#idk i probably sound so privileged to other people people probably think my problems are so stupid haha

[butteredfrogs]

trying so hard not to get upset and say fuck it and delete my tumblr

[theodoraflowerday]

young royals s3e4 episode reaction

okay, this is already stressful

you know what? linda makes sense. i do think they should move. they have the settlement money, i understand community is important but they're all sooooo far beyond thinking of just community. for safety reasons they really should move.

"the police can't do anything?" bro can't you? you're the goddamn crown prince???? do something??????

"had they done this to me they would've seen it as a threat to the nation" YEAH WELL I MEAN

"and you're my boyfriend, so" ok

listen I understand this is serious

but every time they call each other boyfriend my brain goes into hibernation mode and I can't focus on anything else

they're BOYFRIENDS

aaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"I'll talk to the royal court" THANKS WILLE

though tbf I feel like the royal court might agree that they should probably move lol

like if i had that kinda money and I knew my kids were in danger I'd be leaving the goddamn country

of course vincent is drawing a dick in the sand. that man is just *so* predictable lmao

oh man in all this I forgot about the bitter divorce plot between felice and sara

ISN'T THERE A CONFLICT OF INTEREST oh boy vincent if you Knew

NOT SIMON SAYING HE'D PREFER A DEMOCRATICALLY ELECTED HEAD OF STATE IN FRONT OF HIS BOYFRIEND, THE FUTURE NON-DEMOCRATICALLY ELECTED HEAD OF STATE

LMFAAAAOOOOOOOFKDLFJDKFJSLFJSLFJDLFKSL

"you're so fucking pathetic" "😘" okay that was the funniest exchange in the planet

like. fuck vincent. all my homies hate vincent. but my man is so goddamn hilarious even when he's being a pathetic dick

NOT VINCENT KSKFKSKFLSKFDKJFDKKF STOP THATS HILARIOUS

I can excuse demonstrations but I draw the line at them being done by poor people

oh. oh SHIT

OH SHIT

"can you?" oh FUCK

oh this is insane I can't believe they're having this conversation

YOU SOUND LIKE JAN-OLOF AAHSKFJDKFJDKFJDKF

oh baby that is Not a real job jdkgjfkgjdkgjdkf

dya think edvin was like saying those lines thru his teeth like "yes the monarchy is good and has a place in modern society actually"

ugh I want wilmon to be endgame so fucking bad but the more this season goes on the more I'm realizing they're simply too incompatible and idk how they're gonna solve this unless one of them compromises way too fuckin much

#abdication pls tho

what kind of life is that? 😭

"it's a privilege not a punishment" ok mr kristina

tbf to simon i feel like if i was already anti monarchy and started dating the crown prince whose life problems begin and end with the monarchy I would be even MORE for abolition.

like before it was more of a general sense. now it's fuckin personal. free wille

shouldn't they exclude the literal future king of sweden from this exercise about future?? like we all already know what he's gonna end up doing lol.

god this is gonna be so bad

who's this flustered ass boy and what did he do with cunt august???

YOU NEED TO HELP SIMON - ok

that felt too easy?

oh. okay I'm sorry is ludwig not his own person? can't he attend his own son's damn birthday???

AND AUGUST????????????? YOU CAN'T BE FR

every time farima is on screen it takes another year off my life

until jan-olof pointed it out I didn't notice how genuinely unsafe the eriksson house is but damn

simon said "okay" way too easily. I don't like that.

I mean like, honestly, farima is right and he needs to lay low, but also I know simon isn't gonna do that shit and it worries me

they keep having these absurdly serious conversations and it keeps Not blowing up and I'm afraid when it blows up it's gonna be super ugly

I like simon's idea of mental health in young people tho! I get what he means re: lgbtq+ issues but I also think wille is right in that he can't represent all ~the queers just bc he's in love with a boy yk

I get them both and they both have their merits. I also think wille is making a huge change just by being out and I'd be really fuckin annoyed if I was a public figure and had to do shit for the queers just bc i was also queer like no. idk. i get them both. I'm more on wille's side on this one.

but also fuck that thing about supporting lgbtq+ issues being a political statement. I hate that he's right. it shouldn't be political.

NOT GOING ON STRIKE JSKFJDKFJDKFUDKFJ DISGUSTING

vincent is such a lil bitch

if i were simon i would literally just. take the bus back home. that's it fuck them rich kids I can't deal with the bullshit.

SO YOU CAN ONLY TAKE A STAND WHEN IT DOESN'T COST YOU ANYTHING????????

BROOIFJDLFJDKFJDKFJDK WRECK HIM SIMON

god that was delightful. it was a delight. i need simon to keep this specific energy all the time because oh my god this episode is incredible.

oh and he's also wrecking sara? can we bring the other guy back so he can, in colombian, cantarle las verdades en la cara? like simon has enough fists for everyone. bring the queen in. bring fuckin erik so he can tell him off for dying

the strike looks very cozy. i wish real strikes looked like that. rich people are so funny.

so lady from the incredibles' response is to starve a bunch of rich kids including the crown prince? is she aware of the consequences of that?

oh he gave up

JALFJSLFK FOR A LOLLIPOP?

I love rich kids. they're so funny. so stupid.

"don't you find it nice to be hungry sometimes?" FIND A GODDAMN THERAPIST AUGUST. JESUS CHRIST.

"that sounds like an eating disorder" FINALLY. MY FUCKING GOD.

they do kinda sound like a fun group of friends. that was a bit of a genuine moment. I liked that.

aaaand back at being snakes. gr8.

awww my babies who are total opposites

wilhelm could really learn more from simon actually

OH NO HE'S SO HUNGRY DKFIDIFIDU

THREE HUNDRED CROWNS SJDLSJFIDJFKSJFLSJFLSUFODJFOSKDL

STOODKGLDJGLDIG

THAT'S LIKE LORD OF THE FLIES IN THERE THEYRE GONNA MURDER AUGUST AND EAT HIM

JDKFJSKFJSKFJSKFKDKFJDLFKDK FREDRIKA

NOT DICKS OUT FOR HILLERSKA IM LOSING MY MISNFKDLFKDKFKDLFKFLGKFLFKFLFKDLFK

like a pair of lil street urchins, those two. I love them

"did you sleep well?" "no. did you?" "no" my BABY BOYS

NOT CLUTCHING THE CHIPS TO HIS CHEST SJFKDJFKSJFLSKFLDK

hm. so a group of people striking actually got what they wanted? Wonder if there's any lesson to learn.

IN A BATHROOM? are they gonna KISS???

"I'm so thankful you were my first real friend" oh. my god.

i have managed to make it fully unscathed so far but that simple sentence sent me into a sobbing spiral oh my god

oh go d

"since when do you care what the royals think?" "since I learned what it means to be with one of them" oh. ooooohohohohohoho

he's gonna write him a song isn't it

rosh and ayub are the realest. honestly. such real ones. day ones. I love them

is this gonna be couples therapy ooooooo let's GO

oh

I mean, idk, that reveal doesn't really hit hard bc obviously if it happened to august and nils then it had to be erik's class, right?

it's the bashing that's horrifying. erik would have participated in beating someone up for the slightest inkling of being gay that is horrifying

oh my god yeah nvm that hit super hard. wille. oh no. oh god.

fuckkkkk

[mangodestroyer]

Well, I'm sure Aziraphale never experienced torture. But I think him being a principality would also give him a high pain tolerance. He may seem soft, but I'm sure he's been trained up to be tough if he needs to be (and was created to be a naturally strong individual). I'm not sure how they train principalities, but he's basically a Heavenly military unit. And yeah, I know. It's not what he wanted to be. It was decided for him. I imagine that can be its own kind of trauma. Human military training sucks ass from the sounds of it (I mean, I hear it can be pretty rough). Imagine how fucking cold and strict Heaven military training is?

Well, Crowley by contrast started off as such a sweet, open, and creative soul. An innocent angel who probably had more privileges and thought the universe was just a fun sandbox to play around in. And that other people were, um, reasonable. At least, not evil. Not strict enough either to toss him out for having questions and for being an "imperfect" angel (although, according to Neil, he's not always a reliable narrator and probably actually did something bad to warrant the fall).

And yeah, I know, he still has that sweet side to him. It's just been so repressed by years of trauma. I mean, he's been through a LOT. And forty years of torture is just... unimaginable! I mean, from Hell of all places too! And for something that would REALLY piss them off (he actually got off light for stumbling so badly as a demon; saving a soul from eternal damnation).

Idk, they say the humans can be surprisingly cruel by themselves. And they are! I learned the hard way, thanks to the internet, what some fucked up humans can do to each other (even in modern times, for which my teachers in grade school insisted when we were studying the dark ages, "We aren't like that anymore! Humanity evolved!", pft, yeah right!) But that's just the mortal plane. In Hell, they probably have all these magical tools for their "craft." And 6000 years to come up with some messed up shit. With demons who probably do this as their passion. And they can keep you alive and wide awake. Forever.

Yeah, I've never been a fan of Biblical Hell. No one deserves that. Not even the worst human beings to ever exist. But the thing is, it's not even just reserved for the "worst of the worst." It's for everyone Heaven doesn't approve of. And that would be the majority of the human population. And most people, while imperfect, aren't straight up evil (evil is when you ENJOY hurting others, yes, that kind of person does exist).

So yeah, no wonder Crowley is just... never really okay again after that forty years! No wonder he just goes straight to begging for holy water! That theory has to be one of the most disturbing GO theories imo (and this universe can be surprisingly disturbing if you think about it a lot). I don't really blame Crowley for being super scared of Hell and the other demons when he pisses them off. Or for wanting to always run off or avoid problems when they become too much. He's hit his breaking point a long time ago.

In fact, I think he's just straight up broken now. And seems very mentally ill at this point. I think the mental illness thing was more apparent in season two. He kind of comes off as someone who's just trying to live a normal life, but just can't. Idk, I kind of had a hard time watching season two because of it. Might be able to do so if I tried again, now that I'm used to it. And Aziraphale seemed a bit out of touch with it. I'm not saying that makes him bad or anything. He probably hasn't processed his own shit yet. It just seems obvious that Crowley is, um, not well?

Again, I just can't fathom 40 years of torture in Hell. How the fuck would anyone recover from that? In the real world, people can become super fucked up over far less. For life. I mean, if they intended on sending him out to be an agent again, would they have really gone all out with him? They need him to still be able to do his job and all. What good would a catatonic agent be? I mean, if he got sent back out after the fact, then that was probably a "warning." His only warning, I would assume. Something to really get the message through. But not "the worst."

Needless to say, I kind of hope that weird time skip is at least addressed a little in season three. It's leaving me with lots of questions and speculation. Maybe I'm overthinking it, idk. I just feel like it's kind of important though. I mean, it seems like it plays a huge role with Azicrow too. If that's the reason Crowley asked for holy water. Or why Crowley seems more avoidant now (well, more so after that 60's scene). I mean, Aziraphale was being more affection to him, and he was a little responsive. But he actually seemed kind of... not that responsive to it. Almost a little oblivious to it. And also had a weird resource guarding moment over letting Azi use his car (an angel he loves more than anyone, and I know cars are very treasured possessions, but the Bentley is sentient and very capable, and Azi is also capable). And also chose to live in his car despite not liking it (when he could have just lived in the bookshop).

I'm way too into this. I agree. Crowley needs so many hugs! Actually, I sometimes just want to take him somewhere safe where he can never be hurt again. And so he doesn't have to deal with that fucked up world he lives in anymore.

I will never tire to watch this scene.

Aziraphale acts like a normal person but Crowley reacts like he has been shot by a bloody shotgun or a fucking sniper. He is so damn dramatic, my poor bitch

It's just a lil ball of paint, love 😭 please chill

[everything-is-crab]

Sorry about that. I didn't really think that it would be suspicious for an anon to sent facebook links. I totally understand your concerns.

Do you know Deepika Narayan Bhardwaj? She's an mra who made documentaries like Martyrs of Marriage and India's sons. The person I mentioned reblogged a post from her about Shikhar Dhawan and Aesha Dhawan while tagging it as "How greedy bourgeois woman can ruin life of man".

I know it sounds simple but what actually annoyed me were the comments to that post and how she responded to it. Men saying things like "most women are like this" and her responding with "yes comrade, women in bourgeois society care only about money" and such. This isn't the first time she's made posts like this. She was the one who actually introduced me to marxist feminism and seeing her turn into this way was disappointing.

A lot of political discourse about feminism or marxism in our country is dominated by upper castes and classes but I'm willing to listen still, which is why I kept following her eventhough she's been making misogynistic posts for a long time.

I actually do read and enjoy works of Urmila Pawar, Anuradha Ghandy, Shoma Sen, Anand Teltumbde and I'd definitely look at the works of those whom you mentioned.

I'm probably boring you by now and I guess I come across as an idiot so I'll stop. I won't bother you anymore. Again, I apologize for sending that link.

Yeah sometimes links are often disguised and can be ip grabbers or other form of malware. And even then I couldn't see what you sent cause I don't have fb account. You don't need to apologize and you can send me an ask without anon on (I won't publish) and we can talk through DMs if you want. Or you can continue sending anons. I don't have an issue. You're not bothering me dw. Everytime I get an ask like this from an Indian leftist feminist I get excited so you're not boring me and you're definitely not an idiot. It's okay really <3

You're already brighter than most men and yet you're feeling so underconfident. Try to resist that.

And ik her! (Deepika whatever) YouTube wouldn't stop pushing her videos on my feed and so I looked into them and just 🤢🤢

What a class traitor. And the fact I have come across so many such women irl. And that case is just vile. Like wtf. These people always want to blame women for everything. If he had sm problem of being away from his son, then maybe he should have taken up some domestic duties himself lol. But men confine women to a certain role in marriage. And when it backfires they cry and blame them.

And she was a Marxist feminist and then turned to MRA rhetoric? Wow that's new. And you're right, it is dominated by the privileged sections of society. You don't have to listen to such extreme bigoted people. Does she really understand Marxism feminism at all if she thinks it's women who are economically greedy in capitalist system? Maybe you were right, it's just for clout. Sorry you had to see that.

And I am glad you're reading their work! You are already very smart idk why you're so anxious about yourself. I am glad you sent me that and this ask :)

[diaryfullofsparklesandkisses]

Downsides to working:

I get nothing done

Zero creativity

No time or motivation for basic things

Tired from physically working

Upsides to working:

Not feeling guilty for being unemployed and failing at being creatively successful

Rent is easily paid

Health insurance

Saving money

It’s worth it. Unfortunately I’m still pretty convinced my actual purpose in life is to be creative and have a career with that and benefit ppls lives. And the failure will continue to make me sad, I mean what do I expect lol I’m just average at everything I do which is fine, it’s normal. But ya know, it’s not great to always be knowing your dreams and giving up on them.. actually executing some and having them flop because getting lucky would be so strange and slim. I mean like knowing u have something unique to offer but knowing u won’t be able to get a seat at the table because that’s just the way it is being small. Normal and fine, it happens to ppl every day. We have to expect it and be ok w it. It’s just nice when ppl interact with ur creativity, or u know it made their day better, or that ur painting is in their house and they look at it and like it all the time. It’s like ur adding something worthwhile to the world w ur gift and talent. That seems cooler than working every day monotonously just to come home and be too scrambled to get it together to work more.. the guilt of being unemployed was horrible, it’s so burned into our society. Like forbid u take a day “off” when unemployed to do nothing, that feels even worse. It feels amazing but the internal judgement of “laziness”. It weighs a lot. Idk I don’t care about my life that much but fuck this world that would make a setup where someone like what I’m describing can’t fully express their gift. I distance it from myself cuz idk about my gift lol I’m kinda weird and uggo. But artistic identity placed on someone else, I would want them to go full potential mode. I guess for myself working is absolutely a million degrees below my full potential but it’s what I have to do to survive. I have to kill my dreams (that aren’t even that farfetched lmao) and I knew this would happen, I knew I wouldn’t like it.. this sounds so silly probably like I don’t want to make it sound like I’m a martyr. I fully have to not care to get through the day. I try to not think about it. It does make me extremely pissed that so many others are likely in the same position and may never get their moment and connection with the career they could have. I think wasted creativity is sad, not everyone has to do it but for those who can and want to it should be encouraged. Like go be prolific, go be awesome. Obviously that’s near impossible to do for a variety of overlapping factors depending on the person. But also kinda, fuck art from a wealthy privileged person like it could be good obviously but I think we all know some really intensely interesting and valuable art and music comes from people who are not that. But u have to be at least somewhat wealthy to do something creative full time that’s more ur own thing. Idk it’s so weird, I like my job rn, fuck having a society where creative ppl are forced to like kill that part of themselves, kill their inner child right. That makes me so mad it’s fucked up. Literally the world would be a better place, so it seems like I’m pinpointing a problem. Dunno how to fix it.

[icannotgetoverbirds]

swifties look away im so sorry

okay so i heard a song on the radio today that is apparently one of taylor swift's pieces.

this is by no means an in-depth analysis, nor unbiased or even well-written.

so for reference i'm talking about anti-hero. keep in mind, this is pretty much just a vibe check.

vibe check: it feels to me like she's upset that people are attempting to hold her accountable for her actions wrt the whole private jet thing, and it's kinda sad. Not like, i feel bad for her sad, but like, girl, get it together, sad.

evidence:

anti-hero released in october of 2022. for reference, those articles about celebrity private jet usage - which you may remember left taylor at the top of the list, garnering serious backlash - came out in august of 2022.

in this song, she is the anti-hero (afaik - if it's someone else, that could change the meaning entirely). she sees herself as hated, as someone viewed as an enemy. she bitterly refers to her narcissism as though she's been called one and is tired of the accusations.

she says she dreams about her daughter-in-law killing her for the money, then screaming that taylor's laughing up at her from hell because the in-laws were left nothing in the will.

worth noting that she has children, all of which are under the age of ten. not sure how to feel about the implications of her presenting this hypothetical situation in a song long before her kids have the chance to bring a partner home. somehow i doubt they're going to be comfortable doing that.

some lyrics that were what really sent up the red flags for me:

"It's me, hi, I'm the problem, it's me (I'm the problem, it's me) At tea time, everybody agrees"

this sounds exactly like the kind of shit someone says when they're trying to dodge responsibility. guilt-tripping the person calling them out by exaggerating what they're saying. "I'm always the villain. I'm always the bad guy. Everybody's on your side. You always have to be right."

(that last one is one i've personally heard from an abuser. again, this is biased and my vibe check is definitely imperfect.)

it's just. pathetic feels too mean but it's the only word I can think of. taylor swift has a lot of reach and her music meant a lot to me as a kid, but as i've gotten older i've kind of grown apart from her work.

which, you know, nbd. then the shit about the plane drops and it's like Oh Wow Okay. Fuck Me I Guess. idk. it seems like it was made to garner sympathy and support, which isn't inherently bad, but i'm having trouble being sympathetic when she's contributed so much to climate change and pollution.

i don't hate swifties, i don't even hate taylor swift. i just... don't have a lot of sympathy for her when that article could've been a wake-up call, and the memes could've been a wake-up call, but instead it seems like she's whining about people being mean to her - and don't get me wrong, people are absolutely being mean, but when she's literally directly, massively, and unnecessarily contributing to the destruction of the planet, i think they have a right to get a little pissed.

so instead of stepping up and doing better, she just wrote a song that feels like a pathetic attempt to get people to stop calling her out for her bullshit, whether it was intended to be manipulative or not.

swifties, if you read this, i'm sorry, but that's just my perspective on it. i have no issues with people being fans of her or liking her music or whatever, i just... i guess i felt like this was something worth discussing.

like, idek if this is too harsh or too nice. i have qualms with the concept of punishment in an attempt to bring about change, even for the privileged, but people have a right to be angry about what she's done. is there something to be said about the fact that people mostly went after her for being at the number one spot and almost nobody is making memes about other celebrities on the list? probably.

anyways. just my unorganized thoughts abt it. someone else can probably put it better than i can - i don't have the spoons to do a proper analysis right now, but i can provide this lens to view it through, i guess.

[ettawritesnstudies]

Do you have any thoughts/advice about writing siblings? Especially for characters with more than one sibling,,, like how their relationship with each other might be different than if they had only one sibling.

oh you bet I do anon, I've practically got this down to a science haha. There are a few key aspects of the family dynamic you'll want to keep in mind that will influence how the different relationships form!

Parental Roles:

(I'm using the term "parent" loosely, since it may vary depending on the story, but "legal guardian" sounded weird. Yknow what I mean)

Good parents will encourage mutually respectful relationships between their kids, avoid playing favorites, and work to settle bickering quickly and fairly. Siblings might get on each other's nerves, but they'll also be friends and whacky in-jokes abound.

Poor parents will either create an incredibly tight bond between siblings (to compensate for the lack of a reliable/safe adult support structure) or will drive siblings apart (probably by playing favorites, creating a rivalry)

Another thing to consider is if both a mother and father figure are present. Kids being raised by a single parent or a grandparent will have a different dynamic than if both were around. Divorce or parental death can be a major traumatic early life event, and will affect how each child relates to their parent and to each other. I can't really speak to this because I didn't grow up in a separated family, but research by reading first-hand experiences. If the kids are orphans, or both parents are neglectful, a sibling might step up into the parenting role, creating a complex, interdependent relationship.

Birth Order:

People will argue about this for aaaaagggess, but broadly speaking, the following personality traits are accurate:

Oldest/Oldest available (when the actual eldest isn't around)/Oldest Daughter (when the older brothers are useless around the house):

Strengths: organized, responsible, leader, probably half-decent at babysitting, cooking, and cleaning, may be a peacemaker between younger siblings.

Weaknesses: bossy/opinionated, default center of attention OR invisible depending on the situation, may bully younger siblings

With great privilege comes great responsibility

Middle (depending on place in the middle and age gaps, may lean more towards oldest/youngest behaviors in the family dynamic):

Strengths: flexible, independent, more laid-back attitude, probably makes friends outside of the family easily

Weaknesses: flighty, deliberately annoying, might feel inadequate or looked over in older sibling's "shadow"

Youngest:

Strengths: "Go-get-em" attitude. They want to run with the older kids, and parents are too exhausted to stop them, so they learn a lot young. If the eldest was allowed to stay at home alone overnight at 16, the youngest is probably doing that at 14. Confident. The other default center of attention.

Weaknesses: Tag-along, loud/obnoxious.

When someone only has one sibling, it's only the oldest/youngest dynamic and since both are so independent (and the parent's attention isn't split so many ways), I've noticed they're usually not as close? Especially if there's a age gap, they function more like only children that live in the same house, idk?

When you have a large family, pretty much everything in your life rotates around the family's schedule, when are your parents available to take you to X event, do you have to be present at Y event, who's babysitting tonight? Each person has a defined role within the family and the relationships are reflective of that.

Shared Life Experiences:

How much time did they spend together growing up, and was that a positive or negative experience? Did their family experience a traumatic event? (probably in the protagonist backstory). How did they react and support each other through that? If there's common ground, they might not talk about it because nothing needs to be said. They lived through it together.

Personality Dynamics/Clashes:

Depending on how you built your characters from the above questions, this can be a highly story-specific question to answer, but I'm just going to throw some generic dynamic ideas together inspired by my own siblings and stories:

Oldest and 2nd Oldest sisters are mistaken as twins because they're on the same mental wavelength 80% of the time. Lots of affectionate exasperation and mutual complaining/info dumping.

Middle was the youngest for 5 years until a younger sibling was born. Finds themselves caught between youngest "immaturity" and new expectations to be a good example of an older sibling.

two middle kids (2 years apart) bicker as small children but grow into being chill friends as teenagers once they both mature a little.

younger middle (10M) has different favored older siblings to go to for different problems when they can't get mom or dad's attention (asking oldest for help with school, older middle for help with friends, etc.)

the impartial sibiling mediating arguments between overly concerned but justifiably frustrated parents and overly defensive but justifiably irritated sibling.

parents mediating arguments between overly concerned but justifiably frustrated older sibling and overly defensive but justifiably irritated younger sibling.

younger middle and youngest siblings being absolute agents of chaos together, and that insanity factor growing exponentially for each added person involved.

The house is just TOO NOISY with all of this chatter, you're banished outside until dinner time. Go play.

The dynamic of: "oh my gosh they're such a dumbass, but I love them too much to let them get away with this bad decision.

protective of each other against outsiders, even if they bicker a lot: "The only one allowed to punch my sibling is me."

complaining with each other about their parents

so many dumb in jokes

I think I've rambled enough but I hope this helps!

[mskatesharma]

Hey sorry to bother you but I wanted to ask if you could rec some good sources on learning more about Indian Culture/history/customs. Movies books anything really. I have looked online but well, I always take things on the internet with several grains of salt. And considering I know very little on it, I can't say how reliable the information is. I would like to incorporate elements of Kate being Indian when writing about Kate (and Kate and Anthony) going forward and I want to do it in as respectful and accurate a way as I can. For example, I had a thought of Anthony seeing Kate and her fam celebrate Holi and falling in love with how happy and carefree she is and brushing some paint off her cheek before she dunks some pigment onto him or something 1/2

But considering I've never celebrated Holi or seen it celebrated before I don't think I'd do a good job to write it... I know I get annoyed when people get the basic customs and traditions of my culture wrong. Anyway sorry for rambling TLDR: I would like to learn more about Indian culture and idk where to begin so I would be grateful for any direction you can point me at 2/2

so this has taken me a while to answer because i needed to find time to sit down, think about it and answer it properly. it might seem like a somewhat simple question, but to me, at least, it’s complicated? (i’m probably going to be going over stuff you probably already know, but i’m trying to answer in a complete way.)

i need to start off by saying that my family is from north india (gujarat specifically), and because of that, i have a certain level of privilege, including how north indians and north indian culture is portrayed in the media (obviously including bollywood). i mention this because simone ashley is south indian, specifically tamil, and there is so much prejudice against south indians in general, and this obviously extends to how they are depicted and how their culture is shown in various forms of media; colourism (which simone has spoken out about) is just the start of it. (also, as someone who is north indian, i’m not the best placed person to talk about the prejudice and discrimination faced by south indians.)  

a big part of why desi fans are so excited about simone’s casting as kate is because she a dark-skinned woc, and typically, dark-skinned women aren’t cast as romantic leads, and they’re not cast in shows anyway, especially when compared to light-skinned woc. so the fact that she’s going to be a lead in one of the biggest shows on netflix is a big.fucking.deal. in addition, they changed her character’s surname from ‘sheffield’ to ‘sharma’, which on the surface seems like a great idea, but if you look a little deeper, there are so many problems to be found.

(this got long so continues below)

sharma is not a generic indian surname; it’s specifically a north indian hindu name, which throws up questions. is kate going to be a hindu on the show? does this mean her family is from north india?  are they going to talk about caste on the show because sharma is a brahmin surname? how are they going to explain kate being in england, and being out in society with the upper crust of the british aristocracy? (because of the time that bridgerton is set, and with them specifically setting up kate as indian, i honestly don’t know how they’re going to explain kate’s presence) i honestly think that the show didn’t think too deeply about it and they chose the name sharma because it starts with ‘sh’ and ~sounds indian. however, it’s thrown up so many questions that they can’t ignore, especially because they tried to explain race in the first season. 

i talk about all this because you ask about holi, and incorporating elements of kate being indian when writing. and i’m not trying to be mean, but i would maybe hold off altogether? i need to point out that holi is a hindu festival, and is not specifically tied to being indian. i know i mentioned that sharma is a hindu surname, but we don’t even know if kate is going to be hindu, she may be a christian, or another religion or an atheist. also, because simone is tamil, they may decide to have kate be south indian despite the north indian origins of sharma, if they chose to address it at all. and depending on where in india you are from, and your religion, you will celebrate different festivals. even indians of the same religion celebrate different festivals, and some celebrate occasions at different times (e.g. gujaratis celebrate hindu new year the day after diwali. this isn’t the case for most other hindus. if we take holi, i know that it tends to be celebrated more in north india, and the image you describe isn’t necessarily universal). 

there has been a lot in the tags regarding clothing, and seeing kate and her family wearing indian clothing, and while i get it, it makes me nervous. personally, i cannot wait to see kate in the same style of dresses that everyone else wore in season one. why? because seeing an indian woman in that period of dress is something i have been longing for. i don’t want to see an indian woman wearing a lengha or a sari or sabyasachi in that time period, i want to see her in a bonnet and empire waistline, because that is something we haven’t seen much of. 

also, talking about seeing kate and her family wearing indian clothing has the potential to ‘other’ her, and tbh, can come across sometimes as fetishy, especially when you consider the time the story takes place in, and all the implications of colonialism. (there’s also the fact that unless the show has hired indian costume designers, it would be kinda gross for them to use any kind of indian clothing, and that includes adding elements to the era-typical dress that i’m hoping for.) 

i’m going to be honest, i’ve seen pieces of fanart with kate wearing a sari and other indian clothing, while anthony has been in typical regency dress, and it makes me uncomfortable. it gives off coloniser vibes, and that’s a dynamic i have absolutely no interest in. there’s also the fact that i’ve seen art where simone as kate has been shown as light-skinned, to the point where she appears to be the same colour as anthony, and i mean, hello?!

full disclosure, i’ve made some posts regarding headcanons and music that i should have thought twice about. i’ve reblogged stuff that i should have thought more about before i did so. why? because they had overtones of north indian privilege, and/or orientalism. being indian (wherever in india that is) is part of someone’s identity, it’s not a gimmick to sprinkle onto things, and it’s not something to festishise, and i think, at least from what i’ve seen, that is the concern a lot of desi fans have, even if that’s not the intention of the original posters.   

i realise i’ve gone on a seemingly massive tangent, but what i’m trying to say is, i don’t think there is a need to specifically reference kate being indian, especially when when writing canon-era fic, even more so when you consider we don’t know how the show is going to address it. now, i’m not saying i have faith in the show when it comes to kate and her ~indian surname, just that until we know how the show addresses it, i don’t see why it needs to be referred to? i understand why one might want to, but i just think there are waaay too many potential pitfalls, and the risk of coming across as orientalist/patronising/fetishy too high. some fans have fears when it comes to kate sharma and how she is presented, and for good reason.

sorry for not answering how you expected, and not giving you the resources you asked for (which, tbh, i’m not sure i would know where to start). i get what you were trying to ask, and i thank you for asking in the first place, but the question felt a little unfair tbh. but, i would encourage to read up on orientalism, also about the privilege that north indian hindus have, and honestly, the british colonisation of india.

ETA: i put this in the reblog but im going to add it here as well

also, something i forgot to add, even though i talk about north indians/north india and south indians/south india, it is obviously more complicated than that. there are many different states in india, and even then, different regions within those states will have different customs to each other. and then you have to factor in religion. likewise, there’s no one language that everyone in india speaks. basically, it’s not one universal culture that can be ‘boiled down to the essentials’.

[meandmyechoes]

one thing that I’m grateful for Dark Disciple being a book has got to be Vos’s crying and crying. It humanizes this character so and subverts the stereotypical masculinity presented in the comics. 

I know tears are rare on TCW for budget reasons, then there’s the stoic problem of its male characters. So I wouldn’t bet Vos’s crying can be kept if it were ever first a tv episode, then there’s the fact that the novel is written by a female author.

I can see why people would prefer one version or the other, because they are completely different people. Even when I want to take bits and pieces from the comics and weld them together, it’s almost impossible when I’m dealing with the same plot lines. The comics did a perfect job depicting Tholme’s lineage. Their connection hits and it’s fascinating to read how each of them combat that inner demons the same and differently. But I’m reeling at putting side by side the undercover plot. My biggest problem is Quin isn’t even drawn to be happy! like, 80% of the time he looks like somebody died. maybe it leaves less room for imagination but he doesn’t even look like he’s in love when he’s supposed to be?! And it wasn’t like the artist couldn’t draw otherwise, because the Aayla scenes? so gentle so loving!

I am 100% biased and I do have a problem with Khaleen’s character, but i think we can agree a petty thief is objectively less interesting an ex-sith assassin. She has potential as a less-privileged regular person with muddled morals and a selfish goal, if it’s contrasted with the mystified Jedi. My problem is not just Khaleen is bland (like that white-haired Anzati assassin lady that showed up in ONE chapter has more chemistry), not that the classic comic book woman outfit she was put in makes little sense, not that she pretty much only exists as a tool for men in- and out-of-universe— OK, I am upset because Khaleen only has two function: Dooku’s (necessity confusing) conversion plan hinges on Vos falling in love with her, and to reward the male protagonist a traditional “happy ending”. I completely fail to see what these two saw in each other outside of convenience.

It also takes away a little of the agency of Vos choosing her over the Order as opposed to whether there's a fucking CHILD. I suppose it’s supposed to be seen as an act of responsibility, but it sounds... like... a... complete accident which really steer it the other way... (I can’t even comprehend the logistic of the last issue... neither of them were on Kashyyyk right? so they have to have the big reunion back on an Imperial planet????)

Okay, back on track, the undercover plot. It’s still mind-boggling when and whether Vos is “dark”. I need to read everything twice. I appreciate the insight on Vos’s side the comics grant, which obviously cannot be directly imported back on book!Vos. In this aspect, comic!Vos wins. You see more of Vos questioning himself, and of Tholme and Aayla challenging him, even though they have similar standpoints in believing in Vos. Dooku in the comics feels more like a leader with a legion of fallen Jedi, instead of the old man in TCW, however it also became a weakness ‘cause it doesn’t make Vos’s joining him such a pivotal event for his own gain. He already has a bunch of powerful lackeys, what’s so important about Vos? IDK, for Volume 3 is the most interesting out of them, 69-71 and Siege of Saleucami is pretty good.

Another thing I think the book did better is the emotional weight of the betrayal. Being a double spy versus killing one's master AND lying abouy it doesn't quite equate. It was much easier to forgive Kahleen given Vos is in the same line of work. And honestly it wasn't like her working for Dooku actually damaged Vos's plan, which is why I thought Dooku's a risky bet. Though in the book, it also wasn't greatly detailed how Vos could forgive Ventress for a much more serious and personal crime, but Ch 32's confession felt believable for the easy-going Vos you know? 'Cause, it wasn't like he didn't know she was an enemy of the state, a jedi killer and everything. Not saying it's sunk cost, but it's easier to forgive her just once more.

overall - and this is not my final review of Vos’s plot in the comics, it’s very much worth a read, especially for the Tholme-Quinlan-Aayla lineage. The dark visions and duels is a joy. favourite arc's probably still Rite of Passage bisexual panic

[the1312daysofchristmas]

does it change how u feel about him? /gen

oh absolutely not, i just know theres a lot of people who feel a quarter black isnt black enough, and itll make it harder to get through to those weirdos who are like trying to reinvent blood quantas because i guess they think this time itll work. here in the caribbean were way less strict about ancestry because the entire region is one huge melting pot of indo-, sino- and afro-caribbean people along with european ancestry so technically the largest ethnic group is mixed but we mostly call ourselves black. its weird to me because like, we acknowledge the fact that there is a generational trauma to blackness EXCEPT for whitepassing people.

like they obviously experience a privilege and it is definitely a distinct privilege from colorism but imo while its an advantage to have the choice to reject and dismiss your ancestry and family in exchange for an easier life that doesnt exactly sound like a white experience, yk? i feel like its more complicated than "you look white therefore you are white" and i dont get the black american obsession with gatekeeping blackness. i fully understand we dont want anymore rachel dolezals, believe me, but as someone who, despite being fully black, has been gatekept from blackness, i think its a bigger problem when people who are black are denied their own identity and experience. like why are you telling us certain activities are whites only? why are you segregating us on the white mans behalf?

i remember this girl, she was lightskin and had type 3 hair, asking what bonnets are for on tiktok, and she didnt speak aave, and it was really obvious to me that she was either neurodivergent or just didnt have much experience with other black people. but people saw her immediately as someone who resented her blackness and not someone whos experience with blackness is different to theirs asking a genuine question. she got a lot of hate from people telling her she was being condescending and she eventually responded with a video, holding back tears, explaining that she lived in alaska and moved around a lot and tiktok was basically her only access to her community.

like i think theres a conversation to be had about whitepassing privilege and about the privilege of "acting white" or "sounding white" as someone who has the latter, but these are not the same thing as being white. i definitely grew to resent my blackness but it wasnt because i felt superior, it was because i was either hated by people who thought i rejected it or loved by people who thought i rejected it, despite the fact that i was trying to embrace it in my own unique way. like i think this is an expression of white supremacy within our own community, and its part of the reason why the first step is often "you can be black and ____?!" you can be black and gay, black and trans, black and punk, black and whatever the hell you want to be, and express both at the same time, but we police how people can be black and therefore we dont get to see that. like i know for a fact these folks would probably be the type to bully rico nasty before she got big.

like with halsey, she is white passing, 100%, this is not a pete wentz scenario, if she doesnt tell you shes black, you wouldnt ever know. i dont know if she lays much claim to blackness, but i do know growing up in new jersey with a visibly black parent isnt going to be raindrops on roses, and i do know being in touch with your black ancestry in and of itself gives you more empathy towards the black experience. like that shampoo thing, one can definitely argue that thats not something she has to face. but is it really a bad thing if someone else repeats something you said so that people will hear it? was she claiming it as her struggle? i dont know, and i dont think she should. but it is the struggle of people in her life, so whats wrong with calling attention to it?

idk. this is a longer answer than you asked for. no it doesnt change how i feel about pete, hes not whitepassing.

[technofantasia]

coffee shop AU, enemies to lovers, fake dating, high school AU, hurt/comfort, hurt/no comfort, soulmates, time loop 🤔🤨🤔

(In response to this)

OOOO ooo ooo ooo this is many!! :D

But okay letsgo >:3

Coffee shop AU: Eh, C. Coffee shop AUs feel like the least interesting kind of domestic AU to me for some reason. Like, I won't AVOID them? But I feel like the author needs to really try to make it great. On its own, it falls a bit flat. Maybe because I don't tend to go to coffee shops myself, so it's not relatable...? Also whenever I do, I don't talk to the person working there. Like, they're doing their job, I don't want to bother them. Do most people have conversations with their baristas? idk maybe it's just because I'm not social. Either way, I think it's ok. A bit bland unless the author does something special with it.

Enemies to lovers: Honestly? D. I do not care for it at all. I like the fluffy stuff! Enemies to FRIENDS to lovers, I could get behind, but you CANNOT skip the intermediary step there. Otherwise, it's like, what is the relationship even based on, y'know? If they just flip from hating each other to being all lovey-dovey. Kismesisitude and non-hs relationships like it are another thing, and I do really like that, but only when it's done right, and it usually isn't. IT'S ABOUT THE MUTUAL TRUST AND ADMIRATION OKAY!! NOT THE RANDOM OUT OF THE BLUE LOVEY-DOVEY STUFF >:0

Fake dating: B! I can get behind it. It really allows for some great character interaction opportunities, all based around the premise of what you show to the world vs. what you actually feel, and how those feed into each other (which is a great hook). You get that good good private relationship and public relationship dynamic, until they inevitably collide!! Lots of fluff or hurt/comfort opportunity there as well. I don't tend to read a lot of it, but whenever I see it for characters I care about, it can be nice.

HIgh school AU: C. My interest in high school AUs plummeted after leaving high school, surprisingly enough. They're okay, to be sure, but the usual fare relies on a kind of rose-tinted glasses view of high school that I can't imagine anyone being able to slip into after going through it themself. It really depends on the fandom, though; some sets of characters work really well put into that kind of a structured social ecosystem, but for others, it just kind of feels limiting.

Hurt/Comfort: YESSSS YES YES SOLID A NO QUESTION. My drug of choice!! THIS is where the heart of fandom lies, in my humble opinion. It's alllll about putting characters in bad situations, and seeing the other characters help them out, be it physically or emotionally! Mostly because, while that kind of thing is central to the construction of any kind of story, most canons don't spend much time exploring the aftermath of the hurt they inflict. It would take up too much time. BUT it's exactly that aftermath that holds the deepest depths of the characters' emotions!! As fandomgoers, then, it is our duty, nay, PRIVILEGE to uncover those depths via exploring that hurt in the ways the original author didn't! And also sometimes creating new hurts in order to get to that same place of vulnerability, that works too. The best fandom trope, either way.

Hurt/No Comfort: Ooooh this can be great too. Another A. While the purpose of Hurt/Comfort is to use the characters' vulnerabilities to experience catharsis, Hurt/No Comfort (or angst? whump? all names for similar things) is all about a different kind of catharsis. It's to say, "what if the worst happened? what then?", and exploring that for a while, since the characters' true depths always come out the clearest in their darkest hour; then, you can come back from that, appreciate the fact that the worst HASN'T come to pass, and also appreciate the characters in a new, more meaningful light. When you're in the mood for it, that's the gooood shit.

Soulmates: F. Straight up. This is probably my most unpopular fandom opinion, but I hate soulmate AUs. It takes away all the interesting parts of a ship, waters it down into uninteresting, out of character, amatonormative nonsense, and flavors it all with shallow worldbuilding that falls apart into dystopia if you think about it for more than two seconds. Like... I understand WHY people like it. If you just want an excuse for your favorite characters to have a meaningful-feeling, adorable meet-cute, okay! Yeah, it allows for that. But if you care about ANYTHING deeper, soulmate AUs destroy that by its very premise. They don't allow for depth, because when you try to take the concept deeper, you start running into essential problems; things like "what if they ever have an argument? its not like they can ever split up. what kind of pressures might that inherent fact put on their relationship?" or "if these two characters MET knowing that they would be romantic partners, wouldn't that completely change their relationship? would their dynamic even be close to what drew me to them in the first place?" or "wouldn't a world where everyone spends their lives looking for their "soulmate", before meeting them and then not being able to leave that person no matter what happens, be fucking terrible? that sounds like a BREEDING GROUND for abuse." Not to mention that, as an arospec person myself, the idea of "everyone has one person who is made for them, who completes them" just feels... slimy. I can't enjoy it. No shade to people who do, obviously, but it makes me VERY uncomfortable. I have a whole big rant about soulmate AUs that I've touched on the basic points of here but I won't go into it any more than this, because hoo boy, this is already getting pretty long.

Time Loop: AAAAA YES I LOVE TIME LOOPS!!!! A, for sure. It's the PERFECT hurt/comfort and/or angst setup, with a heavy focus on character development. How will the character first react to being in a loop? What do they do? How do they feel? All with that slow rise in desperation, as their personal problems just keep compounding and compounding with the knowledge that, in order for anything to change, THEY have to be the one to do it.... aaaaa its such a good scenario!!! GUARANTEED to bring out the most juicy parts of the character, I love it.

And noooow we are done!! That was very long. But thank you so much for asking, I have so many thoughts all the time lol :P

[starkey]

[Spoilers for The Haunting of Bly Manor!]

I know everyone is super loving Bly Manor cause ~80′s gays~!!! but some stuff about it sat really bad for me so I’m gonna try to verbalise it. Obviously if you loved it and aren't vibing with a critical analysis I'm not offended if you don't read lol. Also I’m not trying to say that there’s anything wrong with liking it! I just...didn’t, and I want to think about why, for a sec. (Sorry this got a bit long)

I think part of my problem is that I count Hill House as one of my favourite shows ever and I had ridiculously high hopes for Bly Manor, which probably couldn't ever have been fully realised. And there was actually a lot about it that I liked, especially at the begining. I thought the kids were great, and I loved the core group of Mrs Grose, Owen, Dani and Jamie. I liked the fact that the Henry Wingrave element was expanded upon, and I liked the complexity of Rebecca and Peter, and the room it gave them to be fully realised human beings. I quite enjoyed that they kept to the Hill House ghost mythology - that ghosts are lost in time but fixed in place, and that they jump from memory to memory, and haunt the people that they care about without knowing. But there were lots of things I wasn't so keen on...

Until the last episode my issues were mainly that it felt a bit...lazy? I can't stress it enough but the british accents were really really bad. Old!Jamie’s accent was deeply unbelievable and jarring, as was Henry Wingrave's, and although Peter’s accent was passable (I assume because the actor is English and not American like the others) it still didn’t match his mothers, or his ‘background’ - i.e. it sounded like a private school Edinburgh accent, not a Glasgow kid dragged up through poverty in the scheme - and yes there is a significant difference in those accents. I appreciate there’s a degree of privilege at play here - I’m used to the BBC producing high quality television where these details aren’t messed about with, and the production of Bly Manor was thoroughly American, but to put it in perspective, it would be like... if a character had a deep south dirt-poor Louisiana upbringing and spoke like somebody from a private school in Virginia. Other details also felt off - Rebecca’s costumes all seemed weirdly 2020-adjacent, none of the fashion or ancillary details seemed to match the UK in the 80s (which has a distinct feel), and the house that Peter returned to on his ‘memory bumps’ looked much more like an LA condo than a Scottish council house. Really, they should have just set it in America, because it felt more American than British, and they clearly didn't have any British people involved in the production.

I really didn't enjoy the narrative framing device of 'someone telling a story to a group of people at a party'. It makes sense in the Turn of the Screw, because the narrator is reading from a document written at the time of the events, so the narration becomes a first person one where the degree of detail is logically accounted for. In this take, the story alternated from being one which made sense - us just watching the characters move around normally - to one in which 'Jamie' (who’d apparently had a complete personality transplant that had turned her from a feisty northern lesbian into a coy, mysterious victorian englishwoman with a severe accent problem) adopted a falsely old-fashioned manner and told the wedding guests a ten hour long story about a haunted house.  And somehow neither Flora nor Miles recognised any part of this story in the least, in spite of what must have been overwhelming similarities? It was very jarring.  

I also kept waiting for a twist on a level with Hill House, but never got one. The big twist about Mrs Grose was, I thought, obvious from almost the first episode. I mean the woman didn’t eat or drink anything and spent most of her time confused about where she was, I thought it was fairly clear that she was a ghost. And yeah, I suppose because I’ve read the book I was never in any doubt that Peter was already dead. The ghosts in the background were much less spooky than in Hill House. They stood around in broad daylight while the characters talked and joked and it kind of felt like the ghosts had wandered in by accident and felt too awkward to leave. I really liked how spooky Hill House was - even apart from the jump scares I thought the psychological elements and the open discussion of death and grief was really affecting. I didn’t feel that at all in Bly Manor, and by the time we found out the details of Mrs Grose’s death, I’d already come to terms with it.  But all of this would have been fine, if it hadn’t been for the last episode.

I really really didn’t enjoy the bury your gays ending. And I’m not even usually against this in principle! I think in a dark/horror context, where there’s implied to be an ever-present threat of character death, it’s unreasonable to expect that no characters will die or experience tragedy - and in cases where there’s abundant LGBT rep some of those characters will by necessity not be cis/straight. So I don’t have a problem with gay characters meeting tragic or dark ends, as a general rule, particularly when it serves a narrative purpose and isn’t gratuitous. My problem here was in the manner and necessity of that death.

There were ways in which Dani could have died in this story that I would have felt were narratively meaningful and cathartic, but the manner in which she did die failed to hit those beats for me. This is a story in which two women in the 80's fall in love and are doomed by the world around them (we're already in Meryl Streep 'groundbreaking' territory here, in terms of metaphor). They know death is coming for them, that it will likely destroy them both, that they won't have an opportunity to grow old together, that eventually one day it will catch them and everything will be over - they're on borrowed time, and they spend a lot of that time looking over their shoulders waiting for shit to break bad. In the end, they're destroyed by a force in Dani's body/mind that she can't fight, that she can't win against, and the spectre of which haunts her through the years. Like... the obvious parallel here is mental health, and suicide - they even go out of their way to feature that classic heartsink moment with the overflowing bath. And to me, any story that has a message of 'no matter how strong you are, no matter how much love you have and give, or how beautiful the life you've built is, eventually the dark forces in your mind will Get You and it'll probably be before you make it to middle age' is... really shitty. The other echo that struck me was the HIV/AIDS crisis - obviously wlw were relatively spared from this, in comparison to mlm, but it still carries a cultural legacy of pain and trauma, and I really didn't need this show to grind down on that for me.

And the thing is... in the original story, the governess doesn't even die! Miles does, so maybe there's an argument here that Dani sacrificed herself in exchange for Miles's life in this retelling, but I'm still struck by this element of, like... they added this in! They chose to do this! Only one character dies in the course of this show (with Mrs Grose dying before the show starts) and it's the gay woman?? Why?? What did it show?? Why was it necessary?

Not to mention, the 'epilogue' scene paints Jamie as being very lonely and isolated. I'm not sure why the children didn't recognise ANY elements of this story from their past - even assuming they forgot the ghostly elements of their childhood, they should be able to see the similarities in the characters, but the scene also seems to imply that Jamie really isn't very close to Miles and Flora, and that she doesn't even really get to have a relationship with them as adults, in spite of losing everything to protect them, and not having any family of her own.

Almost everybody else gets a happy ending, but Jamie ends the night of the epilogue standing alone at a table, with the love of her life dead in a cursed lake, doomed to spend eternity watching over a crumbling house, and idk to me? that kind of sucked.

[littlebabycrybtch]

i dont wanna ruin ppls fun or w/e but i just,,,,,,, anybody else honestly getting tired of seeing character coding essays. bc like. ppl will write some analysis on how a character is ‘coded’ as a minority and then their examples literally just boil down to 100% personal headcanons revolving around stereotypes, baiting, or just literally making something out of nothing. like. i am not personally gonna Celebrate that?? and im not gonna give some random privileged creator my praise for any one of those things???

idk hot take but.... imo? coding isnt. even good. its not a diversity positive thing to ‘’’code’’’ a character. frankly most of the time a character isnt even fucking coded as anything, but even when thats truly the case, its not rly. representation. its half assed, its a cop out decision. it should be like. a last resort for when you Cant represent a trait, like if ur fighting censorship or smth. otherwise................ whats the point of it dude. im rly not trying to be black or white abt it but. minority rep is not the place for requiring ‘analysis’. just represent the fucking trait. if you want people to think your character is a certain thing... blatantly make them the thing. you dont make majorities play guessing games with their rep, why should i let you play me like that. i dont want your symbolism or ‘’’’’’coding’’’’’’. to me its insulting, demeaning, and does nothing for me. and thats just talking about when coding posts end up being Reasonable, 9 times out of 10... its downright eyeroll worthy. now ofc, however you choose to relate to characters is 100% fine, and you viewing their traits as relatable to your through your own minority lens is valid analysis! but its kinda inexcusable to ignore the social harm it causes to just. literally out loud pretend that blatantly coincidental or even Malicious character choices are actually intentional, and that this vague intention would mean anything truly progressive anyways, especially when once again, most of these ‘coding’ essays are written about stereotypes and baiting. coding at this point seems to be just... a fancy word for ‘a headcanon with a little extra analysis to fantasize that this was the truth all along, yaaay everybody agree with me’.

in other words.... if you try to tell me one more time about how this quirky character is autism coded, or this male character who one time said he doesnt like sports is gay coded, i am gonna fucking scream. lmao dude. no they arent. thats not real. they arent for me. they dont represent me. they were probably written by an abled cishet who isnt thinking about me at all, so im sorry, but its just too much to ask for me to pretend with you. i refuse to lower my standards that fucking far. i will Not clap for that, i will Not fake that this means anything to me just bc you want me to. and if its actually supposed to be that way, well tbh the concept would probably offend me bc based on the points given it sounds like absolute garbage rep anyways. smh. like its fine when you see stuff that way, but thats a fuckign HEADCANON ok, stop using stereotypes and baiting as examples of ANYTHING positive or realistic, and pls just go back to writing HEADCANON analysis essays instead of implying this sort of shit is intentional and progressive, unless you have CLEAR evidence thats fucking real and makes sense!! im sorry to be harsh but it makes me wanna pull my hair out lmao. idk, have fun, but pls stop and think about how it affects other minorities (and if you’re one, remember the people in your group besides yourself) when you leap from ‘this is what i think for self related reasons’, and ‘this is what i am going to publicly claim is the truth’. theres a big difference in headcanon vs coding conversations, and the problem is its way more harmful if you fuck ‘coding’ up the way a Lot of people have been.

[army-of-mai-lovers]

hello arthur!! tbh people are being terrible in your inbox and the last ask killed my brain cells so this is your free bingo card to talk about anything you like. also sometimes googling sharks with human teeth (exactly what it sounds like) helps!! much love <3

oh my gosh I’m OBSESSED with these photos they’re so cute!!!! and thank you for the bingo card Effie I appreciate it so much. I’m gonna rant about Deadly Class (a show I definitely don’t like and thus don’t run a fan blog for....smh) bc it’s on my mind and it looks like it’s just going to go quietly into that good night instead of being made fun of and dissected and I think that should change bc goodness gracious that show does not deserve a dignified death. also I’m gonna put this rant under a readmore bc this is gonna be long and it has nothing to do w atla. warnings for discussions of racism, callous mentions of murder and death, swearing, discussion of Nazis, discussion of gore, abuse ment

Okay so for those not in the know (which is probably everyone considering the show was on Syfy and it’s being canceled due to low viewership) Deadly Class is a teen murder drama set in the late ‘80s starring Lana Condor, which makes it sound like it was engineered in a lab to appeal to me. Literally my friend and I were in the middle of watching Schitt’s Creek, which I adore, and she was like “well I heard about this show called Deadly Class” and described it and I was like fuck Schitt’s Creek we’re watching this. It had a 64% on Rotten Tomatoes, which usually makes me nervous, but I was literally like “I don’t care because I know I’m going to love it.” 

And well. I did not love it. 

I truly do not understand how one fucks up “teenagers (mostly) of color go to murder boarding school in the late ‘80s” that bad (I mean the Russo brothers are involved and they fuck up everything they touch so perhaps it was just that). I haven’t read the comic the show is based on but it does appear that a *lot* of the issues of the show stem from the comic, which is...disappointing. Basically, our MC, Marcus, starts off the show homeless after his group home burned down (and it’s heavily implied that he was the one to do it) and gets hunted down by these elite teenage murderers who invite them to their murder school. 

Already, numerous problems are starting to show themselves. First of all, Marcus is Latino, which, yes, it’s very cool that the MC is Latino, except he is literally the white-passingest man I’ve ever seen in my life, and I’ve seen my dad. I didn’t realize that he was Latino until they showed his extremely stupid backstory in a shitty animated sequence and whoever was voicing his dad did this really, really thick Nicaraguan accent and I was like wait a damn minute. So then, I looked it up, and the guy playing Marcus is named Benjamin Wadsworth, which immediately made me think that they had pulled a Noah Centineo and made me think this fully white actor was half Latino (and yes, Latinos can be white, but I think Marcus is supposed to be a nonwhite Latino, and I thought Benjamin Wadsworth was both white and non-Latino). But you know, as an light skinned ethnically ambiguous mixed kid myself, I thought I owed it to him to dig a little deeper, and turns out our pal Ben is mixed (also, he’s like six months older than me and married, which is a trip). And like, okay, I guess I’m glad they didn’t get a white non-Latino man to play a Latino character, but they literally got the whitest looking Latino they could think of to play him. He originally auditioned for Billy. Billy’s the token white. And the producers were like “wait you have Latino ancestry?” (how they found that out I don’t fucking know) and let him go for Marcus. And like. Okay. The character in the comics is light-skinned but he does not look white, and Benjamin is not a good enough actor for them to just pass on the actors who surely auditioned for that role and were more visibly Latino but like. Okay, I guess. 

Second of all, this show is mega racist and it starts to reveal itself when you look at how the murder kids are styled in literally their first appearance. What struck me the most was the fact that the Latina (whose name is fucking Maria, for heaven’s sake) was wearing a sexy red dress and Day of the Dead makeup, which, I’m sorry, huh? That just so happens to be the Mexican girl’s murder outfit? I’ve tried to give them the benefit of the doubt and speculate that maybe she wears it to like, subvert people’s expectations, but at this point idk how this is subverting anyone’s expectations nor why she’d be so invested in that. Also, she’s supposed to be a teenager. It’s fucked up to sexualize any of your child characters but it really hits different when it’s your Latina character (and yeah, I know the actress playing Maria isn’t a teenager, but still, it’s the principle of the thing). And then of course, the Black guy, Willie (no he’s not related to Billy they were just like yeah two guys with rhyming names in our main cast sounds legit) is a gangbanger dude who talks the way that white people think Black people talk. I keep waiting for this guy to have one line that’s not complete garbage, but I’m five episodes deep and so far nada, which sucks so bad because there’s like, kernels of an interesting character buried in this horrible racist trope. Also, they had him sleep with a N*zi. I hate it here. Lana Condor (her character’s name is Saya) gets off fairly okay, at least in this first shot (they don’t have her wearing a kimono to go murder people, thank fuck), but the way she behaves is super weird, like kinda flirty towards Marcus, kinda badass but not enough to actually do anything, etc. Billy’s white so they couldn’t make him a racist caricature or anything but I have no idea why he’s here. See, instead of talking about the real politics of the real world, Deadly Class makes up fake prejudice that honestly makes the lok bender/nonbender bullshit look sensible. Maria, Willie, and Saya are Legacies, which means that their families are established murderers (fun fact: the N*zi girl is also a Legacy, because her father murdered hundreds of civil rights activists. And the characters of color align themselves with her. I don’t understand.) Billy, and later Marcus when he decides to go to murder school, are Rats, meaning they have no affiliation with established murder groups. So, in this show, the people of color have privilege over the (mostly white) Rats. Make it make sense. Further, this means that Maria, Saya, and Willie should have absolutely no reason to hang out with Billy, and yet they do because the Russo brothers have heard that the kids these days like the found family trope, so they put five unlikely friends in a room together and insinuated that they could all be besties. I swear, this show is the La Croix of found family tho, in that there is absolutely no flavor whatsoever. None of the characters develop into a found family. Saya is bound to care for Marcus for reasons, Maria is using him, Willie is also using him, and Billy is only his friend because they’re both Rats. Saya and Maria are already friends (and honestly their friendship is the most compelling thing in the whole show). There are no other connections between the characters. But they’re totes a found family!!!!/s

Also, they don’t let Saya be mean. Every character says “oh Saya’s such a bitch” but do we ever see Saya being a bitch??? No! Saya is literally just a nice girl who is kinda quiet sometimes and murders people and has a tragic backstory. There’s an argument to be made for Maria being more bitchy than her tbh. And like, fine, if you want Saya to be nice, she can be nice, but stop telling me she’s mean then!!! If you’re gonna tell me that I’m gonna get to see mean Lana Condor in a leather jacket in this show then deliver bitch. 

There’s truly so much more I could talk about (Chico??? What the fuck is Chico’s arc???? What in the actual hell were they thinking when they were writing anything to do with Chico????? my DUDES WHAT IN THE SAM HELL. also making Billy straight was so fucking stupid he’s literally gay come on now, also Master Lin is so fucking useless what is he even doing here) but instead I’m going to outline the version of Deadly Class my friend and I have been talking about while we watch the inferior real Deadly Class. 

lots of things are the same actually because there are some elements of the show that have potential. Marcus is still homeless at the beginning, everybody still thinks he burned down the group home but he didn’t, Willie is still a pacifist, he and Marcus are still partners for their first murder school assignment, Saya’s mean (but like actually), Billy still has green hair and is the token white of the group (although a Billy of color.....thinking), and they all hate Reagan

in an ideal world Willie and Maria would have different names (Willie bc his name rhymes with Billy’s and that’s fucking stupid, also Willie is just a terrible name in general, Maria partially because it sounds way too similar to Marcus and I don’t understand why the guy who wrote this couldn’t make his characters have different sounding names, and partially because no Latina character of mine is going to be named fucking Maria), but for the purposes of this outline I’ll keep their names the same for clarity.

Marcus doesn’t initially have his rep. He’s on the streets when he sees a girl his age (Saya) come out of this elevator in the back of a restaurant brandishing a sword, and decides to go into the elevator, sees the stash of weapons, and decides to steal one so he can fend for himself better. 

also keeping the detail of Rory murdering a bunch of homeless kids, but now Marcus knows that Rory is actively hunting him down. 

in the process of robbing the school’s weapons collection, Marcus figures out that it’s a murder school

Master Lin catches Marcus robbing the school, they fight, Master Lin overpowers Marcus and ties him up. He says the weapons are for students only, and Marcus says he’s applying. Lin asks what his qualifications are, and Marcus says “you know that group home that burned down three months ago? all the kids that died? I started the fire.” 

(also no shade to Benjamin Wadsworth but in this version he is not playing Marcus. Marcus is not white-passing)

Master Lin initially doesn’t believe him, but Marcus presses on and eventually convinces Master Lin that this is really what happened, and so Lin welcomes him to murder school. 

Marcus’s first class is Poisons, and his lab partner is Billy, who takes a shine to him and shows him around school. There’s no Legacy/Rat nonsense, but you do have normal high school drama adapted slightly for murder school. Maria is the prettiest and most popular girl in school, Saya is the mean girl/valedictorian, Willie is the jock, and Billy’s the punky weirdo. 

Marcus is, of course, the new kid with a reputation to live up to. 

Things kind of fall apart when Willie and Marcus are paired up for an assignment: to seek revenge on somebody. 

also Willie’s backstory is extremely different. his dad was a Black Panther, and he was murdered by the FBI when Willie was a kid. distraught, his mom moved to Texas, where she started working a corporate job and rose really high in the ranks. To maintain her status in the company, she had to do some really horrible things, including working with the FBI to take down other civil rights activists. Willie found out about this and was absolutely horrified. his mother insisted she was doing this so that he could have a better life, but he refused to listen to her, and ran away, and ended up at murder school. 

Willie got into murder school because Lin knows who his mom is, and assumes that Willie is just as cutthroat as she is. he gains a reputation as well. 

also, Willie’s extremely wealthy, and this shows in the way he dresses (preppy jock vibes)

you don’t find out about this backstory for a minute tho bc unlike Albert Kim and the Russo Brothers, I can wait until the right opportunity presents itself for a backstory drop. 

ok anyway back to what I was saying earlier

they have to seek revenge on somebody. Marcus asks Willie if there’s anybody he wants revenge on, and Willie very sincerely says no. Marcus scoffs at him and says he’s clearly had a very easy life, to which Willie replies, “Well, who do you want revenge on?” 

Marcus immediately says, “Rory.” 

So they track Rory down, and since Marcus hasn’t actually killed anybody, he hands the weapons over to Willie. Willie frowns and says that he has nothing against this dude he’s never met before, so Marcus should be the one to hurt him. Marcus says that this is a group project and Willie’s got to pull his weight, and they get into an argument

the argument gets loud, and Rory hears them fighting and starts chasing them. 

in the midst of the chase, both of them divulge their secrets to one another. Willie laughs hysterically and says that they deserve each other bc they both lied to get where they are, and now they’re going to die because of it

Rory backs them into a corner, and Marcus uses one of the swords he tried to steal earlier to shank Rory

They throw the body in a dumpster, and after this, they’re friends, and Marcus decides he’ll fit right in at murder school. 

ok so that was only one episode but things to look forward to in the version of Deadly Class that only exists in me and my friend’s heads: Marcus dealing with the emotional and moral fallout of his first murder, Willie trying to figure out what it means to be a pacifist in a world so hellbent on doing violence towards him, Saya being mean to everyone except Maria, Maria convincing Saya to relax and have fun, the gang bonding in a Breakfast Club style situation adapted for murder school and making a joke about how this is like the Breakfast Club because it’s the 80s and the movie just came out, Saya and Maria falling in lesbians, Marcus and Saya being depressing edgelord besties, Billy being gay and fighting his abusive father, Marcus and Billy being uncool weirdo bffs, Willie and Maria rolling their eyes at Marcus and Saya’s cynicism, Billy coming out to Marcus and talking about his experiences being gay, which makes Marcus think “hang on, why do I relate to that?”, Willie seeing Marcus make a sarcastic comment about kissing a guy and having a crisis, Marcus and Willie falling in love, the gang taking a road trip to Vegas to murder Billy’s dad and giving Billy a gnc thrift store makeover on the way, and eventually the gang murdering the shit out of Ronald Reagan. 

[hopeshoodie]

Please feel free to ignore this guiltilyless, but you mentioned you had low self esteem among other problems and I was wondering how you got out of that? I know you accepted your physical appearance but I was wondering if that also applied to the just feeling bad about yourself in general? I know this is personal but I want to know other people experience with this

No worries <3 I’m always down to talk about heavy stuff with yall. I put in a cut, caution for negative self-talk and mental health issues below. 

I feel like it’s important to note that like… I still feel bad, all the time. Most of it is resenting myself for my education/career choices and poor coping mechanisms for mental illness, it’s just that none of it is directed towards my appearance. 

I have a weird relationship with self-worth, because a lot of my internal narrative is ‘you had so many opportunities and you fucked them all up, you’re not worthy of the privileges you have’, but then if someone else were to say that to me it would be like ‘fuck you! People don’t have to be successful to be worthy of dignity and peace!’ Like my self-worth is really affirmed through antagonism and de-personalization. Chalk that up to being a former swer or Marxist, ig. But I feel like just because I’ve gotten over my obsession with being pretty and having a good body doesn’t mean I’m at all out of ~hating myself~.

But I did manage to conquer my low self-esteem about my appearance through body neutrality. For me, being able to say “I don’t need to have a positive or negative relationship with my body. My body isn’t supposed to be ugly or pretty, it’s supposed to get me from point a to point b.” was lowkey revolutionary. It changed how I work out- I focus on strength training instead of fat reduction- and how I talk about my physical appearance. Plus a big thing was just… Not putting on makeup and wigs every day.

It sounds like you’re looking for broader coping mechanisms than that, though. I’ve struggled with this thing in therapy quite a bit where I can intellectualize that something is true, but I don’t feel it in my gut. Like I KNOW my trauma was not my fault, but it didn’t FEEL like it. I KNOW all people have intrinsic value, but it didn’t FEEL like that applied to me. Obviously that still happens with other things, but some coping mechanisms I use are:

De-personalization: reframe your thinking by asking yourself ‘if someone else called some random girl ugly/worthless/asking for it, I would disagree’ You are that kid. You gotta parent and defend yourself better.

Asking myself what I’m getting out of the unhealthy thinking pattern/coping mechanism. In school when I went through my ‘not like other girls’ phase, my low self-esteem reinforced that there was a reason I was so lonely. But once I started to get over that phase and recognizing that I could have friends who were just as cool as me, that went away. For the appearance thing in my teens, I was obviously getting my financial independence and self-worth through being attractive. So when I stopped ‘getting’ that out of it, it was easier to stop the unhealthy thinking.

Refusing to make self-deprecating jokes. I’m probably really annoying, but if people around me (or I catch myself) make a self-deprecating joke or a joke like ‘I’ll just become a stripper’ I stop them and explain that either 1. Sex work is hard and by joking about it as a last resort you’re stigmatizing it for current swers and normalizing it to people who might think of it as an easy job or 2. Our brains can’t tell the different between negative jokes and negative statements so if you make su*cide jokes or call yourself stupid your brain registers that as true. I’ve really worked to replace all of these kinds of jokes with absurdist jokes instead, so no one gets hurt including my brain. So instead of saying ‘ugh x happened I’m the worst’ I’ll say ‘ugh x happened, I’m going to build a tower of hats and live on the top of it.” Or instead of saying “I’ll just drop out of school and become a stripper lol’ I’ll say ‘lol guess I’ll just commit tax fraud : ))))” Just in general stopping all negative self-talk was much easier for me than doing positive self-talk.

Above all else, therapy. I know that’s hard because finding a good therapist is damn near impossible and most people don’t have the financial resources to, but if your school/insurance has the opportunity to do it, take it. It might seem like ‘oh nothing happened to me I just feel ugly sometimes” but like… That’s what therapy is for. 

  Idk if any of this was helpful but here’s some disorganized thoughts lmfao  

[theblackbirdsgemimagines]

May I request for the Leona, Vil, Azul and our boy Jack getting stuck in their MC's world and their experience? (MC is with them)

Oh sweet Jesus akdhakdhsk FORGIVE ME OF MY RATHER CYNICAL OUTLOOK ON OUR LIL BLUE PLANET 😬 I think it’s understandable to be more cynical than ever in this Hell Year, lolll

Send these poor, sweet babies back home, they deserve better than to be stuck here of all places 😅 ESPECIALLY JACK AAAAAA SAVE THE BABY 💔

Ok, not even going to play with you... Vil would thrive, lol.

Just give him time enough to stop panicking over all his lost clothes, magic, etc., and find new things that works for him and his detailed self-care routine, and whatever he chooses to do, he will make Fat Stacks in.

He’s the male version of Belle Delphine, here ajdhakdhsj

He appears anywhere, on tv with some company to continue his performer career he had back home, or on youtube/instagram, and he is almost immediately just as famous here as he was in Wonderland.

Can we really blame anyone, tho? Look at him.

And there’s no Neige here!

Also, ‘my’ Vil is definitely the one that knows there are many different ways to be beautiful~. He may be a bit more blunt to his friends if he thinks they’re not quite hitting the usual mark their talents place them in. But that’s only because he cares about them, and wants everyone to see their best, as he does~. He’s an absolutely encouraging sweetheart to anyone else/a beginner at whatever their passion is, though~. And either way, he’s your best cheerleader~.

Of course he still just doesn’t feel himself without his magic, or ability to do potions. I don’t think he’d find the witchcraft in our world would suit him very well.

If he was really stuck for good, of course he’d make the best of it. But if he could go home, especially if you wanted to go back with him, he’d jump at the chance. And always be on the lookout for the chance.

But that being said, I think, aside from all the world’s problems, of course, he’d find it interesting just how similar, and vastly different, things are here.

He donates Ass Loads to so many charities, like honestly.

Rich boy knows his privilege, and lets others ride off his advantages as much as he can. 💜

He becomes friends with James Charles. You know he does.

You can’t be truly fully beautiful if you’re not also lovely on the inside, too, after all~!

Rip Rook wherver he is, he is lost without his Queen 😔

Gosh, in direct contrast to Vil, Leona probably suffers the most over here?? Jahdkshdj

I know they based his sleep habits off a irl lion, but that also sounds just a Tad Bit like possible depression to me (along with a lot of the other ways he’s behaved so far, lol).

Get this sweetheart to some therapy, maybe?? Help him get a lil energy boost at least to help him feel better 💛

He’s going to HATE the work pace people have to maintain just to eat here, 100%.

He enjoys the entertainment the most, though~. Video games, things you can watch online, all those sorts of things~. Might like a few of our sports, too~.

Poor bby struggles with having to work, though, please help him 💔

At least he doesn’t have to live under being Forever Prince, here, and doesn’t have to worry about turning anything he touches to sand. And the lions in the zoos are pretty cool to go see~!

He’d probably love it if he could go to Africa and see what our “Afterglow Savannah” looks like here~. Meet the lions that are in the wild~.

I imagine he and Jack would both lose the ears for human ones, and the tails, too. (😢💔) So he probably feels weird seeing himself like that, and might miss his tail. Especially if it helped him with balance. Give him some time to adjust to it~. There’s these neat new tails people made for cosplay, that can move around on their own, if he’d like one to help him not miss his old one so much~!

I had to really think about what the heck he’d even do for a job, cause he’s so grumpy to everyone, retail’s just OUT, lol. And I don’t think he’d be that great at something like youtube, either ajdhsjjd

It’s hard for him to not just lay around all lazy, rather than think of stuff to do for it/actually get up and go do it. Let alone all the meetings, and interacting with fans, and the like.

So maybe actually being one of the zookeepers would be a good fit for him~. He’d be obligated to actually go, and he’d get to be around lots of different animals~. Might help him feel more at home, too~. I think he’d be pretty good at it, and the animals would probably be drawn to him~ 💛

He’d also absolutely challenge the authority here (or anywhere else that has appalling governments, especially if they’re not run by women). The state of things, and the way women and minorities are treated by white men around the world, and men in general, would absolutely appall him. He so drunk on that respecc women juice, he just can’t wrap his head around what the hell the problem is with those rich assholes in power. Put him in power, and he’ll ruthlessly show them what-for! ALL the others behind him would be women! Good grief, humans!

All in all, he doesn’t mind it here, but would also prefer to be home, where he can sleep more, and Ruggie can run around for him most of the time, lol

Besides, that allowed him to spend more time with you~! 💛

(LOOKIT THAT HAPPY BOY SMILE!!! I’M DEAD 💞💞💞)

Oh, Jack. Sweet, sweet Jack.

He absolutely becomes a personal trainer as a job, here. 1000%. He lives that Exercise Junkie Lifestyle, there’s just no doubt about it.

He’s VERY encouraging to his students, though~! Build up that beef, guys, he has total faith in you~! 🤍🤍

He absolutely loooooooves going anywhere to see wolves. He’d probably really love the wooded mountains in Europe, if you ended up there, or in Oregon/Washington if you ended up here in America~. Definitely Canada, or Alaska, too~! Just give him huge trees, snowy winters, and nearby mountains, and he feels right at home~.

Idk if he’d miss his magic a whole heck of a lot, tbh?? But he WOULD miss his friends and family! It’s just not quite the same here, though he thinks it’s beautiful and interesting to see where you came from~. 🤍

He’s a good boy 😭

Also appalled with the state of so many rulers and governings both in your home, and around most of the world, lol.

He can’t stand seeing so many people suffer like that! How can they possibly live the life that’s the most healthy and happy for them to live, disabled, chronically ill, or not, if they’re suffering under an iron fist all the time?!

He CAN’T stand for it. You won’t stop him till he sees good change starting to finally happen. Especially if you live here! There’s no way he can just sit around and have you be subjected to that!

HE’S A GOOD BOY 😭

You gotta calm him down a lot and remind him there are others just as good and kind as he is, fighting to change things too 🤍

God help people if he gets here anytime within 2020-2021. He’s sucker punching nearly everyone he sees without a mask.

He’s also sucker punching every nazi he sees, too.

My goodness, please show him the movie Wolf Children! He’ll hide the fact he’s crying multiple times through it, but it’s one of his favorite movies here~.

If you do manage to go back to Wonderland, please try to bring a copy of it with you. It’s the one thing he’ll miss most, and keep asking to watch with you again, before remembering it doesn’t exist there. 😭

He also misses his tail and ears a lot. Losing all of that + his senses would be very a very awkward adjustment for him, and he wouldn’t really like it poor bby 💔 Give him lots of hugs to compensate U-U 🤍

His favorite thing to do with you would probably be to go hiking, and stay in a little cabin in the woods, for a week or two~. Somewhere in one of the previously mentioned places~.

(I couldn’t find a chibi gif of Azul to use, rip 😭)

Azul is just straight up becoming a mafia boss, probably wkdhakdjjs.

He’s the ‘good’ kind, though. He’s learned his lesson since his overblot, and he won’t outright kill people for not paying him back, or introduce drugs, or anything like that.

He’ll help people obtain what they want as legally as possible... But that doesn’t mean he still won’t be sly as hell about it, haha~.

He’ll protect loyal/good customers and the areas they live in, too~. In fact, he’d probably reDUCE crime from doing so.

He just learns all the dirty ins and outs of everything about how things run here. And as much as he’ll fight for change as the others would, because there’s no way any of that is an acceptable way for you to live, he’ll work dirty in order to take advantage of the system, to do so. What better way, right? Make the dominos fall from the inside out.

He’s a good business man, he knows doing so would also benefit him, too.

He’s like Bruce Wayne if Bruce Wayne was a rich mafia leader jeehskdje

Need health benefits to work for him? Covered. Need above-average pay to actually afford your bills and other stuff? Covered. Need education to do a job for him? They’ll train you.

He’s also practically a Gordon Ramsey, tbh. Lots of his bars will pop up across the world, if he stays here long enough, lol. But they’ll all help a good number of people, in doing so~.

He also donates as much as he can, too. If he’s gonna become even a fraction as rich as Jeff Bozos, he’s ending world hunger and homelessness every year.

And boy oh BOY will he swindle the rich akdhakdhwj

He will whip them so hard, they won’t know what the hell hit them.

He may have been under restrictions at the college, but he sure as hell isn’t here. Watch out as he spreads his tentacles wings.

And, of course, he adores being anywhere near the coast. Doesn’t matter what part of the world you’re in, he just needs to be by the sea.

All the polution absolutely breaks his sweet little heart, and that’s one of the first things on his list to fix. Dealing with trash back home was much easier... you could just zap it all away at big trash fields. But you don’t have that luxury here.

Being that he doesn’t really like his ocotpus form (bbyyyyyy 😢💔), he probably doesn’t mind the permanent legs. At least he doesn’t have to constantly take a potion to keep them, anymore.

But it’s still awkward to get used to. And he can’t stand that he can’t breathe underwater anymore, or go too far down without dying from the pressure.

He’ll dive as often as he can~. And loves to dive, or snorkle, or just swim~, with you, if you want to join him~.

He does miss his home, if only for the beauty and familiarity it had, despite a lot of bad memories around it. But there’s no doubt he’d thrive here, in a way only he could~.

He totally believes your own version of mermaids exists, and gets excited over anything that could prove it to be true 😅

Plus, he’s just obsessed with how marine life works here in general~. If he can juggle being a freakin maffia boss, and a marine biologist just out of the pure love for it, I have no doubt he’d do it~.

Humans most likely evolved from creatures in the water?? That’s amazing~! So the ocean feels like a distant memory of a second home~! He’d love to bond over that, the romantic~ 💜