#i understand i understand and it's tragic and it's consistent and it makes sense with the information you had but you-

[gayofthefae]

Still mad at that mf for doing this to him by the way.

[okitanoniisan]

i keep saying i need to make some zhaoryu shit but i'm back on my y5 kazusaeji bullshit again they are just so. m

[whetstonefires]

So the thing with the Matrix for me, right, was I could never get past the assertion that the motivation for keeping humans alive was as a power source.

That pinged as so so stupid, and was presented so late and half-heartedly, that I could not understand it as a sincere part of the premise. Like. We're told very dramatically and pretty early that the world was mostly destroyed by humans 'scourging the skies' to block off all solar radiation in the effort to shut down the solar powered robots, evidently forgetting that all life on Earth is solar-powered also. Too comedically dumb to be really tragic imo.

So to pivot from the premise 'there is no life on earth, other than human beings, because the sun is gone' to 'the humans were kept alive as batteries' is an impossibility for me. Our ludicrous mammalian bodies, incredibly inefficient engines entirely reliant on continuous indirect consumption of solar energy to even survive, were somehow yielding a net output? Not only that, but one superior to nuclear or geothermal???? Bullshit.

I mean. Bull. Shit. I cannot. We just underlined in the backstory how all life on earth relies on the sun! Because life is expensive just to maintain and requires constant external energy input! We get milk from cows by keeping them alive, but that's because they turn the grass energy into something easier for us to process; no such mechanism is proposed for humans consuming dead humans and somehow producing a form of energy more useful to the Machines than just waiting for the corpses to dry out and then burning them to run a goddamn boiler.

This makes the direct opposite of sense.

It had to be in-universe propaganda, right? Another layer of the deception? It couldn't be the real reason. It was too implausible. Which meant I was still waiting to find out why the machines were really bothering with humanity and the Matrix.

I would have accepted without quibble the revelation that humans have special psychic energy that the machines were harvesting; that's dumb but in a comfortable, comprehensible, and above all internally consistent sci-fi kind of way.

I would have been quite open to the idea that the machines relied on human consciousness for their own development to true sapience, and the Matrix was primarily an AI nursery with the enmeshed human brains providing complex inputs, that one's actually cool.

There are a lot of explanations out there aside from the dumb official one, or the Occam's Razor one where they were just keeping some humans alive out of sentimentality! I'm really not that picky!

So anyway I never managed to emotionally engage with the Matrix films well because I had this unresolved 'motives of primary antagonist??? cause of fundamental scenario??????' thing making most of the actual plot twist and drama feel kind of boring.

My sister maintains that this is something wrong with me, that I'm refusing to suspend my disbelief and engage correctly with the text, and this constitutes a hostile, bad-faith and therefore illegitimate reading.

(She hasn't actually said this last part and I'd respect her position more if she did, but this seems to be the broad thrust of her emotional position when she starts shouting.)

I maintain that if a central plank of your sci-fi premise relies on going 'fuck the basic principles of thermodynamics and biology this is a vibes-based system' you should be very careful to avoid invoking the relationship between basic thermodynamics and biology in your core worldbuilding.

[doodlegirl1998]

Hi good evening 🙏

Izuku and Tanjiro are practically alike, i need to know why i'm more drawn to Tanjiro, meanwhile i feel nothing at all to Izuku. I wonder what differentiate between these two "sunshine"

Thank you

Hi @jellymelting 👋

I think it could be because Tanjiro is treated as a character with agency, his trauma is treated with respect, and we see inside his head often, so we understand how he's thinking. He also has understandable reactions, and it feels consistent with his character (i.e., revealing that he has not forgiven Sanemi for hurting Nezuko.)

Meanwhile, the opposite can be said for Izuku.

Agency? Often thrown out the door by Hori to serve the narrative. 1A vs Izuku was horrible for this, Izuku wanted to leave, yet they beat him into submission (they barely even tried to hear him out and talk to him) and kept him at UA despite his wishes and worries about coming back.

Trauma being treated with respect? Hahaha, no. From a certain point on, all we hear about Izuku's past from was Bakugou's point of view (gross). Apart from that, it is barely brought up. His past quirklessness and the self-esteem issues from the abuse Bakugou put him through Izuku isn't allowed to grow from and the things Bakugou did (including the suicide baiting) are barely brought up, all to help Hori's favourite POS's image. In the end, Izuku still views OFA as All Mights quirk rather than HIS - how tragic is that?!

Thirdly, we haven't seen inside Izuku's head in so long we don't know how he's thinking (instead a lot of the time others theorise what he's thinking to us), which adds distance to the character. Especially when he holds opinions that don't seem to make sense with what was established about his character.

This leads me to the fourth reason, does he have understandable reactions that are consistent with his character? No. Izuku has whatever opinion Hori wants him to. Izuku seemingly liking Endeavor after the sports festival after learning what Endeavor did to the Todoroki's and verbally tearing into him about his treatment of Shoto in particular makes no sense. Izuku calling Bakugou "Kaachan" and holding on to the idolised view of him, despite all the shit treatment he received from him, makes no sense. Izuku not lingering on the similarities between himself and Aoyama (both being quirkless in the past) makes NO sense.

And finally, Izuku being forced to comfort BAKUGOU while he seems barely bothered about losing OFA makes zero sense! IZUKU should be the one devastated here - get the Bakugou's off my page and get Inko and AM to comfort Izuku about this, already!

TLDR - The reasons I listed above are most likely why you feel more connected to Tanjiro vs Izuku.

[darklinaforever]

I don't understand some people's obsession with the age difference between Edwin and the Cat King.

Yes, Edwin is a perennial 16 year old.

But the Cat King isn't even human. He is literally a cat deity. And as someone @jaks21 pointed out to me in the comments, the Cat King has the overall behavior of a cat : "I think it's also being forgotten that the cat king isn't human. He can shift into human form, but he is essentially a cat. This is all cat behavior. They have absolutely no sense of personal space (unless it's their own), they like the thrill of the hunt and they like to play."

Soon people will talk to me about zoophilia maybe ?

Beyond that, the Cat King's behavior seems to be quite immature most of the time as well.

So why are people absolutely trying to categorize him as a straight-up adult when he's not a human being ? Who tells you that his brain works like a human's ? Who tells you he's not a baby compared to other supernatural beings ?

It's all well and good to judge Edwin for his reality on the show, but give the same courtesy to the Cat King in this case, otherwise it just seems designed to unnecessarily lower the ship.

Also, if we want to speak realistically... since the Catwin plot revolves around Edwin finally coming to terms with his sexual orientation through his attraction to the Cat King (even if we know that there is also an important emotional context involved ) well it seems to me that Edwin is exactly the age of consent required for sexual relations, namely 16 years old.

Sexual maturity is not the same as legal age making you an adult and I feel like people often confuse the two.

I also find it paradoxical to say that Edwin, who lived more than a century, is judged as not being able to date an almost immortal divinity (because yes, one day the Cat King will no longer have his 9 lives and will therefore die for of good) clearly outside human norms because he happens to be a Cat King and not having at all the behavior of an human adult, or even of a real human, under the pretext that Edwin has his brain blocked at age 16 years old.

But many people will also say that Edward in Twilight cannot love Bella, a teenager, on the pretext that he has lived several centuries due to being a vampire, even if this type of vampire in this universe mentally stops evolving at the age where they were transformed, making Edwin an eternal teenager of 17 years old. Yet he is considered disgusting for wanting to be with a human teenager of almost the same age mentally ?(Be careful, I'm not saying that Twilight is an excellent and brilliant story, I'm just talking about the context of the age difference between the protagonists and the ridiculous discourse around it)

The battles over the age difference in fiction featuring supernatural beings are almost never consistent. And for good reason, I find it useless !

Because most of the time, the supernatural creature does not meet human standards in order to be associated with the younger person (at least if this person is actually younger, in the term of non-majority, because otherwise, as long as everyone is an adult we don't care). Or if it is not the creature that follows a particular pattern, we are for example transported into a universe inspired by a particular era, where the legal age is then different.

So, we must stop judging imaginary beings as if they were human adults, it makes no sense.

Yes. Edwin has been a 16 year old ghost for a very long time and technically cannot mature beyond this age. Tragic. But in the show, which is not the comics, it doesn't really matter. Edwin remains a character with an arc and evolution. So he has undeniably experienced things as a ghost that allow him to change and evolve in his own way.

Of course, it can be confusing, but Edwin's case aside, the Cat King does not meet human standards. And he clearly doesn't behave like a human. Even less that of an adult human. So stop judging him as such.

Essentially the Cat King resembles in his behavior a mixture of... well, a cat, since that's what he is, and a form of immature teenager.

That the Cat King is older than Edwin doesn't matter if he doesn't have a maturity greater than Edwin.

Once again, the Cat King clearly doesn't have the mentality or maturity of most healthy adults of our world. So why absolutely try to judge him as such ? Again, that doesn't make sense.

The Cat King is a being to be judged outside of our realistic standards.

Plus, being uncomfortable with the Cat King & Edwin relationship because Edwin is 16... seems ridiculous again.

Although I would love for the show to make Catwin canon in the future I doubt that will be the case (but good if it happens !), as things stand the Cat King only seemed to be a tool to allow Edwin to open up a little more about himself, in particular about accepting his sexuality, even if not only that. So, since the sexual aspect is very much emphasized in this relationship, it must be taken into account. And Edwin is a 16 year old teenager. Not only do adolescents inevitably have a period of trouble linked to sex, but in fiction the treatment of sexuality is sometimes done through a creature outside the norms of reality, therefore fanciful, often morally dubious.

It’s a classic trope in the world of fiction !

And if that makes you uncomfortable... well I don't know what to do for you.

Again, as I said before, Edwin is of the required age of consent in terms of sexual relations.

So how does it shock you to see someone old enough to explore their sexuality find themselves in a sexuality-related scenario with the classic trope of a fantasy creature to do so ?

This kind of controversy is beyond me! We're talking about fictional characters of a supernatural nature !

[konigsblog]

I think the only issue I have with your writing itself is the “loser/incel König” stuff. With the character’s (meager) backstory being that he was bullied it comes across as you speaking poorly of people who have suffered through that and issuing a pipeline from bully victim -> rapist incel. With the number of those posts you write, it feels like you’re fetishizing mental illness and making it out like a character that struggles socially must end up being a creep who can’t get laid so he resorts to forcing himself on people. The fantasies are fine and I often indulge in your Simon + other 141 content (you’re a great writer and I’m not trying to slight you at all!). I just have your König tags blocked. I just don’t understand how you say you like a character so much but then consistently do nothing but write content that sexualizes his abuse and harps on him having no other possible way to be but some freak (which in your Simon posts isn’t the case? Even though he has a tragic backstory too?). Idk. Gives weird “I sexualize mental illness and if you’re also a bullying victim fuck you” vibes 💀 im not trying to be an asshole i just genuinely want to know why you are. like that.

You're an absolute eejit. Genuine question, what's inside your thick skull? A couple of flies and some dust?🤦‍♀️ Not once have I ever said that if you're a victim of bullying, you'll become a rapist/abuser. But, mental illness can cause you to do horrible things. Not that it's bound to happen, but there's a possibility.

What you said makes no sense at all, considering I've never stated that all victims of bullying will become horrible people themselves. And FYI, I do write Simon as a rapist/a horrible person. I have multiple times... I've written him as a depraved, sick, and deranged bastard countless times. So, no. It's not just König because he's a bully victim, or whatever you're trying to say. We know absolutely nothing about him (aside from his bullying and social anxiety), so I can portray him any way I'd like to.

I don't owe you an explanation as to why I'm like this, why I choose to depict and portray some COD characters as horrible people (mainly because it's likely they WOULD be if you actually used your head..). You're not entitled to that information. Mind your damn business.

[tackletofset]

Dark Rise theories I disagree with and why:

Sarcean r*ped Anharion: I find it perplexing that many people still believe in this lie. It's canon that Anharion "had GIVEN himself" to Sarcean, and "the feeling of being taken, melting heat, and the fall of hair around him like black silk" is a very poor way to describe a noncon situation.

The on-and-off Collar switch: What makes you think that Sarcean wouldn't be dead by Anharion's hands the second he "switched off" the Collar, if it was as coercive as they thought?

Will and James will "dissolve" after getting their memories back and morph fully into their past selves: The memories serve as key to make decisions about their present and future. In order for Will and James to decide for themselves, they must understand the full truth of Sarcean and Anharion without the biases, prejudices, and agendas of those around them. Pacat has made it clear that Will and Sarcean will ultimately choose different paths, despite being two incarnations of the same person. The former chooses to rule, while the latter prefers freedom, and both choices are valid given their respective situations. The endgame should be putting Sarcean and Anharion to rest so that Will and James can move forward: Will must reconcile with his past in order to navigate his future.

Anharion's real name was a deadname: I say this as a person under the trans* umbrella. "Anharion" wasn't a name he had chosen for himself; it was an insult coined by the Light side. Perhaps he had come to embrace it out of spite. Just as Melkor (Mighty Arising) was dubbed "Morgoth" (black foe) by his enemies, and Mairon (The Admirable) was later called "Sauron" (the Abhorred), I believe Anharion's real name will be revealed in Book 3, with a positive meaning. I can't wait to call him "Queen (Real name)."

Will or James having to k*ll the other/k*ll themselves: Pacat intended to break the pattern where queer protagonists always met tragic ends. It was one of her motivations for writing Captive Prince and also emphasized a lot during Dark Rise interviews.

We will have a sad ending: Pacat stated in a December 2021 Q&A that a "happy ending [was] guaranteed" for the aforementioned reason.

James has no agency: James has plenty of agency, even amidst his complicated situations, with many people constantly attempting to violate his boundaries. James has consistently made his choices and desires clear. The unconventional nature of his choices, which may not always make sense to others, does not diminish their validity.

Sarcean was fully evil: "The Dark King did Nothing Wrong" nuff said.

[beauty-and-passion]

CCCC Vol.1 - Cacophony: entering the lore (1/5)

Hello and welcome back to my analysis of CCCC.

Do you see that little beautiful number in the title? Well, the Cacophony act is long, I couldn’t fit an entire analysis into one single post. It would’ve been endless, Mucka Blucka alone took this entire first post!

So you will get the full analysis in manageable pieces and I will introduce each piece with a brief recap, so we won’t miss anything ;)

A brief recap of what we got from the Calamity act:

The events are stuck in a time loop, caused by the clash between Heart and Mind

Chonny starts to show his frustration regarding writing songs others already wrote

Soul is introduced and the poor guy is so tired of everything (from Heart and Mind to the loop), to ponder suicide. But in the end, he finds the strength to give it another try. Maybe things will be different this time.

<- Previous post - First post

_______________________________

Mucka Blucka (Intro to Cacophony): welcome to the lore

"I decided to do the ENTIRETY of MMMM, and it’d be very, very funny if the dumb chicken song was the most verbose in the album." (Chonny’s Q&A)

Well, it is funny that the stupid song got the honor of being not just the most verbose of the album, but also the introduction to the lore and the preview of what will come.

*

A clear vision: Chonny makes it clear from the very first verses that:

We will see his struggles, pain and dark thoughts  (“My blood, my sweat, my open doors”, as he will say in Taken for a Ride)

The songs are full of metaphors

There is a time loop ("So when we come back here again, and the start becomes an end/Consider this lamentation a foreword")

*

Awareness of the time loop: In Dream, Soul showed us he’s aware of the loop. Now Heart and Mind show the same awareness.

This confirms the point I previously made about all sides knowing the same stuff Chonny knows. No delay of information, here

This justifies Soul’s frustration even more. He knows they should come back into one and yet, the other two sides still haven’t learned a single thing after so many loops

*

The loop as a punishment: while talking about the loop, Heart and Mind say that they are “condemned” to repeat it.

From one side, none of them is taking the blame. It’s as if it’s not their fault, but the fault of something outside of them. Maybe an event that influenced them.

From a meta perspective, it’s very poetic/tragic, because Heart and Mind are condemned to clash every time, because of their contrasting natures. Because, as Chonny said in the Q&A, they’re parts of the same being and yet, they “can produce completely separate and juxtaposed conclusions from a single input”. So it’s not specifically their fault the loop happened: it’s because they are built this way.

*

Wanting and refusing the audience: Chonny wants an audience that listens to him, but at the same time, he acknowledges his audience isn’t able to understand his work:

Who will refuse to properly see The man behind the lines The triplicated rhymes

And later on, he says his audience cannot help him either.

This all anticipates and connects to Greener. In that song too, Chonny will show the same apparent contradiction - it will also be explained better, so for now, I’ll just point out how Chonny shows the same consistent vision.

(But yes, this thought is understandable. Every artist wants an audience, even if they’re not the main reason why art is made. Art is an artist’s need first and that’s particularly true in Chonny’s case. But we’ll talk about that in the Concord act.)

*

The current leader: First Soul wants to introduce us to their “poultric pullet commander”, then Mind immediately follows, by saying: “The coward in question? By now, you know him so well”.

And since we will soon learn that Mind doesn’t have a high consideration of Heart, we can safely deduce that yes, the current leader is Heart. And yes, this makes sense in the overall narrative.

*

Heart: Sisyphus, hate, the despited

Heart is Sisyphus: just like him, he’s forced to roll his rock up the hill (aka to keep their vessel moving forward). And every time he’s almost reached the top, every time he feels they’re accomplishing something, his efforts are in vain and they come back to square one. And he’s doing it for a very long time. Can’t really blame him, if he gets overwhelmed by pessimism.

Heart is associated with hate: as seen before, Heart can be pessimistic and dark, and that's because he’s not just the bearer of positive feelings. As he will say in The Heart Acoustic, he’s “the emotional side”, not the “positive emotions only side”.

Heart is the despited: he embodies all emotions and those are instinctual, uncontrollable forces. We always blame them (and consequently our hearts) when they make us do stupid shit.

(And how we’re aware we’re doing stupid shit? Thanks to our minds. So yes, Mind despising Heart for everything he does makes perfect sense too.)

*

Mind: time, berate, the freak

Mind is associated with time: a great reference to Ruler of Everything, a song about how time is the ruler of everything and, by association, how Mind is the ruler of their vessel… or at least, that’s what he wants to be, because for now their leader is still Heart.

Mind berates Heart and oh my god if he does it. He spends entire songs to diss the other side, "berate" is the perfect verb for him.

Mind is a freak: again, incredibly human and understandable. Not just because Mind is a freak (Heart himself will call him "automaton freak" and his appearance on the album cover is freakish too), but also because it's very common to associate cleverness with freakiness. The more clever someone is, the more they look/act like a freak. And who is more of a freak, if not the embodiment of the mind himself?

*

Soul: minutiae, amalgamate, the enlightened and the free

Soul is associated with minutiae, through a reference to 1984: just like Winston in the Ministry of Truth, so Soul feels in his powerful position, forced to drag himself through every futile, trivial detail. Like, you know, listening to Heart and Mind's "silly war" (The Bidding).

Soul is associated with "to amalgamate": again, his vision is clear, he remembers the goal. To become one.

Soul is the enlightened, because he's the only one remembering that goal from start to end and actively working for it. The other two get... well, a bit lost on the way.

Soul is the free: as stated in Dream, he's the most powerful of these three characters. The other two aim to control him, but Soul cannot be controlled.

*

A connection with Sanders Sides: these two lines made my brain immediately click

And sure, I lament the lack of a hen to share with in sick or in health But how am I supposed to love another when I barely know myself?

Why? Because they’re a lot similar to this line:

[Thomas]: Do I really know myself as well as I should?

and this line is the premise of Sanders Sides. So yes, it’s interesting (and understandable) that both stories open with the same idea of “not fully understanding yourself” as a starting point for a deeper exploration of the self.

The big difference is that Chonny takes one step further and doesn’t just tell he doesn’t know himself… but that he cannot pretend to love someone else, if he doesn’t know himself first. Which is the solution to the Thomas/Nico relationship I kept talking about for ages.

(I will write that post about these two series, I promise)

Also… remember this point about loving others when we will reach Concord.

*

About the Juno Incident: Chonny says that "there's a me stuck underground", clearly referring to the Juno incident and how Heart got stuck in the hole dug for Mind...

But, wait: the incident hasn’t happened yet. How can Heart be already stuck?

Unless the Juno incident is a fixed event of the time loop. Every time the loop restarts, the Juno incident happens, Heart misses Mind and gets stuck in that hole.

This also explains how they can talk about the incident in such clear detail and especially about the events before and after said incident:

One time they tried to sing to me About blues and greens; the in-betweens But mechanical hands decided where the Heart would be Just apathy I had been trying for years and for years that streamed To thrive, and relish entropy But when he finally shot at me Lines once solid were blurred

Heart says that they tried to find a compromise, an in-between (Night). But then, Mind slowly took over: he appointed himself as the new leader (Ruler of Everything) and decided Heart was beneath him. Heart’s reaction was a slow descent into apathy (Just Apathy), until he gave Mind full control of the vessel (The Heart Acoustic).

On the other hand, Mind says he tried for years to thrive, to keep their vessel up (Be Born, Storm and a Spring, The Mind Electric). But when Heart shot at him, he “blurred the lines”: his action reminded them both they’re not separate entities. They are the same entity. And that’s because:

And right as he (I) missed, my eyes in a mist I finally realized I shot at myself

Heart’s eyes were “in a mist”, because feelings are irrational and instinctual, so of course he didn’t act with a clear, logical mind.

Hence, he missed. But at the same time, he still hit a target: himself. Because what struck him wasn’t a bullet, but the consequences of an event. Specifically, the consequences of a failed romance.

But I will further explain this once we’ll reach Haiku and Hidden in the Sand. For now, as it was for most of this song, just keep this stuff in mind: we'll develop everything down the road ;)

Next post ->

(How about a coffee? ☕)

_______________________________

TAGLIST:

@royalprinceroman @mudpuddlenl @allmycrushesaredead @aquatedia @whatishappeningrightnow @effortiswhatmatters @bella-in-a-bag @doydoune @forever-third-wheeling @payte @hypnossanders​  @idontreallyknow24​  @imcrushedbyarainbowoffical @patton-cake​  @hereissananxiousmess​  @purplebronzeandblue​  @cynicalandsarcastic​ ​@lost-in-thought-20 @andtheyreonfire​ 

@riseofthewerewolf​ @rosesandlove44​​  @chewy-rubies @groaaaaan​ @arya-skywalker  @csi-baker-street-babes @queen-of-all-things-snuggly @reesiereads @dracayd-universe​ @starlightnyx​ @stubbornness-and-spite​ @averykedavra @joyrose-fandomer @mihaela-tbg @igonnatalknothing

@thatoneloudowl @grayson-22 @softangryfuckingdepressed @theotherella  @boopypastaissalty @nevenastark @varthandiveturinn @roses-bubbles @cuter-on-the-inside @coldbookworm @snixxxsmythe @charmingcritter  @analogical-mess @emphasis-on-the-oopsie @selfdestructivecat @yangwalkerao3 @the3rddenialist

[evelhak]

Aaaaa, this!!! I literally cried, I am so happy to see some actual common sense!! I am so, SO tired of this trend, it's not just Rory either, there's a really unfair pattern going on where the "renaissance" on a piece of media is basically just fans ripping a protagonist to pieces for things that these fans do not hold other characters, particularly beloved antagonists and rivals, accountable for.

This video perfectly illustrates the dynamic: Rory, who tries her best to both achieve her goals and be a decent human being while doing it, who never was a perfect human if you paid attention, gets held to the standard of an angel, so every time she makes a mistake that mistake is treated as disproportionately horrible and irredeemable. Meanwhile, as a good example, Paris, who consistently treats other people horribly, gets downright babied, and how she deserved better is repeated, her own responsibility over her actions downplayed or completely ignored. Only her good qualities are remembered, and highlighted.

There's an excellent quote in the video:

"The audience loves Paris because she is so over the top that she becomes a non-character. But when you take her as a real person and judge her with the same standards as you would Lorelai and Rory, she is pretty terrible."

This. This happens with so many characters whose traits are so much that they are viewed as inherently comedic or unbelievable, so they don't count in people's eyes. Paris having a fit in her college entrance interview, yelling over the interviewers and defending eugenics, gets brushed off as "poor baby, she's clearly mentally ill, she just deserves better, she should have gotten in", while Rory, who got manipulated into an internship by the BIGGEST journalism figure just so he could tell her "she didn't have it" was JUST weak and entitled for getting upset and discouraged over it.

Paris cheating on her boyfriend for months with a college professor gets pushed under the rug because people are too uncomfortable to even acknowledge the whole thing, meanwhile Rory is THE WORST for sleeping with a married guy after she repeatedly asked him if both him and his wife agreed their marriage was over, suggested they could try counselling, and was lied to by said guy that both he and his wife knew things were over between them.

Yeah, Rory made mistakes, and definitely didn't act perfectly after either of the situations I mentioned. She was emotional and people generally make mistakes when they are. But for some reason certain characters get a free pass all the time, while it feels almost like Rory gets punished for even trying to be a good person. Like "See, I caught her making a mistake, that means she's the worst." As if trying to have morals and be decent is inherently arrogant and hypocritical. Like trying and failing is worse than not even trying. It's like, her mom and grandparents and home town expect her to be perfect, so fans did too, and now they're mad at her for being human because they put her on a pedestal. Meanwhile characters who consistently don't care about their impact on others don't get scrutinized, their actually horrible behaviour is just taken as comedy or proof of their victimhood.

Basically, people are desensitized to horrible things from certain characters, they expect it, so they don't react to it, but when Rory who is "supposed to be good" makes a mistake, it's suddenly the core of her character and all she is. Geez.

And don't get me wrong, I love both Paris and Rory. I love every character in the show. But this double standard drives me nuts. So many characters in the show have done very similar things as Rory gets accused of, some of them while feeling no remorse. Some of them have done a lot worse things that get forgiven easily.

And don't even get me started on what a hot guy with a tragic backstory gets excused for. Yeah, some things are understandable when you know the backstory. That doesn't make those things not wrong.

It's like people are obsessed with the idea that someone who appears good on the surface must be bad, and vice versa. Nuance be damned.

[stnkiconverse]

Human Eyeless Jack with Monster Eyeless Reader. A swap, where Reader gets sacrificed instead of Jack. The world where Jack is alive as a regular person.

Human! EJ x Eyeless Demon! Reader Headcanons

Setting the Scene

In this alternate universe, Jack is a regular human who stumbles upon the existence of the supernatural when he encounters you, a being who has undergone the transformation intended for him. Instead of becoming Eyeless Jack, he remains a medical student, and you become the creature he was meant to be.

---

Initial Encounter

1. Shock and Curiosity:

- Jack discovers you during one of his explorations of an abandoned building, where the ritual that was supposed to transform him into a monster took place. (the origin story I read said that the sacrifice took place in a cave, but lets change that for the sake of this..)

- He’s initially terrified but quickly becomes fascinated by your otherworldly appearance and the tragic story behind your transformation.

2. Medical Fascination:

- As a medical student, Jack’s curiosity about your physiology and the ritual that changed you takes over. He wants to understand the changes you’ve undergone and help ease any pain or complications.

- He often brings medical equipment to your secret hideout, trying to monitor your health and understand your new anatomy.

---

Building Trust

3. Earning Your Trust:

- You’re wary of Jack at first, remembering the betrayal that led to your transformation. However, his genuine concern and relentless efforts to help you start breaking down your walls.

- Jack consistently brings you food, supplies, and sometimes books to help keep your mind engaged and distracted from the pain of your condition.

4. Understanding Each Other:

- You slowly open up about your life before the transformation, sharing your dreams and fears. Jack, in turn, shares his own struggles with the pressures of medical school and the trauma of discovering the supernatural.

- This mutual sharing deepens your bond, creating a foundation of trust and understanding.

---

Emotional Connection

5. Unlikely Friendship:

- Jack begins to see past your monstrous exterior and recognizes the humanity still within you. He values your intelligence, sense of humor, and the strength you’ve shown in coping with your transformation.

- You appreciate Jack’s unwavering support and his efforts to treat you with kindness and respect, something you’ve been deprived of since your transformation.

6. Affectionate Gestures:

- Jack starts to show small signs of affection, like gently holding your hand when you’re in pain or bringing you flowers to brighten your day.

- You reciprocate by protecting him from other threats and using your abilities to help him in ways he can’t help himself.

---

Adapting to the New Normal

7. Adjusting to Your New Life:

- Jack helps you adapt to your new abilities, finding ways to make them more manageable and less painful. He researches ancient texts and rituals to find remedies and solutions.

- You, in turn, teach Jack what you find out about the supernatural world, helping him understand the dangers and the hidden realities of his seemingly ordinary life.

8. Finding a New Purpose:

- Together, you and Jack start helping others affected by supernatural occurrences. Your unique abilities and Jack’s medical knowledge make you a formidable team.

- You both find a sense of purpose in helping others, turning your tragic circumstances into a force for good.

---

Deeper Connection

9. Emotional Dependence:

- Jack becomes emotionally dependent on you, finding solace in your presence and strength in your resilience. You become his anchor in a world that’s become increasingly unpredictable and dangerous.

- You, in turn, rely on Jack’s unwavering support and his dedication to finding a way to help you. His presence becomes a source of comfort and hope.

10. Unspoken Feelings:

- Over time, your relationship deepens into something more profound. The line between friendship and something more becomes blurred as you both realize how much you mean to each other.

- Despite the physical barriers and the complexities of your situation, Jack finds himself falling for you, admiring your strength and compassion. You feel a similar pull towards him, appreciating his kindness and determination.

---

Facing Challenges Together

11. Facing Adversity:

- Together, you face various supernatural threats and challenges, learning to trust and rely on each other completely. Your bond grows stronger with each trial you overcome.

- Jack’s protective instincts grow, and he becomes fiercely devoted to keeping you safe, even if it means putting himself in danger.

12. Hope for the Future:

- Despite the odds, Jack continues to search for a way to reverse your transformation or at least make your existence less painful. You hold onto the hope that, with Jack’s help, you might one day reclaim some semblance of your humanity.

- Your shared determination and love for each other become the driving forces that keep you both going, no matter how difficult the journey becomes.

---

These headcanons explore the deep and complex relationship between Human Eyeless Jack and Eyeless Demon Reader, highlighting their emotional connection, mutual support, and the challenges they face together in a world where the supernatural and the mundane collide.

Hope this was good enough!!

[feedthefandomfest]

I have a question because I want to comment but I feel nervous. It is very foolish but it is seriously something that prevents me from commenting-

So English is not my first language and I suffer from a disease known as 'fuck you all English leaves your brain when you tap on the comment box'. Like I'm fluent enough to write a fic but the comments break me and I can only do basic 'subject verb complement' and forget half my vocabulary because I'm so nervous, so it often ends up being broken English.

I back out of posting comments except 'i love this this is amazing thank you for writing I love it' because I'm too scared the author will take it badly ? Like, what if they find it annoying ? What if they believe I think they write bad English and I'm mocking them and they don't want me to ever read their works ever again ?

Anyways, my question is : Does it actually bother anyone to receive broken English comments? Do people find it annoying ?

I would never be annoyed by such a thing and I'm positive that's true of others as well. On the contrary, it kinda blows my mind whenever I stop to think about how members of fandom for whom English is not their first language are so often working in translation. Like the trickiest barrier I have to contend with when writing anything is sleep deprivation and your average writer's block 😅 so to imagine also rendering those words in a different language?? 🫠

To varying degrees, the tragic disease of "empty comment box = empty brain" can strike anyone, regardless of language. On the plus side, some of the tricks to break through the blankness are also broadly applicable, such as

drawing from a list of sentence starters like the ones offered here or here (the beginner bingo card also has similar tasks!!)

installing this handy script that generates a positive comment on demand, which you can modify or expand on as needed

using the floating comment box to track moments or quotes you want to compliment specifically, even with just a string of emojis 💕💕💕

I can recall a couple comments I've gotten where the person apologized or gave a sort of disclaimer that English wasn't their first language, and honestly it just made me even more appreciative of the comment? Because there are so many reasons that a reader doesn't comment, and a language barrier is the most understandable!! And yet here they are, making me smile with their words. I always want to reassure them in my reply that an apology/disclaimer isn't necessary, but I don't always know how. (And there's nothing wrong with acknowledging something you're self-conscious about, after all.)

The concept of "broken English" has also got me thinking, though... And since it turned into a bit of an essay I'll leave it under the cut. 💛

Because the term "broken English" has a lot to unpack, seeing as it's always unfairly positioned those who speak English as a second language imperfectly as lesser (broken = defective). And that strikes me as a bit ironic, considering the degree to which English is a Frankenstein's monster of a language—this conglomeration of every language it encounters and subsumes. In that sense, English itself is a broken language? Or rather the shards of numerous languages held together with duct tape and gum and a whiff of imperialism. Its usage is always in flux, always evolving as speakers adapt it to new circumstances, and those adaptations become dialects in and of themselves. There is no one English language.

I teach high schoolers, and I'm consistently struck by the growing chasm between the kinds of English I can speak and the kinds of English they can speak. And technically my job is to train them in how to use American Standard English and read literature written in American Standard English, but really I find that pretty limiting.

Take the tone of this response, for instance! The more I've leaned toward trying to articulate these complicated issues of language, the more formal my speech has become. Contrast that with the first paragraph, where I'm trying to get across this awkward earnest admiration for the extra effort required of some fans just to engage in fandom, and so I ended up using more casual phrasing and emojis in a way that (hopefully) conveys a certain warmth and self-deprecating humor and whatnot.

If I were to leave a comment on a fic that blew me away, left me in a state of awe or delight or anguish—just a puddle on the floor—I'd find American Standard English quite lacking. Downright restrictive. The unique jumbled babble of fandom-speak functions on breaking the standard rules in order to evoke an intensity of emotion that meets the demands of the moment.

Another thing about commenters who really commit to throwing the rules out the window in favor of vibes is that I get such a strong sense of personality beaming through. A distinct voice that's generated, an intense impression of there being an individual on the other side with a particular shape. And there's something delightful about that.

...I suppose this is all a very roundabout way of saying that if there's anywhere to just unleash, vocab and mechanics be damned, where it's more than okay to string together whatever words you can in service of how you're feeling, it's the AO3 comment box. 💛

[bonefall]

I don’t know if the Erin’s are romanticizing abuse, don’t realize they’re writing it, or both because this is genuinely getting concerning

They’ve written how many abusive husbands and then said that those husbands are actually great people who deserve everything?

Well, let's apply Occam's Razor. Which of these makes the most sense;

The writing team has accidentally written at least 3 (more like 5) realistic depictions of domestic abuse, and just happen to be consistently more sympathetic to the men in the relationships, and find that romantic involvement makes a character humanizing in general Or

The writing team has a warped perception of what healthy love is supposed to look like, and think that the behaviors they depict are normal and just part of relationships.

I think the phrase "romanticizing abuse" is kind of unhelpful tbh, because it's not totally accurate. Most people believe they're doing the right thing. It's not likely that they KNOW what they're doing is destructive, and are secretly twirling an evil mustache as they write it into a teenage cat book series in the hopes of making more victims.

It's not entirely romanticism/glorification, it's deeper. It's the idea that these behaviors are normal, understandable, and they as writers either a total disinterest in the internal lives of the victims (Turtle, Bumble) or the desire to "explore" the relationship as if both sides are on equal footing/mutually toxic (Squilf)

And Tom... Tom's redemption ties into the narrative about blood that DOTC tells. It says that having children produces a goodness in men, and biological connection (even to people you don't know) is an intrinsic, sometimes tragic fact of life. The only time Tom ever does something that wasn't actively malicious was saving his daughter, Sparrow Fur.

For that, and that alone, he is redeemed. And thus deserves a cutesy reward in his afterlife.

[ghostinthegallery]

Re-reading Twice Dead King, the character I was most struck by on a second viewing was Mentep. Now there’s a tragic figure. Simultaneously a mentor, an ally, an antagonist, someone so terribly understandable who I want to smack upside the head for being a lying liar who lies.

Ultimately, Mentep is a penitent. He has committed terrible acts (that we only get scant details of) and he wants to redeem himself. Thanks to his tampering with his own memories, he doesn't fully know what he is repenting for, which puts him in a bind. However, he knows that he played a role in creating the flayer curse/longing sickness, so he goes to a planet where a high concentration of them have gathered and works on his cure. He's respected, he's able to do his work with only occasional interruptions from the local angsty youth. Things are good-ish (until the armada shows up.)

Mentep and Oltyx have a weird relationship. Despite being his normal asshole-teenager self, Oltyx does respect Mentep more than most. Trusts Mentep enough to let the guy perform experimental brain surgery on him. Twice. And Mentep is able to be much more candid with Oltyx in return. He's one of the few consistently calling Oltyx out for his bullshit. On the surface, it is a standard mentor relationship, but what got me on a second reading is that there is hardly a single conversation Mentep has with Oltyx where he isn’t lying to and/or manipulating him.

It starts early with Yenekh. Mentep knows Yenekh has been suffering from the curse, he hasn’t told Oltyx, and when he finally has to tell him, he conveniently does so right before distracting everyone with the “oh btw, we’re all gonna die to a giant human armada” news. This is done with the best of intentions. Mentep wants to protect Yenekh (and Oltyx, in his way), so he delivers the news this way to get the bad news out of the way and then both of them on the same side. But it is the start of a pattern.

Which we get again when Mentep fails to mention a that Antikef is a flayer den ruled by a “We have Illuminor Szeras at home” Vizier, and boy does that end badly for Oltyx (see the last 60% of Ruin). Naturally, Mentep has a good explanation:

But it is another lie, one that costs Oltyx dearly (put a pin in this, I am coming back to it.)

There's some little fibs and ommissions along the way as they go to Carnotite, but it all builds up to The Big Lie. The one that sends Oltyx spiraling and gets Mentep killed. Because you know what really helps with paranoia? Finding out your mentor and your best friend have been hiding a secret blood pit in your basement! Again, it makes sense why Mentep is lying about this! He has every reason to believe Oltyx would have rejected the flayed ones he and Yenekh were sheltering (he in fact does exactly this), and Mentep's entire goal is to cure the curse to atone for his role in its creation. However...

I think Oltyx is correct to call Mentep out here (Oltyx is wrong about most things, but not this). Somewhere a long the way he became a means to an end for Mentep. Mentep was focused on The Curse and not the person in front of him who was cursed. He used Oltyx's friendship with Yenekh, his need to save his kingdom, his trust, his fears, all in service of admirable goals, but he was using Oltyx. Is it any wonder this is where it ended?

The lies were Mentep's undoing from the start. Remember the lie about Antikef? The one that led to all the events of Ruin? Yes, Oltyx and Djoseras did talk and avoid a civil war, but Oltyx also went through hell. He saw his home turned into an abbattoir, his father reduced to barely more than an animal. Oltyx was literally vivisected and almost consumed by his own dysphoria. And then committed regicide after leaving his brother behind to die. Antikef is where Oltyx truly learned that compassion was weakness and saw how horrific the flayer curse could become. So how was he ever going to accept the flayed ones as Mentep wanted him to? Oltyx experienced the comically perfect combination of traumas to ensure that would never happen, thanks in part to Mentep's manipulations.

I cannot stress enough that Mentep's individual lies all made sense at the time. May have even been the best option, at the time. But the consequences piled up, and even as he is dying he still refuses to give Oltyx even a scrap of the truth. That is the core of his tragedy for me. Well, that and this:

He bases all of his manipulations on his understanding of people's psyche's, which are usually accurate, but it also traps them. It gives them no room to grow or surprise him or for outside factors to come in and intervene. Contrast this with Zultanekh, who is upfront to a fault. He gives Oltyx advice and resources, but what Oltyx does with those things is up to him. Even when he is screwing up royally, he's allowed to make those mistakes. Mentep causes ones of Oltyx's darkest hours (the secret blood pit), while Zultanekh lifts him out of another (the Blood Angel's attack). In the end, Zultanekh is the one who sees Oltyx's true growth and witnesses the birth of his kingdom. A birth that comes not from curing the curse but embracing it.

There was never a sickness to be fixed, which means Mentep never would have achieved his redemption because he was focused on the wrong things. Which does make his death and rebirth as Xott a bit of a reflection of Oltyx. He was too burdened in his first life, but in his second he (or at least a version of him) was able to witness the people he hurt reaching a place of peace.

[chuckduckling]

I know it feels natural to compare Shen Jiu and Shen Yuan, since they both end up occupying the same body, but comparing SJ and Luo Binghe (Bingge) makes so much more sense to me.

SJ has baggage that directly parallels LBG’s baggage: they both had abusive childhoods, they both hate themselves and feel unloved, and they use their trauma as an excuse to lash out.

SY, on the other hand, comes from wealth and modern comforts. His baggage is that he’s a transmigrator dealing with knowledge of the original book (also The System) (also a big case of the not-gays).

It’s why I can’t get behind the idea that SJ was born a monster while LBG gets acknowledged as a monster created from abuse. Saying that all of the original LBH’s crimes here were just SJ’s fault...it feels as dismissive as saying LBH’s abuse was Qiu Jianluo’s fault, you know?

(SY can be an unreliable narrator, but remembering details about PIDW is consistently one of his strengths. Projecting those details onto Bingmei, on the other hand...)

More ramblings and quotes under the cut…

(edited to replace MTL analysis with the official translation)

This little excerpt from the 100 Questions extra makes the parallels between SJ and LBG even more interesting, since SJ is rumored to be a lecher (with doubts thrown on those rumors as we learn more about him) while LBG is confirmed here to have assaulted multiple women.

SJ is the villain, so his lechery is a signal to readers of his depravity. LBG is the stallion protagonist, so his lechery is just him fulfilling his role as the male readers’ power fantasy. Doesn't this feel like commentary on stallion novels…? Just me?

Anyways, it seems like SJ gets the vice of child abuser, while LBG gets the vice of serial rapist. Both SJ and LBG share a killer bodycount for their own reasons, though LBG’s is probably much higher.

I sorta wonder if it can be easier for fandom to overlook because:

some of what we learn about LBG is from the untranslated extras

the people who suffer are nameless nobodies

his protagonist halo protects him from all consequences (for example, nobody whose family was killed during one of LBG’s massacres gets to throw Ning Yingying’s bloody ribbons in front of LBG's face and laugh about it while torturing him to death) (just typing that out upset me Yingying baby I’m so sorry!!!)

Even SY comments here on how the Bingge from PIDW feels more alien to him after experiencing the world of Scum Villain and learning to understand Bingmei as his own person.

However, even with his flaws and crimes and whatnot, LBG is still complex, tormented, and sympathetic. He has traumatic reasons for growing up into someone who has done bad things, and he has more to him than just those bad things.

Which is also exactly what SQH says about SJ.

SJ and LBH are both influenced by self-hatred, which acts as another parallel between them. But that self-hatred, that belief that they were born inherently unlovable, doesn’t make them better people. In fact, if anything, it makes them worse.

Self-hatred is not ennobling in the Scum Villain universe. It is self-destructive, and it destroys everything that surrounds it as well.

Thus, I’d argue that these two have both truly earned the title of “poor little meow meow”.

In contrast, I feel like the Huan Hua Palace Master is the one who earns the actual “scum villain” title for SVSSS? He crosses off pretty much everything on the list:

a righteous cultivator who turns out to be a two-faced asshole

a lecher who lusts after his female disciple

has no tragic backstory to explain anything about him, nor any redeeming qualities nor relationships

gets turned into a human stick

dies horribly and painfully for the catharsis of the audience

Of course, this means that there’s a universe out there where someone’s gonna transmigrate into the HHPM and—okay okay I’ll stop.

As always, I'm curious to know other peoples' thoughts...

[shera-dnd]

i'm asking. so nicely to be mentioned. if you ever write about yuri in dawntrail. please,,,

Look any fanfics on my end have been put on hold until my mental health improves

BUT

That I can totally use this ask as an excuse to ramble

SO SPOILERS FOR THE DAWNTRAIL MSQ FROM LVL97 ONWARD

Okay this ship caught me completely by surprise, because like I went into the expansion fully expecting to ship WoL with Wuk Lamat and there even was some content for that, but in the end I felt I enjoyed Wuk Lamat more as a daughter/little sister figure for the WoL

Then for a good while I was sold on Wuk Lamat x Alisaie, because Alisaie consistently used l'amatyi to refer to Wuk Lamat and we know that that's a term of endearment in Tural. Also Alisaie can't help but have massive lesbian vibes with any woman she interacts with

but this all got tossed aside by Queen Sphene of Alexandria!

BECAUSE THEY PULLED AN EDEN

Okay for many reasons actually

First of all, the story constantly matches up Reason and Resolve as complementary halves of a greater whole. So shipping the Vow of Resolve with the Queen of Reason makes perfect sense

Then you have Wuk Lamat and Sphene bonding over their love for their people and their desire to understand each other (with a little extra "robot learns how to feel" spice for good measure)

Add to that Wuk Lamat's insistence that she can't let Sphene got without first confronting her and fully understanding her, leading to a youtube compilation's worth of her calling out "Sphene!"

All culminating on Wuk Lamat punching a hole through reality in order to have one final conversation with her, saying that she finally understands all of her, AND THEN AWAKENING HER HUMAN PERSONALITY AGAIN THROUGH THE POWER OF THE MEMORIES THEY SHARED TOGETHER

and in the end you have the perfect storm of TRAGIC FUCKING LESBIANS!

[diamond-rings-and-gutter-bones]

"261 is bad writing" no i think you just dont like it

what parts of the leaks are bad writing? gojos body and technique continuing to be used as a weapon even after death, just like he always has been? yuuta volunteering to be the one to have to do something tragic, just like he always has?

this is consistent to the tone of the manga. you dont have to like it. i didnt want this to happen but i can understand it and accept that it makes sense.