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blessedarethebinarybreakers · 1 year ago

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(I’m popping a extra disclaimer here because I don’t know if I worded this very well, and I understand if this isnt the kind if question you feel comfortable answering, but this is a genuine question made in good faith. I also apologise if this sounds really stupid)

I read one of your recent asks about inclusivism and it reminded me of something that always sat in the back of my mind with this train of thought.

If we say that everyone regardless of religion, or absence of it, gets into heaven, doesn’t that seem disrespectful to their faith. By saying that people of other religions get into christian heaven, is that not inadvertently telling them that their religion or their gods are fake, and that when they die it’ll be okay because they’ll learn the real truth? I hope this doesn’t come across as blunt or disrespectful to anyone, I’ve just never be able to come to a conclusion that isn’t exclusive (which is kind of a depressing thought), but is also respectful. Because it’s a beautiful idea that god loves us all regardless of who we are or what we believe, but what about people who have the kind of faith we do in a completely different god, or multiple gods, do they have the same thoughts about us? that their god loves us even though we dont believe?

I feel like I’m asking questions I’m not supposed to but I’m just really curious about your perspective if this is something you’re comfortable answering.

Hey anon, this is an important question, so thanks for asking it! You don't sound "stupid"; you're thinking like a theologian :) I'm probably not going to do it justice, I'm afraid, but maybe folks will hop on with more ideas or resources?

This got really long, so the TL;DR: I agree with you, and so do a lot of theologians and other thinkers!

In a religiously diverse world, it makes sense that people of various religions ponder where people outside their religions "fit" in their understanding of both the present world and whatever form of afterlife they have.

If someone has a firm personal belief in certain things taking place after death (from heaven to reincarnation), I don't think it's inherently wrong to imagine all kinds of people joining them in that experience, when it points to how that person recognizes the inherent holiness and value of all kinds of people, and shows that they long for continued community with & flourishing for those people.

However, this contemplation should be done with great care — especially when your religion is the dominant one in your culture; especially if your religion has a long history (and/or present) of colonialism and coerced conversions.

Ultimately, humility and openness are key! It's fine to have your own beliefs about humanity's place in this life and after death, but make yourself mindful of your own limited perspective. Accept you might be wrong in part or in whole! And be open to learning from others' ideas, and truly listening to them if they say something in your ideas has caused them or their community tangible harm.

In the rest of this post, I'll focus on a Christian perspective and keep grappling with how to consider these questions while honoring both one's personal faith and people all religions...without coming to any solid conclusions (sorry, but I don't think there's any one-size-fits-all or fully satisfying answer!).

I'll talk a bit about inclusivism and how it fails pretty miserably in this regard, and point towards religious pluralism as a possibly better (tho still imperfect) option.

And as usual I'll say I highly recommend Barbara Brown Taylor's book Holy Envy: Finding God in the Faith of Others to any Christians / cultural Christians who want to learn more about entering into mutual relationship with people of other religions.

In previous posts, I brought up the concepts of exclusivism, inclusivism, and religious pluralism without digging into their academic definitions and histories — partially because it's A Lot for a tumblr post, but also because it's by no means in my sphere of expertise. I worried about misrepresenting any viewpoint if I tried to get all academic, so I just stuck to my own personal opinions instead — but looking back at some posts, I see I didn't do a great job of clarifying that's what I was doing!

So now I'll go into what scholars mean when talking about these different viewpoints, with a huge caveat that I'm not an expert; I'm just drawing from notes and foggy memories from old seminary classes + this article from the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (IEP), and anyone interested in learning more should find scholarly articles or books rather than relying on some guy on tumblr!

Defining exclusivism, inclusivism, & religious pluralism

When we encounter traditions that offer differing and often conflicting "accounts of the nature of both mundane and supramundane reality, of the ultimate ends of human beings, and of the ways to achieve those ends" (IEP), how do we respond? Do we focus on difference and reject any truth in their views that conflicts with our views? Do we avoid looking too closely at the places we differ? try to find common ground? try to make their views fit ours?

Exclusivism, inclusivism, and religious pluralism are three categories into which we can place various responses to the reality of religious diversity.

It's important to note that this is only one categorization system one can use, and that these categories were developed within a Western, Christian context (by a guy named Alan Race in 1983). They are meant to be usable by persons of any religion — all sorts of people ask these questions about how their beliefs relate to others' beliefs — but largely do skew towards a Western, Christian way of understanding religion. (For one thing, there's a strong focus on salvation / afterlife and not all religions emphasize that stuff very much, if at all!)

Drawing primarily from this article on the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (IEP), here are basic definitions of each:

Exclusivist positions maintain that "only one set of belief claims or practices can ultimately be true or correct (in most cases, those of the one holding the position). A Christian exclusivist would therefore hold that the beliefs of non-Christians (and perhaps even Christians of other denominations) are in some way flawed, if not wholly false..." . (From my old class notes — Exclusivist Christians believe 3 things are non-negotiable: the unique authority of Jesus Christ as the apex of revelation; Jesus as normative; salvation exclusively through repentance and faith in Christ's work on the cross. Some will allow that God does provide some truths about Godself and humanity through general revelation, including truths found in other religious traditions, but the Biggest most Important revelation is still Jesus.) .

Inclusivist positions "recognize the possibility that more than one religious tradition can contain elements that are true or efficacious, while at the same time hold that only one tradition expresses ultimate religious truth most completely." . Christian inclusivists tend to focus on salvation, claiming that non-Christians can still achieve salvation — still through Jesus Christ. Sometimes they hold that any non-Christian whose life happens to fit Jesus's call to love God and neighbor, etc., will be saved. Other times they hold that only non-Christians who never had the chance to learn about Jesus can be saved; if you know about Christianity and reject it, it doesn't matter how "good"you are, you're doomed. .

Pluralist positions hold that "more than one set of beliefs or practices can be, at least partially and perhaps wholly, true or correct simultaneously." For Christian pluralists, that means believing that Jesus is not the one Way to God / to heaven/salvation; Christianity is one way of many, usually conceived of as all being on equal footing, to connect to the Divine. .

(These three categories are not all encompassing; the IEP article also brings up relativism and skepticism.)

Issues with Exclusivism & Inclusivism

I hope the issues with exclusivism are clear, but to name a few:

Christians who are taught that all non-Christians (or even the "wrong kind" of Christians) are doomed to hell are taught to see those people as Projects more than people — there's a perceived urgent need to convert them asap in order to "save them." The only kind of relationship you'd form with one of them is centered in efforts to convert them, rather than to live and learn alongside them as they are.

Doesn't matter if they are already happily committed to a different religion. In your eyes, they're wrong about feeling fulfilled and connected to the Divine.

Doesn't matter if you have to resort to violent and coercive practices like wiping out all signs of non-Christian culture or kidnapping non-Christian children to raise Christian — the ends justify the means because you're looking out for their "immortal souls."

...But what about inclusivism? If you're a Christian inclusivist, you aren't forcing anyone to convert to Christianity right now! You acknowledge that non-Christians can live holy and fulfilling lives! You even acknowledge that there's scraps of value in their valid-but-not-as-valid-as-Christianity religions! So what's the problem?

Turns out that this is a major case of one's good intentions not being nearly as important as one's impact.

You may be pushing back against exclusivism's outright refusal that non-Christians have any connection to the divine at all, which is nice and all — but by saying that non-Christians will basically become Christian after they die, you are still perpetuating our long history of coercive conversions.

There's a reason some scholars argue that inclusivism isn't actually a separate category from, but a sub-category of, exclusivism: you're still saying everyone has to be Christian, "so luckily you'll See The Light and become Christian after you die :)"

This is very reasonably offensive to many non-Christians. If nothing else, it's ludicrously smug and paternalistic! I won't get into it here but it only gets worse when some inclusivist positions try to get all Darwinian and start arranging religions from lower to higher, with Christianity as the "evolutionary" apex of religion ://

For now, I'll only go into detail about Catholic Jesuit theologian Karl Rahner's particular version of inclusivism, because it's quite common and really highlights the paternalism:

Rahner's Anonymous Christians:

A question that Catholics and other Christians struggled with in the 20th century was this: If non-Christians cannot be saved (because they held firm in believing that salvation must be in and through Christ), what happens if someone never even had the chance to learn about Christianity? Surely a loving God wouldn't write them an automatic ticket to hell when they're non-Christian through no fault of their own, right?

German Jesuit Karl Rahner's response was to conceive of a sort of abstract version of Christianity for non-Christians who lived good, faithful lives outside of official (what he called "constituted") Christianity:

"Anonymous Christianity means that a person lives in the grace of God and attains salvation outside of explicitly constituted Christianity. ...Let us say, a Buddhist monk…who, because he follows his conscience, attains salvation and lives in the grace of God; of him I must say that he is an anonymous Christian; if not, I would have to presuppose that there is a genuine path to salvation that really attains that goal, but that simply has nothing to do with Jesus Christ. But I cannot do that. And so, if I hold if everyone depends upon Jesus Christ for salvation, and if at the same time I hold that many live in the world who have not expressly recognized Jesus Christ, then there remains in my opinion nothing else but to take up this postulate of an anonymous Christianity." - Karl Rahner in Dialogue (1986), p. 135.

So someone who has intentionally devoted themselves to another religion, someone who does good work in that religion's name, is...secretly, unbeknownst to them, actually Christian?

I hope the offensiveness of that is clear — the condescension in implying these people are ignorant of what religion they "really" belong to! the assumption that Good deeds & virtues are always inherently Christian deeds & virtues! the arrogance of being so sure your own religion is The One Right Way that you have to construct a "back door" (as Hans Küng describes it) into it to shove in all these poor people who for whatever reason can't or don't choose to join it!

One theologian who criticized the paternalism of "anonymous Christianity" is John Hick, who was one of the big advocates for religious pluralism as a more respectful way of understanding non-Christian religions. So let's finally talk some more about pluralism!

Religious Pluralism!

As defined earlier, religious pluralist positions hold that there are many paths to the divine, and that all religions have access to some truths about the divine.

For Christians, this means rejecting those 3 non-negotiables of exclusionists about Christianity being the one true religion and Jesus being the one path to salvation. Instead of claiming that Christianity is the "most advanced" religion, pluralism claims that Christianity is just one religion among many, with no unique claim on the truth.

Some other pluralist points:

Pluralism resists antisemitic claims that Christianity is the "fulfillment" of (or that it "supercedes") Judaism.

Various religions provide independent access to salvation rather than everyone's salvation relying on Christ. (Note the still very Christian-skewed lens here in emphasizing salvation at all though!)

When we notice how different religions' truth claims conflict with one another, pluralists reconcile this by talking about how one's experience of truth is subjective.

Pluralism tends to give more authority to human experience than sacred texts

John Hicks' pluralist position

I mentioned before that Hicks is one of the big names in the religious pluralism scene. The IEP article I drew from earlier goes into much greater detail about his views and responses to it in the section titled "c. John Hick: the Pluralistic Hypothesis," but for a brief overview:

His central claim is that "diverse religious traditions have emerged as various finite, historical responses to a single transcendent, ultimate, divine reality. The diversity of traditions (and the belief claims they contain) is a product of the diversity of religious experiences among individuals and groups throughout history, and the various interpretations given to these experiences."

"As for the content of particular belief claims, Hick understands the personal deities of those traditions that posit them...as personae of the Real, explicitly invoking the connotation of a theatrical mask in the Latin word persona."

"Hick claims that all religious understandings of the Real are on equal footing insofar as they can only offer limited, phenomenal representations of transcendent truth."

We must accept that world religions are fundamentally different from each other, rather than falling into platitudes about how "we're all the same deep down"

Each religion has its own particular and comprehensive framework for understanding the world and human experience (i.e. we shouldn't use the normative Christian framework to describe other faiths)

Another angle: hospitality

As various philosophers and theologians have responded to and expanded upon pluralist frameworks, one big concept that some emphasize is hospitality: that all of us regardless of religion have an obligation to welcome others to all that is ours, if and when they have need of it — especially when they are of different cultures or religions from us.

Hospitality requires respect for those under our care, honoring and protecting their differences.

When we are the ones in need of hospitality, we should be able to expect the same.

Hospitality implies being able to anticipate our guest's needs, but we need to accept the impossibility of being able to guess every need, so communication is key!

Liberation theology & Pluralism

I also appreciate what liberation theologians have brought into the discussion. Here's from the IEP article:

"Liberation theology, which advocates a religious duty to aid those who are poor or suffering other forms of inequality and oppression, has had a significant influence on recent discussions of pluralism. The struggle against oppression can be seen as providing an enterprise in which members of diverse religious traditions can come together in solidarity.

"Paul F. Knitter, whose work serves as a prominent theological synthesis of liberation and pluralist perspectives, argues that engaging in interreligious dialogue is part and parcel of the ethical responsibility at the heart of liberation theology. He maintains not only that any liberation theology ought to be pluralistic, but also that any adequate theory of religious pluralism ought to include an ethical dimension oriented toward the goal of resisting injustice and oppression.

"Knitter claims that, if members of diverse religions are interested (as they should be) in encountering each other in dialogue and resolving their conflicts, this can only be done on the basis of some common ground. ..."

Knitter sees suffering as that common ground: "Suffering provides a common cause with which diverse religious traditions are concerned and towards which they can come together to craft a common agenda. Particular instances of suffering will, of course, differ from each other in their causes and effects; likewise, the practical details of work to alleviate suffering will almost necessarily be fleshed out differently by different religions, at different times and in different places. Nevertheless, Knitter maintains that suffering itself is a cross-cultural and universal phenomenon and should thus serve as the reference point for a practical religious pluralism. Confronting suffering will naturally give rise to solidarity, and pluralist respect and understanding can emerge from there."

Knitter also sees the planet as a source of literal common ground for us all: "Earth not only serves as a common physical location for all religious traditions, but it also provides these traditions with what Knitter calls a 'common cosmological story' (1995, p. 119). ...Knitter makes a case that different religious traditions share an ecological responsibility and that awareness of this shared responsibility, as it continues to emerge, can also serve as a basis for mutual understanding."

When Knitter and other liberation theologians speak of suffering or earth care as rallying points for interreligious solidarity, it's important to point out that such solidarity doesn't happen automatically: it is something we have to choose to commit to. We have to be courageous about challenging those who would pin suffering on another religious or cultural group. We have to be courageous about having difficult conversations, again and again. We have to learn how to work together for common goals even while accepting where we differ.

How to end this long ass post?

My hope is that as you read (or skimmed) all this, you were thinking about your own personal beliefs: where, if anywhere, do they fit among all these ideas? where would you like them to fit?

And, in the end, did I really address anon's question about whether it's disrespectful to people of other religions to assert that everyone is loved by God, or gets into heaven? Not really, because I don't know. I think it probably depends on context, and how one puts it, and how certain one acts about their ideas about God and heaven.

For me, it always comes down to humility about my own limited perspective, even while asserting that we all have a right to our personal beliefs, including ideas about what comes after this life.

When I imagine all human beings together in whatever comes next, I hope I do so not out of a desire for assimilation into my religion, but a desire to continue to learn from and alongside all kinds of people and beliefs. I hope I remain open to learning about how other people envision both what comes after death, and more importantly, what they think about life here and now. What can I learn from them about truth, kindness, justice? How can we work together to achieve those things for all creation, despite and in and through our differences?

I'll end with Eboo Patel's description of religious pluralism, which sums up much of how I feel, from his memoir Acts of Faith: The Story of an American Muslim:

"Religious pluralism is neither mere coexistence nor forced consensus. It is a form of proactive cooperation that affirms the identities of the constituent communities while emphasizing that the wellbeing of each and all depends on the health of the whole. It is the belief that the common good is best served when each community has a chance to make its unique contribution."

___

Further resources:

Explore my #religious pluralism tag for more thoughts and quotes

You might also enjoy wandering through my #interfaith tag

Two podcast episodes that draw from Eboo Patel, Barbara Brown Taylor, and other wonderful people: "No One Owns God: Readying yourself for respectful interfaith encounters" and "It's good to have wings, but you have to have roots too: Cultivating your own faith while embracing religious pluralism"

My tag with excerpts from Holy Envy

Post that includes links to various questions about heaven

Here’s a post where I talk about why I don’t believe in hell

My evangelism tag (tl;dr: I’m staunchly against prosletyzing to anyone who doesn’t explicitly request more info about Christianity)

#feel free only to read the tldr anon -- the rest goes way beyond your actual question!#exclusivism #inclusivism #religious pluralism #long post #essays #theology #other faiths tag

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scribe-cas · 9 months ago

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Get to Know Your Moots Writeblr Interview

(Tagged by @scribe-of-stories :> the fact that "the scribes" is a thing sparks so much joy you don't even get it /pos)

On the Tumblr Writing Community

How long have you had your writing Tumblr/Writeblr?

Like approximately a year and 2 weeks. Ish

What led you to create it?

It started off as literally my main blog but I post so much about my characters that I just. It's basically just a writing blog now because I'm too insane about my own series

What’s your favorite thing about the Writeblr community?

PEOPLE RAAHHHHHHHHH

Also the fact that people here are normal about villains and like.. media that isn't scrubbed of any substance. Cancel culture and Hays code my detested <3

What’s one thing you’d like your mutuals to know about you?

Please talk to me about my characters please please please please ask me stuff I swear asks light up my mind and I don't bite no question is a dumb one

Also if you like couteau I'm eating you alive /affectionate /positive

If you're new here you'll see my obsession with cou knows no bounds. Being told to go write about him motivates me to no end. I will get you guys a book I just wanna write about him HORFUSHUFAHSHD

Is there anything you’d like to see more of on your dash?

OCS. GIVE ME YOUR OCS. I KNOW THIS IS WRITEBLR BUT I WANNA SEE THEM. IF YOU DONT HAVE ART OF THEM I'LL MAKE YOU ART OF THEM DAMNIT.

What tips/advice do you have for someone who made a Writeblr today?

Babe i don't know what I'm doing let alone advice for other people. Um I guess be insane about your projects. Don't be afraid to not take yourself seriously, and enjoy working on your WIPs. People talk about how oh writing is supposed to be self reflective writing is supposed to be about learning about others- my writing is a joke to me and everyone around. If it ends up being something else later on that's great but right now no its whatever i think would be funny rn.

WIP it Good

Which Works-in-Progress (WIPs) or writing projects are you noodling about, lately?

Blood is sweeter than silence my beloved....

How long have you been working on them?

6 years actually writing (2 drafts of mine were deleted by negligent roommates so I've had to completely restart) but about 10 since I started thinking about it

Do you remember what inspired them/what got you started?

Literally a million things. But also it mostly just kinda came from my own brain. Everything I've ever experienced has shaped it.

How much time, in your best estimation, do you spend thinking about them?

It never leaves my mind. Literally ever. Ask my wife it's literally all I talk about

When someone asks the dreaded, “What do you write about,” question, what do you usually say?

"Oh I'm really dabbling in slasher-comedy recently" /voice of a man who is so proud of the genre 'slasher-comedy'

What do you want to say (if it’s different from what you do say)?

Honestly slasher comedy is pretty accurate. It leaves out the rampant implications of demon horniness but that isn't technically relevant to the plot

Let’s Rotate Blorbos

Name any characters you created.

Amara (Ami), Seamus (Gambit), Couteau, Sally, Rix, Ally, Lainey, Varasha- the list goes on

Who’s the most unhinged?

Rix when it comes to like being actually impaired in the brain but Couteau when we're talking just. Nuts. Like when a character just is that way because they can be.

Who comes the most naturally for you to write?

None of them ever /lh, it is ALWAYS a struggle

Do you ever cringe at them?

No I find them hilarious if I'm being honest. They do some cringefail shit and I just laugh

How much control do you feel you have over your characters?

They are writing this shit. I am just witnessing and occasionally figuring stuff out from subtext.

Do you enjoy people asking questions about your characters?

GOD YES. LITERALLY ANYTHING. RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Literally even just like poking me on what WIPs I've got going on will spur me into it I love knowing there are people who want to see the scene im working on when it's done. Or sometimes I write fanfiction that's kinda canon adjacent? And if you also wanted to see that I'd kiss you on the mouth /pos

But God yes I love talking about them. I will explain stuff over and over again to every new person ever I love you questions about my characters

On Writeblr Engagement

What makes you want to follow another Writeblr account?

There is no criteria. If you post and I like the thing you posted, you get followed

What makes you decide against following?

... show me your stuff or I can't see it and know how cool it is and follow you. If you show me nothing then nothing you will receive

Do you interact with non-mutuals often?

Yes! But also no because I barely manage to interact on here at all sometimes /lh

Do your mutuals’ characters occupy space in your noodle?

Yeah I rotate Ela and Kei around in my head pretty regularly

And every Michael ever made by @sandranetta13

I interact with ink and myth on a daily basis tho /lh

Anyways open tag other than for you two fuckers I'm making it mandatory @daughter-of-inklings @mythie-and-mages

#castalk #bists #couteau my beloved go back into your box #blood is sweeter than silence #writeblr #tag game

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basilhopewhumps · 2 years ago

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hi i exist and have just made this lovely whump blog!!!!

what's up friends???? i have just decided to make a whump blog because i have been so into whump in the past few years while i've been on tumblr on another account and today i decided, fuck it, i wanna be part of the whump community on tumblr! it looks lovely! so here i thought i'd make an intro/master post with everything y'all need to know about me so i can find some friends!!! and i will add to this as needed so yall have information about me that is real and true lol

and i'm new here so please if you're an established member of the whump community and could point me to blogs you like to follow, thatd be swell!

basics:

my name is Basil! it is not my real name lol!

I use he/they pronouns though sometimes i think xe/xem/xyr would be cool so i wouldnt mind that either :]

i'm 18 years old!

i have a main blog so i'm familiar with tumblr but i'm not going to share that because i don't want this to have anything to do with that life! i will say though that i write fanfiction for a small fandom and that's how i got into whump because i write a lot of hurt/comfort :D know that the characters from that fandom are always a little bit in my head when i'm reading or writing whump <3333

whump likes/dislikes:

i like:

soft caretaking! soft! caretaking! so many like, hardcore whump things are fun for me as long as there's soft caretaking at the end. that's my endgame really. it's all about that hurt/comfort!! woo!!!!!!

sickfic!

touch starved whumpees. i live and die for that shit

panic attacks/anxiety attacks/general anxiety! as someone who suffers from anxiety myself i really enjoy reading about characters having anxiety and getting taken care of and soothed

sleep deprivation/insomnia/sleepy whumpees getting taken care of. i am known in my fandom life for writing sleepy fics all the time haha

nightmares

crying at all, really. i just. i like it when characters cry man

did i mention soft caretakers? thats important

i tend to pretty much write whumpee x caretaker romantically (in my fandom hurt/comfort fics it is usually one character in a ship hurt and the other comforting them) but i am also cool with platonic whumpee + caretaker relationships!

i could have a good time with pet whump i think???? i just, again, i want them to escape at the end and be taken care of by a caretaker who helps them ease into being their own person again

i don't like:

whump with no comfort/no caretaker/no happy ending/etc. all respect to it but it just makes me feel bad so- yeah i prob won't interact much with blogs who only post stuff like that!

any kinky whump. it just makes me feel super icky, please dont send me anything related to that. i don't mean i won't read/write/talk about anything nsfw in whump- i think the general rule is if whump is supposed to turn you, the reader, on then please count me out!! this is generally a sfw blog!

marvel whump or superheroes in general or hero/villain. anything of that sort

what i'm gonna do here:

if people send me requests for prompts/scenarios that i like i will happily oblige them!!!!!

may also just generally write some whumpy things

and mostly just reblogging whump posts that i like and seeing what's going on in this community! it's gonna be great guys i'm excited to be here :D

please send me any asks about anything at all times, or message me, whatever, always down to chat and befriend people <3333

#whump #whump writing #soft whump #whump community

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fujoshiwarrior · 2 years ago

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i dont really write posts like these because usually i figure no one cares, and because it's pride month i wanted to keep things mostly controversy free, but every now and then i find myself thinking a lot about specific things about this site's culture

a lot of people attribute the (relative) peace on this site (compared to how it was some 6ish years ago) to the Great Porn Exodus and while i do agree that was a turning point in tumblr culture, i feel like a lot of the mellowing out can be attributed to the fact that people on here literally just grew up. most of us were teens or preteens in 2014-2016, now most of us are early 20s-early 30s

still though, there are some things i've noticed in the way people here act that haven't really changed since then that's kind of...disturbing? for example, there's this pervasive lack of interest in other people's experiences besides your own---if you can't relate it to yourself somehow, it doesn't matter. people will pretend to care about other groups, because that's what a Good Person does, but they won't do any outside reading or research into other cultures, or issues, outside of what's dropped into their lap on tumblr

i remember some time ago when people were discussing the possibility of anne frank being bisexual, someone said that the possibility of her being lgbt made it easier for them to empathize with her. but shouldn't you be able to feel compassion for her anyway, because she was a teenage girl who was hunted down and murdered by a fascist regime in one of the worst atrocities in human history?

i occasionally see this article spread around, and for good reason, i genuinely think everyone on the planet should read it at least once and then maybe a couple dozen more times for good measure. and then every time you remember it, you should drop whatever it is you're doing and read it again. when i see people talk about this, they talk about how this is essentially required reading in understanding trans people. in spite of that, i constantly see people parroting the same exact sentiments the author calls out as bioessentialist and transphobic. this makes me think most of you just reblog the article without reading it because someone told you it was the Good Person thing to do.

i think a lot of the politics on here, and on places like twitter, are predicated on being a Good Person. you want to be a Good Person desperately, and of course being a Good Person means that you care about other people, especially people who aren't like you. so you reblog, you retweet, you share posts about the life experiences of people who aren't like you. this is the most you do. you don't read books, or essays, or articles written by people about their lives and their experiences, you don't look at studies about issues affecting these populations, you don't read literature written by these people.

this sort of thinking results in a menagerie of different behaviors, one of which is something i call "fandom as praxis" which probably deserves its own post at some point. but above all, predicating your beliefs on being a Good Person leaves you wide open to indoctrination, and ultimately, radicalization. this can happen to you literally no matter who you are as long as this is your mentality. the reason why this can happen is because:

there isn't a single person on earth who truly believes they're a bad person or what they believe is wrong. even the most vile of people, whether they be nazis, a terf, otherwise fascist, or any other strain of evil, believe wholeheartedly that they are good people and what they are doing is right. the only people who truly, genuinely believe they are bad people have probably killed themselves.

you don't have any actual understanding or conviction in your beliefs, so you're just going along with what other people have deemed are the beliefs and behaviors of a Good Person. when what determines a Good Person is changed, you change your behavior accordingly.

when put together, you have someone who is especially susceptible to brainwashing.

some time ago, i had a mutual who seemed like she became a terf overnight. it probably wasn't literally overnight, but it was very sudden. this was in spite of the fact that one of her close friends was transfeminine, and that many others in her circle were trans as well, people i assume would consider her a friend and were probably in close and frequent contact with her. i think the reason for this sudden shift is because of both the reasons i listed, in addition to the fact that the person who indoctrinated her was apparently her girlfriend.

i think i should mention that i don't think just anyone can become a nazi or terf; even with the two reasons i listed, what happens usually is that people start spreading harmful beliefs without thinking too hard about what those beliefs actually imply---this happens on tumblr/twitter literally daily---and the people spreading these beliefs are decidedly not reactionary fascists. i think in order to become a True Believer in genocidal fascism of any kind you have to be a very particular kind of evil, but discussing that sort of thing isn't the point, the point is that average, otherwise "good" people can still adopt these beliefs and patterns of thinking without becoming a fullblown fascist.

as i said in the beginning of this post, i wanted to avoid posting something like this during pride because i think we could all really use some moments of levity in times like these, and so i wanted to keep things lighthearted on my blog for the most part.

but i've also had this sitting in my drafts for some time now, and in a time where fascist and reactionary thinking gets more and more inflamed on the daily, i thought it would be appropriate to post this because i think in our fight against fascism, as leftists and marginalized people we shouldn't start thinking that we're immune to this kind of thinking by virtue of being leftist and/or marginalized, and we can't do anyone or anything justice if we refuse to expand our breadth of knowledge.

(please feel free to reblog and comment on this post if you want, or in the tags, i would love to hear what other people have to say on this)

#psi post!

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lesbosaur1 · 8 months ago

Note

Formatting fics on tumblr!!! Compiled by me (taurie) for ur convenience <33

Benefits of fics on tumblr?

Outreach!! A lot of people are overwhelmed by the sheer amount of fics on ao3 and other platforms and find it hard to format. On tumblr, you can use any tagging method, and you can also personally reach out to people to ramble about their fic!!

Furthermore, tumblr doesn’t rely on html to format fics, which can make it really easy for people (like me) who do not know how to use html at all lol! This makes it easier to include images, links, videos, etc etc.

Where to even begin ??

Tumblr is really easy to post works on. Im not going to go into how to bold, underline, highlight words etc because you can find all of that helpful info here–im just going to talk about fic-specific formatting!!

Here are a few examples of tumblr fics:

[NOTE !!!! i just found these while searching for good examples, i dont read some of this/dont condone it/whatever yknow ?? :D]

Notice the pattern? They all usually include a title, a rating/any warnings, a pairing/character, and general tags! This is so that a reader can tell at a glance if the fic is something they’d be interested in. it can also be fun to include header images, gifs, etc at the top to catch people’s attention and draw them to your fic. It’s also important to include warnings at the top as well! Especially if you write nsfw or heavy gore, you want to make that clear so anybody who doesn’t want to read it can scroll on quickly :D

The extremely important ‘keep reading’ button!!

Probably the MOST IMPORTANT thing to include when posting fic is the ‘keep reading’ button. This is inserted right after your last ‘tagging’ thing (summary, warning, authors note, etc etc.) you probably already know what this is but in case you don’t, it cuts off your post where you insert it. When a reader clicks it, the post is expanded to the rest of the post. This is extremely important so that there aren’t huge walls of text when somebody is scrolling!! If they aren’t interested, they don’t have to scroll past an entire fic, and if someone’s interested, they can open it :] the ‘keep reading’ button is inserted by clicking the grey button on the far right:

It’s helpful, but it's also courteous of other people’s interests :]

When someone scrolls past your fic, they see this:

See? Very helpful!! :D

Tagging!!

Again, here are some examples of tags on tumblr fics!

Similar to the fic itself, tags are very helpful for readers to find what they’re interested in reading!! The best way to tag (in my opinion) is to include:

major characters

pairings

AUs (if applicable)

warnings

the fandom

and the all-important tag ‘fanfiction’!

The more specific and plentiful your tags are, the more people will be able to easily sort their feed and find your fics :D

Thats all i think i can fit for now!! Please lmk if theres anything else you want me to explain, good luck and have a great day/night !! :D

-taurie :]

Thank you!!

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chasing-rabbits · 1 year ago

Text

But let’s face it I’m sure the kind of brands trying to oversell themselves on being ‘gender free’ or ‘gender neutral’ are all about doing it for the aesthetic/vibe like oh wow look at us we are so progressive & then do exactly that try & slap a stupid price on the same shit you can get from any generic store. Made me immediately think of that tumblr post of the anti capitalist punk rock style I think it was either a shirt or jacket but it cost some stupid price like $100 or some shit & they didn’t see the irony in it. You don’t need to shout about how gender neutral you are you just need to do it. Years ago & I mean like just over a decade ago now when I was 18 I found this alternative clothing store I can’t remember the name but I really loved it because ALL of their jeans were done by measurements & they weren’t placed in a specific section like you know how stores usually split up womens/mens clothing w/ clearly defined sections.

I loved it because I was very skinny at the time & it was a nightmare finding clothes, I mean whatever size you are you all know the BS of womens clothing sizes. So I liked that it was done in inches & whilst I appreciate it’s not the aesthetic I did like that they clearly incl jeans that would’ve been seen as ‘for women’. Oh & I’m not assuming it was just cos the sizes were in inches I asked them about the heans bcos like remember we’re talking 2012 here I’d never seen jeans for women done by inches so I thought I was looking at men’s jeans & they clearly stated they were unisex (pretty sure thats the wording they used) actually a good amount of their stuff was considered unisex.

Tbh I used to buy a lot of stuff from the men’s sections of stores because they just get better shit sometimes. I loved getting oversized jumpers, hoodies, oooh & sometimes plaid shirts. Actually one not so great story was when I went to drop dead in London once & I wanted a specific oversized jumper & i dont remember if they’d sold out of the womens ones or it was only ever under their menswear section but I went & picked it up & they made a point to tell me that it was menswear I mean this was a small small store they’d seen me walk from the rack on the left to the menswear on the right & clearly make the conscious decision to buy it for myself (the store was so small it legit only had two racks left side right side) I was like okay?? Tbh they made it awkward by saying that & made me feel a lil judged like okay it’s a fucking sweater what’s the difference other than I’d need to go a size down.

Wow, this "gender free" fashion brand sure doesn't have any AMAB models.

#sorry for making that so long it wasn’t my intention #erin talks #erin rambles

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charmspoint · 3 years ago

Note

with the twitter junk I’m trying to move to tumblr 😭 but idk how tagging works and what ppl usually do and wanted to ask you bc your main site is tumblr iirc sjdjdj so like. do you have any advice 🎤

So the way tagging works is you press the hastag at the bottom of the post and just tag one by one anything you find relevant

For example i usually tag the fandom and if its art i also tag that, i tag my own posts under #lucy blabs and i tag my asks as #answered, aside from fandom tags most of these are basically whatever u want like someone might tag their asks as #ask or #thank you for the ask or anything they really want, those are kinda more to make ur blog be more searchable (as searchable as tumblr can be lmao) then to actually be found in any wider tags (tho if ur posting art of fics or edits or whatever youd tag anything relevant like #fandom #relevant character #relevant ship etc so ur works CAN be found in those tags) I hope all of that makes sense. Tags are also used to just kinda, talk in them! Like usually if i want to comment on art or make a joke or anything ill do it in tags like #Great art op! I usually think of this as unobtrusivly whispering your thoughts, fbvhb i found twitter v intimidating because if you wanted to say something u had to comment on the post and that felt like walking right up to the creator and talking in their face! Scary!

What people usually do...basically anything? Im not really sure what this is refering to chfg. Its not that different from twitter, you can post your own stuff and share other peoples stuff. The biggest difference i can think of that unlike twitter where u may see content the person u followed reblogged/liked/commented/even just is following the person whos content ur seeing, tumblr is 100% about reblogs. There is an option to leave ur likes visible on ur page, but ppl will only see those if they specifically go to your page. What your followers see of you on their dashes is 100% what u reblog. It makes it super easy to currate your dash because you get exactly what you follow, you wont be getting some random persons content on ur dash just because the person u follow is following them (unless its a blazed post ofc). Use tags, block tags u dont like and follow ppl who post what you like and you should be good! Also dont worry about the follower count or unfollowing someone if u stop liking what they post, follower count isnt publicly visible on tumblr and nobody seriously cares about it

I hope that helps!

#ali-dina #answered #i also tag ppl whos asks im answering or i just tag anon if they are on anon!#feel free to ask more if you need help!

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obeiii-mee · 4 years ago

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Heyo, this is my first time asking (im kinda new to tumblr, so please dont judge) if you would'nt mind, could you do some headcannons (or oneshots, it dosen't matter) with all the demon bros and a MC who is crippled/paralized in their legs, and has to use a wheelchair to get around? Thank you!!

——————————-

This is the first time I’ve written about a crippled MC, so I hope I didn’t fuck this up or anything. I found out that being paralysed in both legs is a disability called Paraplegia so that’s how I titled this post. And y’all are too sweet, you are more than welcome anon! I hope I can portray this properly because I am not crippled myself so I’ve opted to do some research before writing this! I hope you like it! Also, I feel inclined to add that none of the brothers would treat you too differently if you happen to have a disability because you’re their human nonetheless :)

——————————-

The Brothers with an MC that has Paraplegia and needs a wheelchair to get around:

Lucifer:

-Lucifer was in charge of choosing the final human, exchange student for the program so it’s guaranteed he already knew about your predicament before you even arrived

-Him and Diavolo probably had many meetings concerning your disability before the program could commence, considering that being unable to walk would double the chances of you getting killed since you are obviously more vulnerable

-Not to mention all the treatment you would require

-Lucifer is not well versed in human illnesses and disorders, but he makes sure that he is educated enough on the matter before you get brought down there

-It would not be easy, but he is determined to help you survive your year in DevilDom for the prince’s sake

-First problem of the day was, of course, your wheelchair

-Due to lack of time, Lucifer was unable to instal ramps around the House of Lamentation which meant that for the first couple of weeks, someone would’ve had to help you move around certain parts of the house

-He gave that highly prestigious job to himself because he didn’t trust his brothers and thought they would accidentally drop you and your wheelchair down the stairs

-He talks a lot to you, even at the beginning, because he needs to establish your needs and what he should do to make sure you don’t die for the following year

-You would have to tell him about physical therapy and how most commonly it uses heat, massage and exercise to stimulate your nerves and muscles, making it a great treatment for people with leg paralysis

-Once you two enter a more intimate and personal relationship, it’s more than likely he’ll help you perform those things himself (instead of kidnapping a human doctor from somewhere)

-Lucifer knows you have no problem getting around with your wheelchair by yourself but there are times where he’ll insist to push you along in order to give you a quick break

-I can totally imagine you two strolling around DevilDom and having cosy chats about RAD and your adjustments to DevilDom

-He has a softer side to him that he’s afraid to show most of the time, but he feels so at ease when you’re around, it’s hard for him to hold that part of him hidden from you

-Of course, your safety still remains his primary concern and he acts more like your guardian than Mammon does, even if he was originally supposed to look out for you

-He will accompany you almost anywhere. And if he can’t, he’ll have one or more of his brothers do it. And even then he’s probably lurking nearby, just in case

-He would always be willing to listen about your condition, if you wished to tell him whether you were born with the defect or why you ended up crippled later in life. Either way, he’s all ears

-If you would rather not speak about it, he wouldn’t pry and respect your decision because he knows it’s not his place to pressure you

-Because of your paralysis, it’s quite obvious to demons that you are even weaker (physically speaking) than most humans and that usually puts a target on your back

-Howver, never fear, because Lucifer is pretty quick to put lower rank demons in their place with just a mere stare

-Oop one of them passed out from the fear, haha

-In conclusion, he’s the most responsible when it comes your comfort and safety during your stay

-He makes sure you are always left in good hands and and provides most of the requirements you need

-Y’all should see how his wings puff up when he senses a threat approaching you, he looks like a peacock ready to go on attack lol

Mammon:

-The second born is unsurprisingly a bit of a jerk at first

-He stays really grumpy the whole day of your arrival because he’s stuck babysitting you stupid human

-“Lucifer c’mon, what’s all this workload for? The human can’t even walk by themselves, why do I have to help them out?”

-Wtf Mammon you can’t say shit like that

-Anyways, the following very few days, the only thing he’s thinking about is how much money he could sell your wheelchair for

-He’s the literal incarnation of greed, what else did you expect from him?

-After a while, he starts feeling a bit guilty every time he thinks about it though

-Mammon is gonna take this secret to the grave (laughs in immortal) but he actually really likes pushing you around

-Maybe it’s because it’s a clear indication to everyone around him that you are HIS human, under HIS protection and therefore you trust HIM the most since he was your FIRST MAN

-He will insist on helping you get out of that thing when you need to go to bed and stuff every night and he will get pouty real fast if you let any of his other brothers do it

-You wake up to him trying to roll around in your wheelchair one night at like 3am

-At some point, he stole a wheelchair from the human realm to match with his human. You can guess the consequences of his actions

-I can imagine you having to face a staircase or something at school and Mammon being like:

-“Fuck it, imma carry this fragile human instead; wheelchair and all!”

-Like you were a sack of potatoes or something smh

-Cue his brothers watching him from a distance as he heaves you and basically weight-lifts you up the stairs

-Ok but every now and again, he gets so sad thinking about you not being able to walk, like he starts crying kinda sad

-While you stand there like 😐 “Why are you crying?”

-He’s so quick to help if he senses you’re in danger too

-It’s canon that Mammon is crazy fast if he wants to be so if he has even the slightest impression that your life is threatened, his feet are already moving

-He will charge at your immediate threat at around 120 miles per hour-do not try him when he’s mad

-“The Great Mammon saved the day! C’mon MC, let’s go buy some ice cream. My treat! Ya better be grateful!”

-He says while the demon that tried to eat you lies on the floor with about a dozen broken bones

-Mammon is the second most powerful demon out of all of his brothers, even if he doesn’t resort to violence often

Levi:

-He didn’t really know how to react when you first teleported to DevilDom

-I mean, from the very beginning he considered you to be a human normie but at the same time, he felt bad you were stuck with his brothers for the rest of the year

-I think he would understand you would have an even harder time integrating yourself in their house because of your disability and he knows his siblings are really fucking annoying, always pushing you around and whatnot

-So, he kinda lets you hide in his room quite often

-You guys chill out in there all the time, much to the dismay of the other brothers who also want to spend time with you

-At some point, Levi definitely begged asked Lucifer to let you start online classes with him

-“But wouldn’t it be easier for MC to do online school from home rather than go to R.A.D since there aren’t any ramps or anything around there???”

-“The answer is no Leviathan.”

-“Ugh fine! What a fucking boomer-“

-For some reason, he gets so flustered whenever you ask him to push you around

-He blushes right to the tips of his ears and then he starts sputtering some nonsense that you can’t make out at all

-But he’s more than happy to do it, especially if you guys are going to a convention or if he’s dragging you out to buy new merch

-You two would get along in the sense that Levi realises the struggles you faced all your life were tough to overcome and he believes you are just like him

-Usually left out by other people, ignored even

-He knows you always listen to him ramble on about whatever he is currently obsessed with and how much you check up on him to make sure he never isolated himself

-He wants to do that for you too! Talk to him about your hobbies, please I’m begging you-he feels so bad whenever he’s doing all the talking

-If you ask him to help you with anything (getting something, helping you into bed—that sort of thing), he legally and physically can’t say ‘no’

-And he would get envious enough to stop talking to you for a day or two if you let his brothers do it instead (the second and third born are indeed similar lmao)

-S T A Y I N H I S R O O M, W H E R E Y O U C A N B E P R O T E C T E D !

-He will feel so much more at ease if you’re in his room because to him, that’s his haven

-If you’re in there with him, that means you’re not getting involved in his siblings’ endless and dangerous shenanigans

-Whenever you’re at school, he can’t help but worry about your well-being

-Because you’re human! You’re gonna get killed!! Do you know how much your organs sell on the black market in DevilDom??? 100x more than in the human realm, that’s for sure

-Would they have a black market or would it be a regular market lol

-For some reason, he also likes staying in your wheelchair when you’re not using it

-I think he just takes comfort in knowing it’s something that belongs to you and smells like you and-

-OK Levi, sit back down

-He wouldn’t treat you any differently if you had a disability tbh, but he’d be more concerned because you can’t even run away or anything

-So he’s so fuckin’ relieved when you guys are just vibing in his room

-He could die happy knowing he kept his best friend/ partner safe

Satan:

-Satan would be even more prepared for your arrival than Lucifer would, in a sense

-Out of all of his brothers, he’s most likely to understand and recognise paraplegia (either from studying human illnesses/birth defects/disabilities or from encountering humans with said disability)

-He’s a smart boy, alright?

-Always seems to be the first to notice if you need help or if someone’s bothering you

-Though in the very beginning, he was pretty tempted to just let you get killed to see how angry Lucifer could get

-Seeing dear Luci’s misery brings him great joy 🥰🥰🥰

-Once you two manage to build a very honest and strong relationship, he feels more and more inclined to keep you out of harm’s way

-Pls, he would feel so honoured if you let him push you around (it’s like you asked him to h*ld h*nds or something)

-If you require treatment of any kind, he would be so happy to help

-But in a subtle way...?

-Satan makes it seem so smooth too like he doesn’t mind lending a helping hand when in reality he’s all giddy inside

-*Kinda wants to rub it in his brothers’ faces but at the same no, because he’s definitely the bigger person here

-He wants to know how your wheelchair works

-It’s got all of these neat mechanisms and he wants to learn how they’re constructed because he never had the chance to inspect one before

-He’s such a sweetheart about asking you as well and never pries about your disability unless you start elaborating yourself

-Most of the time, he acts all charming and very gentleman-like

-So people have a hard time spotting and acknowledging the building rage inside of him every time he sees you are threatened by some moronic low rank demon

-Satan’s usually chill when it comes to injuries, unless he can see you’re in horrible pain

-There’s nothing a few spells can’t accomplish

-But when others purposefully try harming you?

-It’s like he loses all the self control he’s been trying to perfect over the centuries and he can’t help himself from at least breaking someone’s rib cage

-Satan’s a weird one because he’s protective of you even though he’s more on the relaxed side when compared to his siblings

-He very much acknowledges that you made it this far in life with your predicament so he doesn’t feel the need to baby you or anything

-You’re strong and he knows this

-It’s one of the many things he clearly loves about you

-That one time you rolled over Mammon’s foot with your wheelchair on purpose, he was wheezing

Asmo:

-Even now, he can’t help but wonder what it would be like to be stuck inside a wheelchair for the rest of his eternal life

-I mean, he’d obviously still be absolutely fabulous, have you seen him? He’s gonna be gorgeous either way

-But after the two of you meet, he definitely starts thinking about how he takes his feet for granted all the time

-It would be so difficult to complete his daily tasks without the ability to walk or run around

-That’s why he gets sad every time he remembers that’s your reality and on days like that, you’ve noticed he gives you a helluva lot more attention than usual

-He knows you don’t need pity or anything so he’s just making sure his human has all the support they can get

-Paraplegia or not, shopping trips are still a go-go

-He loves buying you clothes! And he loves helping you try them on! Asmo takes it very seriously

-Might have a go at the employees if they’re being rude to you

-You don’t even ask him to, but he subconsciously starts pushing you around himself whenever the two of you are out together

-“MC! Look at that new shop that’s just opened! Isn’t it adorable? We have to check it out!”

-He can’t help it! There’s so many places he wants to visit, he sort of just drags you with him wherever he goes

-Even at home, he always pops out of nowhere to coax you into coming to his room

-Y’all have so many skin routines to do each day

-Like he’s in your room most nights to greet you goodnight and tuck you in, with the rest of his brothers it gets so awkward at times

-Asmo just wants to see you smile, ok? He thinks you have a beautiful smile and laugh and he wants to remind you that you’re marvellous, disability or not

-And if anyone does anything to put an end to your self confidence, he will swiftly put an end to their life

-Please, he’s a pro at ruining lives, he’s been doing it for centuries

-Asmo has such a huge influence over the people in DevilDom, he just needs to make this one post on Devilgram to end said demon’s whole career

-I mean, who is he compared to him, Hmm? So don’t worry MC, scum like that don’t even deserve to breathe the same air as you :)

-That one time Mammon tried lifting you up the stairs and Asmo started shrieking, like put them down! Don’t manhandle them like that, poor human :(

Beel:

-I know I sound repetitive, but he would be an overall sweetheart to you no matter the circumstances

-If Mammon is not by your side, then Beel definitely is

-His big, scary aura and figure usually scares off any threat in a 10 mile radius

-Most demons don’t fancy being eaten by the Avatar of Gluttony, ya know?

-Idk why but I feel like he’d be the type to ask for oral consent every time he wanted to push you around

-He doesn’t want to make you uncomfortable :(

-Surprisingly also the type to lift you and your wheelchair whenever an obstacle gets in your way

-You basically weigh the same amount as a paper plate compared to him, so he has no problem doing so

-He doesn’t really understand your condition as well as Satan may do, but he’s trying his best

-You mean so much to him and he feels it’s only fair he learns more about your disability as a thank you for what you’ve done for him

-He has a rough time keeping up with you when it comes to stuff like physical therapy because he’s very unfamiliar with it but that doesn’t mean he’s not gonna help

-Of course, Beel believes that this is the second best way to show you how much he cares for you besides the obvious ‘I love you’

-Giving you a hand whenever you need his support the most

-That’s his way of saying “I’m not going to let you down. I want you to trust me, the same way I trust you.”

-And knowing him, he will try to do everything in his power to keep you safe and sound

-After a while, you’re bound to notice he’s the first one to pull you out of his brothers’ pranks before you have a chance to get hurt

-Beel is always the one handing you stuff from high places you can’t reach, without teasing you for it like Mammon might do

-Always the first one to remind you to get plenty of rest and to eat enough

-He wants to protect you and his brothers because he knows he failed to do so with Lilith so yeah, he’s a bit overprotective at times

-He doesn’t mean to be overbearing, but he gets so anxious knowing you’re by yourself

-After a few months of getting accommodated with him, your disability is no longer brought up in the conversation

-Because he doesn’t care that you are crippled and forced to use a wheelchair

-You are part of his family and he loves you no matter what

Belphie:

-He didn’t really care, even when you first met and his hatred for humans was at its very peak

-It didn’t matter that you had a disability

-All that mattered to him at the time was killing you to satisfy that deeply rooted need of vengeance inside of him

-Though he was sort of surprised his brothers didn’t get to you first

-In general, he’s pretty chill about you being crippled in both legs

-It takes too much effort to worry about your well-being 24/7 after all

-Surprisingly, he does keep an eye out for you if his siblings aren’t nearby

-It’s his redemption arc people, he’s trying to be nicer

-But he has such an irritating way of showing his affection for you

-Do not let him push you around

-He’s either going to a) fall asleep after 30 seconds and slump over you in the middle of RAD’s halls

-Or b) be annoying and fling your wheelchair in every direction possible just to piss you off

-He likes messing with you because you give him the best reactions and he thrives on that

-You’ve almost fallen off your wheelchair multiple times because of this asshole

-Not that he’d actually let you fall, he just wants to see how easily he can get you to yell at him

-Speaking of said wheelchair, like Mammon and Levi, he also loves using it when you’re not

-You’ve woken up to him curled up and asleep in that thing quiet often and he’s gotten in trouble over it every time with Lucifer

-But he doesn’t care

-And at this point, I don’t think even he knows whether he’s doing it to get a reaction out of you or because he somehow found a way to make himself comfortable there

-He would low key use you as a mode of transportation every time you go to RAD

-Just clings the damn wheelchair and almost topples both of you over

-“Belphie, there’s nothing stopping you from walking 😐”

-“Shh, just bring me to class and let me nap until then.”

-He doesn’t mention your legs but he still lays his head on your lap often

-Might make you hold him like a bride every time you stroll around the house

-It’s done out of love, I promise 😌😌

———————————

Al~

#obey me #obey me asmodeus #obey me beelzebub #obey me belphegor #obey me imagines #obey me leviathan #obey me lucifer #obey me mammon #obey me satan #om #obey me headcanons #obey me hcs #paraplegia #⭐️ requests #🕯 general #☂️ demon brothers

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padmsanakin · 17 days ago

Text

thanks for the tag!!

How many works do you have on Tumblr?

as far as i recall, none! i dont post on tumblr because formatting is a pain.

What is your total Ao3 count?

343,188

What are your top five fics by notes?

cant answer this.

What fandoms do you write for?

KNB, Star Wars, Miraculous, Ninjago, Danny Phantom.

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes, I try my best to reply to all the comments I get, but sometimes they tend to slip my mind and i end up not replying. but whatever it is, i really appreciate all the comments i get. it makes me indescribably happy. so thank to all the commenters out there. yall doin the god's work

What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

honestly, the one Star Wars Clone Wars what if fic based on the Wrong Jedi, Ephemeral. The thing is there isn't really a happy ending in this fic. And I don't think anything could really patch up the damage done in this fic. Nevertheless, it is one of my more popular fics!! And an honorary mention to this, Peace. 15 year old me was unhinged.

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

This is a lot harder for me to answer bc I don't think my fics have the happiest endings, but i do think they are somewhat fitting endings...but if you really want, I guess I'd suggest Endings. But there are others with happy endings, its just there is some form of character death in the background yikes.

Do you get hate on fics?

Does the Lila Anon count? If not, i do remember getting hate comments when i was younger, but it was never a lot.

Do you write smut?

Nope.

Do you write crossovers?

Yes! Quite a few actually!

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Nope, not that I'm aware of.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Actually, quite a few!! This entire series actually with @prezw. it was so much fun writing with zem!! and its nice to revisit old fandoms once in a while. Ze are a great writer too please check out zir ao3 too!! Prez's Ao3.

What's your all-time favourite ship?

Ez. Anidala. But I do dapple in a lot of others too!

What's the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

*looks at all my multichapter fics* yes

What are your writing strengths?

honestly, i think my strength is somewhat trying to weave meta into every fic i write especially my more recent fic where it just me mostly trying to contextualise characters in a certain setting in a realistic way! i'm always open to talking about my writing choices, but that would be a really long conversation.

What are your writing weaknesses?

Dialogue. I struggle with writing natural dialogue. I usually have to think long and hard on this and try to contextualise it in a way that is natural to the character. Though I have come a long way on this front compared to when I was 12.

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in a fic?

Well, depends. Sometimes, it works. Sometimes, it doesn't. Really depends on the context for me.

First fandom you wrote for?

Danny Phantom.

Favourite fic you've ever written?

Well, my favorite fic? I don't have one, but I am particularly inclined to one series of mine. my midokise childhood friends au!!! honestly, this might have been the most self-indulgent thing i have written in a while, and i'm actually really having fun thinking about these two!! TAGGING: @lilnesahcider @prezw @hig4nb4n4 and any of my mutuals who want to play this game!! i

20 questions, Writing Edition

Tagged by @active-mind-15. technically LMAO. Also im gonan do this about tumblr because i dont use AO3.

How many works do you have on Tumblr?

54 total including requests, oneshots, headcanons, series, all that good stuff

What's your total AO3 word count?

sob i cant answer this

What are your top 5 fics by notes?

uhhh no idea im too lazy to look at every single fic ive written on tumblr you can just go look LMAO

What fandoms do you write for?

Knb only. I used to write for Saiki K and AOT but im not really active in those fandoms

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

ALWAYSYYSS i love reading and responding to comments and i dont usually get comments on my works lol SO I LOVE IT SM

What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Definitely fucking Hereditary. a They Act As One oneshot. Im blaming you @japeneselunchtimerush

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

The thing is theres a few? LIke theres Tiger Cub, reader finds out that Kagami is pregnant, The Things I Do, Midorima spending time with his lil sis and Just a Glimpse, which is Cinderella! Reader x Kise.

Do you get hate on fics?

I have one that has a lot of uhm. Okay maybe not hate, but just negative responses? I wrote that smut fic when i was like 13 or 14 on wattpad so-

Do you write smut?

Yes. I LOOVEE writing smut <3 i love indulging in kinks and exploring different kinds of smut and reading it liek poeple need to request more kinky stuff ugh

Do you write crossovers?

i think i have at one point but nothing currently published.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

not that i know of, but i dont think im that famous

Have you ever had a fic translated?

no but if anyone wants to, feel free to hmu <3

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

nope either, but id love to

What's your all-time favourite ship?

It used to be AkaKuro. Okay, i used to be so obsessed. Now its MidoAka <3 (HONORARY MENTION AKASEV)

What's the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

There's this one that I have hidden just because I dont have the motivation to write it at all, plus idk what to write. So probably never gonna happen.

What are your writing strengths?

people seem to really like uh. Angst especially. LMFAO i dont know i do love writing my some angst, and usually those are the fics that i get the most common too. But for me I think one of my strengths is making connections and symbolism between things. I love doing that so much and I think im good at it? Also writing with 5 senses. Just depends on my mood on how good it is LMFAODAJK

What are your writing weaknesses?

I absolutely (pun always intended) fucking suck at character development/developing feelings between two characters. Idk, like i feel that some shit is too obvious and some are too lowkey, this is why i dont usually write series and just oneshots.

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in a fic?

I've done that before, but only in my own language. Its a lil bit of a hassle to translate everything into english whlie trying to make it still seem natural in the fic LMFAO

First fandom you wrote for?

Knb. Um. Lets not talk about that fic. its still published on wattpad just for shits and giggles and nostalgia but um. No.

Favourite fic you've ever written?

So far, definitely They Act As One. even out of all the oneshots and requests, my first series is so fun and im so passionate about it and i cant wait to write more <3

Tagging:

@padmsanakin @tetsunabouquet @indigosuvi I NEVER KNOW WHO TO TA GLMAO

#fanfiction #fanfic #writers #questions #tag game #miraculous ladybug #kuroko no basuke #kuroko's basketball #ninjago #writing game

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cherryonigiri · 5 years ago

Text

S/O that thirsts over anime/game guys

reposted bc wasn’t showing up in the tags + I want to keep nsfw under the cut

@nononononojustno asked: Okay so could you write a headcanon where 2 random boys (can you pick then? I love all of boys from hq) and Ushi-kun where they walk on their gfs fangirling or thirsting over another anime/game character?And she was talking how hot he is? How they would react?👀😂 have a great day/night and dont forget to eat and get rest, love you💕

A/N: hahahahaha i laughed while writing this. FYI these are all based on legit crushes i had on anime/game characters at some point in my life - see if you’ve watched the shows i’ve watched :) ILY I PROMISE I’M DOING MY BEST TO EAT THREE MEALS A DAY AND GET ADEQUATE SLEEP MWAH. also i went overboard and added an extra boy bc why not. These are a little shorter since there were 4 characters but I hope you enjoy!

Content warning: implied nsfw for Atsumu + slight nsfw hcs for Matsukawa (both are under the cut)

PS: If anyone wants a spicy sequel/one shot for matsukawa i’m open to the idea 👀👀 let me know in my inbox!

Ushijima Wakatoshi

Ushijima definitely knows you’re into anime + games

Having visited your dorm room on multiple occasions he’s seen your extensive collection of manga, anime posters and you always seem to be playing on your switch whenever you have free time

Of course, he notices a significant portion of your collection is centered on male characters

And you’ve definitely mentioned a few games to him - Ikemen Sengoku, Code:Realize, Hakuouki (wow i’m really out here exposing myself) etc.

He doesn’t really mind though? Like - at the end of the day these are 2D men, whereas he is a very real boyfriend

At least he thinks he doesn’t mind

Recently, he notices that you seem to be on your phone a lot, and you seem to be texting the same group chat very often

He asks why and you laugh - it’s not actual text messages you’re just trying out a new otome/simulation game called Mystic Messenger. He finds the name silly but he just brushes it off he’s definitely J E A L O U S

Until one day he walks into your room while you’re calling one of your friends to freak out about that specific game

You sound kind of teary from outside the door “Oh MY GOD OH MY GOD I GOT THE GOOD ENDING WITH JUMIN!” and “[friend name] I THINK I CAN DIE HAPPY I’M MARRIED TO JUMIN HAN WHAT MORE DO I NEED IN LIFE” and “HE’S SO FREAKING ATTRACTIVE UGH I AM BLESSED”

He’s like who TF is Jumin and immediately bursts into your room looking pissed off

Poor babie is all like “you’re married?” and “if you had someone else you were interested in you should have told me.” “Who is this Jumin Han???” 🧐

Oh my god you start cackling, but you manage to tell him that NO you are not married and that Jumin Han is a fictional character from the game you’re playing

Ushijima looks confused after you explain - why would you find fictional men attractive when you’re already dating him?

Tendou almost dies laughing the next day when Ushijima tells him about what happened

Oikawa Tooru

Since practice finishes pretty late he usually goes to see you at your house at night, but tonight things wrapped up earlier - he’s excited to spend more time with you

You’ve finished up most of your homework so you’ve just been rewatching Attack on Titan since you’re super excited for the new season

You’re kinda distracted/have headphones on so you don’t hear your boyfriend knock on the front door. Your mom answers it and lets him in and he climbs the stairs

He can hear your fangirling (freaking out) over something as he walks towards your room

You jump in surprise when he opens the door, because you thought he would be a bit later but immediately release your pent up excitement

“Tooru just LOOK at him he’s such a bad ass like oh my gosh he literally has swords and he’s still running around slaying the MPs who have guns. God whenever he gets angry he looks so hot,” etc. etc.

You’re shoving your laptop in his face, showing him gifs and video of attack on titan, specifically the captain of the survey corps that you are obsessed with

Tooru gets it - for him its space, shitty alien films and astronomy. For you it’s video games and anime - or more specifically, handsome characters from said franchises

Even though he understand that it’s something you’re passionate about he still makes a whole show about whining how you’re in love with Levi Ackerman (lmao i still thirst over our favorite captain) instead of him

“y/n i’m taller than him! And more handsome! He has blood on him all the time! And he’s super annoying because he’s obsessed with cleaning.” *cue pouty Tooru*

You probably shouldn’t tell him that you are an avid follower of the levi x reader tag on tumblr

Tooru still somehow finds out you’re also reading reader insert fanfic and goes BERSERK with his pouting and whining - literally everyone and their mothers have heard his sob story about how “his darling y/n is leaving me for a short germaphobic asshole”

The rest of the team finds it hilarious - the end up pranking him by posting pictures of Levi in his school locker or texting them in the volleyball groupchat (Oikawa is Suffering™)

Makki and Mattsun get him a Levi keychain for his birthday and cackle when he chucks it violently into the nearest trash can

Miya Atsumu

Doesn’t really know you’re into anime/gaming at first

I don’t think that’s on purpose - Atsumu just has such a one track mind when it comes to volleyball and he’s always busy with practice

so he just kinda doesn’t really give all the anime merch in your room a second glance even though it’s a dead giveaway

I bet Atsumu secretly watches some superhero anime - probably shounen stuff like My Hero Academia, one punch man etc.

He probably starts to notice you’re into anime/games because you’ll play games on your phone/gaming device all the time

One day he notices you’re giggling + blushing while looking at your screen. He’s curious to he heads over to you when coach says they can have a break

Peeks over your shoulder because he wants to know what you’re playing - but instead he’s greeted by some 2D samurai guy called Harada Sanosuke asking you to marry him

“Huh, I didn’t know you were into this kinda stuff y/n” tries to sound playful but internally he is screaming / ?????? WOT I DIDN’T KNOW MY S/O WAS INTO OTOME GAMES

Atsumus pretty chill about it at first, he probably teases you a lot about playing the game but isn’t really bugged about it

“Maybe you should thirst over your boyfriend instead of a fictional character babe~”

I mean - he knows he’s attractive and why be jealous? You only really play the game when he’s busy and you don’t really let the game play seep into your dates/hangouts

But one time he walks in on you reading some ~spicy~ hakuouki x reader fanfic and he’s like are u serious

Like you were lowkey quiet screaming to yourself and muttering “omg omg omg” when he walked in and you definitely tried to close your laptop so he couldn’t see what was open in your browser

Too bad Atsumu has mad reflexes and manages to prevent you from making your computer go to sleep

Briefly skims whatever it was that you were reading and smirks at you

“Hey, if you really want something like this, why don’t you let your real boyfriend deliver” before kissing you

Matsukawa Issei

Look, Issei just wants a chill movie/tv show night where the two of you can bundle up on the couch and binge whatever anime you feel like

Has everything set up - this man is ready to go: snacks? he has all of your favorites, couch? filled with soft pillows + multiple pillows. Attire? Comfy sweatpants shirtless 🥵

Last time he chose the series for your binge sleepover so he let you choose what the two of you were gonna watch this time

Turns out you decided to watch Psycho-Pass - it seemed like a pretty cool show, he was down with the whole dystopia/psychological concept

Starts out pretty normal, is appreciating the action + mystery elements and is glad that you chose that show

About halfway through the anime you two decide to take a break - he goes to the kitchen to refill your snacks, leaving to stretch you back.

When he comes back with more food, he notices that you’re hunched over your phone, typing something

He sneaks up behind you after he puts the food down, “Whatcha reading there babe?” You squeak and try to hide your phone, but not before he sees the words kougami x reader typed into your tumblr search bar

Lit-rally exCuSE me what - he’s not mad (more amused than anything else) but he also kind wants to tease you (bc Mattsun is a little shit)

“Is that the reason you wanted to watch this show?” he asks playfully. “He’s pretty hot tho, I kinda agree with you there babe.”

Now that he’s released the floodgate, he can’t stop your occasional comments like “omg how does he look so GOOD when he’s punching someone” or “he could shoot me with his dominator and i’d still say thank you”

The thirst comments are kinda getting to him, so he decides to take things in a different direction

“Let me what I can show you with my dominator~” L M A O I’M SORRY THIS EXISTS

Suddenly you’re being pulled onto his lap, and pressed against his bare chest, Issei barely gives you time to adjust before he’s kissing you roughly, tongue plunging into your mouth

His hands wrap around your hips pressing your core closer to his own, and you can feel his hard-on pressing into your stomach

He’ll be sure to suck a dark hickey onto the side of your neck and his hands travel under your shirt, just to remind you who your real boyfriend is

Needless to say, you won’t remember a single thing about the second half of the show after the night is over couch sex? Couch sex 😏

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desertdragon · 3 years ago

Note

👤 for Yugiri? Oh and also for a NPC whom Vaste is friends with.

Meme

I get to talk about the wife first 😮‍💨; also like I DM'd you I'm gonna do 3 just for fun

NOTICE: I recommend anyone who's gonna read this do it either on the iPhone tumblr app OR on my blog site in desktop (it's my actual url when you click on my icon or that page crease a post does when you hover over the top right on the desktop dashboard) or viewing my blog page on a phone browser, I DONT advise reading this On the tumblr dashboard because it's too long with Read More removed, your feed will break

I have marked Trigger Warnings for sections in Bold along with -'s they are intended to be skippable if needed

So I change a lot about Yugiri's future and her present, but not her past. Her past is exactly the same as normal; she was born and raised in Sui no Sato, she has both parents and two brothers, she was daring and reckless taking trips to the surface lands out of curiosity, and her meeting Shun who would become Hien is what changed the course of her life. She sacrificed it all to do what she thought was right. In this part all I do is try filling in for whatever isn't accounted for from a character perspective. The emotional, important details and minutia and all that shit.

Anything in this tag already has my essays or observations on Yugiri as she is. I'd like to compile some of that while focusing too on how she changes in my AU and what her future then is like. As a notice that tag will also be updated whenever ideas strike and I post them too.

Building on the stuff I've written before, I think Yugiri's ability to have compassion while still setting her boundaries, as well as being raised in a stable isolated society, all makes her a great person to see the value in something socialist. The whole reason she attached herself to Doma was because its colonization and the stories she heard from Shun's royalist perspective angered her so much as a child at the injustice; as well as the nobility and resolve she saw among the warrior class. It was an emotionally driven decision as the foundation of how she perceived justice.

A few people in the fandom agree that Yugiri needs to learn to live for herself, rather than as a tool or the eyes of someone else. I've even seen a few fanfics where this was attempted, with Hien either being accepting or not talked about. The need for independence is correct, but I feel people see it in a shortsighted way. None of those depictions took into account the grander moral, social, political, and further emotional nuances it would be attached to beyond pitching the concept's basics. Living for herself would completely tear up her world!

Though to be honest I'm a little glad? I don't trust this fandom and most fandoms to wipe their ass without burning their houses down somehow; so I'd rather get shallow basics than more fake deep rhetoric that's full of misogyny, racism, and bootlicking. As if the game story itself wasn't full of enough bootlicking as is.

So then coming from that, how should we discuss Yugiri in terms of her personhood and relation to Vaste? Her relation to Doma needing to evolve? This is sort of the fun part about writing for characters canon forgets exist because it's mostly free game.

I've failed to write this subject with any narrative consistency (which I'm gonna fix when I write the novel length version of Vaste's entire life because just short fiction like I've been doing is getting me nowhere) BUT her relationship with Vaste was under crisis at least twice. Both were huge character building moments that had her reevaluate herself and her life.

Neither time had anything to do with usual couple arguments or disagreements or just growing apart since 1. They're the types who work out how they feel between each other with consistency and enthusiasm for communication ie. They don't do that petty hold it in until I explode on the person I love because they should be able to mind read type shit & 2. I don't think they would grow apart because of how strongly they feel for one another and the sense of trust they formed by again, consistent empathy and communication!

What strained and almost fractured them came from morality, beliefs, and ideals. The first time was when Vaste confessed how much evil she had done while working under the Scions & Alliance. Obviously all sides involved in that share the blame, and yes Vaste was abused and manipulated in multiple ways, but she still did the things she did. She still killed countless unarmed civilians, she killed kids and at times child soldier conscripts of the Garlean army while in the field. She still upheld and represented governmental dominance. Even if there were times she stopped mid act and instead tried to covertly save these people or be defiant, it doesn't remove the times she didn't save them and didn't resist the oppression she worked for.

This is the first major split I take from canon regarding Yugiri. The game at no point meaningfully considers or explores the purpose or reality of being a soldier or government servant, despite its emphasis on politicking, war campaigns, war crimes, and even bio weapons like Black Rose. The game is extremely pro establishment, and when it does mention things like rape, murder, colonization etc. when done by soldiers serving a government, it's in quiet throwaway lines OR it's explained and resolved in the most stripped down form, then these simplified nuanced issues can be solved off screen or with one act. Or its ignored. Even slavery which is a topic present with Copperbell Mines, Beast Tribes, the Arcanist class, & Yotsuyuu's stories is simplified as either what Bad Eggs do, as a natural cost of economic success, or something that largely impacts One Person, rather than the systems of oppression they are.

If I go by base game Yugiri, no way would she stay with Vaste I don't think. If I wrote Vaste as close to how the game portrays the WoL and these topics, then she becomes a caricature- the typical hero who commits war crimes and serves the government with her activities never questioned and never even explored. She would be all of this, without meaningful impact or consequence (TW: Rape Mention in passing):

^ Redditors realizing this is the same issue superhero comics and comic movies have, where instead of someone with immense power and unlimited resources helping humanity’s betterment as a whole transcending petty borders, they become tools of State interests and propaganda agents

Also it's almost as if even in our fiction governmental organizations and their ally organizations still are only designed to benefit their own agendas, and any good they achieve for the public and human rights is pure coincidence or part of a public relations image, wow, surely this has no real life basis :^)

A Vaste and Yugiri written under normal game constraints would be very difficult to have last OR it could last but be hollow; it would require Yugiri to be even more of a blinded hypocrite than she already can be, and it would require her compassion at the core of the character to break. This wouldn't be a bad thing (it is still a character and has potential to be complex- think exploring Yugiri's Worst Self) if it weren't for the fact that it wouldn't be written in a mature way. It would be written as her and Vaste being unflinchingly in the right for this behavior because they fight for the "Good Guys".

Instead Yugiri would undergo a crisis weighing the evil of mercilessly killing, exterminating really, down to kids. The sheer level of blood on someone’s hands for that is too much, especially again with how Yugiri’s nature includes looking out for the helpless. Then you pit that against how it was ordered by a government body; by a united government body who sheltered the Doman refugees, and the fact that looking at how she herself is a government agent, she was taught you have to serve with undying loyalty.

But how do you serve when something so disgusting is asked of you? Isn’t there a point where as a person you have an obligation to resist when inhumanity is expected of you?

Then you combine this with how it forces her to examine her own sins in a similar vein. What about the things she’s done for someone higher than herself? Could she have stopped during some of her own killings? What exactly were some of the reasons for that behavior? It couldn’t all have been just, especially once we see that Hien is fine with pardoning sex traffickers because they share nationalities, how he doesn’t question the system that enabled it. It couldn’t all be just when working for government interests inherently means advancing one group’s desires over others, by any means necessary. There’s also no feasible way everyone she killed could have been bad people worthy of death.

The issue within her becomes complex, as much as what made Vaste do what she did is complex. How angry can she really be at her when Yugiri has killed just as thoughtlessly, just as much to appease other’s need for power they disguised as righteousness? Why was she measuring herself by these easily manipulated metrics, which then proved she’s so capable of ordered violence like a dog on a leash? Why does she dehumanize herself as a tool? Fuck, what about the subject of political prisoners?

I imagine she had to take time for being alone physically and mentally. She tries arguing against the feelings it all stirs in her mind, the things she held back by the skin of her teeth. Then the longer she's left with herself, she realizes she can't look at the people she's followed, she can't look at Hien, without being reminded of dead people. She can't look at them and not have her morality question itself, she can't look at any action Doma takes without questioning everything it's trying to stand for.

When the lines that used to seem simple become blurred because Yugiri is forced to see her mirror in someone, it opens her character down one avenue of gaining independence. Ultimately the goal is to face this mirror and either reject it in denial of her own evil, or accept it and change into someone better.

Which goes into the second crisis- abandoning government bodies altogether. Leaving Doma behind, seeking no masters but herself, walking away from her lords and their laws. Once she reconciles change on the individual level, it has to impact her relationships and groups too. Its the test that cements her commitment to being someone new.

Also when I say that I don’t mean Vaste is phrasing it as a test for her lol, I mean from a writing perspective. Vaste would continue fighting for what she believes in regardless of anyone else, she stops being people’s tool; though the loss would hurt her for sure. I think its the exact quality Yugiri gains by finding conviction in herself and Vaste’s example. Having conviction in yourself allows you to die on your own terms, succeed fueled by your own initiative. I’d love seeing Yugiri become that person, especially because it feels both natural and necessary.

It would still be a shock on some level for her to take this second step, but she would do it with less hesitation. She’s flexing her freedom for the first time in years; that childhood spark for daring never died beneath the surface. It was just sleeping. Once she regains it and throws off whats holding her back (ie. the royalist brainwashing and its components) she’s unstoppable. She’s calmer but less distant, she questions everything but also accepts facts as they are. Her anger is tempered and focused and it has always been an extension of her capacity to love the world. She begins awakening to a sort of enlightenment after liberating her mind.

Fighting Hien and besting him in a duel is the symbolic breaking of the final shackle. Everything that could and did hold her back, every doubt, it all comes to the point of no return. She will have her own future or die trying. She faces it with unbreakable determination as much as she does sadness.

They were friends once, and in the bottom of her heart I think she will always care at least for Shun the boy regardless of Hien the man. But that relationship is finally not enough to stop her from seeking her own justice. They were also master and retainer, such a relationship can never be equal by its definition. The old growth has to die for the new. She wants people who will stand beside her not in front.

She’s remade her identity before this because it felt right, I think she’ll be alright.

I want it clear too how much it is a relationship of equals between Vaste, herself, and their friends. If she opposed them she simply wouldn't have followed them, and I don't think she would let herself be strung along what Vaste wants to achieve just because they're together- in fact they would probably fight to the death if Yugiri remained loyal to what she already fights for. No amount of good relationships, fear of being alone, or crazy good dick is worth being a slave who lacks any independence for lmao. She comes to them because she believes in them as much as they do her, because they all see her and put her back in touch with humanity.

I say that because I've seen so many people including other women make their WoLs literally a dependent accessory with zero personality that doesn't revolve around their male NPC love interests and pretend it's sexy like congratulations you're upholding misogyny, here is your Woman Hater medal 🤡🏅 thank you for continuing to devalue us all as cum socks and emotional labor props, they write with this tone unironically in full seriousness (TW: NSFW, Misogyny):

TW: Suicide mention

Emotional vulnerability is so so important too. Yugiri comes off as holding hers back because of the dehumanizing nature of her position and training. Its really clear whenever she’s upset, emotionally strung, or expressing kindness and gratitude, in the Japanese even her speech mode changes. I want more scenes like the riverside talk in Stormblood, which was really the only time (besides another single one later in EW which I will not spoil for You specifically, though my followers should know since Aislinn @/lettersnorth mains ranged melee) where she knowingly allows the player past her facade.

With the gift of hindsight that conversation isn’t just contemplative and sad watching her self esteem fall, I think its one of the signs for when she goes to assassinate Zenos later. It has this air of tense finality to it even though she’s not openly saying anything suicidal; regardless of how the player chose to respond to her musing, its clear whats happened before this moment still weighs on her with what comes after. The fact she fully resolved to kill or die trying when dying was 99% certain proves how little her life is worth to her. Its eerie coming back to that cutscene for me. She’s lost everything since she left Sui no Sato and what she has left she sees no future for herself in it; she focuses on what it means for everyone but herself. And if she dies then that’s just how it is.

This is uncomfortably reminding me of myself and Vaste ahahaha.

When she grows past this I think she’d be sensitive to reading when someone is going through the same lows. Especially after being with Vaste and seeing how suicide also impacted her. She pulls from their shared experience on it and is the first to discourage people or open herself to listening. Its double serious for her, coming from the mentality of “I am disposable.”.

One of the big themes I have with my characters is bonding though shared suffering; I would apply the same logic to Yugiri. Once she embraces the suffering she has endured, has caused, and has seen others carry she can become more understanding as well. I feel like she would see it as a rebirth in her mind as much as it is from a writing angle. She has died twice now; everything after is witnessed by fresh eyes.

Symbolically she may hold a funeral for herself or another gesture in a similar connotation such as reciting the Mantra of Light- if they have Buddhism or its equivalent in this universe. I kinda want to believe they would since we already have a Shintoism proxy. They have a Shinto wedding by the way 😳 Moss knows what it looks like because I wrote a quick prose mock-up for them hffdgdg I have pages of notes just for Yugiri's attire details

Of course this coincides with Vaste's presence itself granting her aether new powers. That was intentional because I love when character growth progresses alongside their abilities and potential. Forcing her to get greater powers also forces her to continue honing her self control as much as her physical prowess. The responsibility expands her good qualities while encouraging continued reflection on her bad ones.

The new sense of greater power also helps her feel less powerless and better able to help others. I don't just mean her fighting skills. Back in SB when she was devastated at seeing Domans shun her for wanting to help them, her powerlessness was mostly from naïveté. She saw these people not from an empathizing human perspective, but as an outsider who wanted to play hero. They were a concept, a picture painted by what her soldier and royal friends had told her- a project in need of saving. Facing the reality humbles her, and I think gaining independence (as well as being open to the perspectives of those around her) after separating from her bubble keeps helping her progress in this.

In terms of her fighting skills through, they aren't just honed, but she's in greater tune with her body and aether than ever. She recognizes the increased responsibility it comes with too to prevent hurting the wrong people in a fight, as well as scaling herself in battle depending on her objective. Her superhuman speed and reflexes are phenomenal; combined with her control over lightening aspected aether, she becomes known as the God of Lightning to those who've witnessed her.

She kills Zenos by the way- I'm sick of her getting bodied every time they've met like she can't fight at all not even landing a single hit. She masters her glow up and blitzes his ass to death. Vaste doesn't kill him because it's what he would want and she also feels Yugiri deserves the satisfaction.

I have things I want to write purely showing off embracing her powers, and what mastery would look like. She's as precise as Vaste, and with upgrades she gets downright surgical. Lighting also has uses besides frying people, like letting her touch resemble a stun gun, or used for cooking and lighting fires if she wants etc.

Also yes I don't think she can cook. Simple things like rice balls or skewering fish over fire? Maybe, but nothing that requires cooking actual meals. From the way it seems she left Sui no Sato too young to have realistically learned much about cooking from her parents. If that changes or I get corrected information I'll reconsider it. For now from what I remember she would've had to leave home permanently as a teenager since when first meeting Shun she was a younger child. Especially since she took years to move up the ranks of her ninja training before she was considered a master.

Point is the game is rather vague about it, so that's what I'm going with. She knows survival skills for the field, but not so much life skills. Life skills take a backseat when your life is framed as disposable. What she can remember from her parents lessons at this point is probably hazy. It would be interesting to think her dad tried showing her a bit on stone masonry though. Since they live under the Ruby Princess there's a good chance women in that community are treated fairer. Maybe her dad would've tried preparing her to inherit the trade alongside her brothers.Those skills would be useful and an important tie to her heritage.

I think she keeps up with it from time to time, talking about stone quality, chiseling, building, different types etc. Most likely she can tell you something about if a stone incorporated building is livable. In the epilogue she runs a dojo for a non lethal version of the marital arts she learned as a ninja, but she also reconnects to stone masonry. Their new village will never be Sui no Sato, but it starts taking influences for every carpenter she helps or fellow stone mason she advises. Her younger son learns from her and continues the trade. She encourages him just as her father did for her; though the tradition it keeps her father alive in her heart.

Stonemasonry also allows her access to working on gravestones for the locals. When she does it feeds into her relationship with death. She gains a greater intimacy with it, with how the dead should be treated, a greater understanding, how she wants to be memorialized when she dies etc. It puts her in contact with the grieving in ways that let her help rather than destroy as she once did. It helps her find peace while contributing to her penance.

Plus it's funny imagining her trying to cook still learning like "Making dinner for my amazing boy girlfriend~" meanwhile Vaste and the others are like "Who the fuck is burning down the kitchen???!" Before they run in to save it (Lewena crying over the cheese being safe, and Mercuo & Syv hugging the wine bottles)

So if I had to sum the transition it's:

- Soldier blinded by power, naivety, misplaced loyalty, lies, and dehumanization ->

- Questioning purpose, re-evaluating loyalty as a concept, reconnecting with humanizing herself, discovering her boundaries, desires, and needs, questioning those around her ->

- Accepting her flaws and free will, doubling down her resolve, realizing she has the power to choose and change her world, acting on this change ->

- Being self assured yet humble, daring yet measured, calm and knowing when to act or when to wait, embraces her identity and personhood, tempered but fluid who knows where her principles lie

And finally everything carries her forward after magic and gods are gone. What she's learning are life skills, reclamation of humanity. Building her strength of character can only leave her a better person. She becomes patient, expressive, strengthens her honesty, solidifies her self worth, knows her wants and needs, sets boundaries, and is empathetic to others without robbing them of agency/objectifying them. Her views on violence calm too, and she matches Vaste's "No killing, violence only when necessary" philosophy. There's been more than enough war for the both of them; more than enough needless blood on their hands.

As a parent later on this tuning toward humanity and the world helps so much too. She's a mom who listens first, is honest without ever being demeaning or cruel, leads by example, and tries to reinforce balance constantly. She would never leave anyone feeling left out or confused on purpose; they will always know they're loved and won't be spoken over. She refuses to let her temper get the better of her whenever it's difficult.

Her kids will not repeat her ignorance nor her own parents mistakes. That's something she and Vaste have on their minds without hesitation. Also we have proof family is important to her because of how much she talks about missing them as is. It's about recognizing the humanity in others. It's about learning to listen to people over treating them like something to save. A reversal of her primary negative character trait.

She's the one who chose the kanji for their Doman/Hingan (Japanese) names too, after talking it over with Vaste. Yoshino's name reflects her being goodness and a blessing, while the boys names I HC are her brother's names, just different kanji. I thought it would be important to her character to honor them like that if she had sons. Ujihide's name is spelled to mean Family Flower (helping to reflect being born during Spring- EDIT: in double checking my research it can also mean the calyx of a flower, which is the green protective layer for an unopened bud, reinforcing a comment in the next section- consider also the meaning Family Protector), while Yoshitsugu's means Inheritor of Justice / Continuing Justice .

* As a side their Zulu names in order mean Peace/Silence, Threshing/Divination (as well as bird wings flapping- which links again to Zulu interpretation of birds as change, another meaning is to extinguish flames, the most common meaning is To Beat), and Victory. The first continues the theme of Yoshino representing hope and blessings as the eldest; meanwhile as the older twin, Ujihide's name reflects protection for his younger brother.

In the old days of both Zulu and Japanese culture twins were a bad omen and undesirable. It actually surprised me over the years to learn how many cultures have hated and feared twin births; there's a lot of negative superstition. If I had to guess the bulk of it comes from twins being a harder birth with a higher mortality rate. And how rare multiple babies in one go is. So when Vaste realized there was a second baby in there she named the older one something to repel bad luck. It's also a slight tongue in cheek joke because it's like his birth divined the coming of his brother after him.

For Yoshitsugu, Manqoba just means Victory or Winner. Yugiri agreed with her that since he was born a bit of a runt compared to his siblings and seemed reserved even as a baby, he should have encouraging names. They don't play favorites, but they do pay close attention to learn what makes him confident and sociable, and when he'd like alone time or to be in his thoughts.

In closing on her I want to write a character who's Vaste's foil, I wanted to fix how the story left her behind and flesh out what she has, and I want yet another example to prove the point that you can only change corrupt systems by stepping outside them. I want to expand a character I like by applying my narrative style.

Right now for Yugiri music, I’ve been listening to Khamsin’s theme off the MGR OST: The Hot Wind Blowing

On a personal note, when it comes to portraying Yugiri I'm very sensitive to avoiding racist stereotypes. I always try being mindful that I don't show/write her as the Submissive Asian Woman or the Cold Scheming Dragon Lady Asian Woman, or the Naturally Smarter Than Everyone Asian Woman. I'm not Asian so I will never be perfect at avoiding these, but I do everything I can when I check my drafts over and over to think about what I include, why I include it, and how the portrayal comes together.

As with my dark skin characters and Vaste I also encourage any East Asians who might find my Yugiri portrayal to correct it if they want. Racism is rampant in fandom and I've even seen people not just hurl slurs but substitute Chinese for Japanese in FFXIV's influences and vice versa; the old "All Asians Look The Same/Are Interchangeable" racist belief. It is beyond offensive and exactly what I wish to avoid, so I advise any non Asians writing Yugiri to be mindful too. If you write a racist portrayal you deserve to get called the fuck out.

The source material gave us scraps; they really are doing another underutilized another interesting dynamic a character can bring while making more for the fucking hollow boring Scions. It sucks, she’s not even the only character they do it to (certainly not the only woman either); in general a lot of the side stuff is better than the MSQ honestly. I also think its so funny that Lyse got more development once she left them, only to get thrown in the Female Character Development Waiting Cell, where she’s still sitting holding her Gucci handbag to this day.

EW was the first time since HW they tried injecting meaningful personality and character development into Scions but I feel like it was both too little too late plus feels shallow after two interim expacs of nothing consistent. Purely from a character writing perspective; obviously they push the story along but that's all they do which is the problem fksdofk (the Twins are in this weird middle ground on that in my eyes though, Urianger is on thin ice)

Anyway time for Estinien

Bestie <3

The biggest thing I love about him is how independent he is. In a game full of people riding your ass over anything to the point of a hollow personality, love seeing someone find a middle ground. His arc revolves around healing and inner peace, above all being true to himself. Yes he can be funny but people get way too caught up making him a meme or rude rather than pay attention to anything else.

He has heart, which is something he guards beneath the rage. Maybe guard is only part of it; he spent all his life focused on anger and revenge I think he forgot it in the back of his mind. It wasn’t as important as killing Nidhogg, and making sure everyone and everything helped do so. The longer it goes on though the more he realizes whats happened to him by drowning in hate; he was never totally blinded in order to do that, whatever he might’ve thought otherwise. He was on the path of losing his humanity. And that fact conflicted with a desire to let go and a desire to hold on.

He shares enough in common with Vaste like this that despite his initial rudeness I think she could tell in his eyes there was more going on. She saw what she was becoming whenever they first spoke. That bonded them right away beyond sharing being Azure Dragoons. He wasn’t in a position to truly help her then because of his own problems, but he would’ve been dispensing advice without realizing it. His honesty continued to be refreshing and grounding too as time passed with people continuing to dehumanize or idolize her.

I love his self reflection, in fact I think he’s one of it not the best at it of the entire cast. The fact that it started not when Nidhogg died but during them being bound together speaks to both the wounded child and unfulfilled man he was beneath rage. The moment he learned the truth of the Dragonsong War, when he felt Nidhogg’s being within himself, he’s been on a journey of understanding. He recognizes Ishgard’s corruption both in the present and the past, which led him to remove himself from an oppressive system while doing penance for his sins and the sins of his heritage in good deeds.

He knows he has a responsibility, and he’s acting on it in tangible ways when he helps Dragons and honors them.

He’s a guide for how I want Vaste to be; a warrior who recognizes who he is, what he’s done, and how he may be part of the community of humanity.

I wanna talk about why I think he’s out of touch at times and not great with socializing beyond Dragons.

It makes complete sense while also explaining how out of touch he is with things others see as normal (including money spending). He picked up the spear at age 12-13 and never put it down; literally and metaphorically training was what he did whenever he wasn't asleep. Alberic probably tried teaching him life skills, but it went unheard if he did. He still has a childlike grasp of things like buying for himself, taking care of himself, others reactions or thoughts about what he might say/do, self care etc.

Of course he’s like that! He never saw the value in being anything other than a tool for his own vengeance! Only years later once he’s come out of revenge can he see he’s stunted himself. I feel as if he’s playing catch up on this too since Heavensward, not just his wandering warrior philosophy. Speaking of that he reminds me of Raiden in Metal Gear Rising, accepting violence and combat as the fabric of his identity, but using it to help the weak and personal atonement. Often times this level of self acceptance when it comes to a negative trait is written so negative action has to be the result. Its nice to see a subversion thats meaningful without being another “Give in to your darkness while accepting no consequences”

Also when he was a villain, I was living for it. I loved when he and Nidhogg shared the role because from a character stand point it made sense. The game had this track record with its villains where they reflected the flaws in the world or society that produced them. Nidhogg reflected the suffering a greedy militant nation will inflict on another race when it stands to benefit; Estinien reflected the despair single minded hatred brings as it eats away who you are and your human essence. Ysayle saw the paranoid murders, rapes, classism and abuses of power rampant in Ishgard which made her side with the oppressed, its foundations built on slaughter of a minority. Yotsuyuu as we know was sexually sold and abused every way by the standards her country upheld, how it viewed women. Fordola is brainwashed, manipulated, and groomed into a reflection of her conquerors.

Really it was a fantastic tradition the Warriors of Darkness then later Meteion continued (I fucking loved Meteion & Hermes actually)- and then people amounted it to memes. Estinien and the others deserve better than that. Heavensward tied his struggles in a way that showed how mental weakness from our faults and deprived needs makes us easy prey for manipulation. Through him it deepened a personal aspect to what Nidhogg and Ysayle were doing; in the sense where the game gave us three characters exploring the failings of Ishgard and war itself. Had the expansion solely relied on Thordan to make its point then it’d be paper thin.

You could see every Heavensward villain/antagonist except for Thordan, and some villains in Stormblood (Yotsuyuu & Fordola) as having It Has To Be This Way fit over their fights

Estinien is great not only for his arc progression and down to earth personality, but because he’s one of the last symbols of when the game was at its best. A time when the game narrative started moving up with stumbles and promise. It took until Endwalker for me to feel even a fraction of that old thrill again. The writers saw they needed a foil character further commentating on when violence becomes senseless; fuck if they didn’t deliver.

His dedication to his agenda first continues to be a breath of fresh air; I want more characters who recognize when they contribute to oppression as he did then take steps doing something about it. I want characters who evolve their philosophy. Every time I see him being a dragon’s biggest fan asking nothing in return its a highlight. Because I remember when he would’ve butchered them all.

He’s my beloved for doing so. The game features mature topics, and characters like Estinien execute on the theme. They better not fuck him up or I’m adding him to my collection. Also him and Aymeric have a thing going on, bisexual husbands. Estinien sees he's fucking up when he does and he learns to correct his behavior. More male characters need to learn that shit, even in general. He loves fiercely. His word is his honor. He understands himself. He is healing. Love this fucking man.

Also I forgive him for anything bad because he worked on it or is working on it so he has always been my babygirl. I see a lot of myself in him too.

So the last bestie is...

Mercuo

I thought about using Gan but I’ve been feeling him ^ lately. Next time I’ll talk about Gan and also his design. Not everyone in the Guardians of Time agreed with or liked Vaste at first. In fact only Weyd, and Syv took a definite positive interest in him on first impressions.

You can argue Lewena somewhat liked her when they first met based on what I wrote a long time ago; however I don’t count it since Lewena’s thoughts were doubts and anxiety. Also she only exposed a glimpse of her powers because she thought it fit the situation while trying to show Vaste a ‘Look I’m special too its not just you’ side. Trying to show her value next to a famous person.

The others had a range of conflicting emotions or self doubts about if she could understand them, because of their low self esteem and differing views. Mercuo’s reasoning made him emotionally withdrawn and externally curt. He didn't dislike Vaste herself so much as the fact that as WoL she's an authority figure, she's allowed the privilege of sanctioned violence. He didn't trust her responsibility nor the role itself because authority betrayed him. He's seen intimately how ripe for warping it is, to the point he questions it's usefulness since it creates an exploitable imbalanced dynamic.

TW: Child Sex Abuse mention

As in his backstory the trauma of seeing the man who became his father figure molest and attempt assaulting children was the final shattering of his faith in authority figures. His parents had already given him up long ago, the priests before he entered the knighthood by and large didn't expect much, and everyone lorded over him because he was from The Brume and a Duskwight. Not to mention his father figure almost got the chance to molest him as well which was further devastating in hindsight.

He has reason not to trust the authoritative individual; he had an idea not to trust the system because Ishgard and poor people don't mix, but seeing it defend his pedophile mentor because he was highborn is the final straw. He puts trust in others when they earn it, and he has every right to. He and Weyd get along because she is genuinely forward thinking as a person and how she sees class systems.

She's seen firsthand the greed of Ul'Dah and the piranha tank it becomes at the drop of a hat. She's seen the neglect of the common man, the bribes, the brutality as policy, the corrupt divided powers. They have similar feelings in common. She had to earn his respect from tireless communication as well as her bearing. The heaps of money for his services was the plus. Vaste has to match that energy and conviction to him; he has to see by her actions she's intent on defying a system.

So first impressions wise he has no idea on any of this so he's on edge. He warms up the longer he spends time around her but the real shift comes when she opens up. Like Yugiri he has a crisis moment in their friendship. How can he feel anything toward a kid killer other than rage? She didn't get upset with him for not wanting to be near her for a time. He spent a long while thinking on it and on how she wants to change.

He thought about how the system broke her down to be capable of it, of how the Templar Knights did similar with him. He was a cop at the end of the day, he'd seen his share of police brutality in Ishgard. Back then though he was too young as a teenager to fully grasp the weight of what he saw and did beyond gut emotions.

In the end what bridged the gap was how hard he saw her trying. She put her money where her mouth was rather than mope but take no action. She started defying the Scions openly, and spoke out whenever she could. He watched her closely to find a grasp on her humanity. Not only that but she came up with the most insane plan he ever heard, killing gods so no one else can suffer as much as they did. This spoke to him, as a Duskwight, as a poor class Ishgardian, as a man.

They became hard friends once they reconciled these differences. If she had been only about her words he would've never changed his mind nor given her trust. If she wasn't serious she'd never have shared with him such a batshit crazy plan either. He understands she's in pain and is paying for it, like he is when he remembers his father figure, how he had to kill him for what he'd done. It's built on compassion and some empathy.

Otherwise though he's a romantic, a risk taker, an adventurer through and through. I don't just mean romantic in that he treats G'azef like a king either; he views the world as full of beauty in unexpected moments. Walking though nature is beauty, walking through towns is beauty, the moment when something gives you a full feeling in the chest is beauty. Hearing others laugh and share stories, joys over drinks is beauty. Sharing pain, is beauty. It's intimacy with the world around you that's romantic.

He's not shy toward new experiences either, though he won't do things he finds obviously stupid. If someone isn't getting him into a new thing then he's breaking their shell in a heart to heart way to do the thing too. Whereas Gan is obvious and enthusiastic when doing this, Mercuo can be that but also subtle. It's about reading situations, which he's done to survive since childhood. As a side effect it made him good at reading people and their emotions.

He keeps up loyalty to places and people he cares for. Chasing Comet's bar the 'Star Dancer' is one such place. He loves everything there, drinks, food, the company etc. Chasing Comet and Kind Dawn love his listening ear or hearing him jumpstart a good party or wild story. They also know him as one of the few who consistently pays his tab. Whenever they need help he'll jump in if able, which always helps. Comet can see on his face that he does things out of earnest, because it's right; it's a trait she finds is lacking in others. So he always has a home there, even on the occasions he does mischief.

He and K'ali do jockey each other over getting work as mercenaries, but there is respect. They may tease and bicker and be petty but neither does anything genuinely insulting. They respect each other's work ethic, skills, charisma and so on. There's been times where he's seen her off beneath the swashbuckling demeanor and stepped in; either with a word or by paying for her tab.

The times when she's been too distraught inside to remember to shave were his first clue that she's intersex, but he didn't bug her about it. He saw her anxiety over forgetting to upkeep how she presents and had the tact not to treat her any different.

When she finally did confide some in him, he was accepting. He also knows how much she cares for her brother N'ali. He wishes he had a family relationship like that; as time passes he gives that role to Syv somewhat. In any case he sees she has heart even when she's being a shit. Without her around things would be less bright.

The sword to him is so important because despite the painful memories he has using one, it's still symbolic of finding his first calling. Of finding freedom out of the slums and loneliness. Nothing can ever take that half away. He trains to the point it moves as an extension of his body; a skill he's proud of beyond belief. It is both an art piece and a tool of death to be respected. He and G'azef met through the sword too. They fight side by side as each other's embers in the clashes of life. They are in love so thoroughly to embody the sword in one another.

I really like Mercuo. I really like all my characters even when I struggle to fill them out. So moving forward I want to do more little by little.

Also I like fitting him in clothes with huge collars because it makes his head hilariously tiny but it works

#hc #so fitting that i was listening to the Metal Gear Rising OST writing this lol #'I CARVED MY OWN PATH; YOU FOLLOWED YOUR WRATH- BUT MAYBE WE'RE BOTH THE SAAAMMEEE'- narrative foils have done so much for us as a society #nhaama #to live this way

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descendantofthesparrow · 4 years ago

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the D3 outfits and designs look like they belong on 30 year olds, not 17-20 year olds

this was said by @darkprinceofdarkness on the descendants discord but i wanted to bring it up here, rn I'm redesigning almost ALL the descendants d3 outfits, including making some brand new ones for new characters for my rewrite, and in looking at the D3 outfits, i remembered what darkpinceofdarkness had said last month (aka ash so imma just call em ash now so i dont have keep typing their tumblr name) they had said that the designs seemed to fit better on the actors, and not the characters, as in that the designs seemed they were made for 25-30 year olds (the age that most of the actors were at at the time) instead of 17-20 year olds that the characters were aged at.

i mean look at Mals outfit for the talk with beast, belle, and FG, it doesn't seem right for her,

its too simple, to plain, there's nothing going on, it looks like she's a wine mom, she looks like she's dressing up as an old ass boring adult when she's just gotten out of her teens 3/10 burn it

and again when hades comes to wake up Audrey

boring colors, boring texture, boring hair, boring shoes, again, nothing interesting going on, i feel like im looking at a (again) 30 year old wine mom instead of a young adult that just graduated from HIGH SCHOOL 3/10 would gag

now there's her engagement/getting the vks dress

while its one of her best outfits of D3 it still feels....old to me, like, i feel like yes this is still young adult, but not 19 years old young adult, more 23-26 young adult. i think it might be the neckline and form of the dress, the coloring and the textures are nice and i think they do fit well with Mal, but overall, it still feels like something someone over 22 would wear, not a 19 year old. i understand Mal is stepping into the role of a lady/queen, but shes 19, not 30, give her fun clothes! give her ripped denim, give her spray painted leather, give her pins, let her chop her hair short, leggings under shorts! loose tops, t-shirts, spiked chokers, jeans, sneakers, hoodies, just ANYTHING other than loose-form fitting 40 year old woman who doesn't know how to style herself and listens a YouTube video about how to color match your clothes-clothes!!! anyway 6/10 its okay but would def NOT wear

before we continue i would like to say Kara Saun is a great designer...but she wasn't the greatest fit to design for a series about teenagers. anyway onto good to be bad!

now good to be bad, is probably my favorite Mal design out of all of D3, it looks like Mal took a paint brush and her spray paint and just went ham on it, which is perfect, because that suits her (original) character! its all over the place, yet it seems planned, its a mess of colors yet it seems as if they were meticulously picked! Mals original character was someone while they seemed they had no plan, they had millions of them floating through their head, or they seemed to have a plan but they were just mentally going “fuck it what happens happens” and that unfortunately seemed to be drained from her as the movies went on and someone fucked up by trying to make her a perfect character, which made her completely horrible, in the first movie, her not thinking things all the way through (Ben and the love spell and how that would end) was more endearing than completely annoying and frustrating, D1 Mal, when she didn't think things through, ended up floundering over herself but trying to come up with a quick solution (when the quilt trip FG with Jane plan failed, Mal groaned for a moment then immediately went to her spell book for another plan) yet D2 and D3 Mal, if her plan didn't go her way she got upset, and blamed her fault on other people, even if why her plan failed was completely her fault (the barrier closing thing; she tried to push the blame onto just wanting to protect her cushy life, where if she was written correctly, she would have taken blame and acknowledged that she had doomed the rest of the isle kids and actually apologized for lying to Uma and her friends, instead of saying “she had no choice” (yes you did bish you just didn't want to do any actual work) anyway enough of analyzing Mals horribly written character back to the outfits, so ill sum up Mal’s gttb look, its funky, its fun, its colorful, her jacket is not tight fitting and has a fun tail, popped open collar, its just overall a cute outfit. 8/10 wouldn't wear but it looks like something a punk alt young adult would wear.

so her outfit for Janes party....okay yea i like this one

its splotchy, its denim, its loose yet form fitting, hell i would wear it (minus the shoes) it feels like something a 15-19 year old feminine presenting person would wear to a party! which guess what! she is! shes going to a party! the only thing i would change is to possibly give her shorts or calf ending cargo pants, and change her open toed heels to wedged sneakers. other wise 8.5/10 would wear.

her motorcross gear.

i...dont like it, its super tight fitting, her butt in every single shot that usually just has Mal in it with her facing towards the camera is reaaaally obvious and its just...iahsiodhasid bad, is bad. her boots are clunky as fuck and hardly practical at all and for what she was planning to do with them makes no sense and girl get the fuck over your height complex.(clunky boots are cute but...girl...come on...) and it seems like its suited for a person in their mid twentys instead of a 19 year old. its hard for me to say exactly why i dont like it (also i will say, if you like tight fitting clothes, fucking go for it, you rock that shit, it just...doesn't look good on Mal and its a fukin kids series, and the camera loved Mals butt and i was always like “yo camera man, pan up a bit why dont cha”)but i feel like if Mals pants weren't all a shiny tight fabric, i might like them a bit more but its all one thing and all one shade with different tones. like, comon, pockets guys, they are a thing, and put them on her butt so it derives from it when its in the shots.

i hate hate hate the hades color shift, because at least with the green/purple it had two shades and broke up the outfit but now...

its just blue and purple...there's like...nothing breaking up the tones or pieces of the outfit and now its all just tones of blue and purple that you cant tell apart and you have no clue where it begins or it ends and its ugly. 5/10 its better than her “fancy” talk shit but still burn it and keep it away from me.

and now the dreaded outfit...her engagement party dress.

*shivers* its just...so bad, everything is just so tight and stiff that it just doesn't...feel like a real dress, it looks like it belongs on a doll, i don't even think a 30 year old wine mom would wear this its just so bad. Even the long version of the open skirt (which is impossible to find on google) doesn't flow like it should, its stiff and keeps its form the entire time, and when you want a long flowing engagement party dress made for a princess? that's not a good thing, whatever fabric they used was not a good one and they should never use it again...the texture on the dress is awful too. i think the only thing i like about this abomination is her tiara...that's it, that's all i like, and only because its so much better then that foam garbage that was her dragon dress crown. 0/10 fucking erase it from existence.

i was going to do Evies outfits but i feel like i took too much space up on Mal...i have alot to say on this abomination of an Evie “outfit”

what is this WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?! EVIE YOU ARE 19 NOT A FUCKING 40 YEAR OLD REALTOR?!

so i might do a whole post just for Evies “outfits”

#disney descendants #Descendents #descendants #descendants outfit rant #mal daughter of maleficent #mal descendants #anti mal #anti d3 outfits #they suck #Carlos is like...the only one of the main four that has cute outfits #his party and main look suck tho #burn those #jays only good ones are gttb vk pick up and btd

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pynkhues · 4 years ago

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(1/2) Hey, I'm the anon from the last request. Just have a few follow up q's if you're alright with that (dont have a tumblr to message directly rip)? With Gerri, its strange that she's Shiv's godmother yet both Shiv and Roman dont really know her in the pilot- was there a prior schism? Also did not know about St Andrews, if its not a military school then do you think it adds another layer to the dog kennel story?

(2/2- sorry!) I get what you mean when you say he also coddles Roman but to me its the emotional detachment thats striking. Like in the car post-slapgate, its obvs awks from the slap but they also don't seem to have natural connection or conversation vs Logan and car scenes with the others. There's also the references to him beating Roman (not to say he didn't beat the others but its only Roman mentioned). I think in s3, his new status as fave son might bring up some old wounds for Roman.

(x)

Hey! Ooo, these are really great follow ups, thank you! I hope you don't mind me breaking them into sections!

Is it strange that Shiv and Roman don't really know Gerri well in the pilot?

It is strange, but I also think it's just the result of a few things being shuffled around post-pilot. Pilots are usually shot months if not a whole year before the first season is as the point of them is to sell the network on the show. In that sense, they're effectively proof-of-concept tools and so it's common for things to change. I'm not sure if you're a crossover anon, haha, but I talk a lot about Good Girls as well, and the pilot of that even had a completely different lead actress they had to do re-shoots around for 1.01.

Jesse Armstrong, the Succession showrunner, has said that a few things were shuffled around after the pilot – one of the biggest things for instance is that Roman wears a wedding ring in the pilot and Grace is supposed to be his wife (she's even listed as Grace Roy in 1.01 on IMDB!) and Isla their daughter together. They changed that after the pilot though because they thought it worked better with Grace as just his girlfriend, and Isla as Grace's daughter, not his.

I think Gerri's role in the show really bulked up between the pilot and episode 2, and that's why there's more distance between the Roy kids and Gerri in the first couple of episodes than there is later in the season. Gosh, even the fact that she's not at Logan's 80th birthday party in the pilot feels so weird now with how much they've shifted her role in the family, haha.

Rest of the answers under the cut!

Does St. Andrew's not being a military school when Roman attended add another layer to the dog kennel plot?

Yeah, I think it does, but I also think more than anything, it's reiterating what's already there. That entire subplot is really steeped in how Kendall, Roman and Connor all have different memories of this same game. For Roman it's formative, for Kendall it's just a memory of a childish game, and for Connor, it's seen as through older eyes and, more than anything, an insight into their father, not an insight into Roman and Kendall.

In a lot of ways, Roman stressing that St Andrew's was a military school when it wasn't undermines his own memory of the game, just as Connor telling him it wasn't dogfood it was chocolate cake does, just as Connor telling him he asked to be sent away does. Does that make it any less real for Roman? I don't think so. It's obviously something he's remembered as traumatic, and it resulted in a very real, tangible removal of him from Manhattan, where Kendall and Shiv stayed and went to school. Regardless of whether or not it was military school, it was a boarding school, and I think that feeling of distance and isolation was likely very real.

I'm really curious though about Connor's different stories to Kendall and Roman. He tells Roman that he asked to be sent away, and Kendall that their dad sent Roman because you separate fighting dogs and you send the weak one away so that everyone knows the hierarchy. The interesting thing though to me is that I think Connor was telling the truth in both instances, but the former does make the latter read differently.

If Roman wanted to go, it undermines Connor's memory of Logan, because Logan was not only giving Roman what he wanted, but he was giving Roman greater freedom, greater independence, greater agency at an outdoorsy boarding school that wasn't actually a military school at all. So does that mean that Logan saw Roman as the weak dog, or Kendall? Who he kept close and on a short leash in the comfort of home?

Kendall obviously takes Connor at his word, but I'm not so sure that we're supposed to as an audience. I think the story can be read in a lot of different ways, and more than anything, I think it can be read as Logan understanding that Kendall and Roman were not (and are not) the same, and needed different things as children. How that can be spun though is anyone's guess.

Are Logan and Roman emotionally distant?

That's an interesting point about the emotional distance there. I think there is and there isn't? Logan obviously dotes on Shiv and pendulums between coddling, controlling and bullying Kendall, but I think both of those things are more just indicative of really different dynamics. Roman's clearly got a 'class clown' sort of personality that Logan obviously doesn't appreciate and struggles to deal with, particularly given he's a pretty humourless guy (gosh, I think a lot about the fact that one of the only times we've seen Logan actually laugh was when the kids didn't want to see their mum, haha).

In that sense though, I think Logan doesn't understand Roman. It comes back to what I said in the other post – I actually do think Logan sees Roman's strengths, and the fact that Roman doesn't utilise them is, I think to Logan, unforgivable. Logan had to claw his way out of abject poverty through whatever it was he could get, and while Shiv, Kendall and Connor lack, I think Logan looks at Roman and sees waste.

It's why he doesn't have a stomach for the jokes, or the immaturity, and I think contributes to this failure to connect emotionally because he doesn't understand Roman in the way that he understands Shiv's rebellion and Kendall's foibles.

The aftermath of him hitting Roman is interesting too, because I actually think Logan's not trying to create distance in the aftermath, I think he's trying to re-write history to preserve his sense of self. He offers the untruth to Roman as an opening – a map for them to navigate unstable and uncertain terrain, and Roman takes it and follows his lead because he doesn't know how to navigate it either.

Does that make it right or forgiveable? Absolutely not – Logan hit his son, and trying to make everyone pretend that that never happened is an awful example of gaslighting – but I also find it really indicative of the cycle of abuse. We know that Noah was horrifically abusive to Logan, as seen by the scars on his back, and I actually get the impression that Logan tried not to be abusive to his children, but sometimes was because of his temper and his health.

Like, I think when he struck Iverson in the thanksgiving ep it was the first time he'd ever raised a hand to one of his grandchildren, especially given the reaction of people, and even hitting Roman summoned a pretty huge reaction from people, and seemed not to be something Roman was prepared for. It also I think stems back to that point of Logan not knowing how to handle Roman (or Iverson!) and resorting to violence he very quickly regrets because for a man who runs the news, he very rarely utilises words.

Logan was raised in violence, and I think it's a language he's both fluent in and has tried to reject, but one he falls back on when he can no longer communicate.

It's wrong, and awful, of course, but I think it's really interesting because I think it's deliberately a part of this broader theme with the Roy's about how fractured their communication with one another is. They don't know how to connect or talk to each other, and so frequently that breaks down into violence, whether to each other or themselves or to the collateral damage - the NRPIs.

I totally agree though that I think some Thoughts around all of this is likely to resurface for Roman in season 3, especially as Logan no doubt starts to lean on him as the new heir.

#these were v meaty questions to answer haha #i've been thinking sooo much about the communication on this show it's f.a.s.c.i.n.a.t.i.n.g.#roman roy #logan roy #logan + roman #gerri kellman #kendall roy #connor roy #shiv roy #hbo succession #succession 1.08 #succession 2.06 #welcome to my ama

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