#i know the relationship between bella and edward is so toxic but I'm just a victim of early 2010's pop culture

[braidedriver24]

*me rewatching new moon (2009): the sudden urge to dye your hair red, run through the forest and blasting Hearing Damage by Thom Yorke in your ears

[dooplissss]

i saw your tags on that post, can you tell me about the homestuck quadrants? i was hugely into homestuck like 10 years ago but i’ve forgotten almost everything. i want to remember the ancient ways

* cracks knuckles >:) *

Matesprit ❤️ is easy, its just what humans see as romance and true love etc. One of the two reproductive quadrants, yadda yadda you get it.

Examples: - Morticia <3 Gomez - Ruby <3 Sapphire - Darcy <3 Elizabeth, with arguably some grey/black romance thru the story but thats what makes it so enduring

Moirails ♦️ is my personal favorite quadrant and is fairly straightforward, tho the canon definition is different from fanon. In fanon, its interpreted basically as best friends/queerplatonic, which, yeah, can and usually does happen with that proximity and thats why I love it, but in canon its more a power balance to prevent violence and death, typically with one figure reining back a more chaotic one. When applying to humans and other fandoms tho its better to lean toward the slightly fanon interpretation since Alternia's violent culture is so different from ours.

Examples: - Nepeta <> Equius - Aziraphale <> Crowley (obvi the situation is changing but lets leave this here) - Dean <> Castiel (obvi i'm team matesprit but canonically they belong here up til cas declares his love) - Joel <> Ellie (this is a strictly platonic quadrant dw) - Caleb <> Nott/Veth (I want to shake liam and sam so bad and explain that the relationship they were looking for was right here and they didnt have to awkwardly choose between romance and friendship)

Auspictice ♣️is the one everyone gets wrong and drives me the most insane. It's a tricky and very specific balancing dynamic thats hard to find, except maybe on the CW. Canonically, its a group of three people, two (left and right leaves) want to outright kill each other. This does not make them kismesis, I cannot stress that enough, kismesis don't want each other dead, but we'll get there in a sec. The third person is meant to prevent them from killing each other, being the mediator. Its rare for this dynamic to not be outright toxic, esp in human examples, but its a healthy option on Alternia to prevent unnecessary murder. I think this dynamic is meant to be temporary tho, even in that culture, as it weighs on the mediator a lot.

Examples: - Eridan <3< Sollux ^ Feferi, unfortunately unsuccessful showing how difficult and straining this relationship type is (also everyone who said eridan and sollux were kismesis owes me $5, I'll become a millionaire instantly) - Edward <3< Jacob ^ Bella - Pearl <3< Greg ^ Steven, a happy ending example of an auspictice (ignore the ptsd)

Kismesis ♠️is. man where do I begin. its so good. its such a fun dynamic, especially when you have a pairing that gets it just right. Kismesis is perfect enemies, arch-rivals that share a mutual respect and drive each other to improve themselves to better outwit their opponent. Its when a captain sees one of their ships on fire and smiles, knowing just who did it. Its tipping your opponents head up by the tip of a sword. Its the bad guy showing up at your doorstep because theres no one else they trust more than their greatest nemesis. Its the other reproductive quadrant because its just as deep and passionate as true love, and it can in fact switch between love and hate very easily and often.

Examples: - Quark <3< Odo (imo the BEST non-homestuck example) - Batman <3< Joker (friend hates when i say this but i'm right, esp with lego batman) - Xavier <3< Magneto - Light <3< L - God <3< Satan, why not lmao

I wish homestuck was seen as less cringe bc the quadrants are SOOO FUN to apply to ships and dynamics in other fandoms and contexts. At the same time, people get the quadrants wrong constantly, especially between kismesis and auspictice. And the quadrants aren't static, you don't have to lock a ship in just one forever! feelings change and very easily turn from black to red to black again, its all so complicated and fun to watch.

Hope all this makes sense lmao, thanks for the ask!

[liljusto0oo]

Romeo and Juliet

I've never really wanted a love like Romeo and Juliet. They were willing to, and did, die for each other, but that never really seemed appealing to me. I want a relationship that has all the little imperfections. All the little stupid arguments about things that don't actually really matter because that's what makes it unique. The more little arguments and spats in between make you closer. They make you understand each other more. That's all I ever really wanted. Was to be understood.

After coming out of a relationship of two years, with a girl I really thought was going to be my end all, be all, I've realized that sometimes, no matter how much you love a person, not everything is meant to be. Even though I loved her like I've never loved anyone before, we couldn't have stayed together. She'd always run away from arguments. Leave when she was mad and deflect so hard that nothing would ever get resolved. It was tiring. I'm the kind of person that just wants to be heard. I just want someone to understand me. I want our arguments to make us stronger as a couple. Not pull us further apart. And that's how it was with her. "Well you're upset with me so I'll come back when you're feeling better." And even if I did come back and I wasn't angry with her anymore, eventually all that shit that she refused to resolve with me just lead to a bunch of resentment. I still loved her, but everything we never fixed always stook with me.

Anytime I tried to express what I was unhappy with, there was an excuse. It was always a problem and somehow always something that just apparently COULD NOT be fixed. It was actually fucking comical how hard it was just to get her to text me back. Or just to hear me out. It was impossible to talk to her. And I really was willing to die for her, but she wouldn't have been worth it, y'know?

I never want to be in a relationship like that again. I never want to feel stuck with somebody just because I love them or because they were there for me when I needed them. The only reason I really stayed with her was genuinely just because I loved her and she helped me through what I was going through with my dad. I thought she felt the same way about me, but maybe that didn't impact her as much. Which is understandable, but I wish she would've just let me move on much fucking sooner if she knew she didn't want to be with me if that makes sense. She lead me on for so long, and I can't even blame her because I should've noticed.

Sometimes being willing to die for someone doesn't mean the relationship is perfect. It doesn't mean it's true love. Sometimes it just simply means you're crazy about someone. And that someone might not even be worth your time. And I don't want that. I just want someone to love me so unconditionally that they'll never feel the need to lead me on. They'll never stay with me just because I love them, but because we're meant for each other. I do believe in soul mates, even though I'll never admit it. I do believe that there's someone out there who will understand me the way I desperately desire to be understood. I do believe there's someone who will love me even though I'm so far from perfect and I'm not the most good looking or nicest person in the world. And I do believe I'll love them just the same.

I've always had this little thing for toxic relationships for some reason. I romanticize couples like Elena and Damon or Bella and Edward knowing that it's such a twisted perception on love, but I can't help it because it's all I've ever known. The way Edward controls Bella with the excuse of "protecting her" or "caring too much about her," is how I've always been treated. I don't know how to have a healthy relationship. But it's all I've ever wanted. I dream about it all the time. It's all I've ever really wanted, but sometimes I don't know if I'll ever really find my soulmate because I'm always blinded in the moments where I know I'm supposed to see things.

At the end of the day, you can't choose who your soulmate is. You can't choose who you're going to fall in love with. But I just hope that whoever this person is, who's meant for just me, is going to run into me someday. And I hope I'm not too out of touch to realize how important they'll be, wasting my time on someone else who doesn't deserve me. All I want is to be happy. I want to know what that feels like.

[dragynkeep]

I'm usually one to love RWBY's slow songs, and I adore Bumblebee, but "Treasure" legitimately turned me off so hard. It's uncomfortable. It's sad. Like, I don't know how to explain to the writers, the fellow fans, or the Williams' (who wrote these lyrics) that the kind of relationship presented in the song isn't healthy. This doesn't read as love, it reads as a frightening degree of dependency; as someone who can't live, who isn't even their own person, without being by their partner's side. If that's truly what Bumblebee's destined to be, what Blake's destined to be from here on out, I'll take a hard pass.

a lot of my friends have said that while they also don’t like the lyrics or the context of the song; the song itself is also just too slow & too boring. i’ve tried to get through it myself & really don’t like it.

but to the main context you’ve hit the nail on the head. i said in another ask that this feels like a song befitting bella when edward abandoned her in new moon & i bet my left tit that a lot of rwby fans can see just how unhealthy & codependent the bella / edward dynamic was, especially in new moon but ... seem not to see that when it’s between blake & yang? like bella had more of an excuse in her series too, edward was gone for months & they’d been dating for a whole year before that. whereas blake & yang still have spent more time apart in the series than they have together both before & after the fall of beacon.

the sad thing is, this makes sense for these two as characters. blake’s sense of normality in a relationship is warped because of the emotional abuse & codependency she went through with adam; yang has been defined since pretty much the beginning to be a person terrified of abandonment & has developed a toxic codependency with her friends & family because of raven leaving her. so ... why is it now a fun relationship thing that these two deeply traumatized individuals aren’t working on that trauma but instead recreating those dynamics again in their relationships? the fact that yang & blake are consistently paralleled to each other’s abusers with very little difference has always weirded me out because like ... isn’t this a relationship i’m supposed to support, supposed to see as a new beginning for these girls?

why is blake destined to be with a female adam only this time she isn’t getting slapped around? why is yang destined to be with a mini raven only this time she pinky promised to stay & she really means it this time? this honestly seems like the worst ending for these two & what’s worrying is that fans of the ship & the show runners themselves don’t even seem to realize it.

[timelesslords]

as someone who doesn’t like Calypso’s character very much, i didn’t realize that this was a popular opinion (at least from what i’ve seen online/tumblr) but i don’t think leo + calypsos relationship is toxic bc she’s 3000+ years old. is it a weird, forced relationship bc rr had to pair off everyone? yes. is it poorly written? yes. is it weird bc she’s a deity? i don’t think so? like i don’t find it creepy, in the same way grover being 30 something and being friends with percy at 12 isn’t creepy. it’s all ✨mythology✨ and in this universe where gods exist, things kind of work differently when there’s a deity/mythological figure involved, you know?

(i have read some beautiful fanfic where calypso is super toxic and i appreciate it!! it was so well written! but i don’t think that’s who she is in the books)

You know what, I kind of agree with you. It kind of reminds me of the twilight situation where everyone makes SUCH a big deal about the age gap between Bella and Edward (which is not even on the top ten list of things that's wrong with their relationship lmao), but only bc they're viewing it through the laws of our universe, not the laws of the twilight universe.

Like yeah you look at a 100 year age gap and it looks and sounds terrible, but within the mythology of the books Edward cannot mentally progress beyond the mind of a 17 year old (which is extremely apparent in his behavior). Like he's completely frozen/stuck at that age. he doesn't experience time the same way humans do, so for all intents and purposes he is 17. that's how I kind of pictured Calypso in the PJO books. time doesn't mean anything to her, she's permanently a teenager (she definitely has the attitude of a petty teenager at least lol). and once she leaves the island she essentially becomes mortal and can age and grow and mentally progress again, so for me that aspect is not particularly problematic.

but idk. fictional/mythological age gaps really just don't bother me that much. I'm fine with suspending my disbelief a little and I know that somethings things that are okay in books are not okay irl. I think calypso sucks but I don't think she sucks because she was magically 16 for 3000 years or whatever lol. if she actually acted like an adult maybe but she's clearly written with the characterization of a teenager so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[rage-against-the-meyer]

New Moon (2006)

Previously, I have done a book review on Twilight from my newly gained perspective after a recent read. I shall proceed with the next book: New Moon. Now, New Moon used to be my most hated book. I resented it. I suffered through the first 200 or so pages just to get to the good part, which in return was exceptionally good (I'll probably come to this). This book was coloured by a very big issue for me: there was no Edward. This opinion has not changed. I still cannot grasp the logic behind removing the one character that compelled readers to love the prequel. It was probably done to give Jacob some attention, but really, it made the book a drag for me. That has changed. While I still hated Edwards absence, I enjoyed the Edwardless pages more than usual, though I don't know exactly why. Anyway, let's get into it!

The book starts of with quite a nice moment: Bella's birthday. I think Bella's resentment of aging is displayed very well throughout the book and logical from a seventeen-year-old's POV. This leads me to voice an opinion I hadn't in the previous review: the book really should have been set in college. It would change the book entirely and I think for the better. Bella would have actual close friends at home, the story doesn't need to focus on the secrecy from family and friends, and most importantly, Bella would be more secure. She would know things, maybe things Edward didn't, she would not be so insecure (still a bit insecure, but I think maturity reduces it) and she would be able to move more freely. College as a setting would resolve some of my issues certainly. It would also solve the whole age-thing. Bella wouldn't have such an extreme obsession with age as age in your 20's barely reflects in your appearance. As a teenager, you change so much every year, but in your twenties it's different. In addition, it would give Bella a much better sense of what she wants out of life. At college, she must have envisioned some sort of career; the whole missing human experiences issue would be less important. But that's just my take on it.

Bella gets cut and more importantly attacked by Edward in an attempt to save her from Jasper. Great moment to show the comment of Edward to Bella by, you know, not killing her on the spot. Also GREAT moment for Carlisle and Bella. I think this moment might actually be a first moment in which she projects him as a father figure.

Right after this whole charade, the drag begins. The silent days by Edward and his ensuing absence. Reading it again after years, it still hurt. On his part, I do understand the logic. The one thing I kind of hated was his removal of everything between them. When he said goodbye to her, he wouldn't expect her to accept his leave so easily, that he couldn't believe that she had just forgotten everything about him. Then, he just assumed that by forming a so-called clean break and removing everything that could remind her of him, she would move on so easily. Like her words didn't exactly stick with him either. While I understand their reasons for everything, it was a very emo-goodbye. His absence was terrible. Like I read it for the first time, I LIVED through the pain. I FELT it.

When the Jacob part started, I was wary at first, but I actually enjoyed it to my surprise. I saw for the first time his soft side. I was bothered by his cold facade, though, through all the other books. I guess I didn't like that he lost his innocence but that was just the story.

I really feel that Bella and Jacob's romance was written expertly. It made sense somehow. Still, I can't believe anyone could be Team Jacob based on the books. However, I was annoyed by the pressure on his side along the series - trying to show that she loved him by assaulting her and guilting her into kissing him. She fought hard to deny herself that part and it was not his to expose it. That should have been her. I guess SM thought it was hot/sexy for a man to force her to face her emotions like this, but I really can't think of it as anything other than assault.

The stupidest part of the Edward-absence was the hallucinations. I believe they represented Bella's unconcious knowledge that he still loved her but to me it was obviously the result of a toxic relationship. And then, she had to do the dumbest shit ever to get the hallucinations. If it was adrenaline related as I really believe it was, she could've just done a few rollercoasters. 'But she only had them when she did something dangerous.' No. She had them when she had an adrenaline rush. All her stupid adrenaline rushes happened to be induces by dangerous ass shit. If you don't like this argument, go away because it is one of many concerning the biological aspects of the horse-shittery later on (scientist here). Anyway, the hallucinations didn't do much for me.

Alice returns. You can actually see in my book where this is - as I've turned to this page a million times. I love Alice as I've previously said and I love her here. I also love that Edward wants to off himself. Not too glad about the whole dependency thing in representation, but in their relationship, it's proof that he's committed. What really gets me though is the humorous outrageous amount of dramatics in his decision to die. It kind of aligns with the Volturi but it's still so dramatic to wait until a certain time. Didn't you want to die the second she died??? Dramatic.

I think that everything about the Volturi should be regarded as creative freedom. They hoarded a group of people in every time they were hungry and no one of their relatives started a blog with 'Disappearings in Volterra, Italy'?? Dumb. They were collective even more dramatic than Edward but then, creative freedom.

The most compelling scene was definitely the scene where Bella though she was dreaming. I'm probably not the only one that cried when I read that the first time (and the times thereafter). I have a big issue with their getting together. Yes, they understood both sides of the story and yes, they had both been miserable apart. However, I don't believe that their instinctual feelings also disappeared with their resolve. You can't convince that if Edward said good morning a little bit off one morning, Bella's mind wouldn't instantly think he was going to leave her again. And then, the PAIN of Bella, the shell she was after him, that should have been harder to shake as well. Her body must occassionally involuntarily just recoil when she sees him. Again, I understand but poor representation of pain, SM.

Speaking of representation, the racism is way more obvious in this book than in Twilight. While I loved the wolves, SM exploited the Quileute Tribe. As in my previous post, I have included links to get both informed about and to donate to the Tribe's council. A bit less obvious may be the position of Jacob, POC against Edward, white male. Jacob is regarded as a love interest, sure, but his appearance, his being, is close to nothing compared to Edward. It might be the story, but in combination with all other small and big acts of racism by SM, it seems racist.

Another major issue I didn't address in my previous post is the complete absence of LGBTQ-characters. I myself am not part of that community, but the lack of representation, especially in a book with such a young and formable target audience, is extremely wrong. I am of Molukkian heritage and I know what it is like to not be represented. It alters or limits, whichever way you see it, your self worth. All of Bella's insecurities SM wrote were superficial: Bella wasn't pretty enough (in her mind) for him. I don't want to disvalue those insecurities, we all have them after all, but lack of representation can give anyone of a minority the sense of not belonging and not worthy of happiness. To all minorities, I see you and you are of worth! You deserve better than to be ignored and limited in media and politics. It pains me to see discrimination is still so prominent in society and I stand with you.

With that note, I want to conclude my review. There is really nothing more important than that. Please inform yourself on the Quileute Tribe and donate to their council through the following links:

The Quileute Tribe

Information:

Donation:

TLDR: New Moon is okay but shows, again, a toxic relationship and obvious discrimination. Please inform yourself on the way SM exploited the Quileute Tribe and donate to their council through the link above.

[writhingcreature]

Okay but!

- Bella and Edward dont end up togethern. Bella's like "I mean I'm happy and like I like you a lot my dude, but I don't think you'd be happy as a vampire" and Edward VEHEMENTLY agrees

- Hes really awkward and reserved so he doesn't fit in with anyone at Forks High, which leaves him only spending time with Bella and the others. Problem: they're vampires and he wants friends more like him

- One day someone (probably Bella) bitches/mentions the Treaty and the wolves and Edward is iNSTANTLY CURIOUS

- He goes and investigates

- I LOVE this being before Jacob turns into a werewolf, so that Edward just casually socializes with him until they slowly kind of become friends maybe?

- Except that he's actually closer to Leah because she's chill and more mature and emo like him

- Okay but hear me out: Edward gets a crush on Jacob

- Then everyone turns and they leave him one by one and Edward is even MORE emo and Protective Mom Bella is like WHAT THE FUCK HE KNOWS YOU BITCHES DONT DO THIS SHIT TO HIM

- So the drama lasts like a day and then they're all good again

- Through Edward, Bella and Jake become friends and then slowly each of the Cullens forms a super awesome friendship with Jake (Jake and Rose work on cars. Emmett and Jake are DISASTER IDIOTS with Bella joining in every so often because she wants her brother to have his space too. Jake and Bella crack jokes and gossip and team up to prank others or just each other. Bella, Jake, Emmett duo to end all duos. Esme and Jake are both Sunshine Babies. Alice gets a break from her visions around Jake and Jasper appreciates how much calmer and focused and happy she is. Carlisle loves to see his family so happy BLESS this boy.) and the tension between the pack and the Cullens just dies as one by one the wolves join in on Jake's fun and soon they're all best buddies having barbecues and pulling pranks and playing baseball

- Bella and Leah end up hitting it off really fast because Leah doesn't have to be all pissy because Jake beer fell for Bella. No history and no knowledge - he met Edward first. Also, Bella's a lot more mature and experienced and a lot less lonely bc now she has a support system and knows what healthy relationships are. She's really cool and pretty and jokingly flirts a lot and Leah might have to cry tonight because HER GIRLFRIEND IS SO CUTE WHAT

- After that happens Jake and Edward side eye each other until Alice and team up to get them together because this is PAINFUL!!!

- No demon baby

- No Volturi or James or New Born Army or any of that chaos

- Still a SUPER AWESOME STORY

- Gay

- Edward with green eyes!!!!!!!

- No sexism or super toxic relationships passed off as GREAT!1!1!1!

- No ruining of Rosalie or Jacob

- All the friendships are created and everyone is truly happy in the end! Even Leah!

- No pedo shit

IM JUST SAYING

expanding a little bit on this idea

edward figures out bella is a vampire way before bella figured out edward was. he is very intuitive, after all

bella is still a shield. she didn’t know until way after she became a vampire; there were no indicators. she only discovers it upon meeting eleazar for the first time

she was turned in 1917 after contracting the spanish flu. her father, charles swan, also died from the influenza. in his very last moments, he grabbed carlisle by the collar and used his final breath to say “do for her what only you can do, doc”

bella, always one to make the best out of a bad situation, settles in well with carlisle. since she can’t read minds she can’t read carlisle’s Emo Thoughts and is therefore much happier than edward was. she is a positive influence on carlisle.

bella does not have a Dark Period; she isn’t resentful of carlisle. she knows he did what he thought was right and doesn’t let carlisle beat himself up over it

when esme joins the family she becomes the mother bella never had. bella’s human mother was well-meaning but often not as hands-on as she should’ve been sometimes

she has never killed a human. she has Super Self Control after all

her and rose are friends. rose has no reason to be threatened by bella and bella reminds rose a lot of vera. her and bella learn to build cars together

when emmett comes a long they became Instant Chaos Twins. they use carlisle’s exorbitant wealth to plan the most grandiose pranks on each other. they wrestle often; emmett has the advantage of strength but bella’s slight size makes her difficult to get a good grip on

alice takes a shining to bella immediately. instead of moving all of bella’s stuff out of her room like she did edward’s, bella returns home to find that her entire wardrobe (formerly just slacks and button-ups) has been replaced with the finest designer items. bella is too quick as a vampire to fall victim to alice’s fashion and makeup ambushes but when she does partake voluntarily she has fun. the three sisters make a dynamic trio

bella was very intuitive in life so she finds that while she and jasper don’t speak much, they share a lot of comfortable and meaningful silences. they understand each other and form a sort of kinship. they make each other comfortable

instead of her walls being lined with cd’s and cassettes, bella’s room is essentially just a small library. floor-to-ceiling shelves stuffed to capacity with first editions. she has a special affinity for female-written fiction