#if someone has points against what I've said here I'm going to politely ask you to DM me for a conversation

[soupacool]

I'm not trying to derail I am venting on my personal blog. No tags or hope for engagement or whatever.

But why the fuck am I seeing this sentiment popping up again and again today blaming transmascs in a situation where a cis man is being transmisogynistic? Why does this point get continuously reiterated? Like I know I have my own bubble but overwhelmingly transmascs are in support of the transfems on this site who are clearly facing a very transmisogynistic issue. But then to blame transmasculine people for disunity within the trans community when shifting blame on to us for something we are not responsible for?? I'm not saying that transmasc people cannot partake in transphobia and misogyny and transmisogyny but I dunno it just seems unnecessary to me in this moment.

This is not the main issue at hand. I am not pretending this is a bigger issue than the transmisogyny built into the systems of Tumblr and the internet and everything. But it is deeply frustrating to me

[therandomfandomme]

We're all going feral over the whole "Mercy? Mercy?" which is so valid of us, but the way mercy comes back as a theme in this final saga is really interesting to me, because before this, Odysseus is asked for mercy, for forgiveness:

"Old king, our leader is dead

You've destroyed the serpent's head

Now the rest of us are no longer a threat

Old king, forgive us instead

So that no more blood is shed

Let's have open arms instead"

"No"

He has become Poseidon, the one that first forced him into believing that mercy isn't something he can afford ("Look what you turned me into"), which is made doubly poignant with Eurymachus echoing the open arms of Polites ("Greet the world with open arms"). Now I'm not saying he should have forgiven the suitors for what they were planning on doing, however, this interaction directly informs this one later:

"Throw down those weapons

And I ensure you'll be spared"

"After seeing what the king will do to us

We wouldn't dare"

Because Odysseus doesn't show mercy to Eurymachus, Melanthius doesn't want to take the risk when Telemachus extends mercy to them, which then leads to the starting interaction.

When extending mercy and creating a kinder world is discussed again, it's by Athena. She is the original god, who pushed him towards a lack of mercy, who found that a warrior of the mind is one that showed not mercy and Odysseus believed her during the war, even threw a baby of a roof about it, and it wasn't until after that he rebelled her teachings only to be forced into it by other gods (Poseidon and Zeus most specifically). To which this is said:

"If that world exists, it's far away from here

It's one I'll have to miss, for it's far beyond my years

You might live forever, so you can make it be

But I've got one endeavor, there's a girl I have to see"

"Very well"

"Father, she's waiting for you"

I especially want to highlight that Odysseus says it is beyond his years. He has become that monster and he can't undo that in the years he still has. If this is to happen, then it must be the future generations that Athena has to influence to make that world. Having her reply to that getting interrupted by Telemachus is very purposeful to me. Because he does still extend mercy, he is the new warrior she trained and she trained him differently because her belief changed.

But I also think having her show Odysseus her face with the lightning scar as she agrees is very telling. When she pushed Odysseus to be ruthless she had not been on the other end of no mercy, which is what makes Odysseus turn against her ("Unlikе you, every time someone dies I'm left to deal with the strain"). She now has been on the other side of it by the hands of someone Odysseus also faced and they were both shown the same lack of mercy. For Odysseus that was his final turning point where he chose no mercy, while Athena did chose mercy.

And in the end, she did get some mercy from Zeus in response from it. Zeus also learned from her, from the lesson Odysseus taught her, which was taught to him by Polites. And that mercy gets paid forward allowing Odysseus to get home (yes, I'm emotional about Polites helping Odysseus get home in the end). Almost every time mercy is shown, his journey progresses (Lotus eaters, Aeolous, Circe, Zeus).

Athena has been through not receiving mercy, but she still believes, is still working towards that future. And while she accepts Odysseus words about him being beyond such a world, she doesn't agree with him. Her reply feels more like accepting a dismissal rather than an agreement. And Telemachus shows up as a reminder that she is more correct than Odysseus in this, and he leads them into Penelope.

God, I love Penelope. With her, Odysseus tells someone yet again that he has changed ("I am not your kind and gentle husband") and that he would understand if she did not love him anymore. And then we get this banger:

"Only my husband knew that

So I guess that makes him you"

Penelope shows him mercy in this. She has asked him what he has done and she is given the option to not want him anymore after hearing about the monster he's turned into, but she doesn't. She forgives him. He asks for forgiveness and she grants it. That is mercy.

Not only that, but she also affirms that he is still him. The usage of husband here is important to me, because he says he's not her husband, who was gentle and kind, and she tells him that he is. He believes him beyond that world where people are empathetic and kind, but the roots of that world he created in Ithaca and with Athena allow him to come home. He isn't a monster beyond redemption, he is also a part of that kinder world, regardless of what he has done.

And then you have the music echo the Just a Man melody when Odysseus sings:

"I'm just a man who's trying to go home

Even after all the years away from what I’ve known

I'm just a man who's fighting for his life

Deep down I would trade the world to see my son and wife

I'm just a man"

He is brought back to who he was when he was still just a man, before he became a monster. He did trade the world to see his son and wife and that makes him just a man.

The whole musical asks the question when a man becomes a monster and I think while it is never explicitly answered, that the answer is: when he isn't shown mercy. And that by showing someone mercy, you can reverse that. That it isn't permanent. I really love the moral question of mercy vs. ruthlessness in that Epic has, so it was really interesting to see how it came back in the end :D

[a-student-out-of-time]

An Important Reminder In Trying Times

Hey everyone, Mod Bubbles here.

I know that I've said over and over that I don't like talking about politics on here, but I really feel the need to say this:

This Is Not The End.

I understand things probably seem really bleak right now. A lot of people are going to be hurt by this, and the sheer amount of fearmongering and worst case scenarios are inescapable. But the country and the world are not going to change overnight. To be honest, it may not change very much at all in the next four years. I'm not a political scientist, so I can't tell you that for sure. There's a lot to be concerned about.

What I can tell you, as a student of history, is this: not only have we survived this once, we have survived this every time.

Think about it this way: every single tyrant, every single right-wing representative, every single emperor and colonial power, every corporate scumbag and power-hungry lunatic. No matter how many of them have ever come to power, held onto power, and tried to make themselves seem invincible, not a single one has ever held back humanity's progress and not a single one has proven to be invincible.

There were countries throughout history, especially in the 20th century, that fell under brutal dictatorships and saw countless lives lost. Did the people just give up and accept it? Fuck no they didn't. They fought back. Many of them lived to see democracy restored to their lands in their lifetimes, or fought to see it restored in their children's.

From Europe to Latin America, while many countries still have their issues, they endured and their people have survived. Their governments were not invincible, just as none ever have been.

Regardless of the outcome of this election, the world will go on. People will not just roll over and accept whatever horrible things happen, the fight will continue and we will do everything in our power to carry on as we always have. We'll carry on to achieve bigger and better things.

Let me also be clear: if you feel the need to cry, please cry. If you're afraid, don't pretend you're not. If you're angry, allow yourself to feel that anger. But if you're seriously contemplating giving up or hurting yourself, please don't.

You may hear all this news and ask yourself, "Bubbles, what's the point? What can I do about all this?" I've felt that way too, I have for a long time. I understand completely. It's scary and overwhelming, but I'll tell you exactly what you can do to fight against that: you can be kind.

Do you want to know where the most tangible change in the world begins? It's never at the top. It begins with people like us on a communal level, where we reach out to help others. Whether that means we help our neighbors, our friends, or any strangers we can.

Going out of your way to start fights, looking for someone to blame based on the flimsiest justifications, and just being cruel because you're angry, those aren't how you change anything. Those just add to the problem.

Here's just some ideas on what you can do instead:

Get away from the news, stop doomscrolling, mute doomers, and turn the TV and news apps off. This will get you out of a negative feedback loop that'll make you feel worse and more powerless, which is what they're designed to do in order to maximize traffic.

Remember to eat, sleep, brush your teeth, take a shower, take your meds, and do everything else you need to do to stay healthy.

If you or someone else really feel like leaving the country for your own safety is best, you can still work do so. But please don't convince yourself that if you can't, it's over.

Give back to people as much as you can. Show the people in your life who support you that you care, and that all that they do for you matters.

Donate to good causes you believe in.

Stand up to bullshit whenever you see it.

Do not give up on your dreams and ambitions. One bad leader does not mean your future automatically ends. Stop worrying about any potential apocalypse in the future, because you can do that even on the best days, and instead work toward a future that you CAN achieve.

There's this pervasive and very inaccurate idea that it's only the president who gets to enforce policies on the country. This ignores governors, the House of Representatives, Congress, mayors, and the countless other leaders involved. And it ignores you.

You do not have to spend the next 3 years and 364 days doing nothing but feeling miserable. In fact, that's the last thing you should do. Fear and despair are the weapons they wield, and they only have as much power as you allow them to have over you.

If your view of politics is that you just have to vote for the "right one" and then everything will be utopian, or that if people vote for the wrong one" then we're headed for a terrible dystopian nightmare, I have to tell you that that is incredibly reductionist and also very dumb. I can also tell you from personal experience that it's not them who make the real changes where it's needed.

A friend sent me a video that really opened my eyes on this situation: Adam Conover, the guy behind Adam Ruins Everything, said he's not worried about all this. Why? Because he and some friends were able, through their own power, to make real positive changes in their community. They were able to bring homelessness down in their district by over 38% through their own efforts.

And he's right that, as a silver lining to all this, it made more Americans than ever take a stand against all the horrible shit they were seeing and get involved with solutions.

Speaking from my own experiences as well, when Hurricane Helene devastated my area, it wasn't the politicians who came and repaired roads and power lines, it wasn't them who brought in food and supplies to everyone, and it wasn't them who worked tirelessly to save people still in need. It was everyone in our local communities.

The people at the top have never really cared about anything more than your money and your vote, but the people around you care more than you may believe they would. Hell, even strangers on the internet care more than you'd believe.

Now, even if you've made it this far, you may be wondering "What about when he starts outlawing and banning things?" To that, I say look at Prohibition and see how well that went. Politicians have only ever operated under the idea that banning something will make it go away, and it always does the exact opposite. And if you're still worried, you can get involved with organizations that fight to support these things being available and regulated.

But by now, you may also be wondering "What if I can't get involved? What if I'm too young or I don't have the money, or my parents won't let me?"

Then just be kind.

Stop looking for enemies to blame. Don't martyr yourself for some nebulous cause or the idea that your suffering increasing means the rest of the suffering in the world will go down. Don't torture yourself by telling yourself that you didn't do enough.

Show compassion, show support, show love and genuine care toward people who need it, including yourself.

"But there's so many shitty people in this country and the world, why should I-" Stop thinking that way. This isn't about them, this is about you and how you can make a difference. There will probably always be shitheads and power-hungry morons, but that does not negate the fact that you can choose to be different. You can choose to be kind.

Kindness is a sword that you have to learn how to wield. Wield it responsibly and use it to help others. No matter how small or insignificant it may be, YOU DO MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

I say all this as a 29-year-old who spent most of his life feeling scared and miserable about so many current events, convincing myself I'm useless and selfish because I was worried about so much and I hated myself for all of it. And I've decide I'm not going to do that anymore.

During the last right-wing era, I managed to help build a whole community out of my love for Danganronpa. I created friendships, relationships, and there are people alive right now because I chose to do so. Because I chose to use that community for kindness. I want to keep building from there by going into streaming and reaching out to more people.

I won't lie to you and say that I'm not scared, because I am. But I'm also not going to let fear change who I am. I want us all to be better to ourselves and others, because that is how you defeat hate. It starts with you.

And if you're still concerned, let me share with you a quote from The Great Dictator, a movie made in 1940, when World War II wasn't even at its height yet:

To those who can hear me, I say - do not despair. The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed - the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress. The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish…

Please take care of yourselves out there, everyone. We'll get through this, just as we always have.

[mlm-mod-taka]

Hi there! I'm here to request a little something I've had bouncing around in my head a while and I feel like you'd do a great job at writing it! I'd like to request Taka, Gundham, Fuyu, and Kiyo with an S/O who's basically a giant compared to them and is suuuuuuper affectionate and friendly. Like the first time they met, the reader picked them up and basically swooped then into a hug raving about how adorable they are. You don't have to do it ofc, but if you agree to I CANNOT wait to see the

HAVING A BIG, AFFECTIONATE, FRIENDLY S/O • taka, gundham & fuyuhiko x gn reader

first off, i just want to say i am so sorry that you had to wait for so long, i just got back from my two year long break. second, im also sorry, however, i do not write for korekiyo, so i simply didn't include him. i do apologize for not asking if you wanted to replace him with another character, this request has been pending for so long that i decided against it. third, this is more a story in bullet point form than actual headcanons. despite all of this, i hope you can still enjoy this long awaited request.

tws/cws: yelling, cursing, threatening and violence. (mostly during fuyuhiko's part)

|| -> mod taka <3

at first, kiyotaka will admit that he was quite intimidated by you. seeing someone extremely taller than him isn't an everyday occurrence. yes, many other people were taller than him, but not by such a large degree, usually.

however, if he stood next to you, he'd seem like an overgrown child. so, naturally he was on-edge whenever you were near him, since you could probably easily beat him up if you wanted to.

but he had to remind himself that he was the ultimate moral compass! it doesnt matter how strong or large you are, he will discipline and scold you when it was needed. he will never back down from a fight when it comes to morals, even if he could easily lose that fight.

when you two first met, he decided to make the polite decision to introduce himself. once he was done with his maticulously-worded greeting, (that he had planned last night) he was expecting you to respond in a rude tone, filling the delinquent expectations that he had made of you based on your appearance in his head. but instead...

he was met with the biggest, tightest, and closest hug of his life. his first thought was to hug you back, which he was about to follow, until he remembered that you were in a public space and this would technically be considered as pda.

once he realized that revelation, he immediately pulled away from the hug, scolding you about touching people in public without permission. while your hug was extremely warm and welcoming, he forced himself to keep up his own rules.

you just stood there, very still while he gave you a lecture about being physically affectionate with someone you barely know. he also proceeded to go on a mini rant about the negative effects of pda, but you werent listening to any of it.

you were mainly just focused on how he seemed very passionate about keeping the peace, which made him look weirdly cute. people often look very adorable to you whenever they were talking about something they cared alot about, which is what ishimaru was currently doing.

you interrupted his planned speech about keeping ourselves civil, to compliment him about how cute he looked. taka immediately stopped in his tracks, looking at you like you just spoke a forbidden sentence.

"...pardon?" kiyotaka asked, but it sounded more like a flustered squeak he made out of surprise. you repeated your comment about him, watching his face slowly turn more red, realizing that you were being serious about what you said, and that you weren't mocking him like others do.

after the initial shock wore off, he reacted exactly how he expected you to, which was scolding you passionately again. however, it didn't sway your mind, he still looked very adorable to you while he was practically going teacher-mode on you because you called him "cute."

what you didnt expect, however, was what he said right when he finished telling you off. "thats all! i hope you have learned your lesson!... and while i don't agree with your methods of doing so, i do appreciate the compliment." he added the last part on with a rushed shout, then immediately left, trying to hide his red face from you.

from then on out, you actively seeked taka, and tried to befriend him, which he accepted. you still don't tone down your affectionate-ness and compliments at all, but he seems to be scolding you less and less. in fact, he seems like he anticipates them now, which makes you happy. little did you both know, that this friendship would lead to so much more.

gundham is the same as taka. he was intimidated by your large stature, and general... bigness. however, gundham tanaka is no coward, he will challenge anyone who dares compete against tanaka the forbidden one!

he walked up to you, with extreme confidence, and started his usual menacing speech about how he was a more powerful entity compared to you "mortals". before he could even finish the first sentence, you interrupted with a sentence that caught his " mighty" act off guard.

"aw, you're so adorable! like those hampsters that are on your shoulder! you're almost as cute as them!" were your first words to him. before his mind would even catch up to the strange sentences you just uttered to him, you grabbed him and pulled him into a bear hug.

gundham needed a solid few seconds to compose himself before he speaks at all. the devas are all squirming in his scarf, also caught by surprise from the strong hug you gave them. once he does process the situation enough to not look like a shocked puppy, he immediately starts thrashing in your large arms.

"release me from your armed trap at once, mortal!" he says in a mix of rage and panic. you quickly let him go, feeling a slight pain from how haphazardly he was moving in your grasp, and also because he didn't seem like he wanted to be hugged, if the sentence he spoke to you was anything to go by.

when he was released, the first thing he did after dusting himself off was restart his original speech of him being the supreme overlord of ice, but this time, he added that you are a very bold human for having the gal to touch someone so "highly superior" with such carelessness.

...or something along those lines. you weren't sure. your ears were only processing a muddled version of a few of the words he was saying, the rest was a blur. mainly because you weren't really paying attention to what he was going on about, you were just focusing on the cute, confident look on his face. along with the cute hamsters resting cozily in his scarf.

gundham stopped talking once he realized that you weren't looking him in the eye, or even anywhere near his face. you were staring at his neck, so he looked down to see his friends, then shot a sharp glaze at you after realizing why you weren't paying attention to his great speech.

"why are you looking at the dark devas of destruction, mortal? rather than listening to the words im gracing you with? you are not worthy to be in their presence, or mine." he continued death glaring at you, crossing his arms while waiting for your answer to his question.

"oh- im sorry... my lord? i was just admiring how cute and fuzzy the... dark devas? looked!" you gave the hamsters a small wave while speaking. you didn't know why he was speaking strangely and giving his pets such uncommon nicknames, but you didn't mind. you thought it was a little cute, actually.

of course, gundham was used to the compliments towards the devas. however, he wasn't taking the adjectives "cute" and "fuzzy" very well. they were evil! they were his partners in crime! how dare you call them such belitting names? before he could scold you again, you quickly swept the rug from under him again.

you quickly butted in, and started unconsciously showering him in compliments. calling him well-spoken, cool, dressed nicely, had cool hair, handsome, and such. you also added how his voice was very pleasant to listen to, and that his eyes were very expressive and clear.

as the flattering statements added on and on, he got more and more flustered. his slight stuttering from being caught off guard by the first two quickly because full-on sputtering with his face almost becoming as red as mahirus hair.

before you could make him even more speechless, he took the very little confidence he had left to attempt to make his usual "super big and bad evil" goodbye statement, but a very shortened and messy version escaped his lips instead, with him quickly scattering away before more of his pride was taken away by your giant cursed goodness.

while you were left confused as to why he left so suddenly, you quickly bid him adieu, continuing on with your day in hopes that you two would meet again, and maybe, just maybe, you would get along with each other.

little did you know that he was secretly plotting your demise for daring to treat him like that, muttering his evil plans to the dark devas, feeling that he needed to avenge them because of how you described them as if they weren't his wicked subordinates!

...deep down though, he would be lying if he said he wasn't looking forward to seeing your large, smiley self again. you were one of the few people who didn't scrutinize his personality, and he greatly appreciates it. maybe, when you acknowledge how truly devious he was, then, you could be acquiantances. or something deeper than that.

lets be honest, fuyuhiko would really really dislike you when he first meets you. he has this ideology that people who are positive and kind are fooling him, trying to catch him off guard and trap him with their fake happiness. given his family and who he is, he was taught to be skeptical of almost everyone, so it wasn't much of a surprise when he was skeptical towards you.

everytime you even attempted to get near him, he either yelled at you to back or else he'd shank you, or peko would step in, quickly telling you to leave with her hands already on her sword handle in case you try to push it.

you would try for weeks to even have a slight chance of talking to him, because he is the only person out of your class that you haven't had a personal connection with. heck, you even started to have a slight bond with peko when she wasn't busy protecting fuyuhiko!

if you were being honest, you were genuinely starting to give up on having him warm up to you. you knew that no matter how hard you try, some people will still find ways to dislike you. you thought that this would be one of those unfortunate cases, and you were on the edge of accepting it.

until that one night. you were having trouble sleeping, and nothing seemed to be working. you knew that it was probably too late for anyone to be awake right now, so you decided to take an evening stroll around the school. maybe the walking would tired you out.

you walk out of your dorm, only to see kuzuryu starting absent mindedly at the stars in the late night sky. he looked so... at ease. the sound of a door opening and footsteps started him, and his attitude quickly did a 180, turning aggressive.

"what the hell are you doing sneaking up on me like that?! are you gonna try to fool me again, huh? with your fake smiles and over-the-top hugs?" he yelled, paying no mind to the fact that it was 4am, and he could wake someone up.

you reassured him that you weren't going to hurt him, but to be honest, you were hurt at the accusation that it was fake. you wanted to speak your feelings, but you felt like that would make him more on edge, so you just ignored that hurt for now.

disregarding your word, he told you to stay far away from him, pointing at the very end of the balcony he was leaning against. you did what you were told, not wanting to agitate him further. to be honest, this is probably the nicest he's been to you so far. usually, he'd just tell you to fuck off, so you weren't about to let this rare opportunity to talk to him slip pass you.

after a few moments if silence, you decided to ramble a bit, maybe that'll warm him up to you. you talked about everything you could, random stuff you thought of, all the way to deep philosophical conversations that would make you ponder at night.

fuyuhiko didn't look like he was listening, if anything, he looked as if he was spacing out and using you as a white noise machine. however, that was better than his usual response of him threatening you, so you kept going.

eventually, he said something, cutting you off mid-rant. "you know, you don't have to keep up the act right now." "what do you mean?" "i know you're lying, just admit it to my face so you can stop using all your energy trying to convince me you're a good person."

ouch, that stung. but, this is the longest he's talked to you in private, you couldn't let this go. "well, what if i told you it wasn't a lie?" you smiled at him. "bullshit. no one is ever that positive or nice."

"well, i am. and i'll prove it to you if you'll let me!" "pffft. yeah right. do you just want me to believe that someone as big as you isn't a secret spy or assassin? don't even try."

"im not. i can prove it to you." you were so close. he was talking to you, he was actually talking to you! you would have preferred if the conversation was more positive, yes, but he was talking to you! you were getting somewhere!

"really?" he paused, you could see his eyebrows slightly furrow in thought. "fine, since these other students are making things boring as hell, i'll let you prove it to me."

...it was that easy? all you had to do was say that you were willing to prove it at a balcony when it was 4am? it was a bit anti-climactic, but hey, you weren't complaining. "great! you won't regret this!" you walked to hug him before he put his tough guy act on again.

"don't. touch. me. i said i'd let you prove it to me, not use me as a personal cuddle bear. with how different we look, i think you'd crush me." "ah, not much of a hugger? sorry, i get it. should've asked first."

he yawned. "yeah you should've. anyways, i'm hitting the sack. kill me in my sleep and ill haunt you forever." fuyuhiko spoke as he walked back to his dorm room.

"i won't!" you replied, waving him goodbye. you know it was small progress, but you're getting somewhere. you'll definitely gain his trust.

[ecoterrorist-katara]

you act like your fandom isn't responsible for shitty racist behavior towards irls liiiike dont be a hypocrite pointing fingers at everyone except your own ilk lmfao

I was initially going to write a snarky response, but upon reflection you sound pretty young and I don't want to get into a pissing contest with someone who is likely a minor. Instead, I'm going to share my philosophy on how I engage with fandom and explain why it doesn't make sense for you to come to my ask box and demand that I answer for people who I don't even know.

My approach to fandom is entirely hedonistic. 1) Fandom is not, and never will be, my personal milieu for activism, and 2) I'm not responsible for the behaviour of people who happen to share my preference in a ship; I can only control what I do.

On 1), I come to fandom for escapism and indulgence, and these two qualities of fandom are completely incompatible with my approach to activism. Activism must be rooted in the real world and often demands doing things you don't want to do. That's like...the polar opposite of what I want to do on Tumblr.com.

Sometimes I incorporate analysis of oppression and justice in my fandom discussions because I find them interesting, but that's still about me and my enjoyment, not about oppression and injustice in general. A lot of my life has been dedicated to structural injustices, whether as topics of study or as systemic forces to organize against (more accurately, I spent most of my adult years striving to combine the academic and the practical facets), so obviously they crop up in my discussions, but my engagement in fandom has never been about activism and I've been quite clear about that. For example, I may talk about decolonization in the context of ATLA, but I harbour no delusions that my salty complaints about Bryke are, in any way, relevant to furthering the decolonial project.

On 2), notice that in my response to your last ask, I never claimed the entire Zutara fandom only consists of people who never did anything wrong. I only claimed that I, personally, strive to behave like a reasonably decent person in my fandom interactions. Fandoms consist of literally thousands of people, if not tens of thousands, so of course people in my (and yours, and everyone's) fandom are capable of shitty behaviour -- but like I said before, I'm not the fandom police. It's not a role I'm interested in taking on, nor one I'm arrogant enough to think I should. I don't try to be a role model at the club or at the grocery store; in a similar vein, I'm not facilitating or curating or shepherding the Zutara fandom. I just hang out here, same as everyone else, and I'm not going to insult my followers & my peers' intelligence by saying "PSA: did you know it's not okay to say shitty and racist things to people?"

My responsibilities in fandom extend to following basic fandom etiquette and interacting with posts and people that don't contradict my values. I sometimes repost salty things about specific ships, or occasionally I'll interact with Zutara antis who come to me, because salt can be fun in moderate doses plus I have post-COVID POTS so I need a lot of salt anyway. Every time I have interacted with a hostile Ka/taang shipper, it has been because they came to my post, my blog, or my tags to stir up shit. Even so, I'd never go to a Ka/taang blogger and expect them to do something. I have, btw, received messages asking me to highlight/expose certain Ka/taang shippers for their politics or things they've said, and I don't publish those either, so there's not a whole lot of fingerpointing going on here in general.

I'm going to stop responding to your asks, but I hope you can reflect on what exactly you are trying to get out of fandom, and what kind of behaviour you think is productive and generative for you. I'm not saying everyone should follow my personal fandom engagement philosophy, but I am saying you can't impose your philosophy onto me.

[bxffysxmmers]

so once again apparently i'm burnbook / tattler / whatever tea blog is running

tw suicide. tw swearing. tw harassment, abuse, etc. tw medical / familial loss.

i'm so fucking tired. yeah, that's about where i am with life right now, in and out of the rpc. i'm tired.

i have done everything i can to be as kind to everyone as i can be and to promote joy in the rpc as much as i can and to offer joy as much as i can and...

you (almost) all fucking shat on me for literally breathing. for years now. for actual fucking years now i have been harassed, constantly.

i have gotten death threats. i have gotten told to kill myself. i have gotten my tumblr hacked. i've had my friendships pitted against me, had my friends ripped apart because they were friends with me, got hit with ableism, homophobia, and a shit ton of other bullshit and i. am. fucking. tired.

i was saying goodbye to a loved one, intubated and sedated and told they would come off but never recover and surgery wasn't just impossible but that it would be but they weren't a candidate to the point eight different hospitals refused, so there was nothing more that they could do. left to sit in my car and just try to breathe for a while, to see a link on my phone to a burnbook post about god knows what at this point considering what bullshit you've said about me. that was when i asked to stop being posted about. i begged actually, for a break.

this month, longer than that actually, has been rough. some have seen it, i appreciate those who reached out, but i've been mostly gone from inner child despite having helped there actively for over a year now. i haven't really been in the rpc and when i have tried to be i kept very very tight to my corner. it's been so hard, and i have barely been available offline much less on.

i just. i know the posts were from a while ago that i just reblogged. i get that. but it bothers me so much. and it isn't the first time, and it probably won't be the last. so genuinely i am at a point of 'fuck it' with the bullshit.

"i have proof athena is xyz tea blog" no you don't because i'm not. you do? share them. fuck it, share them. begging you to do it. here's your call out nonnie, give them receipts. got real fucking quiet when someone else said it so here it is from me - share them. share that proof. bet you can't. bet you can't even fabricate a good fake, despite probably 10+ years of photoshopping avatars and signatures back in day. go ahead. let's see it.

"just ask why athena and her ex-animanga friends fell out, she's burnie!" okay. ask them. ask me. shit non-rpc related happened. there was a blip where we didn't talk. that isn't the case anymore. even with this seemingly apocalyptic fall out you wanna spin to be something it isn't, we remained in shared servers and practiced civility. we have been friends since 2019 and actually didn't meet as rp friends and only were on that singular site together, first site i had been on that was animanga since before i graduated high school. but sure, yeah, post your proof. let's not mind the fact that actual friendships are involved here and your stray fucking bullets are flying at innocent people behind me, notably those same animanga "ex" friends you're apparently so close to. which, btw, fuck you for.

at this point this shit is so tired. i don't know how to be polite about this anymore. i have tried, i genuinely don't know how anymore. so you know what -

if you want me to kill myself, you're just going to have to come do it yourself, you fucking coward. quite sincerely, eat shit. fuck you, the answer is no. you want me to kill myself so bad, better figure it out yourself. it ain't happening.

let me be very very clear - i am polite and kind because that is a choice i make, because of what i believe, which is that every single person we meet deserves respect until they have proven otherwise. i am kind because i know what it is like to have people be unkind. i am kind because i know that the shallow surface we see from people on the internet isn't the full iceberg of who they are and what they might be going through. i am kind because i will not be the cause of something like what has been wished upon me.

i am kind because of my best friend. my best friend killed himself. may 2, 2012. we were both seventeen years old. it is two weeks until the anniversary of his death today, and his death is two weeks before my birthday. i got on tumblr this morning because someone sent me the link to that tea blog's posts about me, the claims i'm burnbook from like march or whatever. know what was in my inbox the second i open tumblr? an anon ask about how i should just shoot myself already.

austin, my best friend, put a gun into his mouth and pulled the trigger. it has been thirteen years and i still think about him, nearly every day. at this point i have officially lived longer without him than with him, and in a few more years i'll officially have lived doubly as long as he did. i think about that a lot too. every time i celebrate something i say a little prayer, remind him i did it for him. i do it for both us, because he can't.

i'm not sad anymore about the messages. i was sad, because i truly wanted to spread kindness and make friends and have fun in this really niche little hobby we're all apart of. i have enjoyed sharing and helping and doing code things whenever i can, helping with rebuilding resources after the fall of the resource site era and assisting people with coding issues so we can all learn and grow together. i love writing, especially with the amazingly talented people in this hobby. i was sad, i really was. you won.

but i'm not anymore. it has been years, and all i am now is so fucking angry. the one thing, one, that i will never put onto another human being is the gaping fucking hole that losing my best friend that way put onto me. how fucking dare you throw that around like it's nothing, hiding on anon like the goddamn coward you are, as if any life holds no meaning? fuck you. my loved ones don't deserve that pain. my rp friends don't deserve the never knowing why i just disappeared one day. they certainly don't deserve the potential of finding out i followed through and living with that knowledge.

you know, i was walking into school the morning after he did it, technically morning of because it was after midnight, and i knew. it was like this sort of bile in the bottom of my stomach, swirling. something was wrong, like i was walking towards doom. i had texted him over and over, because we always hung out on wednesdays and he, living way further out of town than me and driving himself in every day, always woke up earlier than me. and he wasn't answering. he never didn't text me back, and things were weird the day before. i felt so fucking empty, before they ever even called me from class to the grief counselors who told us he was gone. mine went to the same church we did, and she cried because she got me a pepsi instead of a coke when she tried to make me feel better, because she knew it was wednesday too and we had been going to that same church every wednesday together forever. her daughter also went. it was horrible.

yeah. the reality is telling me to go kill myself made me sad for a while, but not ever for me. at least, not for the me i am now. i was sad for the versions of me i was the six times i've been institutionalized for failing to do just that, five before i was even eighteen. for the stomach i had to have pumped because i almost died from an overdose at sixteen and the fucking gross charcoal i had to drink. for the person who would have done it, because of that message. and most of all i was sad for the person i was when i lived through his death and learned what succeeding really fucking meant.

to this day i mourn on may 2nd. some may remember the absences, every year every site for that day. to this day i remember him and i love him and i'm sad that he hurt so much he had to do it. i know by now that i couldn't have done anything more, but i still wish that i could have. i still wish he was here.

fuck you. kill myself, right? how about you look in the fucking mirror and evaluate what the fuck you are actually doing with your life? with your anonymity and your inability to act like an actual adult at this point and, yk, handle finding someone moderately annoying or a little different than you without spiraling into some, at best, conspiracy theory red string bullshit and, at worst, an actual fucking abuser. or, spending your entire existence just pouring your life, karma, and conscience down the fucking toilet to tell someone to, you guessed it, kill themselves. how about you do that?

or, better yet, how about you actually seek some fucking help and finally fuck off?

the thing is, i think i would have just prayed for you, that whatever was hurting you was healed so you didn't have to feel you had to do this anymore. i think i would have just reminded myself that i'm grateful someone like me is the target, someone strong enough not to listen and follow through. i think i would have chosen kindness. i think i would have chosen to do exactly what i've done every other time.

but if you want me to put a gun into my mouth and pull the trigger? if you want me to follow in his footsteps and place every pain i am feeling, both directly from your cruel behavior and from my actual fucking life - which we all have btw - onto my loved one's, so that they can carry it without me for the rest of their lives? the answer is fuck you, make me.

there's this slam poem, btw, if you got this far and you aren't the incredibly small, incredibly hollow person (or people maybe) who have been doing this to me, that i think about a lot. someone shared it with me after austin, i want to say on one of the first anniversaries when i was truly inconsolable. it's called bug versus door, by doc luben.

"i am ashamed to admit it, but i have always secretly believed that you did this for me. that you wanted to show me that there is a way out, not so that i would follow you but so i would understand that everyday i am alive is a day i choose to be alive."

there isn't a day i will allow myself to choose not to be. i remember he touched the scars, the deepest and ugliest going fully down my wrists, and he kissed them. you'd think it romantic but his friendship was just like that. he was soft, worried, but he had the strongest backbone of anyone i've ever met. i wish i was more like him, and i've tried to be every day since i lost him - soft, kind, but letting the fires that forged me make me steel when it mattered.

he asked me to never do that again, that i meant too much to his world. not the world, his world. i think about that sometime, how poetic it is - to each have our own world, and how important each person can be in it; that sometimes the world really is just one person in a shitty foster home bedroom the size of a closet kissing your scars when you're just supposed to be grabbing your backpack before youth group. see, i made the mistake of taking off my jacket. it was spring in florida. silly me. but yeah, he saw them. i think about it a lot, especially lately, especially when i get these messages.

i don't know who your austin is, but we all have one. and if you don't, you can share mine. or maybe i can be them, without that pain. please don't do that, no matter what someone tells you. you mean too much to my world. we'll get through this era of cyberbullies and mass destruction, and those responsible will get theirs for it as we all do. karma isn't so kind as to forget, and the stains on one's soul aren't so easy to wash clean.

let's all stay alive together, shall we? they aren't worth our time, and they're certainly not worth our blood.

[galvanizedfriend]

hii Yokan! i miss you!😭

how are you? how is work?? I hope everything is going well<3

rn there's a little Comic Con in my city, and it really did help my mood!! (even tho I throwed up 6 times and fainted during the morning of the first day due to the heat and lack of iron🥲) 2 days down, 2 more to go 🙏

ANYWAYS! I know you've been going through a writer's block lately, and I read a post that said something about asking/commenting about the fictions to help the "stucked" autor, SO!

I've been re-reading TW III (shocking, I know) and those little hints about married!kc are just 😭😭 my heart melts, really, although... I was never really sure you'd get them married, mostly due to Care's speech to Cami about how Klaus supposedly sees weddings, and because I remember you saying that you weren't planning on giving them an actual marriage, but rather the closest thing next to it. I checked to comments to see other thoughts, and I saw one of you reply saying that you were completely against married!kc at the start, but then you were slowing changing your mind about it...

so, what was it that made you say "fuck it, I'm gonna ring the bells"?? is it because many people asked you to do it, so you are throwing us a bone, or is it something else?? I'm really interest on hearing the process of your change of heart <3

have a good one, friend <3 love you xoxo

I don't know if I am eloquent enough or if my train of thought makes much sense, but I will try 😂

Also grab a chair because this will be a long one. Be careful what you ask me, I do not know how to shut the fuck up 🙃

Objectively, I still think Klaus is not the marrying kind (in canon context, at least). That man has been alive for a thousand years. He's the vampire of vampires, one who sees humans as a lower species. He's used to getting what he wants by conquering and subjugating because he can. Why would he ever submit himself to an inherently human institution that, throughout history, has served as a tool for various types of social, political and religious control? The ceremony itself doesn't mean anything to him. He probably thinks it's ridiculous and performative, not to mention extremely frail. You can just change your mind and get a divorce, or the good old spouse murder, and then what? What's even the point?

(Just to be clear: I'm not personally preaching against weddings and marriages here btw, it's just how I think Klaus might have seen it.)

If you look at it from the sentimental side, Klaus spent almost a thousand years saying that love is a sign of weakness, a character flaw. He carried his siblings, the only people he genuinely cared about, inside coffins because he didn't trust them enough not to leave him, betray him or end up captured and killed by one of his enemies. Now, why would he want to marry someone, thus exposing yet another vulnerability to be exploited?

Having said that 😂

When we first see Klaus in TVD he's trying to surround himself with a whole new OP supernatural species that will have no choice but to stand with him. They will protect him, they will go to war for him, do whatever he asks them to and they will never leave (or that's what he thought, anyway) because they don't have a choice. That is the only way Klaus knows how to trust people: by completely removing their capacity to challenge him. That's how paranoid he is.

But as the story progresses, and especially with The Wolf in particular because it takes their relationship much further than the show, Klaus realizes there is more than one way to earn people's trust. I feel like that's one of the pillars of his relationship with Caroline. He could've just compelled her (in TVD, not TW because she's a witch), but he never did because he wanted more from her than obedience. All of the things he liked about her - her personality, her honesty, her fire, her loyalty - would've been essentially erased or made meaningless if he'd compelled her. Which puts her in direct opposition to how he related to his hybrids, right? He pretends to be fine with people who have no choice but to follow him, but what he really craves is more real than that. He surrounds himself with people who will worship the ground he walks on after some forged "gratitude" for releasing them of their curse, but he is fascinated by how gutsy Caroline is to look him in the eye and tell him the things that no one else will dare to. What he really seeks but doesn't have the courage to admit is that he wants someone who will choose to be with him. And that's the difficult part, because it can't be conquered or taken, it has to be earned.

Klaus comes from a place of paranoia and extreme distrust of everything and everyone around him, especially after Mikael in New Orleans, and he feels very isolated and alone. He tells Stefan about that, right? The loneliness of immortality. When The Wolf starts, in spite of how he and Caroline were having a bit of a thing before it, he's not sure she would want to stay with him. Actually, he thinks the first chance she gets, she's gonna bail. It's why he's mad when he thinks she wants to terminate the pregnancy. It's not about the baby (it's never about the baby), he couldn't care less about the damn baby at that point, it's the fact that he thinks she's trying to get rid of him, as if that pregnancy is the one thing that is holding them together at that point and so if she's no longer pregnant, she doesn't have to be with him. What I'm very inarticulately trying to say is that his initial approach to Caroline being pregnant is the same he had with his hybrids, as if the baby is a version of a sire bond. It's crazy and dysfunctional, yes, but it's how Klaus rationalizes it, how he thinks he gets to keep people around him - either through daggering them or giving them no choice.

Slowly, Klaus internalizes the fact that Caroline is choosing him. She tells him that a few times throughout the story, and even when he's hallucinating her at the beginning of TW4, because that's something that she has said before and that has stuck with him for reason. She could've left him at any point, but she didn't because she wants to be with him. It's a choice that she has made not because he forced her to, but because she's in love with him. She protects him, she fights for him, she walks through hellfire for him because she wants to, not because she must. He has earned her trust and her love and her loyalty. And that is something that is new for Klaus in his one thousand years of life, at least at this magnitude and with this much clarity and certitude.

So I think when I started writing TW3, which was them in their domestic era, it started to feel like something Klaus might actually do. Not just because it obviously does mean something to Caroline and he would basically do anything for her (even though she never asks for it, which in itself is something, because Caroline comes from relationships that made her feel so insecure and unsafe that she would've held on to a ring like a lifeline, but with Klaus she simply does not need hard evidence to feel safe and reassured, she knows how Klaus feels about her, she's very comfortable in their relationship, she knows that what offers her means a lot more than a thousand weddings to other people ever would - even though she does still love a good wedding lol), but because it suddenly makes sense to him. Not the big party, or the tradition of it, or making it official or anything of the sort, but as a way to externalize what he feels. There is a symbolism to it that while not ideal, it might be the closest to thing to expressing just how devoted he is to her and how she is, pure and simple, eternity for him. When that comes from someone who has lived for as long he has, and who has been as cynical as he was for as long as he was, it does mean something, even if nothing else does.

There is a territorial factor to it as well, of course. 😌 He's a very possessive man and so he wants everyone to know Caroline is his, and it's why it first came to him during the thing with Jackson, but it's more than just that. If it was just about that, he wouldn't do it. He is at a point where he no longer has any doubts about how Caroline feels for him (although there will be a little something something on that front at the beginning of TW4, just because they've been apart for so long, but it will be quickly dispelled).

The most sacred thing for Klaus was the vow he took with his siblings when they fled Viking Falls. They stuck together through everything because of that. He knows the value of a vow and a promise. And he wants a version of that with Caroline. It's the first time in his life when he contemplates genuinely offering that to someone other than his family. There are a million ways he could go about it, probably, but he knows asking her to marry him is the one that will be most representative to her, because of the age where she was born and how she grew up, etc.

And so that is why I decided that Klaus was going to buy a ring even though I crossed my heart and hoped to die a million times for years when people asked me about that. 😂 I just think it's the natural course this story has taken. It's long enough that it eventually made sense to me that he might do it.

Does any of that make sense???? I don't know! I just typed my stream of thought and hoped for the best and now I'm afraid to read it again, so apologies if it's just crazy words.

Now if only I can get back to writing and actually get to that part. 🥲 Pray for me 🙏

THANKS FOR COMING TO MY TED TALK! 🙃 Here have a pretty married Klaroline gif.

[fadewalking]

1, 3, 13, 15

Salty Munday // @blightworn

How salty are you feeling right now? my secret is im always salty. Right now in particular? 4/10 saltiness, so that's fairly baseline for me

3. What rp trends are you so over and can't wait for it to die? This is worded harshly and my disclaimer is that I don't negatively judge or hold it against anyone who does this, I just personally don't like it, and i think it can often detract from the writing. THAT SAID:

icons/gifs in rp. This one i feel the most strongly about and I'll tell you why. but I used to use them waaayy back in the day, now i despise them, to the point where it's in my rules that I prefer that they aren't used at all in threads with me (ofc, it also says that if you insist on using them it's not the end of the world. im not gonna force anyone to do anything lbr).

But the reason why is because 6ish years ago i rped with someone who was using icons and I asked them politely if they would be okay not using them and they said no, they wanted to keep using them. This was fine and not the problem, like i said, not gonna force anyone. It was their reason why that permanently altered my brain chemistry.

They really said they need to use them because it's the only way to show what expression/reaction their muse has. This. Floored me. bc WHAT DO YOU MEAN. WHAT ABOUT.... WRITING IT???? my god, i've never recovered. before that point my preference for non icons was purely aesthetic (bc i think it makes a reply look chunky and blocky, and interrupts flow) but after hearing THAT, im against them on principle. Use icons if you like the aesthetic, whatever. But using icons as a filler to NOT WRITE something? .... idek what to say. Well, i've said enough, i think, anyway. I blocked that person immediately btw lmfao. Now i have like 4 icons for Solas in a folder somewhere, and I only use them for crack responses bc they're funny, like this one look

13. Ever told someone not to follow/rp with a particular person because something that happened to you in the past?

No, i think it's a bad look to try to force your friends to stay away from particular people, even if you have a really good reason. I will warn people though, if i know someone's been up to some shit, either in the past or present. But it's up to them if they wanna keep contact, and im not gonna get upset abt it if they choose to keep interacting. I expect the same in return. If someone's acting up tell me bestie, lmk. But know that im going to make my own judgement abt it based off of my own experiences w/ that person. The only autoblocking i'll do is if i get hard proof of bigotry/hate speech. like if ur racist or something, i don't need to have my own experience w/ that lol, i'm out.

15. Have you ever done something out of spite?

Oh, definitely. Can I recall any particular instance? uhhhhhhhhh...... oh ok! yes actually I can. Once there was this Solas rper who followed me here and they posted a hc that Solas is transphobic, and it offended me so deeply that I wrote a manifesto about Solas' sexual preferences where I argued many topics including how absurd it is to think Solas would be transphobic and also why it is NOT OKAY for people to try to fuck spirits because canonically, spirits CANNOT consent, but that is a tangent and not the focus of this answer.

Anyway, I posted that, left it alone long enough for the Solas rper to see it, and once they had (bc they commented on it) i blocked them lmfao. And that is also part of the reason that I don't rp with other Solas' these days. I will not let myself be so deeply offended again over someone else's problematic hc. Not that I think everyone who rps Solas is gonna have a shitty hc about him, but it's just easier for me to not even allow the slightest possibility of getting that upset abt fictional characters ever again. It's just a personal preference to curate my own webspace. But that whole long ass post was 100% created out of spite for that hc.

[piglet26]

Alright, Is the Star Wars Fandom Sexist?

As you probably know Daisy Ridley signed onto do another Star Wars film. I welcomed this..... mostly. If they don't reunited the Dyad I'm very curious as to what would be the point (more on that later.) Well, I saw this quote from a recent interview of hers, "I think my take is things get blown out of proportion and the interactions I've ever had with people have been nothing but wonderful and supportive," Ridley said. "I've only ever been embraced. And I think we're going to make a great film."

Now whether or not Ms. Ridley actually feels this way.......she's intelligent enough to say just this. Undeniably, all of the men who have talked shit about her for the past 7,8 odd years will now have softened to her for simply not holding them accountable. Hey, that's the biz kids. Don't make enemies out of your audience. No man wants to be called a sexist even if he actually is one.

Is there sexism in Star Wars? Yes and no. It has never been a straight answer. Now if you ask a lot of men in the Star Wars fandom if they are sexist..... they'll say no. Why? Princess Leia of course! Padme! Strong women who directed men, issued orders and politically led. They did and do support these women. In fact, if you had asked me if the fandom was sexist prior to The Sequel Trilogy I would've said that the SWF is one of the most progressive fandoms for women and has been since the 70s!

Where did it all go wrong?

Well, maybe this

Or, this

Maybe just good ole fashion paranoia. Personally, I think it's a combination of all three. The minute Disney bought Star Wars the fandom was primed to distrust it. Change, for better or worse, was on the horizon. Hell, even worse, corporate change. It's Rage against the Machine raging FOR the machine. Least we forget how Star Wars started...... as a "fuck you" to corporatized assembly-line movie production.

However, we are not her to discuss whether The Sequel Trilogy was good. Debatable..... with the exception of Reylo. That's just iconic. We are here to discuss how on earth Daisy Ridley ending up bearing the majority of the responsibility for its failures. Maybe even more importantly the "Feminization" of Star Wars.

A sane person could tell that. The same people screaming "Star Wars is Dead" for the last seven years are still saying the eulogy. Still going on whining and complaining about it. There is a general rule when franchise start to go off the track - you ignore it was ever made. Godfather 3? Tokyo Drift? Never happened.

If you don't like what Star Wars has become then the first person on your shit list should be it's creator. George Lucas. George could've signed over Star Wars under the guarantee that whatever outline he produced for The Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, Disney HAD to stick to - he didn't. He could've signed on a producer - he didn't. He could've picked someone else except Kathleen Kennedy to replace him - he didn't. Somehow George Lucas has escaped any responsibility in what his life's work has become. Maybe the fandom got it out of their system after the Prequel Road Rage.

News that George Lucas's treatments were thrown out and the extended universe being cancelled didn't exactly calm down the public.

Maybe the next person should JJ Abrams and Kathleen Kennedy for for thinking that there was something wrong with Star Wars. Star Wars already was diverse. It already HAD strong females. Yet, there they went finding problems that didn't exist. Why? Money. Disney has a powerful female/family demographic. Star Wars a strong male demographic. Disney sought to combine the best of all worlds in one franchise and they were the company to do it. Look at what they accomplished with Marvel!

Then the announcement came that there would be a female protagonist. A female Jedi to be exact. I thought this was different and interesting. The men did not. What they saw in there head was THE FORCE IS FEMALE in flashing bright lights. This was it. Confirmation. Star Wars was about to get pussyfied. From the get-go Daisy Ridley's Rey was to be a focus, a target, for the mistrust, uneasiness and rage from the men.

Let's me be clear men are ok girls liking their stuff. As long as girls are not in a position to influence whatever it is they like, or rather "ruin it." Can you blame them? If a bunch of straight dudes came in and started writing Sex and the City I'm telling you- they'd ruin it.

The Force Awakens finally arrives and curiosity was able to lure in even the most salty man. Not to mention the possible joy of seeing Han, Luke and Leia on screen together again. TFA is a perfectly decent film. There were two glaring choices in this film. One, Han is killed. Two, Rey beats Kylo Ren at the end. All things considered we should not have been surprised what the internet had to say. Rey was a Mary Sue. Men who didn't even know what a Mary Sue was were even saying this.

The term “Mary Sue” was first coined in 1973. A young main character, usually a woman, who was portrayed as unreasonably gifted across every discipline: intellect, combat, the arts, etc. This character would often become respected (and maybe even loved) by main characters and would end the story by saving the day in heroic fashion.

You don't have to like Rey. You don't have to love her. Rey isn't even the greatest character ever developed, but come on! I wonderer if the people criticizing her even watched the movie. I heard criticism that Rey was too likable! Well, she's the protagonist. She's too pretty! That's a bad thing? She's too nice! She comes off really brash and naive actually. She's the greatest pilot ever! She flew once and not that well. Most of the criticism around Rey was disingenuous and petty as hell.

Many critics have taken the lazy route of she has no character arc or character, but that’s not a very observant take. Her yearning for family and her desperation for her parents to return, while understandable, made her vulnerable to Kylo Ren. Her loneliness made her ultimately vulnerable to anyone who would be nice to her. Now I understand there was no consequences for her faults. However, there can't be both criticism. She either doesn't have a personality, or, she has one, but doesn't suffer consequences for it.

“How could she fly the Millennium Falcon so well?” “How could she beat Kylo Ren when she’d never used a lightsaber before?” “How could she resist Kylo Ren’s interrogation?” The film answered most of these questions. Ironically, no one questioned the 8 year old Anakin Skywalker or the farm boy Luke Skywalker for being amazing or great at anything because of The Force.

She grew up defending herself in melee combat. Her quarterstaff is not a lightsaber, of course, but it was established early on that she has the instincts and the reflexes to hold her own in a fight. While I don't agree with Rey beating Kylo Ren I understand how it was accomplished. Pure, dumb luck. It was luck that Ren was physically and spiritually crippled during their confrontation. Not to mention he had the hots for you. Finn was able to hold him off mostly because Kylo was toying with him, but when he grew bored Finn ended up face first in the snow. No one questioned how Finn the janitor could wield a lightsaber.

Let's talk about Finn, or rather John Boyega. All things considered pretty lucky guy. He got a likable that he played well and got paid well. You wouldn't know it by listening to him. He complained bitterly. He attacked the fans. He attacked Disney. He attacked America. He got off Scott free with fandom. Most remember him with nothing but fondness. Maybe because he is black people feel slightly uncomfortable going after him. But, the women? No problem. Even when fans hate male characters, they talk about what they hate with nuance.

Daisy Ridley did her job and she went home. She carried on beautifully and respectfully with what she was given by the production team. That is all any actor can do. The same would apply to the girl who played Rose Tico. Yet, criticism of what was happening on screen started to bleed onto the actresses in real life.

Mark Hamill shit talked the Sequel Trilogy - fair, enough. But why did you sign on? It he because he needed a job? Hondo wasn't a great leader. I agree. But, countless people ended up losing their lives due to Poe because he refused to listen to the female authority around him. Where was the fandom with their logic bitterness scorecard? The majority of the criticism I heard (Literally several videos on Youtube) was criticism towards Hondo for not telling a newly demoted soldier all of her plans.

Anywho Rey has this new movie coming out...........okay. Not sure who wants to come back for it other than her. After TROS and the fans most co-stars seem good doing other things. OG characters are killed off. There is one person with stunning jet black hair, 6'3, plush naturally red lips, a big dick, freckles and a heroic run that she's in a dyad with that would make this whole movie worth it. Do I faith they'll do the right thing and pay Adam Driver whatever they need to to bring him back? No. Cause there is a little bit of an agenda. For some reason love in the Star Wars universe doesn't do very well, but for the woman it's none existent. The concept that a strong woman doesn't have to die alone seems odd to the very people that want equality for women. For example I saw this comment, "Rey Skywalker is her own character and her continuing story doesn’t have to revolve around Ben Solo. Daisy Ridley’s return shouldn’t be overshadowed by fan expectation over Adam Driver returning."

Yes, it does. This film needs to work. I cannot stress that enough. You know people want to see this film fail. Reylo isn't purely for sentimental reasons (I WOULD SEE MY DYAD REUNITED FOUR TIMES IN THEATRES) Reylo is the biggest marketing advantage Disney Star Wars has..... you knew that when Solo flopped. Do the smart thing, put these people on mute and give us a iconic fight fuck scene.

Rey also wear clothes appropriate with her environment and match the physical needs of what she needs to accomplish like her male peers. Logical and refreshing. I hear the men mostly complain about the lack of hot women in their fantasy.

We could also talk about the sexism Carrie Fisher faced from the not only the studio, but the fandom for the crime of getting older and gaining weight. Her in a metal bikini is already in the spank bank - she contributed enough.

Again, neither Carrie Fisher nor Daisy Ridley in a smart world could ever really own that. Anymore than the Rose Tico actress could. Worse, they could never really tell the Fanboys what they really think of them. I love me some Fanboys, I do, but they aren't a perfect group of people. They just criticism everyone's work like they are. We're suppose to ignore the giant dump they take on anything and everything that comes out. I genuinely think the people beyond The Star Wars Sequel Trilogy sought out to create a great story. To honor what came before. In many respect they did. They aren't George Lucas though.

There is legitimate criticism towards Disney for how it has handled the Star Wars franchise. Currently it can't exactly be be described as quality over quantity. The writers seem like they are writing for early 00s Disney Channel rather a complex space political fairytale. Characterization has not been wonderful. Again, it's not simple. While Disney has not steered the ship perfectly. I would argue there was an audience sitting in ill will and waiting to be disappointment.

[jordanthewerewolf]

WEREWOLF HRT CHAPTER TWO: A DAY OUT (4 MONTHS INTO TREATMENT)

Next

If you've never experienced happiness, try being a werewolf in the middle of a food court.

I’m lost in a cacophony of fragrant scents from the food kiosks all around me. It's a complete sensory overload: I can barely separate the different smells from each other. Greasy fried chicken, sweet and sour pork, juicy beef hamburgers… It's so hard to pick where to eat, everywhere smells so good!

My stomach growls, snapping me out of my trance. With a start, I realize that I'm drooling again. The neck of my hoodie is soaked, and there's a thin string of saliva that's starting to puddle on the floor. Excessive mouth watering has become a recent problem of mine. Lately, whenever I'm hungry (which is all the time) or I smell something good, I salivate. A lot. Sometimes I don't notice that I'm drooling until someone points it out. It's pretty embarrassing. I’ve started keeping emergency Kleenex in my pockets. I pull a few sheets out and mop up the drool on my face and shirt. My stomach growls again, begging for fuel. As much as I’d love to stand here for hours inhaling the aroma of hundreds of different food options, I've got to pick something soon.

“Okay,” I say to myself, “Chinese it is.” I walk over to the Chinese place and step up to the counter. “Hi, can I get an order of sweet and sour pork, an order of lemon chicken, and a Fanta?” I ask. The man at the register rings me up and hands me my order on a tray.

“Enjoy,” he says.

“Thanks!” I give him a polite smile, showing my pointed teeth. I see his eyes widen. Without another word, he retreats into the back room.

“Guess I should keep my mouth closed,” I say to no one in particular. Holding my tray, I scan around the food court looking for an open table. I see a spot open in the corner and make my way towards it but stop when I notice something. Not far from the empty table, there’s a group of guys crowded around someone. The air smells tense. Something's going on. Curious, I change direction and head towards the commotion.

There are three large men who have a tall, scrawny alien backed up against the wall. Their shoulders are hunched, and they have a menacing look on their face. They're clearly trying to intimidate this creature. But it looks kind of ridiculous, because although these guys must be at least six feet tall, this alien towers above them. It stares down at them defiantly.

The creature has greyish mottled skin that's tinged purple. It's wearing baggy shorts and a t-shirt displaying a cartoon crustacean with the phrase “It's as shrimple as that.” Looking at its legs, I notice that it has two sets of knees, segmenting its legs into three parts. It has human looking feet, but only two toes. And it’s face. A prominent chin, a pair of bright green glowing eyes, and no nose or mouth. Its head tapers back into a crest, where it has what at first appears to be a braid, but as I look closer resembles some kind of cabling.

I heard one of the men sneer. “I thought we told you we didn't want you in our city.”

The alien tilted its head. And then I heard, in my mind, it speak. It's a free country, isn't it? the creature said in a clear masculine voice.

Another man stepped closer to the alien. “If you want to mutilate your body, be my guest. But nobody wants to look at your freak face.”

Okay. I’m starting to get the picture. This creature must be one of those going through humanity removal treatment. And these men must be anti therian bullies.

I can smell a fight coming on. The thugs are slowly and steadily advancing on the alien, who I decide must be a him due to his rigid jawline and heavy brow.

I glance around the food court, looking for a security guard who could maybe help. I notice one guard, who glances at the confrontation and quickly averts his eyes. Deliberately turning a blind eye. Douchebag.

Just then the third man glances in my direction. He scowls at me. “And what are you looking at, freak?” He must have noticed the fur on the back of my hands, or my long claws, or more likely the trans bracelet on my wrist.

Decision time. Do I stand up for myself, help the alien, who, despite looking like he can defend himself, is outnumbered three to one? Or do I get out of here and avoid a fight. My brain says run. But then I ask myself, “What would Eric do?” And the answer is obvious. Eric would fight.

So I set my tray down on the table. And I look the thug straight in the eye, stick my chin out and say, “I know you are but what am I?” A pretty pathetic comeback line, but it's the best I could come up with on the spot.

The man leers, showing yellowed teeth. He reeks of cigarettes. “Smart mouth, eh?”

I can see his hand curling up into a fist and know what's coming next. I duck as he swings at me.

With five years of martial arts training (paid for by my transphobic adoptive dad who wanted me to be more of a man) and four months of werewolf HRT, I'm incredibly flexible. I dodge and weave around the big brute as he swings his fists at me.

��Come on, you little shit! Take it like a man!” he roars.

Like a man. I've been hearing that my whole life from my adoptive family, who were unwilling to accept that I'm not a man, I’m a woman.

“Okay, now you've pissed me off,” I mutter.

The next time he swings at me, I reach up and rake my claws across his face. “Aaaagh!” he shrieks. He lifts his hand up and feels the blood gushing. “What kind of animal are you?”

I smirk at him, showing my fangs. “It’s Britney, bitch.” I swing my fist and hear it connect with his jaw. He drops like a sack of potatoes.

Sucking the blood off of my fingers, I look over to the alien. One of the other two men has him pinned to the wall. I notice something metal and shiny in the second one’s hand. A knife.

I start walking towards them, but then, the alien… disappears?

I see the two men look at each other, confused. They step back from the wall and look at each other in confusion.

“Where the fuck did it go?” the first man asks.

The second one opens his mouth but before he can say anything, both thugs are suddenly lifted into the air. The air around them shimmers as the alien fades into view. He’s holding both of them by the necks. He slams the men together and drops them to the ground. Slowly they get up. They shoot both me and the alien looks of pure hatred as they help the third man to his feet. Then, the three thugs limp away.

The alien looks at me, confused. “Britney, bitch?” Really?

I shrug. “What? She's an icon.” I hold my hand out to shake. “I'm Jordan, by the way.”

Soren. The alien takes my hand. We shake. His hands have two thumbs and two fingers each. All four digits have long pointed nails.

We sit down at the table. “You hungry? I can get more food,” I offer. Soren shakes his head. I… uhhh… don't eat anymore. No mouth.

“You don't eat? How are you alive?” I ask.

I get sustenance from light. I absorb water through my skin.

“Oh.” I take a bite of lemon chicken. Delicious. “That must suck.”

Eh, it's not that bad. I still have a really good sense of smell. By the way, your food smells delicious.

Soren closes his eyes in bliss.

“How do you smell things?” I try the pork. “You don't have a nose either.”

I smell through my skin. Don't ask. I have no idea.

“Okay. So, uh, not to be rude, but… what are you?”

You ever play StarCraft before, Jordan?

I remember Candy telling me that StarCraft was Eric’s favourite game. “Never played it, but I’ve heard of it,” I admit.

I’m transitioning into Protoss. They're a race from the StarCraft franchise. A very proud people. Psionic abilities. Able to survive in very harsh climates.

Soren pulls out his phone. He shows me a picture of a Protoss. It's very easy to tell the resemblance. Although Soren doesn't have any of the golden battle armour, or the sleek alien tech, he has the same form as the creature in the picture. The mottled, scaly skin. The glowing eyes. The thick cabling coming out of the back of the bony crest.

Those are nerve cords, Soren tells me. They're how we connect to the Khala.

“Kalla?”

K-H-A-L-A. Khala. It's basically a mass mind meld between all Protoss.

“Oh. How many Protoss are there?” I ask between mouthfuls.

Just me. It doesn't matter though, because I severed my nerve cords. It was tough… I had to use a pair of hedge clippers in the end. Soren chuckles. I'm looking at him with awe. “Why would you cut it off?”

Oh, right, sorry, I forgot to tell you. I'm part of the Nerazim tribe, or the dark templar. We ritualistically sever our nerve cords and our connection to the Khala in order to retain our individuality. This allows us to access different abilities. Like the invisibility trick you saw earlier.

“Wow, that’s super cool!” I say with a mouthful of lemon chicken. Soren nods.

As I work through my meal, Soren proceeds to walk me through the entire history of his people. From the Aeon of Strife, to the creation of the Khala, to the End War. It's really fascinating. And, to be completely honest, I still don't understand any of it. But listening to this big alien ramble on, I can feel his passion. His eyes are glowing brighter than ever and his mottled skin is flushing with excitement. I can tell how proud he is to be part of this alien race, even though he could be the only one of his kind.

It helps me see why people do this. Why they take the treatment. It's because they're becoming their true selves. They're escaping the monotony of human life. With this revolutionary technology, our human bodies are merely a cocoon, preparing for us to emerge as the wonderful creatures we are.

So why am I doing this? Is a werewolf really my true self? Some ravening bloodthirsty beast? It's not the first time this question has entered my mind, and I still don't have an answer. I started this for Eric. And my one goal is still to bring my brother back into society.

Or is it?

Do I want to save Eric? Or join him in being wild and free? Run and hunt and kill and howl with my pack brother at my side.

I can read your mind, you know, Soren says quietly.

I snap my head up. “What?” I snarl. “This whole time you've been poking through my head-” I suddenly realize that, if he's been in my head, he's seen the monster that I plan to become. My eyes widen.

Soren lays a hand on my shoulder. Jordan, it's okay. I get it. You want to be with your brother, no matter the cost. And that's admirable.

He pauses, then adds, I knew Eric.

“You did?” I say, surprised.

The alien nods solemnly. We played StarCraft together all the time, until he disappeared. I never knew what happened to him. Now I do.

We sit there in silence for a while.

Then the room gets dark. This section of the mall is lit by a skylight. But suddenly, something blocks out the sun. I hear gasps from the other patrons.

We hear a massive whooshing noise. I look up, and I see her.

A massive, red dragon. Soaring above us, flapping her vast wings.

I smile. “She did it. She actually did it.”

Soren’s eyes crinkle. This is proof, he says. That we’re not just throwing our lives away. That…

“...we can have our happy ending,” I finish.

After I get home from the mall, I boot my laptop up. I hop into a Discord call with Soren and he teaches me how to play StarCraft. It's… incredibly complicated. I struggle a lot. But I'm definitely having fun. Sometimes, it's great to take your mind off of everything and just mess around with your friends.

[kats-comfort-corner]

Unexpected Ch 85 Theory Post

Spoilers under the cut

*deep breath*

HE KNOWS

HE KNEW THE WHOLE TIME

I FUCKING KNEW IT

okay so i don't actually have any definitive proof or substantial evidence beyond this and almost 20 years of an obsession with this character's personality specifically

HOWEVER

Chapter 79

Key Points:

Shikamaru checks in immediately after seeing the weirdness and asks about what happened "when they were attacked by Boruto".

The translation might be a little weird here, 'cause I don't completely understand Eida's response - which is a shame because I think most of the analysis works better when you can grasp the nuance. Anyway, lol.

She starts off saying "Nothing really" - there's a pause where Kawaki tells her to tell Shikamaru that the Hokage's dead. So, jumping from, "Nothing, all good" to "oh shit actually the Hokage is dead, my bad" is maybe slightly suspicious.

Chapter 80

Key Points:

Eida says rather bluntly that the Hokage has been killed by Boruto, but she's under duress with Kawaki's hand to her throat, so maybe she's not sounding like she usually would. Just a guess.

"There's a very high possibility" is not the same as "The Hokage has definitely been killed". I don't think Shikamaru 100% believes Eida, but I do think the possibility is upsetting enough for him to act on it regardless.

Shikadai is actually the main reason I am fairly confident Shikamaru knows something is up because this kid sees all this weird shit that doesn't add up and you know he talks to his dad about it.

Shikadai sees Sasuke take off with Boruto and you think he's not going to go to his dad like, "hey what the fuck?"

They're Naras, y'all. Come on now.

Chapter 81

Key Points:

Shikamaru is the Hokage now, apparently.

Okay, that's actually a huge factor to consider as well because I don't think he would take that position if he didn't believe Naruto was still alive and able to take it back as soon as he was found. Shikamaru doesn't want to be Hokage, are you kidding me?

"The sanctions against Boruto were in accordance with regulations." "It's also the will of the Hidden Leaf's citizens." "No matter what I order, it won't convince them."

These are not comments that come from someone dead set on hunting down and punishing a criminal that murdered a political leader. This is the kind of thing you say when you're like, "listen, yes, but also bureaucracy is a bitch and I've gotta keep up appearances or someone else will actually hunt Boruto down and kill him".

He's less worried about the fact Sarada is trying to protect Boruto and more worried about how she's doing it. In my opinion. This is not a fact, I just wanted to point it out, lol.

Again, Shikadai hears Naruto's daughter, and who is currently perceived as being Kawaki's sister, say she wants to protect Boruto who supposedly killed her dad. She also said she feels like he's alive somewhere, and I'm willing to bet dollars to donuts that is something a lot of other folks, including Shikamaru, feel as well.

Shikamaru's reaction to when Boruto arrives pretty much solidified my belief that he knows something is up and he doesn't think Boruto killed Naruto, or at the very least that Naruto could still be alive and there's more going on with this whole situation, so he's not eager to jump the gun and kill a child. Which is more than I can say for some of our pol- nevermind ignore this

Shikamaru's reaction to hearing Code is there and attacking people: Orders an evacuation and tries to figure out why Code is attacking, immediately concerned about the safety of the villagers.

Shikamaru's reaction to hearing Boruto just showed up: Prioritize Code and the claw marks, but keep tabs on Boruto without suggesting any kind of attack or restraint or anything like that. He's not worried about Boruto. But he is wanting to gather more intel on the situation as a whole, which makes sense, all things considered.

Chapter 82

Key Notes:

Very intentional frame of Shikadai seeing Kawaki show up, Kawaki shouting for Himawari and Inojin to move out of the way so he can attack a claw thing, not worrying about their safety at all.

Himawari calls him "Big Bro" and Kawaki tells her not to call him that. Not very big brotherly. Again, Shikadai is there for this. Along with everyone else, so. You know, things are kind of weird. These are weird dynamics that are not matching up with their false memories.

Chapter 83

Key Points:

Shikamaru, again, wants Kawaki to focus on eliminating Code - who is an actual threat - and pretty much ignores Boruto because he's not a concern.

Focuses on getting rid of the claw things even after Code has run off, prioritizing keeping him away and protecting the villagers instead of "trying to bring a Hokage killer to justice" or whatever the fuck people are trying to do with Boruto.

Chapter 84

Key Notes:

What Shikamaru took away from Kawaki's breakdown of the situation was that Boruto only came to the village to deal with Code. Meaning that Boruto was never a threat to the village, and there's no reason to worry about him, but it also probably indicates that there is something worth doing more digging into to figure out what the fuck is going on with all of the discrepancies in his memory that I'm sure are pissing him off.

"It better not be someone in the sensory unit."

Kawaki doesn't trust Shikamaru, and probably not anyone else in Konoha. That's not a very "Naruto's son" kind of attitude to have. The fact Shikamaru doesn't seem phased by that distrust means he's either been dealing with it for three years already, has been suspicious of Kawaki this whole time, and more likely both of those things.

Also, what the fuck, that sounds threatening? Ino would kick Kawaki's ass. I'd love to see him try though, lol. No I wouldn't, don't do that please.

Weird tensions between Kawaki (supposedly Naruto's son) and Sarada (Sasuke's daughter). If it were a rivalry, that'd make sense. But the hostility between them? Nah, that don't track.

Sarada basically confirming that Boruto was after Code and most likely trying to find a way to save the people who have been turned into trees. A very "Naruto's son" kind of attitude.

Chapter 85

Key Notes:

BOY. IF AMADO KNOWS, SHIKAMARU HAS KNOWN THE WHOLE GOD DAMN TIME

His face is hidden and he's not surprised or saying anything because if he's been trying to figure this shit out without tipping anyone off WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU SAY

Especially if he doesn't want Eida to know that he knows, because jesus christ her powers are scary and he's probably not eager to have to add that into the mess of variables he's already tangling with.

In Summary

Main Points

Shikamaru has been suspicious of this shit since omnipotence went off and fucked with people's heads.

Shikadai has been privy to some strangeness around Himawari, Kawaki and Boruto at the same time, and I can't imagine that he hasn't asked his dad about it or something. So whatever Shikadai has seen, I assume Shikamaru is somewhat aware of or we'll see a scene where something Shikadai saw or something he says makes it all click into place when his dad hears about it.

Shikamaru's language and attitude around Boruto have been intentionally vague and avoidant. It's the "will of the village", following the system's rules, etc. etc.

Shikamaru's more concerned with Code as a threat than with tracking down Boruto, which conveniently gives him an excuse to not pursue Boruto and prioritize the safety of the village at the same time.

Amado knows? Then Shikamaru has known. No doubt. There was a whole ass chapter where Shikamaru outsmarted Amado. Narratively speaking, we've got a point of reference for why there's a parallel here with Amado talking about this out loud and getting to see Shikamaru's reaction - or in this case, lack thereof - to hearing it.

Conclusion

Shikamaru continues to be the coolest man alive. Thank you for coming to my TED talk, byyyeeee

[the-kcm-muggleborn]

Kind For You

Fandom: Hogwarts Legacy

O/C: Sebastian Sallow x Edwart Thompson x Ominis Gaunt ✨️platonic✨️ (My OC)

Warnings: None:}

Word count: 1k>

Chapter 4

Part 1

Weeks went by. November was at its end.

Edwart was studying hard, trying to keep up with everything that had happened the past 4 months, his head was a mess, and all that ancient magic was exhausting. He wished there was simply a book he could educate himself on. Edwart was disappointed and tired because there was still so much the Keepers were not telling him. And to add to it Ranrok and Rookwood were starting to get too close to finding the truth about this powerful magic. 

Edwart was sitting in the library working on his astronomy assignment when Sebastian came in looking for him.

“You're here. Brilliant.” He sat next to Edwart who just signed deeply.

“What is it that you need, Sebastian?” He spoke sharply.

“Uu someone’s in a sour mood. Relax. I just wanted to talk.” Sebastian raised his hands in a surrendering gesture. 

Edwart left his assignment and rubbed his hands across his face. He leaned in his chair and groaned. “I apologise. I've just been having trouble sleeping.”

“Again?” Sebastian spoke with concern in his voice. “Maybe it's time you got to Nurse Blainey?”

“No. No, I'm fine, it's just something that's been… Never mind that.” Edwart shook his head. “What did you want to talk about? I could use a distraction.” Edwart smiled slightly.

“I spoke with Ominis. I told him none of us will be able to avoid Dark Magic forever. So the more we know about Salazar Slytherin and the Dark Arts. the better prepared we'll be.” 

Edwart sighed slightly. Not the distracting topic he certainly hoped for. Sebastian continued. “Unfortunately. only a Gaunt knows the location of the scriptorium's entrance and Ominis won't tell me. I’m simply out of ideas.”

Edwart wasn't sure if helping Sebastian with this one was a good idea. But he deeply trusted both Sebastian and Ominis. So he decided they'd be safer together than apart. “Do you want me to try and talk to him?”

“You? I suppose it's worth a try. but don't get your hopes up. Ominis is annoyingly stubborn. Nothing new.”

“Okay then. Lead me to him.” Edwart packed his things and both boys headed to the dungeons. 

“Keep an eye out. Never know who's watching, although that hasn't stopped us before.” Sebastian said jokingly.

“Strictly speaking. it has. We were caught.” Edwart spoke back, matching his friend’s tone.

“Ugh. Don't remind me. Damned poltergeist - such a nuisance” Sebastian rolled his eyes as they kept walking.

Both boys finally reached the dungeons when they noticed Ominis leaning against a wall.

“Oh. There’s Ominis. Go. And good luck.”

Sebastian took a turn and awaited a few feet away. Edwart took a deep breath and walked over to Ominis who looked rather lost in thoughts.

“Hello, Ominis. How do you do?” Edwart decided to go about this friendly but firmly to not waste time.

“I'm… Alright. ” Ominis smiled lightly. “It's just Sebastian's been pestering me lately about something and I'm frustrated with him.”

“Can I be honest?” Edwart decided to get straight to the point but he did not want to lose his politeness.

“I suppose?” Ominis seemed suspicious.

“Sebastian told me about the scriptorium trouble. We were talking about Hogwarts founders, and he mentioned it. Wouldn't say much more, though.”

“I understand. Well, he seems to think it contains the answer to saving Anne. I think it's likely full of Dark Magic that is better left untouched.”

“You've never been inside?” Edwart asked with interest.

“Of course not! I only know about it because of my favourite aunt- Noctua. She thought like I do. Didn't agree with the family on the use of Dark Magic. She wrote regularly to my father about her efforts to gain access, and then she simply vanished.”

“Sebastian told me a little of what happened when you were young. What your family made you do. I'm sorry, Ominis.” Edwart treaded carefully. 

“Should’ve known he would have told you.” Ominis signed. “I think neither of us had the most idyllic childhood.”

“True. That’s why I think we could be stronger if we went together than let Sebastian go alone and possibly get himself killed.”

“Maybe you're right…” Ominis said hesitantly.

“That is a bit unnerving.” Edwart crossed his arms. “I understand your hesitation. I suppose even if it might lead to answers about what happened to your aunt. it does pose a risk.”

“Aunt Noctua went down this path with good intentions and lost her life. I don't want the same to happen again. To neither of you.” Ominis shook his head and started slightly pacing again.

“You don't know that history will repeat itself. Besides, you said your aunt thought like you. This could honour her memory and get you answers about Slytherin and Sebastian answers for Anne. Your aunt pursued this alone.” Edwart stopped Ominsi's pacing by putting both hands on his shoulders to grab his attention “We will do it together. I'll promise you. I am taking responsibility.”

Ominis swallowed thickly. As he was finally convinced. “Hmm. I see what you've done here. And, I confess, you've convinced me. I didn't think it was possible…”

Edwart backed away and thanked Ominis. “Let's go fetch Sebastian.”

“Edwart-” Ominis stopped him. “Do you..? Know what you're doing?”

“Can't say that I do.” Edwart chuckled “But there's safety in numbers. Trust me, Ominis.”

As the trio was finally together. Ominis led both boys to the alleged entry of the scriptorium. 

“I hope I… we don't regret this,” Ominis said under his breath as he stood to the side. “These braziers grant access to the scriptorium.”

“Now, you'll share? You wouldn't tell me when I practically begged.” Sebastian pouted a bit.

“It wasn't you who told me what I needed to hear,” Ominis said as calmly as ever. “Opening the entrance has something to do with threes.”

Edwart looked around, he noticed 3 symbols on a stone wall in front of him.

“Well- three heads are better than one.” Sebastian joked.

“It's two heads are better than one.” Ominis furrowed his eyebrows.

“And by that logic, three is better than two. Simple mathematics Ominis.” Sebastian smiled. 

“I see 3 symbols here” Edwart poked at a wall. “I think this is the stone door.”

“Well done, now to open it.” Sebastian said. “three braziers.”

“Someone’s been actually listening.” Ominis chuckled. 

“I do that…” Sebastian agreed. “Occasionally.”

Edwart cast 3 fast confringos. which opened the door. 

“Something's happening,” Sebastian said almost excitedly.

“I hope we're ready for this.” Ominis on the other hand looked as anxious as Edwart never saw. 

Part 2>

-------------- Autor's notes:--------------

Thank you so much for reading Part 1 of the new 4th Chapter! I know it's been long-awaited! I'm still working on it but it's certainly looking good. Many more missions to come and a third trial! I'll be skimping on those and some of the side quests that do not have cutscenes. Hope you enjoyed it

[catsnuggler]

me complaining in the tags about the struggles of being an anarchist and a Norse neopagan are not at all to imply I think I've got the short end of the stick in life.

potentially being misperceived as a Nazi is a problem, it sucks.

it also isn't as bad as being a Jew, a person of color, a socialist, disabled, and/or a queer person, etc, and seeing someone who appears to be (and is) an able-bodied white man, standing at 6'1", wearing a symbol on his neck that might indicate he's a racist, but maybe not, and you don't know, but you know he's just going about his business and, sure, he keeps to himself, he isn't hurting anyone or harassing anyone, but maybe he just doesn't think he could get away with it right now? and nobody has said anything to this guy, nobody has questioned what that thing on his neck is, what it means, if it means what they fear it means, what you think it means - and you aren't going to be the one to ask him. he's not the tallest guy, but he's tall enough. he's not the strongest guy, but he's strong enough. he also looks depressed, and like maybe all isn't right with him... should you really bark up his tree, or just finish your business and go off to your own corner, and just hope that maybe that thing on his neck doesn't mean he's a Nazi? well, he is - I am - not a Nazi, but how is the average person, who either doesn't recognize it at all, or vaguely knows it's associated with some pagans, or vaguely knows it's associated with some Nazis - how is that average person supposed to know that?

yet wearing the hammer is also, I feel, an act of resistance in an area that is so full of conservative Christians. to indicate that just because I'm another white in this area, doesn't mean that I'm a Christian, and that possibly that also means I don't share their politics - and, in point of fact, I don't share their politics at all - is an affirmation of my individuality and humanity, and I hope that pushing against the Christian conservative cultural bubble of my area, in my own way, makes it a little easier for people of other religions, and other deviations from the Christian conservative norm, to push against that bubble in their own ways.

but then, I have encountered my coreligionists here before... some are cool people, others are what I utterly detest and loathe, and what I fear I'll be perceived as.

problems, struggles, not the worst in the world by any stretch of the imagination, I don't think that for a moment, but that doesn't mean they don't suck.

[blowflyfag]

ECW Magazine: February 2000

16 QUESTIONS WITH YOSHIHIRO TAJIRI

BY GABE SAPOLSKY ‘JAPANESE BUZZSAW’ KICKS HIS WAY THROUGH ECW ROSTER

Since joining Extreme Championship Wrestling in the beginning of 1999, Yoshihiro Tajiri has proven to be a perfect fit for the federation. From his bloody, barbed-wire beating at the hands of Taz at Heat Wave on July 18 to his victory over Little Guido and Super Crazy during a three-way dance at Anarchy Rulz on Sept. 19, Tajiri solidified the brutal reputation he built as a wrestler in Japan.

Tajiri is currently a soldier in Steve Corino’s war against hardcore wrestling. The following is an interview with the “Japanese Buzzsaw” conducted through an interpreter.

Q1. DO YOU LIKE WRESTLING IN THE UNITED STATES?

A. I like it except for the people. They are really ignorant and disrespectful. This has become a home to me, though. In Japan, I was also considered a rebel, I never really fit in. I am much more comfortable here. I get paid the most money here. I’d say that’s my favorite thing about the United States.

Q2. HAVE YOU PICKED UP A LOT OF ENGLISH?

A. I’m learning very quickly. I know a lot of phrases, for instance (now speaking in English): “ECW fans are white trash” (now back to Japanese through the interpreter). I’m very intelligent so my English improves every day. I learned Spanish while I was in Mexico. Soon I’ll be fluent in three languages. 

Q3. HOW DOES MEXICO COMPARE TO THE UNITED STATES?

A. Im supposed to answer that in one paragraph? They are very different. I can live in Mexico, Japan or the United States with equal ease. 

Q4. HOW DO THE DIFFERENT PROMOTIONS YOU’VE WORKED FOR COMPARE?

A. ECW has been my favorite promotion. I’m on national television every week here, I get the biggest checks of my career. I’m in a video game and everywhere I go I can find someone to kiss my ass because they know how good I am.

Q5. HAVE YOU HAD DIFFICULTY GETTING AROUND IN THE UNITED STATES?

A. Not really. A guy named Doug Gentry has actually helped me a lot. I call him and he drives me wherever I want. If I need something done around the apartment, he comes running. If I ask for a favor, he does it. He’s such a mark. It makes me laugh. It’s like I have my own butler. 

Q6. WHY DON’T YOU HAVE RESPECT FOR THE ECW FANS?

A. Like I said earlier, most of them are ignorant white trash. They chant items off a Chinese food Menu at me. They are just too stupid to even know that I am Japanese. Most of them couldn’t tell the difference between a Japanese, Chinese and Korean guy if they were all standing next to each other with their country’s flags hanging over their heads. That is pure ignorance. 

Q7. HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN YOUR CHANGE IN APPEARANCE AND ATTITUDE SINCE YOU ENTERED ECW?

A. This is the real me. I acted polite and quiet when I first got here because I was trying to earn a job. Now that I have cemented my place in ECW as a star, I can do and act however I want. You can say I put on an act and that I worked the ECW fans. Their stupid minds stereotype me as a nice, little foreigner. Well, that’s not me. I’m the Japanese buzzsaw and I’m the most dangerous athlete in ECW. I’m after the big money and I’ll do anything to get it.

Q8. THAT INCLUDES ALIGNING WITH STEVE CORINO?

A. He pays me the best. I’m not here to make friends. I’m here to make as much money as I can. There were two things that attracted me to wrestling. I wanted to travel and I wanted to make money. So far in ECW I’ve been very successful at both. 

Q9. HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH THE IDEA FOR THE TARANTULA?

A. That has to be one of the stupidest questions I've ever been asked. I'm proficient in Japanese, American and Mexican wrestling styles and kick boxing. I know every pressure point and every way possible to twist and turn your body. I know more wrestling holds than most wrestlers, for instance Tommy Dreamer, will ever forget.  The Tarantula is just what happens when I apply my immense knowledge to the ring.

Q10. WHICH WRESTLING STYLE DO YOU PREFER

A. It really doesn’t matter to me. I’m a machine. I just win and make money.

Q11. WHO HAS INFLUENCED YOUR CAREER?

A. Of course Kendo Nagasaki who trained me. I’d say from Mexico it would be Negro Casas. I have learned many things from him that I do today in ECW. As far as non-wrestlers, Victor Quinones, who booked me in ECW, has been very influential to me in and out of the ring. Victor has played a huge role in my success

Here are the names of some people you have been involved with in ECW. What are your opinions of them?

Q12. STEVIE CORINO

A. He is one of the most intelligent people I have met. Did I mention he pays me really well?

Q13. Jack Victory

A. A true legend in the business. It is an honor to be associated with him.

Q14. TOMMY DREAMER

A. I have shown respect for everyone mentioned, but I cannot do that for Tommy Dreamer. I hate everything that Dreamer stands for. I really take pleasure in hurting him and anything that is dear to him. That is why i sprayed Francine in the face [on July 31 at ECW arena in Philadelphia]. I will make him suffer and I will break his back and put him out for good.

Q15. SUPER CRAZY

A. Crazy and I were once very good friends. The rivalry we had in ECW has destroyed that friendship. I think he’s just getting jealous because I’m winning more of the matches. He is definitely one of the best lucha libre wrestlers in the world and a great athlete, but I’m better.

Q16. JERRY LYNN

A. I’ve been in the ring with the best of Japan, like Jushin Liger, the top wrestlers of two Mexican promotions and many of the top stars in America. Jerry Lynn is one of the best technical wrestlers I have ever faced. He is flawless, except for one thing: He is weak. He is always injured and that always gives me a body part to kick the hell out of. If i know Lynn has injured ribs, you better believe I’m going to kick and chop those ribs until he cannot breathe. That is why he will never beat me.

[absenthiium]

good things that happened yesterday at the radical pride parade: a list

-being there at all, for starters, was incredible. queer issues often tend to be ignored, in italy, and bigger pride parades have a very vertical organization, are mostly devoid of any political content, and intertwined with politicians and corporations that never gave a fuck about us. the group i'm in, that has organized this alternative, oppositional parade, has been meeting for about two months which is nothing. and yet, there was about 5000 people protesting with us.

-we felt so proud. of being there, of having done it, of knowing it's the beginning of something. someone told us we're making history, here, and we are. i saw history in my comrades' eyes, in their bared smiles, and i know, i know, what we're building will grow higher than the sun.

-while distributing pronouns badges, i ran into a quartet of old dykes, who asked me to write "lesbian" in various languages onto their tags. upon inquiring on my pronouns, one said "ah, masculine and feminine. just like me in the old days".

-a friend, I, insists he's going through the faggot version of menopause. as in, they say, he can no longer be a twink, because he's 30 and needs a job.

-i wrote and performed a speech against the presence of cops in queer spaces. i felt powerful, for someone so anxious; like rage was eating me from the inside out, like fire could spring from my mouth as i screamed into the microphone.

-about pronouns badges: my friend Lu and i tried to give a few to some cops. they refused, of course, as they can't wear them on their uniform. who knows, maybe that's way they don't have collar numbers here.

-in my defense, i brought a rum flask solely because Lu asked, and because it was exilarating the last time i did. but as we took a sip each, all we could do was agree that it was a fucking awful idea.

-at some point, those in charge of the music put on smalltown boy by bronski beat. my friend cal and i hugged each other tight, as we almost wept on the other's shoulder.

-i danced, so much. i don't think i've ever felt less ashamed.

-fuck, i love, and i love, and i love; what we've done and what it's been and what will been and all i've met and seen and touched. i love you, and we're strong, and we're going to be alright.

[whatever-you-can-give-me]

Genuine question: why does disagreeing (without being all ‘u r wrong’, but simply just saying ‘cool! Here is my take on this’) with how others see a character get you immediately labled a ‘transphobe’? Or just labled as anything really. Like. Fandom space is for having fun, fandom space is a place of many different & wonderful headcanons & new ways of seeing things! Yet ‘headcanon’ is still not ‘canon’, and can be disagreed with. Hell, you can very well disagree with some of the stuff canon does! It doesn’t make it less canon of course, it just makes your experience with it more palatable to you.

So when a person says ‘here is my blorbo! I imagine him as trans and like viewing related content!’ and you say ‘awesome take, i bet there are a lot of interesting things you can do with this if you explore this more! I personally like thinking of this character & looking at content of him as biologically male, as described in canon!’ shouldn’t the answer be ‘wow! Two cakes! So cool!’ instead of ‘u r just a bigoted transphobe, the only right way to see him is as [insert specific gender identity] or literally as anything BUT what u see him as, because canon mentioned these select things that pertain to said character taking on masculine and feminine traits specifically from a narrative standpoint’ ??

I’m seriously just so lost. Just because someone doesn’t like seeing a certain character a certain way, (without disrespecting other interpretations,) it suddenly catapults them into being an awful person??? huh??

Of course it also works the other way, and with many other things, which is just as weird, which is exactly the point of my question here.. bros, the world... 💔 (m so sorry this is so long ong. i tend to ramble. pls don't answer if u don't have the time, have a good one <3)

oh man this is. first of all i'm not sure if this is in reference to some specific post or tag or if it's just because i've been very opinionated recently. but i do love to talk, so you're in luck.

also i'm not. sure if this is bait? i'm going to answer under the assumption that it isn't because it's. honestly a pretty good summary of a very real issue not with fandom exclusively but more so the internet as a whole. if anyone else has gotten this exact ask copy-pasted in their askbox let me know in the replies. (sorry if this is 100% genuine op, there's just a Lot Of Bait on this topic going around at all times forever and it's. june. so.)

objective disclaimer: don't. insult or accuse people of things. because of the art they make?? especially not fanwork for free for fun??? have you seen the state of the world right now? Now Is Not The Time To Be Arguing About Trans Headcanons. i'm answering this because i have a lot of thoughts on the nature of fandom, not because i think knee-jerk anger at anyone is helpful right now. if you're big mad, write to your senators or donate to the trevor project.

anyway.

basically: it's twitter's fault. [not just twitter, but twitter is The example of this] the algorithms of most websites, especially social media websites, prioritize arguments and things that are generally clickbaity because if you're spending a lot of time arguing, you have your eyeballs pointed at the site for longer and therefore you see more ads and therefore the advertisers and therefore the app makes more money. therefore the kinds of "you're disagreeing me therefore you must be bigoted against my opinions" kind of kneejerk discourse gets a lot of clicks and very mainstreamed. this is an issue the entire internet has, and also politics. it's twitter's fault. i hate it here.

in the specific circumstance you're describing. it's a few things, a lot of it being. gestures at the current state of the world. there's a lot of genuine anger towards genuine injustice boiling inside of a lot of people, and it's getting thrown at the nearest target because systematic change is difficult and slow, and sometimes it feels good to give someone a hard time for a tiny microcosm of something you're angry about because you can't wrestle god or throw a brick at a politician.

a lot of us in fandom are queer and scared. it doesn't justify hurting other queer people over different interpretations of a media property, but that is often why it happens. can't stop current events? yell at someone you feel is putting art in the world that Isn't Queer Enough (don't fucking do that, yall. there is room in the world for a lot of art. and just because it's not Visibly Queer or Queer In The Way You Are doesn't make it less valid as art. certainly don't accuse people of bigotries about it.) or that they feel like their space is being encroached upon by an outsider (no one has to tell you their list of marginalized identities to have their art allowed past the threshold of Queer Enough! don't fucking do that either, yall! you sound like cops!)

there's also the fact that people tend to put themselves in their art and interpretations. so seeing "i don't view this character this way" can feel like "i don't think You are valid". it's important to recognize when you're taking something Personally when it Isn't Personal. you're allowed to have your Big Feelings about particular art or interpretations. god knows i do! but the artist probably has Big Feelings about their art too, and while you may not understand them, that should be respected.

and this "seeing yourself (or not seeing yourself and it hurts) in art" goes both ways. a lot of the same body types often gets headcanoned as trans, because it's a very easy in for Baby's First Trans Headcanon, and as far as human sexual dimorphism goes, there are some patterns. but, say, what if a skinny, short, baby-faced cis man wants to see art of babyfaced cis men, without feeling within the queer community the kind of scrutiny he experiences outside of it, the assumption that his masculinity must be different, that obviously someone who looks like that is a trans man. what if a six foot tall cis woman sees the way that big, tall women in media are so often headcanoned as trans, more often than shorter, thinner women, and feels othered by it? wanting to represent themselves in art does not become somehow less valid because of their gender identities. that's ludicrous.

but people are angry and scared, and people put themselves in their art, and people get angry when they feel like their space is being encroached on, and they lash out. it's not fair, and i hate how common it's become, but i see how it happened.

honestly, i've thought about this specific issue a lot, so thank you for possibly-baiting me, anon. this is such a. it's such a bubble issue, but it's a microcosm of a very widespread problem of outrage merchants and Doing Things Correctly and What Is Allowed To Be Queer.

it's all allowed. all of it. even the stuff you hate. even the stuff that's Too CisHet. there are so many bigger problems than fanwork right now.