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system-of-a-feather · 6 months ago

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I was gonna put this in the tags but like

Honestly I was talking about this with my fiance and honestly I have never actually been so optimistic about anything related to american politics like... ever excluding the period when I was a right wing MURICAN

And honestly, while it absolutely wasnt JUST Hasan like Hasan served a similar role in the later end of me flipping from Hard right wing MURICAN who didnt feel they fit in with the left wing culture.

You really do have to be able to give the more moderate people who were raised a specific way and have their hobbies and interests tied to right wing perspectives and values a safe place to see that they can still Be Themselves and Have Their Hobbies without necessarily having to be a rightwing nutbag

And honestly even if the hobbies are inherently on the sketchier end for one reason or the next, some of those hobbies and interests are things they can look at once they don't feel they are forced to reshape their personality to be on the left side.

Cause honestly ive seen leftist start to consider turning to a right wing again because of how aggressive the left can be in making sure everyone conforms to the perfect image of a perfectly moral perfectly inclusive perfectly aware individual and how deeply they punish those that might just be struggling to keep up or feel accepted

Theres a large "if you don't get all of the leftist views 100% and agree with it 100% and don't perform leftism correctly, then you are a bigot basically like the rest of the right wing" and a "you have to have the same opinions as everyone else otherwise you should leave" that can be found in leftist circles that really can push a lot of people away.

When I was a teen and a right wing, I know one of the many factors that put me there other than how I was raised and what not, was that it didn't seem like the left wing CARED about my opinion and didn't seem like there was any real conversation to be had about things I either didn't agree with or understand at the time. The left seemed as though they demanded everyone to conform to the collectively agreed perfect image without question while the right was open to debating things with "facts and logic". The left was "emotionally driven and non-communicative" and "highly judgemental" and made "everything political and incorrect" and that there was "no pleasing them." And while I understand how that is really ironic in the moment, no one really provided me an avenue to explore the topics without immediately branding me as Evil and Wrong. The only people that would consider actually having a discussion with me were other right wingers

Its why its important, in the pursuit of reform and improvement, to actually leave space for people who disagree to actually have a place to feel heard and respected while they look at topics they probably never got much of an opportunity to explore OUTSIDE of right wing spaces.

Yes, white tears, yes fuck homophobes, yes fuck zionists, yes fuck terfs and transphobes, yada yada, its fair and understandable, but drawing an us vs them with people that are NOT insane Trumpies but still on the right wing / republican side as a default does NOT help the cause as much as it just radicalizes others.

And honestly iirc I heard from my fiance that Walz is actually also being combative and calling dumb right wing shit out or something of the sorts like Harris has at Trump and I'm really glad to actually see that the Democrats are ACTUALLY realizing that modern politics - at least with Trump - has no space for dancing around the bush and trying to be the "more mature and sophisticated diplomats" cause GOD have they been having this shit pushed in with letting right wing nutbags just say Whatever The Fuck They Want

Like, assuming we don't somehow MAJORLY throw the election, I'm actually looking forward to what the first black-asian woman president and Everyones Favorite White Uncle will do which... for those that might know our extreme distaste for America is a REALLY new experience for us honestly.

So, I really love the selection of Tim Walz for VP and it’s taken me a moment to articulate why. I mean, obviously, Dem bonafides, he’s sharp, he’s funny, etc etc. But everyone in the Veepstakes fits that bill, Harris was spoiled for good choices.

But Walz offers something that the other men in contention don’t that I think will be incredibly useful in combating Trumpism.

He offers an example and an off ramp to the section of men who felt like they were Republicans by default, and so support Trump by default. There are a lot of Trump voters who are full on obsessive, but that’s not who we’re talking to. We’re talking to folks who grew up in Republican areas, or felt their hobbies didn’t line up with who a Democrat was, or didn’t feel represented by their image of a Democrat. You want to see it so you can be it, you know? Which is why Harris is so inspirational to a lot of segments of folks, but Walz is too.

He served in the military. He went to a state college. He’s your favorite teacher from your public high school. He’s your football coach who actually cared if you were passing your math class. He’s the guy you looked up to at school when your family sucked but this guy cared, and he helped you get out and make something of yourself.

He’s the neighbor who helps you jump your car. He’s your uncle who takes you hunting. He’s your Dad who loves teasing you at the Stare Fair. He’s you when he makes a mistake like his DUI and takes responsibility for it, and when he has the chance makes sure other can come back from similar mistakes. He’s you when you and your wife want so badly to be parents and IVF gives you the family you wanted. He’s you when he says ‘it had to be me’ and used his standing and power to protect vulnerable kids sponsoring the GSA at his school.

He gives the real life example to these men that they can be that football, fishing, hunting family man who wants to provide for his family, be that powerful, respected member of the community and use that power to feed kids in school. That it’s normal to enthusiastically work for a boss like Harris. That yeah those other guys are fucking weirdos, and you’re not a weirdo, are you?

That there’s a place in the Democratic Party for them. That they don’t have to default to being fucking weird.

I hope those guys see this example of masculinity and go… yeah, that’s me. That’s who I’m gonna be.

#tim walz #us politics #feathers speaks #politics #2024 elections #kamala harris

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maxillo · 3 years ago

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artist, writer, music-maker, conlanger, occasional indie game developer. bachelor’s degree in information science. see bottom of this post for links to and descriptions of my original story projects. @maxdimo has original content only. 🌈🔥

tags: #llamart (my art), #max yaks (me being silley), #max tunes (my music), #md (me-core stuff), #cosmosis, #cryptidverse, #devius ex machina

things i tag for blacklists: #body horror, #eyestrain, #flashing images, #unreality, #animal death, #blood, #nsfw text / #suggestive (mild shitposts only), #gore (never irl!), #food. lmk if you need anything else tagged

interests: space, sci-fi, conlangs, dinosaurs, chaos ontology & metaphysics, prismatic gemstones, cinematography, indigenous rights/languages/histories, programming, extreme body modifications, writing tropes, speedrunning history, glitches, liminal spaces, worldbuilding, character design, and lizards.

media: spore & spinoffs, better call saul/breaking bad, vs. dave and bambi (fnf), invader zim, fossil fighters, undertale/deltarune, mob psycho 100, OFF, madness combat, flight rising, goatlings. i consume media critically.

fave bands/artists: Igorrr, C418, PilotRedSun/Bittertooth, Death Grips, Alias Conrad Coldwood, NDAD/Lauren Bousfield, Autechre, Toby Fox, The Black Dog, Plaid, Gridlock, Osamu Sato, Chipzel, Download, Amon Tobin, Skinny Puppy, Katagiri, Nine Inch Nails, Rinse & Repeat, Steinvord, Gojira, Justice, Machine Girl, Synthamesk, OSTS: Half Life 1 & 2, Portal 2, Dino Run, Spore Creatures DS

not putting up a public dni, i'll just block you if you're gross and meet any standard criteria for those.

Projects

Note: Wikis will eventually be moved to GitHub.

Do feel free to ask questions abt any of these, I may post about them infrequently here but I fucking love talking about them!!!!! Literally special interest Numero Uno for me it is my Lifeblood and Soul.

Cosmosis 🌌

ART | WIKI | OST [86 songs, 2:38:48]

Genre: Hard (ish) sci-fi

Content warnings: Profanity, mild violence, sensitive/mature topics, drug use.

Format: Disparate wiki documentation, illustrations, comics, animations (planned)

Year started: 2014

Total notes wordcount: 1,389,000

Easily both my largest and oldest story project, and one of my primary special interests. Is almost entirely focused on character dynamics between a gaggle of species and the shenanigans they experience adapting to life on the friendly world of Waboone. The main character, Len, is the only human in the group in a time and place where humans and Earth are completely unheard of, requiring him to learn the modern trade language of standard intergalactic from the ground up.

There's not much public shit to look at yet as far as the actual story goes, but I will be gradually building up a wiki to document its settings, species, languages, and so forth. Primarily inspired by Spore and Undertale.

Focuses:

Character-driven dynamics, arcs, and plot

Worldbuilding (aliens, tech, planets)

Slice-of-life

Linear narrative

Neurodiversity

Effects of/recovery from trauma

Non-romantic intimacy; primarily aromantic and asexual cast

Found family

Conlangs; standard intergalactic is the default language for in-universe content

Cryptidverse 🛣️

WIKI | OST [7 songs, 37:43]

Genre: Speculative fiction (sci-fi/fantasy/supernatural in a blender, very occasional horror elements)

Content warnings: Profanity, violence, gore, sensitive/mature topics.

Format: Wiki documentation; short animations (planned); written narratives (planned)

Year started: 2019

Total notes wordcount: 277,000

Newer but more public worldbuilding project. A conglomeration of creature ideas I've thought of since childhood, loosely tied together in a shared setting as "cryptids", which are documented by humans and other species. Cryptids inherently defy human understanding of science and reality, making their documentation a struggle. They proliferate liminal spaces and can have wildly varying characteristics. The existential origins and traits of cryptids are a major focus, as well as the dilemmas with classifying them and their traits into any discrete categories.

Primarily inspired by Pokémon and a similarly inspired project by someone else that I haven't been able to track down in years.

Focuses:

Non-human(oid) main characters and POV (for narrative content)

Metaphysics, ontology, and philosophy

Creature design

Decentralized narratives (there is no one linear "story")

Neurodiversity

Liminal spaces

Alternate history

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rachelbethhines · 4 years ago

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Tangled Salt Marathon - The King and Queen of Hearts

The existence of this episode just baffles me, as it undermines so much of what season three was trying to accomplish.

Summary: Rapunzel continues to try and restore the memories of her parents, King Frederic and Queen Arianna, and hopes to use the journal of Herz Der Sonne to remind them, but they do not understand the significance. Arianna still lusts for adventure, while Frederic cannot get over his obsession of egg collecting. Rapunzel recruits her friends to try and set up the perfect date for them and while they cannot find anything in common personality wise, they share a mutual love for Rapunzel. However, King Trevor arrives with the intent to woo Arianna using an ocean crystal he found.

So What Exactly Is the History Here?

We have no context for this sudden love triangle. All we know is that Trevor hates Frederic because he’s still in love with Arianna who wound up marrying him instead.

But like, I don't know why Arianna married Frederic. I don’t know why Trevor is still hung up on her years later. Did she actually choose Frederic or was it an arranged marriage cause that’s what royalty did back then? Was she having an affair with Trevor this whole time but couldn’t/wouldn’t leave because of duty? Was she and Trevor pining star crossed lovers, or is Trevor just an incel?

I know what the story wants me to assume; that Arianna deeply loves Frederic and that Trevor is just a jackass loser; but the series has done such a poor job of making Frederic likable and giving him and Arianna any sort of chemistry that I’m inclined to side with Trevor.

For all we know, he may be trying to rescue Arianna from both her memory loss and her abusive relationship while at it. Especially now that she’s no longer needed as a ruler and has no reason to stay in Corona.

Why Not Just Use the Potion from Rapunzel: Day One?

While any Varian cameo is appreciated, it doesn’t add thing to the story. In fact it only raises more questions. We already had a cure for the memory loss, why aren’t we using it?

Even if we write it off as Rapunzel no longer having that particular Saporian spellbook on hand, she still has a whole dungeon full of actual Saporians who know magic that she could gain information from! There’s also Xavier, who already knows everything under the sun about Saporian/Coronian history and magic and owns spellbooks galore. You’re telling me he just has mood potions lying around but can’t brew up a cure for memory loss?

Then there’s also the fact that the amnesia spell doesn’t work on Rapunzel’s parents the same as it did on Rapunzel and we’re never given a reason why. Like just some basic consistence is all I ask show.

I also can’t figure out what Varian is even trying to do here. Where’s is the science to this? What does strawberry goop and lighting have to do with memory? It’s just a cheap reference to Frankenstein and nothing more.

We’re Already Pass Seven Months Since Rapunzel’s Return.

Ok, I have gotten into frequent debates with people about the timeline of season three. Many a story board artist and writer on the show have came forward and stated that season three was only one year. But the very existence of this episode disproves them!

If you remember season one, Hearts Day took place after the Goodwill Festival, but before Queen for a Day. Even when putting episodes back into their intended production order that still remains true.

Hearts Day has to be at least seven months past Rapunzel’s birthday, if not eight months, because the Goodwill Festival is six months past and her parent’s anniversary (QfaD) is nine months past.

Now Rapunzel’s Return has to be Rapunzel’s 20th birthday because season two was a full year, and even if you say it’s not, then that still doesn’t explain Once a Handmaiden (the Goodwill Festival) coming after this episode.

And no you can’t move the episodes around, Once a Handmaiden has be the second to last episode of the series and Under Raps always comes after Rapunzel’s Enemy in any order you watch the series in.

No matter how you slice it, we’re missing a birthday episode for Rapunzel and season three has to be more than a year; a year and a half at the very least, if not two full years.

Look I’m not trying to be disrespectful of the talented artists who worked on this show, but their word isn’t law. The very fact that they’ve had to tell us the timeline after the series was over with indicates bad writing, and the very fact that the show itself contradicts them indicates either a lack of communication behind the scenes or a lack of editorial oversight. Either option is just poor management.

We Have Yet Another Failed Narrative Promise!

Are we seeing a pattern yet?

This is the third time in a row where the episode flat out states that Rapunzel needs to learn something and then, just, never has her learn it; four if you count her non-apology to Varian. Instead the show rewards her for her bad behavior by just giving her want she wants on a sliver platter for no adequate reason.

In fact, one could argue that this episode is the worst offender in the show because divorce is a real thing real kids have to go through. Children that will undoubtedly watch the series.

How upsetting would it be to such a child to watch Rapunzel force her parents back together with zero consequences and realize that they can’t do that in real life? It can potentially feed into misplaced delusions or make them even more bitter, either way it’s unhealthy and super irresponsible to tackle such subject matter in this way. Even Sesame Street handled the topic of divorce better than this supposedly ‘mature’ show.

It’s a Castle! Why Can’t Frederic Get His Own Room?

Frederic is the king. He still technically owns everything even if he’s not the one still in charge. He could have his pick of any room so why is he forcing himself on Eugene? Hell he doesn’t even have to stay in the castle. As pointed out during The Return of the King review, there’s other accommodations within the kingdom that’s suited for royalty. Why not head up to that mountain retreat?

This is a Really Bad Message

I understand that this is meant to be a joke, because of how ridiculously over the top it is, but because the series gives Rapunzel what she wants in the end without ever having her acknowledge how she is wrong here, it winds up validating her toxic world view anyways.

Divorce is not inherently a bad thing. We should be working towards both normalizing it and promoting healthy coping mechanisms for those that go through it, adult and child alike. What Rapunzel is doing here is just repeating puritanical fearmongering. And while I can understand why she might behave in this way, I don't understand why the show refuses to call her out on it. Or any of the other million bad behaviors she displays repeatedly through out the show... like the example below for instance...

Why Am I Suppose to Like Rapunzel Again?

It’s like the writers don’t understand that a joke can damage a character, especially if it’s overplayed. Super sweet upbeat Rapunzel snapping because she finally met someone who was annoying or a situation she couldn’t just solve with a positive attitude was funny maybe like the first time; but we’re three seasons in and this is supposedly her closest loved ones.

Look at them! They’re fucking terrified of her! All they did was point out that she maybe should do her job and deal with real problems instead of poking her nose into her parents business where it doesn’t belong! And this brat is now the ruler of the whole kingdom!? No one can legally stand up to her.

Like where’s the Eugene that stood up to her in Under Raps for trying this same bullshit? Why hasn’t she learned her lesson? She also pulled this same bullying tactic on young Lance and teen Eugene two episodes. Cass left her ass, supposedly, because of her bossy thoughtless ways. And this is also the same woman who abused a child back in season one and still has never acknowledged it.

Yes characters should be flawed, but they should also face real consequences for their actions, and if they’re a protagonist they need to learn and grow past their flaws.

I actively started to dislike Rapunzel after this scene. I already felt something was off way back in the season three opener, but this is the point where I stopped and went “What the fuck?” She used to be my second favorite character behind Varian. I didn’t go into this wanting to hate her, even after this episode I still held out hope that they were trying to purposefully lead up to some sort of falling out with everyone and with Rapunzel having to own up to her bullshit in order to win. You know like a classic third act “the hero is now alone due to their past mistakes” type story. But Nope!

There’s no pay off for any of this. Rapunzel is just mean for the sake of being mean in season three, and no one is aloud to call her out on it. She’s now the same type person as Frederic, a tyrant. That’s not a good development!

She’s Literally Bullying Her Own Parents Now, and I’m Suppose to Find that Funny?

Yes, Frederic is her abuser, and yes some people might find this scene cathartic if they hate him. But this isn’t actually calling out his past abuse. It’s just Rapunzel treating a now powerless old man with that same abuse and denying him bodily autonomy. An old man who has both less political rights and less power within the relationship than her; since due to his memory loss he is now dependent upon her.

In the real world it’s the equivalent of picking on an Alzheimer's patient who is in your care. I don’t give a shit how much of dick they were before the illness set in, you don’t fucking do that!

Why Should I Want Arianna and Frederic To Be a Couple?

The show has done nothing to sell this relationship. In fact one could argue that the show is trying to purposefully sabotage it.

Before the memory loss Frederic was proven to be abusive, to the point where even his own wife was afraid of him and wouldn’t stand up to him. Meanwhile Arianna was shown to be a shell of her former self who’d all but given up upon the things she actually enjoyed in life. And now that they both have had a second chance they have even less motive to stay together.

Look at Arianna up there? She’s clearly not enjoying her time with him. While he doesn’t want to engage in anything that she likes. I mean a couple doesn’t have to share their interests in everything, but there still has to be some sort of connection and the series just does not give us that connection.

There’s no reason why they should stay together. They no longer have any commitment or duty to fulfill as rulers and their daughter is fully grown. Contrary to what Rapunzel says, the kingdom isn’t going to fall apart if they separate. It actually would probably better for everyone, including Rapunzel, if they got divorced. At least then she’d have to grow up somewhat and stop being a controlling asshat.

Why is Attila Here?

I thought Attila got a job running his own bakery and that it was Lance who became the new cook at the Snuggly Duckling? Even if you argued that Attila was just doing Rapunzel a solid that still wouldn’t explain who is running the place when Lance isn’t there.

If you’re going to set up developments like that then you need to either stick with them or give an on screen reason for why these previous developments are no longer relevant. Flat out ignoring them like this is just lazy.

Lance’s New Outfit is the Best Thing About the Episode, and It’s Also a Complete Waste.

Lance deserved a new outfit because the team was too lazy to give him one for season two, even during the island arc. This however is a waste because it doesn’t add anything to the narrative. People were paid to make this thing for it to only show up for a few seconds of screen time.

This Whole Exchange Is Gross.

Oh let me count the ways in which this is so, so stupid.

Neither Rapunzel nor Frederic has ever proven themselves “thoughtful and responsible.” In fact both of them being irresponsible is intentionally a plot point in the main story arc.

How would either Frederic or Arianna know any of this? Not only have they lost their memories, but they didn’t raise Rapunzel themselves and those traits aren’t inherited; they are taught.

Gushing over your grown daughter isn’t a point of connection!

Why would anyone be compelled to kiss a practical stranger, that they previously didn’t even like, just because they both admire some woman they also barely know and happen to be related to? What is the thought process behind this? “Oh we made that? Then lets make another one!” What the fuck show? I’m ace and even I know that’s not a normal thing to get titillated over.

The Series Turns Frederic Into a Literal Baby In a Last Ditch Effort to Make Him Likable

The whole point behind the amnesia plot was to absolve Frederic of his past wrong doings. You can’t call out an old man with Alzheimer's for being a dictator, I suppose. (not like that’s ever stopped me from criticizing Ronald Reagan, tho) But from there the series then takes it one step further and actually infantilizes both Frederic and Arianna, because Chris assumes that if he makes Fredric as pathetic as possible the audience won't hate him any more. Well guess what, it didn’t work. Frederic isn’t suddenly a poor woobie just because he’s useless now. That’s not how that works.

Rapunzel Literally Physically Assaults a Person, Kidnaps Them, Threatens Them With Even More Bodily Harm, and Causes an International Incident; All Because They Asked Her Mom Out On a Date!

You can’t hear it in the screen shots, but there’s very clearly a clanging sound to indicate that Rapunzel just wacked Trevor upside the head and knocked him out.

Let me repeat, a Disney protagonist just committed armed assault against a guy, simply because she doesn’t respect her own mother.

What the Fuck!!!???

Arianna is fully grown woman. She is perfectly capable of making her own choices and she agreed of her own volition to go out with him. In fact she’s the one who asked Trevor if she could come along on his sea voyage. It’s not Rapunzel’s place to interfere with that.

Secondly, Rapunzel shouldn’t get a free pass to attack people just because she’s doesn’t like them. And she most assuredly shouldn’t get to write off her cruelty as justice because she's royalty! What the hell? You just turned one of your official princesses into a literal tyrant for the sake of a joke, Disney!

Where the fuck was the oversight on this show!?

And to top it all off, Trevor is a ruler of a competing kingdom. This could easily have been deemed an act of war. Thankfully for everyone involved Trevor has far more sense and compassion than Rapunzel and doesn’t push the matter.

Yes that’s right! The intentionally annoying prat and comedic antagonist is a more upstanding person than the main heroine! Let that sink in!

Wait, If Laws Don’t Apply Out In the Ocean, Then Why Did Eugene and Max Have Jurisdiction to Arrest Lady Caine in Peril on the High Seas?

Max shoved this same rule book into Eugene’s face when Eugene rightfully questioned if it was his job to arrest the mutineers. This book said that it was not only his job, but that he was also legally required to stop any and all ‘wrongdoing’ no matter where he was at nor whether he was on duty or not. While also failing to specify what ‘wrongdoing’ entailed.

Now that’s very problematic and ridiculous for a whole host of reasons that I’ve already covered back in my review of Peril on the High Seas, but this scene now adds a whole new layer of stupidity to the mix.

If zero laws apply out in open waters than yes, Eugene and Max were acting out of their jurisdiction. Not only that, but the pervious dumb rule regarding their duties is also now null and void. So, Justice For Lady Caine!

Oh, but were not done yet, cause it gets dumber.

If laws, including marriage don't apply, then getting married while out at sea also would not apply. Thereby rendering Trevor’s plan useless, unless they got married back in Equis. Which if they did that, it would bypass the entire pointless rule book completely because Equis is not subject to Corona’s laws anyways.

There’s not even any ‘inter-kingdom’ laws that they would be subject too because Equis isn’t a part of the seven kingdoms. Any treaty they did previously have with Corona would be something else entirely, and Trevor would be within his rights to end such an agreement.

Also Trevor is a king. He can do whatever the fuck he wants. Same goes for Arianna.

Ummm, No You Don’t Rapunzel

Trevor can’t marry Arianna without her agreement to it. It’s already been established that she’s physically capable of taking care of herself and she’s also mature enough to make her own decisions. If she did wind up marrying him it’d be because it’s her fucking choice to and Rapunzel has zero right to interfere with that.

There’s no one to rescue here. Rapunzel has no reason to go chasing after her mom. All this is doing is denying a grown woman agency over her own life. Why should I or anyone, root for Rapunzel here?

You Do Know That Arianna Has More Than Just Two Choices Here, Don't Ya Show?

Arianna doesn’t have to be in any relationship. That’s also an option. While I personally like Trevor, this shouldn’t be a choice between him or Frederic. The show should be asking what Arianna, as a character, would want for her life, instead of just shoehorning her into just being a wife for someone else.

I still don’t know what Arianna really wants in life, but I do know that being a domestic housewife and a queen does not suit her. She doesn’t actually like being tied down with commitments and responsibilities. She’s repeatedly indicated over and over again that she feels uncomfortable in her role.

But the show reduces her into trophy to win and turns her into a damsel in distress multiple times. Then it further neuters her so that she complacently walks back into that life over and over again for no logical reason. She’s treated not as a person but as a prop.

Really, Arianna? Are You Really Sure About That?

These aren’t Arianna’s words. They’re Chris’s.

Arianna has shown zero interest in Frederic up to this point. The closest they got was during that creepy boat scene where they just jumped to almost kissing for no real reason. While before now Arianna was making actual goo-goo eyes at Trevor earlier, before Raps stepped in and broke them up.

They actually do have things in common and had a genuine point of connection. They even almost kissed themselves until Raps started being a dick. No forced and icky conversations about their grown children needed here folks!

While I still firmly believe Arianna should just be single, the show does far more to convince me that she and Trevor should be together more so than her and Frederic. Everything about this scene on the boat feels forced and hollow because it doesn’t ring true to what was previously established.

This just isn’t good writing. It’s the animation equivalent of a six year old smashing their Barbie dolls faces together and shouting “now kiss!”, all because a middle aged man couldn’t get over they fact people didn’t like his self insert.

No, wait, I apologize. That’s being mean to six year olds. They usually have more interesting plots and established characterization than this.

Hey, Remember When the Series Villainized an Orphan For Stealing This Stupid Book?

Yeah, stealing the book was treason and the mains ruined a child’s life over it, but apparently it just doesn’t matter any more cause no one seems to give a shit about Trevor taking it. Like, yes, as the king of another kingdom, Trevor isn’t beholden to Frederic’s bullshit, but you would think that the characters would treat this as a bigger deal than what they do, given how they responded previously to it being taken.

Unless Rapunzel was just talking out of her ass back during The Alchemist Returns. That’s also quite possible.

This Literally Has Nothing To Do With You Rapunzel

Just because Rapunzel herself is a woman, doesn’t mean that stealing the agency of another female character isn’t misogynist. Especially when their both written by primarily men.

Every guy who was involved with the writing of the episode, should be fucking ashamed of themselves!!!

So What Exactly Has Trevor Done Wrong Up To This Point?

Yes, the story board artists and voice actors do a lot of heavy lifting here to try and make Trevor seem like a creep. Arianna’s body language and tone of voice when dealing with him here will be very familiar to a lot of women, I’m sure. I know what it’s like to have a stalker and not know how to turn them down because you’ve been trained all your life to ‘be polite and nice” to people, and I’m not unique in that regard.

But here’s the thing, it’s not set up properly. There’s nothing backing this sudden shift in the characters’ dynamic. Up till now Trevor has been a perfect gentlemen. Sure he was over the top as always, and you could call it an act when regarding his politeness to Frederic, but he seemed to genuinely respect and admire Arianna and clearly desires genuine affection in return from her. Why would he suddenly stop behaving in a way that worked for him and start talking over her instead?

Also why wouldn’t Arianna just tell him no to begin with if that’s what she wants? She had no trouble speaking her mind before now. But that begs the question why she wouldn’t return his feelings as well, because as stated above, she clearly showed interest in him previously.

This is So Fucking Forced

Yeah, okay, you’re daughter has no reason to be here to begin with, disrespected your wishes, and attacked Trevor first. At this point I’d argue he has a right to retaliate. Especially since, if Rapunzel was allowed to board, you know she’d just attack him again, because she knows no other way to resolve conflicts other than to hit people very hard.

Arianna’s actions here only make sense if she’s kept in the dark about what an awful human being her daughter really is. That’s poor writing.

Also, having a woman just punch people while denying them actually agency and choice within the plot is not ‘girl power.’ It’s fucking misogyny!

How Does Doing the Bare Minimum, and Just Showing Basic Human Decency Count As ‘True Love’?

What was she suppose to do? Let him drown? I mean I wouldn’t, and I despise the man. Not to mention anyone else could have done the same thing. They’re all right there. If Lance had jumped to the rescue would Trevor have proclaim them lovers too?

Trevor Is Still the Better Man Here

Here he is rescuing Rapunzel even after she treated him like shit.

Best. King. Period.

This Still Doesn’t Redeem Frederic

So through out the episode Frederic has inexpiably shown an obsession for eggs. He now collects them even though this was never an established trait before now. But whatever. He’s just been through something traumatic and looking for something to ground himself. Far be it from me to make fun of someone else’s special interest. If you like to collet eggs than good for you. Go live your life to fullest.

That’s more respectful than how the show handles it, as everyone dismiss his interest and it’s treated like a joke through out the episode. Only to have said obsession save the day. But this isn’t here to teach the others about respecting other people’s hobbies, oh no, it’s here to try and give Frederic a big hero moment so you’ll cheer for him.

Except one nice thing does not erase his past actions! I don’t care what your hobby is, if you deliberately try to cause grievous harm to people you’re and asshole! And you will continue to be an asshole until you can admit what you’ve done wrong and try your best to make up for it.

I Hope You Made Back Up Copies of The Tunnel Maps

A bunch of people are more upset over this development than I am, because it is a historical artifact and preserving the past is important. But the only story function the book held was a map to the tunnels, and said tunnels were never utilized properly through out the entire show.

To this day people still don’t understand that they’re meant connect the island to Old Corona or that Herz Der Sonne is the one who built them into order to invade Saporia because the show is so bad at its world building. And come season three, they’re all but irrelevant anyways. Such a wasted concept.

Once Again the Whole ‘Memory Loss’ Subplot Is a Copout

Ok that’s not how the spell worked previously, but that’s not what I’m taking issue with here.

If the whole point behind the amnesia plot twist was to sweep Frederic’s awfulness under the rug, then I expect his past actions to be addressed once he’s regained his memories. They are not.

This episodes reverses the very thing that the season was trying to achieve and just hopes the audience is too stupid/attention deficient to notice. Well guess what, we noticed and we’re far smarter than you Chris.

Conclusion

I don’t understand the point of this episode. It shoots everything season three is trying to do in the foot. It screws up the timeline, makes Rapunzel even more of an irredeemable dickhead while preventing her from learning yet another needed lesson, undermines Arianna as a character once again, and it puts Frederic back in the crosshairs of the audience’s scrutiny.

Oh and look, it’s written by the same guy who wrote Rapunzel’s Return. Why am I not surprised.

Anyways another one down and only 15 more to go. You can support my continued marathon by dropping a tip in my ko-fi if you wish. I’m currently back to job hunting yet again and anything you can give is appreciated.

https://ko-fi.com/rachelbethhines

#Rapunzel #rapunzel's tangled adventure #anti-tangled #anti-rapunzel #ferderic #arianna #tangled #tangled the series

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uncle-fruity · 4 months ago

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And this is why I always make it a point to remind people that someone's identities do not necessarily reflect their morality. So many people who consider themselves leftists or progressives or whatever are extremely comfortable in their unkindness. They double down on their "right" to bully you by coming up with some assumptions about you or identities that you might have that "justify" their meanness. And it's not okay. If someone is mean & unkind to you, that's THEIR failing. Even if you've done something wrong or cringe or whatever -- there are kind ways to call people out. There are kind ways to talk about the issues that matter. All this guilt trip, insult insult, harassment campaign shit is not indicative of a kind and morally pure person, and you do NOT have to put up with it out of a sense of obligation to hear people out. Like, anger is valid when it comes to talking about certain topics and expressing anger isn't inherently toxic, but blind anger flung in every direction without a care of who it hurts or whether they "deserve" to be on the other side of it is not acceptable, mature, nor commendable. You want a better world? It starts with treating the people around you better.

Also, like... "cringe culture" is just repackaged ableism most of the time. Just FYI.

i can convince myself anyone deserves to be mistreated. i am also unshakable in my belief that i'm pure of heart and objectively a good person <- how you guys sound to me

#important #psa #morality #casual cruelty

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cosmik-homo · 3 years ago

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Champagne and rose pimk

Champagne pink - If you became famous, what would you want your fans to love most about you?

oooh, incheresting. I would say the multifacetedness- which i now realize sounds like an "i dont know myself" kind of answer but if anything its more like. im aware enough to know im not one thing im a whole person with a lot of different sides and moments and aspects and i wouldnt want for others to turn only one of them to be my "main thing", my "Brand", my Entire Self to the fans tm, yknow. grew up on bitch meredith brooks as one of my moms favorite songs or whatever.

Rose Pink - Do you think it’s better to forgive and forget, or do you think holding onto anger is important? I think it really depends on the situation. I think accepting complicated feelings and, like, accepting sometimes shit is fucked, and like, sometimes people have wronged you and you dont have to be ok with it or nice to them or whatever, thats just, the world and no one has to get along with everyone, is iimportant, but also like. living for yourself and moving on and doing whats good for you is really important too, yknow? and i think realizing where the other person was in their life, and why they did it, and whatever, and then just, putting it all down and closing it up and making a judgment on whatever Current Situation is like with that person or topic in general based on like, current calm thought, is thee sign of maturity. again this is a question that is broad and like, its not the same with Abuse or petty squabbles, yknow, and any morality system that is entirely rigid on one answer being inherently right by its content- "forgivness is the one moral thing/ second chance is the one moral thing / not lying is the one right thing"- really whatever- is kinda doomed to fail imo.

wow these are both "umm actually i dont like those categories" options huh. sorryyy i have nothing against you or the questions you chose or you theyre really good im just a) one of the people who put the bi in nonbinary (linguists) and b) an annyoing philosophy major. askbox socraticism

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ficsex · 4 years ago

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Gotta put it out there that I think labeling race fetishizing as worse than trans fetishizing or disability fetishizing really minimizes the negative affects of the latter two. Cis people have just as much of an upper hand over trans people as white people do over POC. Perhaps even more in some societies. Disabled people are by definition incredibly oppressed by abled society. Drawing lines and deciding what counts enough to be ~bad fetishization~ is really uncool. Just because there are marginalized people in happy relationships with chasers doesn’t mean that their relationship has a healthy power dynamic. By definition for example those older trans women in relationships with chasers are in a relationship with someone who’s attracted to their gender/body rather than their personality. Fetishization can work in sexual relationships but there’s no form that doesn’t inherently create an unhealthy power dynamic in a romantic situation.

Solid yes, and -

It's worth noting that the original post was asking for the possible positives for fetishization. It's not a full picture of the dehumanization that comes along with putting a person in a role intended for sexual gratification. I'm not drawing lines, and if your response is "all fetishization is bad," rock on, that is SO legit (and is something I generally agree with).

But I want to gently point you back to the original post, and the philosophy nerdery at the beginning - there are people who are looking for a role and not a person, but over time develop that connection with a person. They can be loving and good and even healthy relationship, even with that power imbalance.

We absolutely can say "relationships founded on fetishization don't allow two people to truly meet each other in a positive relational context, and are likely a recipe for a very unhealthy partnership"

What we can't do is rule out all relationships that contain unequal power dynamics, especially based in social power. That would be ruling out any interracial relationships, or ones between trans and cis people, or between able-bodied and disabled people. Hell, it might even rule out relationships between men and women.

That is obviously taking this idea to the extreme, but part of mature and adult relationships is recognizing where there is inequality, and putting in deliberate work to mitigate it. We are working to change society day by day, and hopefully this will be a moot question in X years, but for now, individual people can't really change the way society views individual people. All we can do is check in with our partners and communities, and work hard.

Now, chasers / fetishizers may not put in that work. Honestly, I haven't seen it happen often in relationships like that. But I have seen it happen.

So, I hear and agree with you, and also I'm going to continue to say that I believe that there is more nuance here than a tumblr post can contain. My job isn't to end relationships that look unhealthy, it's to work with couples to make their relationships healthier and happier. I often succeed.

(sometimes I don't! sometimes the answer is "holy shit dump them" or "you are hurting your partner, you need to get some serious therapy"! but many things are possible with two people are committed and motivated)

As a wrap up, I am not the authority on this topic! If you disagree with me, that's SO okay - this is a complicated as fuck topic, and you and I are probably coming at it from really different places. I don't think that makes you wrong in any way, I simply have a job and a set of experiences that inform my opinions differently.

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freshinksans · 1 year ago

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sorry, this response is a week late, if you don't want to continue this conversation i apologize, feel free to ignore me !! im just very passionate about selfcest (and sanscest specifically) and would like to give the prospective of myself and other folks i either know or have seen.

sorry for the rambley disclaimers incoming, im paranoid and reading comprehension has gone to shit on tumblr. i'd rather try to make my intentions as clear as possible so no bystanders can try and start shit.

mentioning this because i think it's important context, not because i intend to spark discourse: i dont like to label myself as "antiship" due to how broad of an umbrella term of beliefs that covers, and also certain associations with the term, but my views in the whole anti/proship thing lean antiship.

also important context: ive also been a sanscest shipper since 2016-2017 (cant remember specifically when, sorry !!) and have been fairly active as a lurker in the community for a long time.

im putting this under a read-more due to the fact this response is

1. long and rambley (again, sorry !! really into this topic.)

2. gets more into aspects of the whole proship vs antiship debate, specifically discussing antishipper's prospective on selfcest and why some may not label it as incest & proship, and also the reasonings of why they are uncomfortable with incest (and when selfcest doesn't have specific qualities, they dont label it as incest or proship.)

again, this response & any explanations is not meant to cause arguments surrounding shipping discourse, i will simply be explaining an antiship perspective because it's relevant to the topic. this is not meant to be any sort of attack on anybody. i intend to keep the conversation as mature as possible :] im sooo passionate about selfcest as a topic because i find it really interesting, so lets keep it nice in here ^_^ i dont like to argue shipping discourse. peace & love on the planet earth

i do think the vibe you're getting is generally correct, that is the case for alot of people and why they're comfortable with sanscest despite being antiship and being uncomfortable with other selfcest ships.

but i also would like to bring up that alot of people who are antiship or uncomfortable with proship content, both within the utmv community and outside it, dont actually view selfcest itself as inherently proship depending on how you treat it.

i've been seeing this conversation/reasoning alot in the past 2 years.

yes it does have the -cest suffix, it means self incest, but many have said they either don't inherently consider it incest and consider it poorly named OR just don't inherently care about selfcest specifically because 1. selfcest isn't something that can happen in real life the same way sibling incest can and does, and 2. selfcest doesn't inherently have all the qualities that make alot of people uncomfortable with sibling incest (which also ends up tying into number 1.)

what makes alot of people (or atleast myself and some folks i personally know) uncomfortable with incest is a mix of how related they are genetically and also the dynamic that folks who are related are expected to have in society, and how that will impact your view of someone related to you. <- if that makes sense. i mightve explained that poorly OOPS !

if you were to suddenly see a clone or alternate version of yourself, one may not have the same reaction as if you suddenly found out someone standing next to was your sibling or cousin. society tells you how you should act and react to familial relationships like siblings or cousins, but there's not expectation for how to reaction to yourself, even if you are "related."

that removes the whole "dynamic you're expected to have" section, and when it comes to selfcest specifically, i don't like have a good explanation for it but the genetic relatedness just doesn't really inherently bother alot of people when it comes to specifically selfcest? i guess it's more of an exception. like, an attitude of "it's so unrealistic, who cares at this point?" even with ship kids.

anyways, the reason i say "inherently" a lot is because theres still cases where selfcest is considered incest and is considered proship by antishippers, which is why i said earlier "depending on how you treat it."

if one treats selfcest the same way they treat twincest when they ship it, then people will be uncomfortable with that content and consider it proship.

or, if the characters being shipped selfcestuously both happen to be within a canon and in that canon they choose to treat eachother like siblings or similar, then people may consider the shipping of that to be incest, and therefore proship.

i'd also like to bring up another important factor specific to the utmv fandom, and this one is more personal: utmv fandom has normalized selfcest in a way you don't see with many other fandoms that have been around longer. onceler is the only fandom i can think of thats similiar. for me personally, utmv was one of my first ever fandoms, i joined it at a young age and have shipped sanscest since pretty early on.

due to how normalized sanscest is within the fandom, even when i used to be uncomfortable with other selfcest ships (like papcest, for an easy example) ive always been alright with sans x sans content due to how it's always been something normal (to me) in the undertale fandom. i ended up shaping my views about selfcest around the fact that i liked sanscest and was fine with it. i think this is not something im alone with in the utmv fandom; i do think that the explanation of "well sans are kinda like a species" for some people came After people started to shipped them, and then needed some sort of explanation for why they're fine with it. (which, honestly folks do not need an explanation for every little thing but thats an entirely different ramble.)

theres a dozen more explanations i could give you too, such as for some folks selfcest is Just An Exception and/or simply Do Not Care, if you'd be interested, but i think this is getting rather long. SO!

TLDR: Many folks do not inherently consider Selfcest to be inherently proship or incestuous due to how Selfcest isn't something that can happen in real life the same way sibling incest can and does, and due to the lack of expectations about how one is to treat a clone or alternate self. Sanscest is also quite normalized in the UTMV fandom, and many fans who are antiship have shaped their opinions Around shipping it and became okay with it after UTMV fandom, especially folks who joined the fandom younger.

again, i apologize for how messy this is. i'm not very good at organizing my thoughts, but this is a topic im VERY passionate about (i became a huge fan of selfcest Due to UTMV) and i was really excited to respond to this! if you're interested in anything more, i'd love to talk about it more :]

I thought all Sanscest shippers were just. Proship by proxy. But I saw an antishipping account on Discord today that ships AfterDeath and asked people who hate the ship to DNI. So now I'm just confused. Are these just proshippers who don't want to admit they have exceptions/are actually proship or something? Or do some people just ignore the 'cest' written on the tin? Lol.

Please reblog for a larger pool. ^^

Also, note: No shipping discourse anywhere on this post please. Keep that to yourselves. I'm just curious what people think about the SHIPS, not each other. Be nice.

#shipping discourse #<- i guess ?? is simply discussion but. IDK !!#ask to tag

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savnofilter · 4 years ago

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TW: MENTIONS OF DISCOURSE, GR//MING, P/D/PHILIA, ASS//LT, C//NSENT, D//RK CONTENT.

- this isnt under a read more because i want people to read this, but please read past this/tread carefully if you cannot handle such topics. this is not meant to be interacted with.

I'm not sure how to really go about this. I've been overthinking if I should address this and bring up some stuff while I've been gone, so sorry the absence. I deleted the tumblr app a few days ago and I downloaded it again today so i could post this. I really don't like making posts like this because it cuts the vibe that I've been trying to portray that everything is okay and it makes me feel really disconnected to you guys. I am sorry for the abrupt absence and cutting off any source of communication between us. I knew if I left any form of direct line of talk to me that I would receive hate and I just mentally decided that I cant sit through being harassed right now.

Have you guys ever paid attention to the same people who always have a statement to say or is always in discourse? It's very telling how everyone can post about me, but I shouldnt dare post about them. I'm tired of not being able to post about what I want without people vague posting about me, bringing me up every time they start another discourse with another writer or directly talking about me. My days on here are starting to feel the same. Its good then it goes bad. Good goes bad and bad goes good. It's not even tiring, annoying, or angering -- its repetitive. When I'm not saying anything people create fake stories about me, and when i speak about it im the one starting discourse. Don't get me wrong, I'm nowhere near perfect and I have made my own mistakes. But why the fuck am I always being told to be the mature one, why am I the one who should've done better, why do you people expect so much from me. It's the fact people are always quick to say, "no one cares about you, youre fishing for attention" when they're the ones who vague and interact with me while ive been minding my business for months now. Hm. The fact people have me proudly blocked but still harass me anyways shows a lot about themselves than it does for me. How its such an issue that im a minor until it comes to demonizing, tearing down my character, gaslighting, lying and bullying. I'm a literal example of how their friend group manipulates their followers and exiles people from fandoms for not kissing their ass. except now its in your face.

Consider this my last post about this discourse. I'm not going to waste my time on people who fail to digest other peoples thoughts and opinions time and time again because theyre weak narcissists. If I so choose to decide to shit post my opinions or argue with someone, none of you should be aggravated or moved by it because youre not even supposed to be on my page. If its not something serious i will not be wasting energy that i can be using to build on myself as a growing person than on miserable old ladies that have to use fanfiction to have excitement in their pity, depressing and lackluster lives. If people so do choose to create stories or vague about me, I do not care. So I ask respectfully to people who do lurk on my page to not attempt to message, post or vague about me please. This includes sending anons to yourself to make shit happen.

Past that, something got me thinking. My (older) friend had showed me screenshots of adult writers (no one i have spoken to) that were very excited to write underaged reader with adult characters. There are other instances where writers (that you have probably read from) on here openly made reader underage while aging characters up as adults/with adults. There are many more but there's really no point in listing them nor do I really care. But least to say, the same people who are gung-ho over these pedophilic themes/stories are the same people who support predatory people.

I've been thinking about whether or not i should continue writing for the students anymore. Granted, I still think they're attractive because one snap of the fingers cant stop that. I had been teetering on this thought for awhile because of how borderline pedophilic the people are here towards my age group. I enjoy writing but not to the point of willingly being in a straight line of sight where people who are well over 16 are harassing me and lurking on my page, especially to other minors solely because they are my friends. Backtracking to the statement before, I honestly dont know if I will either stop writing or just for the students as a whole. It shows that clearly some people are using their attraction to teens with the excuse that the characters are fake. The rapid normalization on dark problematic "kinks" is disgusting and vile, and the fact that its discourse now to shame said interests is appalling. Concluding that combined with my experiences here, i feel unsafe.

***(TRIGGER WARNING)*** I dont talk about my personal life on here that much cause I dont see the need too nor do i think its anyone's business. Paired with the fact that the people i have trusted personal information with have used it against me, I will be preventing myself from opening that door. Besides that for now, I have sparsely shared I've been assaulted before. This is my first time really opening up about this and i kind of find it necessary now. Coming from someone who has been a victim of assault and CP by people my age and well over, writing nsfw has been the only way where I could feel comfortable with sex in general. I won't get into details because mentioning this is triggering already and can make people uncomfortable. It feels like anywhere I go, I'm constantly putting myself in a position to be abused. The same people who told me I didn't have to worry about my age and be judged for it, exposed the minimum comfort of keeping myself private online to demonize, judge and hurt me. People call me "extra" for being distraught about my face and age being posted because they think im trying to be sneaky which isn't the case. Its the principle that they KNEW I wasnt ready to share said things, and coming from someone who is inherently a private and closed person, she knew damn well what she was doing when posting screenshots of me on Tumblr. There is no excuse for it. The same writers who write dub/non-con can BARELY understand basic consent and its fucking terrifying. This site was the only other place I could cope without being criticized. To see people who some i was close to proudly lie on my name, (adults) say that i sent them pornographic content without their consent is so very hurtful. To watch people supposedly be victims and then use their own trauma to invalidate my own was so fucking humiliating, disgusting and nerve wracking. Although I knew I made the terrible decision to interact with stories, I have never initiated any NSFW discussion with anyone in DMs unless they did it with me first and a few times -- and trust me raise your hand I'll show you the proof. I was sure that everyone I talked to regularly knew that I was a minor, and to my general consensus, people were under the impression I was 15/16 (which I was and am).***

Whether it be victim blaming from the grooming discourse, I've been met with racism, harassment towards my friends, people wanting me to harm myself and be assaulted. I fear what will happen when i will turn 18, if the harassment will escalate and what not. A big part of me is that I'm still here anyways because it pisses people off and I don't care when I receive hate. I can take it but I don't want it. A good conscious of me knows that I should be doing what's best for me but at the end I'm still attached to my ego-self with the added fact that I sincerely enjoy interacting with my followers and posting stories.

I just don't know how the options look. I'll probably be updating my blog rules as of right now. I've been writing more sfw lately because of this and it'd be nice if you guys supported those until I properly decide. I still have plenty of requests of a bunch of characters (mostly Bakugo and Dabi) and original stuff (all sfw & nsfw) that I really wanna share with you guys. But I just ask that what I do modify that you will respect it like you would to any other writer on here.

Stay safe, keep your mask on, and thank you.

#discourse #tw discourse #tw: discourse #sav talks

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hi-rubi · 4 years ago

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hi Rubi this is 👁 anon!! I sent you an ask off anon but I figured I’d send you another and try to say something else. I read another person’s ask that said your writing balances toxicity and redemption well, and I have to say I really agree with that. I love that you don’t shy away from having your characters do shitty things and then having them suffer through the consequences of said things. I think that’s a really mature way of exploring and handling certain darker topics, and it does show that deep down you believe (or want to believe) that people can change and evolve and be better, whether for themselves or for love etc! it’s been something I think about a lot - the way that in your stories, no one is inherently unlovable; characters who believe that eventually realize their own worth, and they learn to fight for themselves.

(sorry this is gonna get long and I hope this doesn’t count as trauma-dumping?) recently I kinda took a step back from a friendship I had with my ex-crush: I really liked him, he didn’t like me that way, and it was hard on both of us? like we changed. we were best friends for a few months and he’d be the first person I talked to when I woke and the last I talked to before I slept. at some point he called me his best friend and deliberately made time to talk to me (like he worked on his class work beforehand so he could message me during class). and when he got a lot more distant I actually would just wrestle with myself and the feelings of loneliness and rejection. I once wrote you a very rambly long anon that I’m slightly ashamed about (bc I really shouldn’t have trauma-dumped in your inbox), but anyway... I realized there were some key differences between us (funnily enough the dispute was about the Mineta update; I was like “omg not Mineta” and he was like “these people suck for looking for representation in the wrong places”) and then I realized... this wasn’t good for me. I tried to not love him (and I will say I’m not in love with him anymore for sure) but it always hurts when you’re the one that’s more invested, right? not his fault that he’s not as invested though bc we don’t owe each other anything. so yeah I’m just taking steps back to not be so dependent on him (bc it’s draining to the both of us)! (it’s kinda sad that I’d been writing in my journal since April about how sad I’d felt about him distancing himself, and that it’s taken Four Months for me to actually stand up for myself and say what I wanted to say, but at least it’s done now! that’s something to be proud of, right? I never used to stand up to people I loved. I’d internalize everything, and then my self-esteem would just sink lower and lower. I’m glad that while this guy wasn’t It for me, at least he’s decent enough and cares about my feelings.)

anyway this long rant is just for me to say that reading your fics has been cathartic for me. the first time I read your fics (I think the rich boy Shoto one), I was sobbing by the time I read to part 5. I felt really lonely and I was wishing he would love me. but like slowly as I kept reading and kept thinking and evaluating, I realized I don’t need /him/ to love me. and sure I’m not perfect and I might have some of my own kinds of toxicity, but that doesn’t mean I’m not worth loving! I’m still working hard to love myself. I’m learning to be compassionate with myself while not giving myself excuses for toxic behavior (eg passive-aggressiveness, overthinking, etc).

I just wanted to tell you that you are a beautiful person (both in and out!!). I could tell this not just from what you write, but from how you interact with the people in your inbox, whether anonymous or not. you have such a big heart, and you pour so much of yourself into your writing. I can see how it’s been both cathartic and perhaps a little destructive to keep ruminating on certain scenarios you’ve dealt with. but also I’m so glad for you that you’re starting to see more hope and light, and hopefully you’re starting to need this coping mechanism less. you are wonderful, not just in what you give others, but in what you are.

when I was looking for MHA smut in the tumblr tag I wasn’t expecting to feel all of this and to experience this change. thank you for that. know that in your journey, there are people who are rooting for you!! love, 👁 anon

p.s. I read your ask about New York and I hope you feel a little more at home now!! you sound like an amazing person to be friends with. even though I’m nowhere near New York (I’m moving from my country to the UK which is still far from NYC), I hope someday I’ll be able to befriend someone like you! and I hope you enjoy the city and the friendships and the drinking and all of it 💜 take care Rubi! known you are loved. the stars cast their love on you.

Ohhhhh my gosh. Eye anon I have so many thoughts putting under cut.

I literally went through the exact same thing. That guy was the reason I wrote half my pieces. Like, scumbag bakusquad and all these other works were about HIM. I know SO WELL how you must feel right now. It is the worst, most painful fucking feeling in the world. The only reason I got over that guy was literally because I went on Wellbutrin (an antidepressant), and I realized my fixation with him (and other guys/things in the past) was quite literally because of my mental illness.

Please, please, please, PLEASE cut him off entirely. I think you mentioned you took a step back from your friendship; I want you to stop reaching out and messaging him completely. You don't have to take my advice, but if I could go back in time and tell myself something, it would be this:

Romanticize your life. Start working out and eating healthy. Get to a point where you feel good about your body. Switch up your fashion and wear shit you'd never normally wear. Experiment with makeup. Meet and talk to as many new people as you can. Go to new places in your city, whether it's a cool new library 30 minutes away or a pretty flower exhibit at the arboretum. Fall deeply in love with your friends and your family. If I were to write a story about you: you are literally a kind, beautiful main character who is moving to the new UK for a fresh start after being hurt in the past, and learns to love herself and others in the process.

Above all, never, ever get upset with yourself for falling for someone. You are an amazing person full of so much love, and he was someone you chose to bless with your emotions. But you probably love so many other things around you- your friends, the crisp air when you go on 7 AM morning runs, the nice lady who compliments your skirt at the store....... he is not unique. He's just one lucky person that got to experience your feelings.

You see how when you romanticize your life and paint yourself as the main character of your narrative, it helps shift everything into perspective? That is what helped me get over him. While my medication did most of the heavy lifting, that mentality just changed the game for me. I hope that you can internalize that, too. It takes a ton of work but I believe in you, and I want to hear updates on how beautiful your life is!! I would also recommend writing it all in a journal/online diary of some sort.

Whoa. You brought up.... SUCH an incredible point. "I can see how it’s been both cathartic and perhaps a little destructive to keep ruminating on certain scenarios you’ve dealt with." You're so right, it was destructive. I was always so absorbed in the cathartic part of it that I was always confused why I felt so destroyed afterwards. I literally wrote that quote doc on my "romanticization" document. There's something so beautiful and poetic about that line.

Thank you so, so much for sending this in. Your incredibly sweet words made me reread this message so many times and also save it. I really really appreciate you being here and I'm so happy I met you <3 Sorry this answer was SO long but eye anon I just.......... I'm just hugging you so hard right now. It feels like I'm talking to myself from the past and I just want you to know that I know what you're going through, and you will persevere.

#asks #eye anon #meta asks

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hellzyeahthewebwieldingavenger · 5 years ago

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Toughts on this deviantart post?

Found this https://www.deviantart.com/hotwar696/art/Who-is-the-real-Gary-Stu-835695208 it’s pretty bad i think. Or at least misleading. Toughts?

Let’s throw up the image and text for full context

A lot of Conway/Romita fans think that Venom is an awful Gary Stu. Ironically they like the post clone saga Norman Osborn who is not even the same character as the one back the in Conway/Romita days. Despising Harry Osborn when back in the days he simply did not have enough time for him. Also despite what post clone saga stories might have told you he only became a villain because an accident gave him brain damage. Yes, that’s right with the exception of the animated Spider-Man series from 1994 the pre clone saga Norman Osborn was not some inhuman monster who became insane. He was a tragic bussinessman who lost his wife and got brain damage after an explosion to his face. Becoming a villain after an explosion to the face by the way is also the villain origin for Dr. Octopus so yeah Norman Osborn was not a very original villain even before becoming the Gary Stu version of Lex Luthor.Image size

I am going to address every point here, but let me get the most important thing out of the way first.

This is not a valid point to make for two big reasons.

1) The first is that antagonists* do not count as Gary/Marty Stus/Mary Sues.

The function of an antagonists within fiction is to oppose and challenge the protagonists. By having them be extremely powerful, hyper capable, have immense accomplishments and so on, you build them up as a challenge to over come, as someone the protagonist is the underdog in comparison to.

A classic example from manga and anime is Freeza from Dragon Ball. As originally portrayed he can reduce whole planets to dust with a single finger and the true limits of his power are beyond imagining. Had the protagonists all attacked him at once along with all of Freeza’s subordinates they still would’ve lost because he is more powerful and all of them combined. He withstands the most powerful version of the most powerful technique in the series up until that point.

Were this character the protagonist he’d almost certainly a Marty Stu. But as the antagonist he is a supremely effective challenge for the heroes to over come precisely because he does outstrip them so throughly.

2) It’s very obvious the OP is reacting against arguments he’s heard from one specific or several specific people on an incredibly narrow topic. That’s fine. But he’s broadbrushing it as though it’s a widely held opinion when it’s at best widely held within a niche within a niche within another niche.

Like, this is obviously a discussion he’s had at Toonzone or some other similar forum because he references BTAS, Spec Spidey and has drawn both Norman and Venom in their 1994 designs.

But let’s talk about the broader points made.

- None of that symbiote crap. I don’t disagree that it’s myopic and disingenuous to dismiss symbiotes on principle. Putting aside how they’ve been a staple for over 30 years now (and their recent stories have been very good in fact), it smacks of failing to look beyond your own preferences. There are bad symbiote stories and characters. There are even things that inherently suck on principle within Spider-Man. But the symbiotes are not among them. They are exceptions to the rule and proven that over and over. The person the OP is referncing is entitled to not like them but not to dismiss them on principle. I hate Screwball but I don’t think her concept is inherently shit. I liked her in he Fake Red manga!

- Joker in BTAS was a wuss, Spec cartoon Norman was better. I mean, maybe that’s true. there can be extenuating circumstances applying to both. But the Joke screaming doesn’t make him a wuss. if he was a wuss he wouldn’t have taken on Superman or Batman repeatedly. Norman might have been scared but so full of spite that he wasn’t going to give Vulture the satisfaction.

- He technically killed Spider-Man because he killed Ben Reilly. Well, first of all he was trying to kill Peter. Second of all ben didn’t look stupid. he looked identical to Peter but with blonde hair; how is that stupid? Third of all killing a clone of Spider-Man isn’t technically killing him, if it was Norman would’ve routinely been murdering Spidey clone. Fourth of all the OP is framing this as a grand win for Norman because he got to kill Spidey technically. it is a win for him but not for that reason. Ben sacrificed himself to save Peter who Norman was really aiming at

- Killing off baby May, apart from being debatable at all due to the presentation of that story, didn’t prevent Peter from maturing. it prevented him from maturing a specific way but it didn’t stop him from maturing period. Dealing with a miscarriage is an experience that can age a person. Peter went back to ESU to complete his education immediately after that and some years later he became a teacher under JMS’ run. That’s also a totally meta-textual point to make and therefore doesn’t apply to Norman being a Gary Stu. Successfully preventing character development is something you attribute to writers not the characters.

- I don’t get rh point about Nathanial Gray or Von Strucker

- Yes he was the Kingpin of Europe. How does that make him a Gary Stu? Wison Fisk was the Kingpin of America as were many other characters.

- Yes he was President of the USA but only in an out of continuity story, Earth X (and maybe other ones too). The argumentation of the OP is broken because he is conflating multiple different versions as the same thing. pre-OMD, post-OMD, Spec cartoon, Earth X etc. By this logic Venom would also be a Gary Stu and so would countless other characters. Superman would be a Gary Stu because he is DC’s Jesus but also DC’s Hitler.

- The next point is a total strawman. Putting aside how in my experience people throw more shade at Norman than is deserved, even Norman fans like myself do not deny BAD stories with the character exist. What’s ironic is that he has chosen the more obvious targets like the Gathering of Five or the Final Chapter.

Both of those stories are in most respects much worse than Sins Past and the element that makes Sins past bad isn’t even the fact that Norman slept with Gwen. It’s the simple fact that a woman who was clearly not pregnant in the Romita years apparently was and neither she nor MJ seemed to give a shit about the children after they were born. The further irony of his referencing this story is that he’s framed his argument as Silver Age stans are ignoring stuff like Sins Past. the reality is it is Silver/Bronze Age stans who HATE Sins Past more than anyone else in the Spider-Fandom precisely because it messes with the stuff they stan

His referencing of the Clone Saga is also divorced from context. Everyone worth their salt is aware Norman was never originally intended as the villain of the Clone Saga. That was a late addition, and noticeably a late addition at a time when the Clone Saga stories being told were on the whole actually good! Norman’s return story was on balance good! It got a trade paperback in the 1990s when only the most popular stories got such treatment. It is utterly disingenuous to hold the worst of the Clone Saga up as a Norman Osborn story because those were never written with him in mind as the villain.

Additionally I do not know why he is referencing Maximum Carnage or Superior Spider-Man. Okay, maybe he means the former is a symbiote story as opposed to a Carnage story specifically. But if he’s trying to prove Norman is a gary Stu but Venom is not why would you treat Maximum Carnage as a general symbiote story rather than cite a Venom specific story? And it still wouldn’t explain citing Superior Spider-Man. This is about contrasting Norman and Venom, what did Doc Ock have to do with any of this?

- Citing Morlun is equally confusing. The point the OP is trying to make is that silver/bronze age fans put Norman on a pedestal and look down on Venom. Putting aside how that really misrepresents the situation, why would you cite a villain who is not only NOT a silver/bronze age character but appeared long after Venom and if anything gets more disdain than Venom does. Old school fans who dislike Venom or symbiotes on principle do not generally like Morlun, if anything they dislike him more than Venom as they regard mysticism even more inappropriate for Spider-Man than aliens.

- The OP finally cites the Final Chapter but failed to do it at the appropriate point in his rant and also misrepresents it. He’s conflated the bomb implanted into Aunt May’s head in that story with the revelation that she was impersonated by an actress in ASm #400. He’s combined both characters and events. How do you fuck up that badly? The actress died of natural causes and then much later we got the implanted bomb. Norman never killed the actress, the actress agreed to work with him specifically because she was already dying. Also the guy’s grammar is messed up. I’m pretty sure ‘operated into her’ isn’t a real phrase.

- ‘A chad lady killer’…um…what? Isn’t that term intended to be slang for a kind of James Bond figure? A ‘man’s man’ who has lots of sex with women? It doesn’t mean a man who kills women is a manly. Whether people use the term chad ironically or sincerely the overwhelming majority aren’t going around proclaiming Jack the Ripper as the ultimate real life Chad.

- The framing of Norman’s relationship with Gwen is misrepresentative of what happened. It pretends like Norman had se with Gwen specifically to get one over on Peter. He didn’t. He wasn’t even aware he was the Goblin at that time, that Peter was Spider-Man and very likely didn’t know Peter had feelings for Gwen as they weren’t dating at that time. Norman had sex with Gwen because they were both vulnerable and had a moment of passion.

I’d also question his designating Gwen as Peter’s second love interest. I guess that’d be accurate if you are speaking strictly in terms of Peter’s regular girlfriends. But normally love interest means someone the readers are aware is being framed as potential romantic partner for the protagonist. In this sense Liz was the first love interest, Betty was the second and Gwen was the third.

- WTF does shit was so cash even mean?

Now for the text.

-A lot of Conway/Romita fans think that Venom is an awful Gary Stu. Ironically they like the post clone saga Norman Osborn who is not even the same character as the one back the in Conway/Romita days.

Yeah, there isn’t a lot. The vast majority of Conway/Romita stans do not like post-Clone Saga Norman.

And is he not the same character s he was before.

From a certain POV that’s true. But that’s chiefly because silver Age Norman was usually an amnesic who wasn’t his true self. His Goblin persona in the Silver Age is actually fairly similar to his post-Clone Saga self. The reason for the different presentation is simply a passage of time. Doc Ock in the 1990s wasn’t presented identically to how he was in the silver age just because times had changed. The Joker wasn’t presented the same way in the post-Killing Joke or Death in the Family eras of Batman as he was back in the 1940s.

The core of the character, that this guy was a real nasty, egotistical, sadistic and power hungry monster? No, that was all the same it was just ramped up. Norman’s ‘ghost’ had evolved in the interim between his death and his return too. In a sense his place and framing within the mythos had always evolved with the times. It’s just that when he came back suddenly that wasn’t a metaphorical ghost but a flesh and blood character.

But the same can be said of any successful character over time as I outlined above. Shit Absolute Carnage depicted Carnage in a way that is not identical to how he was initially presented. But it was most definitily an evolution of that.

- “Despising Harry Osborn when back in the days he simply did not have enough time for him.”

Not true. The first time Norman began to remember he was the Goblin he got passive aggressive towards Harry. When he got his powers he was downright mean to him as depicted in ASM #40. But he also never despised Harry either. Norman always loved Harry in a toxic manner, through neglect or abuse. That was true post-Clone Saga.

In fact the entire reason Norman initiated the Clone Saga was specifically because he wanted revenge for Harry’s death.

And again, the OP is treating this as a wholesale invention of the post-clone saga era when it wasn’t. Norman being an abusive father was introduced long before anyone was thinking about the Clone Saga. It was established in the Child Within circa 1991 IIRC. Later (when the Clone Saga was being planned I think) it was further explored in Spec annual 1994, but that just added to what we already knew from the forrmer story. Shit, this depiction of Harry and Norman’s relationship was showcased in Untold Tales of Spider-Man. That was both set long before the Clone Saga, IIRC written before Norman’s return was decided upon and written by someone who definitely didn’t agree with his return.

Norman never despised Harry, but he was a shitty Dad. He was a shitty Dad in ASm #40. He didn’t just have no time for Harry, he neglected him specifically because he wanted to gain money and thereby gain power.

Even if you do argue that Norman didn’t despise Harry in the silver age but did post-clone saga, so long as that change was organically introduced that makes it fine. better than fine as that’s simply more dramatically enriching than him being a nice guy who happens to not have time for his son.

- “Also despite what post clone saga stories might have told you he only became a villain because an accident gave him brain damage.”

LOL nope.

a) As I just said, even if this was a retcon of the post-Clone Saga era (which it wasn’t) it made Norman a better character. A man being bad because he got brain damage is a cliche, lazy, over simplistic explanation for his villainy. It’s also arguably less realistic and actually makes the characetr a lesser villain as some surgery and thereby might be able to fix them. In fact you could argue they are in effect a victim of their brain damage and thereby not accountable for their actions. That’s so much less substantive than someone’s life experiences shaping them into a horrible human being. By this author’s wn logic Doc Ock’s origin (pre-Clone Saga I might add) makes him a LESSER villain because it established that he was actually evil because of his life before his accident. that was just the straw that broke the camel’s back, he didn’t just get a knock to the noggin and wound up evil

b) If Norman’s evilness stems from brain damage how come when he was a nice guy in the silver age neither he nor Harry suggested surgery or medication to help heal that damage? That would’ve meant he’d never have been evil again

c) ASm #40 makes it clear he was a piece of shit BEFORE his accident. He was neglecting his son, railroading his partner, stealing his inventions and power hungry before getting brain damage.

d) You could easily argue Norman was always brain damaged the doctors just mistakenly believed his injuries stemmed from the accident

e) Child Within and Spec Annual 1994 established Norman as a psychopath before he got his powers. Both were written before the Clone Saga. Post-Clone Saga stories like Revenge of the Green Goblin merely built upon this, they didn’t wholesale invent it

“Yes, that’s right with the exception of the animated Spider-Man series from 1994 the pre clone saga Norman Osborn was not some inhuman monster who became insane.”

LOL nope again.

First of all, 1994-cartoon Norman WAS fairly sympathetic before becoming the Goblin. In the show he got a loan from Kingpin and was forced to pay off the debt by targeting Spider-Man. Even if he didn’t initially realise Fisk was a criminal when he got the loan, by the time he did realise going to the police would’ve resulted in him losing his son and/or his life. He wouldn’t be the first man to get in deep with the mob after all.

When his inital effort to kill Spider-Man failed he was forced to give Kingpin his company and attempted to get out from this by assasinating Fisk. This backfired hard endangering his son, but Norman risked his life to save Harry.

His whole character until season 3 was basically defined by being a morally grey character. he loved his son, he was maybe egotistical and a ruthless businessman but the worst things he did were either on Kingpin’s orders or attempts to free himself of a very powerful and very dangerous controlling force in his life.

Not a nice man, but a far cry from an inhuman monster or an insane person, at least until he was exposed to the Goblin gas.

SECOND of all if you are an inhumane monster how exactly do you then ‘go insane’? Aren’t they functionally the same thing within the context of the dicussion?

It’s also not representative of canonical Norman. Canonical Norman was a psychopath because of his life experiences and possibly hereditary mental illnesses within the family. The Goblin formula by empowering him sent him on an ego trip.

The OP isn’t even using the commonly held misconceptions about Norman Osborn, he’s just using his own very specific ones. Most people mistakenly believe the Goblin formula drove Norman nuts when ASM #40 just claims the accident gave him brain damage. Over time creators decided the formula itself makes the user nuts.

“He was a tragic bussinessman who lost his wife and got brain damage after an explosion to his face“

a) Unless I am mistaken there was little word paid to Norman’s wife in the Silver Age. And what little we got never presented Norman as being affected by her passing. That was an invention of the 1990s and 2000s; and a very good one at that.

b) Yes how tragic a businessman he was to have neglected his son, sought power, rail roaded his partner and stolen his inventions. Obviously none of that is bad. he only became bad after an explosion gave him brain damage.

c) Even if he really was a tragic businessman blah blah blah, that is a LESS EFFECTIVE villain and a LESS complex character than the post-clone saga guy we got

“Becoming a villain after an explosion to the face by the way is also the villain origin for Dr. Octopus so yeah Norman Osborn was not a very original villain even before becoming the Gary Stu version of Lex Luthor.”

I’ve already addressed the idiotic criticism that Norman became a Luthor knock off.

The OP is disingenuous on several levels with his other point as well though.

For starters brain damage was never the sum totality of Norman’s origin as a character. Doc Ock was just a guy who was at best maybe a little odd looking due to his arms then had an accident and became evil. that was it.

Not only was Ott far from the first villain with such an origin, but to sit there and say Norman was unoriginal merely because he also took a boom to the face is moronic. Norman’s life before his accident made him incredibly different to Otto. It made him comparatively more layered and complex next to the likes of Otto or the other rogues because he wasn’t nice initially, he had this strained relationship with his son and above all else he had this internal denial over his failings as a father. THAT shit doesn’t count as part of his origin? ALL that matters is explosion+brain damage=evil?

That’s obviously moving the goal posts to win.

And it’s a self-defeating argument. Silver Age Norman is bad because he is unoriginal (even though functionally he actually was). Okay, in the 1990s and beyond he got a revised origin that was more original. But that’s bad because changed him from his Silver Age self.

Goal posts. They a movin!

Not to mention as I already said DOC OCK’s origin was also changed so his villainy didn’t just stem from a random accident that knocked his noggin.

So Doc Ock sucks too right?

Finally, I say this as someone who likes Norman AND Venom.

I would never call Venom a Gary Stu. I’ve never even SEEN anyone claim Venom was a Gary Stu. BOTH Norman and Venom get under appreciated.

Fuck i wrote like over 10 essays DEFENDING Venom.

You can pass my comments onto this idiot if you wish.

*Not necesarilly villains as you can have a villain protagonist, see Superior Spider-Man

#Venom #Norman Osborn #Green Goblin #Eddie Brock #Spider-Man #Doctor Octopus #otto octavius #Gwen Stacy #Clone Saga #Venom symbiote #symbiotes #Superior Spider-Man #Maximum Carnage #submission

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juleswolverton-hyde · 6 years ago

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The dying of the light (NJ x Reader)

Genre: Angst, Werewolf AU

Pairing: Werewolf!Namjoon x Human!Reader

Warnings: Allusion to domestic violence/abuse, character death

Summary: Do not go gentle into that good night.

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Masterlist

Never judge a book by its cover is one of the righteous tenets to live by for everyone deserves to show the tale within and be judged based on that. It is quite astonishing what a person might learn this way.

But what if the chronicle is hideous? The title page a mere delusion?

Downstairs sound loaded curses, the breaking of glass and the plates filled with the dinner of the day adding a sharp edge to the animalistic growling tone in which is spoken.

That was used against an individual to whom it was promised never to be used yet was, the terrible overwhelming fear burning as bright within at the resonating words of argument as the scarlet outline on a tear-stained cheek. Withal, the hit has to be forgiven because it is the animal inside the brown-haired mature version of the bad boy with platinum strands who has a surprising liking towards philosophy and literature that forces the behaviour.

It is still you somewhere in there, Joon. You didn’t mean to hit me.

Nevertheless, it is difficult to believe the thought despite having been together for four years, the promising ring set with a moonstone signifying the love of the tall otherwise incredible man now gone mad with beastly instincts for a mere human regardless of the many she-wolves throwing themselves at the alpha’s feet whenever the season for continuing the bloodline has begun. That faith in faithfulness has to be held onto as much as the belief that the accidental branding is just that, an accident.

Right?

Maybe the topic of prolonged absences should not have been pushed, fabricating allegations which are obvious lies of not being loved enough to be talked to because the prestigious family of the apparent ancient Kim line would never tolerate anything other than a proper alpha female for the second-in-line to be the heir and the dawning of this at last realized by Namjoon.

Then came the sound of a vicious palm on an unsuspecting cheek, ear-deafening in the silence that followed the outrage of seeing any type of apology, verbally and physical, go to waste by being pushed away.

Literally.

Bloodthirsty ruby irises.

A snarl on plush lips.

Wrong.

The wolf hated it.

He merely did not like it.

You meant it. It wasn’t the beast, it was you, Joon. I could tell. It was you.

Bare feet storm up the creaky oak stairs of the two-storey home recently moved into together, making a damaged face instantly crawl haphazardly away from the position leaning against the door to the bed with thick blue-striped alabaster sheets that normally feels so safe when lying down with the fiancé after a long tiring day. Paralyzed with horror, the thick duvet is pulled up till the eyes only able to look on helplessly, hope the lock on the door rapidly put into place before the second flight will hold.

A loud bang on the wood evokes a heavy flinch, causing digits to hold on tighter to the self-made futile sacred haven. ‘Y/N! Open up!’

A second bang, frightful rattling. ‘Y/N, I’m serious. Open the door!’

Please, stop. Just go. Just this once, I want you to go.

A few more attempts are made at opening the entrance to the last secure place left in the small home, both parties knowing full well the werewolf could easily force an entry yet decides against it with every ounce of remaining sanity on this starry night lit by an almost full moon. A deep sigh of relief is barely audible when it escapes lips pulled into a grave straight line, allowing shoulders to sack slightly in relaxation upon hearing a civilized baritone voice from afar when the noisy threats have faded. ‘I really, really didn’t mean to hurt you, baby. I don’t kno- I can’t- I don’t understand what’s happening. It feels as if... as if-’

What follows the unfinished sentence are painful outcries at bones rearranging themselves to fit a dominant beastly body, having to retreat to the cage and collar on a short chain in the extended basement fast to not commit one of the other violent mistakes that were also sworn to never be made. ‘Fuck. Y/N- ngh- I know you’re listening, can hear your heartbeat. Ah! Ha... ha... Breath, baby. Just breath. I’m gonna go, okay? Try- Shit, need to hurry up. I’m slipping away, that’s what it fee- argh!’

Like the former utterance before the continuation of the confession, all that wanted to be said before the jaw started transforming and bright teeth forming the most delightful of happy smiles deform to malicious predatory fangs remains unspoken.

A relentless hush fills the wake of hasty stumbling footsteps down the creaking stairs, getting away as fast as possible from a person who has been hurt to a whole new extent that will be hard to surpass. Indeed, the fear of death is nothing compared to the harm inflicted by the actual brown-haired beloved and not the innate beast using Joon as a permanent host.

The calm does not soothe, but eventually eyes continuing to water with the burning aftermath of the supposedly unintentional slap on the cheek surrender in the lightless space to the slumber of the night.

Trying to ignore the dimmed growling mixed with agonizing outcries tearing the soul in two. One part wants to flee and never come back, mercilessly unforgiving for the act of domestic violence while the other wants to give a second chance because it is steadfast in its belief this wreck can be salvaged.

Endeavouring to dismiss the muted howl signifying Namjoon is no longer there.

Only the animal held in high esteem in the defied family.

A senseless beast.

That makes the hope of finding the tanned tall kind-hearted husband in the morning incredibly small if existent at all.

Maybe, this time, there is nothing to prevent being permanently truly lost.

It has become a relentless routine to, once consciousness is retrieved to a coherent level at the crack of dawn, go downstairs to the cellar immediately after chaotic nights given body by the barely audible tinkling of rattling chains. Normally, it is a relief to do so but considering the events of a recent past, each step made of lead is calculating, considering to wait a bit longer, longer than usual. Questioning whether or not the offender wants to be seen again.

The least I can do is set you free. Save you for the last time.

After a self-deprecating shake of the head, the last of the oaken steps are descended and bare feet pad over the cool tiles of the small hallway to the crisp white-painted door just underneath the staircase revealing fresh deep claw marks on the inside wood upon opening. Fingertips lightly trace the marks made by the monster, guilt at even daring to question whether the cruelty in the form of the abuse had been inherently the beloved’s sinking to the bottom of the stomach and sitting there heavily because the crude traces remind of the might of the suppressed being within.

As does the naked sweaty honey-toned body lying unconsciously on the hard concrete ground of the cage that was installed directly upon moving in, chained to the brick wall by a sturdy glistening iron chain and collar which allows just enough freedom for the current position. Considering the dewiness of the bared skin, the return to humanity has taken place quite recently, mayhaps twenty to fifteen minutes earlier than the digits carefully grabbing the keys to the constraints that were retrieved from the mahogany nightstand drawer before leaving the safe sheets arrived.

Lying where they are always being kept.

Next to the emergency gun.

Each movement is languid, every advance towards the significant other seeming to be in vain due to toes feeling as if they are incorporated into the cement below, afraid to approach and thus taking up a determined resisting stance a few metres away from stirring limbs. Withal, Namjoon is, apparently unconsciously, gradually approached regardless.

Familiar lashes flutter open in utter fazing, civilized irises the colour of the earth after rainfall on an autumn day taking in reality while meticulously constructing it from the increasingly registering pieces revealed by brief glances. Until they find the last simply staring puzzle piece, which makes the brow furrow in ashamed apologetic begging. ‘Y/N?’ The werewolf has left the ability to talk entirely, instead letting the affected husband speak with a sonorous voice inherently his albeit in need of some adjustment after the transforming harrowing event. ‘Y/N, I- I’m sorry. I shouldn’t- didn’t mean to- I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry. I hate myself for what I did to you, for losing control like that. I’ve never wanted to be a monster.’

Long fingers wrap themselves tightly around the iron bars, foreheads resting against each other as best as possible with the obstruction after a terrified wife with the paradoxical toxic wanting to forgive falls to the knees in front of tears streaming over glistening sun-kissed cheeks, unlocking the door while revelling in the comforting intimacy. However, when once solacing fingertips graze the spot where the hit landed, the body immediately flinches back as if being pulled into retreat by an invisible rubber band, eyes wide with the expected horror of a harmful repeat.

A similar expression maintains the unbroken lock of gazes, the hand likely meaning well hanging futilely in the air and falling away in defeat, plush lips slightly trembling in the effort to remain coherent. ‘I won’t- Baby, I won’t hurt you again. Please. Please, come closer. It was the wolf within-’

‘It was you.’ Breathlessly, the observation breaking the heart all over again as it denies the argument of the claw marks now that reality and the source of pain is too concrete, too close, is spoken aloud.

Protest in a recomposed beloved voice does not help conviction. ‘I’d never-!’

‘It was you, Joon. Just before you hit me, I saw it was you and not the beast.’ The headshake is too confirming of the empirical experience that is attempted to be denied despite knowing better but believing the self-served humanity preserving lie.

‘If it was truly me I would have never beat you! I would have stopped myself!’ The yelling reduces to a softness bordering on a whisper, clearly recalling what had been said in the night at the door before vanishing underground. Seeing the truth behind the conjured mirage. ‘I really- dammit, no, I couldn’t... couldn’t have. I- I can’t. I don’t want to be a mindless beast. I don’t- I don’t want to slip away.’

Though despising oneself for it, as soon as slender digits clamp agitatedly onto brown sweat-matted messy locks and Namjoon stares at bare feet, palms folded over the head to shield himself from cruel reality, instinct kicks in and makes a conflicted woman crawl towards the loved heavily sobbing man. Precisely as was done on the rare occasion the platinum bad boy showed his true hurt persona to a nerdy outcast girl while sitting in the gravel on the side of the high school building filled with students fearing him.

Everyone but her.

Because she understood.

Because she loved.

Arms envelop freshly transformed sticky shoulders after a brief instant of hesitance, one hand moving upwards to entangle in velvet locks and cradle the back of the head of the extraordinary significant other directly pulling a strangely affectionate body flush against a quickly rising and falling chest, face buried in the side of the neck to not show the brooks streaming uncontrollably again.

The promises formed by a tongue that wants to live in assuring fantasy sound misplaced, inappropriately positive in the grave atmosphere merely forming a prelude to a terrible future. ‘We’re gonna get through this. We’ll figure it out.’

‘You- You say that but- but your heart is racing with fear.’ Long once trusted digits wrap themselves around upper arms, undoing the embrace and creating a bit of distance to properly, at least attempt to do so, talk vis-á-vis. When the rooted horror becomes visible despite the mask under which it was supposed to be hidden, Joon’s troubled fragmented voice cracks further with sorrowful resignation. ‘You’re- You’re scared of me.’

A wordless shake to deny the truthful allegation, hoping to convince the tall cruelly wonderful man of the opposite yet failing in doing so as innate systems do not lie. ‘Don’t deny it, Y/N. It’s obvious. Still... still I want to ask for a second chance, but,’ this time, the tracing of the agitated mark left behind as a reminder on skin powerless against the beast is allowed, but it takes every ounce of strength and courage to remain, ‘but if I can’t change, if we ever come this close again to me accidentally killing you in rage again, then-’

‘Don’t. Don’t ask this of me.’ The shivers at the image of the unavoidable deal made at the start of the relationship remain as chillingly harrowing as they were at first when Namjoon revealed what is within and can overtake the body and soul entirely when not being appropriately trained to control it. ‘I won’t do it.’

I would run away, leave forevermore. But I cannot end the story the way you want. I don’t want to.

‘I beat you, baby. Furthermore, while trying to apologize, I came too close to transforming at the door and killing you by giving the... thing free rein. I only didn’t this time because I barely managed to get myself here.’ Comforting large palms frame a face gone pale with anguish, having to undeniably acknowledge this is indeed the matter of the circumstances and haunted by what the aftermath will look like. ‘You know what can happen, what I’ll do. I don’t want to discover your body in shreds at dawn, murdered by my hand because of a lack of control.’

The kiss lingers, tasting of salty desperation and genuine dangerous love.

Tasting of goodbye.

‘Promise me you’ll use the gun. Don’t shoot try to shoot in one of the paws but aim for the heart or between the eyes.’

‘Joon, stop. Don’t talk like this.’

‘I’m slipping away, baby.’ Affectionately, a thumb begins to gently brush over the clear sign of abuse, almost as if being able to kind-heartedly make it vanish by the soft contact yet unable to do so for it shall continue to linger. ‘We have to talk about it now because if things don’t change soon, I’ll be gone. Forever.’

I can’t do it. I can’t be the one to put you down.

‘Joonie, please stop.’ Teeth bite down on a quivering bottom lip, lashes fluttering shut to bask entirely in the warmth of the precious husband’s hands. The abuse can be borne and can be helped with aid in the form of anger management therapy. Surely that has to help against malevolent animalistic outbursts.

There has to be a way out of this.

Out of fate.

‘Kill me.’

‘No.’

‘Y/N, I’m not asking anymore. I’ll need you to put me down.’ Urgency has crept into a defeated baritone voice that wants, needs to be heard daily in order to live.

Is forbidden from fading by vows promising to withstand the storms blowing on the path of marriage. ‘We can work this out.’

All storms eventually pass.

Right?

Stay with me. Don’t leave me behind.

‘Maybe we can, but there is a big chance we can’t.’

And he was right, because the next month there was solely the wolf after being beaten worse than before.

He slipped away.

Aim.

Fangs.

Do not panic.

Growling.

Pull the trigger.

Regret.

Make it end.

Save yourself.

A second.

Crimson.

A whine.

Bullet hole in the wall.

Transformation.

Closing eyes.

‘Thank you.’

Tears.

The end.

The waiting crib of a fatherless child.

#BTS #BTS Werewolf AU #Werewolf AU #hyunglinenetwork #kimnamjoonnet #Bangtan #BTS fanfiction #Namjoon #RM #Kim Namjoon #Joon #Werewolf!Namjoon #alpha!Namjoon

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arihi · 5 years ago

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NaNoWriMo #15: Othering

I am, if I had to be honest, feeling a bit uncharitable today - which means that I probably shouldn’t be writing this post, but I have a boatload of errands today and I’m taking this break to write this, so it’ll be shorter anyway. Let’s talk about how people, most often in online communities, step over the line that is celebrating one anothers’ differences and land in ‘invalidate others’ experiences because we don’t know how to distinguish pride in our own identities from a sense of superiority over others because we have the emotional maturity of a 12 year old’ territory. And how, at heart, everybody has the potential to be a bully.

We are all individuals and therefore focus more on our lives and what impacts us more than we sometimes do on the people around us, never mind people that we don’t see or know about. This is okay! This is good. You need to focus on yourself. If you avoid your issues by compulsively fixing other peoples’ problems or begin to define your self-worth by how you can serve others, that’s not great! I know somebody who has a lot of problems but avoids it by love-bombing and bending over backwards for acquaintances that they were not nearly as close to as they thought they were, and it was very off-putting to the people around them. Then they would loudly, passively aggressively talk about how all they did was try to help them and how ungrateful others could be and didn’t they know that they had problems too?? And that they were pushing those problems aside to be a GOOD FRIEND? Note: Nobody asked them to make those ‘sacrifices’. Being a good friend is more than trying to lavish others with praise and gifts. They viewed themselves as a martyr and never stopped to think about self-growth because the thought that they were in the wrong was inconceivable. It was extremely unflattering.

But, I digress, and that’s not even what I’m annoyed with today! And I am trying to choose my words carefully, because it can be a sensitive subject, and I’m not very good at thinking thoughts through so I don’t want to give off the wrong impression. Queer spaces, kinky spaces, neurodivergent spaces that are not the neurotypical cisheteronormative culture and society that we know and criticize? Have a problem. The problem is sometimes we come to these spaces online and we are invigorated. Queer folk, kinky folk, neurodivergent folk - we’ve all got something about us that isn’t the “standard” (and I know that’s not a great word, but something has gotta be short for the ‘neurotypical cisheteronormative culture and society that we live in’). it is unfortunately more common for people ‘outside’ the norm to not have experienced great things in life due to their differences. So when we are around communities built around these differences, and we see, maybe for the first time, a variety of others who are similar? Who have gone through these problems? When we see queer folk who have been cast aside by their blood families and made their own found families? When we see kinky nerds who are into the same weird things we are? When we see others who suffer from invisible illnesses and talk about struggles that we’ve also experienced?

God, we are EXCITED.

And this is why I’ll always say that for all the negativity social media brings, it’s still always going to be a net positive for me. It provides these opportunities to bring others together, to empathize with people you wouldn’t have otherwise known about, and on and on, you know the drill. These communities bring life to people. These communities have kept people alive. They’re great. We celebrate our different identities and begin to feel this warmth that maybe we didn’t have previously.

But then that sometimes swings too far to the other side and people who should rightly accept and take pride in themselves start to, how to put it...be giant raging dicks! They take their experiences, their hardships, and yeah - they’ve gone through a lot. But it becomes a sort of ‘I’ve been through a LOT and therefore things that I experience are more RAW, more PURE than you who has experienced NOTHING!’. Does that make sense? Let’s rephrase it. It comes out as “polygamy is inherently more loving and better that monogamy”. It comes out as “my 24/7 D/s relationship is deeper and we are more connected to one another than your vanilla relationship”. It comes out as queer spaces for some reason EATING themselves alive and fighting over ace/aro identities. Sometimes it comes out as people using neurodivergency as an excuse for their actions and blaming others for not understanding them, ignoring the fact that the people who have condemned their actions are ALSO neurodivergent. Your identity truly honestly does not get to justify every single one of your shitty actions, y’all. I’d say ‘be an adult’ here, but people, once again, have the emotional maturity of 12 year olds so apparently you can’t!!

I have this thought in my head that I still don’t think I can quite put into words. But it’s this feeling that you have pride in yourself and it’s okay to be proud of yourself - but that maybe for a long time, you did not have this pride. And maybe previously when you were kicked and pushed down by society, you developed a sense that what happened to you was wrong. And it was wrong. But now that you are proud of yourself, for the first time maybe ever, and you feel good about yourself - you start to conflate feeling good with being right. And you start to weirdly hold yourself as this rubric to which others should adhere to, and if they don’t well...it’s okay, but they’re not really experiencing life as well as you do. At least, that’s what I’m assuming people who do that shit are going through. You see it a lot - I’ll use the example here of nerd gamer boys. They may have been bullied as children, and that wasn’t great. But they start to take pride in their identity and now THEY’RE the ones on top, and now a lot of them whine about girls on streams or queer representation in games because it’s too political, or whatever the new controversy of the week is. What it really boils down to is that once there’s the opportunity to be in the in-group when so long you were not, so many people TAKE it and PLAY INTO it by becoming the bullies. By making more and more in-groups and excluding others because it feels weirdly nice to belong to a small group that judges all the others. Because that power and sense of belonging can be intoxicating.

This has already gotten a lot longer than I meant to. I guess it has really been weighing on my mind. And honestly I could write so much more about this. But this is a NaNoWriMo and I’m not in the habit of making this terribly long about a tiresome topic to talk about. So I’ll try to wrap up.

Just, you know. It’s weird. It’s weird that queer twitter can be SUCH a shithole and that lesbians have to mute the word ‘lesbians’ because there is so much dumb discourse on it, and it’s weird that queer communities get so wrapped up in their online spaces and their warped version of purity culture that they eat themselves alive, somehow oblivious to the fact that ‘standard’ society in real life only BENEFITS from these seeds of discord. It’s weird that kinky spaces talk about consent and how your kink is not my kink and that’s okay, and then turn around and judge other kinks because they have different risk profiles, or because those kinks are ‘too light’. It’s weird that neurodivergent spaces sometimes gatekeep one another with outdated definitions and diagnoses (that are ALSO outdated and are often only accurate to a white male patient!!!!!) and sometimes use their neurodivergency as hotkey excuses for their behaviors and never try to grow as individuals.

I’m someone who often says that I love individuals, but people are EXHAUSTING. And sometimes I feel that most days than others. But that’s also maybe my own version of othering those that I do not know personally and assigning them to the easy definition that is ‘a group that I do not want to get to know any more beyond pleasantries’ because it’s easier to group people into easy categories. And that might be on me.

But, god. People are SO, SO fucking exhausting.

#AriNo #nanowrimo #vent #rant #okay yeah obviously I'm not excluded from this either #I don't think I'm this magical person who sees the world for how it is and therefore impervious to succumbing to these mortal defects #I feel like I am pretty mindful though and I try to do my best to observe these things #even if I'm not very good with conveying it with words #We as a society have an empathy problem #there's not enough of it #you know and it's weird.#And I'll leave this in the notes because I still have to reflect on this personally and I'm not really sure in this #but this is only ever a problem I see in Western societies #yeah you can make the argument that this isn't in Eastern cultures because nothing ever deviates from the norm lmao #and you wouldn't be entirely wrong #Eastern cultures have a lot of their own fucking problems let me tell you.#but good lord it blows my mind sometimes #I truly think this issue is exacerbated by individualistic cultures like the West #and that collectivism in Eastern cultures instills more sense of empathy and consideration for others around you #so that you see it less there #and again I'm not saying Eastern cultures are BETTER and I personally had to leave behind my culture. And it's a thing.#there was this tweet on Twitter from someone who lived in China about how hard it was to meet queer people there or something like that #and someone said well come to America! We'll take you to a gay bar.#And she says are you kidding me? Yeah China is backwards and has a toxic culture and people judge me in the streets sometimes.#but people in America actively wish you harm and will kill you for being different #and that honestly just encapsulates the issue so well and I wish I had the words to describe why I loved that tweet so much

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nobodies-png · 6 years ago

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Biphobia warning: Can we get Larxene, Aqua, Naminé, Kairi, or Xion dealing with a "well-meaning" person telling her she should break up with her bisexual S/O because "obviously" they'll just cheat on her with a guy? And then some fluff when she comforts the reader? (My GF is bi, I'm lesbian. I've gotten this line a few times. The nerve of some people!)

yIKES - fuck those people, nonnie ! i’m sure you and your gf are lovely, ignore those d u m b comments - like mAN, SHIT LIKE THIS MAKES ME SO MAD, ITS 2019 GUYS, OPEN YOUR EYES

Larxene :

Long story short : Larxene doesn’t deal well with people patronizing her or judging and shit talking her choices in partners. Love is a really touchy subject for her, so you can tell she’s about to get violent by the sudden rise in electricity in the air. And because she’s already summoned her weapons as a w a r n i n g, idly fiddling with them through gritted teeth.

If the person keeps up with their nonsense, Larxene won’t hesitate to pick them by the collar of their shirt, pulling them to her eye level before chewing them out with her harsh words. Who are they to insult you so freely ? What kind of shitty accusations are those ? “Well-meaning” her ass ! Larxene can tell this person is full of bullshit from miles away.

If they’re someone you don’t particulary care about or know, Larxene w i l l shock them - so you’ll have to drag her away somewhere more private before things get out of control. But even if she tells you that she’s okay, you know she’s not. Before you can even get a word out, she’s already talking, her back turned to you - trying to brush off this entire ordeal.

“The world is full of assholes, isn’t it ?” It’s extremely hard for Larxene to be so casually affectionate or show her more vulnerable side - yes, even to you - but she’ll give you a hug after this, burying her face in the crook of your neck so you don’t see her pitiful expression. “They don’t know shit about you, I do. And I know you’d never hurt me or anyone else like that.” Larxene is fully aware you’re bisexual, so what about it ? She’s the one y o u chose to love and she’s happy with that.

Aqua :

It would be fine if the insult was directed at her - she’s mature enough to know not to reply and to be the bigger person. But this ? This disrespect is directed at you and she will not tolerate it. If you let her, Aqua would give the person a s t e r n lecture, so classy and savage they’ll be left speechless and embarrassed for saying such stupid things about you.

But if you don’t want any confrontation, Aqua will merely give them a fake smile, say something like “Understandable. It must be hard to be so closed minded. Get well soon and have a nice day !” and lead you away from this person. To wash away the bitter taste of this encounter, Aqua would treat you to lunch - pick anything you want, it’s on her !

She shows no signs of being affected by any of this, but she doesn’t let go of your hand. There’s an unspoken vow between the two to pretend nothing happened, but you decide to confront Aqua about it anyway - she taught you to be open about your feelings and share them with her anytime you needed, so you want her to do the same.

“It’s embarrassing, I should know better than to get mad. But I have to admit, I can’t stop thinking about it. You don’t deserve to hear such cruel words.” Aqua would take your hands into hers and give you the most sincere look, explaining that no matter what the world says, she’s proud and happy to be with someone wonderful like you ! She’s fought for the safety of this entire world, so she doesn’t comprehend why there’s people so hellbent on putting boundaries on how the rest should love or live.

Namine :

Namine despises confrontation, so she’ll ignore whoever is saying that to her as best as she can - either by changing topics or just pretending they don’t exist. She doesn’t want them to get into details, but she doesn’t have the courage to properly tell them to shut up and mind their own business either. If you’re with her, Namine will give you an apologetic look - she’s really sorry that she couldn’t do more for you.

In the end, the person would leave thinking they’re in the right - but at least there were no arguments or fights. The moment you two are alone, Namine would apologize over and over, fussing over all the things she could’ve done instead to defend you - it’s not okay to fight, but it’s not okay to let others insult you like that either ! Maybe she should go back and give that person an actual piece of her mind ?

You’re gonna have to stop Namine from actually doing that, convince her that you’re fine - but h o o o boy. Her face is red from all the frustration building up in her chest. Namine wants to worry about what you two are going to have for breakfast tomorrow, about how to decorate a house if you two ever live together, about the name of the future pet you might adopt - not about what strangers and outsiders think of your relationship.

She thinks it’s not fair, for you and for the rest of bisexual people in the world. How could someone say something so mean ? They don’t even know you ! Namine would pull you in for a hug, listing all the things she loves about you to remind you that you’re valid and appreciated.

Kairi :

Whoever told her that kind of bullshit is in for a wild ride. If the person who told her that seems decent enough, Kairi will patiently explain that those rumours are just a lie and that cheating isn’t inherent to any romantic or sexual orientation. That’s like saying all pitbulls are awful raging beasts. Or that all left handed people are evil.

However, if they seem like the type of asshole with a close mind who just refuses to get properly informed, Kairi w o n ‘ t hesitate. Even a princess has her limits and those limits have been c r o s s e d the moment they talked shit about you. You kinda have to remind her to use her words instead of her fists when you see her roll her sleeves.

Kairi grew up in a fairly accepting and safe enviroment, so she has a somewhat naive and hopeful view on the world. “We have better things to worry about than who loves who.” She wants to assume everyone is a good person, so everytime she encounters these types of people, her blood just b o i l s. Of course, that laced with her strong sense of justice can lead to her getting hurt - so you’re gonna have to drag her away before things escalate.

For the rest of the day, Kairi will latch onto you like a koala, being extra sweet with you. The last thing she wants is for you to doubt your identity because of some dumb comment. She loves you just the way that you are and no one can change her mind ! If the two of you stay strong, one day you’ll show the entire world that your love is worth fighting for.

Xion :

Xion is s o confused. Like, legitimately confused - asking the person who told her to break up with you a thousand questions. Where did they get this information ? What does it mean ? Don’t same gender and straight couples hace the same risk of being cheated on or cheating ? Doesn’t that depend on the person ?

In the end, whoever gave her that unnecessary advice will just. Leave, because they have no actual information to back up that accusation. You’ll have to sit her down and explain what that nonsense meant - the moment she understands, you’ll see her face go red in anger. Like Namine, she’d want to find the person just to set things right, but instead, Xion would focus on never letting anyone else talk about you like that.

She immediately takes you to have some ice cream in some secluded calm spot so you two can just rant till your hearts content, joking about the situation. “I can’t tell Axel or Roxas about this. They’ll probably kill that person if we see them again!” The two of you would move on and continue with your lives !

But of course, Xion tends to overthink. So at the end of the day, before you go back home, she’ll awkwardly tell you that you’re the strongest person she knows, dealing with shit like that on a daily basis. You helped her find out her own identity and individuality as a person, so no matter what, she’ll stay by your side !

#kh headcanons #reader insert #kairi #xion #namine #aqua #larxene #Anonymous #biphobia

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kingofthewilderwest · 6 years ago

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If there is one critisms I have with lost world it would be the the whole snoutlout and valka subplot, it felt and little weird and creepy to an extent given it felt like they implied romance subtext. I could understand if it was intended for snoutlout trying to find a mother figure or something within Balkan, but I feel they tried too hard. I also wonder if they did this because they couldn't find anything to do with snoutlout for a subplot compared to the twins

Yeah, I can see why that would bother you. I’ve seen others express similar sentiments, uncomfortable with Snotlout seeming to hit on a woman twice his age - a woman who’s in fact the mother of one of his friends. And, if you integrate in book canon, you add him hitting on a woman who married his uncle.

So it’s certainly not going to be humor for everyone, and we can make constructive criticism about its inclusion in THW. Given as Snotlout also had that one-sided “rivalry” with Eret (which, while incorporated with Valka, could also be counted as a separate thing), I don’t think the writers necessarily were in a dearth of ideas for handling Snotlout. They could have easily written Snotlout “versus” Eret as a rivalry without romantic subtext. And, if they wanted other gags, it’s not like they couldn’t have looked to ROB/DOB/RTTE for inspiration - his shpeel with Hookfang’s disobedience wouldn’t have been hard to slip in, if they’d wanted. Given as we got Snotlout’s butt getting caught on fire, they did look at gags from the tv series. Heck… they could’ve just gone with the butt on fire thing! I suspect that lots of ideas were available to them and they were conscious of what they could do with Snotlout. They chose this, perhaps in theme with lots of THW being about romance.

For me personally, the Snotlout and Valka stuff doesn’t bother me. I found it entertaining and… honestly… extremely in character for Snotlout.

First, Snotlout is someone who craves approval and validation. He struggles to receive Spitelout’s appreciation throughout the television series; he constantly tries to catch Astrid’s attention in HTTYD and the early series; he gets jealous of Hiccup in ROB and RTTE because of how peers respect him. Heck, in the book series, Snotlout’s jealousy of Hiccup is the pinnacle driving point of his character development. Snotlout wanting to receive Valka’s approval in THW is that old insecurity pulling at him again. Whatever he actually feels to Valka, romantic or not, he’s craving validation.

They play it as humor because they’re putting Snotlout into what’s intended to be a ridiculous circumstance - and because it’s a ridiculous circumstance, I think it works. There’s no sense Snotlout will make a real move on Valka aside from this pandering, and Valka’s responses are that of a mature woman throwing him a few tolerating niceities here and there but not being interested or responding to what we could call his romantic undertone. He doesn’t say or do anything that I found crossing a line. Honestly, he’s being obsequious, but not disgusting. He was worse with Astrid. Especially in ROB/DOB, he had points where he was slightly harassing and misogynistic. Here it’s a somewhat pathetic puppy wanting attention, and I can laugh at that myself.

Second, Snotlout has a history throughout the DreamWorks franchise of hitting on everyone attractive and available - be it Mala, the Wingmaidens, Astrid, Ruffnut, Heather, or Thor Bonecrusher. Sometimes he’s intentionally trying to hit on someone and overdoes it (Astrid) and sometimes he’s unaware he’s sapping on them (TB). In the case of Valka, it comes across as the latter, where he might not be fully aware of how hard he’s hitting, and he might not even be intending it as romantic - though everyone else can see his obsequious actions and laugh at it for coming across as it does. He’s gone through literally everyone else, and lots of people are taken… the next attempt is to kiss up to Valka.

As far as the age gap is concerned… it’s of course weird because she’s Hiccup’s mother. It’s also something people can feel “creepy” because of how distantly-aged relationships can go. For instance, women can feel threatened by old, predatory men - it’s a real, disturbing societal issue. I’ve had to maneuver out of shit like that myself. One-sided attraction with an age gap can be terrifying. Also, romantic relationships with a large age gap can be toxic, in which the older individual controls the younger and takes advantage of the maturity difference. I don’t deny there can be problematic elements in age gaps.

At the same time, I don’t like to reduce the concept of age gap = automatically creepy. I do know several married couples with extremely large age gaps who work as strong, mature, happy, healthy mutuals. Their relationships are balanced. It’s a pure and good romance. One of the couples I respect most in my childhood church, as both of them were wise individuals… I think the wife was 20 years older than her husband. That was a POWER couple. There’s nothing inherently wrong with an age gap in a relationship, be it platonic or otherwise - it’s just that there can be more dangers when you go certain routes. Ergo, it can be a sensitive topic, especially when played for laughs in film. But for me, seeing an age gap doesn’t ping my radar as “automatically creepy” because I know that age =/= bad relationship.

For people who’ve had bad experiences in this realm, though, I could especially understand this as feeling uncomfortable, and I see this with sensitivity. Again, it’s not a bad thing to question its inclusion in the film. I liked it, but we can talk things like representation, sensitivity, etc. - and make sure we’re thinking about everyone as we do so.

So I get you! I can see why that bothers you. It didn’t bother me, and this is why, but yeah I get it!

#httyd 3 spoilers #httyd 3 #httyd3 #How to Train Your Dragon 3 #THW spoilers #The Hidden World #Snotlout #Valka #Snalka #?????#Valklout #??????#analysis #my analysis #ask #ask me #bluestarsaber

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