#person could be really hurt. really harmed even. and still there could be biases or misunderstanding or any human messiness

[tenok]

.

[daegall]

☆ late night company.

➷ in which the Gods give you a shit day, and Aphrodite makes up for it.

pairing: son of poseidon!jeno x daughter of ares!reader

genre: hurt comfort, fluff, slight angst, bff2l!AU

warnings: anxiety, injuries, reader is implied to be female!!

word count: 4k words

a/n: sorry if any opla readers get this i just suddenly got the urge to write for mr lee jeno bc <3 jeno tee hee !! also wtf this work has been sitting in my drafts for a whole 8 days i wanted to post it SO bad but i went out of country and didnt have my laptop </33

anw!!! bros the sunflower of 3 years is now jeno biased,,,, sorry hyuck i still love you

You feel your heart continuously spiraling in your chest. It's growing wild, crashing heartbeats uneven and quick. With every breath you breathe, you feel a dark, nervous pit in your stomach grow. 

Anxiety. 

One place you never fail to find yourself at when you're feeling especially weak, is none other than by the river. Oftentimes you spend your time skipping rocks or staring at the water, the tranquility bringing some kind of peace to you. 

However, none of those things seem to help tonight. 

You sit on the dock, playing and fiddling nervously with your fingers as your mind runs too fast for your liking. 

"You're on my property,"

A sudden voice to your right startles you, more than you'd like, yelping in surprise. 

And at your reaction, the person next to you instantly knows something is wrong.

It's Lee Jeno, son of Poseidon, heartthrob of all of Camp Half Blood. 

Someone who's stolen your heart.

Jeno stands there with a boyish smile on his face, a glint in his eyes shows no harm, though shines with charm. His hair is messy, which is normal for this late hour, but he seems as awake as ever. 

He's a big reason why you're in this state, and it seems to get worse and better at the same time as you observe his expressions. His eyebrows crease, in worry, lips that were previously smiling quickly transforming into a worried frown.

"Sorry," You mumble, frantically standing up. "I didn't realize,"

How did it even slip your mind? You're by the lake, he's the son of the God of the Seas, of course you're in his area. 

Before you can take a step forward, Jeno halts you, "No!" he reaches out with a hurry laced in his voice. "No, please stay,"

He could never forgive himself if he were to leave you alone in such a state. It's clear you're vulnerable. And for you to be just the slightest bit disturbed is a bad sign.

You've always been calm, composed, even in the heat of a battle, you were always so sure of yourself. Seeing you here, so oblivious about everything, your mind drifted somewhere far? Jeno can't help but worry.

"O-oh, okay," You nod, before awkwardly retracting your foot, taking it back right next to your other one. 

It's silent a moment after, with neither of you knowing what to say. All that can be heard is the quiet waves rippling through the lake, and the soft bristling of the trees brushing against each other. 

God, Jeno looks really cute tonight. 

It's rare to find him outside of his armor, paired with his sword, gifted from his father, and shield, looking fit for the title of a demi-god, and yet tonight you see him so human. He sports a bomber jacket, a random band t-shirt underneath, and a pair of basketball shorts. 

To put it simply, Lee Jeno looks very boyfriend material right now. 

To him as well, you look different from what you're usually looking like on a daily basis. Just like him, you look human. But in a different way. Once again, you look vulnerable. There's an obvious nervous glint in your eyes, unfocused and darting everywhere, and your form shrinks with every moment that passes, arms hugging to yourself. 

"Are you okay?" 

Jeno's voice is comforting, gentle, and yet it still manages to startle you. 

Why are you so uneasy tonight?

You don't respond. Your mouth opens, but nothing comes out. A moment passes, then another, but you can't seem to find your words. 

"No," You breathe out. In an instant, you feel your body relax when the truth finally comes out, relaxing further when Jeno seems to be unbothered by the fact, reaching out to you. 

You accept his offer, stepping closer to him, your fast heartbeat finally slowing when his hands gently search for comfort in yours, his thumbs rubbing gently at your skin. 

"I'm not okay,"

"I know,"

And when Jeno looks into your eyes, he doesn't think anything could hurt him more than this. He's been in countless battles, earned multiple injuries and scars, but there's a different kind of hurt when he sees the tears forming at your waterline. 

"Can you explain?" You find solace in his warm touch, following as he tugs at your arm. A silent invitation to his cabin. You don't pull away. Jeno glances at you for an answer, smiling softly when you nod simply. 

You can't explain it, but there's a feeling you have whenever you're around Lee Jeno. It's comforting, gentle, and you feel that you can be genuinely vulnerable around him. 

You think it's love. 

You date it back to last summer, when you had defeated him in a small spar together. Despite you winning, he was the one smiling brighter. It confused you at first. You thought maybe he was making fun of you, maybe he let you win, but a moment later, you realized it was admiration. 

The way his smile caused your own had your heart lifting, filling your head with thoughts you never thought you'd have for anyone.

When you went to Jaemin, son of Aphrodite, he thought you were dumb at first. How could you not see it? Lee Jeno had been harboring feelings for you for weeks, and finally, you felt the same. 

And just 2 weeks ago—13 days and 12 hours ago, to be exact, Jeno confessed his feelings. 

Feeling terrified and confused about what to do, you asked for time, time in which he gave you generously. 

You don't know why he's still nice to you, when you've been taking so damn long to answer him. 

You suppose he really does love you, you conclude it when he's taken you to sit with him on a couch. 

The cabin is quiet, so very quiet, it's a nice change from your cabin, full of life and busy people running left and right, with crafting tables in every corner, you like how quiet it is. 

Jeno sits patiently next to you, his hands still in yours. "How are you feeling now?"

You peer up at him, attempting to blink your tears away. "Better," You sigh, smiling lightly. It's natural, and unlike your usual bold smile, but Jeno feels absolutely lucky to be able to see it. 

"Will you tell me what's wrong?"

He means no harm, simply wanting to help you, but it still confuses you. How could he be so caring towards you?

You answer him, despite your mixed emotions, quietly mumbling, "I've just had a really shit day." Your head turns away from him, almost embarrassingly, pursing your lips.  

Jeno's hand releases from yours, and although you instantly miss its warmth, his fingers find itself caressing at your jaw lovingly, before he turns your head back to him. He looks at you with care, so lovingly that it almost overwhelms you, as he speaks, "Tell me about it,"

Something about Lee Jeno just makes you want to melt, to depend fully on him and be loved, to love him. It scares the shit out of you. 

"I lost a sparring," You mumble. Jeno can't help but chuckle a little. To others, losing a practice battle is routine, everyday, but it means so much to you it makes him feel proud of how passionate you are. 

However, there's something you're not telling him. He can feel it. 

"And then?"

"And then my siblings were constantly at my neck because of it."

Truth be told, it's not just today's battle. You've been off for 2 whole weeks, and for good reason. 

But feeling this way... it feels so foreign to you. You hate that Jeno has such a hold on you, such an effect on you, plaguing your mind and constantly being reminded of him from the smallest things, it's new. 

But another part of you longs for more, for more change, to explore this new thing, to be happy with Jeno. 

"I feel weak," You tell him. You feel even weaker when he hums in understanding, feeling the warmth of his fingers caress your skin. His hand is still on your jaw, now wiping away the stray tears you didn't even realize you had let slip, oh so gently and carefully. 

"I'm supposed to be strong, like my siblings, like my father. But I can barely control my emotions and actions and sometimes I just feel so... useless? I'm Ares’ daughter, for fucks sake. The God of war. I-I should be able to fight with no problem, win every fight. Isn't that what I was made for?" 

You can sense Jeno's growing concern, you can feel it with each hush he lets out when you cry a little harder, you can feel it now that he's let both of your hands go to cup dearly at your cheeks, and you hate that you yearn for more. 

Why must you appear so weak in front of Lee Jeno? 

"I know it's just my emotions and whatnot, but... god, I don't want to disappoint people anymore,"

Jeno shakes his head, squeezing gently at your cheeks. "Don't say that. You don't disappoint anyone,"

"I disappoint my father—I disappoint myself." You say instantly, and it's clear it's a thought you've had for a long time. "I disappoint you..."

Jeno's eyes desperately search for yours, his face leaning in close to yours. "Hey, hey, look at me,"

His voice lulls you to a calmer state, as he shakes his head lightly, and despite all that you've said, how much of a burden you've been to him, he smiles at you. How can he smile at you? When you've been nothing but so frustrating tonight? 

"You could never disappoint anyone," Jeno mumbles firmly, stroking at your cheek. "not me, at least,"

For months on end, Jeno has watched you beat yourself up for the smallest things you do wrong. A small mistake during a spar, tactics failing in a game of capture the flag, even when you get the date wrong you never cease to criticize yourself.

You've got high expectations. Expectations even you yourself can't reach. 

"Don't you see? I'm disappointing you right now," You breathe out. It's full of anguish, distress, as if to prove a point. A point that Jeno can never see. "I'm being such a burden, you shouldn't even have to take care of me—"

"—I want to take care of you." Jeno interjects immediately. "I need to know you're safe. I don't care if you think you're a burden, because I know you will never be one."

Through your sniffling, and wobbly lips, a smile is somehow curling on your lips, as your hands creep up to circle around Jeno's wrists. 

"There's that smile," He whispers, with the brightest grin you might ever see, a smile even Apollo, the God of sun and light could never beat. 

Jeno leans in close, before he presses his lips gently to your cheek, cleaning you of your tears. Each kiss he leaves on your skin spreads warmth within you, like a fire growing bigger and bigger, until it consumes your whole soul.

This time, you welcome the fire, finally feeling secure within Jeno's arms. 

What have you been so worried about? Lee Jeno may be oblivious at times, but he's not dumb. He's genuine, he's caring and loving and he's the same person who confessed his love for you 13 days ago, the same heart, the same mind, the same Jeno. 

So, you fall into him. You don't care if it's terrifying, or if you have a few bumps on the way, because Jeno is your safetynet. He always has been, and will always continue to be your safetynet. 

You just hope Jeno feels the same for you. 

You're brought back to reality when Jeno pecks lightly at your nose, his laugh resonating through the room right after he sees your shocked face. 

"You know I like you, right?"

You've known for 13 days and 12 hours. Even with all that time to process his confession, it's like he's saying it for the first time, as he holds your face dearly, as he stares into your eyes with so much emotion, it almost overwhelms you. He says it as if he means it. 

And he does. 

"I know," You know with all your heart. You melt when he smiles sweetly down at you, your throat burning with the urge to tell him that you like him too, hell you might even love him. Your fingers tingle, yearning for his touch, your heart burning for him. But he doesn't deserve it. Not after how long you made him wait for a response. 

You don’t understand how Jeno could ever look at you the way he is right now, his eyes shining with such a dear look in them, his lips curling lightly. You know you look like a mess, with your puffy eyes and wet cheeks, how could anyone see the worst side of you and still love you?

You suppose it’s the pressure you get from all your tough siblings, standards way too high for you to reach, but you know you would feel the same if Jeno was crying in your arms as well. 

“Good.” He mumbles. “It won’t change.”

A sensation hits you. Your heart jumps and you feel all of a sudden breathless. No amount of tears could take this much air from your lungs, and it’s not anxiety filling them. This time… it’s a warm feeling, it swirls and spreads all through you as Jeno continues. 

“I know what you’re thinking, Y/N, that I would stop liking you just because you didn’t answer me. But that’s not true,” He shakes his head, stroking at your cheeks as he scoots closer to you. His voice grows softer, but with the distance between you two, he’s never been clearer before. “I’ll wait for you. Forever, if I have to.”

Lee Jeno has you hypnotized, and you wonder if this is what sirens are like, because he’s all that you want suddenly, you feel so dizzy and hazed with… love. You love him, goddamn it, and he loves you too. 

“Just… take your time, okay? I want your answer to come from you, your heart. Not from your siblings, or father, or even me. I want your truth,”

And your truth is him. It stupid to think, but you truly do think that you were made to be with Lee Jeno. 

When he pulls away, and finally gives you some (very unwanted) space, you decide to tell him. 

“Jeno,” You breathe out. You’re sure the sounds of waves outside his window can easily beat your volume, but you’re more sure Jeno hears you, as his eyebrows shoot up instantly, and he hums, leaning in close. He’s always so tentative to you, you’ve always loved this trait about him. 

“It’s been two weeks–”

“–I said you don’t need to–”

“–I want to,”

This time, it’s him who goes speechless, and you can almost see the pink in his cheeks growing under the dark light of his cabin. “Go on,” He finally says. 

“Thank you,” You reply. “As I was saying, it’s been two weeks, and I’m ready to give you my answer.”

Jeno’s shocked when you reach over, fingers brushing over his, as you take his hands in yours. “I’ve… always been held under some sort of expectation, always being watched, waiting for some victory, and I hated it. I still do,”

Jeno’s heart softens, as does his eyes as he listens, knowing very well what you are talking about. You’ve isolated yourself countless times when you are unable to reach the expectations, afraid to show anyone emotion. 

“and god, did I want to give up. I’m sick of my siblings always picking at my every flaw, judging every step I take. I felt trapped. But you… you’re the opposite. I feel so free around you, it scares the shit out of me. I think about you constantly, day and night, when I’m training or just reading a book, every tiny thing reminds me of you and it’s honestly scary. And you have no expectations for me, it was confusing at first, but I understand now. I don’t have any for you, either. I love how competitive you are, and how you’re still so humble despite being a child of one of the big three’s, and how you take care of everyone, even people you don’t know, and hell–I find your lame jokes funny. I never minded when you’d watch over me, if anything, I loved it. And I was confused what it was at first,”

You suck in a deep breath, shutting your eyes, Your heart beats loud in all your senses, you feel it rising at your throat, tingling at your fingers that Jeno caresses, but it’s okay. It’s Jeno, he could never hurt you.

“But I know now.” Your eyes flutter open, and in a second, your nerves fly away. Jeno’s looking at you with so much love, patiently waiting for you to finish, so you do. 

“I like you, Jeno. I might even love you,”

You both grow silent after that. 

Once again, you grow anxious. 

Holy shit, did he lose feelings in the span of your 2 minutes spent ranting to him?

And when you’re about to lose all hope of an acceptance, Jeno’s fingers tighten around yours the moment they attempt to slip away. 

Alarmed, your eyes slowly trail back up to his face, unable to read his expressions. 

Jeno sighs. “Say it again?”

“The… the whole thing? I mean, I could,” You mumble. You’re serious. You could recite the whole thing if he wanted word-by-word, you’d do anything for Lee Jeno right now. 

When he doesn’t say a word, you suspect it’s what he’s genuinely asking for, clearing your throat to start over once again. “right, okay, uh… how did I start?”

Suddenly, you realize that you are not capable of reciting the whole thing word-by-word. It had all come out with its own flow, you had absolutely no control of your mind, nor did you even think you’d have to say the whole thing again. 

Despite that, you still try. “Um–I was always told I had expectations… is that what I said? I don’t know, I don’t really remember. Just something about um, feeling trapped, or something… and feeling free around you? Is that… I think that’s what I said.”

Stupidly, you keep going, knowing fully well that you can’t repeat the deep and touching moment. Jeno finds it so very endearing that you try, however, unable to find it in himself to actually stop you, when you look so cute holding onto his hands and trying to remember your words. 

“Whatever, it doesn’t matter, but after that I said something about, uh, you being a child of Poseidon? God, I can barely remember. Anyway, you’re cool, Jeno, you really are–”

Suddenly, your mouth clamps shut. A warmth envelops your chin, lips, to your cheeks, before you realize Lee Jeno has his hand covering your mouth, shutting you up. You’re surprised to see a grin on his lips, even more so when he starts chuckling, taking his hand off to ruffle it gently on the top of your head. “Not that part,” He finally says. 

“Then… which part?” The way you look at him, Jeno almost thinks you’re doing it all on purpose. Your eyes shining just for him, your confused scrunch on your eyebrows, how could he ever fall more in love with you?

“You love me?”

Oh. That part. 

“...yeah,” You breathe out, growing shy. It takes you a moment, before you remember his words. 

Say it again.

“I think I’m in love with you, Jeno,”

At your words, he seems to grow tense, but it’s different from all the sparring matches you’ve had with him. He has a huge smile on his face, his eyes creasing into little moons, moons in which you love, the smile that you long to see everyday. How did it take you so long to decide you love him?

“I think I’m in love with you too, Y/N.”

“Okay, cool,” You nod, attempting to act cool. The Gods know how you really feel, your heart beating as fast as ever, shit eating grin growing on your face as his hands slip in yours once more, as you lean into him. “that’s super cool,”

“mhm, yeah, really epic,” Jeno mirrors your attitude, you can tell he’s growing shy. You know from the way his voice dies down a little, growing small with mumbles, you know from the way he curls his body slightly, but he’s still as confident as ever, bumping his forehead with yours. 

You chuckle at the action, shutting your eyes to savor the moment. 

At that moment, you both silently thank Aphrodite, for guiding the both of you here, right now. 

Your eyes open once again, and you find Jeno already staring at you. You offer him a smile, one that he welcomes, and returns with his own bright grin. His mouth opens slightly for a moment, but nothing comes out. Jeno blinks, thinking hard to himself. 

You wonder what he could be thinking about, but before you could wonder more, or even ask what’s on his mind, he speaks. 

“Can I… kiss you?”

You chuckle lightly at his words, bringing your forehead away from his as your head throws back in soft laughter. Albeit confused, Jeno still watches, his heart burning with every laugh you let out. 

“You know you don’t have to ask, right?” You finally say as you stop laughing. “Go ahead,”

Jeno smiles, and his face is so close to yours that he could smile against your own. Your noses brush, eyes slowly shutting, and his warm lips envelop yours. It feels tender, soft, gentle, and loving, his hands wrapping slowly around your waist. Kissing Jeno is different from what you’ve always thought kissing him would be like. It’s comforting, not rushed. It’s welcoming, it feels like home, where you’ve always belonged. 

Jeno feels the exact same thing, his lips curling and shifting between yours as your hands hold dearly at his jaw, caressing at his skin. 

When you pull away, all that resonates through the Poseidon cabin is your shallow breathing, and sounds of the soft waves hitting shore, and it couldn’t be more perfect. In Jeno’s arms, worrying about nothing, thinking about nothing but him. 

“Stay the night?”

“What?”

Jeno’s eyes widen as he realizes his abrupt words, his mouth gaping. “N-no! Not like that!”

You both know it’s not like that. You find it cute that he still says it, anyway. 

“I-I mean, your siblings upset you, right? You don’t want to go back to your cabin–unless you want to! Of course, it’s your choice, completely,”

And they say chivalry is dead. 

All you can do is continue to stare at him as he goes on and on, admiring the way his cheeks grow red, and his rushed words, you wonder if this is how Jeno felt when you ranted before. 

“I, personally, don’t want you going somewhere you don’t feel safe in, you know? With people who have hurt you. We could just hang out, talk, or something. I can show you a bunch of stuff my dad left for m–”

This time, Jeno’s shocked, blinking at you as your hand envelops his lips to halt his ranting.

“I’d love to stay over,” You mumble, dropping your hand from his face. “you’re the only one I feel safe with right now,” 

Jeno finally grins, feeling love resonate through his body, reaching out to place his palm on your cheek. The love spreads and multiplies as you lean into his palm, like a disease, but you know if that was the case you would have been infected for a long time already. 

“...so can I check out Poseidon’s trident?”

“Oh, for sure. That thing’s huge.”

[cursedvibes]

The way people are focusing on "My fav Gojo is not racist, he's just ignorant" and "Gege really hates Gojo he made him racist" when it was not even the point of that interaction. The point was to educate and talk about some stereotypes about black people that are harmful to the community and, if you look into it I'm sure you'll find has it origins in slavery.

Besides, Gojo is privileged and comes from an old money family, and it looks like he isolatehimself from others. Of course, it's in character for him to say stupid things like that. Even if he strives for change.

Yeah, everyone is so pressed that their fave is being problematic (which honestly Gojo has always been, he's hardly a saint and he treats many people quite shitty like for example Utahime and Ijichi) that they miss the bigger picture of this. Given, I think there are better ways to get that point across, but the aim here was definitely not "look at what a uniquely bad person Gojo is, I want to make readers hate him" it's for readers to reflect upon themselves and their own biases, conscious or not. Gojo is often being a dick to people, Miguel included, but this wasn't it. He wasn't just being annoying as usual, he made a misinformed statement rooted in racism "black people are naturally stronger/tougher/more resistant" and he got told off for it, which actually led to him apologizing. He expresses bigoted views, that are quite common all around the world and can lead to real harm like for example medical discrimination, but people often don't question or even notice that they have these views. I think exactly because he's such a fan-favourite character, Miguel calling him out and Gojo admitting he said fucked up shit is important.

Gojo might make a trip to Kenya to meet Yuuta, but unsurprisingly doesn't have any real black acquaintances and the one black person he knows a little better doesn't like him because he treats him like shit, an expandable tool (given, Miguel did try to help someone do a genocide so it's not like him working to make up for that in principle is a problem, but Gojo is not just treating him badly because of that) and has dismissed him and his culture as a whole. Gojo's racism towards Miguel didn't come out of thin air with chapter 255.

No wonder Miguel wants him dead.

You could say Gojo's racism and ignorance got punished before as this powerful cursed tool he so casually dismisses here together with its history could have gotten him out of the box much earlier. If he hadn't gone out of his way to destroy part of Kenyian sorcerer's culture because of his fear that it might be used to hurt him, he might still be alive. This chapter the payback was just more direct, Miguel was given the space to push back and not just get beat up (making in the previous moment Gojo seem like the righteous cool guy, seen by how the fandom reacted to their fight) and he also didn't sugar-coat it and straight up said "you're being racist".

The fact that Gojo apologized, something quite rare for him, and didn't defend his uninformed views or mocked Miguel for questioning him also shows that a lot of this comes from unaddressed biases, irrational fears and having lived a sheltered life in terms of being exposed to other cultures (and actually valuing them) that influence his judgement. He's not trying to be maliciously racist, but he clearly doesn't know what he's talking about and why it is harmful. I don't think he revelled in destroying other people's culture, he was just driven by a base fear, but that doesn't make the harm he caused any better. He's never had any reason to engage with black people on a personal level and that has unsurprisingly led to some ignorant opinions about them. Again, a very common sentiment which Gege uses Gojo to highlight. This is clearly reflecting arguments and talking points Gege has heard themselves and tried to address here. I'm sure there are all kinds of wild racist takes about Miguel on Japanese social media, I know the English side has them plenty.

I think the message Gege wanted to send was executed a bit clunkily by for example still tying Miguel's CT to rhythm (replacing the inhumanly strong black guy stereotype with another common one) and putting the burden all on Miguel to educate the people around him. Similarly, having only one (explicit) black person in the manga who has to then explain anti-black racism to the reader makes it feel very forced. I think you could've avoided a lot of that and included these topics more dynamically by giving us more background on Miguel's technique and how he came to it and comparing it to cursed technique's of other Kenyan or African sorcerer's. Another option would be making Hakari for example Black-Asian (or Todo or Yaga). He has a darker skin tone than the other characters and differently textured hair (which would already lead to him having to face a bunch of bigotry in his everyday life) and he is hated by the conservative higher-ups. So actually do something with that and address it.

Even Japanese people who are merely slightly tanned get harassed. Just being from Kyushu or Okinawa, somewhere where it's much warmer and sunnier and therefore not being as pale as the average person in e.g. Tokyo will get you plenty of derogatory comments, especially if you're a woman. That goes extra for indigenous people like the Ryukyuan or Ainu who not only face prejudice because of their appearance but also legal discrimination because of their origins and challenge the very popular notion that Japan only has one ethnic group and one language. Japan still struggles with a lot of racism internally against their own people, so you can imagine that it's even worse for anyone who newly immigrated or with parents who immigrated (in the best of times you will always be treated as a foreigner no matter how well you speak the language or integrate into the culture simply because you look "different"). It has gotten better in recent times, but it's still a problem, as Gege pointed out in this chapter.

Coming back to Hakari, we would also be able to see through him how jujutsu society treats black-identified Japanese sorcerers, which would be a different perspective from Miguel's who only visits Japan occasionally and mostly operated outside the system until Gojo came along. Black people aren't just something distant overseas, they are also Japanese citizens. You could show if and how jujutsu society differs from regular Japanese society. Most likely they are even more behind as they also discriminate against what kind of cursed technique you have (modern or one based on a long bloodline, which would automatically work against anyone not born in Japan and with a long family history there). You could also combine it with the transphobia Kirara faced and generally show how this system fails young sorcerers who don't conform to their norm.

But yeah, sorry Gojo is not perfect and will fall into the same stereotypical and bigoted thinking as many other people who rarely step outside their narrow homogenous social circle. Like you said, he's privileged with old money and family history who pride themselves on their bloodline. He's generally very narrow-minded about things that don't interest him or he sees as irrelevant like how he doesn't bother to understand Maki or has no problem ignoring a starving child on the road (who cares what happens to Hana, she's weak and Megumi is the strong one, he's who matters here and deserves to be lifted out of poverty) and international sorcerers fall under that as well. There are so little of them so it's okay to ignore them, why should he bother reaching out or informing himself about people abroad, he's never gonna interact with them anyway. If they get too dangerous for his taste, he's just gonna slap them around a bit and take away their sharp toys.

Honestly, I think what Gojo did previously is worse than what he said this chapter. He can learn to check his internalized racism and be more mindful of how he talks to Miguel or black people in general (he shows openness to criticism and improvement here), but he can't bring back Black Rope. It falls to Kenya's sorcerers to recreate it, which will take decades. They'll feel the impact of Gojo's actions long past his death, even when he can't say anything ignorant or racist anymore.

So I don't think this ruins his character, was done by Gege to make Gojo fans feel bad, or meant to keep anyone from liking him. He has character flaws and that is fine. He gets challenged on them and receives push back for them plenty in the story. I can understand that some fans feel bad reading the chapter, hearing Gojo regurgitate talking points they might've heard said against them as well, but it's not really Gege's fault for addressing this very common issue.

[archivalofsins]

I really enjoy how Yamanaka can encapsulate the guilt of being alive in his characters. That guilt from living and being human people all intrinsically have due to our shared history. Along with the ways we as individuals try to admonish ourselves for it.

The ways we begin to police ourselves and form ideologies to prop up the moral and right center we believe we should have. In what's a clear attempt to differentiate or sometimes make ourselves feel superior to others. It really highlights that at the end of the day, it's not just ones ideologies that hurt people but how they communicate and practice those things.

There are beliefs that people have crafted over decades for the sole purpose of hurting and devaluing others. Beliefs that one would be hard pressed to not find a person that on some level believes them regardless of where in the world they are. It'd be even more difficult not to run into someone who sympathizes with those who believe in something that is clearly harmful. Not because they think the thing is good but because they recognize this is a mistake they either could've made, almost made, or have wanted to make themselves.

Milgram is a good series because it serves to show, through its audiences response and participation, how many things left unsaid can become the foundation of biases. Biases that then go on to impact and inform how we treat others around us. It's easy to say religion is bad when it's not your beliefs being questioned.

It's harder for an individual to ask what beliefs that I hold dear are causing pain to those around me. Furthermore, how can I practice and keep to my beliefs in a way that causes no harm to others. Do I really believe this, or do I just like the impression of me it gives people if I say I believe this. What sort of person am I? Am I the lines I draw or the many ways I hold others to these lines but skirt around them myself? Is there a way to truly objectively be moral and in the right?

Or is the very act of conveniencing ourselves we can be just another form of human error?

What's the worst that could happen by interrogating the idea that I may be wrong? Does the possible blow to my ego matter more than the possibility for growth that could give? If I'm wrong about this, there's no telling what else I could be wrong about. What if I've been wrong about everything all my life, then what?

It's different when it's something we believe in ourselves. It's different when it's a cause one has convinced themselves to fight for. It's different when we have to cross our own lines. A lot of people equate changing with dying instead of growing. I believe this is because a lot of people feel shame and guilt over their past. So they say things like that was the old me, I'm not that person anymore.

Something that isn't always indicative of growth and come off as just plain denial.

Yes, I'm not the person I was yesterday. I won't be the person I am now, tomorrow or an hour from now. Yet, I'll still be me regardless of what I learn. Regardless of when I face what I have yet to know and it becomes what I now know. Regardless of if something from my past comes back to question me now. My feelings, views, and circumstances will keep changing because the fact that I'm alive today gives me the privilege to experience change.

When did people become ashamed of saying "I'm still me." When did it become more important to discrad oneself in the name of changing than to grow into yourself. When did change become denial? Plus, what exactly will it hurt to give ourselves space to fuck up and be wrong? What would people lose out on by not beating themselves down?

Instead of going the that was the old me going,

"During that time I was biased, stubborn, uniformed, and only centering my own views. I'm trying to be better now. I want to hear your opinion and be present in this moment with you. That can't happen if I'm always playing defense."

When we admit we're capable of doing wrong, it can feel bad. That sort of thing can really fucking sting. Yet if we never do, we ultimately deprive ourselves of the ability to be right. We ultimately trap ourselves in one spot. We put ourselves up on the same pedestal we place these characters on and try to do no wrong.

It's easy to say this sort of thing hurts the person doing it the most. Easy to see how this mindset can impact us because we're the one's experiencing it. It can feel like someone is the only person experiencing these things at times. That others just don't understand, and they may not be asking them to anyway.

That's their weight, their duty. Their's to carry nobody else's. Then, one day, they'll look up wondering why this thing they were meant to carry on their own has crushed everyone around. If it was their choice, why didn't it just impact them? That's the fair thing after all.

Yet, that's just not how living works. Our choices, beliefs, and views impact more than just ourselves because we're people. We live in a shared experience with the others around us. It's a miraculous and amazing thing. If the Milgram characters couldn't impact and interact with each other... If they couldn't form or deny community within the prison.

Would it still be Milgram? If we didn't have that choice ourselves, would we still be living? Those sort of things. Displaying those types of characters and creating that sort of atmosphere. It's difficult but endlessly entertaining.

[franzkafkagf]

Just a little disclaimer I’m not asking this question to try to come across as hurtful or anything like that. But I was wondering how as an Aegon-stan his treatment of women can make you have a very nuanced opinion of him? :o

- Personally I’m TB but do have empathy for some TG-characters. I do like Aegon as an antagonist and I do feel for his very toxic and harmful upbringing but due to his violent behavior towards women.. I just can’t really connect that well with him 🫣

Hi! Thank you for your ask :) Super interesting question actually! I have written some things for him in the past, talking about what exactly fascinated me about his character so much ( exhibit one, two three, four and five )

I also urge you to listen to Tom talk about Aegon; this man gets him as a character so well and says it better than I ever could. Some interviews found here, here and here

I can understand not being able to connect with him because of his treatment of Dyana— it's an unforgiveable thing he has done to her and might have done to others. But in spite of that, he is still just a character. Everything he does is meant to inform us about his certain traits he has, even the ugliest of things.

What does it tell us about Aegon? He is entitled, doesn't take things seriously, he is indulgent and does not see Dyana (or other smallfolk for that matter) as a real person (succession reference wink wink)

I wouldn't call his behavior towards women in general toxic though— I actually think he is somewhat demure when faced with women like his mother, Rhaenyra and also Helaena. He seems to kick down most of the time, while trying to get recognition from the ones he sees as peers or above him.

If you look at the culture he was raised in, it's not really a surprise he turned out the way he did, seeing women beneath him as something he can just take if he likes to. Westeros is cartoonishly misogynistic; traditions like First Night or the prevelance of brothels filled with women working under harsh indentures show that.

Young men of noble origin seem to see visits to brothels (again, filled with women that do not want to be there) as a normal past time activity; it's so prevalent that it's surprising if a young nobleman does not participate. Now, I do not want to excuse his actions, but seeing the culture he grew up him and the influences around him? -> He probably thinks this is normal behaviour, disturbingly.

On a bit different note, I want to talk about his relationships. A thought I see often echoed in the fandom is the headcanon that Aegon is violent towards Helaena when that... was never stated anywhere? Now I'm probably biased because I'm a big Helaegon girl but I don't see him being violent with his sister.

People say he impregnated her at 13 when.. he was also just a 15 year old boy? He did not want to marry her! Both literally did not and could not consent to what happened to them, I think it's so sad that people try to demonize a child who just did what was demanded from him from all the adults in his life :(

(like yes tell me about how one of these KIDS forced himself on the other out of fully selfish desire and pure evil. you're so smart and do not lack media literacy whatsoever)

The dinner scene literally shows Helaena laugh at Aegon's antics until he goes a step too far w Baela, and what does Helaena do? She clowns him in front of everyone with her toast. And what does he do? He just takes it... not the behaviour of an evil abusive man but the delulus will swear otherwise.

People will also try to twist her crying at the coronation as some depressive moment for her where she realizes that he will have the ultimate power over her when that's LITERALLY just a (very boring) headcanon. It's hinted at in the text and literally written out in the script that she is scared, because she knows what crowning him means; the dance cannot be stopped. That's all, that's why she's crying. She feels like their end is near.

All in all I think no one can change your mind on how you feel about Aegon; what he did IS unforgivable, but I hope you see a bit of my pov here too. Seeing the nuance in deeply flawed characters and digging to find hidden depths in them is something I'm very passionate about! My Aegon girlie mutuals and me will be feasting come season 2 🙏

[ichimatsu-gal]

I watched the the last two episodes of Hazbin Hotel

HOLY FUCKING SHIT OMFG I JUST WANTED TO EXPRESS MY THOUGHTS ON IT AND RAMBLE SO HERE

!!!HAZBIN HOTEL SPOILERS!!!

!!!VERY DETAILED SPOILERS!!!

Episode 7:

almost immediately I was happy to see Charlie get angry and frustrated even if it was just for that little rant about everything that’s happened so far and then choosing to make a deal with Alastor was insane I’m already theorizing all the ways he could ask for a favor that would still be pretty bad even if it doesn’t involve hurting anyone.

when we get to meet Rosie for the first time I kinda expected her to me more malicious and kinda blood thirsty but she ended up actually being a very sweet person who was very genuine and I loved that about her, she gave Charlie some very good advice about Vaggie that I really appreciate bc I though the same thing, also wasn’t expecting her to have the voice she did but I loved it anyway. (FUCKING SUSAN) the way both Alastor and Rosie just behaved like besties in this was way too funny Alastor cursing was way funnier tho and the fact that all it took was just to say hey there’s gonna be free food and it’s angels flesh was so stupidly simple.

I loved that they gave Carmilla another song she was absolutely beautiful and badass like bro HER HAIR DOWN GOT ME BARKING NOT GONNA LIE, she’s a very strong woman who is smart, resilient, and loves her daughters, also I’m biased bc she’s Latina and I’m latina so obviously she’s the best. The fact that Vaggie being an Angel was so obvious is hilarious to me I always thought the X on her eye was some type of aesthetic eyepatch not like an actual thing angels get when they lose and eye??? Still not sure about that but whatever, I loved the realization that yeah Vaggie fights with no real concern about her own life because she’s never had to fear for her own safety before, she wasn’t even aware she could die so the fact that Carmilla is like girl you fight like you aren’t scared of getting hurt which is stupid on your part is both funny and like wow yeah she’s so right that is a dumb way to go about it. Since usually demons can’t cause any type of real harm angels have never had to worry about death so they go about killing every extermination day completely recklessly so it keeps them open to weak points, they didn’t even think about their own weapons they left behind being used against them so yeah, the song was an absolute bop (like girl find the motivation to fight in the fact that you have someone to lose).

I love that the others stayed obviously they would but it’s nice to see everyone trying to help in any way they can despite the circumstances, they all enjoy each other’s company and it was so nice to see how far everyone has come.

Episode 8:

I’m kinda confused as into how Vox managed to get cameras? technology?? Into the hotel but whatever his reactions are funny. Almost immediately I was trying to figure out who was gonna die this final episode and when I saw dear ol Pentious in his little uniform I kinda knew and I was pre sobbing getting ready for the emotional damage I was gonna get (which side note I absolutely love his hair?? When it’s down I mean I’m a sucker for long black hair??? So yeah) anyway the whole thing with him and Cherri is so cute he’s such a dork. I like the scene with nifty and Alastor cause honestly I fully believe he doesn’t own her soul she’s just so outta pocket that he finds her amusing and her presence entertaining and he genuinely enjoys it so she gets to stick around, DID YALL SEE THE FUCK ME EYES HUSK GAVE ANGEL AT THE BAR DONT TELL ME YOU DIDNT AND THE WAY ANGEL LOOKED AT HIM WHEN HE WAKLED OFF YOOOOOOOO I CANTTTTT, and then Pentious being so awkward with Cherri is so cute my man was STRUGGLING tryna confess his love for her, he did say some really sweet things tho that she was kinda getting into it before he ran off plus Angel being like hey he got two dicks and she’s like huh 🤔 (like GIRL GET SOME OF THAT OR ELSE I WILL ).

They really did us dirty with having Charlie so obviously in front of angels door crying and shit before the episodes came out that shit had me sweating. So Adam, I’m not gonna like he kinda….👀 but only because he’s voiced by THE Alex Brightman like c’mon be so serious he did that character so good I can’t even, also I was kinda wondering why all the exorcists are all women like is that just because Adam prefers it or what? But anyway the fact that Vox got the other two V’s together so they can all watch this shit go down is so funny bc they couldn’t care less. It was so fun seeing what Alastor had in store bc I find him so fascinating as a character he has all these interesting powers that he doesn’t really get to use too often since he never has a reason to kinda go all out and have fun killing people so it was fun seeing that. Bro when Adam punched the dome that was wild I was like wow that was kinda cool I’m not gonna lie and the fight with Alastor was insane the animation was amazing it was so fun seeing Al just dodging his attacks with such grace like go off king tell him he’s a bitch 😌💅, when his microphone got sliced in half his reaction was absolutely priceless holy shit I rewatched that shit like 5 times bc I couldn’t get over him cursing like it was so quick but it did the job so well, hearing his actual voice outside of his normal Radio-ish way of sounding was really something it made it feel more alive I guess. Vox’s reactions was so funny he really is a bitter ex that just wants the worst for him I love it (NO! FUCK YOU FUCK YOU FUCK YOUUUUU, PUSSY!!) I love him.

When Vaggie said something had to be done about Adam and Pentious was watching I just knew, AND MY MAN JUST REALLY RIZZED CHERRI LIKE THAT BROO HE DIPPED HER AND EVERYTHING OMGGGGGG like I agree with her that WAS hot. I WAS SO PISSED THAT HE DIED FOR NOTHING LIKE BRO I KNEW HE WAS GONNA DIE A JOKE DEATH I JUST KNEW IT, they couldn’t even give bro the honor of dying in a way that would make us cry cause when he went out like that I just knew he was gonna probably end up in heaven to make up for how lame that was. Having Charlie call Adam a pig was so fun like yeas girl tell him, I kinda didn’t agree with Vaggie deciding to allow Lute to live cause girl that’s a loose end I would not wanna deal with later bc she has no mercy (she literally ripped off her own arm to chase after her bro) she would not hesitate to kill, like yeah I get the whole I’m better than you so yeah live with the fact the only reason you breathe is because I let you but girl be so for real she is a nuisance that will come back to bite you in the ass later I know it.

The fact that I didn’t even think about the fact that Adam was wearing a mask this whole time is so stupid of me but when I did see that I was thinking of all the ways he could’ve looked like and to say I was disappointed is an understatement, my disappointment got worse when I saw his pathetic little goatee 😑I’ve seen way better fanart, Lucifer coming in with the save 😮‍💨 not him saying he was gonna fuck Adam the silence was so loud (the only time the other two V’s found it interesting too)😂😂. lucifer is such an airhead twink I love him; Not only is he effortlessly flying circles around Adam and having fun while doing it he’s insulting him too, THE EVE COMMENT WAS SO OUTTA POCKET BRO LIKE WHAT WHEN DID EVE TAP THAT (lucky bitch) I was wondering where she was and apparently it was in his bed (that shit made me snort he has hella rizz) cause not only did he take Adam’s first wife he took the second one too bro, it was pretty cool seeing his more demon form his horns where hella cool and the fact that the entire time Lucy was like unserious about his whole interaction with Adam’s is crazy because I feel like it shows how powerful he really is, after all he is still a seraphim. I appreciate that despite everything Charlie still keeps her compassion and keeps her dad from killing him cause that could not be me girl plus nifty coming in with the last stab is hilarious he really got killed by her of all people that is sad, from what I could count I think she stabbed him 15 times maybe? Which like damm that’s crazy he stood no chance I’m kind of wondering if lute and him had something going one too bc her reaction was definitely not just some soldier who worshipped him it felt more personal and with the whole (sir SIR ADAM!!) plus the dopey ass smile he gave her wich Im ignoring the fact that it might’ve been due to the rapid amount of blood exiting his body and the multiple stab wounds and the fact he was, you know….dying was very loving in a way that just makes you think if there was more to them.

(Quick shout out to the fact that I’m watching the last episode for the second time and I just noticed what I think is Angeldust’s brother and Baxter watching the news)

I’m curious what deal Alastor made that is making him want so desperately to get out bc he definitely was close to a nervous breakdown there (husk was so disappointed Al didn’t die in the war). I was so thankful Pentious actually went to heaven bro I was starting to worry I’m not gonna lie 😀, his design is pretty cute i find it funny he ended up right in front of Sarah and Emily bc you’d expect him to be at the gates but no, it was like a big fuck you to Sarah about redemption which I love how they both reacted to that (love Emily).

Now Lilith, the fact that she is so obviously in heaven is insane like girl you have been gone for SEVEN years with absolutely zero contact with anyone and at first I was like where can she even go in hell that would keep her away for so long and then boom she’s on a nice beach somewhere up above like what the hell. Apparently her and Adam made a deal which my theory is that way before it was made official in order for for the exterminator to happen permanently which I’m guessing was Adam’s idea him and Lilith agreed that if she sang just enough to get his idea accepted by Sarah she would get to stay and chill in heaven maybe? It could be deeper than that but it’s crazy that all this time when her daughter needed her most she was just enjoying life upstairs, maybe she really is the evil mastermind behind it all.

(Something I just thought about, did Lucifer cheat on Lilith with Eve??? Cause like when he said he stole botu of Adam’s wives he was with Lilith so does that explain why they aren’t together or maybe had a falling out a long time ago, or would explain his depression and sense of guilt despite it being so long ago kind of)

——————————————————————————

Anyway that was all my opinions and commentary on the last two episodes of hazbin hotel I just don’t have anyone to talk to this about and it was too early for anyone else to really write anything about this so I was like fuck it I have tumbler, please do leave comments on your opinions, commentary, and theories about this I would absolutely love to hear what you you’d have to say thank you for reading this shit show that is my brain. 🥰

[super-hero-confessions]

Bueno Exellente is a registered sex offender who was put on a "hero" team by a raging alcoholic. The current version is married to an amalgamation of human intestines and he can only say two words. He "intimidates" bad guys with the threat of something that is legitimately scary for everyone, but is ultimately no different from the threat of violence which for some reason people are more okay with? If you think that's being portrayed as "seriously" heroic and "haha look they deserve it", I think you missed a couple steps there and "who" the actual joke here is. Hint: it's not his victims, who are portrayed as the sane and reasonable ones by comparison. Just say he's a crack concept that you personally don't like or that you aren't comfortable with rape as a theme, or with the idea that rape could be combined with comedy and move on. Even if he were unironically being used to portray rape itself as "funny", that's still a personal hang up and the complaints are a transparent attempt at censorship that has nothing to do with victims or how they feel. And if violence doesn't bother you as a theme in the same ways rape does when surviving a violent nonsexual encounter can have similar lasting effects on a person, maybe analyze why that is? Why should rape remain taboo in any or certain subjects while violence, murder, even genocide gets a free pass for everything?

There have been a couple rants on here about purity culture in general but what's really telling about the people who support it and censorship is that the rants hardly ever mention Garth Ennis if at all talk about his work, and some were even about defending fan fiction writers instead. People just assume without actually listening to or reading what's being said. If you have to ask: "Well, what about this kind of victim's feelings?", you aren't actually interested in how those victims feel unless it supports your personal biases and calls for censorship which adhere to your views of how purity culture should be imposed. This is just the "erotica" vs. sexual argument, or the slasher vs. "elevated horror" argument. You're just a hypocrite who is facing cognitive dissonance and you don't want to accept it. Do not pretend you care about victims when you participate in purity culture in any format, even rape and comedy. Yes, there are some victims that find comfort in that too. No, they still don't deserve to be shamed for it. Whether you like it or not, personal opinions hold no bearing on what creative content should or shouldn't exist or what artists are "allowed" to create. Creatives can create whatever the fuck they want. To support creative freedom means supporting this without exception, even if you despise what they make and yes, you can still dislike it. Just don't pretend your personal tastes are critique or be an ass on an ass about it, especially to victims and survivors.

I don't care how "offended" anyone is to hear it said that purity culture only harms and silences victims and to support it is to support hurting victims. Like it or not, that is fact. That is proven. There is observed and relevant evidence of this. Deal with the truth and acknowledge it or continue to be the type of person that unironically, unintentionally or intentionally, supports abusers and ignores victims. Purity culture does not help victims and it never will and no one has the right to police creativity, regardless of what it portrays or how we may feel.

[bfpnola]

hello! I have mental illness myself, and have recently begun diving into your resources. I agree that your mental condition does not determine who you are, but growing up, I had a parent with NPD who was extremely abusive. I know it's not meant in a way to pretend abuse isn't real, but when I see things like "narcissistic abuse isn't real", it makes me really uncomfortable- because I have suffered it myself. I still am learning about things, so I may be misinformed, but doesn't NPD mean your personality- who you are- is supremely arrogant and self-centered, with no regard for others? The only explanation I have come up with is that creating personality disorders to label bad people is what's wrong, but I really would appreciate your response.

hey! thank you so much for sending in a question. and thank you to the 5 folks who helped out by adding their input during the making of this post. let’s break this down together!

when someone says "narcissistic abuse isn't real," it's the part in reference to NPD that matters. when we rush to automatically equate a diagnosis with abusive behavior, in many ways, we are leaning into sanism and eugenics, often the very same biologically-dependent attitudes that criminalize people of color. the abuse you faced was real and i don't think anyone should be allowed to erase those experiences for you! continuing, personality can and does influence behavior. all of these things can be true while also accepting that having NPD does not automatically make someone abusive or somehow more prone to abusive behaviors, even if that was only implied.

why though? for one, because saying the opposite absolve us of our power as well! as humans, we are all capable of harm, of hurting people, even in egregious ways. this was something i personally struggled with literally up until a couple months ago when i hurt someone i really loved. i wanted to be a good person so badly, and those around me knew how much good i was capable of spreading, so certain actions continued to slide. the reality is that i'm not just good or just bad, but human! i'm capable of hurting other people, and that's so scary to me, but it's the truth. and that's the same for everyone else. as some of our friends in BFP even said just now (not sharing their names for privacy purposes), no one (i hope) walks around saying "depressive abuse" or "PTSD abuse" even though people with these disorders are equally capable of perpetuating harm, like anyone else. cluster B disorders are constantly demonized when in reality, you and i could have both been abused by a "regular" person just the same. erasing our capability to harm not only makes it harder to hold one another accountable in the future (why should i get help or change my behavior when it's due to my disorder?), but equally pushes forth a narrative that the DSM (the book used to diagnose people) is law. what do i mean by that though?

in mad studies, we acknowledge that the DSM, rather than having distinct diagnoses with quantifiable, empirical symptoms like literally any other field of science, groups together pre-existing symptoms that tend to appear together and labels them. the diagnoses we receive are better to be thought as shorthand for clusters of commonly comorbid behaviors. and what of these symptoms? who gets to decide what irregular behavior looks like? who are we comparing Mad individuals to? who represents the norm, the "regular" i mentioned earlier? psychiatry and psychology are extremely biased, my favorite examples of which are drapetomania (a "mental illness" meant to explain why enslaved Africans kept running away from plantations), The Protest Psychosis: How Schizophrenia Became a Black Disease by Jonathan Metzl, hysteria, and prolonged grief disorder. none of this is to say that diagnoses can't be helpful or that your experiences aren't real, but to be wary of the subjectivity, biases, hierarchies, and abuse intrinsic to the field.

because of everything i just said, i feel uncomfortable setting clear delineations for what NPD is and isn't, so i'll leave that part up to a volunteer of ours actually with this diagnosis:

firstly, at our cores we are very insecure about ourselves. we put on a façade of grandiosity to feel better about ourselves and to avoid showing people our insecurities. most of us were hurt by people close to us when we were children, most commonly caretakers, and we do our best to avoid showing this insecurity and hurt. secondly, our self esteem tends to be reliant on the opinions of others. we depend on approval from other people to feel good about ourselves, because we're so insecure. NPD is also characterized by delusions of grandiosity, which is the most stereotypical feature of the disorder. but there's more than just grandiosity. we also experience what's called a "narc crash" (or just a "crash"), which typically happens after a grandiose high. these crashes involve feelings of intense shame, self hatred, etc. the other thing i would include in a definition of NPD is the fantasies, because we hate ourselves so much we are often preoccupied with fantasies of power, success, and fame to help us feel better about ourselves. in short, NPD is defined by extreme insecurity masked by delusions of grandeur, which are followed by crashes. it is also defined by dependence on others for validation since we cannot validate ourselves. a lot of people assume that we just have inflated egos and love ourselves so much, but it's all a façade to hide our extreme insecurity and lack of self worth.

TLDR: 1) the phrase "narcissistic abuse isn’t real" does not erase any abuse you faced by someone who may have had NPD but rather recognizes that the implication of all people with NPD or Cluster B disorders being abusive is not only harmful to everyone but bleeds into eugenics. 2) it's important to be wary of how we deify the DSM and the diagnoses it provides, as it perpetuates the active dehumanization of people who don't meet a certain standard. a standard set by whom? 3) NPD is characterized by extreme insecurity and dependence on others for validation, followed by crashes due to delusions of grandeur clashing with reality.

if you have any more questions, please keep sending them in to @bfpnola! for more on mad studies, here’s our study guide for beginners.

-- reaux (she/they)

[diamondcrownacademy]

DCA Info Part 26: Meet Ella Glaciel 👠

Ella Glaciel (エラ・グラシエル, Era Gurashieru) is the dorm leader of Glastanzerin. Ella loves fashion as much as she loves her father, but she can be a bit sensitive and naive.

History

Ella was born and raised in the Glasswork Kingdom into the Glaciel Family, a family of fashion designers. Although, each family member focuses on a certain fashion item or style which is why they are sought after. The entire family makes up the ensemble which puts out some really unique sets. The Glaciel Family even have their own brand called "Midnight Mirror" (ミッドナイト・ミラー).

Ella is the daughter of Gaspard Antoine Glaciel, a gentlemanly shoemaker and his late wife, Emelette Glaciel, a jeweler who loved her daughter dearly. From a very young age, Ella was praised for her talent in fashion. Ella often accompanied her parents to events and often tried to mimic their fashion styles. Many loved it when the whole family went to events together, they looked like a doll set.

However, Ella's life took a turn for the worst after Emelette's death. Her father remarried Lucille Luciferia, a cruel and vain woman who married Gaspard to enhance her social status and she even went so far as too wear the jewelry Emelette made and showing them off as if it belonged to her. Luciferia was known to be an educator, so Gaspard allowed her to educate Ella, unaware at first how biased and harsh she'd be on his daughter. She would physically, emotionally and verbally abuse Ella, going so far as to strike her from behind her legs if she got a small thing wrong, the constant assaults resulted in numerous bruises and scars being left on Ella's legs. Her step-brothers, Edwin and Roman were a rowdy bunch that always harassed Ella. Messing about in her room and making a mess of everything. This made Ella afraid to tell her father of Luciferia's abusive nature, believing that because she was still a child, he wouldn't believe her.

Gaspard eventually discovered Luciferia's true nature when he noticed that Ella was walking as if she was in pain and how she would distance herself from her family during events. A maid spoke up and revealed everything to Gaspard when he returned from a long business trip. Horrified and ashamed of himself for marrying a cruel woman and allowing her to hurt his family, Gaspard filed for divorce and a restraining order, which was added when he asked Ella and she broke down in tears, telling him all the lies that Luciferia implanted in her young mind. That was the last straw so he demanded that not one of the Glaciel family's possessions such as jewels be in her possession and ever since then, Luciferia remained a disgraced woman.

Following the incident, Gaspard became more attentive to his daughter, feeling guilty for not being there for her when she needed someone most. While he remains kind and polite, he becomes distant when a woman tries to get closer to him, though that just made him even more attractive to the bachelorettes unfortunately for him. It was when Ella turned 15 that her father opened his heart to another woman. Claudette Darlington was Ella's second stepmother. While Ella significantly recovered from the incident with Luciferia, she still has trust issues and keeps her distance. While she knows that Claudette was nice and meant no harm, the incident with Luciferia permanently damaged her, Claudette still hopes that she and Ella could bond properly as mother and daughter.

Personality

Ella is described by her peers as sensitive, sweet and naive. It's safe to assume she became a sensitive girl due to her abusive relationship with Luciferia. Despite this negative relationship, Ella remains a kind hearted young lady, always willing to assist others.

While Ella has a love for fashion, she can be rather critical about people's fashion choices and even gets excited about pampering someone up for an event.

Appearance

Ella is a young girl of average height in her mid-teens. She has fair skin, blue eyes, and shoulder-length dusty pink hair. Her hair is in the style of a bob cut with blunt bangs and a waterfall braid in the back.

2020 School Uniform

Like with the others, Ella's uniform is modified to her taste. She originally wore a long sleeved light blue coat with purple gem buttons and light yellow ruffle cuffs, which are folded to reveal the light blue parts and have blue bows on them. She wears her coat over an off white almost light yellow ruffle blouse, which has a high neck ruffle collar and jabot. The jabot is the same light yellow color as the blouse and is held by a deep sky blue neckerchief with rounded arches and gold trim, with the tied portion of the neckerchief having her brooch on it. The brooch is gold with a white gem that resembles a pearl or opal jewel. For the bottom half of her uniform, Ella wears a box pleated skirt with an argyle pattern of various shades of cerulean, sapphire and blue-green with a baby blue satin ribbon wrapped around it, with the right side of the ribbon even including a bow with a gold pumpkin carriage charm on it. The skirt is worn over a light yellow petticoat. For footwear, Ella wears a pair of light pale blue kitten heels with gold soles, cerulean straps with bows of the same color on them and cerulean rounded fabric with yellow heart charms on the heels topline. The shoes also appear to have a prism like shine to them.

Ella accessorizes with a gold tiara with a rounded lower band with swirls above it and a white circular gem in the center, serving as the top ornament. She also accessorizes with a sky blue hair bow, which is at the back of her hair.

2021 School Uniform

Ella's 2021 school uniform remains entirely the same as the original with two minor changes, the purple gem buttons on her coat are now navy blue in color and the bow on her skirt now has pale yellow lace underneath. Likely the most significant change is the inclusion of white leggings to hide the faint bruises that Luciferia inflicted on her.

Dorm Uniform

For her dorm uniform, Ella wears a dress with a light blue strapless bodice with the center part being cornflower with royal blue patterning that resembles butterflies. The center part also has two dark blue ribbons in the shape of Xs and bows in the center of both Xs. The top of the bodice has pale yellow ruffles obscuring the neckline, with her brooch in the center. She also wears arm warmers that fade from light blue to white with pale yellow ruffle cuffs, with the end cuffs having gold trimming and are held with gold bracelets with white flowers on them. She also wears a gold belt with oval designs. The bottom of the dress contains multiple layers, with the first one being an ombré light blue bustle with white flowers at the tips, the second one is an ombré blue skirt with a high low hemline, the third is a rounded upside down arch skirt with a gold upside down arch outline with the same high low hemline as before and this layer is cornflower in color with a royal blue butterfly like pattern, and the fourth and final layer is simply a pale yellow upside down rounded arch skirt with the same high low hemline as the previous layers. For footwear, Ella wears shoes that are similar to the ones she wears in her school uniform, with the exception being that they are a shiny light pale blue with the topline having a gold outline and gold hearts of the same color. The shoes also have straps made from two gold bead strains.

Ella accessorizes with the same crown from her school uniform but with an additional gold beaded collar.

Solo Stage Uniform

For vocal performances, Ella dawns a pale blue jacket with blue and white ruffle sleeves and a golden outline, with the lapel even having lace trimming. The jacket is worn over a blue dress with a semi spread collar with gold outline and an ivory vest with the same gold outlining as before. The skirt of the dress is made up of three ruffle layers, with the the first layer being the same shade of blue as the top with fancy patterning, the second layer is a solid ivory in color and the third and final layer is pale blue in color. For footwear, she wears golden kitten heels, with the counter having a swirl on it and blue ribbon straps. She additionally wears grayish periwinkle leggings.

Ella accessorizes with a three pointed gold tiara with swirl designs and white oval gems. The tiara appears attached to a white heart shaped gem with three gold pearls at the end and is attached to a blue ribbon. Her brooch is below the neck collar but above the vest. Ella also wears wrist gloves with rounded arch cuffs and a white sash with a lilac flower on it, blue and white ribbon with gold outlines and the center white ribbon as a dark blue upside down heart with the glass slipper in the center.

Floral Lullaby Outfit

Handmade by Ella herself, this outfit consists of a mostly pink dress. The dress' consists of a semi-sweetheart bodice with the chest part being a solid pale yellow while the lower half is mostly pink, with center being magenta in color and a lighter shade of pink on both sides being divided by gold detailing, both the magenta and light pink parts have fancy patterning on them. The bodice also has light pink and yellow puff sleeves with pink lace cuffs. At the waist, she wears a violet belt with light yellow ribbon. The skirt is made of two layers of pink and lilac satin fabric, with the pink layer having a pale yellow petticoat. The skirt could be counted as a three layer skirt of you count the top layer, which is a continuation of the bodice piece with a rounded arch hem and lace trim. For footwear, Ella wears gold heeled Mary Jane shoes with bows on the straps. She also wears pink socks with magenta anklets.

Ella accessorizes with a magenta bow headpiece with a blue, yellow and pink rose in the center and are above what appears to be an upside down hand fan which is an ombré lilac in color with magenta trimming and lace hem. Ella also wears a heart shaped gold brooch with a red gem on her bodice and it is attracted to a pale yellow bow with the same detailing that resembles the upside down fan from the headpiece. Additionally, she wears pale yellow wrist bands with bows attached of a similar color, with the wristband having various pink, yellow and blue roses attached. Ella lastly wears a pair of lilac gloves with pale yellow pearl bracelets.

School Statistics

Ella is a 17 year old 2nd year student. She is classified as Student #12 and is in Class 2-C. She is a member of the Horse Grooming Club and her best subjects are Basic Etiquette and Needlework and Jewelry, with the latter being her favorite school subject because it ties in with her family's business. Her least favorite school subject is Ancient Rune Reading because she mixes up runes sometimes.

For her idol performances, Ella has a soft voice that is suited for cute and classical songs. She can't do loud vocals for rock songs since her voice was not made for it.

For her choreography, Ella has plenty of cute dance moves to go with her singing, she loves to skip and make cute poses on stage.

Relationships

Family

Ella has a good relationship with her father and late mother. She loves her father dearly and her mother even made her a bluebird jewelry set as a gift prior to her passing. Her father always hoped that she would wear it when she came of age.

Ella's relationship with her first stepmother and stepbrothers was a traumatic experience for her, as Luciferia would abuse Ella constantly and would even physically harm her if she disobeyed her. Edwin would scare Ella and pull malicious pranks on her while Roman would verbally abuse Ella to avoid Edwin's harassment.

Years after divorcing Luciferia, Gaspard remarried again around the time Ella reached adolescence, this time to a woman named Claudette Darlington. While Darlington isn't abusive towards Ella, the latter still has trust issues and keeps her distance. However, this doesn't mean that Ella doesn't want to get to know her better and Darlington hopes that she and Ella can one day bond properly as mother and daughter.

Pets

Ella has five pet mice that are all round and a bit chubby. They're always in her pockets, she always sews a pocket on her clothes for her mice. Her mice are named, Mozza, Gouda, Brie, Pecorin, and Parmes. All of them are named after different types of cheese because she found them in her pantry eating a block of cheese.

Fellow Students

Ella is the resident sweetheart of DCA, she is just so sweet that students can't help but take a liking to her.

Evonie is her closest school companion and best friend. Ella recalled seeing her when the Glaciel Family came to visit the Town of Orchard Fields.

Briar is like the image of a fairytale to Ella. But she can't help but feel there was a sense of sorrow to her gaze.

Ella is a fan of Cerule since she's never met a mermaid before. Cerule herself thinks she's as cute as a sea angel.

Ella admires the food that Perrine and Allison make but she can't help but be pranked into thinking those cakes were objects by Allison all the time. She's also known to criticize the latter's fashion sense.

Night Raven College Students

Ella and Vil are close mutuals due to their interest in fashion. In public they looked sophisticated and elegant but as soon as a slumber party was set up Ella listens to him rant about Leona and Epel and probably many other things while doing each other's nails and combing each other's hair.

When she first met Epel, Ella initially called him cute but when he voiced how he didn't like that, she apologized profusely. Ella offered anything to make up for the rude thing she did and he requested her to make a cool leather jacket like the one from Savanaclaw. Ella accepted the request and Epel made sure that Vil doesn't see it otherwise he'd have asked her to make adjustments. After that misunderstanding, they get along as friendly acquaintances because Ella has similar interests to Vil there wasn't much in common, but due to Ella's sensitive nature, he'd have a chance to be a knight in shining armor because he's a rough country boy.

Ella is very casual with Rook with a bit of shyness at first, she might have had a small crush on him because he looked like a prince charming to her. He certainly would want to test the fashion skills of a Glaciel so he's made it a game where he would wear a different perfume everytime and have Ella guess what perfume he wore that day. One time, he wore a cheap brand just to test her and she had this disappointed look on her face and asked if he got scammed. Rook laughed it off and said that it was on purpose to test her then proceeded to use a better perfume to get rid of the old smell.

Since Silver is always tired, this is a chance for her to advertise to him a new suit she's making. A pull on the string and it inflates into a comfty sleeping bag. Ella would just admire him because he looks so ethereal with his silver hair, but when she finds out about his sleeping habits she'll take the opportunity to make sure his clothes don't get dirty from sleeping on the ground.

Ella is nervous of Malleus but she does admire his majestic aura. She wants to design clothes that'll make his horns stand out but she can't bring herself to since he's royalty as well as one of the most powerful mages there is. But she does have her sketchbook filled with designs for him.

Night Raven College Staff

Ella met Divus Crewel when she was a child. When Ella was trying to advertise her father's shoes, Crewel was the first person she advertised them to and Crewel found her to be adorable.

Romance

While Ella is a romantic at heart, she needs someone who can shield her from people who give her a hard time but also to help her be more assertive.

Powers and Abilities

• Magic: Much like her fellow students, Ella can use magic.

• Sewing: Due to being taught the ways of fashion at a young age, Ella greatly excels at sewing and even has a special talent for quick stitching.

• Dancing: Ella is stated to be good at dancing as well as being a dance partner. She is able to adapt and guide the person if they are nervous or a bit clumsy.

• Material Alchemy: Ella can make use of almost any material needed to make her dresses, thanks to her talents in material alchemy.

• Speed: Ella's speed is stated to be equivalent to that of a mouse that no one can catch up to her.

Unique Magic

Ella's unique magic is called "Glacify" (玻璃の靴の舞踊/グレイシファイ, Gureishifai; lit. "Dance of the Glass Shoes"). She can make anything shine like polished glass but it lasts until 12 o′clock am and pm.

Voice

According to her bio, Ella's Japanese voice actress would be Sumire Morohoshi, known for her roles as Kyōka Izumi in Bungo Stray Dogs, Nina Tucker in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood and Hinami Fueguchi in Tokyo Ghoul.

Trivia

• Her birthday is on September 6th, making her a Virgo.

• She is 165 cm tall.

• Her favorite food is Cheese Platter while her least favorite food is Fish. She dislikes having to do too many chores.

• She enjoys sewing.

• Her preferred Styling Jewel Outfit Styles are Classical and Cute.

• For her casual attire, Ella would mostly wear pastel colored frilly dresses with flats.

• Her favorite color is pastel pink.

• She is dubbed "Little Jellyfish" (クラゲちゃん, Kurage-chan) by Floyd due to her love of fashion. She shares this nickname with Silver.

• She likes making clothes and watching fashion runways.

• Ella’s Overblot would likely occur when Luciferia is incredibly desperate for revenge against the Glaciel family that she steals Ella’s most prized possession, the blue bird jewelry set from her late mother and ruins or destroys it in front of her.

• In the future, Ella would be a fashion designer since she’s the heiress of the Glaciel Family business.

• Ella favors desserts with edible flowers but also likes small cakes.

• Ella would smell like tea scents.

• Her signature scent would be expensive but not strong cologne, maybe uses mint or lavender.

• Ella’s worst fear is having to face her former stepfamily again. She may have gotten over what happened in the past just by a bit but she can’t exactly be brave and confront her abusers.

[letteredlettered]

i just wanted to say that you are one of my favorites h/d writers and one of the reasons, except your brilliant writing of course, is the fact that you also believe it is bullshit that Harry could love Draco before he changes for the better and hates the whole “he was rapidly becoming obsessed with Malfoy” thing. I honestly think that a lot of writes and fans of h/d have Draco as their favorite character and because of that they tend to be more biased towards him. But if Harry could like Draco when he was a jerk to Hermione and Ron, laughed at Cedric’s death and treated everyone that Harry loved badly, then why does he has to change at all you know? I think that people get so fixated in the “he was a child pressured by his father” and all the other arguments they use to excuse Draco of his behavior that they forget that Harry and the others were children as well who didn’t deserve to be treated this way especially when they were already suffering. Like, just because you can understand the circumstances of why someone hurt you doesn’t mean it’s going to hurt less, plus Draco actually believe in those things he said, he only changed his mind latter but for some reason people like to pretend he didn’t. I just think that this defeats the purpose of the ship for me cause I like h/d because i believe that people can change and that we can learn to accept them not in spite of what they did but because of the fact that they work to change for the better everyday. Sorry for the long text but i get a little upset about this and also english isn’t my first language so sorry for any mistakes and thank you for reading it ❤️💚

I'm glad you like my writing!

I'd just like to clarify that I don't believe it's bullshit that Harry could love Draco without Draco changing. I believe a) it's possible for people to fall in love with people they don't agree with morally or ethically, and that's not bullshit, b) it's not bullshit to want to see that kind of love in your fantasies or your fanfics.

I just don't prefer to write (or read) fic in which Draco doesn't make significant changes. Redemption is what interests me about Draco; he didn't get it in canon, and I like to see him work for it in fic. Interestingly, I also like fic in which Harry has to change significantly to see Draco's humanity; I like it best when both of them grow beyond the scope of their childhood ethics (and not coincidentally, the ethics of the canon itself).

I do quite often get the impression that many people do like Draco "better," or care about him more. I think this is fine. I'm often more interested in a character than another character I ship them with, I am just personally uninterested in writing or reading fic that doesn't treat both characters as humans that deserve empathy and understanding.

And I think that you're right, that a lot of people seem to focus their empathy on Draco without extending much to Harry or his friends. Extending empathy does not have to be an either/or scenario! You can feel bad about how Draco was indoctrinated and the things Draco was forced to do while still also feeling bad that Harry was bullied by Draco; you can still feel that it's horrible that Harry's life was threatened by Draco and ideals Draco espoused.

As you say, just because someone hurt you for understandable reasons doesn't mean you're not allowed to be hurt. Similarly, even if you never intended that harm, you still have to deal with the consequences of having caused harm. Like, people will still be hurt, whether you meant for them to be or not. I think that this was a really formative realization for me growing up, and something that seems lost in a lot of discussions about purity or goodness or morality. Your motives can be pure as the driven snow, and you can still hurt someone. A child can be innocent and cause pain. I have been hurt by children plenty of times--they don't necessarily have to apologize to me, but I'm still allowed to feel hurt.

But I will wrap by saying that people ship Harry/Draco for many reasons, and it's okay to want fic that focuses solely on Draco getting love and support with Harry a mere vessel for that love and support. I do not demand that anyone else cater to my specific desires for the ship. What you want from the ship and what you like about it are not a test of virtue; it can be about what makes you feel good. The way I like the ship happens to make me feel good, and I write what I want to read.

[behindthewox]

I don't know if Anon wanted, or expected, a detailed response and I wasn't sure it'd be the right thing to do but I got it drafted, so I might as well post it. I'm aware that my responses might look like self defence, deflecting and discrediting the accusations, but my intention is really just to explain my line of thought and provide some context.

None of this criticism is unfair, and I will take it into consideration. It's not fun to be criticised like this, but I do appreciate it (and if you want to dismiss that as "empty words", I won't stop you).

Maybe it's time for another shift in content, a new rule to avoid drama and try something else?

[NOTE: using small font to take up less space, in case you'd rather just scroll past it]

Hello there, Fish. I am going to make myself as short as I possibly can, because whenever I see unfairness, I speak up. (my note: me too, that's sort of the point of this blog) You made a post a few days ago saying that you deleted a post because it was aimed towards a specific person and that it could cause issues, so why are you continuing to do the exact same thing to others?

The post I deleted was unfair to begin with, and it criticised a personal choice (that affected no one, except upsetting one or two users) rather than the person's leadership and actions of authority. I also did not agree with the anon, but I make a practise of posting anons regardless of whether I agree with them or not and that is probably where I was careless and failed to consider the implications of that post in particular.

For example, don't you think that what have been written about the people of WoOFR has been hurtful to them? What makes it okay to literally target these people so very specifically and, in my opinion, in a very cruel way but not okay to target someone else? Some posts are not even about these people's positions or whatever, but literally about their personas. No, this does not have anything to do with WoOFR to begin with, but it was just taken as an example. Scrolling down on behindthewox, you can see this sort of behaviour repeatedly.

The posts about WoO FR are a very different thing. It's several individuals, seemingly independent of each other, sharing the same concerns and expressing that it is causing harm to the site users at large. Not only that, one of the claims could be a legal issue and even if it's not, it's still a very valid concern as users could come to harm. Assuming that the Mugs only communicate with the site leaders (I get the impression that's the rule) there are only so many ways to bring issues like this to their attention. Unless you know the Mug personally and can contact them directly, an anon submission to a public forum is probably your best option. I'm not the one who set up the system that way. I only provide (and moderate) the public forum that was missing. Yes, all of this could've been avoided if only there had been a forum to anonymously share your concerns without worrying about consequences, and knowing that your submissions will be read, taken seriously and acted upon.

It doesn't sit right with me at all. If you decide to censor certain content to "protect" or "help" others, why not do that to everyone? These are all people with feelings, insecurities and (probably) a lot of stress because of what is being written about them on the internet. Are person A's feelings more important than person B's?

Hi. I am a human: flawed, biased and imperfect. I try to be neutral and fair but sometimes I'm not, because I have opinions of my own. Sometimes I'm not, because I don't always give myself enough time to mull things over, analyse the situation and weigh my words and options carefully. I do that on purpose, though, it's all part of me picking a fight with my perfectionism and rejection sensitivity. It makes a mess (sorry) but it's good practise.

Is this the community we really want to be? I always thought World of X was about finding an escape from your real life for a bit. A way to make friends, do fun homework, solve riddles and anagrams, and do what we all love the most which is to create characters and live their lives for a moment instead of our own. That is not what WoX has become.

I agree, WoX should be an escape from reality. But even so, where there are people involved there will inevitably be social issues and where there is a power structure or hierarchy there will be social issues connected to that. If handled correctly, the site should still be a positive place to escape from reality. But if it's not handled well, if there is abuse and conflict, there will be issues. Some site leaders are good at handling it, but being good at handling human flaws is not a requirement for being a site leader and as far as I'm aware, it's not something that is taught to site leaders either which leaves some of them unprepared to face the social aspects of leadership. Unprepared and likely to mess up, with a risk of making things worse and sometimes even escalating the situation.

I understand giving criticism, but this is not it. By doing it this way, it sets a negative tone to the word "criticism" and will only make it harder to deliver such feedback in the future, because this can literally traumatise people. Yes, this is the internet. We can hide behind being anons (yes, like I do right now). But the things that are being written is being written about someone who is, in the end, a real person. Not a character. Not something built from imagination. A real person.

Being called out for your mishandling of situations and lacking leadership is personal, but it also comes with the job of being a leader. If you don't meet the users' expectations and fail them repeatedly, you will be criticised for it. Whether site leaders are aware of it or not, they ultimately signed up for it.

I really, really hope none of the leaders follows this blog. Kudos to everyone who manages a site. I would never in a million years even consider doing so, and one of the many reasons for that is because of the disgusting environment that WoX is being poisoned with, and the way people decide to deal with their drama.

//

[problemnyatic]

man i just cant get over how fuckin distracting the idea of morality is in terms of actually like, trying to create a more ethical status quo. People get so caught up in worrying about whether they're a good person, whether people think they're being good enough, who's good and who's bad, and like, man, fuck!!! Who gives a shit what the fuckin' score is!!! There is so much problems in the world and if we waste all our time trying to figure out all the ~hidden signs~ and ~tells~ of who's predisposed to evil, we're never gonna get around to actually doing anything about the actual evil being committed every day on a systemic level.

If someone hasn't actually hurt someone, lay the fuck off the accusations. If you really want to garner a culture that prevents harm rather than simply reacting to it, you need to make causing harm something that can be recovered from. It can't be fucking shameful, because then people hide it. People will avoid pain, so threats of punishment aren't fucking useful. And if you believe doing The Bad Things will get you a world of hurt, then you're gonna get defensive if someone tries to approach you about your own harmful habits!!

I've seen it so many fuckin times, dude, it's insane. Someone will try to be like "hey, you could do this better" or "hey, the way you x hurts me" and instead of like, having a conversation, that person will get up in arms about how they weren't ~being bad.~ Whether it's trying to avoid blame or minimize how bad people think it is, the end result is that nothing actually gets dealt with because people are too busy trying to avoid being seen as a fuckin' sinner.

Who gives a fuck about being a good person? What does "good personhood" actually do? Best I can tell, it's just this label people get to have that says "Don't come after me, your target is someone else." Because if you ask anyone, being a Good Person is about your actions. So... why not just look at those? Ditch the shorthand that flattens everything, and risk the fucking nuance. If you don't have to worry about maintaining your status as a "good person," then suddenly it stops being so scary to scrutinize the ways in which you can actually improve.

And it's not even like you can just, like, get rid of all "bad people" and solve harm forever. If your solution to the ills of humanity can be boiled down to "if we just point a big enough gun at anyone who Breaks The Good Person Rules, no one will want to break them!" then, sorry to break it to you, but you're a fascist, no matter what values you purport to be championing. You still intend to use force to enforce them, and by enshrining those values as The Good Ones, you blind yourself to your own biases and flaws. You loose sight of the fact that you still have to aim that gun. Best not miss, or you'll take out an innocent- that's bad, right? Hope your aim's perfect- and everyone after you, too.

There's always gonna be pain. Always gonna be conflict. There's just too fuckin' many people out there to force the world to homogenize under a set of values that no one deviates from. So you need to be flexible, and you need to let good and bad exist side by side as shades of gray. You need to think of harm reduction not as a destination you reach by restricting the agency People Who Will Do Harm, but as a complex network of social safety nets that ensure that people who wind up in danger have multiple avenues with which to protect themselves or escape that danger, and ensure that the ones who cause that danger have ways to get help.

The world is more complicated than a binary of who's an abuser and who's a victim. People are more complicated than simple predisposition to hurting others. There will never be a set of values so all-encompassing as to ensure no one ever gets hurt if they're strictly adhered to, and there will never be a person on earth so perfect they never fuck up practicing those values. So you gotta fuckin adapt, man.

No more heroes and villains. No more good and bad people. you're more than that, I'm more than that. There's no shortcuts to heaven, no tickets to hell. You just gotta do the best you can with what you have, and course correct as you learn more stuff. What matters is the impact of our actions- they land how they land and we deal with it after. Quit botherin' with what it means and lets just work with what it is, we'll work towards that intent on the way, yeah?

[cerenemuxse]

Dumping a bunch of my thoughts on TiPo.

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Tigress is the only one out of the five to look at Po when addressing him as "Master." She's been doing it since the end of the first movie.

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Tigress, the most disciplined, going "Do it" at Po, challenging him to go for 40 bean buns in KFP 2 is one of the best scenes. Like she says it so seriously but its so stupid (/affectionate). I love Tigress so much. 🥺❤

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LoA doesn't make sense taking place after KFP 2. (It aired the year after the movie did.) Just on a few episodes, LoA seems to take place before KFP 2, just by looking at how Tigress and Po act and treat one another. Po is having a huge ego problem with the title of Dragon Warrior and Tigress just looks like she wants him dead. Though there was that one ad for KFP 3 in a collaboration with Wix where she chases him down after he practically sits on top of her back, forcing her to carry him.

The episode "Chain Reaction," to me, seems to be the perfect episode to start the ball rolling with Po and Tigress' relationship in terms of being friends. Idk about you guys, but it just doesn't seem likely that they were automatically good buddies between KFP and KFP 2. When I say they don't get along often in LoA, I genuinely mean that most of the time, they don't when it doesn't come to fighting. But even, it's not as synonymous as it was in KFP 2.

The reason why I think "Chain Reaction" is the episode is purely because of their interactions. Imagine you're stuck with someone that have begun to respect but you're still weary about them. You don't necessarily like them but you really don't want to admit you dislike them, or you at least try to. In this episode, during the fireplace scene, Po asks Tigress about the whole Dragon Warrior situation. Tigress doesn't want to admit that she's upset but seconds later, she does when Po throws away a potential solution, the wooden key she was carving, to their problem, the chain the Croc Bandits placed on them at the beginning of the episode. (Yes, the trope where two characters are chained together. <3)

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As much as I ship them, I see them as simply friends in KFP 1 - 3. There could be some romance developing in the 3rd one, but I just see them as friends in the 2nd one. Tigress is just opening up about herself to someone she sees as a friend, not as a potential love interest. And Po just comes off as someone who still looks up to Tigress, the person who made him fall in love with kung fu. (Though I might be being biased because I've come to dislike the "love at first sight" trope.) It is possible but I don't see it like that.

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Tigress just screaming out for Po in KFP 2 will always hurt. The agony, the desperation, the tiny glimmer of hope that she could've lessened the damage Po took just being taken away. Gone like blowing out a lit candle. It hurts just as a bad as Tigress looking at Po in KFP 3 in that same agony but with fear. I've mentioned it before but Lei Lei crying just makes it hurt even more.

Think about it. You were supposed to stop the villian. You're the answer to the problem yet you failed because of one small mistake. Your best friend, the one you've had a strong relationship with, the one who's always focused and never lost, is now lost. She's confused and scared. Now what?

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I love that these two have their own way of communicating. Often times, they communicate through sparring, especially in the movies. (In the series, I'm not entirely sure.) It's not them fighting and harming one another, its communication (to them.)

When Po was questioning Tigress about her training at the beginning of KFP 2, they were sparring.

When Po wouldn't listen to Tigress, they were sparring with Tigress wanting Po to understand that she has the upperhand/lead and he needs to listen. Not only that, but to show that he can't go out there distracted.

The exact same thing happens in KFP 3, when Po trains to beat Kai after finding out his biological father, Li Shan, lied to him about chi. They both express that "yes, it will work," "no, it won't work." A back-and-forth, a conversation happening both verbally and physically.

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In KFP 2, in the boat scene where Po and Tigress were sparring, Tigress says that she can't feel anything in her hands. Yet, after the canon was fired and Po finds her on a floating chunk of wood, Po touches her hand and she moves. Did she mean that she doesn't feel anything at all or that she doesn't feel pain?

I'm pretty sure its the latter. It just makes more sense. But then there's KFP 3, where she punches one of the Jombies and reels her hand back, shaking it. Was that pain or overwhelming force? She didn't look to be in pain, from the looks of things.

-

Speaking of the scene where Po swims to Tigress, Po seemed to be pretty upset, shown more when he glared at Shen. The sorrow, the solem expression he had, the way he said Tigress' name (ESPECIALLY the Latin American dub), the way he approached her seems like he was in deep thought about how loyal Tigress had been to him ever sense they left for Gongmen City. She went out of her way to protect him, keep an eye on him, just like she had promised Mr. Ping. Even in situations where the result was not preventable, such as Shen firing the canon. She pushed Po out of the way, yet he was hit, along with everyone else.

[traumasurvivorshelpingsurvivors]

I often have a hard time with intrusive thoughts, and have for the most part learnt to deal with them or at the very least talk myself out of an episode that's been caused by them. Recently though I've been really struggling when it comes to the queer community and I've been horrified that I may be secretly transphobic or that I'll unintentionally hurt someone by misgendering them.

I've been on tiktok the past couple weeks and I've seen a lot of discourse about people that are trans or gender fluid or trans masculine and there was a video that said "When she says she thinks I'm a real boy (update, she did not)" and in the comments somebody had said "do they actually see me as a boy or have they just memorized my pronouns".

And since then I've had this fear that what if I'm like that? What if I meet a man who underwent transition and in my head I still sort of see them as a female even though they're a man? Or what if I meet a woman and vice versa? I'm not a transphobic person, I don't want to be and honestly don't feel that I am. But day after day it's been just thought after thought "what if I'm secretly transphobic? What if I'm fetishizing people that are trans? What if I misgender someone? What if me being inexperienced in dating makes me a horrible partner or friend because I wouldn't get it?"

I know in my heart that trans men are just men and trans women are just women, there's no other way to slice it but then I start thinking and then I feel like I wanna die because what if it's a lie? What if I'm just secretly this queerphobic transphobic person and all it takes is something to happen and then everyone will know? But the thing is I'm not! I know for a fact I'm not! I hate my brain

Hi anon,

It sounds like consuming this content has led to some kind of impostor syndrome where you worry about being transphobic. There's a stark difference between accidentally hurting someone (a genuine mistake) and hurting them on purpose, and I imagine you would know which you would be in any given circumstance. I think as soon as some attention is paid to the grey area, it's easy to overthink and worry about the impact of our actions regardless of our intentions. And while it's great to be mindful of how we may hurt others even on accident, there's only so much guilt to carry over a genuine mistake.

We all have implicit biases. We all have thoughts that sometimes conflict with our values and beliefs, and just because we have these thoughts don't inherently make us bigoted or harmful. It's about what thoughts we choose to act upon and manifest into physical reality - that's all that matters.

To answer your other questions more directly, fetishizing trans people is something you'd probably be quite aware of if it did apply to you. If you misgender someone on accident then you correct yourself and carry on. If you have concerns about dating a transgender person, being in an open and caring relationship with them is the best way to work through any discomfort or uncertainty. The only solution to being inexperienced with dating is to try dating more.

If anyone has any comments or suggestions, feel free to add on. Otherwise, I hope I could help and please let us know if you need anything.

-Bun

[starfruit-baby]

What is the difference between Leo Manfred and Gavin Reed in your opinion? Like, why do you think Leo is worthy of redemption and not Gavin?

I don't like Gavin, and I didn't like Leo either, but your posts are making me think

in retrospect, i guess 'redeemable' wasnt the right word and im sorry for using it, since technically, as far as canon is concerned, we never see concrete proof he truly sees androids as equals, much less regrets any harm done by his own hands and words. right now i think the word i could use would be "sympathetic", since what we CAN do is walk through his backstory, and connect the dots from his life to his current thinking, even if it doesn't necessarily excuse his actions, far from even. by now im gonna be talking from an utterly biased perspective so its not quite set in stone, im prone to fucking up what is or isnt canon or weighing in personal judgement from My preferences, so just a heads up, but going a little more into it:

like, putting yourself in his shoes, he was a child of a fling, and his rich father although comfortable enough to openly claim him, did not bother to visit him personally until he was a teenager, an already difficult phase for the average person, only to be met with scorn because by this time in his life, he found solace in the wrong crowd and vices. and from this point on trying to get closer to his father is useless because of something so difficult to change in yourself.

and then, once disabled, Carl gets a machine to help him around, which is normal at this point in time. but, as the game makes it seem at least, carls whole behaviour changes gradually, because he talks to markus, and this angry (at least as far as Leo is aware), pessimistic old man is caught smiling, because of this machine. he chats with it. and now, hes walking into his father guiding this thing into his fathers very passion. this, as far as Leo is concerned, common object, a household facility like a toaster, is getting lessoned proudly by his father, who loses all the shine in his eyes once he walks in, goes back to his sarcastic, bitter old tone, and will grow aggressive if you even speak ill of the thing. and, later on, Carl talks about his own son as if he's not there in the room, ordering around his toaster to deal with you as if to not get his hands dirty. dirty with You being in his way. his own blood.

now, again, does this excuse his behavior? nope. even in the belief that Markus is truly an unfeeling object, at the very last moment before Markus is forced to decide between obeying or not, he starts referring towards Markus as something that could be physically hurt, and emotionally provoked. where previously his mockery of Markus felt more about provoking his father, not addressing Markus directly, the time he decides to pick a fight with Markus he's talking TO him. hes speaking as if this theoretically unfeeling being could either fear or be angry at him (which turns out, he can), but its difficult to tell if hes under some sort of influence or not, or if this egging on is still in part more to dash back his frustrations at Carl in a less direct manner. his love for the old man stops him from wanting to lay a hand on him, but he knows with how clear the guy makes it he cares for this android, how he yells, itll still inflict Something to tear this thing apart.

now, i may be wrong here, and im real sorry if i sound like a douche for it, but i dont personally consider too much the actors headcanons as full canon, and Gavins background according to the game is really uh... unclear? i can understand how people get to the conclusion his workplace ambition is what makes him hate androids, hell do Anything to get to the top, but a lot of what people attribute as being the motivation behind it i find kinda... idk, circumstancial? im not saying improbable, but my post was more about how people latched on to him when theres way less explanation and even content to him than Leo does? my last guess is that people plain and simple found him sexier than Leo

from My perspective, the closest we get to a Leo redemption is if Carl dies, and he comes across Markus mourning his father as well. the first time i saw this i thought there would be a fight, that he would scream and yell that it was all Markus' fault, even when he knows it wasnt, how dare this fucking thing even show itself in a cemetary. but he just... looks on. in shock. what he deemed something slightly above a glorified toaster is there, when he shouldnt even be. the fruits of his fathers time invested in this android. in his bonding. this thing that shouldve been dismantled in a junkyard somewhere, completely useless, now overwhelming the news talking about civil rights. and this is where he gets it. this thing understands the concept of grief, its clearly feeling it. Markus looks sad. a cold and calculating machine would understand theres no point in visiting a stone with some decaying corpse underneath it, death is final. wouldnt bother making the time to visit this unremarkable place while its on the brink of raging a war. but it did. the same as he was about to do. fucked up

on an alternate where Carl survives, most of what Leo says goes more towards the favor of his father than mentioning the android. we dont know if he knows anything of what happened with Markus at all, so its hard to draw a conclusion, but the game certainly feeds some hope that after this horrible event they can mend back. he promises to do what he can to get rid of what, as far as he knows, is what truly keeps Carl from loving him. no more ugly addiction. who knows, maybe theres a chance for growth. maybe if he really wants to, Leo could give in to seeing Markus as something equal, if thats what would make his dad not hate him.

and, with Gavin... he either leaves on a corny joke, beats up Connor, or gets beaten up. which i certainly see the appeal of, but definitely doesnt scream "no longer sci-fi racist"/"only mildly, acceptably sci-fi racist" to me, but to each their own

[beesinspades]

the fact bigolas dickolas is mxtxandchill is still so wild to me. like she was out there being a racist and a tone deaf asshole and now she's back with 50k followers and the whole trigun fandom is kissing her feet and no one cares and it makes me feel so 😬

like this is the person who said "children of color don't understand critical race theory, their understanding of it begins and ends with fandom discourse. they bully white people and they'll turn on their own next" which is. I don't even have words.

the person who said "uwu call me out when i say something harmful so that i can do better" but then when a trans person very politely told her "hey this tweet you made about all men being 'inherently ugly and trying to compensate for that 24/7' could be hurtful to marginalized cis men but if you don't care about them maybe consider trans men?" with "I'm not your therapist go work on your internal biases and talk to someone else about your issues" which is cruel regardless of whether you think the person was overreacting or not

the person who spoke over sea voices calling out an official artist for colorism and sexualizing nazism only to go in the same breath like "I'll still support them though because I enjoy their art <3" are you supporting calling them out on colorism and sexualizing fucking nazism or not??? regardless of anyone's stance on that discourse the hypocrisy is yikes. just say you wanted to make yourself look good and go

nowhere near as bad but as an ace person it was very irritating: the person who would joke more than once about not knowing what a character's sexuality was and that character being [other character]-sexual and when people said "hey that's demisexual!" she would ignore those specific comments and continue acting like "wow i wonder what sexuality this is lololol"

and afaik that wasn't even all (i didn't follow her and had her muted) like???

yeah the thread revealing they're the same person was weird and fucked up and the person mentioned things that were really not actual issues and i do NOT condone how they went about it, but at the end of the day here we are. bigolas is mxtxandchill who is a racist who never sincerely apologized or did anything about some of her supporters being horribly racist or showed any kind of growth. they just got suspended and remade and now they're more fandom-famous than they've ever been. fantastic