#obviously horrible things have happened throughout history too but

[dilfsuzanneyk]

sometimes i think about the fact that people have always been people and just loved each other throughout history and i have to stop whatever i’m doing 

[cyberkitty1]

Ken sato brainrot is real and im here for that, i saw that request are open, and i want to make one if thats okay? Bassically hcs o of kenji with a high school friend reader that is a very shy/meek person, they where inseparable as kids and kenji was always very protective of reader, even in their high school years when reader started dating a very cuestionable guy that ended up being a cheater with her toxic ex best friend(that send her a lot of hatefull texts and calls with threats and slut shaming comments bc she wanted to date her boyfriend), due this reader moved on to japan when she and kenji where teenagers and they keep contact by texts and zoom calls.

When kenji comes to japan is determinate to make reader officially his girl, it can include headcanons of them as a couple!

If this is to much you are free to not do this request! I dont wanna bother you

hey babes! not too much at all!! i havnt been active at all lately and quite frankly i don’t want to work on my long fic so this will be my break! ^^ and sorry i did tweak it a little im sorry 😞

warning: lowercase intended, slightly proofread!

- your moms were great friends and throughout their pregnancies hung out with each other day in and day out.

- he was older by about 2-3 months. from the moment you were born you guys could not be taken apart. you bathed together, ate together, took naps together when i say everything i mean everything! you both urged to have birthdays together at some point.

- you both had so much love for either obviously not in a romantic way, but in a way that just being in eachothers presence is enough.

- once he knew he wanted to do baseball you’d practice with him for fun, granted he was lightyears ahead of you in technique he still likes tossing it back and forth and talking about drama in your classes.

- as you both got older you did find out your interests but that didn’t tarnish your relationship considering you had multiple classes together plus lunch plus going to and from school together.

- that is until you get a boyfriend. one of kens teammates. he was notorious for being with half the girls in your grade. you had a very small friend group but you knew who he was, but alas you still fell for him. 

- you were together for about 4 months ken felt as if it were an eternity, time and time again he tells you his dating history and each time you’d hush him giving him and give horrible excuses.

- things were going ok up until you saw him acting a bit different, you weren’t one to meddle in others business but you knew he was hiding something. you check his phone and see a plethora of text messages and call logs of him and another girl he told you at the beginning “not to worry about”.

- the only person you could think of to offer you comfort is ken. walking if not running to his house a little under a mile away. he answers the door seeing you in your disheveled state and already knows what has happened.

- he could only hug you and listen to you sob. after about an hour you explain and he listens using tissues to get your tears and letting you blow your nose. you ended up staying the night having his mom call yours and let her know.

- by the next day you were feeling better but your eyes were so swollen your parents let you stay home, of course ken begged his parents to let him stay as well but he did have a test and practice so they ultimately refused.

- of course after ending all his tasks he made his way to your house to see you, you were still sad but a weight felt lifted off your shoulders. he was able to distract you further making you forget what you were sad about in the first place.

- once you were done with highschool you both move on to bigger and better things him continuing to pursue baseball and you going into nursing. at this point it’s the only thing you’re putting your energy into considering you lost contact with all friends in high school.

- but in college you were still working in groups with others so you didn’t mind too much and while you were living your life obviously he was too, getting scouted and making his dream team honestly doing everything he had wanted to do.

- another time skip, you’ve graduated officially but getting your doctorate is in the picture. he’s still doing baseball, you guys dont really talk anymore and he really really doesn’t like it. but he doesn’t know what to do, how to fix it. he really misses how things were and deeply loves you and can only reminisce on everything that you guys have done together.

- that is until after a battle he ends up at your doorstep not battered but still a bit hurt, all he could do during the fight was think of you, this was his breaking point.

PART 2

AYYYY 2 IN 1 DAY

AHHHH STORY TIME NEXT POST IS LIKE STORY PORTION

[nodutra19]

Rambling

Reading RGU analysis always makes me feel dumb as shit. I'm a heavy reader but outside some manga and videogames, I've pretty much neglected visual mediums, so watching RGU was a very strange experience. I love it, I just feel tiny in comparison to everyone else who seems to get it, unlike I.

Obviously, Ohtori Academy is a coffin, a trap, an arrest of development. From Sôji's fixation on Tokiko to Akio's obsession with becoming Dios, the rotten ideal in white, everyone has to disassemble what they've been taught. Juri has to let go of Shiori, and everyone has to let go of these stupid and harmful games and ideas. One thing I did struggle with understanding until now was how possible it was for Miki and Kozue, Nanami and Tôga to have healthy familial relationships after everything.

I realized I was thinking too rigidly, in spite of my planned no-contact with my own family. CLAMP once said "Family is other people too" (in xxxHolic). The main thread for all the characters in RGU is the fact they're holding onto something they need to let go of. After everything's that happened, the Kaoru and Kiryû siblings have unsalvagable bonds. That's how I see it anyway. They were already taught horrible things. It's just that on top of that, they've morphed their relationships into something incredibly foul and mephitic. A bit of separation anxiety isn't harmful in itself, but the four of them have festered it into one of the most twisted things I've ever seen. As Ikuhara said in episode 15's commentary, there's this idea that familial relationships are the deepest. "Blood is thicker than water."

The hell of it is, the original line is "The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb." Meaning that what matters more in this world is the bonds you choose. You don't choose where or with whom you are born. But you do choose who you associate with. Obviously there's a lot of complexity about the interactions between the individual and the collective, the individual and the structures about the individual, but ultimately a choice is a choice.

Family bonds are just as fragile as any other. They're just as fleeting, just as prone to deterioration. They're not eternal as we're taught, hence the revolving, spiraling incest throughout the show. We're taught family is forever, and so it's no wonder the Kaoru, Kiryû, and Himemiya siblings have the dynamics they do. They represent different forms of what this sort of thinking leads to. Especially Akio. After all, a Prince is a member of Royalty, no? And we all know what Royalties throughout our histories commit in order to be "pure." This thinking is what traps so many into cycles of familial abuse. If we were to treat family as we treat "outsiders" (because that's how we're taught to think of anyone outside the family), if our lenses were shaped to this analysis, if our retinas were shaped to recognize these true colors, I'd say most of us would never like our families from the jump. It's much the same way adults justify beating their children and yet if anyone even their age beat on them whenever they made a mistake, you bet your fucking ass they'd fight back. But if it's family, it's suddenly different, when really it isn't.

Hell, this is part of why we say "bro," "homie," "twin," "brother," "sister" to people we're extremely close with. Even I do that. Found family is a wonderful thing, but if "Family is other people too," then how does "found family" factor into things? If we're so rebellious against things such as the nuclear family structure, if we understand that family doesn't determine anything, then what use is found family? If we so despise these structures, why do we mimic it? Are we like Utena who say "I'm completely different from you, Saionji/Tôga/Juri/Miki/Sôji/Akio" when we're mimicking said structure? Is what we seek in these relationships undefinable in the lexicon we're given? If family is as fleeting and prone to death as any other bond, then what's the worth of referring to these non-familial bonds in terms of family? Maybe that's part of why this show has so many fucking orphans and/or absent parents.

I'm not saying you should stop feeling sisterly or brotherly to that one friend who just seems to get you. Really, I'd be a massive hypocrite if I did. But it's still something to chew on, I think. I can't provide any answers though.

I hope this has been insightful in some way. I feel late as hell to the party. One of these days I'mma go through all of Empty Movement.

[burnt-scone]

Oh no, seeing the traumatized and injured people of Gaza makes you uncomfy?

We can't have almost 60, if not more, family trees being wiped from existence, making you uncomfortable. No, we can't have that. Those bloodlines, generations burned off the face of the planet, how rude of of people lifting their voices, because you feel bad.

Here, let me fluff your pillows in your nice, warm, and safe bed. Do you need a snack, a glass of clean water. Poor you. You must be so uncomfortable hearing about all those people who are now the last person in their family, the last person who lived on their block. The children, all alone, hurt and scared. They understand horrors you couldn't even handle the sight of through a screen. Must be so upsetting to look that 6 year old in the eye as all he wants is his mommy and daddy back.

Poor fucking you. I hope you're uncomfortable. That's a good thing. That's that crumb of empathy deep down in your empty soul. It hurts for the people in Gaza even though you don't want to because you ride the dicks of propaganda. You fear picking up a fucking history book.

And no, it's not antisemitic to be against a corrupt government funded by other historically corrupt governments. It's not antisemitic to be against Genocides. Stop trying to weaponize morality.

"Oh, (Palestinians) are everything anti-(Jews/Israel), we should get rid of them. They're not even human. In the name of G/d, we should eradicate them. They brought it on themselves."

Now, isn't that argument familiar? Replace "Palestinians" with "Jew" and "Jews/Israel" with Germany or literally Europe. That was the argument Hitler made. He convinced Germany and the church to start the Holocaust. He claimed Jewish people were corrupting Germany and the Christian way of life. They were causing the stock market to crash, and they caused the Great Depression.

Obviously, that was wrong. It was obviously excuses to commit ethnic cleansing and Genocide. And that's what's happening now in Palestine.

Hamas is not in the West Bank, which is fact, but that isn't stopping Israel from murdering thousands. Every heinous air strike on a school or hospital that try and say "Oh their were like 5 members of Hamas on the roof."

Bullshit. You don't need an airstrike on a few guys on the roof of a hospital. Especially if you aimed for the lower levels of the building.

I am Jewish, and I am not antisemitic. I do not see this as a Judaism vs. Islam situation. This is a corrupt power-hungry colonies government vs. innocent people.

We were not supposed to even be settled there yet. No messiah = no return to Jerusalem. This is just a fight over power and land, and I'm tired of the excuses being "Jews," "Judaism," "Jerusalem," "Judea," "Antisemitic," etc... because that's a stupid and horrible excuse.

How often throughout history has religion and culture been the excuse to try and kill us, to keep us in ghettos, to make us carry identification to show we are Jewish. Do you not realize Israel turned around and did the same thing to Palestinians? Before and after WW1, Jewish people lived peacefully in Palestine alongside Islamic peoples and Christian peoples. During WW2, Palestine protected Jewish people. But then, after everything England and the Israeli Colony pushed 20,000 Palestinian peoples into a tiny space (basically a fucking Ghetto) and to enter Israel they have to carry papers and Identification to show they are Palestinians.

I don't understand how people don't see the sad irony in all of this. It's heartbreaking. And I'm so tired of excuses.

Those children didn't provoke anything, it is Palestinian's home, it was colonization, and it's not religious or civilians' fault. It is those in power, it's those with too much power, too many funds, and too many weapons.

Free Palestine, free the children before there are none.

[fondofcowboys]

here's my very all over the place feelings on certain aspects of baldur's gate 3 as a romani immigrant. warnings for spoilers of course. mind you i have not finished the game yet!

1. i really can't believe there aren't more people talking about the very blatant racism in astarion's questline. im quite sure it's because the game already touches on it, even giving you the choice to call astarion a racist, and also because everytime we roma talk about anything that makes us uncomfortable we're immediately shunned and "well actually!"'d.

the problem is that it feels Extra icky because the man who was the inspiration for the original dracula, Vlad the Impaler, kept romani slaves. this is the ONLY part of vampire history that, no matter how different the media, will always stay relevant for some reason.

castlevania has the seekers, a nomadic group of magic users who pass their history down orally. while they are *mostly* treated well, the first arc of the show literally shows them being hunted out of town for the simple act of existing.

vampire the masquerade... well.. that's an entire other can of racism worms.

curse of strahd has the "vistani", a nomadic group of people who are treated like third class citizens everywhere they go, and are of course, most known for being tarot readers and drunkards.

the vampire diaries have the "travellers", who get called "gypsies" explicitly as a derogatory word by other vampires.

i want you to take any vampire media you enjoy and ask yourself, "is there anti-roma racism in this?". i guarantee you, if you look for it, you're going to find it. for SOME reason, the only thing that stays consistent with all these different vampire IPs, is that romani people are hated and scrutinized at every moment of their lives.

i MORE than understand that astarion's racial insensitivity is part of him. it's part of what makes him malleable by the player. you can help him understand why he's wrong, or you can lead him down a worse path.

i still reserve the right to feel some sort of way about astarion sacrificing fantasy-romani children for power, willingly. don't get me wrong, he's my favourite character, right up there with halsin. which is why i obviously have so many feelings about this.

(yes, the Gur were written inspired by romani people, if you were not aware)

2. the anti-immigrant sentiment is such an inherent part of the story that i did not think was going to stick around for SO long. i dont really have much to say about this, i think i should've expected it. as a fan of dragon age (i know, tragic) i'm quite used to unnecessary fantasy racism everywhere i go, i just hoped it wouldn't be part of the main crucial story.

3. larian studios i am so so so thankful for the halsin romance. eternally. forever and ever. he's my pookie bear and i'm so grateful some extra time was made to create a romance for him.

can i ask you why the hell does halsin want to LEAVE. At The End. i've noticed how much he contradicts himself throughout his questline and i just... I don't know. i've seen some other people complaining about how non-chalantly he talks about being a sex slave and i understand too, but i think it's part of his character to not take the horrible things that happened to him seriously like he does with others. that, or someone at larian took an unknown substance that led them to make halsin Very inconsistent.

with the poly situation, some people are strictly polyamorous! some people are strictly non-monogamous and do not feel comfortable being in a monogamous relationship. i understand the frustration everyone, but that's how halsin is. i dont know if that was the writers' intention, but that's certainly what he comes across as to me; strictly non-monogamous.

what i DONT understand is why he says he only wants you, calls you "my heart", is so fondly and lovingly attached to you, and then he just.... Dips? Whatever. I'm ignoring that part forever. it's not canon to ME!

anyways. yeah. feel free to Engage in some Friendly conversation. emphasis on friendly, for the love of g-d

[max--phillips]

hi :) i am a training historian focusing heavily on art, and i saw your post about ancient rome on my timeline, and i just wanted to say a few things about your “why we don’t have black art.” of course, you did not ask for this, it just sparked some thoughts and i figured i would drop by and say hello! <3

but if you want to learn some more, here are my two cents xx

1. we’ve only excavated roughly 10ish percent of “ancient rome”. there is a LOT left to discover. the issue with archaeology is that it is very expensive and very laborious, and it takes a long while to reap any sort of reward.

2. back in the 19th and 20th centuries, safe excavation practices were pretty nonexistent, we didn’t have the ‘rule book’ that we do now, so to speak. there are stories of archaeologists using dynamite to dig- so, a lot of stuff has been lost to negligence and ignorance to proper ways of excavating. (it still happens today!) for example, a lot of egypt was excavated by random people, too! not trained archaeologists and historians. for a while, richer folks wanted to have hands on experience with history, so in the early 20th century that’s what they did. (i don’t blame them, i probably would too if i had a shit ton of money!)

3. rome was also notorious for flooding- it’s not on a very nice location geographically. even today, many parts of italy have flooded, destroying hundreds of art pieces and artifacts. (such as the great flood in florence, which happened in 1966) a lot of artifacts are lost to natural disasters.

4. a lot of stuff just doesn’t survive. the fall of rome happened in 476 AD, and that’s over 1500 years ago. an issue i have also discovered is that a lot of surviving tablets and letters from the ancient world are just…. receipts and lists. nothing juicy. they were just normal people, you know?

5. a lot of art from rome could also have been lost to religious wars during the middle ages. that is an academic speculation, but culture is typically the first to go during a religious war or crusade.

6. also, roman art was fragile. all art is. we have lost a multitude of great paintings and pottery because it doesn’t last very long. a big example of this is someone a bit more recent than rome- Da Vinci. He experimented a LOT with types of paintings and techniques. his last supper painting began deteriorating just a few years after he painted it, because he tried to do a well fresco using oil paints. (not good lol) art is not forever, unfortunately, so i can imagine a lot of roman pottery not lasting very long with how fragile it is.

also, one last thing. i think we tend to group ancient societies into one large homogenous blog, and i find that very modernist and dangerous. ancient rome was full of different dialects, people, and groups, and to say they were all one thing it very dangerous. same for ancient greece- it was made up of various tribes! sparta was not athens, etc etc.

i believe that that goes for all history, as well. even well up into the 20rh century.

racism, as we know it, is a fairly newer concept in the historical time line. a lot of slavery back in the ancient world was based on status and wealth, or who was better at fighting, and not necessarily skin color. (still absolutely horrible though. obviously!)

for example, ancient egypt was, as new evidence suggests, a thriving society with multiple people from multiple backgrounds. (we’ve discovered tombs with people who all have different types of skin colors, insinuating that the most important people in their society were made up of a rather inclusive bunch.) and the same goes for north africa, today and then- it is a beautiful and diverse part of the map, and not one country is the same, and neither are their people!

the world is not made up of horrible people, and i think it would do us all some good to remember that. there is more love than hate, there always has been, and we can see it in art throughout time <3 ah, but i digress!

anyways, I have put some beautiful ancient art below depicting people of color. the first one is my fave! xxx

Hell yeah, thank you so much for this input!!!

(I have a lot of feelings about the era of the “I have money and no idea what I’m doing, I’m going to go eat a mummy.” Or “I’m going to go find Troy and inadvertently contribute to the Nazi platform.” (On that note, if you find that article interesting, I highly suggest these episodes of Behind the Bastards on the history of the swastika (part 1, part 2). Because at one point it really was just a symbol that like, every civilization on earth used at one point or another. And then a bunch of racist antisemites had to go and ruin it.) But seriously, Europeans loved eating mummies. Or using them in paint. And generally just destroying priceless artifacts for funsies. It infuriates me much the same way the fact the library at Alexandria was burned infuriates me, y’know?)

But I super agree with you vis a vis the fact we tend to paint “Ancient Rome” and similar societies/empires as a monolith. I mean… here hang on

It goes without saying that today, Spanish culture is different from French is different from British, Italian, Greek, Turkish, Algerian, Egyptian, Palestinian, etc etc etc. And that still would’ve been the case at this point. Sure there was influence (and later, it’s hard to escape the influence of the Catholic Church) but it’s not like Roman soldiers showed up one day in all these different places and replaced the whole local culture with marble columns and olive oil. (I mean, there was probably a lot of olive oil, but that’s besides the point)

I would still argue that there is probably a reason that we don’t see as much Roman-era art of Black people as we probably could, and whose fault that is I don’t know—it could be modern curators, it could be those 19th/20th century “archaeologists,” it could be neither and just pure chance—but I am here right now begging people that if you’re writing in this era, think for a few seconds before you pull all of your inspiration from rows of Roman statues portraying white people. (Also, if I’m remembering correctly, those statues were painted some pretty wild colors at their height, which is neat)

ANYWAY, thank you for the extra info !! I appreciate your expertise on the matter :0 thank you very much for sharing!!

[magnoliamyrrh]

also like. i think its very fair to be horrified at the state of the world and how we treat each other, god knows i am, but something i was talking to a friend awhile back about is that its also..... kinda amazing that weve even gotten this far and that we care in the first place u know?

like. throughout most of history people have been warring w each other, tribal wars, wars between kingdoms etc. genocide and war and colonialism aint some sort of ordeal invented by the evil white man it is massive massive amounts of human history. war, genocide, sieges, famines, ethnic clensing, fighting over land and resources, taking peoples over, ruling over them, enslaving defeated ppl and assimilating them, and anyone whose looked at world history can tell u that. this has happened a million times throughout history all over the planet.... and while i am certain there were people who opposed, i also doubt many ancient societies were having Widespread discourse about how oh man were living on the land of the ppl we killed isnt this kinda fucked? or like oh man we took over these ppl, isnt that kinda fucked actually? hey,, maybe we shouldnt do this?

.... or like. slavery. which has existed for thousands upon thousands of years. and certainly, there were people who opposed to it, and there were slave revolts, and plenty of other stuff.. but it went on legally and socially accepted in vast parts of the world for thousands, upon thousands of years. hell, many times ppl who would complain abt being enslaved themselves were also enslaving...... and like..., to an extent its kinda amazing that today we live in a world in which socially, many ppl no longer agree with it. they care about it. they feel bad about it, they feel bad about what has happened?? ?? like generally speaking while yes slavery is numbers wise a worse issue than ever,, most random ppl living their lives today aint for it?????

. or like. racism, ethnic hatred, and tribalism. which has existed everywhere in different forms on this planet. and sure, theres always been ppl who opposed it, its also been very normal in a lot of the world in some form since forever....... and yet would u look at that, there Are So many people today who maybe they aint perfect cuz noone is, but they wanna be better. they care, theyre trying

..... or like... a million other things... and again its like yea, obviously, theres so much shit today happening which is just horrible and at times at a larger scale and worse than in the past......... but.... if one takes a look at history and the human psyche throughout it....... i think my friend was right when he said, its kinda miraculous weve even gotten to where we are now really. we expect so much of each other and everyone, but god damn in the context of everything,,,, in some ways, we aint doing too bad. those in power are doing the same shit theyve always done just on a globalized scale with weapons of mass destruction and more ways to exploit....... but... More Random People probably care than ever

[whatyourusherthinks]

Challengers Review

Hey, it's the movie where Zendaya has a threesome with two brothers. Okay, it isn't really about that, it's about Zendaya trying to decide which of these two tennis guys she's gonna end up with or something, but the marketing made it seem like the two guys were brothers. Even my manager thought so. Anyway, I didn't really have any strong feelings about the movie before it came out, looked sorta interesting. I used to watch tennis with my mom growing up so I could get into that angle of the movie.

What's The Movie About?

These two tennis players have a match that's overly dramatic and we flash around their history of why their like that. Spoilers, it's because they are horny for Zendaya and each other and as all three of them are egotistical assholes.

What I Like.

The story structure is pretty interesting. Basically it starts with a tennis match between these two guys, and we flashback to various interactions they and Zendaya have had throughout their lives. It's kind of a mystery of what's going on that slowly reveals itself. They do the "action set to the rhythm of music' thing, but it's with drama and tennis instead of fighting or a chase scene. It works sometimes. The second half of the movie picked up quite a pace and got tense at certain points. And the acting is pretty good. All the leads are pretty hot too so that helps I guess.

What I Didn't Like.

If you couldn't tell from the subtle hints the the previous sections, I don't like this movie very much. It's kinda bad. It's not god awful, but it's aggressively kinda bad. I'll see if I can explain myself.

To start with, I said the story structure is interesting, but notice I didn't say it was good. Honestly, I got confused about when the scene I was watching was happening in relation to the last scene. Also, a third of the movie the slow burn doesn't work because we either already know what's gonna happen, either because of the start of the movie establishing it or BECAUSETHEFUCKINGTRAILERSPOILEDIT! Another third it doesn't work because I don't know what the question I'm supposed to want to know the answer to is, and the final third doesn't work because it involves being invested in the characters and I hate all of them.

SECOND POINT, I hate all the characters. Well, to be fair there is only like 3 characters, Zendaya, blonde tennis boy, and brown-haired tennis boy. (Art and Patrick, respectively.) I mean there's a bunch of other people in the movie obviously but no one gets a name except for Art and Zendaya's kid who is so completely superfluous to the movie I think she only exists so Art can use her to complain about playing tennis. Because the only thing Art wants in the movie is to stop playing tennis. Zendaya and Patrick are egotistical and aloof, and they also like to act like their pulling these 4D chess manipulation moves on each other and Art, but really they're just fucking assholes with really vague motivations. Zendaya says she doesn't want to be a homewrecker yet she constantly is bouncing back and forth between Art and Patrick for some reason (just like a real tennis match uhuhuhuh) even though she constantly berates and criticizes both of them. Normally in movies with love triangles I'm on the never route of 'all the characters should just form a polycule' but here I just want all of them to go away. Patrick gets a special mention in my next segment.

Three, there's some HORRIBLE queer representation in this movie. To give the movie a slight break, there isn't any forced in lesbians, and that's appreciated. They don't ignore the romantic chemistry between Art and Patrick, and Patrick is fairly open with his bisexuality in the movie. But Patrick is also a philanderer, and openly admits at one point to be hooking up with whoever he can just so he can have a place to sleep. Which is a position HE PUT HIMSELF INTO BECAUSE HE'S TOO PRIDEFUL TO ASK HIS RICH PARENTS FOR HELP. Also, really early on there's this random gay couple that sexually harass him for no reason and they are super stereotypical, and don't come into play at all or connect to anything.

Fourth thing, this movie is too long. You could trim plenty and makes it a svelte two hours, like that gay couple I just mentioned. There's slow motion, for absolutely no reason. Why does Zendaya turning around need to be three times as long as normal? There's also like an embarrassing amount of product placement for just about everything, which I guess makes sense since the characters are professional tennis players (kinda sorta) but it left a bad taste in my mouth.

Five, I said the tennis and drama set to music works sometimes? It works twice, both in the second half of the movie. I can't really explain why it doesn't work for every other scene. It just doesn't. Like, the makers of the movie did it wrong. It doesn't line up, or they put music cues over some pointless shot. Here's a shot of Art staring at his coffee table, better pump the techno. Here's Zendaya rubbing her busted knee, this needs an angelic choir singing in Latin. I hate the music in this movie. I thought it was going to be all techno music, which I wouldn't have loved but I could at least respect. But they also use super incongruous church hymns or something of that nature. And on top of that, There's licensed music. Diegetic licensed music that SOUND TERRIBLE.

Lastly, the first half of this movie is really boring. And again, I can't really explain why. The only things that happen are either shown in the trailer, or incredibly cringe-worthy. Let's just say when the most entertaining part of your movie is a scene where someone is telling a story about the first time they jerked off, you better fucking work hard to make it entertaining. Hell, it's not even that funny. It's just kinda icky I guess. All the romance scenes are like that. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood, but the romantic dialogue sucks, the "sex" scenes are just gross, but not in an intentional way, and the nudity felt meaningless. I didn't even feel sleezy. It just was like, "Yep, they made the actors get naked. Whatever."

Also the movie just stops. Kinda like this.

Final Summation.

I had a chance to watch this movie the night before it came out officially, but I didn't feel super great so I didn't go. It was the only movie that came out that week, but I didn't go in on my day off because I wanted to rest. I been having issues managing my stress and anxiety recently and wanted to take sometime off. Hell, I had three panic attacks in the past few days before going to see this movie, and one on my way home from watching it.

I think the universe was trying to warn me.

I kinda hate this movie. I feel like a fraud saying that because, objectively, it's not that terrible of an experience. (It's not Civil War.) I'm sure it would appeal to someone. But not me. After writing this review I'm not even angry. I'm not disappointed at the movie either because I didn't really have expectations going in. I just feel empty inside.

What the fuck am even I doing?

[moonchild-things]

Chapter Two: The Weirdo on Maple Street

Summary: There was nothing extraordinary about Bonnie Ward. A typical teenage girl who never says all that much and doesn’t have too many friends. Hawkins never felt all the strange or special to her, but her opinion changes after being dragged into the horrors that hide in the forests. Interdimensional monsters and psychic people are not what Bonnie would have ever imagined showing up in Hawkins!

Word Count: 2559 

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TUESDAY WAS JUST ABOUT THE SAME AS Monday, nothing too special was going to happen. Bonnie was sure of that as she headed into school. She had the same tense car ride up to Hawkins High with her brother in the driver's seat. Though Bonnie did notice Samuel gripping the steering wheel a little tighter than usual and the way his jaw clenched in anger. No doubt angered by the scolding he had from his parents over not bringing Bonnie home. They had made it adamant that he had to pick her up after school, especially today. It took them threatening his allowance that he begrudgingly agreed with it.

‘He obviously blames me for his lack of responsibility.’ Bonnie had thought during the ride, ‘Though it’s not my fault he’s nothing but an immature child in a man’s body.’ Now he’ll either bribe or threaten her to lie about him picking her up from school.

With no parting words, Samuel dropped her off and Bonnie could head into school.  Walking into the school, Bonnie took quick notice of Jonathan hanging up posters on the bulletin board. She smiled, ‘finally, I can show him what I did with the project!’ Though as she came up closer, she took notice of the poster he was putting up.

The smiling photo of the innocent Will Byers stared back at her with the glaring words ‘HAVE YOU SEEN ME’. That caused Bonnie to pause. She’s never met Will, but she’s heard about him from Jonathan from time to time. Little things like how Jonathan shares his music with him, or Will’s love of D&D. From what she’s heard, Will is a nice kid. 

‘Missing?’ Concern flooded her mind, ‘I could neve imagine…’ Losing a sibling, especially a little sibling like this must be devastating. She wouldn’t even know what Jonathan and his mother are feeling right now.

Her light footsteps were heard by Jonathan as he looked over his shoulder to her. He appeared ragged, at the verge of crying, and completely lost. Honestly, he looked just as Bonnie would have thought he would now that she realized the situation he’s in.

She offered him a small, sad smile, doing her best to relay to him nonverbally that she was sorry for what had happened. Much like anyone else, sans the Hellfire Club, Bonnie wasn’t really friends with Jonathan Byers. They were partners in History, they’ve been in a few classes together throughout their years at Hawkins High and Hawkins Middle, but that was the extent of their relationship. He was an outcast much like her, but they were even outcasted from each other. While sharing classes happened often, neither made the effort to befriend each other outside of school. 

“Bonnie,” he greeted her in his familiar soft voice. He swallowed thickly, “I’m sure you heard about Will.” She shook her head with large brown eyes dripping with empathy. “Oh, I thought everyone knew by now. He didn’t come home last night…” He trailed off, obviously upset at the reminder of what had happened. A truly concerned big brother. It warmed Bonnie’s heart.

‘Samuel wouldn’t be the same way,’ Bonnie couldn’t help herself but think sadly. ‘He might even throw a party if I went missing.’ It’s a horrible thought, but she knows that she’s right to a certain extent. Does she love her brother? Well, she supposes. Does he love her? Maybe. She can’t tell. Would he care if she went missing? Probably not a lot. Samuel would probably find it annoying, complain that all the attention was on her again, and not even help with the search. It’s a horrible idea, but she accepts the possibility. Hell, if Samuel went missing, she probably wouldn’t be that bothered by it. So she can’t say she’d be any better than him.

She placed her hand on his arm in a form of comfort. One that he appreciated from the small smile that he flashed her and the understanding in his eyes. Bonnie wouldn’t speak, but she would provide him with the minimal comfort that she could through actions and contact.

“Hey,” a timid voice said besides Jonathan.

Bonnie and Jonathan looked over to see that it was Nancy who came over to greet them. Jonathan shuffled with the ends of his jacket, “Oh, hey.” Bonnie smiled slightly and nodded in her direction in greeting.

“I just…” Nancy started not really knowing what to say, “I wanted to say, you know, um... I'm sorry about everything.” She glanced over her shoulder to see that they had an audience. It wasn’t that surprising  Tommy, Carol Everyone's thinking about you. It sucks.” 

“Yeah.”

“I'm sure he's fine. He's a smart kid.” The bell then rang, signaling that they all now had to head to class. Bonnie groaned lightly, knowing where they had to go. Nancy smiled at Jonathan apologetically, “I have to go. Chemistry test. You ready Bonnie.” Said girl shrugged her shoulders with an expression that showed she was unsure. She probably should have asked Nancy to go over some things last night. Oh well.

Jonathan nodded, “Yeah.” 

“Good luck.” 

“Thanks,” he mumbled. 

So the two girls left Jonathan on his own, to wallow in his own thoughts and sorrows. Though he already had his own mission, to talk to his father. So he went on his journey while his peers went about their days like normal.

Nancy brought Bonnie along with her towards her little clique, to Bonnie’s chagrin. Greeted by the judgmental stares of the school’s popular kids caused Bonnie to become unnerved. The last thing she wanted was to have to deal with them right before a difficult chemistry test. That would just add to a growing migraine.

“Ah, the mute,” Carol sneered at Bonnie’s appearance. Her dark red painted lips were pulled back in a sarcastically friendly smile, so fake it made 

The notebook that had previously been held tightly against her chest was snatched from her hands. Tommy grabbed it, and pretended to be interested in it. “You've been studying up, huh?” He asked sarcastically, “Working real hard on these notes?”

Bonnie tried to reach back for her notebook, but Tommy just held it up higher. ‘Why must I be cursed to be this short!’ She huffed mentally while glaring at the boy.

Her obvious frustration just caused him to smirk, “Come on, I’m sure if you ask nicely, you can have it back. Just ask.” It was like playing with his food. Teasing her and baiting her was a passtime of his. People like him did what they could to get a reaction out of her, bullying her just to get a little peep from her. No doubt that if they could, they’d brag about it to their friends and make fun of her for some reason or other. Such a nuisance for Bonnie to deal with.

Whether it was of his own volition or the looks he was getting from Nancy, Steve decided to step in. “Guys, leave her be.” He wasn’t that convincing in his words, but took action and took the notebook from Tommy. She gave Bonnie a tight lipped smile before handing her notebook back.

Bonnie just rolled her eyes, snatched her notebook out of his hands, and walked away. She’s used to their teasing and bullying so she wasn't too fazed by it. Sometimes it gets under her skin, that’s for sure. She certainly has her limit for what she can handle, but some silly comments like that weren't going to get to her at the moment. As much as she would have liked to walk to class with Barb and Nancy, she wasn’t going to stay with those buffoons. Besides, she’s got a difficult chemistry test to focus on for the moment. 

---

Munching on her disappointing ham and cheese sandwich, Bonnie slumped down in her seat. The lunchroom was bustling with the normal cliques of students going about their business. Popular kids gossiped and bullied, the book worms kept their noses in their books, and the freaks were discussing D&D. Sitting besides Gareth, Bonnie was half listening to their happy chatter. For one thing, her mind was going over the chemistry test she took. Trying to think about the answers that she put and if they were wrong in any way. Another part of her mind was thinking about the poor missing boy that she had only learned about that morning.

Noticing how Bonnie wasn’t engaging in the conversation like she usually would, Eddie paused and turned to her. “You okay?” Bonnie blinked out of her thoughts and looked at him with wide eyes. He stared at her with a knowing expression, “I just feel that something is bothering you.”

She shrugged her shoulders, not really knowing how to tell him. A part of her was jittery about her chemistry test, which she's unsure if she did well enough on it. Another part of her was still thinking over the news of Will’s disappearance. After all, it was definitely going to be the talk of the town now. Bonnie could already hear the whispers and questions from the other kids around the school. Even quite a few of the teachers were talking about it. 

“Did you guys hear about Will Byers?” Peter asked the group. Bonnie slowly nodded her head, her heart feeling even heavier than it did before at the reminder.

“Yea,” Eddie sighed, “some kids were saying he went missing.”

Jeff’s eyes widened, “That sounds bad.”

“Well, obviously,” Peter scoffed.

“Think the kid’s just skipping?”

Eddie shrugged his shoulders, “Dunno. Maybe. If he’s anything like his brother, though, he wouldn't be much of a trouble maker.”

‘No one has gone missing, like, ever in Hawkins,’ Bonnie thought to herself. ‘What happened to Will?’

She could come up with her theories about what might have happened, but she felt like she most likely would be wrong. The last thing she would want to do is come up with her own story about what had happened to the poor boy. She didn’t need to make assumptions about if Will was safe or not. No need to give even herself a bit of hope about him being okay or coming up with horrible scenarios of him being in trouble. There wasn’t a need for her to think that way.

“Hope the kid’s okay at least.”

Everyone nodded their head, agreeing with him before deciding to delve into different topics. After all, they needed to go over when they wanted to meet up for their next band practice. Even if the topic was dropped, it still left a chill down Bonnie’s spine.

---

When the bell for the end of school rang through the halls, Bonnie found herself waiting outside. The stream of students pouring out of the school walked all around her as she kept an eye out for the familiar mustang. As everyone passed her, Bonnie could hear the talk of Will Byers. The never ending rumors and theories about what had happened. It still left an unsettling feeling in her stomach at the thought, though she suspected that to be common enough. Yes, she heard some less than savory comments made about Will himself as well as his family, though they were few and far between. The Byers were a family that quite a few people knew as a strange family. Kids in her high school saw Jonathan as a weirdo, she was certain kids at the middle school thought the same of Will. Bonnie had heard stories from her parents about how they found Joyce Byers, Will and Jonathan’s mother, a bit strange. Though Bonnie couldn’t really say what she thought of the family. She liked Jonathan, he was nice to her.

The sound of a car screeching up to the curb, brought Bonnie out of her thoughts. It was her brother’s red mustang gleaming in the afternoon sun. He certainly didn’t look all that happy with having to be there.

“Get in!” Samuel gruffly shouted out the window.

Bonnie shuffled herself into the car quickly, lest she annoy her brother even further with going slow. Though he’s usually annoyed with her for even the littlest of things. Her existence alone seemed to annoy him to no end.

“Just so you know,” Samuel grunted, “I’m not happy about this.”

Bonnie rolled her eyes and thought, ‘I couldn’t tell.’ 

He started to mutter to himself, “Should have just let that freak Munson take you home, he does it enough already.”

Bonnie wanted to defend her friend and tell off her brother for calling Eddie a freak, but she didn’t want to waste her breath on him. Samuel, just like the rest of the town really, detested anyone they saw as weird or strange. Eddie and the rest of the Hellfire Club fell into the category due to people thinking that they were satanic. Honestly, Bonnie knew that it was nothing but stupidity.

‘It’s not like he has anything better to do.’ Bonnie bitterly thought. She accepted that he found her to be a burden, but did he have to keep saying it over and over to her? He’s said it plenty of times throughout her life, she understood the idea.

“Hanging out with them is really giving us a bad name, you know that? People talk, and all they’re talking about is how you’re whoring around with every freak around town.” Bonnie bristled and glared at him for his comments. Though he barely glanced at her from the corner of his eyes, “don’t act like it’s a lie. Your type doesn't ever change, you’re the same as when I was at that school as it is now. Not able to just be normal.” He was growing more and more annoyed from how his cheeks were turning red and consumed in emotions. Samuel’s rant was ticking Bonnie off, as he gritted her teeth in anger. 

She’s heard enough from him about what he thought about her and ‘her type’. Bonnie hates how he talks down to her over whatever she does. She thought she would get used to it to tune it out after so many years, however, it’s just gotten worse. It especially became worse when she got into high school. She has no idea what’s wrong with Samuel, but he was just becoming so cruel for no reason.

The rest of the car ride was nearly silent. Every once in a while Samuel would make a small sour comment under his breath, but that was about it. Bonnie just tuned him out, hating to even be within a three foot radius to him. There didn’t seem to be a possibility that the pair of siblings were ever going to get along. As soon as they got home, she made quick work of bolting into the house and up to her room. She barely even gave her mother a greeting before rushing up the stairs. Bonnie made quick work of slamming her door shut to keep herself away from her brother. It left a bad taste in her mouth, having to be picked up by him and brought home. He was right about one thing, she did wish that Eddie was the one who took her home. She certainly would be in a much better mood if that were the case.

---

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[piscespixiewastaken]

I feel not quite as cranky now, so I apologize if I came off too harsh. My intention was mainly this point here:

If you decide to run these people out, there will be no Artemis Fowl fandom left on tumblr

I believe the discourse surrounding A/H has occurred several times throughout the fandom’s 20+ year history. It happened on the forum boards, it’s happened here, and obviously it will continue to happen as new people join. But it needs to stay as actual discourse, and not pointing fingers while saying “this thing is problematic and if you like it, you MUST acknowledge that it is wrong”.

When I see the discourse start with “hey this ship/thing is messed up and NO ONE acknowledges it”, the implication is the people who like the ship are inherently messed up themselves and don’t understand that they’re “wrong”.

The moment you start the conversation with “this thing IS…” rather than “this makes ME feel…” then you (the collective you) have taken a stance. And that stance is “my opinion on this is the right one”. The next logical step is to vilify and demonize those who disagree with you if you can’t change their minds

Now obviously IRL relationships like Artemis/Holly can be very problematic. It can be counted as grooming (I did not address the fact that had Holly been human, she would have been closer to 20-21, still a 8-9 year age gap, but not 60-something years like OP stated), and there would need to be significant time away from each other in order to appropriately foster those feelings as adults.

But as I pointed out, this is fiction. This hurts no one to age up a character to make a ship appropriate. Or hell, age down a character to make a ship appropriate. No one in Hartemis actually ships child!Artemis and adult!Holly.

My main concern, because I have seen this occur elsewhere, is that this attitude, this “x/y ship is horrible/messed up” that implies similarly horrible things about those who engage with it, will lead to callouts, to bullying, and more. And once those start, they are very hard to stop.

Many of the people I saw active on fowldom and the Artemis Fowl tags over the years were Hartemis shippers. They were the biggest producers of art and fics for the past 10 years since I’ve been on tumblr. You know who I don’t see as often, despite their content not always being about the ship itself? Those same users.

The only thing I can assume based on posts like these that have popped up more regularly in the past year and a half? Those users felt unwelcome. Even if their content wasn’t A/H, they still worried that they would get harassed. So they quietly left or at least limited the content they posted. And now, we’re left with people going “hey, where’s all the AF fans?” because the content has dropped considerably.

Discourse is fine. But you cannot address someone’s opinion about a fictional ship by stating your opinion is fact. You cannot start discourse by saying that the thing is evil or horrible or messed up.

You’re not looking for discourse then. You’re looking for those who think like you do.

And that’s fine too, to an extent.

PROVIDED YOU DON’T TAG THE THING YOU’RE HATING ON BECAUSE YOU KNOW THAT THOSE IN SUPPORT OF IT WILL SEE IT.

There are OTHER WAYS to get people’s attention. Maybe start your own tag that the others can block if they don’t want to see hate. Because I’m sure they don’t, same as you don’t want to see the hartemis tag.

For that matter, it is never up to the person who is making things that you feel uncomfortable with to block you. It is YOUR responsibility to curate your feed. Either block the tags or block the people who use them. Those features are there for a reason. This is that reason.

Okay, I’m done for now. I still feel sick, I need sleep, and I’m just really fucking tired, so my thoughts might be a bit rambling at this point. The topic of anti-ship is a sore spot for me as someone who has seen people leave fandoms because they didn’t feel safe.

So forgive me for being protective of my first fandom.

This was my home as an awkward, lonely highschool student, and this was a safe space for hundreds and hundreds of others. I don’t want that to change.

Not something I’d normally post but this has infuriated me for YEARS. The most popular Artemis Fowl ship is Hartemis. For anyone that doesn’t know, it is the titular character x a character named Holly Short. I don’t know, but I never noticed any chemistry between them but that’s not the point. The problem with this ship is that Holly is in her 80s and Artemis is 15 at the end of the series. Nobody ever seems to notice or care about that fact, though. Not only that, but she KISSED HIM. She kissed him and nobody acknowledges how messed up that is.

[ooooo-mcyt]

Yknow what? I'd actually go so far as to say that, as much as ive seen it complained about, it's actually pretty hard to "UwU" or "Woobify" Grian within the context of yhs.

I mean. It's possible if you go really extreme with it, but it's hard.

Grian at his core is actually a primarily decent person most of the timeand is a primarily innocent party in most things. One who goes through a Lot.

If you really think about it Grian's moral compass isn't too far off normal basic human morality. He's often anxious and hesitant when faced with any involvement in criminal activity, he's frequently dismayed and offput by suggestions of violence (the less deserved the more dismay is expressed as well), he's disappointed and frustrated at seeing the people around him do fucked up things, he's almost always polite with a good head on his shoulders when faced with a kind or reasonable person. Even well into ts, long after first coming back to Japan, Grian is still incredibly uneasy and fidgety with the suggestion that he take part in violence, I mean, remember that time he, Taurtis, and Sam were tasked with killing Geode and Grian not only initially tried to refuse outright but then checked in shakily with the other two multiple times just to confirm if they were really going to kill someone. Grian's typically the character most likely in the entire series to be incredibly put off by and very hesitant about doing bad things (especially to people he's not one million percent certain deserve it).

And while one could argue that we can't really praise his moral compass for being hesitant about involving himself in crime/wrongdoing when he often ends up participating anyways. Actions speak louder than words and all. However I disagree. The fact that Grian vocally does not wish to be involved in this kind of thing and has proven to behave on the more reasonable and polite side when acting independently in relation to likewise level headed people....is Very important. In fact, in actual legal cases, oftentimes a factor in trying individuals is the question of whether they would commit the crime in question indepently or under normal circumstances. This is the basis for necessity, duress, and insanity pleas, amoung other's. People who would not act the way they did in a certain scenario under normal circumstances are often liable to be judged favourably in their actions. In fact, speaking of duress pleas, Grian's got a pretty solid one for a lot of his actions. The times Sam or Yuki held a knife to his throat or the times police threatened to kill him if he doesn't comply with orders or any alike incidents. In cases where duress isn't applicable to Grian's behaviour there are oftentimes incidents in which an outright case for violence in self defense can be made. In fact, most of Grian's circumstances leave him very viable to be judged sympathetically on a legal standpoint. The fact that he was a minor, the fact that he had no apparent history of violence or crime, the fact that he was in a severely abusive relationship with a criminal and entering said relationship marked the start of any sort of criminal behaviour from Grian, any criminal behaviour from Grian always being in a group setting never lead by himself, the fact that he always clearly and openly protests when pulled into these group settings, the duress and self defense pleas that are applicable to pretty much all incidents in which he does engage. Which are also all factors that can and should be accounted for on. a moral basis as well, obviously. And like, Grian has a reputation for being arrogant, cynical, and rude or whatever, but he's really not. He very rightfully calls out other people's horrible bullshit and makes snappy remarks towards his abuser but that's the opposite of a problem and Grian's proven himself more than capable of reasonable civility towards reasonable people. Grian just isn't the selfish arrogant disrespectful criminal that he's sometimes implied to be and in fact he's largely innocent- or absolvable, if you'd rather- in most of the things levied against him. Grian's not a literal saint giving to the needy and taking care of orphans in his spare time but he's a decent guy overall???

And hey, speaking of that super abusive relationship Grian landed in. Let's not forget the impact of that situation. Sam was undoubtedly abusive towards Grian. He threatened Grian's life various times, he basically told Grian he was nothing compared to Taurtis, he shoved plastic down Grian's throat and laughed when he choked, he got Grian locked up in solitary confinement through complete lies just because he thought it'd be entertaining I guess, he forced Grian to kiss an abnormally large amount of people against his will (some of these instances sam recorded despite being asked not to), he himself tried to make out with Grian without consent while Grian was sleeping in his own private room, he forcefully dressed Grian up in feminine cosplay meant to be ~attractive~ complete with fake breasts, he lied to Grian about the gender identity of someone Grian dated as a joke (his words) and lightly mocked Grian afterwards, he locked Grian in a basement for three days straight and it's unclear whether or not he was planning to let him out anytime soon, he dragged Grian into a closet with school staff despite Grian's very vocal distress and discomfort then scolded Grian for considering reported it when this staff member made uncomfortable comments on the outfit Sam had forced Grian into, Sam offered to give Grian to another guy who made a similar uncomfortable comment later on as part of some trade, he consistently dragged Grian against his will into criminal activity whether by threatening him, tricking him into participating, or just altogether falsely implicatng him, amoung Many other things. And every step of the way Sam did his best to completely gaslight Grian. He used every gaslighting technique in the book. Telling blatant lies (for example, "i would never stab taurtis", "you are taurtis", "grian's crazy and he stabbed taurtis"), he denies doing shit to Grian that Grian knows damn well he did ("i would never stab taurtis"). He hard projected his bs onto Grian (from blaming grian for 'making' sam do awful shit sam did to claiming grian actually fullstop did the awful shit sam did). He was just constantly trying to turn people against Grian (convincing yuki and taurtis to back him up in calling grian a bad manipulative friend and insisting he needed to apologize for 'making' sam horrifically abuse him. arriving in the police station and instantly without hesitation telling them grian was crazy and dangerous and pinning his own crimes on grian. having taurtis back him up and help scold grian for getting mad about being locked in the basement for days). Telling Grian he's crazy (taurtis incident again, solitary confinement incident, the time sam kissed grian without his consent while he slept and grian got mad). Telling everyone else that Grian's a manipulative liar (taurtis incident again, solitary confinement incident again). Yknow. Gaslighting. Sam was just so unbelievably abusive. In like. Every possible way. Which adds a LOT of trauma to Grian. That on top of his parents abandoning him as a little kid too because we couldn't leave it at severe abuse.

Grian's not a bad person. And he's certainly a very sympathetic person. Which is why it would be hard to woobify yhs Grian. It would be hard to make a very sympathetic very sad character egregiously sympathetic and sad. His whole arc is getting abandoned by his parents, going to visit his friends, and getting violently abused and forced into a multitude of disturbing activities against his will for an extended period of time.

One could argue that sure Grian isn't a bad person and sure Grian's got a pretty sad life, but certainly a lot of people are guilty of making Grian more helpless and scared and generally 'pathetic' than he is in canon.

To which I reply...not really?

Grian already doesn't have half the fight response people ascribe to him throughout the series. That was a whole other post but honestly Grian's response to traumatic situations is very frequently to cave to them and he's got a much stronger submissive streak than people often admit. I mean, Grian was asked to dress up as his best friend who just got stabbed "to make things less awkward and make me feel better" and he did it within ten seconds of being asked without the others even needing to threaten him at all. Grian does express quite a bit of despair, fear, and submissive tendency in canon when faced with dangerous or traumatic situations. And while it's possible to go a bit too far with that if you consistently leave out the token fight entirely, I see people swing way too far un the opposite direction way too often. There's a reason Grian never actually killed Sam in canon. There's a reason Grian never made a serious attempt to get him arrested for his crimes. There's a reason Grian never just left. When Sam found Grian after he ran out of the gym during the Taurtis incident? Grian didn't lunge for Sam. There was no serious altercation between the two. Grian scrambled back and tearfully babbled platitudes while shoving plastic down his own throat on command. And even beyond that, a lot of the interpretations accused of making Grian too helpless/scared/'pathetic' are works that involve Grian processing trauma years after the fact. Which. Even if Grian was the most aggressive on edge fighter in the history of trauma responses during the traumatic events? People don't process their trauma after the fact the same way they instinctively respond in the moment. Even if Grian never shed a tear throughout any of the traumatic ordeals he experienced, it would be far from unrealistic behaviour for him to still process after the fact by panicking and sobbing his eyes out regularly. Which, again, Grian wasn't even all that fight oriented while it was happening so panic and tears isn't even super far removed from his actual in the moment responses let alone processing after-responses. It's just. It's really hard to "UwU" Grian tbh. He's a decent person, he went through hell (his own words actually), and he was never even really very effectively aggressive when he did. And while it's possible to dip too far into that territory, far more often I see things swung egregiously far in the other direction.

[writingwithcolor]

Representing China’s diversity

@hewwo-god-its-me asked:

Hi! I’m Chinese-Canadian, creating a secondary fantasy world completely based off of China and coded as such. (Don’t worry, I know China is a huge country with a vast amount of regional and temporal variation throughout dynasties; I have been doing/will be doing more research so as not to conflate these.) I’m not sure my question has an easy answer, but I think my question sort of extends into the creation of any secondary fantasy world heavily based off of real-world countries (hopefully!). Though media has popularized a particular “type” of Chinese person, in reality, China is a lot more diverse than “pale-skinned, black-haired”, and DOES have migrants from other parts of the world, including other people of color who aren’t Chinese. I want to reflect this diversity, since it seems disingenuous, inaccurate, and downright offensive to say that “X people do not exist at all”, especially since my story will take place in a time period analogous to our “modern” today. However, since my world is coded as Chinese, with the various cultures that exist taking inspiration from (and sometimes, almost wholesale being aspects of) real-life Chinese culture, I’m worried that, in this case, in trying to reflect this diversity, it will come across as assimilation/erasing their own cultural identities. Sorry!! I might just be totally overthinking this, but I’ve been thinking myself in circles about this for a long time now, and being Chinese myself, I thought it would be important to ask how other people of color would feel about this, and am totally open to discussion on the topic!

Han Chinese are the majority group in China forming approximately 90% of the population. They are the majority all over China and originate from northern China. 

I recently found out I was Hmong, so I will talk somewhat about minorities in China. There are 55 recognized minority groups in China, and Hmong is one of them. The Hmong have generally darker skin than the Han Chinese majority and mainly reside in southern China. They are also present more so in southeast Asia, but even there, they are still a minority and heavily persecuted because of American interference and the use of them as spies against communism during the Vietnam War in Laos. Many Hmong immigrated to the United States as a result. Because of Chinese imperialism, a lot of minority groups are suppressed. There’s also the Manchu, who founded the Qing Dynasty.

Perhaps you should focus on a couple of cultural groups in China but have it mentioned several times that there are even more groups different than the ones focused on.

–Mod Sci

So I would also like to note that even within Han people, there can be a range of skin tones. I’m Han myself and while I’m currently pale, I’ve been quite tan before when I was out and about in the sun as a kid, and my brother is also much darker than the rest of our immediate family. When my mom was telling me about growing up in Taiwan, I got the impression that tan skin was the default, as one of her friends stood out for being pale among everyone else. From what I remember, pale among Han Chinese is not necessarily the default; there were definitely darker-skinned kids in my Chinese school, and having pale skin was probably more the exception than the norm. 

–Mod Jess

I think it’d be incredibly difficult to cover every single cultural group of China but at the same time, obviously a singular pan-Chinese identity doesn’t exist as you’ve mentioned. During worldbuilding (while it is important to clearly code your groups), make it clear that these aren’t indicative of every group that exists in real life; The representation that you cover within the span of your story isn’t exhaustive and cultures exist outside of the main cast.

I think the biggest thing you should remember when doing this is that the media in the West usually doesn’t try to go beyond a single, homogenized Chinese identity. Even within Chinese diasporic circles, I haven’t seen too many attempts to go beyond just “Chinese”, which isn’t horrible because our cultures are super mixed! However, like I said, there’s a lack of exploration of China’s diversity.

Speaking from a Chinese-Singaporean/Taiwanese/Vietnamese/Indonesian standpoint, representation of Chinese diaspora from other East Asian and Southeast Asian nations isn’t something I see a lot of, either! Ethnic Chinese people live in Singapore, Hong Kong, the Philippines… and although I don’t like taking space from those who are marginalized by us in these places, we do exist outside of China and our cultures are influenced by other Asians as well.

Sci gave a great list of identities above that I haven’t seen much representation of above. I think that if you’re even taking a small step like this towards showing the diversity of China, you’re doing a lot already! 

–Mod Em

Firstly, I recommend reading about the mummies of Urumqi in Xinjiang, and their importance to Uyghur identity. 

Secondly, I recommend that you study Chinese history in depth, particularly:

The Silk Road

The Yuan dynasty (i.e. Mongols) 

The treasure ship diplomatic trade missions of the Ming dynasty. 

The Silk Road on its own resulted in regular interactions between many ethnic groups bound by trade, including many Central Asian Turkic nomadic and landed populations (of which the Uyghurs are a part). 

The Han are the majority ethnic group now and have arguably always been the supermajority (Depending on who you talk to), but to what degree this has been the case will vary from dynasty to dynasty up until the end of the Qing dynasty with the Manchus in the 20th century. Pay particular attention to when dynasties emerge and fall and which ethnic groups are mentioned when this happens. I think you will be surprised by what you find. Thoroughly studying a country’s history is generally the best way to fully appreciate its diversity. 

- Marika.

[ashasdramadrawer]

Seconding that this is bait.

But, honestly, this is my jam as a lawful good apologist.

Moral conflict is loaded, so is cardboard good person. When people say ‘gray’ or ‘morally conflicted’ what they usually mean is “The character I identify with gets to do asshole things, and I want to do asshole things too, and how dare someone call them out for being an asshole.”

Listen, I get it. Superhero media is all about the power fantasy. Iron Man appeals to the “I’m smarter than everyone and therefore I get to be hot, rich, and show everyone how superior I am because of that. Aren’t you jealous of me, jocks who were popular when I wasn’t? Why don’t people see how DEEP I am? How cool? The World is a Dark and Horrible Place and I ALONE CAN SEE THROUGH THE THIN VENEER OF SOCIETY AND WILL DECIDE TO PULL IT DOWN aka every white boy antihero ever. Which leads to the kind of entitled behavior that... well, leads to incels. Or femcels.

Peggy is the Pick Me girl of the MCU. Look at me, being not like the other girls. Look at me, entitled to the hottest man in the MCU. Look at me, with my history completely rewritten from the movies, so that I am a super spy and hung out with the guys and shoot and wrestle and box. Why is she interesting? She‘s just like every other pick me girl that’s come out of the 90s and early aughts. She punches things and shoots a gun and... from there, she has no more development. None that wasn’t undone by later retcons. Pretty much anything that’s become interesting about her has been cribbed off different characters.

There are many different types of character arcs. Positive change arcs, flat arcs, and reverse change arcs. What made Tony interesting in the first Iron Man movie was that he as undergoing a positive change arc. They are also incredibly easy to write. It is easy to make someone look bad then teach them a lesson. They’re easy for people to sympathize with. Seeing a hot mess become less of a hot mess is something most people can feel for. What absolutely sucks about it is that they are also necessary to erase in order for most sequels to happen- not everyone sees the previous movie and are only familiar with the previous characterization, and so are the writers, so the same arc happens over and over again and it is so. Damn. Boring.

Flat arcs typically happen with characters like Cap or Superman. They DO have problems. Usually their internal self is in conflict with something in the world. Their purpose is to change the world around them, or to influence others. Their internal conflict is usually resolved by having their original faith or beliefs affirmed. This is actually easier to deal with for serialized writers, because they don’t have to worry about massive changes in personality to deal with.

The problem with a lot of Steve Roger’s writing is how Whedon dealt with his character. He very obviously saw Tony as his self-insert, and Steve and Thor were the butt monkeys of the Avengers movies. They stayed that way throughout. Which was very, very unfair to their characters.

The phrase ‘cardboard cutout’ loses any bite when you look at how many billion DeathBladeBloodDooms there are out there. God, how many Wolverine clones by now? There are dupes of pretty much EVERY comic character archetype, heroic or otherwise. Superman-but-EVIL is redundant as fuck at this point- most of the time, they don’t get what they’re deconstructing and why they need to reconstruct the archetype afterwards.

The one thing that CAtFA did right was show us Steve before the serum. We needed more of that, to see the man beneath the myth, and what shaped him. That let us see his internal life in a way that had not been possible before. But since Cevans tended to underplay Cap, and he was put in opposition to Iron Man, it was hard to get that same sympathetic POV again.

Peggy is not a terribly original character. Pretty much everything interesting that happened to her was the result of a retcon or an AU. They TRIED to make her ‘good’ even if she... really wasn’t. In the movies, she never did anything beyond help form SHIELD, which was a cover for HYDRA the whole time, and was never held accountable for it. She’s become mostly a possession Sue since.

But characters like Cap and Supes are important. They are the bar against which all other super heroes are measured. I’m not the first to say this, but there is a reason we need them. Because without them, all other super powered characters would just be bullies.

What draws you to a character? Is it moral conflict or cardboard good people ??

Oooh thanks for the interesting question but why do I get the vague sense this is bait 😅

Very few people with an ounce of writing experience or critical analysis skills likes “cardboard people” regardless of whether they’re good, bad, or anything in between. A cardboard person has not been written into a character. They’re just a collection of traits to serve a certain role in a story. Depending on the genre and their importance, that is not necessarily a writing flaw. When you have a 100 minute movie you cannot possibly develop every character. However, if your main character is a cardboard person that means the writer hasn't done their job and by gods other writers pick up on that. Nat, for example, was not a character in IM2, she was a cardboard femme fatale, because she had no inner world and no inner conflict to speak of.

On the converse, a well-written character will always have conflict , regardless of whether they’re good, bad, or anything in between! And a good conflict, one that has complexity - both ethical and emotional - will reveal layers about a character's value systems and psyche and make them a whole person, and that's what I like.

As I've always said, the first character I liked in the MCU was Tony, because here is a guy who was introduced to us self-centered and has it all, then you realise how little he has in term of human relationships (partly due to his own doing), and in the end he lets go of some of his material possessions and earns human connections. The second character I loved was Loki, because he's not a bad guy by nature, and he's perpetually torn between genuine love for his adoptive family, and anger at the lies they built around him and the identity they took away from him. The third character I loved was T'Challa, who through a fairly small role in Civil War was able to go through an entire conflict around grief, loss, compassion and forgiveness.

I came to like Steve and Bucky after I've gotten some context about 1930s America that the movies didn't give us. Steve's entire existence is a conflict with the world. He starts off the direct opposite of the eugenics ideal (I want to say 'save for the colour of his skin' but eugenicists scoffed at the Irish, so his colour didn't give him an advantage there) then through the serum became the Aryan ideal. He himself continually questions and disobeys the system that has tried to make him into an avatar for their agendas. He yearns of moving forward but the only way he seems to do that is after he finds the piece of his past that he had let slip through his fingers in the alps. And Bucky has a similar arc, how does he marry the identity that was forced upon him to who he once was and who he now wants to be? He is also trying to move forward, but can only do that by reconnecting with the past that was forcefully taken from him. Speaking without the shipping angle, Bucky is Steve's narrative mirror, and very similar conflicts drive their stories (which is why Endgame did the equivalent of narrative suicide by making Steve just...abandon all his conflicts and leaving Bucky to continue on with the same conflicts without his mirror) and there's something delicious in exploring that.

Conflict doesn't have to be just the character choosing between right and wrong, although that is a common conflict. You can have a pure good character forced to be in conflict with people around them and that can still be an interesting conflict (when well-written), and it doesn't mean that the character is "cardboard good".

If this ask is about Peggy -- I might enjoy her character if the story had the self-awareness to recognise the moral conflicts in her character. But it doesn't. It writes her as a series of contradictions and presents her as the perfect model of goodness. She fails at even being a cardboard character.

[river-bottom-nightmare]

Nightwing #80 Review

woot woot i’ve kept it up for three issues lets gooo. i liked this issue more than the last one. there’s a lot of fanon dick characterization peppered in, but not so much that it puts me off entirely. also, i’m getting increasingly concerned about bitewing. but i did like tim in this one, very nice

look at all the blue and purple and pink. honestly at this point, i’m a broken record but come on come on come onnnnnnn. the blue and pink is very pretty though. this cover’s a bit offputting at first, and a bit spiraly, which i’m sure was the intended effect.

this is a genuine concern of mine. dick’s a vigilante, and he doesn’t have the same sprawling network and resources that bruce does. (even if he is a billionaire now, he hasn’t amassed the same collection of crime-fighting equipment that bruce has.) 

i’m not sure if he’ll be able to take care of bitewing. damian’s got plenty of pets, but alfred used to take care of them, and now bruce plus the rest of the batfam is taking care of them. as far as we know, babs only drops by occasionally, and the same goes for dick’s family and friends. will dick be able to give bitewing the love and time and affection that a traumatized puppy like her needs? i really hope so.

she does look adorable in this panel tho.

dick. richard. richie. baby. why are you shirtless.

you have scars upon scars. probably chemical burns. bullet wounds. weird fucking squiggly lines from knives that only psychos with blade fetishes use. no normal person has the body that you do. and you don’t think that showing up shirtless in front of the police is going to raise suspicion? you don’t think that the people accusing you of murder are going to look at someone who looks like they’re a fucking mob enforcer and go hmm that’s a bit suspicious?

put on a SHIRT jesus CHRIST it’s like you’re not even trying to hide your identity.

look at this pompous little princess demanding only the highest quality head pets i’d burn down latvia for her. (no offense latvians it was the first country that popped into my head.)

pretty boy pretty boy pretty boy pretty boy-

no seriously kudos to the artist here. his expression is so human i wanna cry. dick, right now, is sheepishly asking a question. he knows he’s not going to get into any real trouble, he knows that he’ll be able to talk his way out of or somehow maneuver his way off this mess. but he’ll play nice for the police, so he’s asking a friend for a favour, part self-condescendingly and part oh-well-what-can-you-do.

and his expression reflects that. rather than a stoic expressionless face most male comic characters have when asking someone for something (or all the time really), rather than the weird desperate supposedly “seductive” face that most female comic characters plus dick grayson have when asking someone for something (or all the time really), he’s making a face that i pulled like yesterday. or the day before that. it’s kind of silly, kind of casual, very much human. i like it.

thank god. proper (in character) acknowledgement for officer grayson. yea, fuck cops in general, but i like that they included this line.

obviously, he’s not talking about the actual criminals, he’s talking about the police force itself. the bpd was too corrupt, and dick realized that he wasn’t helping. not only does one clean cop not make a dent in an overall dirty force, but dick was putting his allies in danger too. not only that, but it wasn’t good for dick’s mental health either. he was spreading himself too thin, and surrounding himself with some of the worst of crime 24/7 did a number on him. dick’s got a history of self-sacrificing tendencies, and i’m just glad he’s not a cop anymore.

dick has a gotham rogues mug. they make gotham rogue mugs, and dick has one.

what kinda city looks at it’s frankly horrible crime history and long list of certifiably insane serial killers who are all still alive and actively committing war crimes and goes “oooooh yea imma put that on a coffee mug!” gotham, that’s who.

this isn’t important i just like how all of bitewing’s barks are blue

back straight, hand on his hip, cheerful smile on his face as he says he’s being accused for murder. love that for him.

they couldn’t have said “yea it’s complicated” in a better way even if they put the words “yea it’s complicated” right there on the page in bold red letters. literally all the love to the artists.

dick please. you’re KILLING ME what the actual fuck IS THAT???? WHY DO YOU HAVE A MUG OF THAT???

anyway nightwing collects novelty mugs confirmed.

this paneling is so beautiful. 

tim’s the focus, but he’s not the first thing you see. he’s placed in a way that forces the reader to drag their eyes all the way up the page in order to reach him. it us know just how high up tim is carelessly crouching, especially close to the ledge of the building too. i cannot think of a single better way to introduce a character, and this character in particular: you instantly know this is a version of tim with plenty of experience and training, is comfortable in his body and knows his limits, but still hangs onto that civilian awe of being in a high place and overlooking a brightly lit city.

absolute classic robin. i love it. 

this isn’t even that important but it made me happy. this is how you train surf.

you don’t crouch or bend over when you get to a tunnel, which is oddly enough what most people think (at least from my experience). you bend backward. that not only 100% ensures that you’ll make sure you’re low enough to make it through the tunnel (because you can see the top of the tunnel, unlike when you crouch or bend), but it also makes it easier to get up: all you have to do is push up with your arms into a bent stance, and you’ll be in a ready, moving position. from a bend or a crouch, getting up is more awkward and more slow.

on a meta level, i like that this creative team knows what they’re doing when it comes to the small, almost unimportant stuff like that, because it makes the action more real. (as real as you can get with a guy running around stealing hearts.)

on a in-universe level, it once again drives home both dick and tim’s experience and professional level skill.

regardless of who you side with in the “should tim drake be robin again?” debate, you gotta admit that tim’s rebirth robin suit is r a d as fuck. if i’m not mistaken, this is the same one he was wearing in 2019 young justice for a little bit? it’s cute and hella cool i like it.

remember what i said about human expressions? doesn’t happen as often to tim bc he’s a Child, but it’s still nice to note when someone humanizes him, too. (that’s why i love the duckboy panel so much lol.)

me, at first: that’s not a “good call” dick that’s just common sense

me, now: sprinkled throughout the entire comic we can see dick bending to tim’s instructions if only briefly, joking with him to keep the mood light while still maintaining a serious mood and retaining control over this particular outing. this implies that dick’s doing it intentionally, purposefully leaving places in his sentences blank and offering affirmations, in order to encourage tim and train him in things bruce might not necessarily touch on, such as social chameleoning and misdirection techniques and love/affirmation from a family member. dick is not only a loving and supportive big brother, but he never stops training his younger brother in better vigilante tecnhiques because he wants tim to be better than him. in this essay i will-

d o g g o

also bitewing is getting so many head pats today i’m living for it

look at him, standing on a telephone wire with ease. nice flex, dick.

also look at how he’s silhouetted. the moon’s full bright, bright enough that the sky around dick is light, too. (at least. i’m like 99% sure that’s the moon.) not like most batman comics, where it’s sometimes hard to distinguish bruce from the background, which is entirely on purpose.

gotham is a dark gritty city, and so is bruce. the two of them are one. bludhaven may be a bit of a mess, but it’s being portrayed in all these different shades of blue and purple and pink, that are all light enough that dick stands out from the background. he hasn’t been swallowed up by the city, and chances are that he won’t ever be. also, the colouring helps establish bludhaven as a city too. there’s still hope for it. the light colouring means that it’s not going to sink into a pit as deep as the one bruce wove gotham into. the whole point of this nightwing arc in particular is to turn bludhaven into a better place, and it’s (most likely) letting us know early on that dick is going to accomplish that. he’ll struggle, but he’ll do it.

so dick??? dick designed his escrima sticks with a situation like this in mind? he created his signature and most iconic weapon (other than his chatty mouth), with a built in feature that turns his escrima sticks into tim’s signature and most iconic weapon???? just so that if he and tim ever got into a situation where tim didn’t have his staff, dick could make sure tim had the thing that would give him an edge over anyone he was fighting??? he’s such a big brother oh my goddd.

also tim’s smirk in this is just *chef kiss.* a staff is something he can work with, a staff is something he wields like an extension of his arm, a staff is means that someone’s about to get their ass kicked because tim’s about to beat the shit outta them.

this is my new phone background.

they really made sure we remembered that hey, those first few months when bruce was grieving too much to be any sort of a mentor to tim and was still unwilling to properly train him to be robin out of fear that he would end up like jason, dick was the one who stepped up (once he got over himself and his own fears and hangups with bruce) and trained tim to be robin, trained him how to fight and flip and fuckin fly out there, all while changing his own style a bit to be the more experienced one in the partnership while still trusting said partner to hold their own, so dick and tim have a very unique and cohesive fighting style that makes it hell for anyone who fights them together, didn’t they?

[gar-trek]

I review killing time (or whatever)

Okay, yes this review has taken me forever and that’s because there’s so much I want to say, and most of it has very little to do with the plot of the book. I cut down a lot of this so you guys could just get to the main point of what I’m trying to say, so I apologize if this is a little brief or incomprehensible to those who haven’t read the book. 

And also, before I get into it, I would like to say rest in peace to the author Della Van Hise, who passed away in march of this year. She contributed a lot to the fandom, especially in regards to K/S fiction, as well as publishing a lot of non-trek related work during her life. 

First of all, if you have heard of Killing Time, there is probably one specific reason for that. It’s the same reason I picked up the book in the first place and why it’s really even a topic of discussion on this site. To put the story quite briefly, Killing Time was recalled during its initial release on account of the book having too many slash elements (aka, the relationship between Kirk and Spock could be read as sexual/romantic). I first heard about the book here in this post where the history of it is worded to sound like one very dramatic mystery. One user (no shade intended here) even goes as far as to say the book was recalled by old Gene himself! Now I’m always one for drama and such, but after reading the book I looked into it a little more, and I don’t think that’s exactly how it went down. 

Here you can find multiple statements from the author herself, in which she tells the whole story. According to her, the book publisher accidentally released an unedited manuscript that was never supposed to make it to the public. So technically the publisher did not recall the book because it was “too gay”, they recalled it because they printed a version that was never meant for the public to see anyway. These were the edits that were specifically requested by Paramount, who the publishers were supposed to go through to get the final okay on all material. And like, yeah, all of Paramounts edits were pretty much to delete any sentence where Spock and Kirk are tender to each other, they were trying to make is less homoerotic, obviously. I understand why this slight distinction may not make much of a difference to you guys, but for me it’s important to note that the book wasn’t recalled because it was too gay, it was just never supposed to be gay in the first place. It doesn’t make that fact any better, but it does make it less dramatic, in my opinion. I encourage you to read the statements from the author on this topic though, because she gives the whole story a lot better then I just did. 

Now to address the main question at hand, does Killing Time depict a romantic relationship between Kirk and Spock, or is it all just hype? (in layman's terms, is the book gay or not?) and to answer quite plainly, yes it’s gay. of course it is. but then to answer less plainly, no. What the fuck do i mean by this? well let me try and explain. 

I read the second edition of the book, aka the censored version, but I also followed along with the first edition (using this great article). The changes made to the book did not effect the plot at all, and were really only minor things. Notably, in the second edition they just kind of left out any part where Spock and Kirk touch each other (and I don’t mean in a sexual way). For example, there is a scene where Spock and Kirk are having a serious conversation in the ships garden. In the first edition, at the end of the conversation Spock places a hand on Kirks shoulder, which Kirk covers with his own hand. In the second addition, all mentions of this simple contact are deleted. The differences between the two are mostly little things like this. There is no secret sex scene or love confession hidden in the first addition. You see, in my opinion, the changes made to the second edition of the book do very little to censor the romantic undertones between Kirk and Spock. That’s because they are ingrained in the plot line itself. 

One very important aspect to this book is that Kirk and Spock share a mental bond. This is something that can only happen between a Vulcan and another when they are extremely close. The mental bond that Kirk and Spock share is so strong in this book, it’s even present when they enter an alternate dimension where they are strangers to one another. There is a romance in this book between two original characters, and their relationship is constantly being paralleled by that of Kirk and Spock. And, maybe most telling, Spock refuses a female Romulan who is very interested in him over and over again simply because Kirk exists. And no, that’s not an exaggeration, here is a line from when the Romulan woman was begging Spock to be in a relationship with her: 

“I need you. The Empire needs you, what more can there be?”

“James Kirk” the Vulcan murmured without hesitation.

That line is in both versions of the book. What I’m trying to say is yes, there are K/S elements in Killing Time. There are many tender moments and lots of talk about Kirk and Spock’s devotion to each other. 

So now you’re asking yourself, Gar, why did you just say earlier that “no, the book is not gay”? Well, that’s because it’s not. This isn’t a K/S book. This isn’t a piece of Spirk fanfiction. Because for as much as this book is about Kirk and Spock’s relationship, it’s even more about Romulans (and more specifically, that one girlboss Romulan Commander from the Enterprise Incident.... bet ya didn't see that coming!) That’s right, the most controversial Star Trek book ever published is at it’s core quite plainly just a Star Trek book. There is weird alternate dimensions, time travel, espionage and lots and lots of Romulans! 

Alright, alright, what I’m really trying to get at here is that yes, if you read into Killing Time there is K/S elements. I mean for god sake the author was a known K/S fanfic writer, that wasn’t a secret by any means. If she wrote their relationship a little more tenderly than most authors would have, can we really be surprised? But writing a K/S story was not her intention here, and that’s not what this is. I think the author put it best herself, so I’m just going to put that here: 

“If people chose to see overtones of K/S in it, maybe it’s because there were overtones of K/S throughout Star Trek itself.”

People will hype up killing time as some secret confirmation that K/S is real and canon, and I really get that. Like, it would be really nice to have some canon acknowledgment of K/S, and I really don’t blame people for acting like that’s what this is. But that really isn’t what this is. And even if there was some kind of love confession, I really hate to break it to you, but the Star Trek novels are just fancy fanfiction and are not considered canon by any stretch (excluding the one Gene wrote himself, which let’s face it, perhaps has the most K/S elements of all). 

If you are looking for a nice story about Kirk and Spock being in love, then I very much urge you to look at Ao3 or similar sites. Skip this, if you want a K/S story, because that’s not what this is. Now, if you’re a huge fan of the Romulan commander from the Enterprise Incident, then my GOD you have to read this. I think this was a pretty solid Trek book. It was no piece of literary genius, but it got the job done. There was a lot of it that I think could have been left out, because it the later half it started to drag horribly, and we got a few plot threads that went absolutely nowhere. I’m not sure I’m much of a fan of alternate universes, as I really really enjoy the established dynamic of the characters, but it didn’t bother me too much. But I mean hey man, there was defiantly parts where I was so invested I couldn’t put the book down. Give this one a read if you’re looking for a pretty interesting Trek book with a little bit of cheeky K/S sprinkled here and there. 

If you have given the book a read, or just have thoughts in general, I’d love to hear them! 

[alloftheimaginesblog]

Periods Through Different Time Periods {Indiana Jones x Plus Size History Professor Reader}

Request: You're on your period, life sucks, Indy stays round, you wake up covered in blood. Life is the worst. Indy makes things a little easier though, good thing he's not afraid of blood.

Character: Indiana Jones x Plus Size History Professor Reader

Requested by @writings-of-a-hufflepuff

Part of my Plus Size History Professor x Indiana Jones series and part of my Plus Size Reader x Character series!

Rolling over in bed, you began to stir as your dreams began to fade and the real world sank back in again. You frowned as you fumbled on the bedside table for your glasses, putting them on and stretching. It was as you stretched that you just knew something wasn’t normal. You paused, trying to figure out what was happening. As you sat up, noticing that Indy wasn’t beside you in bed anymore, you realised that you were rather wet down there and not the good kind of wet.

You were uncomfortable and hot and sore and, “Oh, shit,” you hissed as it dawned on you. You were expecting your period in a few days and it apparently it decided to come early, “Shit, shit, shit,” you cautiously stood up and peeled back the covers. There, right where you’d been sleeping, were blood stains resembling a crime scene. You walked to the mirror and saw that your pyjama shorts were covered in blood at the crotch. You’d been with Indy for months, yeah, and he obviously knew that you had periods every month, he usually helped you cope with the mood swings and the pain but he’d never been over when you actually bled onto the sheets.

You hated that you were embarrassed about it. Periods were a natural thing to happen and yet, since basically the beginning of time, people who experienced periods were shamed and made to feel like it was a taboo topic. You hated that. You hated that you felt embarrassed to have bled in front of your adult boyfriend.

“Sweetheart?”

Your eyes widened and you leapt back into bed again, the cold slight damp blood resting uncomfortably on your thighs. Indy poked his head in a second later, “Oh, good, you’re awake. I’m making us breakfast.” God, the man was too sweet, “You want to help?”

He walked towards you and instinctively, you pulled the covers tighter around yourself, “No!” You squeaked way too fast.

Indy paused and his eyebrows quirked into a frown, “Everything okay, sweetheart?” It was embarrassing that you were this ashamed of it, honestly. Pushing your reservations aside, you told yourself that Indy loved you and he wouldn’t judge you for something that was completely out of your control.

“I started my period this morning, it came a few days early and I was unprepared,” you explained slowly.

“Okay,” he nodded, “but why do you look so frightened?”

You sighed, “Please don’t judge me.” Carefully, you stood up and peeled the covers back to show him. He looked between the sheet and your crotch. You could feel your cheeks darken as he looked at you.

Finally, he met your eyes and he could see your fear and embarrassment straight away. He walked to you and wrapped you in a tight hug. You had grown accustomed to his touches on your stomach rolls or back fat, it didn’t bother you anymore or make you embarrassed so why did this embarrass you? “Why would I judge you for that, sweetheart? It’s not like you can control it, besides it’s natural. You don’t need to be worried about that stuff, doesn’t bother me and it shouldn’t bother you either, sweetheart.” All of your worries began to fade as he spoke. You knew that it was silly to be embarrassed but years of feeling like you had to hide the fact you had periods had conditioned you to believe it was a taboo subject.

“How are you feeling?”

You shrugged, “Like I really need to go in a shower and then change the bed.”

“Wait here,” Indy said before leaving the room. You made your way to the bathroom and turned the shower on. He appeared a moment later holding the laundry basket, “Put your clothes in there, I’ll get the sheets off the bed. Go for a shower and I’ll get these washed.”

“I’ll get the sheets, don’t worry.”

“Come on, honey, go get showered and I’ll deal with it... Besides, it’s not like I’m not used to blood. It doesn’t gross me out at all so put your dirty clothes in here and I’ll do the rest. I’m not afraid of a little blood.”

You looked at him and all you could muster up was a small ‘thank you’. Truly the best boyfriend in the whole world. You had remembered how boys in class when you had been in school reacted to the topic of periods, your dad when you mentioned it; men in general seemed repulsed by it even though it was completely natural and out with your control. It wasn’t dirty, it wasn’t horrible; it was a natural bodily function and you were done feeling ashamed of it.

You stripped off, chucking everything in the basket which Indy had placed in front of the bathroom door and began to clean yourself off. When men bled during battles it was a heroic action, yet when someone had a period it was seen as weak; as disgusting. No way, not anymore. You were done living in fear of talking about it. If someone was uncomfortable with it, that’s their business but it wasn’t your job to shut up just because they might react with disgust. As a Professor, you knew that teenage boys would have this attitude so even though it wasn’t really relating to History at all, you thought you could spend part of a class talking about it or even talking about it in a round-a-bout way of how people throughout the centuries dealt with periods. It would get a conversation going and it would allow you to say that it wasn’t something to be ashamed of, especially to the young people who experienced them.

By the time you’d finished cleaning, you’d pretty much had the lesson plan of ‘Periods through different periods’ set out and planned. You wrapped a towel around yourself and exited the bathroom to see that Indy hadn’t only just taken the sheets off of the bed, he’d also put fresh ones on and lay out some clothes for you to wear. You smiled as you spied the clothes he’d put out. Comfy pyjamas and his cardigan that you loved to steal and snuggle up in. Being plus size, a lot of Indy’s shirts were far too tight for you so you preferred to steal his baggy jumpers and cardigans because they stretched and fit you nice whilst also smelling like him. Quickly you changed and walked to the kitchen to see Indy setting out breakfast.

“So you changed a bed, put clothes out and got breakfast served in basically no time at all?” You asked incredulously as you walked up to him, “You are incredible, Indiana Jones. Thank you.”

Indy grinned at you, leaning down to press a soft kiss to your head, “How are you feeling?”

“Doing okay, cramp is starting to kick in though.”

“I’ve set out some painkillers beside your juice and we can cuddle on the couch when we’re finished or go back to bed, your choice.”

“God, you are perfect, Indy... Oh, I thought of what I’m going to do for one of my lessons this week, wanna hear it?”