#it's a commentary on a trend as a whole

[necrotic-nephilim]

this is not a ship post, but something that frustrates me a lot in fanon concerning Jason Todd that attempts to soften Jason's return to Gotham for the sake of found family domesticity or easy hurt/comfort or just sliding him into the Batfam sooner, is they all seem to fundamentally misunderstand Jason.

because there seem to be a lot of fandom popular concepts of Jason coming home much sooner and just not having his whole Under The Red Hood arc. which in theory is fine and i can see the want to simplify canon to make room for your lighthearted more fluff-leaning concepts. but in everyone without fail, the way they address the clown-shaped elephant in the room is by having some throwaway line that "oh Jason quietly kills the Joker and moves on".

when the Joker being dead or alive is not the *point*. if by some chance accident, the Joker had died prior to Jason's return, whether by ridiculous freak accident, getting whacked by a fellow villain, hell even someone actually doing so to avenge Jason, it *would not* satiate Jason's anger. because Jason's end goal in UtRH is not to simply kill the Joker: it is to make *Bruce* kill the Joker. Jason's anger is directed to the idea that to Jason, if Bruce truly loved Jason, he would've killed the Joker. that is love, for Jason. compromising your personal values for love and not letting someone go unavenged. when Jason was Robin, almost every angry or misguided thing he did was born of love. he wanted to kill/hurt Two-Face because he believed Dent killed his father. he was so angry at Felipe because an innocent woman was dead due to that man's actions. he wanted to save his mother in a situation he knew he shouldn't be in because he loved her. his anger, his violence, it is driven by love and feelings of righting wrongs. that is how he thinks wrongs *should* be righted. that is how you avenge and *love* someone.

because so long as Jason's return to Gotham doesn't end in Bruce killing the Joker (which, it never will bc Bruce is Bruce), Jason will never forgive Bruce. you cannot wave away the layers of hurt and complicated trauma by killing Joker offscreen. because Jason will still be angry that Bruce didn't avenge him. in his eyes, that means Bruce did not love him enough. he was not truly loved by Bruce the way he loved Bruce. bc Bruce was Jason's whole *world*. prior to being taken in, Dick and Tim, they had support systems. they had loved ones. they knew what stability and healthy family love looked like. Jason *didn't*. and that's not to say that Catherine Todd did not love him with her whole heart and thus he loved her, but it certainly wasn't a stable and safe support system for Jason to grow up in. Bruce was Jason's first real sense of a stable, healthy life. and so of course Jason poured everything into Bruce and loved Bruce so devoutly. Bruce was his world. like he says, if it had been Bruce, Jason would've stopped at nothing.

so his betrayal is rooted in that he was not avenged, not that Joker is alive. so long as the Joker does not die by Bruce's hands, it will never be enough for Jason. (in this era, at least.) notably, this is also why i don't think it would change a thing if Jason knew the whole "oh Bruce wanted to kill the Joker but Superman stopped him" tidbit that fanon has really latched onto as a way to pacify Jason's anger toward Bruce. Jason knowing that wouldn't change a thing, in my opinion. because Jason knows Bruce. and a tenant of Bruce's character is that he grapples with murder *every day*. the whole point is how *easy* it would be for him. he is a human weapon, trained by killers, trained to be deadly. he is the greatest strategist to exist. he knows he could kill someone and get away with it. *no* trace, no proof, nothing. and he knows he *wants* to. wants to kill the Joker, Joe Chill, anyone who's hurt him that viscerally.

but he *doesn't*. that's the point. Bruce wakes up every day with that question on his mind, and every day the answer is the same. Bruce's morality is not a decision he made in an alleyway when his parents died, it's a decision he continues to make every day and he *must* continue to make in order to remain who he is. Jason is quite familiar with the fact that Bruce grapples with this daily. i do not think it surprised nor fazed Jason to know that Bruce did *consider* killing the Joker. that he wanted to. maybe even planned to. but a consideration, a want, a plan, is just a thought. it's nothing substantial, and substance is everything to Jason. at the end of the day, Bruce didn't. he was talked down by *Clark* of all people with an excuse of diplomatic immunity, as if Jason and Bruce don't both know that Bruce could've *easily* found a way to make it look like an accident or some other loophole. because he's Batman. there's always a loophole. he always finds a way when he actually intends to. but he never actually intended to kill the Joker. so he didn't. and Jason would know that there was never an intent. it's an interesting piece of fodder to add to the nuance of Jason and Bruce, but honestly, i think it'd make Jason angrier to have that excuse thrown in his face. as if Bruce hasn't beaten Clark half a dozen times by now. it's a flimsy nonsense excuse that Jason would rip to shreds.

so while yes, i understand the wish for easy lighthearted fanfic that doesn't have to deal with the nuances of canon, i think that Jason's character will always be so deeply robbed and altered if you try to fix his thirst for vengeance with an off-page killing of Joker at Jason's hands. it was never the point. the point was that -in his own eyes- he wasn't loved enough for Bruce to make an acception. he realized that not even his *death* would come before Bruce's Mission. Jason truly believed that Bruce loved him and held him as the most important thing in the world, and now he has proof that Bruce didn't. because the Mission mattered more.

i'm not saying i have a solution to this conundrum if you're attempting to solve it for fanfic/fanon, nor am i even saying it's a bad thing it exists. i just think it becoming overwhelmingly common has led to misunderstandings surrounding Jason's motivations and feelings about this arc and it's an unsatisfying solution that only seeks to pacify Jason's rage and his trauma responses for the sake of found family-ification.

[kithj]

some stories are written precisely to elicit strong emotions from the reader INCLUDING negative ones. some stories and characters are meant to be upsetting, they are meant to challenge you and make you uncomfortable!! when a story makes you feel Big Feelings sometimes you are meant to sit in those feelings and ask yourself why! fiction is a great space to explore these emotions in a safe environment. you, as the reader, are meant to think critically about the art you are enjoying and that includes asking yourself questions like why has the author presented their art in this way and what are they trying to tell me. and then you get to have fun picking it apart and figuring it out and deciding what, exactly, the art means to you.

[lizard-dumbass]

watching Squid Game in 2024 and remembering that it is in fact a genuinely good show

[angorwhosebabyisthis]

[personal stuff, abuse apologia, abuse and child abuse mention]

i know people probably roll their eyes sometimes when they see me talk Very Passionately(tm) about how Goofy Mascot Characters are handled in fiction, because 'it's a kid's show moogle it's not that deep, find real media to criticize 🙄'

and like. it'd be worth talking about this even if i didn't feel strongly about it thanks to personal experience. but man, let me tell you, as a little kid going through what was happening to me back then, disney villain minions and the like in the media i was watching at the time fucked me up.

[animutate]

crazy to me how everyone misinterprets the gothpunks except for me btw and i dont even like them im just an autist.

[the-composer]

“It’s not the time to piss me off right now. I am not above blasting that spanish speaking Pikaman ad from 104 for the entirety of a Game week.”

[blindtaleteller]

I agree with pretty much every word of this; though as someone who is an actual Loki fan.. and maybe to help give you an idea why this is repeatedly becoming a thing on more than your fic..

It's pretty likely that individual is a series fan, rather than an actual Loki fan. And there is, a very vast and documented difference; scientifically and otherwise.

The fandom in that Thor/Loki corner split as far back as Gagnarok being spat out as a clearly declared retcon of all films prior (including Avengers 2012, TDW, and yes Thor 2011 too) for both main characters, Bruce Banner, and a very poorly mishandling of Valkyrie's introduction as an unapologetic slave trader that; was never fixed or resolved in any way, shape or form: and instead lauded and made much worse between gen fans and the creators that followed in Taika's footsteps to do so.

As a result? The current "Loki" character in the MCU, has been turned into a literal meme of his former self: just as a start.. and the Loki fandom is split between actual fans who know and recognize that, and the anti-fans that the show was aimed to keep after taking our money, along with theirs.

So.. sorry you have to deal with that kind of snide comment; especially in a fic very clearly tagged as being in the Barnes/CA fandom (I adore the complexity and consistency of his character even pre-IW myself and agree the cap&rogers story got left on the floor with EG's crappy end production calls in particular.. ugh) but yeah.. with how some of the pro-series goons are especially, I do feel have to point out that their user name and claim being a Loki fan especially under this context is a pretty big red flag that they're -that- sort of "fan" who not only agree with the very similar narrative presented in the mislabeled 'Loki' titled series?

But obviously has no issues not thinking about what they did see in that series or the blatant on screen glorification of abuse, torture, and lack of accountability for any of that in that dumpster fire they slapped the character's name on to draw in viewers. Never mind apply facts over bullshit anywhere else.

Actual MCU Loki fans do still exist, especially around here on tumblr; but I can tell you that ao3 user very likely is NOT one of them.

"Loki" Series fans (or Bob: the Accountant as I often call it and some refer to it as the Larry Show if those examples tell you anything about how little current canon: including the insane take on what 'narcissism' and 'self-centered' is probably coming from) are for the most part a particularly toxic breed of pretenders in my experience.

Again, sorry you had to go through that; and the likelihood of that toxicity being spread and bleeding over into your fandom as a result of the BS Loki fans have been dealing with for 5+ years.

Believe me, actual fans of Loki as an MCU character (and Thor too for that matter) are just as annoyed, frustrated, exasperated, and irritated at things like this as you might be and probably are.

This rather unpleasant comment turned up on my recent meta and I don’t want to start a fight (with a guest account, no less) on AO3, so uh, sorry Tumblr mutuals, here's my 1000 word rant.

Like okay, maybe my writing sucked and gave you that impression. The whole point of that meta was to tease out why he said the "I'm invisible, I'm turning into you" line despite it seeming out of character. And the reason it felt jarring was because we don't expect Bucky to be someone who says that. As opposed to, say, Tony-Manchurian-Candidate-Stark.

Disregarding why you thought it appropriate to leave a comment bashing Bucky when the story has "Bucky Barnes" tagged all over it, and why you'd conclude he's self-centered when he spent my entire meta worrying more about Steve's safety than he did his own, how do you watch the movies and not see that Bucky is one of the least self-focused people in MCU canon?

During much of his very limited screen time he's either being forced into certain actions or has absolutely no autonomy, but the few times he's had the ability to choose, he's never centered himself in that choice.

Here's 15 instances Bucky put himself last. Because I'm that annoyed.

1) He waded in to fish Steve out of the back alley and fought off the bully, and it's suggested that this happens frequently -- like, are we just going to dismiss this because Bucky is bigger than Steve? There are plenty of people who would have stood back or would have waited until help arrived, by which stage Steve would be in hospital.

2) He spends his last night before shipping out setting Steve up with a date, then half of that double date chasing after Steve and arguing with him because he was worried that Steve would either get arrested or successfully enlist and get killed. He didn't ask Steve to make this night about him, while a more entitled person would have because it was his farewell and not Steve's.

3) His first words to Steve when Steve untied him from the gurney was to ask Steve "Did it (getting the serum) hurt?" Even when he was the one barely able to walk.

4) "No, not without you!" even when the factory was exploding around them.

5) Despite being captured, tortured and experimented on, he didn't even hesitate when Steve asked him if he was going to be part of the team. I even covered this in my meta, he's tired and he's disillusioned and he just wants to get away from the war, but he doesn't because Steve asked.

6) He picks up the shield when Steve was down and moves/shoots to draw the Hydra agent's attention away from Steve and towards himself, which results in him being blasted out of the train.

7) He offered to move in with Steve despite the stigma around tuberculosis (and being poor and Irish and sickly) at the time.

8) The line that made Bucky break out of 70 years of brainwashing. It wasn't when Steve called him Bucky, it wasn't when Steve said "Your name is James Bucky Barnes", it wasn't when Steve said "You're my friend". It was only when Steve said, "I'm with you til the end of the line" because that was the oath of companionship and service that Bucky had made to Steve. The line wasn't about Bucky, but about what Bucky had promised to do for Steve. Like. This alone should prove my point.

9) He pulled Steve out of the water holding onto Steve with his one good hand while his other arm was broken (how did he even swim), even though he knew every moment wasted would put him in danger of being killed or captured, even though for him everyone was now an enemy. Despite all this, he pulled Steve out of the water and waited to see that he was breathing before he left.

10) Faced with an entire kill squad in Bucharest, Bucky still stuck to his rule of trying not to kill anyone.

11) His first words when he came out of Zemo's control was a horrified, "What did I do?" Instead of, you know, self-centeredly focusing on how horrified and upset he deserved to be that he had his autonomy ripped away again just when he thought he had been safe for two years.

12) He willingly went back to Siberia with Steve to stop the other super soldiers, despite it being the place where he was held, tortured and mind-wiped, and despite it being the place where he was made into a training puppet for the other soldiers.

13) Even injured and with his arm severed, Bucky grabbed onto Tony's foot to stop Tony from blasting Steve in the chest.

14) Bucky choosing to go back into cryo because he's afraid someone else with the Code Words will use him to hurt people.

15) Despite being in retirement, he took one look at the vibranium arm and all he said was "Where's the battle?"

I'm stopping here because I refuse to recognise EG!Steve and I also have trouble accepting TFATWS!Bucky's arc as canon.

Like, I know MCU writers are pathetic at sympathy, but I never expected the same from someone purporting to be Loki's fan, of all people. To call Bucky's singular snide remark "pity party"? Bucky did not, for the entire CATFA, complain about his 2-3 years of war experience (and if you haven't been at the frontline then please don't even attempt to belittle how horrific it had been), nor did he complain about the forced labour they had been put through in Azzano or the experiments Zola did to him on that gurney. Bucky also did not, at any point after CATWS, talk about the horrific experiences he went through under Hydra, nor did he ever ask anyone to give their attention to his pain or his trauma. His "I'm turning into you" remark is literally the closest he came to making it a "what about me" moment, and my meta was about why he emotionally came to that breaking point. Not once since that moment did movie!Bucky ever try to take a moment and turn it into something about himself.

And just to finish off, acting in self-interest is normal human behaviour on the spectrum of self-preservation, but that isn't even the pattern for Bucky. Bucky has always focused his choices on making life easier or better or more right for Steve. Bucky is not self-centered, but he is most definitely Steve-centered, and on that point I will accept no objections.

[absolutebl]

2024 BL - Top 10 Trend Report

In last year's trend report I said:

"I think Taiwan has the chops to give us something as good as The 8th Sense or Old Fashion Cupcake but in their style, and I would like to see them exercise their talent for good rather than just profit."

And Unknown happened.

I asked for it, they gave it to me. I could not be more happy. So anyway, I just wanted to crow a bit.

And now...

2024's TRENDS!

1 Trope Subversion Levels Up

My Stand In went so far as to subvert the whole damn romance genre. But in general we saw a lot of BL recognizing, highlighting and calling out it's own absurdities and tropes. From Korea commenting on the Dead Fish Kiss to Wandee Gooodday actually promoting green flag behavior (the real deal).

It was an interesting year for meta commentary, it kind of whole scale left parody behind (say goodbye, Japan) and entered almost every BL from Thailand, even the ones who should have left it alone. (Side eyes Mame.)

2 Old Tropes Revisited

Unknown revisited the step-brother trope (as did Addicted Heroin of course). But there were other old ones we haven't seen in ages, like kidnapping for love, kissing on rooftops, and all the dub con (Blossom). Love Sick rebooted with very little modernization (except where it counted) right up to and including no kisses. Mix Up even did "trapped on the rooftop" which I haven't seen in over a decade.

And then Wimpy dropped. And it felt like I was reading yaoi in my tiny attic bedroom in the 90s.

3 BL Enters All the Workplaces

I love how many adult leads and sides we are getting, even from Thailand. By which I mean, BL outside of a school setting. We still have high school and university set stuff, but that used to be ALL we got. I don't mind school settings, but I like that we have some kind of balance going on these days.

We are starting to get not just cubicles and offices (as Japan foretold) but all kinds of workplaces from retail to authors to the film industry.

4 BL Passes the Sniff Test

He smells good has always been a trope that I love. It was one of my favorite things about Bad Buddy. But this year it felt like every third BL trotted this one out. I was delighted by it. Of course I was. But it happened A LOT.

Century of Love was a key use of it since smell is so coupled to memory, I thought they dealt with it particularly well. But even Japan and Korea deployed the sniff test.

(Seoul Blues)

(Blue Boys) Same actors, different characters.

Pitt Babe

Century of Love

Meet You at the Blossom

Soul Blues

Blue Boys

Dangerous Romance

This Love Doesn't Have Long Beans

Cosmetic Playlover

Sunset X Vibes

Monster Next Door

Secret Love

Perfect 10 Liners (technically a 2025 show, but the sniff happened in 2024)

5 Fewer Shipper Characters within BL

Negative trends are always harder to call (it's easier to track the presence of something over the absence) but I'm still calling this one.

In a discussion of The Shipper @heretherebedork and I got into a discussion about this. It really seems like both we are getting less "female shipper" characters and/or they are evolving into overly interested but very supportive female friends instead. Softening, if you will.

I think partly this is because there has been a general decline in this archetype in yaoi over the past 5-10 years, but also they tend to incur pretty bad reactions in fans, and Thailand (especially) tends to pay attention to that kind of thing.

Unfortunately this also means we are seeing a worsening of the "no female representation at all" backbone of BL. We Are, which I loved, didn't have a single female character. Not even a throw away.

6 The rise of the green flag seme!

The seme (active attacker in the relationship) got a lot of green flag action this year. We saw lots of Dommy boys, Daddy types, and players asking for permission, trying to communicate, talking about safe sex. Particularly out of Thailand.

To make sure this is clear, green flag means he communicates about the relationship and sex, takes no for an answer, asks for permission for (almost) everything, and doesn't do things like (just spitballing here) take a hotel room key and go into the other mans private room when he's not around (or asleep). Okay? Christ on a cracker. (When it comes to flags Mame has red/green colorblindness.)

Some examples:

Alan from Pit Babe

God from Monster Next Door (except for the one journal reading incident)

Sun from Sunset X Vibes (almost too far)

Yak from Wandee Goodday

Latte from Knock Knock Boys

7 Japan Came to PLAY

Japan came to play and will not leave the field that they built. I may not always like JBL, but when I love it, I REALLY LOVE IT, and when it hits it hit hard (pain or joy). And even when I don't like it, it always gives me a lot to think about.

We had 19 JBLs in 2024:

Sahara-sensei to Toki-kun

At 25:00, in Alaska

Dominant Yakuza and Wimpy Corporate Slave

I Became the Main Role of a BL

Love in the Air: Koi no Yokan

Takara's Treasure

Although I Love You and You

I Hear the Sunspot

Living With Him

Love is Better the Second Time Around

Love is Like a Poison

Perfect Propose

Cosmetic Playlover

Sugar Dog Life

0.5D

Let's Eat Together Aki and Haru 2

Mitsuya-sensei no keimakutekina ezuke

Happy of the End

Ossans Love Season 2

Japan had 18 total BLs in 2023.

17-15 in 2022 (a couple I couldn't get hold of and a couple I just don't think are BL, so 2022 is vague).

7 in 2021. <- THAT was when the big jump occurred, 3 years ago. Which might have more to do with the pandemic than anything else.

But back to now: 19 in 2024 means they are actually just increasing their production gradually and in a steady way, as might be expected. In round numbers we didn't see anything unusual.

BUT

The series they've been airing in 2024 are running longer (for them) and being aired over longer periods of time. Not to mention getting better and quicker distribution.

By which I mean, Japan used to have more shorts and movies, less actual series with full run times (by their & Korea's BL industry length standard) on streaming platforms. So I think it's JBL runtime and distribution that is experiencing real growth. And the consistency of that runtime.

In other words, it feels like there are more JBL airing because we have access to most of them (for a change) and they're running long enough to cross into each other (which has been rare in the past).

What's almost more interesting to me is...

8 What the hell happened, Korea?

Korea cut back on their BLs in 2024. I am not sure if that's money drying up, a crack down within the industry over there, the political situation, or something else.

Still, it was wild to see such a stark fall off in production. They had 18 BLs in 2024 but fully half of them were shorts, and more than half were poor production quality than is prior standard. By contrast they had 21 in 2023, but only 1 was a short, and most were very high production (getting 8/10 or higher from me).

Since Korea tends to produce some of my favorite shows, it's no surprise I had no 10/10 BLs at all in 2024 with so little KBL's stepping up to the plate.

I sure hope this isn't a trend but it feels like it might be.

9 Why the hell is the not-kiss back?

Korea doubled down on being a pain in 2024 by bringing back the "they don't actually touch lips and we pretend they did by panning around the back of the head" with the camera. (Jazz for 2 sides, example. Yes, I'm still mad.)

Then Thailand did the with Addicted Heroin. AND with Love Sick.

What is this, 2016?

Color me annoyed. I thought we saw the last of that nonsense with Make It Right.

I remind you all, if they would kiss if they het but they don't kiss when they gay, it smacks of a phobia and I'm salty about it.

Yes yes, there are actor (idol, age) excuses in play. But they should cast differently if this is going to be a problem.

End of discussion.

No really, I don't wanna talk about it. I just want it to go away.

10 The rise of Great Grandmas

We have had cool grandmas before in BL but in 2024 we had so many of them. The Sign, Love for Love’s Sake, Monster Next Door, Jack & Joker, Every You Every Me, The Rebound, Wandee Goodday.

(thanks to @small-dark-and-delicious for bringing this one to my attention)

See the comments for additional discussion of the "why" behind some of these trends as well as a few I missed.

(source)

2023's Trends report here.

[relaxxattack]

okay so i don't want to particularly call out these kinds of headcanons as bad. but they highlight a specific fandom trend ive seen for ages so here goes:

the extended zodiac is not alternian canon, nor zodiac.

i know that's brash for a lighthearted official personality quiz. but i've seen this zodiac presented frequently as the End All of trollsigns -- even claims that all trolls MUST derive from these 288. this is a complete misrepresentation of original canon.

first, obviously, the notion that your personality is determined by your caste is literally just what troll racism is, so the canocity of this test claims racism as truth. second of all, the traits are not even accurate to the trolls we DO see in canon- they're pulled from western zodiac.

the zodiac's also determined by lunar sway; nonsense because alternian trolls don't have lunar sway. it's a "moon a sburb player dreams on", and none of these trolls are sburb players. (i also feel like this should go for aspects, though that is a more controversial opinion)

so yeah, the extended zodiac is inaccurate and purely just fandom sburb personality-type nonsense. but does that really make it noncanon? plenty of stuff on alternia is nonsense.

except... homestuck trolls don't believe that signs are a zodiac that determine their personality.

not only is the idea of signs being related to some sort of personality zodiac never once mentioned by a troll, but the signs are frequently tied to other things that have nothing to do with personality. kanaya equivalents trollsigns to signatures, and later vriska explains the concept to john as being similar to a family crest, bemoaning that trolls have to do much more searching for clues or their ancestry than humans do. cronus also refers to his sign as his signature.

virska does use the phrasing that trolls who have the same sign "have a lot in common", but she also does this explicitly in the context of explaining to john how troll ancestry works, as hussie further notes in the commentary of that page that signs are included in physical/genetic characteristics trolls look to for ancestry clues. even hiveswap, which wants you to believe in the zodiac, concludes that signs are specific to troll surnames and that there are signs outside of it. multiple trolls in homestuck have signs that do not appear in the extended zodiac.

the extended zodiac quiz ≠ the alternian sign alphabet.

alternians wouldn't know what aspects or lunar sways are, nor have personalities equivilant to their signs (feferi and meenah are right there). deciding that trollsigns = personality test is a purely human concept that comes from our western zodiac.

but you know what alternians DO have?

THEY HAD THEIR OWN FUCKING CONSTELLATIONS AND ZODIAC. FROM THEIR OWN CREATORS. THIS WHOLE TIME.

where are the headcanons about troll's placements on THAT zodiac?

[thatlotuscookie]

Hihi!! I got a silly lil request if u wanna write it =3

Soooo since Kenma from Haikyuu is prob very rich in timeskip, would u consider writing something where y/n is like “Hey honey I want Burger King” and Kenma misunderstands and buys the whole BK company and y/n has to make Kenma return it XD(bonus if the internet finds out and memes it or something)

✧･ﾟ: a/n: : Kenma’s lowkey chaos energy combined with his wealth and your grounded perspective made this such a fun dynamic to write. I hope you enjoy<3 thank you for the req

✧ Title: ✧ Burger King of My Heart ✧ ✧ Characters: Kenma Kozume x Reader (Gender Neutral) ✧ Genre: Humor, Fluff, Established Relationship ✧ Rating: G ✧ Summary: When you casually ask Kenma for Burger King, you never imagined he’d take it literally—and buy the entire franchise. ✧ Content/Tags: Kenma Being Kenma, Rich Boy Hijinks, Social Media Memes, Established Relationship, Reader in Disbelief, Humor with a Dash of Fluff ✧ WC: 713 words // 4.1k chars

Life with Kenma Kozume was anything but ordinary. Between his highly successful gaming company and the residual fame from his pro volleyball days, he had wealth, influence, and a surprisingly practical approach to everything—well, usually.

Today, however, was shaping up to be one for the books.

You were lounging on the couch in Kenma’s sleek, minimalist apartment. The floor-to-ceiling windows framed a perfect view of the city skyline, but your attention was squarely on your grumbling stomach.

Kenma was stationed at his gaming setup nearby, wearing noise-canceling headphones and entirely focused on whatever strategy game he was playing. You admired how cute he looked when he was concentrating, but hunger had made you restless.

“Kenmaaaa,” you called, dragging his name out dramatically.

“Hm?” he mumbled, not taking his eyes off the screen.

“I want BK,” you said, your words tumbling out lazily.

Kenma finally glanced over his shoulder, his golden eyes meeting yours. “BK?”

“Yeah, Burger King,” you clarified. “I’m starving. I need greasy fries and a Whopper, stat.”

He nodded once, a small, thoughtful “hm” escaping his lips before he turned back to his game. You figured he’d order delivery or suggest driving out to grab food later.

But Kenma Kozume, former volleyball star turned tech genius, never did things the way anyone else would.

About two hours later, Kenma wandered back into the living room, phone in hand. You’d half-dozed off in your hunger-induced haze, but his calm voice brought you back to reality.

“So, it’s done,” he said.

“Huh?” You blinked, sitting up. “What’s done?”

“I bought it.”

Your brain, still foggy from your nap, struggled to catch up. “Bought what?”

“BK,” he said matter-of-factly.

It took a solid five seconds for his words to register. “Wait. You mean... like the food? Where’s the food?”

Kenma tilted his head slightly, confused by your confusion. “No, the company. Burger King. You said you wanted it.”

The room went silent as you stared at him in disbelief.

“Kenma.”

“Yes?”

“You bought the entire company?”

“Yeah,” he said, as if it were the most logical solution in the world. “It wasn’t that expensive, all things considered.”

You gawked at him, your jaw practically hitting the floor. “I meant I wanted a burger and fries, not to own Burger King!”

Kenma blinked. “Oh. I thought you meant you wanted BK, as in... all of it.”

Your hands flew to your head. “Kenma, do you know how insane that is? You can’t just—wait, does the internet know about this?”

Almost as if on cue, your phone buzzed with a series of notifications. Grabbing it, you saw that #KenmaBuysBK was trending. Social media was already ablaze with memes and commentary.

One post read: “Imagine being rich enough to solve hunger by buying an entire fast-food chain. Kenma Kozume, everybody.”

Another had a photo of Kenma with the caption: “Me: I want fries. Kenma: Here’s your kingdom, Burger Queen.”

You groaned, scrolling through the chaos. “Kenma, this is everywhere!”

He shrugged, his calm demeanor unshaken. “People were going to find out eventually.”

“Kenma, you have to return it.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t need to own Burger King! I just wanted food!”

Kenma sighed, pulling out his phone. “Fine. I’ll call my financial advisor.”

By the next day, Kenma had quietly backed out of the purchase, but the internet wasn’t ready to let the incident go. Memes flooded every platform, and even major news outlets picked up the story.

When you arrived at Kenma’s office later to bring him lunch, his coworkers couldn’t resist teasing you. One of them grinned and said, “So, Burger Queen, what’s for lunch today?”

You rolled your eyes, but even you had to laugh at the absurdity of it all. Kenma, as unbothered as ever, simply handed you a small bag when you walked into his office.

“What’s this?” you asked, peeking inside.

“Burger King,” he said with the faintest hint of a smirk.

You burst out laughing, shaking your head. “You’re unbelievable, you know that?”

Kenma leaned down, pressing a soft kiss to your temple. “I just wanted to make you happy.”

Despite everything, you couldn’t help but feel incredibly lucky. Because in his own unique, overly extravagant way, Kenma always found a way to show you just how much he cared.

[nkjemisin]

Hello NK Jemisin! I'm a huge fan of yours, and I wanted to thank you for writing all of the books you've written, and doing all that you do. You're really awesome and you are doing important work! :) I had a long question, if you have time to answer! What's your commentary on creating fantasy cultures, using real ones as inspiration? You've done this before in your stories, and I wanted to know if you had any guidance on doing it well. I'm writing my first novel right now (fantasy!) and am dealing with a surprising amount of guilt regarding using real cultures as a basis for my fake ones. On one hand, I want to create a really unique fantasy world, not the bog-standard European stuff. It's not only more interesting to me, but I also admittedly want to use my story to help introduce people to concepts that might be helpful in the real world, help readers understand what these real people go through and perhaps inspire change. On the OTHER hand, I don't know if it's 'my place' to do so (I'm Black btw, but I'm not just writing about Black-coded fantasy characters). And I'm worried about representing people in a harmful way, even if it's by accident. I'm even hung up about names! Should I use names from real languages related to the cultures I'm inspired by, or should I just make them up to emphasize that, while yes these people are clearly inspired by real cultures, they are ultimately *their own* thing. I'm really conflicted on this and am hoping you can offer some feedback and/or commentary. Sorry for the long ask. Either way, have a great day and I look forward to whatever work you do next!

If I can rephrase what you're saying here, it sounds like you're concerned about cultural appropriation -- specifically, which cultures you get to "borrow from" and "remix," how much remixing you can do before you've done damage, how to depict people from cultural backgrounds other than your own, etc.

If that's what you're asking, then there are whole schools of thought on how to "appropriate appropriately." A lot of thinking on this has evolved in the past few years, for good and for ill; Own Voices, for example. (The short version: the Own Voices hashtag movement started as a grassroots attempt to get marginalized voices telling the stories of their own cultures, because there's been a nasty trend of only white/Western/Anglophone/etc. authors publishing books about those cultures. The problem? Some publishers and readers started acting as if marginalized writers weren't allowed to do anything but stories in their own cultures -- a restriction, instead of an inclusion/correction. Worse, publishers, etc started using it as a marketing shorthand, in ways that were just... not good. They made it weird, basically.) But I'm still fond of the approach that's in Writing the Other, by Nisi Shawl and Cynthia Ward. It's centered on ethnicity/race, but a lot of its approach can be extrapolated to culture. There's too much good stuff in this book to summarize it easily, but you should read it instead of a summary anyway -- it's short.

I don't see the point of guilt, when it comes to something like this. Guilt is what you feel when you've done something wrong, and admiring another culture enough to want to tell a story featuring it isn't wrong. However, there are things you need to do -- research, conversations, considerations of power dynamics -- to reduce the harm you might end up doing by telling that story as an outsider. And note that no matter what you do, though, you might still end up doing harm. (Even people writing about their own culture can end up doing that.) If you fuck up, apologize, figure out what went wrong, and try to do better next time. That's really all you can do.

And then write whatever the hell you want. There's a persistent pressure on Black writers to only cover certain subjects, certain settings; nah. We get to have range, too. You've just got to put in the work to do it well.

Good luck.

[eyesteeth]

if they make a modern version of the truman show i think it would be fun if it wasn’t a remake (doomed to fail at capturing the very specific style of the original) but instead was treated like an in-universe reboot that’s been updated for the modern era. other fun stuff could happen such as

fandom commentary: conflating real people with the roles they play, parasociality, etc. there was tackling of that in the original with the people sneaking onto set, but i think it could be modernized for fun. a popular youtuber is allowed to film a vlog on the set and almost gives away the act. people form theories about the “truman” online and then other people go “okay but this is a real guy. you’re theorizing about a real guy’s life. what is wrong with you” and absolutely wild internet drama goes down.

queer characters as commentary. perhaps an in-show character is queer but barely present, and it forms a commentary on tokenism. or an actor character is queer playing a non-queer role and it’s a commentary on censorship. maybe even the “truman” of the show is queer and it causes the studio executives to flip because they can’t have america’s new darling be an icky queer!! no way!! (personally i think trans woman “truman” would fucking rule. such a rich soup of potential there) (there is no fucking way an american movie company would let this happen btw. but it would be cool)

media commentary in general. this would also trend close to og i think because of Hollywood still being suspicious as hell, but it’s still a fun space to play in. “Fifty Years Ago, A Man Was Born On Television. Today, They’re Doing It Again”. a whole media circus about whether or not it’s ethical. protests and boycotts but the showrunners are so overwhelmingly rich that the show stays on the air.

probably too niche but comparisons to “influencer families” could be made i think. putting a child in front of a camera since birth and all the issues that come with that. the surveillance state hell we all live in with a smaller media hell panopticon that’s less universal

it would likely have a bleaker ending though. technology has improved since the original truman show. he got out. he was never meant to get out. this new truman won’t get out. not as long as the show is running. honestly it would be funny if the ending was like. show got cancelled. and they let “truman” out into the world, completely unprepared. but they’d make their way, somehow. they have to.

granted if they do end up doing a truman show reboot it would probably be, fucking awful. but if it was handled by someone who actually gets that it’s a horror movie and not a comedy, i think it could be something special.

now let’s all hope i didn’t speak the most soul-sucking hollywood-missed-the-point movie of all time into being

[gladstones-corner]

On Tarot Reading Methods

Recently, I’ve seen some posts regarding how tarot “should” be read—especially for beginners. I want to clear the air: I find such posts reductive and limiting. There is no wrong answer for reading tarot. Some prefer larger spreads to read patterns and trends; other prefer smaller spreads to be more intimate with each card.

While this blog typically covers forging your own path from an intermediate to advanced standpoint, it’s worth revisiting the basics with a trained eye from time to time. So, this post will examine two competing approaches towards tarot: the card based and pattern based methods.

Before anything else, I want to say one more thing. These approaches form two ends of a spectrum. When beginners start reading tarot, they typically pick one of two camps. After some time, though, readers should move towards the center of the spectrum until they find their particular balance.

Therefore, this post does not claim that one is better than the other—it is simply a comparison of methods. Choosing one happens at your discretion.

One last note before we get started: this commentary applies primarily to the following tarot decks and their major derivatives:

Golden Dawn Ritual Tarot

Thoth Tarot

Hermetic Tarot

Builders of the Adytum Tarot

Rider Waite Smith Tarot

Decks such as The Wildwood Tarot, which are based on their own system of correspondences, should have at least a surface level interpretation of them in the accompanying handbook. From there, you can apply some of this commentary—but primarily I’ll be speaking from within my tradition in this post.

Okay, with all that out of the way, let’s get started.

Card Based Reading

In this method, the querent asks their question, then looks at each card in isolation before comparing the picture as a whole. Many who do this believe that each card’s depth offers a full answer on its own. This can be a convincing argument, given how many associations a single card can have:

Visual description

Motifs

General interpretation

Specific interpretation (consciousness, relationships, etc.)

Associated archetypes

Numbers

Correlations to other divination systems

Astrological correspondences

Deities and mythologies

Honored days

Stones, herbs, and natural phenomena

And so forth.

Of course, the drawback is that it is easy to get lost in all the interpretations and leave with more questions than answers. However deep you reach, there are still deeper layers. For example, Scorpio’s appearance in the Death card of the Thoth tarot comes with a slew of its own correspondences, which have their own correspondences, and so forth. As a result, those who begin with the card based method tend to favor smaller card spreads, such as single daily pulls and three-card spreads.

Pattern Based Method

Querents in this method ask their question, then rely on the relationship of the cards as a whole as opposed to the deeper meanings of each individual card. Proponents tend to argue that tarot is a fluid act with a flow to it, and as such nothing can be read in a vacuum. This can also be a convincing argument, as it encourages readers to see the forest through the trees for a more complete textual analysis.

However, in focusing on comparison between cards, you can lose some of the deeper meaning. For example, unless multiple cards have astrological symbolism (e.g. Death’s Scorpio and Lust’s Leo), it’s easy to forgo the astrological correspondences of any single card. Thus, deeper layers of connection can go undiscovered. As a result, those who begin with the pattern based method tend to favor larger spreads, such as three-card daily pulls and variations of the Celtic Cross.

Comparing the Two Methods

As previously stated, starting with either of the methods is a matter of personal preference, so long as it doesn’t limit you. Note that three-card spreads are popular among both methods; try reading the same three-card spread with both methods and see which you like more.

Let’s take a look at an example: a three-card spread could be composed of a Body card, Mind card, and Spirit card. Each one explains a facet of the Self that we should be aware of for the proceeding week. Using the Thoth tarot, we get the following:

Body: VIII – Adjustment

Mind: XIV – Art

Spirit: 0 – The Fool

In the single card method, we look at how Adjustment affects our Body, how Art affects our Mind, and how The Fool affects our Spirit. We may find commonalities as a byproduct, but in essence the single question “what do I need to be aware of” has yielded three distinct answers.

We flip through our favorite interpretation book (in my case, The Crowley Tarot by Akron and Hajo Banzhaf) and find all the deep symbolism in each answer. For brevity’s sake, let’s summarize:

Body: take better care of the body through disciplined nutrition, exercise, and sleep.

Mind: find balance of the mind by facing cognitive dissonance and overcoming it.

Spirit: approach life with a sense of newness and openness.

Should we use the pattern based method, we look at all three cards at once. We examine colors, common imagery, even numerical similarity—nothing is off the table. A quick glance at our favorite interpretation book gives us the surface meanings, but beyond that we rely entirely on the imagery present. For brevity’s sake, let’s summarize here as well:

The Self needs a balance of openness and discipline to fully find peace. Where the Body revels in patterns and structure, the Spirit revels in freedom. In the Mind these come together and cause stress. To overcome it, allow both their space.

Either method will net the same broad strokes; the difference is the road taken to get there.

Finding Balance Between the Two

So far, we’ve discussed the merits and drawbacks of each method. We also looked at a sample reading and how to apply each method. That’s all well and good, but how do we find a balance between the two?

The answer is that it depends on your preferences and access to the wider world of correspondences beyond those in your interpretation book. Typically, the answer also depends on the context of the reading as well. I sometimes use a modified spread from The Psychonaut’s Field Manual by Archtraitor Bluefluke. It looks like this:

The core of the question

What could help

What could hinder

The catalyst to the situation

Possible Outcome 1

Possible Outcome 2

Possible Outcome 3

Cards 1-4 use the pattern based method. This allows me to see the trajectory of the situation and how the different factors interact with each other. However, cards 5-7 use the card based method. This is because each outcome is distinct, so to view them concurrently makes little sense.

The main point is to find a balance that works for you. The sheer amount of correspondences for the tarot is so vast that you can play to your strengths. In keeping with the theme of the post, if you’re an astrologer, you can leverage your knowledge of astrological correspondences.

Conclusion

Thank you for reading. I want to stress one more time that neither method is superior to the other. Both are equally valid; both are equally necessary to a full-fledged reading. Finding your particular balance is going to take time and practice, but it’s well worth it.

Until next time, stay safe and stay tuned. Blessed be.

[yenqa]

ADVANTAGES

in which…

on jay’s live, fans point out a stuffed animal on his bed, one that seems to be the other piece to your notorious missing pair. as imaginary pieces start to connect for fans, the viewers beg for some kind of interaction. and though you and jay have never met before, why not use this situation to your advantage?

warnings : crying, panic attacks, depression is depicted but isnt really said, lots of bad self talk, food/eating, having no appetite, just lots of bad mental health talk and depictions, hurt/comfort, god this chapter is PACKED

wc: 1829

i’m sorry that i couldnt be your teenage dream.

not proofread!

☆

It had been a week and a half since you had seen anyone.

Well other than the cashiers at the local grocery store but that made you look even more pathetic. 

You haven’t been well, at all.

It was a horrible sight, honestly you couldn’t even look at yourself in the mirror without cringy. You had no productivity and had planned to do nothing for as long as possible. 

You were surprised your body hasn't exploded yet, since all you had ate was instant ramen or the three meals you could cook total. 

Today was one of the worse-r days. Three hours into the new day but your mind couldn’t seem to sleep one bit.

You had zero appetite, your room was a mess, it was worse that you couldn’t even sleep away the days even though you were so tired. Your eyes were glued shut at night but your body couldn’t stop fighting the feeling of sleep. 

So here you were, eye bags almost able to give the color purple a run for its money, and so puffy it felt like a balloon was stuck in there. But your eyes hadn’t shed any tears, instead you felt like nothing. Like you were just floating around with no purpose or any feeling at all.

The empty feeling in your head made you unable to do anything but scroll on your phone, letting hours after hours pass by rewatching your favorite show at least a billion times. It seemed like the world had gone gray, like the world was ending and you were the only one feeling it.

A part of you screamed at yourself to get a grip, to stop being so dramatic and realize there are still good things in life. 

You tried to get better, you really did. You had researched on how to get over this drought but you never could. So every night you would lay in your bed, trying to figure out what was wrong with you.

Mornings have always been your least favorite part of the day. But it seemed to get worse with every second that passed. 

Realizing you still had a whole day ahead of you seemed utterly impossible to finish, but still you would reach your hand out to the finish line, only to miss every time.

You had six hours until it was the appropriate time to wake up. You couldn’t call anyone for help, you couldn’t text anyone in the middle of the night. It was your burden, so you had to keep it to yourself and hope and pray it washes away over time.

Your phone has been your only sense of livelihood during your dull days. If you had been wasting hours after hours at least you had been doing something. 

Before you could think of the consequences, you had thought of searching yourself on the internet, just for fun. You clicked on the first source, hoping that someone would see your side of the story.

No it was not fun–you wish you could warn yourself because the title of the article read; “All you need to know about Y/niora and why she’s trending”

We’ve all seen the names “Y/n” or “Y/niora” trending on X, who is she? Some might wonder. In this article I’ll be going over everything she’s done wrong, and why fans hate her for it.

Y/n is a popular streamer on twitch, known for her funny commentary and her boyfriend Jay, but recently she’s shown a darker side to her.

Her boyfriend, Jay, is also a twitch streamer, a much more popular one at that. He’s known for his good looks and his random reactions that have us crying with laughter, but why would he date a nobody like her? 

If you’ve seen Y/niora’s X account, you can see that she posts provocative photos of herself, things that only lead to temptations of male fans. Fans speculate this is the reason they met, saying that she seduced him and used him for money, fame, and views.

If you know anything about streaming, you know BlueJay and his friends. Who stole the internet's hearts with their looks and cute personalities. But things start picking up between Jay and Y/n when she posts their matching stuffed animals, officially presenting their relationship to the world.

This seems to be a bad move on Y/n’s part, as her facade starts slipping through and we get to see her for the calloused person she is. 

She continuously shows her disinterest in anything he’s saying. Making him repeat everything he’s said to her. This strikes up the question, does she really care about him or her fans?

Arguments of this exact topic have been trending among fans, some saying

You closed your phone before you could read anything else. Flipping your body over you could feel tears start to form in your eyes, your vision goes blurry and your breath starts hiccuping. 

Wiping your wet cheeks, you start to panic when you feel like your throat is closing up, placing your hand on your chest to try to calm yourself down. 

That clearly doesn’t work. As you swear you can feel the walls closing in beside you. In a last effort to stop your ugly sobs, you open your phone once more, your breath quickens when you open the phone app, calling the person that you need the most right now.

The ringing on your phone shakes you more, “Please answer, please answer, please answer.” You croak out desperately, glancing at your window to realize it’s the middle of the night, and he’s probably getting the nice sleep he deserves. 

Unlike you who only makes things worse, and can’t even get a wink of sleep at night.

You sob harder after the fifth ring, realizing that he’s not going to answer. And you have to do this on your own–

“Y/n? Are you okay?” His voice brings relief to your ears, that’s until you realize the state you’re in. 

“Jay I’m so–so so sorry for calling you this late.” You rasp out, “I just don’t know what’s wrong with me, I can’t stop shaking and crying, I just–fuck” Bringing your hand up, you grab a fist of your hair, not knowing what to do or say.

“Are you at home?”

“Yeah, I am.” You choke through, words barely coherent.

“I’m coming. Stay there, okay?”

“Okay.” 

His tone is so soft it scares you. How could he be talking to you so sweetly knowing the mess you made? How could he be talking to you so sweetly knowing that you are burdening him at such a late hour?

Your throat tries its best to keep your hammering heart inside your chest, but it closes up, your breath is so uneven you're not even sure you’re breathing at all. 

That is until you let out a soft apology into your phone, but it’s covered by your staggered breathing, and the sound of you stuffing up your snot back into your nose.

The silence coming from him is apparently meant to drive you insane. Because the nausea of it all starts to get to you, your condition is crippling so you can’t even move from your curled up position on your bed.

You can hear your door slam open, eliciting a strong flinch from you. 

Your heart seems to be racing too fast for your liking, almost like it’s fighting to get out of your chest. “Jay?” You mutter, as you can see his dark silhouette standing through the doorway. 

Before you can actually decipher if the man is actually Jay or just some random burglar who found your spare key, you feel his arms wrap around your body, tucking your head into the space between his neck and shoulder. 

You conclude that it’s Jay’s warmth you’re feeling right now.

For a second you feel safe, for a second you feel like he’s just hugging you, not because you are literally having a panic attack. 

That snaps you back into reality. God were you really having a panic attack over an article? That you chose to read? 

Feeling your chest tighten and your eyes water up, you tuck your head impossibly deeper, letting your tears and snot get all over his shirt. 

It’s grossing you out how you can physically feel his shirt dampen with your tears, but you’re too focused on figuring out how to breathe rather than the mess you made on his shirt.

“You can let it out, or you can just cry, I don’t mind.”

You sob even harder than you were before.

He’s so warm. He’s so warm. And you have no idea why it’s the perfect descriptor for him. 

“Jay,” You mutter, being muffled by his shoulder, “I’ve ruined everything.”

His arm rubs your back gently, “You haven’t ruined anything, pretty.” He whispers, talking like if he speaks any louder you’ll crack into hundreds of pieces (you actually might but that’s not the point).

“I have! You can’t even deny it without lying,” You hiccup, “I mean—I’m trying so hard, but I can’t do anything right.” You pull your head back to look up at him.

He stays silent, letting his hand cup your face, wiping away any tears that fall down.

“And I’m so tired. I’m so tired of doing everything I can but still being hated for not doing enough. I mean who wouldn’t? I can’t even cook a proper meal, it just goes to show how hopeless I am.”

“Y/n you can’t possibly think about yourself.”

“I can because it’s the truth.”

He tucks your head back into his shoulder, “Y/n, not being able to cook a proper meal is okay. Some people never learn how to cook an egg.”

Your breathing calms down slightly, you let out a small chuckle, trying to stay forever in his warmth.

“I’m sorry for calling you here so late, I know you’re tired from streaming or something.”

“I could never stay away from you for too long, even if it’s in the middle of the night.”

Letting out a breathy smile, you look back at his face, a small smile spreads through his face looking at you.

Your eyes were tired, for the first time in a week your body was tired. “I’m going to go to sleep. Thank you, Jay, seriously.”

He gets up from your position, you feel the absence of his warmth even though he just got up, he’s about to walk out the door when you build up the courage to ask, “Can you stay? Just for tonight?”

Looking back, there's a smile on his face as he replies “Always.”

Walking back to you, he lays himself under your blanket, tucking you in before wrapping his arm around you, he pulls you into his chest.

And for the first time in what felt like forever. You fall asleep, in Jay’s arms.

☆

back masterlist next

yenqa > um title is reference to teenage dream by olivia rodrigo! umm hope u enjoyed while i ripped my heart out and put it in my writing… thanks!

taglist (CLOSED): @yeokii @hanniluvi @euncsace @jongsiemain @mrchweeee @fakeuwus @ashy1um @rikisly @filmofhybe @nwjws @yizhoutv @soov @tocupid @tzke1ta @yannew @manooffline @mars101 @haechansbbg @enhaz1 @teddywonss @en-happiness @kim2005bomi @be0mlvr @luvswonyoung @flwoie @lilriswife4life @nicholasluvbot @ikeusol @lylovw @alwayswook @astrae4 @choi-beomgyulvr @aishigrey @infpistj @jiawji @planethyuka @mari-oclock @222brainrot @jakevascaino @rory-cant-sleep @hyehae @vixensss @hearts4hanni @kgneptun @tongtongie @www-jungwon @lovejunz @fluerz @jiyeons-closet @nyuzip @leehanist @heerinnie @eneiyri

yenqa © please do not copy, steal or translate.

[marzipanandminutiae]

Do you have any examples of Ye Olde Pixie Cut? Asking for a friend

You can have a whole video about it, in fact!

this interests me particularly because it's not focusing on illness, androgyny, dress reform convictions (although she does mention that one- gotta love the prescriptivism going back the other way re: the supposed "dangers" of long hair </s>), or politics- it's an example of feminine-presenting women having short hair by choice because they presumably thought it looked nice, as happened in the early 1800s and the 1920s and today

Ye Olde Pixie Cut, indeed. I also love the commentary from some butthurt man wondering who would want to stroke these women's hair. oh no...imagine stroking the soft, silken curls of some of the women in the photographs...imagine pushing locks back from their noble brows to plant a kiss...that just sounds so awful; give me the time machine coordinates of their locations so I, as a lesbian, can avoid them extra-hard

and my personal favorite post-Coiffure A La Titus example: this portrait of Josephine Niehaus by Frank Duveneck, c. 1885 (Cincinnati Art Museum)

(I'm assuming her hair isn't just up because side parts weren't popular for long-haired women for another decade or so, but some women with short hair did adopt them. and hey, that's from 1885 not too terribly far from Chicago! just like the trend Nicole Rudolph mentioned!)

[polaris-thehunter]

new sxf chapter is released and while i have been enjoying reading some commentaries, ofc i had to see some idiot opinions once again, particularly calling out endo as “lazy”, others alluding to the bimonthly schedule and the upcoming chapter break, and let me just say this: i think some manga readers (and actually even manhwa/comic readers!) fail to recognize the amount of work mangakas and artists put in just releasing one chapter, let alone doing it on a weekly/bimonthly basis.

it’s honestly so, so crazy to see this trend of entitlement that i have observed from fans across fandoms.

i dunno if bitches have ever done work their whole lives but working yourself really puts these things into perspective, and ultimately appreciating the labor that goes into every piece of entertainment we consume.