ask, but this issue has been circulating in my mind. I hope it makes some sense. I am trying to articulate half-formed thoughts through the fog of a head cold.

[sweettoothdom]

i do understand ur mdni thing and i completely agree with it and even tho u said to not debate it..still doesnt make sense, does it? Whats the difference between someone that turned 18 yesterday and someone that is turning 18 tomorrow? Besides the legality to date them 🤷‍♀️

Do not debatebro me on pedophilia lmfao Nobody said anything about dating, we're talking sexual stuff. 18 is the absolute bare minimum for participation. If you're waiting for someone to turn 18 to do stuff with them legally, that is still pedophilia, you were attracted to and wanted to have sex with a minor and then took the earliest opportunity you thought it'd be acceptable to act on it. That's not different. It *is* however different if you meet/see someone for the first time and they are already 18. If you're actively seeking out people who turned 18 *that day* you're still a freak! This is not the gotcha apologists seem to believe it is. It makes perfect sense, seeking out minors is fucked up and abusive, even if you technically sit and wait until they're not anymore. That's the same thing. Since I take it from your phrasing that you are a minor, I'll break this down into an example. If someone just turned 18 and they dm me here, we met as adults, no harm no foul. If I seek out profiles that just turned 18, or if I find a minor's blog and wait until their birthday to DM them, that's pedophilic and abusive, inherently. There is an inherent power dynamic with the age difference, one that an adult may be able to consider for themselves and decide whether or not they want to engage in in a way that children simply, literally, objectively cannot. Pedophiles and some unfortunately painfully misguided minors use this argument, your "what's the difference between 24 hours on the wrong side of a birthday", argument to try to say that there's no meaningful distinction between a year's time, but the argument makes no fucking sense. Think about it for 2 seconds. It only exists as an argument in the incredibly niche hypothetical of choosing someone the day before or the day after their 18th birthday, and even then it only further highlights the problem with the entire exercise. You're trying to say "well if it'd be okay to interact the day after my birthday, why couldn't I the day before?" but it isn't the day before your 18th birthday, is it the week before. You're trying to equivocate the idea of the acceptability of someone who *just* turned 18 to the forbiddance of someone who is *just* about to turn 18, but you're only highlighting how inappropriate it would be to go even just a day on the other side.

Barely 18 year olds aren't full adults yet, obviously, and that's why adults treat them differently from other adults. That's where the phrase "young adult" comes from. That's why most YA novel protags end up as legal drinking age by the end of their stories. Saying "I almost am almost this hypothetical that itself is almost the absolute bare minimum for acceptability" is not the crack defense you seem to believe. Pushing the point is only going to make it more likely for me to raise the DNI to 20 just to prove mine

[whenthechickencry]

Our Confession

I actually have read both this one and Last Note Before, it was a long while ago though... so I know the general gist but I don't quite remember all the details

The way Beatrice is doing her dead inside sprite before she realizes others were in the room and then she plays up her hamminess a bunch is really sad, aaa.

Dlanor constantly tells Beatrice she's a good writer and she's so excited but a little sad she won't get to see it as a full-blown game first, and Beatrice is like you don't need to flatter me but she's right Beato you should accept her compliments.

Iirc what the Booklet did for this was having the pages be sealed after this and you had to unseal them, which is actually extremely cool. They did their best here but a simple choice prompt just can't match that, I think.

Haha, the complaining about how Natsuhi is hard to make an accomplice... she's like the only person that cares about the headship as much as the gold, Eva as well but Eva isn't getting that without Sayo's help anyways, thinking about it even in Episode 4 she was one of the first to go,, so I can imagine getting her to cooperate is kind of hard. Granted, once you bring up Jessica to the equation you can probably get her to relent.

Beatrice getting a gun sprite is kind of uncanny, haha, really bringing it home was an early draft before Sayo had the chance to embellish the story with magic.

Kinzo being willing to explain to his children that he would blow them up if he felt like it worked in Sayo's favor when getting accomplices, I suppose.

You know, the fact Genji was like "hey! you are a product of incest. we rewrote your entire life for your incestuous grandfather. All your lovers are your cousins. Everything in your life is a lie. By the way, you have a bomb to blow everything up!" like okaayyy what were you expecting at that point Genji.

It's kind of interesting Beatrice tells accomplices that Kuwadorian is safe - technically Rosa could have probably survived Episode 2 with Maria if she just checked Shannon's corpses and realized she really was dead and just tried to make a mad dash to Kuwadorian, maybe.

Krauss is like yeah sure, sure, why not I guess. The fact that Natsuhi is the one more hesitant about this when she's the one thrust into solving all their problems, figuring out what to do, and she never had the option to not do her part...

This episode really does feel like tearing up the guts of Umineko... you can tell a lot of the accomplices act a little weird around Battler so you can guess Sayo probably told them vaguely of her plan, but it's the sort of thing you don't expect to be explicitly confirmed.

Kumasawa is grinning here, haha, she really does think she's a prank up to the very end.... it's kind of sad. She probably can't even imagine Sayo as someone who would do what she did, but I guess that also shows the way she didn't reach out to try and understand her enough...

It's kind of funny how sometimes you see the story going, ah, shit, sorry I have to embellish this more, right.

While thinking on how to properly kill 5 people she gets distracted by the fact she wants to draw a cute girl instead of a man, haha.

It's kind of funny because she does absolutely think they also did something wrong, but I guess talking to herself like this also makes it easier for her to justify herself to her...

Huh... now that I think about it most magic circles were indeed in places that people don't usually go to, ie the shed or Kinzo's rooms... I did think Sayo did the drawings in between murders, haha

The fact Sayo writes some of her tales while thinking about how the argument with Battler is going to go is kind of funny, haha. I wonder what the Japanese version said for metaworld here... it's not a sentence the translation has used so far and the side arcs don't have the greatest translation, so I am curious...

Beatrice is making fun of Battler for reading so many mystery novels but not being able to figure out the mystery, but also praises the person able to see the fantasy aspect of it...

The fact that so many of the mysteries in Umineko rely on several characters thinking that Shannon/Kanon wouldn't do X is very sad... like Sayo is writing these stories with the assumptions that no one in the family actually understands her and won't care to try to, so her mysteries are safe.

It's kind of interesting how in the episodes Sayo does this they mix up whether a Sayo actor is doing it or whether it's an actual conclusion the characters reached, in order to have more difficulty seeing the pattern. For ex: in Ep1 Eva, the accomplice, and Natsuhi both brought up this argument. Eva was an accomplice but Natsuhi isn't.

It's brought up that Gohda and Kumasawa don't know its actual murder, I knew about Kumasawa but didn't know about Gohda, actually... I think the roulette accomplices always know or at least figure it out early enough. Kumasawa's the one who is always clueless. Not really sure about Gohda in ep2, though. I think a lot of people were probably clueless in ep4.

This scene always fucks me up.... the way one of the few light conversations we see between Sayo and Kumasawa is here, the fact Sayo is crying after what she does before resuming the mocking Beatrice act. The use of "End of a Daydream" as the song...

In general this episode really highlights how? Disassociative? Sayo was during all of this. She constantly switches from doing the cruel witch that laughs at everyone's misfortune, to passing the blame on to Battler for what happened, to being fucked up about what is happening. None of these are Sayo on their own but all of them together make up Sayo. I think an episode like this really helps you see how all of the Sayos are one Sayo. Its role as a post-Umineko arc is interesting too. Even people sympathetic to Sayo occasionally role her as ie the innocent victim who did nothing wrong or flatten her into her relationship with Battler. Sayo is so much more than that and this episode forces you to confront that.

Shannon's words here hit so hard... Sayo here is affirming she was an incomprehensible being that was impossible to understand in the first place. In general, Shannon seems to be the persona most resigned to giving up... Beatrice might think its a long shot but her game and the meta arguments show that she does have a hope that she can be understood. Kanon might not think better is possible, but still yearns for it and isn't satisfied with what they have; as opposed to Shannon who seems completely resigned to the fact no one will understand them and that there is no hope for the future. Ofc all of these are the same person, so it's not useful to see them as totally different perspectives. But I think trying to understand each persona on their own is useful to analyzing Sayo. Like, why is the persona that has completely given up tied to George? Why is the persona that wants better but doesn't think its possible tied to Jessica? I think answering those kinds of questions can help you understand what was going on in Sayo's head during a lot of moments as well as help you contextualize their relationships more.

It's kind of funny how they do the missing corpse trick with Kanon constantly but never with Shannon, when Shannon's corpse appears its either after Sayo is dead or they hide the corpse another way entirely. R07 probably didn't want you to figure out they were the only corpses allowed to do this.

Dlanor points out that Beatrice surely wants to be understood by more than one person, Beatrice doesn't really answer to that remark and just says it's fine for her to just hope that one person understands her.

Of course, Dlanor did end up guiding Battler to Beatrice... and thankfully he didn't have to release her guts in order to do it, but... Battler still didn't understand her with just Beatrice's own words and actions. He needed to be guided and prompted by others to be able to get there, and it was still too late. This is still very sad.

Beatrice gets a shocked expression once Dlanor points out that said prince needs to have love for her or otherwise they won't get to her, and Beatrice relents in giving her the manuscript as long as Dlanor agrees to not release it before she is dead.

Now, on to the present.

Of course, Sayo didn't *just* want Battler to understand her. She wanted others to be able to see her heart. She wanted others to stop painting over her for the benefit of others. She wanted everyone to see her for the full person that she was. But that seems like such an impossible, naive dream that she won't even accept to having it.

There's just so much going on here... Dlanor begging for you to understand her, the reuse of the episode 4 red truth. Dlanor points out that just understanding what went on in the gameboards isn't enough to understand Sayo, there is still so much more for you to understand.

This is the first of all the side arcs I would say is completely required reading, Umineko's Saikoroshi basically. The writing here was excellent, allowing you to see the gameboard from a different perspective helps you understand Sayo much more. Being post-ep8 also lets them be so much more explicit with things they didn't have as much of liberty in the main arcs. There are so many heartbreaking scenes in this episode. If anyone reading this hasn't read this arc, I really beg you to do so.