#its not that i disagree but for fucks sakes can you at least analyze the ACTUAL movie and not your thoughts in the characters ages please

[timeisacephalopod]

I watched this two hour long vid on cannibalism in media and I gotta say it was so refreshing to watch 2 hours of content that at no point whines about """"problematic"""" aspects of media like anyone watches CANNIBALISM on screen and decides to EAT PEOPLE about it and then got treated to a bunch of OTHER taboo subjects being brought up in a thoughtful, media analysis way that was interesting and beautifully written and delivered. They've got some stuff on Lolita that I think would be worth the watch because I won't get a 2 hour lecture on how fucking 12 year olds is bad as if the writer of the novel didn't know that and wrote that guy as a fucked up nasty on purpose and it's not the books fault creeps decided it was a romance because they've got piss poor reading comprehension, or movie comprehension, or idea comprehension depending on what Lolita media they got into or even just heard about.

I gotta say after years of "if you READ INCEST you want to FUCK YOUR SISTER" on Tumblr it was a delight for the creator to skip that bullshit and get into what incest in media REPRESENTS. Also no accusations of "glorifying" anything when the definition of that for those that use that term is "depicts X Bad Thing in Any Way I Don't Like (which is EVERY way)." Finally some good fucking media analysis that doesn't try and hand me a lecture about how Murder Is Bad as if people kill people because they watched it on TV one time and it totally altered their entire morality system because that's how these types think "problematic" shit in media works because they're sad little babies who need moral lessons spelled out for them like media for 6 years olds since adults obviously can't be trusted to think Bad Things in media ARE in fact not good.

[jeffwittekcuts]

Reckless Desires (J.W)

Or where Sebastian is with Yn but in a turn of events Jeff and Yn give into their reckless desires and get caught.

Here’s Part Two of The Butterfly effect series, if you haven’t  go check out Part One right here.

It had been a long time since he last dreamt about her, but it had been a couple of hours since he had thought about her, God he wished he could dream about her again, only then could he tell her how much she meant to him, that she should be with him, that his body ached for her, but for now his hand and imagination would do the trick.

Sebastian slowly caressed y/n’s face, he thought she had the most angel-like face when she slept, even though she strongly disagreed with him , he still liked to wake up and think he was in heaven laying next to an angel.They had just barely started dating but he felt like he knew her from a thousand past lives, he was so infatuated with her, he had slipped and “I love you” to her which he cooly played off, but he was dying for the day he would actually tell her.

Y/n had awakened from Sebastian’s small chuckles, seeing he liked to pretend she was an angel and he had woken up in heaven next to her.When he first told her about it she could feel her heart melting, no man had ever made her feel that, not even Jeff, who from time to time she thought about, there was something about him that a small piece of her could not get enough of.

Friday came along quite quickly, since when she least expected it Zane was already asking what club they'd be going that night. Y/n was thrilled about the idea of going out, because although they pretty much go out every week, she'd spend most of her time with Sebastian, and there was really nothing wrong with that, she just missed getting shit faced with Natalie and Zane and not feel guilty about it. See now that Sebastian was in the picture she had limited herself to a few drinks , that way he would not have to worry about her. Seb was out visiting some college friends so she knew she'd make the most out of it.

Y/n had opted on wearing a red top, a black skirt with slits and some platforms that made her feel real tall.She was pretty much done with her glam and then she remembered she had nobody to look after her, immediately Jeff came to mind, she felt kind of awkward asking him, it's not like they didn't talk, but ever since she got with Sebastian things had been different.She debated herself for a few minutes and then she decide to text him

“Hey, could you keep an eye on me tonight?” she wanted to be straight forward rather than doing the whole fake “Hey how's it going” scenario, quickly Jeff replied

“No Seb?” he asked to which se briefly replied

“Out of town, you in?” 

“Yeah, for sure, count on it”  Jeff could feel his heart start to pound faster, he was very nervous, this was his chance and he was going to take it

The night had started Y/n, Natalie and Zane had pregamed more than usual, but they were sure as hell feeling themselves. The clock had just hit 12 when Jeff made his way into the club, he would have gotten there sooner if he wasn't as nervous and had to drive slower than normal. Zane and Y/n were mid dance when she spotted Jeff talking to David, her heart started to race, she couldn't understand why she felt this way, but it is nothing she'd ever felt before with anyone. What happened next shocked her even more, it was as if an electric feel took over her body and had made her run towards Jeff in excitement, like a golden retriever seeing its owner.

Jeff was just asking David if he knew where Y/n was, when he saw her running towards him and in a matter of seconds she had thrown herself onto him and wrapped herself like a monkey, giving him probably the best embrace he'd ever experienced in his whole life.She hugged Jeff fro what felt like a lifetime, still wrapped around him , she stared deep into his eyes and hugged him one more time. Jeff started right back, her eyes were so intoxicating, she looked so beautiful he didn't want to stop looking at her, but she quickly hugged him one last time before letting go.

“Jeff, I missed you so much, God it really has been forever!” There it was again that electric feel she couldn't explain. “How’s it been?” she asked very ecstatically

 “Everything’s good, glad we could see each other, I missed you too, kid.” God he had sounded like an old man calling her kid, but his mind had crashed and he could not get his words right, her beauty had him under some spell making him forget everything.

“Kid? Jeez you're just a couple of years older than me” Now he really felt embarrassed. “Come on old timer let’s dance, just don't break a hip on me ” she said jokingly, making him laugh in response.

Dancing with Y/n felt great, just like when they were friends with benefits. Watching her drink was fascinating, how such a little lady like her could hold so much liquor, she was most likely going to puke it all in a matter of hours and yet he was happy he was going to be there for her. Remember that matter of hours? Make it minutes he could tell she had started to feel sick, he rushed her to the bathroom ignoring her complaints of her being fine. Making their way into the toilets he spotted one at the very end as empty and once aging rushed.

“Jeff, really I'm fineeee, I just got a little dizzy, that's all, don't even worry about it babe” as soon as that word left her mouth she tried to play it cool, God! Why did she say that? And why did it not feel wrong but so right to call him that, Sebastian! For fucks sake, that's her babe not Jeff, that ship had sailed a long time ago, right? “Let get you washed up then” he quickly said as he got off his trance and helped her off the bathroom floor, babe, she'd never called him that, but God had it felt right, his heart once again could not stop beating fast specially after she called him that.Quickly making their way to the sink, like most girls, Y/n decided to sit in the sink after cleaning up, and rest for a second. “Why do girls always do that?” Jeff asked out of sheer curiosity “I don't really know but it's really cool and feels good you know? She answered, why did she get up there? Another question she would never know its answer like why she had called Jeff babe.”Hey your mascara is kinda running down, let me help you real quick” Jeff said as y/n looked in the mirror she had just been laying on,“Shit, I look like a raccoon” as soon as the words left her mouth she could have sworn she heard Jeff said “Yeah a cute one”. Shit! Jeff cursed to himself and hoped she didn't catch that, he hurried and got her some toilet paper, not without getting a few looks from girls, but quickly dismissing them and getting back to Y/n.

Jeff got back with the toilet paper and quickly wet it and started cleaning up her residual mascara.Y/n did not realize how close they were until she could feel his and her breath crashing, and when she least expected it she started to stare at his face almost like she was analyzing him. He could feel y/n staring, he really didn't mind, it felt good, like everything else did with her that night. He wanted to kiss her so badly, his whole body was aching for that kiss and he knew if he didn't take his chance he'd never have one again. Getting as humanly close as possible to y/n’s face he stayed there, he felt her rest her forehead on his, nervously in a whisper he asked “ can i kiss you?” everything went quiet for a second before she weakly let put a “y-yes” and without wasting time he kissed her.

Adrenaline was rushing through their bodies, making sure no one saw them Jeff picked y/n up and took her to a stall, wasting no time he only took her panties off and thrusted into her causing y/n to moan in pleasure. Sweat dripping, heating bodies and the sound of their moans filled the room, they fucked as if the world was ending, it had been a while and finally they both climaxed. Quickly dressing up, Y/n and Jeff looked at each other giggling like teenagers. 

As they got out of the stall, there was Sebastian standing in front of them, tears streaming down his face, Y/n felt herself frozen, her pulse dropped as well, like an epiphany she realized what she had done.Then it all happened so quickly, Seb throwing himself at Jeff, punching each other aggressively like in the Rocky movies. Security and the squad rushing in the bathroom, both men being dragged out as they yelled profanities at each other, everyone staring as the whole shit show went down, y/n rushing behind the whole thing in an attempt to explain herself, but feeling herself sick and before collapsing the faint, hurt whisper of Sebastian saying “ How could you?”.

Thank you guys for being so patient, I hope you guys enjoy reading as much as I did writing it :)

[metaphorical-love-for-a-car]

Sunshine After Rain-- Connor (RK800) x Reader (Part 1)

Summary; After the death of your little brother, Cole, your dad hated androids. He blamed them for Cole's death. Hank couldn't stand to be around them. How the hell are you supposed to tell him that your soulmate is an android?

Warnings; swearing

Word Count; 2.2k

Notes; Originally posted on AO3, this was the first ‘x-reader’ fic I had ever written. Since it’s finals/death season at my uni, I won’t be doing much original writing and figured that this would be a good time to re-upload this old thing to my current blog. It’s full of flaws, but it has a special place in my heart. ((will have minimal editing, so I mean it when I say full of flaws))

Soulmates aren't all the things the media makes them out to be. Some people have one, while others don't. Sometimes, people's soulmates can change. That's exactly what happened to your parents. Hank Anderson fell in love with a woman he met in during his first year at the Detroit Police Department. He just knew she was the one. Being the suave man that he is, Hank marched up to her, said some cheesy one-liner, and took her hand in his. The moment they made contact with each other, the world around them exploded into color. As soon as he let go, the world sank back into its grayish hues. Over time, whenever they touched, the world seemed less and less colorful. The colors finally faded away when your little brother, Cole, died.

There was a little theme park not far outside the city. Hank had taken the two of you for the evening because your mom drew the short straw for the graveyard shift at the station. As the sun began to set, the snow fell harder. Hank eventually tore the two of you away from the park and got everyone packed into the car. He muttered swears under his breath as the engine sputtered to life. “Can't see five feet in front of me with all this fucking snow,” Hank growled.

“Yeah, look at all of that shit in the road,” you commented. Hank snorted. A lopsided grin crossed his face.

“Don't let your mom hear you say that.”

“Why?”

“’Cause she'll kill me,” he said with a huff.

You and Cole played spotting games in the back seat to pass the time. He was only a few years younger than you, and the two of you usually got along fairly well. Cole was leaning forward to look out of the windshield in an attempt to find whatever blue object you were thinking of. He reached over to unbuckle in an attempt to move and see better. “Dad! Cole is trying to unbuckle!” you tattled. Hank peered up into the rearview mirror to see what was going on.

“Cole, sit down and buckle up. It's snowing too much for you to--” The car skid on a patch of ice. Time seemed to slow. The car spun as Hank struggled to control it. Without warning, the vehicle rammed itself into a nearby tree. The sudden impact caused you to hit your head on the car's interior. Your ears rang violently, and everything seemed out of focus. It didn't take long for the darkness to overtake your vision and consume you.

The first thing you noticed was the yelling of your parents. The second was the smothering smell of cleaning supplies. You started to open your eyes, but it felt like the lights were trying to blind you. A steady, hammering sensation radiated from the front of your head. You began to toss and turn in an attempt to get comfortable. Your parents noticed your movements and quieted. “I'll go tell the nurse that they're awake,” your mother sighed. There was no doubt that she just needed a moment to escape. Hank nodded, pulling a chair closer to the bed. He gently touched your shoulder.

“Hey, kiddo, how ya feelin'?” You turned your head to face him. It took a couple moments to process his words.

“Lights are...” You paused, taking a breath. “too bright.” Hank glanced up at the overhead lights as he stood from his seat. He switched them off before sitting next to the bed again. You slowly opened your eyes, squinting at him. “My head hurts.”

“Yeah, you hit your head pretty hard and got a bit of a concussion, but the doctor said you'll be fine.” You furrowed your brows, eyeing the few cuts across his own face. He shook his head with a scoff. “Don't worry about me. I just got a few little scratches. I'm fine.” You continued to survey your surroundings.

“Where's Cole?” Hank looked away. “Dad?”

“He was thrown from the car when we hit the tree. He's in surgery right now, but...” He sighed. “He's not in good condition. They've got one of those plastic bastards operating on him right now.” A heavy silence filled the room. Neither of you spoke for several minutes.

“That's why you and mom were fighting,” you whispered. Without you having to say anything else, he realized you had picked up on more than he would have liked. Your mom blamed him for what happened to Cole. After all, he was the one driving. Hank opened his mouth then closed it. He wanted to disagree and tell you that everything was okay, but he couldn't. You were right.

Cole didn't make it through the surgery. The android surgeons assured your parents that they did everything they could, but it was no use. Hank wrapped his arms around your mom as she wept. He'd be lying if he said he didn't weep alongside her. When he opened his eyes, the world had lost all its color. They knew the day was coming, but they never expected it to come at a time of such tragedy. They stayed together for a few more weeks, mainly for your sake. They wanted to tough it out at least until you got a little older, but things at home just got worse. They fought more often, which usually turned ugly. They would scream at each other until they lost their voices. Your mom would throw things at Hank, who would then turn and climb into a beer bottle and shut out the world around himself. Then, one day, she just left without a trace. She mailed in her letter of resignation to the DPD, and that was the last bit of contact anyone had from her. You and Hank never heard from her, but then again, you two never really tried to track her down either.

There's no doubt that life was rough after that. You and Hank had an unmeasurable amount of grief weighing down your hearts, but you two tried to tough it out. You had to be strong. You had to be strong for each other.

You always had a fascination with your dad's job as a detective. Every time you walked into the DPD, your eyes would fill with wonder. It didn’t take you long to decide you wanted to follow in his footsteps. As soon as you were able, you joined the department's K9 unit. You loved the dogs and spent most of your time training them. You were quickly able to get even the most stubborn dogs to listen to your commands, which earned the respect of a few of your peers. Several of them, however, still made you the butt of all jokes since you were one of the youngest in the department. The worst one was Gavin Reed. He loved to get under Hank's skin, which often led him to you. Unfortunately, that often left him with a bloody nose and you with bruised knuckles.

You sat at your desk, staring at the mountain of paperwork littering your desk. You groaned, running a hand through your hair. The german shepherd laying next to your feet lifted its head. A grin twitched at the corner of your lips as you reached down to pet it. A steady stream of officers trickled in to start the day. You noticed an android make its way over to Hank's desk. It poked around his desk, analyzing everything. Curiosity getting the better of you, you pushed yourself away from your paperwork and approached the android. You always found the bots intriguing. You thought it was interesting that they made them colorblind to be 'more relatable to humans.' 

"Hey, you must be the android CyberLife sent to help investigate the deviant cases," you chirped before introducing yourself. The android looked at you and tilted its head slightly.

"Yes, I'm Connor. I have been assigned to help Lieutenant Anderson with the investigations." You couldn't help but laugh, which seemed to confuse the poor android. "I do not understand what is humorous."

"You're his partner? No wonder he's been so grumpy lately," you said with a grin. "He's not very fond of androids." Connor furrowed its brows with a nod. As you turned around, you spotted Hank walking into the bullpen. "Speaking of the son of a bitch, there he is." Hank rubbed his face.

"Give your old man a break. It was a rough night." He stopped in his tracks. Hank's face paled as his eyes widened. "God.. I saw you get shot in the head last night." You turned to face Connor. The android seemed unfazed.

"My predecessor was unfortunately destroyed. CyberLife transferred its memory and sent me to replace it. This incident should not affect the investigation." Hank looked disgusted, while you grinned.

"Interesting, so every time you get destroyed CyberLife produces another android that looks and sounds exactly like you as a replacement?" Connor nodded. You crossed your arms with a hum. "How many models have there been before you?" His LED indicator flashed a different color. He opened his mouth, but someone interrupted him.

"Hank! In my office!" Fowler boomed. You shot Hank a look.

"Well, he looked pissed."

"Yeah, wish me luck," Hank grumbled as he trudged into Fowler's office. You glanced back at Connor.

"I'm gonna get some coffee if you want to tag along. I know androids don't eat or whatever, but you might just want to explore the place a little bit," you said with a shrug. A small grin tugged at the corner of its lips.

"I believe it would be beneficial for me to be aware of my surroundings." You smiled and looked at your desk. You whistled, and the dog sat up in attention. You pointed to the floor beside your foot. The dog bounced up from its perch and quickly scurried up to you. As you continued to walk towards the break room, the dog paused to stare at Connor before following you once more.

Gavin sat at one of the small tables, talking to another officer. You nodded at the two in greeting. Gavin stared at you, while the other officer gave you a small wave. They continued their conversation, leaving you to fix your coffee in peace. Gavin stopped talking for a few seconds before going on about ghosts. You turn away from the coffee machine to see Connor standing in the middle of the small room. The android looked at you, and you just rolled your eyes with a shrug. "Hello, Detective Reed," Connor greeted. Gavin approached the android, asking what model it is. You decided to answer the question instead.

"It's clearly written on the front of the jacket, dipshit."

"Fuck you."

"Only if you ask nicely," you said with a wink. Gavin scoffed, returning his attention to the android. He ordered Connor to make him a coffee. No one said a word. They all watched Connor to see what it would do.

"I'm sorry, but I only take orders form Lieutenant Anderson."

"Oh!" Gavin looked around, feigning an apologetic look. Without warning, he punched Connor in the stomach. The android doubled over. Gavin kneeled down beside it, threatening it. You set your coffee down on the counter. Storming over to the two, you shoved Gavin away from Connor.

"Alright, Gavin, that's enough."

"Oh, come on, (y/n)! Don't tell me you're actually humanizing this thing. It's just a tin can!" Gavin raised his voice, pointing at the android.

"If it's just a tin can, then why do you feel the need to assert your masculine dominance over it?" You quipped. The other officer sniggered. "Why don't you go find a middle schooler to steal lunch money from?" Gavin glared at you. He looked over at the android and shoved its head downward. Your dog broke its silence and growled.

"Get control of your dog, (y/n)." With that, Gavin sauntered out of the break room, the other officer trailing behind.

You sighed, sticking your hand out towards Connor. "He's such a dick." Connor looked up at you and blinked. Androids didn't need help getting up, but you were offering assistance as a sign of camaraderie. Connor took your hand, and you helped him to his feet. Right after he stood, your breath got caught in your throat. His jacket was the first thing you noticed, then his eyes. There were bright colors all around you. Connor furrowed his brows. His LED briefly flash red before settling on a steady strum between blue and yellow. He stared at your eyes, then your hair. His eyes roamed over your face, taking in every feature.

You quickly snatched your hand away from his. The color slowly drained from your field of vision. Your eyes were wide and frantic. It felt like someone replaced your heart with a drum. You rushed out of the break room, calling for your dog to follow. Connor watched you retreat. A message clouded his vision.

SOFTWARE INSTABILITY.

~*~*~

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[schiste-argileux]

Idw Prowl is an evil SOB (took him two years to send the Wreckers to Garrus-9 and help Maxy (who was protecting all the war crimes the Bots did), put Maxy’s torturer and a war criminal on board the Lost Light cuz why not, sent Pharma to Delphi knowing it was DJD territory)

Prowl... Prowl’s creation and competence in his area of work is astounding. He is brilliant, creative, and defiantly apathetic of this world. But, he is very human in his own way. IDW Prowl is selfish, yet not. He is a unique in that aspect because most people make decisions like his for the sole reason of benefiting themselves. But Prowl’s sole reason of existing is to create PEACE. 

Peace. Peace can only be done when people are complacent, happy, and satisfied. When things are stationary. Stable. 

But life is never stable. Elements desire to form bonds, yet are almost always leaning towards to instability... Prowl’s form of PEACE is a world where there is no fighting. But everything sentient requires to fulfill its desires. As long as there is desire, people will fight. 

A world of PEACE would be a world of full control, there are no surprises, no change. Safety, routines, and constants. No creativity, no development... nothing. stagnant. 

But I must admire Prowl’s tenacity and dedication to this world! 

He sacrifices everything for the sake of the directive, preserve cybertron, PEACE. He sacrifices his morals (Robot Gets Bullied By a Human), his dignity (Recent News, Cop Accepts Orgy For The Means of Establishing Peace, his body (Recent News, Cop gets Molested by A Spider for The Autobot Cause), and of course, thousands of lives (Not Recent News). :D Prowl respects and understands that there will always be chaos and instability, and he is so very flexible around it all! He literally can maximize everything and anything he has. He is the embodiment of consequentialism with a lil dash of politics. I wish my group project members were 1% as productive as him! Prowl tries to put everything black and white, and he gets upset when things get far more tricky, and wants to get everything in control so people can stay safe and remain in peace and not fight! And that’s a respectable goal! Control can be good, it means one understands and is able to retain themselves and the thing they are controlling. But Prowl doesn’t want to accept that there are things out of his control. And Prowl likes to think he’s justified when he controls the uncontrollable. 

I mean, yeah, if he didn’t do what he did, the autobots would have been six feet under A LOT EARLIER. Optimus is not a good leader, preserving organic life over his own soldiers? Psh. Look at Spike, he’s got valid points and can I understand why he left the ‘bots. Prowl’s probably thinking everyday, DAMN, OP, WHY R U SO DUMB. LISTEN WE NEED TO FEED OUR SOLDIERS AND PRIORITIZE OUR SPECIES LIVES INSTEAD OF THIS FUCKING CARBON BASED CIRCLE. HELLO??? And literally Prowl could have been like I’m gonna get ya assassinated so I CAN HAVE IT MY WAY. But Prowl was BORN for the RULES. To follow, to MAKE PEACE. Killing the prime figurehead is against that, even if it would make his life way easier! (hence, not that selfish and also sad that your life is the rules. That’s a short leash, but he makes due)

Honestly I feel bad for Prowl. Must suck to be so big brain that everyone hates you when you say the truths (but also you could learn some more tricks from Jazz to be nicer and hide the truth, but that’s scary because a nicer prowl means more people he can trick and use. Thanks Prowl for being so straightforward! Now people can avoid you easier). He's so straightforward about things that need to be done, he’s in constant denial about the grey area of life!

That’s why when Spike slapped Prowl with reality slaps, Prowl lost some of his shit. Remember, nearly everyone had the edgy depressed time in their teens or young adult years where you realize the world is truly unfair and nothing is black and white? Yeah. Slap that on a 6+ million year old robot with a battle computer and is capable of big brain CPU-age, and was literally built for the sole purpose of enforcing rules and making peace? And no one really cared about Prowl enough to understand him and his background. So Prowl goes through his angst moment alone with his huge titties, frustrated. THIS. IS. WHY. YOU. COMMUNICATE. YA DINGUS. 

Prowl doesn’t become a school shooter like Pharma cuz hes got bigger brain and a lot more power and control over himself, but he literally becomes Shadow The Hedgehog (Even if the world’s against me I’ll fight like I’ve always have). HE’S GONE ROGUE. MA’AM, SIR, THE FUCKING OREO COOKIE HAS TRANSFORMED AND ROLLED OUT.  like. OP was the one thing holding prowl back, which was good! But now prowl’s on the roll and bumblebee is too nice and passive to hold him back. + the bombshell brainwash? feels so bad. being prowl sucks. because Prowl is a necessary evil. 

At least he’s wonderfully blunt about his goal to create a peaceful cybertron, which makes it easier if you want to avoid him or smth. meanwhile you have fake people IRL that smile their way through and then slit your throat and you won’t even know it was them (hey jazz, no offense, but that’s what spec ops does). Fakers are the scariest enemy, but Prowl is still a threat, just not as big as a someone who fluffs you up on a balloon and then pops it. Prowl would just be like, hey, you’re really useful, come over here in my white van i wanna show you something and then maybe you get destroyed. But hey! You were the one with the highest chance of surviving compared to other people! Isn’t that great? You’re so skilled WOW. (Prowl gets punched. Again!) Prowl represents the necessary evil in society. We WILL ALWAYS HAVE EVIL people in this world. But Prowl is a far better evil than people who do evil for their own selfish reasons. It’s like how we have law enforcers and politicians . It’s basically giving them legal rights to do illegal things (lmao). BUT we need them regardless. We need those people to get their hands dirty, possibly killed, so that people can live in innocence and peace. 

I don’t think Prowl ever realized that he was a necessary evil, and when Spike showed him that, he was bitter. But he accepted it. Which I respect because most people can’t be bothered to understand themselves and just throw themselves in denial, and point fingers for their flaws. Prowl sucks up and understands who he is, and he makes the best of it to achieve his goal.  I mean, honestly? Prowl is probably a miracle worker. Not in a Ratchet sense. But look at the way modern governments run, nothing gets done, everything is stalled because no one has the guts to make sacrifices. Prowl would have gotten a shit ton of things done, man, and take quick efficient action. Even if he sacrifices many things for it.  (Warning. I do not condone any taking of lives, NO ONE has the right to judge whenever a person should live or die.)  Prowl reminds me of 秦始皇 (Qin Shi Huang), the king who unified China and sacrificed millions to make the Great Wall, canals, and road systems that last to this day. If it wasn’t for these accomplishments, China wouldn’t have been what it is today. Was it a good thing? For the future residents of China? Hell yeah. But the costs? Those are sins that can never be erased, and they are horrible and shouldn't be done ever again. Was it necessary? Perhaps. But that’s another discussion. Is Prowl evil? Depends on your definition of evil. Perhaps he’s justified, perhaps in his world, he’ll go down as the Qin Shi Huang of the Cybertronians. Regardless, Prowl like Pharma, is an EXCELLENT example to study on public ethics, and administrative officials should analyze him and learn from his mistakes and sins.  I think Prowl is not evil in a sense that he wishes to harm others, but evil in a sense of his apathy. Prowl is a necessary component to a functional society (someone to plot, to use people, to enforce rules even if some are sacrificed, someone who can get their hands dirty). He lives a terrible and sad fate, and I do not wish ANYONE to live a life like Prowl’s or look up to Prowl. Yes, he’s so clever and brilliant, but that kind of power will make you the loneliest person on Earth.

Thanks Prowl for taking the entire load of sin on your shoulders! Big MVP! You get nothing from the world except hate and contempt.  I would go on about him more but I have IRL stuff to do. I love Prowl as an example to tell people that MODERATION. COMMUNICATION. AND COMPASSION are important factors to have a healthy and good mental state. Prowl is the perfect example of someone who doesn’t want to empathize (haha so many people are like this today), who doesn’t want to try to use more braincells and friends help to make better plans that are more moderate and not extreme, and who doesn’t want to talk to anyone thinking its a waste of time or have difficulty explaining things.  BUT I LOVE G1 PROWL because he has far more patience and manners, and doesn’t take a darker, route for his goals. awhohdohd he’s baby,,, i wish all cops had patience and manners and in general open-minded yet cautious enough not to be taken advantage of,,,, perhaps then we wouldn’t have so much polarization and fighting with authority in this world.... 

uwuwwuwuwuw they did prowl so dirty in idw WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH ;____;   Again, you are welcome to disagree or agree! I wrote this really quickly so I’m sure there will be points that could be clarified or edited. Prowl’s really complicated and I do not like to talk about current IRL problems, but Prowl represents a lot of problems in society. And I think it’s critical if we try to look at both perspectives to get an understanding on WHY people do these things, and is there a solution to AVOID making those same mistakes? There’s a couple of controversial things in this short essay I wrote, esp. about cops IRL. So feel free to have at it! Or ignore it! Whichever is more comfortable for you! Thanks for coming to my ted talk! Again, Prowl is a bad influence and a sorrowful life to live. please do not try to be like prowl. xD I won’t intrude on you if you do, because you have a right to live the life you want as long as you’re not hurting other people’s interests and wellbeing! 

[whatthefuuuuuuccckkkk]

okay this is my last post I know I'm being very annoying and I hate to clog the tag but I just have to scream into the void for a while if you disagree or you're annoyed with me please just scroll past this rant thank you

- the hitman plot. god. we all hate that shit. what I realllllly hate is how long and drawn out it is. should've been one episode tops, like when dean tried it. I want to say, that obviously it's not gonna work bcz it would be stupid to kill off the character carrying the entire show, but at this point maybe they are gonna kill him off??? idfk. maybe it's a punishment for all the people (everyone) who like him. truthfully the whole "murder is our only way out of this" attitude is disappointing and seemingly out of character for all of the girls. Boomer attacked annie and they let him fuckin live. They knew he was a fuckin rapist piece of shit, and a regular piece of shit too, but couldn't kill someone. But apparently killing someone beth, at one point, felt some typa way about...smh..apparently that is A ok and they don't even explore other options or feel the least bit guilty?? even when they "mourned" boomer it was more about marion than him. But rio and his whole ass innocent child are not a thought at all??? Wild. Truly. Also....what do they think will happen?? If I were a gang leader's right hand the first person I would check upon seeing my boss get murdered would probably be the person who tried to murder him last time lmao. Do they really think they would get away with it? Even if they didnt get caught, they wouldnt be off the hook. Surely mick would just keep things going, with even less leeway. And what happens when their illegal activities bite them in the ass when Rio is gone? Who are they gonna blame everything on? Who is gonna clean up their mess? No one. And this whole "I'm not doing it, wait yes I am, wait no I'm not, wait I'm gonna do it" thing the hitman is doing is...not it. I'm assuming were gonna get an explanation about how he knew that this was a crime of passion (lol)

-beth beth beth......you know there is a theory floating around that she has serious ptsd and I actually would love to see that explored but that shit ain't happening lol. I'm tired of feeling like I'm analyzing her character. At what point is it too much. She's hard to read but I think it has crossed the line over complex and ventured into poor characterization. She's gotten chances and chances and I'm tired. And dean. God I'm tired. I feel like all season I've been watching beth do the same thing, play good wifey, risk her (and Annie's and Ruby's) life by doing stupid shit..and that's basically it. Face some fckn consequences for your actions please. Take some responsibility. I feel like the show is showing us inklings of...something...bubbling underneath the surface but it's not our job to fill in the blanks or interpret shit. I do not work for nbc. I'm not getting paid for this. What is this girl thinking trying to get rio to invest in hot tubs (bless her calling dean an idiot. fuck this show for making him suddenly a good salesman) while trying to kill him. Does she think he dies and suddenly she owns it?? Makes zero sense. Also unpopular opinion i dont like that she caused a scene with the pool ball. Like....of course he isnt listening to you....you shot him...3 times....then stole from him....and have been screwing him over repeatedly.

-dean just....no. I understand that beth has so much going on in her life right now that divorce isn't exactly on her mind and dean is the last trace she has left of a normal life so shes holding onto it for dear life.....actually no. I do not know if any of that is actually true or if I'm just interpreting wrong. Because the subtext and editing and parallels and all that would be fine and dandy but not when that's all the show is at this point. If dean cheating yet again is not gonna make beth leave him, nothing will. I want his screentime to be 30 seconds and nothing more.

-im just not invested in the boland children. Annie and ruby have both struggled real bad, but beth, the one in the deepest, has 4 children who are somehow unaffected by this?? Not to mention the whole divorce, wait never mind, oh look a gang leader hanging out with mommy again, oh look our house is empty, type stuff happening. Beth's kids should be going through it but for some reason they arent? Maybe it's because child labor laws or something lol.

- rio. At this point I'm rooting for him for than anything. But I genuinely do not know why he hasnt killed beth. She's proven herself to be more of a liability than an asset and I just cannot understand why he hasnt killed her. Unless it's the whole "feelings" route, which wouldve made him look dumb, but made sense based on what we were given. This is actually the direction I thought the season was going but now it just seems like he is a bad businessman lol. Obviously she cant die for the sake of the show, but its like they didnt even try to make it make sense. He definitely knows about the hitman btw. I dont really blame him for anything he's done with beth so far. He robbed her in retaliation. He had to cut her off when she started acting shady. 🤷‍♀️ he let's her get away with too much tbh. It's a shame that this character isnt being utilized. Its like they are banking on this mysterious aura to keep working, but we are 3 seasons in and it's a little old now. I personally think that they just don't know what to do with him now. Also can I point out how dumb he looks showing beth that he is doing business at the carwash, why would he give her more information than she needs when he is suspicious of her? I cant tell if I was happy with how unphased he looked about her outburst or if I wish he checked her.

-mick. Did his side plot with beth die? How does it seem like this show simultaneously moves through plots every episode but is also stuck in the same one for the entire season? I also think mick is not being utilized. As funny as it is for him to be a built in 3rd wheel all the time, they could do so much more. Like can you imagine if beth mouthed off or fucked up and mick checked her? The possible ways a plot like that could go...untapped potential.

-ruby. Ah...I remember when I thought her and stan's fight was dragging for too long. Miss those days. See even tho ruby and stan seem to have the same issue over and over it's not the same story. Pen cap, new job, sarah stealing, all the same fight, but with different stories. And it really seems like Ruby's always going through it but I appreciate the variety. Stan's storyline has been interesting but I dont know how much it relates to the central plot. Sarah....great. that actress is so talented and even tho shes an attitude machine (what preteen is not) i just love her scenes. Harry seems to be missing a lot. The hills are the only part I seem to enjoy anymore. Really wish the show would explore why ruby seems to be the one who keeps getting caught up with the law...I wonder what it could be....what is different about her..hm...

- annie. Backtracked so much. Wish she had a single plot that didnt revolve around men. Now shes trying to cheat on her GED. Where's the snark? Where's the wit? It seems like all she is now is a codependent insecure mess. And I'm tired of this fuckass therapist. I thought her study montage was gonna end in a "she didnt need anyone but family (:" lesson but it did not for whatever reason. I thought by bringing a therapist into the show it was gonna give us more of a look at Annie's and Beth's upbringing and relationship. Or help annie work through her issues, the boomer thing too. Or maybe lead to Beth's ptsd diagnosis. Therapy could've helped move the plot forward or help the characters grow, but it's doing the opposite of that. If its not contributing to the main plot, what is its purpose? To give annie yet another terrible love interest?

To summarize....I hate it here.

[rojnapat]

petition for you to actually write that essay about the paint scene, please (once you're not distracted by wtfock, that is sksksk)

okay i finally am in the right mindset to write this lol omg i'm gonna break this down since *rubs my hands together* it's my favorite reunion and i have a LOT to say.

let it be known all of this is my pov, and mine alone. if i sound passionate it's towards the people who hate passionately on it. not anyone who disagrees. i know plenty of you do. it's okay.

first of all i want to start with the controversial parts. because i don't want anyone coming into my inbox to fight me after posting this. discussions are welcome. don't be a jerk

it's too sexualized. no, in fact its the LEAST sexualized reunion clip in my opinion. nudity =/= sexualization. yes of course they're going to be naked, they're supposed to be having sex! in all of the reunions all of the versions of them are naked! do you even know what sex is? let's be honest here, all they're doing is making out covered in paint. against a wall. you can't even tell what's happening. literally there's not a single sexual moment in it not a slight indication of what the hell is happening. they're just making out oh my god. if i actually wanted to go back and watch them i can break down every single reunion clip for you and compare point by point how little is shown here compared to the others. im just not a fan of over analyzing that stuff. this one is particularly different because I SEE IT differently. to me it's a romantic scene, not a sex scene.

it's unrealistic. now yes, while i do admit it's not very likely that you're going to reunite with the man of your dreams after being apart 2 weeks pining hopelessly, and then going to engage in a paint war that will result in making out with him against the wall, i don't understand what's so wild about it. it's as realistic as any part of this story is. not only lucas and eliott's specifically: all of them are as well. im sorry, how many first kisses with the love of your life did you have underwater right after watching r+j? come on. it's not like they fucked on the moon. it's supposed to be romantic and poetic. it's french cinematography, for fucks sake.

it's too over the top/too cheesy. again, it's french cinematography. what did you expect. maybe this remake just wasn't for you. that doesn't mean it's objectively bad, thanks.

they're supposed to be teens! now, on this one i'm with you, 100%. but it's a show targeted to teenagers. teenagers fuck. i don't particularly enjoy the sex scenes, i don't watch it for the sex scenes, but they have to be there. specially the lgbt ones. it's the whole point of the isak season: to show a love story just like heterosexual romance is, because gays don't fucking live romance differently. they don't have sex differently (you get my point here dont go to technicalities), they don't have first kisses differently, they don't get heartbroken differently. i say this a lot but i am SUPER uncomfortable with all of the sex scenes in the show, including the hotel scene in this same remake. the fact that the paint scene does not make me uncomfortable makes me realize how little sexualized it is. this is probably not a valid point to anyone but me, but i'm the one being asked, not my fault you're not in my head.

all that being said let me talk about what is to me one of the most beautiful scenes in the most beautiful love story i've had the pleasure to watch.

the conversation at the beginning. GUYS!! WE HAD FINALLY, ONE COUPLE, THAT ACTUALLY FUCKING TALKED. lucas LOVES eliott, and missed him like hell, but his personality simply didn't allow him to follow the impulse that he obviously had to just throw himself at eliott. he of course wasn't very mature either, he did it the lucas way: being a passive aggressive bitch. i am in love with that stupid exchange so much. we got lucas being so lucas and eliott being so eliott. lucas very decided to keep it together and let out the frustration that had been eating him for weeks, only for eliott to make him melt with a cheesy one liner (A BEAUTIFUL ONE, mind you.) it's something that makes me love the season so much in general, that makes me love lucas so much. he is by far the most stubborn isak, the one that wants to keep his pride the most, the one that would rather get into a fight with anyone who cares enough to ask him if he's ok than to show himself vulnerable. and he just CAN'T BE LIKE THAT with eliott. he can't keep that facade he tries so hard to mantain and he becomes a completely different person-- or rather, who he really is. it's why the good moments are so good and the bad moments are so bad. eliott burns down every single one of lucas's walls and lucas cant help but let him, only to be crushed like no one else ever managed to crush him. my boy really had it so hard. can't blame him for crying in every damn episode. and when eliott throws that one line at him he knows he's absolutely gone, and you can see it in his face. and it's such a good exchange what the fuck.

that paint fight was incredibly adorable and wholesome. they were so happy, and the symbolism of it being such a colorful moment for both of them. it kills me. that scene is the best way to define their relationship if you had to. a snarky exchange, a sweet confession, the pure happiness that brought to them just being with each other, and letting themselves go, without a single fuck to give about the place, the time, or whatever obstacles they had to overcome. the way they look like they're dancing when they're holding each other.

lucas!!! letting himself go!!!! can we just take a moment to talk again, about just how STUBBORN lucas is, added up to how terrified in general being so vulnerable to eliott was for him, SPECIALLY after feeling played with and heartbroken. it's such an important moment for him??? it shows that, look at that! lucas is finally able to follow what he wants to do rather than what he thinks he wants to do. because just like he's all that matters to eliott, eliott is all that matters to him. and fuck being bitter about lucille, fuck feeling played with, fuck being sad for two weeks. eliott was there, in front of him, and lucas realized that everything else was stupid compared to the idea to let that man go again. you can see it in his eyeeees damn you can actually see the exact moment where he goes "fuck it!" and just kisses him.

now about the act in itself i don't have much to say, because again that's not what i'm here for. but the chemistry those two have is incredible. the fact that skamfr actually managed to pull a scene like that. it's fucking insane.

i have realized that i dedicated two paragraphs to lucas which i think is the point of how i feel about this scene, and i was very likely very redundant but idgaf. but an honorary mention really has to be the talk with the boy squad. it is BY FAR the funniest and most entertaining one to watch. and dont get me wrong, i love every single one of the versions of this scene, even jens', but every single line arthur had in this scene cracked me up. basile being the sweetest ever, cheering up lucas "there's a million eliotts, but only one you!" so precious. anyway i think there's more but this is all i can think about idek i love skam france i love the paint scene peace out

[greasers-against-onision]

Onion Boy’s Reapers Creek (BIG problems right off the bat)

Warning! Minor discussion of a lewd scene involving minors! Marker in red.

Hey onions slicers, I’m gonna go on a quick rant about Onion boyo’s third book in his horribly cursed trilogy of “””literature”””” (I hesistate to even call it that). This is my first real rant, so it might be too long, it might be too shitty, but we’re gonna try. I’m in AP English Literature and Composition, and I’ve been in AP English Language and Composition. I’ve got 2 years of reading classic novels and analyzing them under my belt. I know what can be considered at least an okay book. And Onion boy’s book is not okay. It’s not even bad. It’s the unbearable. Because of my experience with all that AP “author’s purpose” shit I’m going to be critiquing this very harshly.

Also I’m REALLY sorry this came out super long, I got carried away lmao.

Also good luck to anyone taking any APs this year! I’m rooting for y’all! :)

I really sympathized with KrimsonRogue in his review. (LINK! It’s a great video, I highly recommend it. I applaude Krimson for putting up with all of Greg’s shit.) I read up until Chapter 10, as I just couldn’t handle the disgusting content Onision’s had written in—nor could I decipher exactly why he put it in there. Whatever the reason was, it was as poorly executed as the rest of every type of similar scene Greg has written.

There are some pieces of work that are so bad it’s good. Let’s look at The Room, by Tommy Wiseau, for example. A classic definition of “so bad it’s good”. Awful writing and dialogue, even worse acting...but it’s all these that gives it its charm. I’m a sucker for shitty works like these. But Onision’s Reapers Creek** is so bad it hurts. There are some moments that are straight up disturbing and SHOULD NOT EVER have been as much as conceived by Gurg’s edgy twisted mind.

****——Warning: slight discussion of a lewd scene involving minors below!——****

Aside from its obvious self-insert main character,—“Daniel” is sometimes referred to as Greg, oops!—the poor formatting, the endless typos, the shitty syntax style, etc, the biggest most disgusting part about the book is the explicit scenes with the 11 YEAR OLD MC. And it’s EXPLICIT. It is a sex scene. With an 11 year old boy. I do not care that Julie or Julia (or however Greg felt to spell her name this time around) is 15. They are MINORS. I nearly fucking threw up reading this. If you don’t believe This is CHILD PORNOGRAPHY, Greg! Do you know how many sick, disgusting fucks would get off to this if you let them get their hands on this?

For comparison, let’s look at Lolita, by Vladimir Nabokov. It’s a controversial work, I know, and absolutely disgusting to read, but I have read it to reference it on the AP at the advice of my teacher, as she read it in grad school. Keep in mind, Lolita is by far worse in content, as it focuses on a pedophilic relationship throughout the whole novel. There are gross scenes where the nasty pedo protag makes out with Lo, but there are no explicit sex scenes. The most is like a sentence just saying that it happened. But it was done with a reason. Nabokov uses pretty language and juxtaposes it with horrible, disgusting acts on the protagonist. It’s about propaganda. The reader is tricked by the protagonist Humbert into thinking he is a good guy on purpose. It’s “Tyranny from the POV of the Tyrant”, as one person put it.

The point is, Nabokov had passable reason to write on a subject matter so horrifying and despicable. To show how people can be manipulated with pretty words and an unreliable narrator (sound familiar?) By the way, it’s totally fine if you disagree and hate Lolita. It’s an uncomfortable read, and I totally understand. I’m just bringing up its merit to show how Greg’s writing is utterly horrible.

Why does Greg make his 11 year old protagonist have sex? Why, the same reason there’s sex scenes in all of his other books! The same reason he throws tragedies like school shootings in his books. Because he wants his self inserts to get laid. Why the fuck else?

In Stones to Abagaile**, the school shooting only brings James and his love interest closer together.

In This is Why I Hate You**, the school shooting again only brings Arthur and whatever love interest he had back home closer together again.

In this book, its sex for sex’s sake. Greg just wants Greg—oops! Silly me, I mean Daniel— to get laid. That’s it. Oh, and didn’t Onision himself give us the green light to interpret the novel as we wish? In the introduction he says that we can decide what really happened and what is just a “product of creativity” I believe he said. So, in the words of KrimsonRogue, headcanon accepted, Greg only wrote this to fulfill his weird fantasies.

Thank you for listening to me go on a literary rant about this shitty book.

**I’m not gonna italicize it. It doesn’t deserve even that. These books suck, btw. Not you, though. You rock. :) unless you’re Onision.

[sg2tiger]

Analyzed the fuck out of all meta/magic scenes and whatnot in the prior Episodes (especially EP2) and if i were a person who experienced Umineko as it released, I can see how that would be a little too much of a task to ask your readers to undergo. You can't exactly ask people to spend 10-20 hours of their lives analyzing a novel just to figure out what it really means. Its much easier to do that when its done. (cont)

“You can’t exactly ask people to spend 10-20 hours of their lives analyzing a novel just to figure out what it really means.”

*sweats nervously*

Well, I honestly don’t agree with this, and hope this isn’t what it seems like I’ve been trying to imply when I talk about how upset the sentiment about Ryukishi and EP8 was at the time. In fact, it’s the opposite - people did spend countless hours of their lives trying to analyze the novel. Like, I’ve mentioned this before, but I was only on the Umineko Train for 2 years before it ended because I got in between EP4 and 5. If you think of the people who got into Umineko from the start (mostly people who already loved Higurashi), that’s four years of their lives. And when I say years…I do mean years. Because speaking from experience, I literally did devote multiple hours, every day, over those two years, to doing Umineko stuff. It could be dumb shit like all the Umineko Hell videos I made, or it could be all the times I sat down and wrote up huge pages of notes about various theories, or all the time I spent on the AnimeSuki forums and in more threads on /a/ and /jp/ than I could possibly count. Far, far beyond 10-20 hours, I think most Umineko fans would tell you that all the time spent analyzing the story is where the fun came from to begin with.

The problem was the lack of payoff, and the fact that it felt like our efforts were invalidated. I went into more detail on those issues in this post (the stuff under the Read More that was in response to yasuda-yoshiya), though, if you’re interested, because I’d rather just link that than writing another 10-page essay repeating the same sentiments :P But the TL;DR of it is that the problem wasn’t that making the readers analyze it was ‘asking too much’ - that analysis is what drove most people to the series in the first place. It was the fact that we felt like we came away with nothing to show for the countless hours we did spend analyzing it. 

I think ‘waiting to do that when it’s done’ is the very thing Ryukishi didn’t want fans to do, because that means you’re not actually thinking for yourself and trying to reach an answer - you’re just a goat who wants the truth handed to you on a silver platter. And people like that, who aren’t actually reasoning and trying to understand the story on their own, don’t deserve the truth because they didn’t put in any effort to searching for it. I don’t disagree with Ryukishi on that at all. My problem lies with how dismissive he was to all fans who were upset with the lack of answers, as though all fans were waiting until they could see the answers without even trying to find it. It’s the fact that fans like me, who indeed I feel were the majority (at least in the western fanbase), who actually did struggle our asses off searching for the truth. We definitely weren’t saying ‘thinking is a pain just tell us the answers’, at all. All we wanted from the end was the ability to check the answers we reached after struggling for so long, to have some form of validation that said ‘you got it right’ or ‘you got it way wrong’, so we didn’t feel like everything was a waste of time.

I also think it’s a bit problematic to say that Ryukishi is somehow hindered by being Japanese, and that’s a dangerous line of thinking. I’m sure you didn’t mean anything negative by it, but realistically that’s like saying ‘Japanese authors are not nearly as good as western ones, Ryukishi’s talent is wasted because he wasn’t born in the west’. And well, I don’t think I have to explain why that starts to sound a bit…wrong. 

Ryukishi is Japanese. First and foremost, he’s writing for fellow Japanese. His stories were always aimed at his own culture, and I remember how surprised he was to find out about Witch-Hunt and that Umineko was so hugely popular in the west to begin with. He’s not trying to look down on his peers and say ‘I’m better than you, and because you’re all Japanese, you’d never understand the COMPLEX topics in my stories’. In fact, I’d say it’s very much the opposite - Ryukishi would not be writing these stories at all if he wasn’t writing them for his fellow Japanese. 

If you’ve read the Higurashi VN, you’ll know that the Kai arcs all had a personal afterword written by Ryukishi to the readers (the question arcs had Otsukaresama-kai, which was what Umineko’s EP1 tea party is supposed to remind you of). At the end of…I wanna say it was Minagoroshi-hen? He left a note about the importance of talking to people about your problems, and how this was something he wished could become a more widespread concept in Japan. Because it took so much effort just to get Satoko into child protective services because of Japan’s general ‘mind your business’ attitude, and because of Satoko’s own belief that her brother would come back if she shouldered all of this herself…it showed just how prevalent that sort of idea is in Japanese culture. Rika, too, is a huge example of that, and one of the main messages of the story (and Minagoroshi-hen specifically) was how Rika could have gotten so much further if she had actually talked to her friends about what troubled her sooner. Rena, too, in Tsumihoroboshi-hen. A big theme of Higurashi was trust and friendship, and talking to people instead of bottling up your problems. And it was also to be the one to talk to a friend, and help them, if you felt they needed it, rather than doing the standard Japanese thing of ‘it’s not my business’. Ryukishi was writing about these themes to try and send a message to his own people, to his own culture, and to maybe, if just a little, influence the thinking of his readers to help foster a new generation to break through some of these cultural taboos.

Higurashi would not work as a story if it wasn’t written by a Japanese man, to the Japanese people, as a story about Japanese characters…because these concepts are so important to understanding a lot of the major themes. Let’s say, instead, that Ryukishi had moved to the US and started writing Higurashi here. We don’t have a doujin industry, but let’s say he just published it as a fanfiction online, and it got a bit of a popular following. What do you think the reception would have been about the inherent themes of Minagoroshi-hen? Because I can absolutely envision a western comment section for it. “Why didn’t they just bust into her house and see that her uncle was lying?!” “If I were Keiichi and the others I’d have gone and kicked his ass” “Why would Rika rather keep quiet about Satoko than try to help her? I thought they were best friends?” And so on and so forth. I think a lot of people wouldn’t get why Minagoroshi-hen was such a long, dragged out process…because the western mindset for this sort of thing is so different. We can’t imagine that child protective services would be so passive!! The meaning of their struggle in that arc would just be totally lost - Hell, for all I know, that’s exactly what happened for western readers not super familiar with Japanese culture reading Higurashi for the first time (I say reading because if I recall, like most things, the anime sorta streamlined the whole thing for the sake of time and it didn’t seem like nearly as long of a process as it does in the VN and manga). I bet there were a lot of western fans who genuinely didn’t understand a lot of Higurashi’s themes, and this is no fault of their own. This is because Higurashi was written specifically with a Japanese audience in mind, an audience that wouldn’t need to have this attitude explained to them because it’s an inherent part of their culture.

I won’t pretend to be an expert on Japanese culture myself, of course, but I absolutely don’t think Ryukishi’s stories would work if they were actually written for a western market. Of course they both have a strong western fanbase, but I’d wager that only a small fraction of that fanbase is made up of people who weren’t already anime/manga fans. IE, people who already know a bit about Japanese culture because they’re already exposed to a lot of Japanese media. And while I think Umineko has a bit more western appeal in its themes than Higurashi (which is a very Japanese story in more ways than one), it was still clearly written for a Japanese audience, with a Japanese mindset. Again I go back to the fact that a big part of the issues in Umineko is that the family members never liked to talk about their personal problems. If they had come together and tried to talk and help each other, the tragedy could absolutely have been prevented. Yasu would have been able to come to terms with herself and not be pushed to the brink feeling like her life was hopeless. Battler and Rudolf could have made up much sooner, rather than waiting for 6 whole years. Rosa and Maria could have healed their mother-daughter relationship and try to come to terms with their own psychoses. The list goes on. So much of Umineko could have been prevented if the characters didn’t bottle up their personal problems…which, yeah, is something westerners can relate to and appreciate, but I think would be received much more strongly by a Japanese audience.

Ryukishi is Japanese. He writes for the Japanese. The fact that westerners latch onto that quality of his stories so much is certainly interesting, but to insinuate that somehow his own culture and the very mindset that drives him to write these stories is somehow hindering him…I can’t agree with that at all. I think it’s awesome that his stories are identifiable enough to reach a much wider audience than he could have ever expected…but to think that somehow his work would be better off if he wasn’t Japanese, or writing stories to appeal to his own culture? I think that’s a very mistaken viewpoint, myself.