#i get people misunderstanding this a decent amount and i know it goes against general assumptions in fandoms

[shimmerluna]

Note: Just because I write about a situation from a certain character’s perspective doesn’t mean I condone or agree with their perspective. Theorizing about reasons for their actions is not the same as excusing them, and I just prefer this kind of analysis to “picking sides” or “defending” anyone specific. Please do not make assumptions about my moral views of characters based on my posts.

Fandoms: Heartstopper, Young Royals, Red White and Royal Blue, and occasional Heartbreak High

Schedule: Sat/Sun @ 15:00 UTC, Wed @ 21:00 UTC

[sanstropfremir]

please let me join the dance conversation since it's the form of art i am actually the most interested in. i've been dancing as a kid for 6 years, and i don't mean to say that that gave me any type of authority in the domain, but it did leave me with the slight ability to recognize a good performance (or whatever makes a good performance to me, personally) and a great appreciation for valueing dancing as acting, like you said. too often i've seen dance ranking videos from actual life-long dancers who value technical skill above anything else. even if they take into consideration the facial expressions, it doesn't hold much weight and that always lowkey pissed me off. because when i am watching a performance, i care way more about the emotional delivery rather than the technical one. of course, this is not to disregard skill, because emotion without skill just ends up messy. good enough to appreciate as a form of authentic self-expression, but still messy, and mess won't make you a good dancer.

i've really enjoyed seeing you say dancing and acting have a mutual component since i've always felt that way too but never knew how to put it in words. two groups that come in mind when thinking about this are blackpink and itzy, i have no idea how familiar you are with them so i'm sorry if the following come across as foreign to you. but i gotta say, regarding bp, i think there's always been discourse over lisa vs rose as the best dancer. technically, everybody knows lisa is miles ahead, and i have to say she has decent stage presence and some pretty nice facial expressions too (taking into consideration how limited bp's concepts have been so far). rose, on the other hand, has a certain style that appeals to a specific audience (which i am not a part of, her lack of body control is so irritating sometimes) but i can see why some would find her charming. i would say her stage presence is decent too, but i can't help but choose lisa over her, and not just because i'm biased. but because in order to be a true dancer, you need the right balance between technique and emotion that gives your performance that star-value and appeal. and let's be real, kpop is really lacking in that "true dancer" department.

another dancing discourse that goes on is in the itzy fandom, where fans are pitting yeji and chaeryeong against each other. their techniques are quite different but they are each very good in their respective style. now, i've seen people call yeji the better "idol dancer" since she has better developed facial expressions, and chaeryeong the better "overall dancer" since people value her technique more. and i'm just like, no. emotion makes or breaks a dancer. everyone can learn technique, but emotion is hard to fake, and when you do, the non-authenticity is very much obvious.

that's why i love san as a dancer. he might not be the most technically skilled, but he is skilled enough to hold his own. and his way of living in the performance, of just letting every feel of the song wash over him and show the audience 110% and more - nothing compares to that, no amount of technicality. stage presence is something you just have, and no matter how much you train for it, you will pale in comparison to a natural.

wow, this is really long so thank you if you take the time to read it all and respond. english is not my first language and sometimes i'm having trouble finding the right words to get my point across exactly how i think of it in my mind, so i hope the message is delivered accurately, haha :D also, i must add i love the way you talk, your speech has a flow and a uniqueness to it you don't find everyday. and we love a developed vocabulary<3 may i ask how old you are?

thank you for the compliment, thats very sweet of you! english is my native language and i have spent just as much time, if not longer doing academics as i have doing performance work so at this point ive developed a very specific style. there’s a joke that theatre design is 90% communication and only 10% design, and it’s not wrong. it helps that i like to talk and my brain works very fast sometimes.

im glad you took the time to write this out! and don't apologize for your english, it's excellent and very clear. you are correct i know very little about blackpink and itzy but i would likely agree with you, dance is equal parts emotion and technique and that is my preference in idols as well. but i don’t think that the kpop industry needs to have ‘true’ dancers, though. yes it is fun to watch those who are technically and charismatically gifted in dance, it is only a portion of the experience that they market. also i think we lose a bit of objectivity in kpop because all idols are required to dance, but i dont think ive seen one recently that's a legitimately bad dancer. even the ‘worst’ dancers that i can think of are still leagues better than the average person on the street, but we see them as ‘bad’ because they work directly alongside peers who are legitimately gifted and have a passion for dance as a form. 

it's interesting to hear you say that everyone can learn technique but emotion is hard to fake, because i hear a lot of dancers say that. i think this comes from a misunderstanding of what exactly acting is and how it works. i would argue that a statement closer to the sentiment that you (and many others) are trying to get is ‘not everyone can do both at the same time.’ the average person is no more predisposed to acting then they are to dance, because acting is a skill that can be taught and exercised in the same way dance can. sure, there are people that have a higher latent ability, but if you put in the work, you can learn. why do you think there are acting classes and schools and conservatories? you can get a doctorate in acting if you really want to. the thing about acting is that in order to be good at it, you have to both understand and be able to implement the correct postures for mimicking human emotion. this is an insanely complex task when you get down to the brass tacks of it. just think about your face and body posture for a moment. why are you sitting/standing in that particular way? why is your face in that particular expression? what do you think your posture is saying to someone who is observing you? how would you change it if you wanted the person to start a conversation with you? if you wanted them to leave you alone? 

there’s also a general assumption that acting comes from a place of genuine or authentic emotion, and this is the fault of modern ‘method’ film acting. i have a very long thesis about how much i hate method acting and i can make a separate post about that if people are curious. but suffice to say, acting very rarely comes from a ‘genuine’ place. it may be informed from a genuine place, but by nature it is not real. thats what makes it acting. and i think dancers seem to be under the impression that showing emotion while dancing has to come from the dancer personally feeling those emotions, when thats not the case at all. this criminal fancam is a perfect example of exactly how good taemin is at putting on a character for a performance. you can very clearly see him drop character after the main camera cuts, and pretty much any concert footage shows this as well.

now, being able to do both a complex system of physical movements with your body and also control the minute details and timing in your facial muscles and posture? thats pretty fuckin hard. not a lot of people can do that, it takes just as much practice as learning technique does, just not in the way that people might think. but it is possible.

[shaonsim]

Thoughts on the writing of itv!!! What kinda show would you writeee

My friend. My hero. Thank you for sending this in. Thank you so much!! You gave me such a wonderful opportunity to blab about stuff.

THANK YOU ❤️❤️❤️❤️

The writing of ITV, you ask? Hang on my friend, this will be a WILD ride. A wild ride. This will be loong and wordy and a little incoherent, jumping from one point to another, but this will tell you a lot about how I feel about the writing of ITV.

And yes, this will read like a letter to the CVs because I am totally incapable of abiding the rules of grammar and I don't want to edit all this.

And I apologise for the out of context references that seeped in with time. Sorry, couldn't help it. I will gladly expand upon any of the references.

The main thing with writing (according to me, but I don't like repeating this disclaimer since by asking the question you already know that this will be my personal opinion, but still, for safety purposes)...The main thing with writing is that the core concept can be summed up in one single paragraph, and then you add words for emphasis.

You write in a thousand situations, in different styles, only for the message to hit home.

Look at our Epics.

Ramayana can be summed up as the Ram-Ravan conflict in a good Vs evil way. Lakshman is the devoted brother, Hanuman (ji) is an ardent devotee of Ram-Sita.

Mahabharata is basically another story of good Vs evil, where Duryodhan is the evil guy , Shakuni is an evil mastermind, 99 Kaurav brothers (+ Karna) the sidekicks, and the rest of the Kurus (+ Drona and Kripa ) as the silent voices of reason.

And almost every event emphasises these points. Because that's the story.

Look at Harry Potter. Three kids (young blood/new generation ) fighting against the big bad and pointing out and fixing the mistakes of the past along the way.

Look at Kalpurush (I read it during the quarantine and I am in love ❤ ) , where the main theme is that a mother worries whether the circumstances will lead to history repeating itself, whether a son will follow his father's footsteps, and whether she would be happy if he did turn out to be like that.

Technically, it is the same with shows.

Sasural Simar Ka began with the concept of the deep bond between the sisters, then moved on to supernatural forces interfering with the Bhardwaj family. The theme changed, but it didn't vanish.

Swaragini began as a show revolving around the sisters, and it stayed like that for forever, even when the plot went sideways and the sisters were pitted against each other.

Kumkum bhagya is a show where the leads battle kidnapping, murder attempts, misunderstandings etc and come out longing for each other and dreaming about happier times (the same was the theme of Pavitra Rishta too, if I remember correctly. But with less kidnapping.) And now the show has taken a leap with a love triangle between the kids (look, another similarity between kkb and pr. Go Ekta)!

KZK2 *cringe cringe* is all about AnuPre who love each other but don't end up with each other because of various reasons.

ITV has this thing down pat.

But it fails to come up with proper events to highlight their core concept and of course, they fail to choose an interesting theme for the show, but heyy, human mind and relationships is a gold mine for ideas. It is fascinating, and quite enjoyable, if it is done right. Am I biased because it is my favourite genre? Yes of course.

But the point stands.

Another important part of writing is that in order to come up with plot points that will reinforce your main idea, you need to come up with a cast of interesting characters, and develop their background to give you an ample opportunity to create the above mentioned plot points. The spectators, onlookers, the influencers need motivation - reasons for their actions.

Think about Karna. Think about Drupad-Drona. Think about Bhishma-Amba. Think about Jayadrath and his boon.

Sub-plots, side-plots. Parallel storylines.

For the most part, ITV fails in this department. The characters or stories they introduce are a) boring (either because we fail to understand their motivation or because they are diluted versions of the leads) or b) annoying because of their over enthusiastic and blind favouritism for the lead character they support.

^ Casting and acting also plays a major part in this (ugh Chandni ), but most of the time, it can be solved with focusing on the actor's strengths and weaknesses and changing the dialogues based on that. A writer can change things.

That's their job.

If your side characters are not interesting enough to deserve a story of their own, you aren't trying hard enough. That said, if you can't weave in their story in your main story, do not focus on the side plots. No one is interested in seeing your hodgepodge of TWO (or more) stories. It should all come together in the end, it should become one BIG story. Bring it all together!!

But do focus on the side plots, because there is only so much you can do with your leads, especially in the romance/family (whatever you call it) genre that occupies 90% of tellywood (and for good reason too!!)

A good plan is to create events with one of your main character and a group of characters (how small or big a group is for you to decide). If you force the audience to look at two/three supporting characters, no body will be happy.

Use your leads!!!!

Also, PLEASE use the show Vs tell method.

You want us to know that the male lead is adored by his sister? Show us. And by that, I meant scenes where we can see the bond they share, NOT dull monologues where the sister sings praises of her brother (a few monologues are fine though). You are an audio-visual medium.

ACT LIKE IT.

Monologues are for written things. Where we only have the words and our own imagination. Here, you have the tools to present us with the pictures, with the words they speak to each other.

Don't waste it.

In the same vein, do not repeat dialogues. Not word to word (don't repeat the same thing with different wording multiple times in a single episode or a week of episodes). Switch it up, and if you have to, have to repeat stuff, use an actor who has decent facial expressions and voice modulation. If the actor is stiff, robotic, then don't use that actor to parrot your lines. Seriously.

<< Not to hate on anyone in particular but Prerna's 'Anurag Anurag Anurag' is very annoying, for reasons that are better left unspoken >>

Hey, hey, you know what else is an integral part of writing? Research. Making a show on doctors? Police? Engineers? Lawyers? Chefs? Do your research. And if you want to take the short cut and go with the convenient business men/women trope, by all means, go for it. GO FOR IT. But show them working, and no, not because of tracks revolving around the business, but always. Running a business is a full time responsibility. Show that. I repeat, show that. Show that the character isn't home 24x7, show late night meetings, show files neatly stacked (or strewn about, your choice). Show the products or materials involved in the business. Show your characters being exhausted with the amount of work, show their involvement in their work. Or don't, if that suits the story and your character is neglectful, or if you have a proper reason to have them take some time off. Pay attention.

Time for a checklist.

Central theme? ✅

Side plots (+ characters)? ✅

Edit things because of the actors? ✅

Show Vs Tell? ✅

Research? ✅

How much DRAMA is too much drama? ❔❔

Now, this is a product of my curiosity (+ me posting the Fic Which Must Not Be Named), but I think this fits nicely with the rest of this answer. I wouldn't explain this in detail because the original post does a much better job (and I need validation, so go read that post) but to think, that ITV tells us stories of other people, and whether it is this very question, this doubt, that leads to the numerous kidnappings and accidents/fire/misunderstandings we see in 90% of the shows.

Okay, time to return to the checklist.

Oh. Oh! I forgot my favourite part.

The influences of the audience. Every writer has a story to tell. And while it is difficult to think that the ITV creatives know what they want to do with their story, I would give them the benefit of doubt. Besides, as a writer myself, I know that 80% of writing is having no clue as to where you want to take the story. ANYWAY, back to the topic at hand. I think, if everything was written and shot before telecast, we might get cohesive writing. As it is, the creatives put out some content, look at the reaction, and try to maintain the highs or fix the blunders, by hook or crook.

And the story suffers.

Complete revamping of tracks, characters behaving worse than pendulums, repeat of romantic scenes, bringing in new characters out of the blue - I believe, most of these things occur in a rush to fetch (or maintain) ratings.

Now, let's talk about copy-pasting tracks without bothering to look at the bigger picture. What works for one show, works only because it goes with the past and future events of the show. You can't grab xyz from show1 and throw it into show2, because S2 does not have the background of S1. It wouldn't work, because the characters are different, their motivation is different, their past is different, everything is different.

Also, can we talk about how two people of opposite genders can be friendly and helpful to each other without secretly pining for the other person? It doesn't always have to be romance, although it can be perceived as that, if you want a jealousy track. Character A and B both know there is no romantic feelings, but Character C is seeing green because heyy, DRAMA!!

((This is one thing that disastrous Bajlo tomar alor benu did right, in respect to Minu and Rudra))

Another important thing - people can (and should, if you want it to be realistic) be morally grey. There is a phase between liking someone or hating them or wishing them to be dead or actually killing them. Also, not everyone has access to criminals and goons. I REPEAT, not everyone has a criminal connection, or the mental capacity to actually execute the plan to the T.

Thinking of murder, planning murder and straight up plunging a knife in someone's chest are different things. Remember the difference.

USE THE DIFFERENCE.

And while you are on it, learn the difference between attraction, appreciation and love.

We might be attracted to a particular quality - a physical attribute, a skill, a specific philosophy etc. We might appreciate that quality in a fellow human being. And we might be attracted to and appreciate the person with those qualities, but that doesn't mean that we would love them.

In the ocean of unnecessary romance angles and third wheels, this core difference is often brushed away in a bid to gain trps. Please don't do that.

Another checklist.

Ratings changing the story? ✅

Copy pasting tracks ✅

The world is grey ✅

Less criminal activity ✅

Not everything is love ✅

Would you look at that! I covered so many things. Fear not, I still have a lot to say. Mwahaha.

Not going to go into detail about my opinions on in-laws on ITV, because that is already covered here, but let's talk about the actual family.

The parents, siblings, cousins, relatives. Again, I am going to repeat myself and tell them to use the show Vs tell method. And actually focus on the dynamics because although the equations will change after marriage (for the male lead, the female lead will be cut off from her family 80% of the time), these relationships set the foundation for your character. Their personality. Motivation.

If you are going with a character who is distant, then by all means, do so, but do NOT ignore the family. Show that the character doesn't care.

Show it. Don't gloss over it.

That said, limit your exploration of characters and back stories. There is no hard or fast rule, but if it feels like too much focus, then it is too much focus. Go follow your basic INSTINCTS.

Okay, now is the time to come to the business side of writing for ITV. Bringing in popular characters, giving them smart dialogues and promoting them to the High Heavens. Wonderful trick. But do it in a subtle way. We will gladly let you play us, but only until we realise that we have been played. Subtly manipulate things. Subtly.

And, talking about that, let's also talk about how consistency is really important. Dumping black (or white) paint on characters would not wash away past grievances. It wouldn't remove the impression we already have. So if you want to portray someone in a positive light, work up to that point. Same with negative portrayals. Ease us into the change in perspective.

((Bajaj track in KZK2 is the perfect example of how the writers totally FAILED to follow this rule))

Also, if you are writing comedy, please hire good actors. Comedy is incredibly difficult, and if the performance isn't up to the mark, then it falls flat. And bad comedy is very annoying.

Another thing. If you have a social message, as in if the central theme is a social issue, do NOT forget your theme. And do not shove it down our throats. Don't make it preachy. Strive for balance.

And here, let me remind you that you do need a central theme, that's a very important part of your story. So pick a theme. And stick to it.

Think of your story like a human body.

Skeleton is the theme. The concept.

Blood is the undercurrents, the 'vibe'.

Organs are the characters.

Veins and arteries are the relationships.

Flesh is your plot.

Skin is the sub plots and side plots.

AND TOGETHER, THEY MAKE A STORY.

TOGETHER, THEY MAKE A STORY.

See how I repeated myself for emphasis? That's what you have to do, in a more subdued and complex way. I know you have it in you.

And because I wrote so much about adding sub plots and side characters, let's talk about what you shouldn't do, with me quoting myself:

Even CID, a show I loved to watch because it was a crime drama but less gruesome than what you would expect, could not escape tellywood’s clutches and turned into a chaotic mess with too many new characters and a massive shift in focus - in its last days, it was more of a romantic drama with the crime sprinkled in, and because there were so many new characters (who were boring 70% of time and annoying for the other 30%), I had ZERO interest in the series. The crimes have always been similar, what kept me hooked was the way they dealt with it and their group dynamics, which was ruined by bringing in a hoard of characters who contributed nothing to the story. And the Shreya-Daya track was a bad one from its conception, there was no need to drag it until my mild indifference turned into a major annoyance. And they could have avoided all of this. There was no need to ruin a perfectly good show with lazy, uncreative writing.

^ Bolded are the parts I consider important.

Also, let me take this opportunity to talk about shows similar to CID, in which every episode deals with a mini-plot and it is only the characters that remain the same. Crime dramas, medical dramas (although one the most popular ones on ITV - DMG was less about medicine and more about Jerk!Armaan and his jerk-ness and got rid of this problem in an innovative way that deserves an essay of its own, but I digress).

If the only thing remaining constant is your characters and their group dynamics, then do NOT throw in twenty new characters at once. Introduce them one at a time and limit the number of characters you will use. Keep the same cast for a decent chunk of time. Please. And do not add in multiple sub plots. The storyline is already a little blurry, jumping from case to case, so too much drama between the characters can be either too much to handle or just very, very boring. The focus is on the cases. Keep it there.

A show that did it quite well, was Goyenda Ginni, what with the overarching plot of a homemaker balancing housework and her passion for solving crimes. And because it was always about a family, with limited characters (bringing in spouses for the unmarried characters), it wasn't crowded.

Before I forget, here are some of my common issues with ITV and their writing department ⬇️

EK and her love for the child!track

Portrayal of marriage and relationship

^ And I must add that the Fic Which Must Not Be Named came into being because I couldn't accept the marriage trope for the two characters from the show that has become my latest obsession, even if the trope is shown in a negative light and the people in it are called out and they realise how wrong they are. #shaonHatesDealMarriages

The year 2020 and tellywood marriages

For the most part the last two links say the same things, but the wording and examples and the object of focus is different (this is how you hammer it home, CVs, write long posts on the same thing until the world learns about your hatred for said things. You're welcome 😎)

Also, something I remembered while writing the little note about forced marriages - acknowledge the wrongdoings of your characters, EVEN if they are the leads and you want people to love them. Glossing over the misdeeds wouldn't help, but accepting the truth, pointing out the flaws and then adding the reasoning behind the actions, and later on, writing in the realisation and apology for the act, is a much, much better idea. It is easier to forgive someone if their misdemeanor isn't shoved under the rug. But don't go overboard with the accusations. Repeating the truth multiple times only serves to annoy us.

Have I covered everything? I don't know. Feel free to ask me specific things in case you think I didn't comment on something. It is easy for me to forget about things while writing an answer as long as this. Not to mention, that I framed the first two-three paragraphs in my head while I stood under the shower, so in the rush to jot down everything I had thought of, I might have missed some stuff. Happens to the best of us, eh?

Coming to the second part of your question, I must admit, I am not the best at coming up with original premises. I like to dwell on the thoughts of the individual, delve deeper into their minds and do stuff - as evident in my love for the romance/drama genre, and why I love that ITV has so many shows in this genre. Why my writing (the drabbles I wrote last week), is more about the people than the plot. That's just who I am.

That said, I think I would do good with a team. Together, we can write a lot of things. ((Someone agree to do a collaborative fun writing project right now, I love those. We can make full use of all this free time and write a story of our own)).

No, seriously.

I love writing as a team.

[lady-divine-writes]

Klaine one-shot “Home Sweet Home?” (Rated NC17)

Summary:

While spending the first night in their brand new home, Blaine and Kurt come to realize that the old residents may not have exactly left yet. (2198 words)

Notes: Written for @sunshineoptimismandangels and inspired by the Klaine Valentines 2019 prompt 'You Take My Breath Away' by Queen.

Read on AO3.

“I can’t believe we finally got our own home!” Kurt giggles in throwback baby penguin fashion, his inner teenager clawing to the surface to pump a fist in the air in triumph as he climbs underneath the covers beside his husband. With no electricity turn on scheduled till the next afternoon, it’s nearly pitch black in their bedroom and cold as sin, but Kurt doesn’t care. Blaine’s body heat solves the temperature problem, and as for the darkness …

… it could turn out to be convenient.

“I know!” Blaine agrees, wrapping his arms around Kurt as he rests his head against Blaine’s chest. “Three bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths, guest rooms, a kitchen with a breakfast nook, an office, a den, and a cellar! Except for being a little run down, it’s in amazing condition! And it was a steal! I can’t believe there wasn’t a line of people out a mile trying to get their hands on it!”

“Some people are afraid of a little hard work when it comes to houses,” Kurt murmurs contentedly into his husband’s chest. “I can’t blame them. In this market, if you’re going to sink hundreds of thousands of dollars into a property, why buy a fixer-upper? It’s like buying someone else’s problems.”

“Or their mistakes.”

“Mm-hm. But my father always said buy the worst house in the best neighborhood and make it your own. And I trust my dad more than anyone.”

“So do I.” Blaine grins, mentally thanking his father-in-law for his advice … and for so much more, including this angel in his arms. “And there’s so much room! Other houses we saw at this price range were almost a third the size. At this rate, we won’t need to move after we have kids unless we want to.”

“Who would want to? We’re in such a good neighborhood, within walking distance to one of the best schools in the city, parks, museums, culture! Nope. I’m not moving,” Kurt declares, snuggling his husband tighter, burrowing symbolically into everything that represents home to him. “You’re going to be burying me in this house because I’m staying!”

“Then I’m going to be buried right next to you,” Blaine says, leaning down for a kiss.

“Aw, Mr. Ander-Hummel. That’s the most romantic thing you’ve ever said. Or the creepiest.”

“Let’s stick with romantic and go from there,” Blaine suggests, slipping cold hands underneath his husband’s long-sleeved flannel shirt. Kurt squirms at the touch, but retaliates with an even more frigid hand down his husband’s pants.

“Ooo!” Blaine yelps, shivers running down his spine. But only one of those is from the invasion on his warm skin. A handful are from something else, something he hears with his whole body – a faint but clear creak coming from downstairs in the general location of the kitchen. Kurt wraps his fingers around him and starts to stroke, but Blaine goes still, ears straining to catch a hint of that noise should it come around again.

“What … what’s wrong?” Kurt asks when Blaine doesn’t start bucking up into his fist.

“D---did … did you hear that?” Blaine stutters. He pictures the kitchen in his head: painted bright yellow with windows all around that let in tons of sunlight during the day, and a white-washed door that leads to their back yard. It’s a decent amount of space for being located right outside a major city. Kurt plans on turning it into a garden. It’s fenced in with a locked gate. Sure someone could climb it, but why go through the trouble when so many other houses don’t have a fence?

As far as Blaine remembers, he locked the back door and the windows, secured the shutters and pulled the drapes. Coming from the city, they even put a brace against the doorknob for extra protection, even though the few neighbors they’ve met claim the neighborhood is so safe, you could forget to lock your doors and you’d be fine.

Could the neighbors be playing up the safety of the place so that he and Kurt wouldn’t have second thoughts?

Is there a chance he forgot a window?

Blaine was in such a hurry to get upstairs and ready for bed, could it have slipped his mind?

Could someone have snuck in? Are they now prowling around the kitchen, on their way into the living room and up the stairs to where Kurt and Blaine lay in bed, completely unaware that a killer is loose in their house!?

“Hmm? No,” Kurt mutters, kissing a path of distraction down Blaine’s neck. “What did it sound like?”

“It sounded like …” Blaine gulps hard, Kurt’s kisses doing their job well except for one icy prickle at the base of his neck that’s telling him they’re not alone “… footsteps … downstairs … i-in the kitchen.”

“It’s probably the house settling.” Kurt starts on the buttons to Blaine’s pajama top, misinterpreting his trembling for excitement. “Old houses do that all the time. When I first moved into the basement of our old house, it was a nightmare. The wood creaking and moaning …”

Blaine’s eyebrows lift. Despite his bone-chilling fear, he grins. “Moaning, huh?”

“Yeah.” Kurt hooks his thumbs in the waistband of Blaine’s pants and gives them a tug down. “Or … our house could be haunted.” Kurt snickers, nibbling Blaine’s earlobe while his hands creep up his shirt. “New England style house in a historic neighborhood? Maybe we’re living with the ghost of Paul Revere, hmm? Preparing for his epic ride? The British are coming …” Those words fall against Blaine’s collarbone, coming dancing across his skin like the fractured edge of burgeoning orgasm. “The British are coming …”

Blaine responds with soft gasps and hums, at a loss for a coherent comeback with the word coming ringing through his ears in Kurt’s silvery tenor.

“Maybe we should start making some noise of our own. Drown him out.”

“Yeah,” Blaine agrees, the potential of a serial killer climbing their stairs to slaughter them in their Laura Ashley sheets replaced by memories of his husband’s sinful noises, his pleading for more, his whimpering when he’s so so close. “Maybe we should.”

Kurt doesn’t need to be told twice. Actually, he didn’t need to be told once. He already has Blaine’s pants pulled down to mid-thigh, grinding his crotch down over him, teasing his cock with the soft flannel of his pajama pants until Blaine starts to moan.

“Ooh, Kurt,” he whines, reaching for Kurt’s kisses with his hungry mouth while Kurt pins him down with his body. “Ooh … ooh … oh, God … ooh …”

“Ooh ooh ooh ooh …”

A haunting voice rises up from the corner of the room, shadowing Blaine’s every time he moans. Kurt doesn’t seem to notice, but Blaine does, since the echo doesn’t sound like him at all.

“Kurt?”

“Yes?”

“Stop for a moment,” Blaine commands. “Just … stay quiet.”

“Oh …” Kurt smirks, misunderstanding. “That’s the way you want to play it. Okay. I can be quiet. I won’t … make … a sound …”

“No,” Blaine says, his brain crying, his erection aching, his entire body begging, ‘Yes!’. “No, that’s not what I mean.”

Kurt frowns at his husband, beyond frustrated. “Then what do you …?”

“Ooh ooh …”

Kurt’s head pops up like a rabbit’s in the snow, sensing the presence of an approaching fox.

“Ooh ooh …”

In the corner of the room, a blue light simmers, cutting through the dark with its stark brightness. Blaine sees it face forward, over Kurt’s back, but Kurt sees it in the reflection of Blaine’s eyes. Both men gulp hard as the light pulses and the moaning continues.

“Ooh ooh ooh …”

…

“Ooh ooh ooh …”

…

Kurt turns slowly, looks over his shoulder. The blue light strobes but only for a second. Then it blinks out of existence.

But the moaning continues.

Only it’s not moaning, Kurt realizes first.

It’s singing.

Ooh ooh ooh take it take it all away

Ooh ooh ooh ooh - ooh take my breath away – ooh

Ooh ooh ooh ooh

Ooh you take my breath away

Kurt sighs, relief seeping into a bubbly laugh. “Blaine! It’s just Alexa! It’s playing music!”

“Okay but no one said Alexa,” Blaine insists. “It woke up on its own!”

“They’ve been known to do that. I read about it on Twitter.”

“Now it’s playing Queen! No one asked for Queen!”

“It’s in your cloud. Alexa chose it at random. It’s got some decent taste.” Kurt chuckles. “And an impeccable sense of romantic timing. It’s either the best wingman ever or the worst …”

A loud thunk stops Kurt’s commentary in its tracks. He rises up again, listening for the origin of the noise, sounding like a baseball cracked by a bat. He can’t determine where the noise came from, but he knows this.

The music has stopped.

“Alexa?” he calls out as if the device were a real live person in the room with them. When it doesn’t respond, he crawls to the end of the bed in search of it. “Alexa? Why did you stop …?”

He doesn’t finish his question.

That’s okay. He doesn’t need Alexa to answer.

He knows what that thunk was.

It was Alexa, no longer sitting on the floor in the corner of the room but now rolling on its side against the far wall … over ten feet away.

“How the hell …?” Kurt looks questioningly at Blaine, sitting up and peeking past Kurt, seeing what Kurt sees. He shakes his head in subconscious response.

“It was on the floor,” Kurt explains needlessly. “How could it …?”

Crash!

Their bedroom window breaking sends Kurt scrambling to the head of the bed. He dives underneath the covers, pulling the comforter over his and Blaine’s head to protect them from flying glass.

“OhmyGod, ohmyGod, ohmyGod, ohmyGod!”

“Shhh!” Blaine holds his husband tight to stop him from shaking to pieces. “Shhh! Try to keep quiet! We don’t want anyone knowing we’re here!”

Kurt nods, fighting anxiety to bite his lips shut and lie still as stone to wait for the aftermath - another crash, crunching glass, cruel laughter, the squeal of tires peeling down the street.

Nothing else comes, not even a breath of wind. It had been howling outside before they’d retired, but there isn’t a whisper of it now. Kurt’s breathing slows and Blaine’s follows. After ten more seconds of silence, they peek out from beneath the covers to inspect the damage.

But there is none.

The windows are intact, locked to their sills, their shutters drawn, just like the ones downstairs.

And with the absence of Alexa’s blinking blue light, the room is pitch black again.

“Oh hell no!” Kurt yells. “Do not tell me we moved into a haunted house!”

“It is Boston,” Blaine says, eyes scanning the room with vigilance. “The odds were pretty high, all things considered.”

Kurt leaps out of bed and heads for the light switch. “I’m not sleeping in the dark with a ghost!”

“Kurt!” Blaine reaches for his husband, grabbing for an arm, a leg, anything before he runs off too far. “We don’t have electricity!”

Kurt stops a foot from the bedroom door, eyes wide as saucers when he sees it’s not closed all the way, the chill breeze running through the house from a leak somewhere causing it to swing forward and back by inches, revealing glimpses of an ink black hallway. “Shit!” he says, bolting back to the safety of the bed. “I forgot!”

“Wh---what should we do?” Blaine asks, eyes shifting side to side, on high alert for whatever else might happen, what furniture may fly … or what phantom might phase through the walls.

“Candles!” Kurt says, opening the drawers to the dresser beside the bed and rummaging through them blindly. “And flashlights! Find every one you can and light it! Tomorrow I’m going to call that realtor and rip her a new one! No wonder she worked so hard to sell us on this place, bend over backward for all our demands, how flippin’ eager the sellers were to drop the price at every turn! Even my dad said we went from tour to escrow quicker than anyone he’s ever known in his life!”

“D-do you think we should get proof? So she’ll believe us? Should we try to take a picture of it?” Blaine picks his cell phone up off the bedside table and switches on the camera app. “If nothing else, that might tell us what we’re dealing with.”

Kurt stares at his husband with the round blue eyes of a frightened foal. “Is that a picture you want to see!?” he squeals.

Blaine looks at his blank phone screen. He imagines taking a picture of the space above their bed and seeing the ghoulish, twisted face of some ungodly creature. It might be there right now; staring at him in amusement; sharp, blood-stained teeth gnashing inches from his head; but at least he doesn’t have to look at it.

“Nope,” Blaine decides, switching to his flashlight app instead. “Not in the slightest.”

[kinarchist]

Tumblr Can Be Good, Actually

You know, for as much as Tumblr has gotten this reputation for being “bottom of the barrel” for the kin community, I’m gonna share a hot take here: Tumblr has actually become a pretty decent place for the development of the kin communities, has evolved a lot since its early years, and nowhere else have I seen the amount of freedom in just sharing personal experiences and throwing out ideas in ways forums don’t always freely allow for since they’re entirely topical and discussion-based. I’ve seen so much progress being made in the communities here. There’s nuanced discussion happening about the overlap in different sorts of nonhuman identity, about choice and agency in it, about other forms of alterhumanity. We’ve finally accepted species dysphoria as genuine and worth talking about and getting support for. We’ve started pushing back against respectability politics and hard grilling and denial-of-self as the default way of questioning. We’re even moving toward discussions of mental health and acceptance of psychotic otherkin, which is HUGE honestly. There’s so much GOOD that’s happened on this site, despite Disk-Horse (discourse) and drama that pops up from time to time, and some misunderstandings between communities and generations, it’s still such an open and interesting space. You know what I wanna argue is bottom-of-the-barrel? Otherkin Reddit. On Reddit? You can’t mention Tumblr without losing all credibility and being called Tumblrkin. If someone is being an asshole, or needs to be corrected, then any reply where you aren’t the most nonchalant and emotionless person passing yourself off as someone who looks down on “Tumblrkin” etc, gets you dismissed as “being offended” or “getting defensive” and “you didn’t read my post.” They cherry-pick arguments and are so far behind on the conversations we’re having here that they don’t even know what ‘alterhuman’ means, and when I explained to someone it was dismissed as a “Tumblrkin” thing and ignored. Everything is an argument, and if you say anything that goes against the grain we’ve pushed back against here on Tumblr, prepare to be harassed by someone and downvoted into silence. Here? I can mention Reddit as a source just fine. I can disagree with people and not expect to instantly be called out and ignored because I’m “just looking for something to be offended by.” I’m not grilled and I don’t have to pretend to be the same kind of asshole just to get through to people here. My posts will still get seen, even if they’re controversial. We have an equal platform. Yea, Forums have their upsides and Tumblr has it’s downsides. But honestly? Reddit is garbage and I think deserves the “bottom of the barrel” title far more than this site does. :V I’m not saying we need a new pecking order or anything, nor is the point of this post to just shit on Reddit. It’s more to show how much we should really appreciate the community here.

[utopianparadoxist]

So when rose went grimdark she was role playing a witch of Void, and when Jane went crockerteir she was forced into the heir role. So what role was jade forced into when she was turned grimbark? Or am I misunderstanding the theory?

This question hits upon a lot of nuances that I’m not sure about myself, so I want to be clear that I don’t have this system figured out by any means. I think it’s consistent enough now that it’s worth talking about, just because there’s so many cases built up, but I don’t understand everything about how it works and I don’t want anyone to regard me as being particularly In The Know, here.

I’m figuring this out as I go along with everyone! And tons of times stuff that other people say sets off a cascade of new startling revelations. This is at least a weekly occurence lately.

So first up, as to Jade:

It’s a possibility that Grimbark is just a joke/parody, so it’s hard to tell if this is just a joke/comment and she’s really only acting like a Witch. Which means I’m not sure, but if she’s roleplaying at all, I’d say her acting like a thief might be a solid bet. It’d mean she’s acting More Active than usual, which does line up with her behavior.

Gotta stress though: I don’t really know if this is a case where roleplay applies. Rose got way longer, so she’s under the cut.

As for Rose, I’d say: In my view, not exactly, with the caveat that I’m honestly not sure here either?

I think Rose is roleplaying as a Witch, and I think she’s doing so partly because she imagines her mom as a Witch (Rose’s inability to really understand Mom is a key part of their conflict, after all). But there’s two important nuances I’d like to clear up:

1) It’s important to understand that Rose trying to be a Witch doesn’t mean she’s not being a Seer! It’s easiest to understand Roleplay as the characters adding Verbs/Archetypal symbols to their behaviors, with their true classes as intrinsic verbs they can’t change.

So Vriska can try to Make stuff and gets associated with Fairy-dom. She can discard that behavior, eventually. But she can’t discard her instincts to Steal/Take things, nor the associated outlaw/pirate imagery.

The same applies to Rose. She’s still a Prophet, and in many cases her Witch behavior acts in service to her prophetic behavior (using magic to tear the prophetic text she wrote into the Void, for example.).

And as she’s also behaving more like an Active class, this also makes her more like an active Prophet. Indeed, Rose is also referenced as a Mage at least once.

I’m not sure what parts of this are actual references and what parts are me reading too much into things, though. I’m just saying the symbolism surrounding this stuff can get muddled, and I’m not enormously sure where the lines get drawn.

2) I don’t think she’s roleplaying a Witch of Void specifically. I think the Void stuff surrounding Rose is likely a side effect–the more she commits to the Witch persona, the more her powers manifest “in defiance of her true Aspect”.And in Homestuck, powers manifesting that way generally tend to default to manifesting as the “opposing” Aspect.

In other words: Rose is just roleplaying a Witch, and aspect switching is what happens with any case of roleplay that’s unhealthy enough. Aspect “inversion” just seems to be the default, when that does occur.

At least, that’s the way I usually feel.

But because of Xefros, Dammek, and Joey, I don’t really think that’s necessarily the rule. So maybe the Void part is also Roxy’s influence after all??? It wouldn’t quite be unprecedented. Hal–A Prince of Heart’s– emulation of Dave–A Knight of Time– includes him trying to take over the temporal logistics. So maybe that’s the case after all.

What I will say is that in one respect, it’s crucial to understand Rose as both a Witch of Light and a Witch of Void.

A Witch always has a Familiar, intrinsically linked to their Aspect:

And how succesful they are at self-actualization is linked to how well they take control of their lives from their Familiar, which will protect them, but also try to  control them. Jade has Becquerel, a Space Familiar. Feferi has Gl’bolyb, a Life familiar.

In Damara’s case, that Familiar is literally a Patriarch–Lord English, an embodiment of Time itself. And unhappy, miserable, isolated Damara decides she wants to serve him completely.

That’s why the Damara God Tier in the final army against him is such a big deal, because it means a version of her succeeded in rebelling against her familiar and asserting her true feelings.

Rose, then, has two Witch familiars, who work together to manipulate her.Her familiars of Void are the Horrorterrors, of course. Interesting that to Feferi, Gl’bolyb is just a fact of life, a reality she has to deal with. To Rose, the horrorterrors represent the absolutely unknowable and unimaginable.

Her Familiar of Light is Doc Scratch. It’s easy enough to say the Cueball represents omniscient knowledge, information, and so Light. But Scratch’s light coding goes quite a bit deeper.

Doc Scratch is an alias for the Devil, or Lucifer. Lucifer is a fallen angel, known as the “Morning Star”, or “Lightbringer.” There are also a decent amount of historical references to Lucifer as a Prince of hell. And Scratch, it so happens, is predominantly made from the soul of AR–a Prince.

He’s also Rose’s literal Patriarch, since being Dirk’s clone, he is technically her uncle. So yeah, I think  Rose’s relationship to Scratch and the Horrorterrors is more visceral and understandable that way, and I wouldn’t want that nuance to be lost because we’re still reading her exclusively as a Witch of Void.There’s actually a LOT MORE nuance to Scratch’s presentation than I’m expressing here,(surprise! Scratch is also roleplaying!) but this post has to end sometime. So that’s it for now.

Everyone can feel free to send me whatever insights they have one way or another on either point, I just can’t say I have all the answers. I think I’m onto something here, but if I am we’re more than likely gonna uncover most of it together.

[sergeant-angels-trashcan]

so I, myself, cannot believe the words I am about to say, but here it is: 

the show did something better than the books.

that thing is Jorah Mormont.

Now, I feel like show!Jorah being an exceptionally better person than book!Jorah has more to do with the fundamental misunderstanding of the character by d&d than any active thought process on their part...

I think book!jorah is an obsessive dudebro. He’s inappropriate and creepy, and Dany still has to deal with him because he has experience of her home, etc, etc, though with Selmy on the scene Jorah’s narrative function is no longer his alone and Selmy does it better. 

Show!Jorah is another thing entirely. I feel like it’s partially Iain Glen’s fault. Does anybody else look at Iain Glen and hear I Need A Hero playing in the background or is that just me...?

A lot of show decisions are based on actors. The way an actor handles a character is going to change how you write them, and who you cast is going to change dynamics as well (look at what happens when you cast Missandei as an adult, not a ten-year old child) Honestly I think a lot of choices d&d make can be attributed to how they feel about their actors (like everything that’s gone on with Sansa but that’s another post)

So basically, Iain Glen is a dreamy sort of fella. I want him to be a romantic hero. Hell, in the show I root for him to wind up with Dany because--stay with me here--show!jorah has none of the super offputting dudebro qualities that book!jorah has in spades.

book!jorah is creepily projecting his wife onto dany, while show!jorah...doesn’t? I don’t think we get that big of an exchange about her in the show but it’s been a while, I could be wrong

Where book!jorah tries to keep other men away from Dany, show!jorah encourages her to have other advisors. he doesn’t jealously guard her time or try to scare other people off (particularly if they could be military allies!) just because they are attractive men who his queen likes

where book!jorah touches dany without permission, coming into her rooms while she’s naked and kissing her, show!jorah, while occasionally reaching out to touch dany, immediately takes his hands off of her when she says “no.” I’m going to talk about this more in a bit, but how Jorah physically interacts with Dany is a huge difference between the book and the show.

show!jorah sees Daario leaving Dany’s rooms and instead of acting like a jealous pissbaby, acts like a decent person and doesn’t try to make her feel bad about it--apart from general “he’s a sellsword they aren’t exactly honorable” kind of thing, which i believe any of her advisors would do in that situation. jorah then goes on to give her good advice! and make a really great plea for mercy! a plea that, imho, only works because Dany has a good relationship with Jorah, one where he doesn’t creep on her.

show!jorah has matured and learned from his mistakes in a way book!jorah hasn’t, and i’m not sure if he ever will. 

book!jorah tells dany he loves her, expecting it will change her mind--expecting he will get something in return for it (a Nice Guy). show!jorah tells her he loves her as an explanation in and of itself. I don’t think he actually believes it will change her mind, he just wants her to know. She tells him it’s a shitty reason and exiles him, and he goes because he knows she’s right to do it.

book!jorah then goes and finds a prostitute that looks like dany....show!jorah just takes up alcoholism. both have problematic interactions with Tyrion, but while book!jorah seems to be passively accepting his fate when they are captured by slavers, show!joarah still has a pretty single-minded purpose--to deliver his Lannister bargaining chip to Daenerys. This might not seem great--his actions to get to fight in front of her might not seem great, either--but I still think there’s an...an intent, there, that book!jorah is incapable of. The opening of the fighting pits is a multilayered dramatic device in the books and the show, but in the show I think it seems as more of an active penance for Jorah. This is his way of helping her--trying to lessen the amount of pain and bloodshed she has to witness--but also, if if his death will help her, will make her stronger or atone for this crime against her, he’s willing to do that. 

Clearly, he hopes she will save him. And she doesn’t, but the all hell breaks loose and he helps save her. 

show!jorah works to return to dany, but when she tells him to go, he does. even when he is exiled, he is still looking for ways to protect her, or to get her to her end goal of Westeros. It’s not so she owes him anything; it’s to pay his debt. 

show!jorah goes to rescue dany, with Daario, a dude he hates as a person, but who he respects as someone who has done good service for Dany. Then, when Dany is tearing herself up a bit about what to do with him, Jorah is basically like “you don’t have to un-banish me, you actually really need to banish me because I’m going to die a slow horrible death by greyscale”. I don’t think book!jorah is capable of that. If he is, it will be a huge turning point for his character, because this is a very selfless thing to do. I think it would be more likely that book!jorah would use catching greyscale as a bargaining chip with dany (if he does contract the disease in the books, which i find highly unlikely, at least while they’re in essos)

is show!jorah perfect? no. I’m not arguing that. he’s a flawed character. he does good things for bad reasons and bad things for bad reasons. but show!jorah is in a completely different league than book!jorah re: ownership, women, and what he’s owed.

the way iain and emilia play this relationship is a huge deal for me, too. particularly once he comes to dragonstone, iain’s jorah is very careful not to touch dany without her initiating it (the reunion hug, their farewell on the beach where she reaches for his hands). he doesn’t impose. the way book! and show!jorah physically interact with dany is so different and I think it’s so important. 

and while i am surprisingly grateful to d&d for once, i do think they miss the point with jorah.

book!jorah is that creepy coworker/boss/regular customer that all women have to deal with at some point in their lives. he’s a very clear stand-in for the sort of “casual” sexism women often face. the show has boiled away almost all of that for dany’s storyline, though, so i guess i’m not surprised. show!jorah is like...the antithesis of the Nice Guy™. sure, he screws up, yes he has flaws, but he doesn’t think he owns dany, or that she owes him anything (and if he did ever think that, him getting caught out as an informant put and end to that).

to sum up: i think show!jorah feels remorse. book!jorah is just sad he got caught

so bascially show!jorah>book!jorah, and if you ever see me say nice things about him, rest assured it’s show!jorah

[tigerlover16-uk]

What do you think of the sentiment that Vegeta is getting shafted in Super because he hasn't gotten enough fights this saga and still hasn't killed a main villain?

It’s a load of crock.

Vegeta is one of the most prominent characters in the Dragon Ball canon, and the character who’s gotten the most screen time and relevance in Super after Goku.

Let’s recap shall we. He was the most prominent supporting character in the battle of gods saga, spending a lot of time trying to keep Beerus calm and almost succeeded in getting him to spare the earth and simply give up looking for the super saiyan God before Buu screwed all that up, and then was the only character to put up anything vaguely resembling a decent fight against the God before Goku ascended later, and he played a role in the ssjg ritual as well.

He was prominent throughout the Resurrection F saga, got to kill Captain Ginyu, and managed to ascend to super saiyan blue through sheer vigorous training with Whis for half a year, effectively one upping Goku who had the power of the Gods handed to him initially via a ritual, something Goku regrets because it didn’t feel satisfying. Meaning Vegeta will always have that over Goku. Sure, he didn’t kill Frieza, but that was his own fault for being too slow to finish him and honestly it never felt like a big deal to me.

Vegeta defeated THREE out of five of the universe 6 team in the Champa saga. THREE. Most of their team. In a saga where Buu got shafted, Piccolo had a decent showing against Frost that emphasized his strategic brilliance, but was actively cheated out of his win by Frost cheating with a poison needle, and Vegeta outright forcing him to forfeit before he could fight anyone else just so he could have a crack at Frost.

The Future Trunks saga was full of scenes highlighting Vegeta’s character development by showing how different his relationship with Future Trunks is now. True, he did get defeated twice by Goku Black, once being bad luck due to being surprised by super saiyan rose and being stabbed through the chest (Though despite that he still saved Goku and Trunks by stopping a fatal attack aimed at them), but then near the end he got to deliver an epic and satisfying beatdown to Goku Black to make up for that, and we got that epic father-son galick gun, and the return of Vegito. In a saga that was really more about Future Trunks and giving him the cool power ups and final fight against the main villain (Though not exactly victory), Vegeta got off pretty decently with a fair amount of screen time.

Vegeta appears in a number of breather episodes, and gets tons of shipping moments with Bulma and plenty of decent character moments to himself overall.

And in the Universe Survival saga we got to see further character development from Vegeta involving his reactions to the birth of Bulla, and during the tournament he’s gotten to take out half of universe 9 together with Goku, fought several characters like Ribrianne, eliminated Prum and Dr Rota, as well as Magetta, one of Universe 6′s best fighters. And we know he’ll have an episode involving his relationship with Cabba coming up soon.

Quite frankly, Vegeta has been doing very well for himself. He gets more than most characters do.

And what is this obsession people have with seeing Vegeta, or just their favourite characters in general, killing the main villain of a saga? Goku usually does that because he’s the main character, Dragon Ball as a whole is his story that’s about him and his struggles and progress, so it’s his JOB to defeat the main villains. The only real exceptions were General Blue, who got his butt kicked more by Arale and offed by Tao, Vegeta himself because beating him was a team effort between Goku, Krillin, Gohan and Yajirobe, Gohan with Cell, and Future Trunks and Zen’o with Zamasu.

In the latter case it was because the Future Trunks saga was more said characters story than anyone elses, and with Gohan he was the secondary protagonist throughout DBZ, and was intended at one point to become the main character, so he was an exception. Other than that though, the other characters play SUPPORTING roles, defeating the minion villains, performing other useful duties like gathering the dragon balls and making useful wishes or helping with strategies, or getting beaten to ramp up the tension, have their own lives outside of and coinciding with all the saving the world stuff Goku gets drawn into. And occasionally helping in the major fights but not being the main focus. etc etc. You know, things that supporting characters DO.

A characters worth in a series is not determined by whether they get to beat one of the main villains or not. It’s determined by how well written and developed they are, and how much they contribute in general. And most of Dragon Ball’s characters are well written and interesting in their own right, and have their share of good accomplishments. Vegeta himself has a pretty high body count of defeated villains and other opponents, has had some of the most character development of any characters, plays crucial roles at various points throughout Z and Super (And newsflash: KId Buu’s defeat is partly attributed to him because the spirit bomb was his idea, and he helped hold Buu off long enough so it could actually be formed), and is generally a good character who gets plenty of screen time, as much as he’s worth as the main character’s biggest rival, a major secondary villain throughout most of Z, and is arguably the secondary protagonist for most of Super.

To say Vegeta is getting shafted is like saying Iron Man got shafted in the first Avengers movie because he didn’t get to actually beat Thor in that fight they had.

You want to know what it looks like when a character with potential is being shafted?

Uub was set up by the end of Z to be Goku’s student, a new secondary protagonist, and a probably candidate for new main character in new stories going forward beyond that point.

Then Toei made GT, and they tossed him away in the first episode not to be seen until half way through the show. Where he went on to get his butt handed to him twice, get no development and very little fleshing out, had his only noteworthy contribution in the whole series be to distract Baby briefly so the other characters could power Goku up, and otherwise he only shows up later to get easily beaten up by the main villains without any effort. You could write him out of the show completely, and literally nothing of value would be lost from GT in it’s present state. This from a guy who likely should have had the same prominence Gohan had in Z, or been the main character.

Or, if you want some examples in Super itself.

Majin Buu got all of one fight in Super that wasn’t him getting slapped around by Beerus and that fun little sparring match with Goku as Fit Buu. Other than that, he keeps getting left out of contributing to most conflicts because he literally keeps falling asleep! He hasn’t even had his own breather episode.

Tien did have the most character progression he’s gotten since his fight with Mercenary Tao in that he’s now running his own dojo and training students in Ki control. But his fighting performance? He got his butt handed to him by Roshi and Gohan before the tournament, and in the tournament of power itself his role amounted to “Ring out a guy Roshi had paralysed” and pull an “I’m taking you with me” on Hermila when he sent Tien out of the arena. It was underwhelming, to say the least.

Piccolo I already mentioned how things went for him in the Champa saga, and so far he’s only had some minor scuffles in the Tournament of Power, his cute Uncle Piccoyo moments with Pan, some bonding moments with Gohan here and there, and training Gohan to regain his mystic form and overcome his flaws as a fighter. Which, those moments are good, but they’re few and far between and he hasn’t had a single great fight to himself or a true moment of glory yet.

Goten has still barely done anything going on four sagas, and the only thing we have to expect from him aside from maybe eventually growing into his EoZ self at some point if the show ever goes close to that point in the timeline (Which we still have no idea about yet) is a possible episode involving him, Trunks and Marron protecting Android 17′s island from Poachers. Which, still no word on that after a dozen or so episodes.

And I could give several more examples, plus NUMEROUS other examples from GT, and even some examples from DBZ itself.

But please, tell me again how Vegeta isn’t getting as much screentime as he could and how Super is being totally unfair to him. I really sympathise.

The only people who think Vegeta is getting the short end of the stick in Super are people who misunderstand his role and place in the series, and VASTLY overestimate his importance, and underestimate or are outright dismissive of most other characters in the series. Which is most of his fanbase, aka the source of so many of the bad attitudes and problems in the Dragon Ball fandom.

And keep in mind, I say all this as a big FAN of the character, someone who considers Vegeta their second favourite character in the franchise (Though admittedly it sometimes switches between him and Gohan depending on how I feel and how things are going at a certain point, but Vegeta’s usually at that spot).

Just because certain people WANT a character to get more screentime and prominence in the series, doesn’t mean that character is necessarily entitled to it. There are more than a dozen other characters in Super that actively need some extra screentime and stuff to do a lot more. To anyone who thinks Vegeta is being shafted… imagine his role in Super played out the same way as Tien’s.

As a fan of the character, I’m grateful for the focus Vegeta’s gotten, but I’d be happy if he had less going forward or his role in previous stories was actively lessened in places if it meant giving the other supporting characters more good moments and achievements, and generally more important roles in the story.

I await the flood of hate comments I’m going to get for this post for “Hating” on Vegeta, even though I’m pointing out that he gets it good and several positive things in his favour and making it clear I don’t have anything against the character.

[uk-news-talking-politics]

I'm Broken, Britain: The DWP tells us to self-censor our own disability

By anonymous

Just when I thought I'd seen the worst the Department of Work and Pensions had to throw at us, they came up with something new. A document has surfaced which gives guidance to those who face disability and illness. The advice includes:

"Avoid words that sound worse than they are.

You may find it helpful to use official diagnosis terms, e.g. Multiple Sclerosis, PTSD

Equally, you may wish to avoid terms such as depression, M.E., or low back pain, etc. and use more general terms such as; low mood or a mental health condition, a fatigue-related condition, an ongoing pain condition, etc…"

Having suffered with ME for most of my life, I am well acquainted with stigma and misunderstanding, but for the DWP and Jobcentre to actually suggest that I should avoid using my diagnosis - well, ironically, I'm still yet to find the appropriate words.

The shadow minister for disabled people, Marsha De Cordova, raised her concerns about the advice in the House of Commons and there was outrage in the press. But once it subsides, we're still left with the feeling that we just don't belong and have no place in the working world.

To me personally there's a further irony. I have actually done as the DWP suggests. I do hide and obfuscate my illness when it comes to the world of employment.

I was forced to attend mandatory jobseeker meetings recently as a requisite of receiving employment support allowance. I was quickly told that I was overqualified for this particular jobcentre to be able to find me employment. Same old story really: I fell between the cracks. My CV is fairly interesting with some decent accolades, but I can't maintain a nine-to-five working life due to the unrelenting impact of the illness. I'm left on the sidelines of the working world.

Like so many other people with ME, or other pain and exhaustion based illnesses, you simply do not know what your health is going to throw at you from one minute to the next. Continuity is laughable. For the jobcentre to tell us how we should speak about our own conditions is deeply insulting and goes against every unwritten rule in a patient-led narrative.

We have been instructed to manipulate the facts and lie in order to stand a better chance of attracting employment which inherently will not be suited to our nuanced needs. But even if that worked, it would simply get us into a job we'd be incapable of doing.

As I mentioned in a previous blog, we need to reinvent the workplace to allow disabled people to have access - making print bigger, moving workstations to the ground floor, and also on more substantial issues, like timings and workloads.

Give me a job to do and I'll stubbornly get it done, but you really wouldn't want to see the carnage that my life and health goes through in making it happen. I know that each and every task that I undertake will be paid for with an inordinate amount of pain, with potentially days lost to exhaustion, and with my loved ones picking up a lot of slack.

And yet, I still choose to write this blog from the safety of anonymity. I fully understand how much of a hypocrite this makes me. It's just easier for me to maintain the masquerade and pretend to be a working member of society than it is to hold my hands up to the fact that I've never been able to find paid employment and I rely on my parents and partner in equal measure to 'keep me'.

The real solution to the question of disabled people and work is hard and expensive: Making workplaces more open and thinking about how to help disabled people operate within them. Instead, the SWP just told people to self-censor their illness so they could sneak in, and didn't care what would happen afterwards.