#please understand that this does not mean i agree with her views or opinions i actually don't care or know anything about her at all

[orbiting-star]

say what you will about Millie Bobby Brown but that girl has a million pets and not ONE of them is an exotic pet. like she has said severely questionable things but she doesn't own a monkey and these days that's something i respect

[astridthevalkyrie]

Tbh my slight with Eloise is mostly that yeah not wanting to get married is understandable and I can see how it’s incredibly boring and isolating being the only one in the ton that feels that way so openly. But I just think that Eloise is privileged because she doesn’t have to get married, but the others livelihood solely depend on getting married. I’m definitely not debating I’m just curious because where I see Eloise hate, it’s mainly pointing out how she makes quips about others who don’t have the ability to voice their distaste for marriage. And also the fact that she wasn’t a great friend in the first place to Penelope, as she could never listen to her for more than 2 seconds. Which is why she never noticed pen was LW in the first place. I hope this doesn’t come off as picking a fight or anything like that haha I just really like these discussions and I’m curious to see your view on that.

hey! this isn't coming off picking a fight at all, thank you for the thoughts!

long analysis about bridgerton and specifically eloise below, please note i have rewatched it recently but i haven't watched it an insane amount of times or anything so if i say something that's not true, kindly let me know.

so i agree with you for the most part. eloise is privileged. she's richer than most and she can afford to become a spinster while everyone else can't. i would like to point out that it's not like she'll live easily and comfortably if she does that. as kate tells her, she won't have a good time. she's going to be outcast. she's going to be looked down on. she's going to risk shaming her younger sisters. she will not be homeless, but she will not be loved. eloise says in season 2 that reading LW is a reminder of how trapped she is, which means she doesn't actually see becoming a spinster a viable option. as far as she's concerned, she's going to get married whether she likes it or not.

in season 1, most of her slights are with daphne, who's in the same family as her, and yes, while being the eldest daughter does come with a hefty burden, daphne is not more or less privileged financially. she wants love and marriage, she's not getting married to survive. both their viewpoints are understandable, i think. eloise finds daphne's pursuits fruitless and daphne is frustrated with eloise for not seeing things from her point of view. the problem i have with that, though, is:

who ever sees things from eloise's point of view? why is she expected to work to understand her older sister when daphne can't do the same for her? daphne has understanding from her mother and every other woman who's out in society. eloise has penelope and that's it. her family snarks at her whenever she voices her opinions. her mother actively tries to change her. eloise thanks daphne for being perfect, eloise concedes in their argument and asks her to name her song, and eloise sits with her on the couch so that daphne doesn't have to sit with berbrooke (or at least tries to before violet makes her go). the only other person besides penelope who's there for eloise is maybe benedict, and he often only talks to her when he's going through something already. when all of society disagrees with you and says you should just shut up and conform, you're not exactly going to be eager to be empathetic and listen.

now, aside from her family and penelope, eloise barely interacts with other people, especially the other debutantes. so while she rants about her viewpoints, she's normally not doing it to working class women or women who will end up on the streets if they don't marry. and when she does rant, yes, there's sometimes rude statements about how other women only care about marriage or feminine things which can come off as patronizing (and she definitely has a superiority complex no doubt), but for the most part, eloise talks about how the system is unfair. she's not wholly disparaging women for wanting to marry to survive, she's disparaging society for having a system that requires them to do so. eloise is also the only character so far who's shown to actively try and learn more about the working class. of course she's not an intersectional feminist yet, she's barely had the resources to become a basic feminist. but she was willing to learn. she wanted to speak to theo more, to read more radical books.

and honestly, for eloise (with my own bias because i know what it feels like to feel like your accomplishments amount to nothing because marriage is somehow more important), i don't think it's just boring or isolating. it genuinely seems to make her panic. it seems like it makes her ill, the thought of conforming. her bit when she tells violet that she's not rebelling for attention, and that she knows she's a disappointment....that poor girl. and like i said, i've had that anxiety. i've had that terrifying moment where i'm like. holy shit. what if i wake up and i've lived half my life and i'm not me because all i am is someone else's. jesus christ that fear can do things to you.

which is what makes her transformation this season so depressing. she's given in. she's playing the part because she's tired of fighting. even though the thought of being submissive and docile and silent and married is still obviously paralyzing for her. and so far i actually don't think it's poor writing, or out of character, but i do think that they might just be toning her down now so that it doesn't seem too ooc when she settles with phillip or someone else. that, i think, will be character assasination. unless she ends up with theo (or penelope or cressida or marina 🙏🏽), her love match with some type of feminist tamer character will be really heartbreaking to watch and i sincerely hope they don't go down that route.

anyway, she's also apparently the only character who's not allowed to have problems because of her privilege. anthony in the beginning of season 2 pissed me off so much. even simon in the first season at times. oh these women can't string together a thought! oh they're so desperate! oh their mamas are so stupid and annoying for *checks notes* wanting them to marry well and live happily! it's so heartless. it's so cruel. mister capital r rake does not care for any of his annoying sister's feminist ramblings, but he himself would like an educated, motherly, soft, clever, beautiful woman. kate absolutely clocked him when she asked how he was sure such a perfect woman would want him. but the fandom doesn't completely pile on anthony for his stupid ass takes. if they get on him for anything, it's for how he handles the sharma sisters (which is completely valid, just not the only dumb shit he's done). but he's sad about his dad dying so it's okay! benedict wants to paint sooooooo bad 🥺 and colin........must discover himself for the third time in a row. these men treat their own problems so seriously and the fandom doesn't give them half the shit for it that eloise gets for talking about a very real problem that terrifies her and affects her life deeply.

i've watched s3 only once, so i don't remember every interaction she has with cressida. but as far as i do remember, she tries to help cressida with debling. she tells her that she can stay away if that's what her father wants. i also don't think she knows that cressida's facing financial abuse, because even cressida doesn't know that until her mom tells her. eloise should probably have a hint that cressida isn't in the mood for making jokes, yeah. she should work on that. i can forgive her because frankly i'm seeing that she's barely interacted with other debutantes before this and is socially awkward. not everyone can forgive her for that, that's cool. i just think fandoms (especially tiktok fandoms, ugh) have this way of seeing a female character, and especially a female character that comes off as feminist or annoying, and will absolutely refuse to understand her at all. think any female character tiktok hates. ginny from ginny and georgia. mary from young sheldon. hell, even marina. these characters are flawed. eloise is flawed. but while other characters can be understood or even excused, being an annoying woman is the absolute worst thing to be. a crime. you deserve no kind of deeper understanding at all.

now, onto her friendship with pen.

i've felt like penelope in so many of my friendships. actually, i don't think i can think of any friendship i've had where i didn't feel like i was playing supporting role to the main character. so i'll absolutely agree, eloise could stand to be a better friend to penelope. she talks over her and ignores her sometimes, she doesn't seem to truly know penelope at all, and she tends to talk about herself far more than she asks about pen.

but i truly, truly don't think any of it is malicious. eloise wants to find LW originally because she wants to get justice for the featheringtons. she embraces pen immediately when she comes crying even though they were in a fight. she compliments pen on being such a good friend twice in season 2. also in season 2, eloise loudly tells cressida she would rather die than join her instead of pen. eloise is not some popular girl who uses pen to make herself look better. eloise thinks the world of her.

and eloise! is! keeping! her! secret! i feel like not enough people are understanding how absolutely insane that is. she's so ridiculously mature about it. she doesn't tell anyone. she endures the fallout of the (false) things penelope wrote about her. penelope writes and attacks el's brother and yet she doesn't say anything. she doesn't even go to her and tell pen to stop writing about her family! she feels bad that she accidentally let slip what colin and pen were doing. she apologizes for it. she feels upset that pen had to write about herself which is far more understanding than most would show in that situation (awww, you "had" to write about yourself in the gossip sheet where you regularly insult other people, woe is you). she stops cressida from bullying pen.

whereas in the very very first episode, lady whistledown's first article talks about how she doesn't like that the bridgertons are named alphabetically. does she help daphne by publishing the stuff about berbrooke? sure, after violet spreads the gossip, but more importantly, after she calls daphne ineligible for marriage which made berbooke her only viable option in the first place before simon stepped in. what has daphne done to her? nothing at all. also, this isn't just printing out gossip that everyone else is saying anyway (which still wouldn't be okay btw). this was penelope making a statement that was LW's personal opinion, which already carried a lot of weight. this was penelope nearly sabotaging daphne's chances of marriage.

and all of this isn't meant to be anti penelope. i understand her and why she does what she does (i do, however, think marina and eloise both clocked her, she is immature and she does write as LW because she's too nervous to be herself and is jilted by society). my overall point is that while eloise thinks the world of penelope, penelope harbors a bitterness towards el and her family. it's not an unnatural bitterness, mind you! you have a friend who goes on and on and doesn't ask you about you and her family is oh so perfect while your family is the laughing stock of the ton and her mother is so loving and your mother is anything but. anyone would be bitter. i think pen loves eloise too. she changes what she writes in LW to please her. she clearly cares that eloise approves of what she writes. she misses her and feels guilty about their fight. but pen isn't honest with eloise. pen isn't trying to discreetly reveal she's LW, or that she has a crush on colin. the only person to know before s3 is marina. eloise isn't a bad friend for not picking up on things that penelope is actively hiding. penelope also lets herself fall into the role of sidekick, she doesn't try to insert herself more into the conversation.

i might be forgetting a scene, but i think pen talks the most during the episode where they run off and lay in the field of flowers together (closet's invisible btw) and eloise listens to her and then says "you don't have to pretend anymore, you like this, pen" with the softest most adoring smile on her face while pen giggles. i promise i'm not trying to write peneloise fanfiction that's just how the scene goes. when penelope truly wants to talk, el does listen.

but that's where i'd give eloise the least grace, because i truly do think she could stand to listen more and listen better and ask about pen from time to time instead of just jumping in to what she wants to talk about. she shouldn't be surprised when pen wants to get married because pen said she did in s1 (my only in canon explanation of that could be that eloise simply thought she was speaking in anger and wasn't serious). i also don't know for sure, but i heard in the books they agreed to be spinsters together. that's not in the show, so it's not canon, but eloise certainly seems to think her and pen are on the same page.

i think there will be a mutual apology. i think that's fine. they both have stuff to apologize for and i won't get into penelope's character right now. if they continue to keep her quiet and docile and she ends up settling for a man who teaches her yadda yadda you can have feminism and love, i'm gonna sink into my chair. eloise bridgerton you deserve better 2k24.

[ikykwklk-ash]

"How did you meet?"

Pairing: Kim Seungmin x fem!reader

W/c: 1180

Synopsis: A normal history and philosophy lesson with Professor Kim Seungmin and the topic "do opposites attract?" and the story of how y/n and seungmin met.

A/N: Hope you like it!! ♡

<<Professor I still do not understand why opposites attract! It does not make sense! We call them opposites, but they could also be equal in theory! >>

It was the twentieth time the poor professor had heard that question. Of course, if we talk about chemistry and physics, it is all different...but in love things are more complicated.

That was how that working day had started, a simple statement from the professor and millions of objections from his pupils.

<<Professor, tell us know what you think! We pupils are always talking, and you keep quiet as if you were in detention.>> One of the boys in the class had spoken only to say that sentence.

Seungmin looked up at him, adjusting his glasses that had almost fallen to the tip of his nose.

<<In my opinion: opposites attract.>> he replied simply, nothing more, nothing less.

<<Come on, teacher, which is not fair! Give us more motivation.>> This time one of the girls said.

What was supposed to be one hour of History and one hour of Philosophy had turned into two hours of debate without even meaning to.

<<I think: it is true that opposites attract, we can say that from many points of view, can't we? You did it in science. The north pole of one magnet attracts the south pole of another and vice versa. We could summarise this in the practicalities of life as 'despite being different from you it attracts you' right? Do you agree? >>

The class had his undivided attention.

<<But if we apply this idea to life, it is not so because there are people who like people of the same sex and people who like people of a different sex.>>

<<Rightful observation, but surely the concept of 'opposite' should not be attributed to the physical but to character. However similar two people may be physically; they will never be equal in character. Consequently, opposites, understood in character, attract.>>

Of course, it was easy for him to attract attention with those words; teaching philosophy had served more than just teaching the subject.

<<Are any of you here engaged?> a third of the class raised their hands.

<<And you professor? He never told us anything about you.>> Cleverly someone took advantage of the moment to ask that question, which elicited a laugh from the professor.

<<I am engaged, but that is all you need to know.>> The pupils, obviously curious as they were, started asking a thousand questions.

<<Oh, come on professor, at least tell us if you are older than that!>> and the professor denied it.

<<Could you tell us whether your hair is curly or straight? And the colour? Does she wear glasses?>> They were flooding him with questions it was difficult to please everyone, Seungmin knew that in their own way they were building up a sketch of his girlfriend to see if she was someone from the school or from outside.

<<Hm let us see, dark curly hair, wears glasses yes, dark eyes, bigger than me by a little but I am taller. She is from Busan while I am from Seoul...>> and so on.

Paradoxically, he had just revealed that they were opposites.

<<And what does her girlfriend do? >> Someone asked in the middle of the crowd of guys who were no longer even sitting in their seats.

<<She is currently working in a bar to pay for his last year of university.>> They looked at him curiously.

<<But if she was older, she should have finished university like you! Prof do not make fun of us.>> He laughed with gusto at that sentence.

<<I graduated earlier than expected and the principal at once provided me with a job here at the school. What, you are not happy to have a young prof? >> he pretended to be offended.

<<Of course we did, but once in a while he could dress in a way that he didn't look like the usual forty-year-old father with three children prof.>> he laughed, maybe he did dress that way, but he liked it, and so did his partner, so he would continue to dress that way.

<<Prof tell us how you and your boyfriend met, come on! >>

He began to tell the long story.

Our two protagonists have known each other for a lot of years, by pure chance they met in the third year of high school following an educational trip to Seoul for the one in Busan and a simple field trip for the one in Seoul.

The teachers from both schools knew each other they had organised that 'field trip' together and so they spent the entire day together.

From small and quick glances, they went on to sit next to each other during lunch, talking and talking to no end, until they exchanged numbers. The two best friends of the little boy with the discoloured fringes soon found out about this and began to make plans to try and get them together. Somehow, they even succeeded.

<<Wait, so you have known each other since you were 16, and if he is 26 now...oh my gosh you have been together for 10 years? Congratulations teacher, I did not expect that to be honest! >> The last few minutes passed quickly amidst the chatter of the students until the bell rang and everyone started getting ready to change classes.

<<For tomorrow I want to bring in a little essay on what you think of the phrase "opposites attract" and I want some good reasons.>>

<<Of course, though, a boy from Seoul and one from Busan who are now in Japan... that is a beautiful story. I wish I had one like theirs.>> There were only two girls left in the class and without knowing it, they made Seungmin smile as he continued to correct the previous week's tests.

With his school day over, he could finally go to his favourite café to relax and spend time with the companion he had fallen in love with ten years earlier.

<<In what sense do your pupils know me?>> Y/n asked as he put the usual things, he always took in front of him: peppermint tea and handmade almond biscuits. <<In the sense that they practically interrogated me about you, honey. They are kids are more curious than Scooby-Doo was.>> he replied, drinking the tea, and making the other laugh.

<<You have biscuit crumbs on your chin love. Also... I understand you are the students' favourite. Where did the subject of us being engaged come from? >>

After wiping himself with a handkerchief he replied: <<From a simple sentence. "Opposites attract". I had intended to lecture but they didn't, so some sort of debate ensued and from there the topic "prof but are you engaged?">>

<<And I guess you did not hesitate to tell the whole story to lend credence to your thesis that opposites do indeed attract. Right? >> the boy sitting at the table smiled, also making the waiter smile, who kissed him lightly shortly afterwards.

[aukly]

i think some people need a reminder that no matter what at the end of the day wednesday the netflix show and all the other iterations of the addams family are works of fiction

these characters are not real people

what one fan decides as true for a character does not mean others have to agree with it and it also doesn’t give someone the right away to argue or belittle that person for their headcanons/opinions

ofc the addams family franchise is a work of art that has been passed on to different directors, actors, producers, etc. over the years and each iteration deserves the same amount of respect as any other piece of artistic media out there HOWEVER just because it’s a piece of art that should respected doesn’t mean that people who view/engage with it won’t come to their own conclusions about said art

art is created by an artist and is recreated each time an audience interacts with said art

it doesn’t matter what form of art you make or what platform you choose to present it on once someone besides yourself sees something that you created they will come to a different conclusion than you did

this is not because the creator made a mistake or they didn’t create good enough art to convey their conclusion it’s bc everyone has their own experience that influences their thoughts, feelings, and actions

ultimately your own experiences of the world and your own biases will influence how you perceive a piece of art; including tv

for most people wenclair is just a ship that queer people want to see represented and would makes sense for the characters

and for most wenclair is NOT a way for queer people to try and “turn everything gay” or to ignore, disrespect, and disregard the plot of the show

wednesday being neurodivergent is a headcanon that fans have bc they relate to the character and want representation

wednesday being neurodivergent is NOT a way for people to make the show “woke”

the novelization was a good show to book adaptation

was it the wednesday script word for word??

no because that’s not what it’s supposed to be

was it scene for scene what happened in the show?

no it wasn’t because again that’s not what it needed to be

this book was an insight into wednesday addams’s mind throughout the first season

unfortunately it was not written by tim burton the director or jenna ortega the actor that plays wednesday but instead a third party that has no say in what ends up in the show for future seasons

this does not mean that the author did a poor job the author obviously did their research and has a deep understanding of the character wednesday addams (if they didn’t netflix wouldn’t have hired them) they gave us an opportunity to better understand the character we see on screen when we can normally only understand half of what she is thinking

tehlor kay mejia worked not only with show writers on this book but was hired and approved by netflix themselves to create this book they may have not gotten insight from the director himself but they did have help from people that helped create the show

also a small reminder wednesday does experience emotions!! she just doesn’t display them the way most people do!!

everyone has opinions about everything so if you don’t agree with what i’ve said that’s fine! just please remember that you are discussing a tv show and book with random people on the internet this is not something you need to stress over/fight about!!

also also saying that the author of the novelization only made the wenclair moments happen bc they themselves are queer is a microaggression and very disrespectful!!

and no matter what side of the discussion you are on wednesday addams would be absolutely repulsed at the idea of random people on the internet arguing over her personal life 🖤🕸️

[lorynna]

Seperate post because I am unable to reblog yesterday's debate about sex-selective abortions:

Down below is the link to the full blog post if anyone is interested in reading the whole thing. I am just going to reply to a few of the absolute insane and brainrot takes by @aux-squiggle :

1) "I'm sure you'd (correctly) chastize me if I went on every post with someone having bleach & dyed hair crying about how hair bleach harms the hair and saying "yes I understand it's your body and I'm not against your autonomy but hair dye is so stupid" at some point one realizes that it's just my opinion on hair dye and I should shut up unless explicitly asked for my opinion, which at no point were you asked for your opinion on what I'll do or (what you think) makes sense to do with my body."

Starting right off, it's actually the first time I ever spoke about sex-selective abortion on here, so me "going on every post" is wrong and intentional inflammatory wording. The comparison between dyed/bleached hair and abortion lacks heavily - it's also ridiculously stupid. I'm sure what you do with your hair and the policies surrounding it is an equally political and complicated topic like abortion. Even if you should go around telling people "Sure, do your thing, dye your hair but it's unnecessary in my opinion to promote the beauty industry by partaking in it, because it makes money off of women's insecurities" you have the right to speak your opinion and reblogging another person who's stating their opinion, who's stopping you? Surprise, you can speak your opinion even without being asked for it! Some people will agree, some won't, that's the way it is! I'm sure you don't ask people you have differing opinions from each time if you please may reblog their post, or do you? This is the internet babe.

2) "Next thing idk where you've gotten this "trivilization of abortion thing" or making it seem like I have said abortion is a cutesy procedure with absolutely no harm but as poodle has said it's also very safe. Idk if you think every mention of abortion has to come with a full list of disclaimers but if you read me saying "I will get an abortion if it's a male" to mean "lol guys I get abortions every weekend let's go down to the spa for a pampering plus abortion trolololol" that's your own tbh. The issue is you view being pregnant with a male fetus (as opposed to a female one) as a trivial difference, when it's not trivial to me, many other radfems and indeed for many libfem women."

Surely not every mention of abortion needs to come with a huge list of disclaimers, after all you're not their doctor but idk about you, talking about "i will get pregnant and abort as many times as I have to, until I conceive a daughter" does sound very trivializing to me. Lastly, sure the future sex of anyone's baby means something different to anyone and a certain preference or even the so called "gender disappointment" is real and valid, but is it really the solution to spin the wheel on each pregnancy again and again until you get what you want?

3) "As for the race, sex, other attributes thing, as I've already established, since fetuses are not people and are not going to suffer if their mom gets rid of them, I don't care. I couldn't give a fuck if a white woman aborts a half POC baby tbh like that's her business. No POC suffers from her actions. I also refuse to have a half white baby.

Obviously that's easily addressed by me choosing a black African sire but if I were in a consensual relationship with a white male (would never happen because I don't date males but ygtp) I would abort because I don't want to birth a half Euro baby, as statically they pair up with Eurodescendants themselves. I already know you probably also think that's stupid but I have no wish to contribute to my oppressor's group in that regard either, even by a generational separation, as I know the most likely choice Afro/Euro biracial children make as opposed to monoracial black children.

To me, mixed (b&w) people are black, but ¾ white people are white. Having a monoracial black child means my grandchildren (if any) will also be black (mixed b& something else, or monoracial) meaning the family makeup is what I'm most happy with. Idc what my great-grandchildren (if any) are, I'm probably dead anyways.

So yes I would intentionally make choices, including that of abortion, that bring me the life I'm happiest with. Other women who do that are not my business, I don't care. They could abort because they don't like the star sign their kid is expected to have. A birth that brings the mother sadness, no matter how small or how frivolous the reason for sadness is, is not good and if she aborts to avoid that, all power to her."

That's....really interesting...to know. You have established you would not blink an eye for whatever reason people abort, be it their future baby's star sign, their sex or their ethnicity & race. Your reasoning for not wanting a non 100% black baby being that according to you they statistically are more likely to pair up with eurodescendants making you worry about your family tree becoming "less black"? Then you're going on about "who is black" and "who is white" according to you.

To clarify to anyone who does not know my stance on abortion: I am pro choice, I support every woman's right that does want to get an abortion, despite her reasoning. An abortion as the process itself is not tied to a moral aspect, as the fetus in these stages of development where an abortion is possible, is a non conscious clump of cells. However I do think that the reason for why a woman decides to abort can be criticised. For example: A woman wants to get pregnant and succeeds. She finds out the baby would be born in February, making it an Aquarius, so she aborts it. My stance on sex-selective is similar to how I view cheating on a spouse. I don't think cheating is right but I wouldn't want it to be illegal.

"Regarding pro-choicers saying "no one aborts for fun and silly reasons" and prolifers potentially using this as a clapback, what do you want me to do about that? There's far superior pro-choice arguments, and further to that, these are only fun and silly reasons to you. These are monumental to other people (including me), and since it's their womb they're the only one's who's feelings matter.

Again as I've told you, I will not censor myself for the sake of prolifers not getting offended, I genuinely could not give less of a fuck what they feel. They will always find a reason to hate on the pro-choice movement and since we understand prolifism is actually about tying women down to men and control of women, everything about both my and your lifestyles upset them. There's no placating their bs. If you are upset that I won't censor myself, keep it to yourself."

Making it seem like I gave a fuck about pro lifers and said "oh look at this poor pro lifer being so upset about your words!" instead of "you are actively harming the acceptance of the pro choice movement". You don't understand that the activism you are making is nothing the world is ready for yet. In most countries, abortion is completely banned and women who go through with it nonetheless are going to prison or are even paying with their lives. I am genuinly glad, that you are living in a progressive country where you can access abortion easily and safely and where healthcare even pays for it. Most people do not have that kind of privilege and pro choice activism firstly needs to focus on gaining acceptance by introducing people step by step to the movement, coming to them with facts and good arguments. You've got to understand your far rad stance is not realistically applicable as of right now.

"If in the 0.00001% chance the genetic test is wrong (which have functionality been at 100% accuracy for years, btw I've found several Irish based tests so I don't have to use an international product) at 8 weeks (and the tests after that) then I get several scans from 14 weeks on that also confirm the sex (and would be told if there is a discrepancy). If at those tests they find it's actually a male and the Y chromosome was somehow not picked up, I go to the UK and get an abortion then. If somehow it's not found out until 24 weeks+ (I'd have an easier time winning the lottery) I go to New Zealand for a 3rd trimester abortion. There's probably something wrong if it was missed that many times, at every single scan and test.

Have you prepared for nuclear war Lorynna? Have you decided what to do if a gamma ray burst sanitizes exactly half the planet (the side you're not on), and have you got a contingency plan on what to do if suddenly 4 billion people die? What if global supply chains collapse tomorrow (an actual likely thing tbh). Nuclear war and supply chain collapse at least are far more likely than a fetus being missed as male not only on the first genetic test, AND the tests after that, AND every single ultrasound after that. Idk about gamma ray burst though, probably the same likelihood.

If by some hellish demon reality I get stuck with a son then obviously I raise my son, as I've discussed previously in the linked essay."

Insanity. Proceeding to ask me about every possible catastrophic event that potentially happen and asking me if i prepared for it because yes, sure - it is exactly as unlikely as your baby to turn out being a boy despite all of your fancy tests. But glad to know that should the tests fail, you'll raise your son?

"" There's no reason to fight" "but I do have an opinion." As established, your opinion was unnecessary and uninvited, so it's very likely people will get mad at you if you call major life choices "stupid" without providing any reasoning beyond your feelings. Like I said, telling me what I should be ok with residing in my womb is nothing short of foul, and frankly unasked for."

Oh no! How evil of me, I dare to have an opinion and according to you it was unnecessary and uninvited! Oh man, so many people are going to get mad at me for calling major life choices stupid without providing any reason at all! At this point I'm almost 100% sure you're illiterate and typed your responses while blindfolded and with your left pinky toe. Claiming my arguments are feeling-based rather than objective criticism. And sure, because I said that if you were mature, you'd approach an intended pregnancy, accepting that both sexes can be the outcome of that and that a person who wants to get pregnant in my opinion should be okay with either, I am the worst!

[nereidprinc3ss]

aubrey plaza is a zionist. all i had to google was “aubrey plaza zionist”; i understand they were being very rude about it but please attempt to educate yourself next time. ❤️

hi, I'm writing this on my laptop because I couldn't focus on my phone so please excuse if the capitalization is weird or inconsistent, and fair warning this is going to be very rambly and not incredibly eloquent. but we are for real going to talk about this now

i do not consider Aubrey plaza relevant to what is going on in Gaza. i do not consider knowing every single actor's uninformed takes on a genocide as being useful or important. a lot of these celebrities don't even have a high school diploma and can't conceive of an issue they cant pay their way out of, so I don't go to them for their politics or their ethics. she is utterly irrelevant to Gaza and she is utterly irrelevant to me politically speaking. I called her hot. that has absolutely no bearing on my values and I sincerely resent the idea that calling a celebrity hot suddenly means you are responsible for knowing everything about them and you are endorsing all of their idiotic takes. I absolutely would not consider knowing Aubrey plaza's take on a two state solution as being self-education because it literally could not mean less. I know my opinions, I know where I stand, and she does not factor in.

if we want to talk about educating ourselves, lets talk about following journalistic sources on the ground in Gaza, lets talk about reading books (a good read is the hundred year's war on Palestine by Rashid khalidi), lets talk about donating. I'm not going to sit here and pretend to be the most educated person in the world, or that I have the authority to make declarative statements about Palestine, but I sincerely hope people do not consider paying close attention to American celebrity culture as being activism or self-education. what is going on in Gaza is more than any of us can conceive of and I think its really strange to water it down and make it about celebrities. if this were an Aubrey plaza stan blog, these messages would receive a very different response, but as it stands, I am not an Aubrey plaza stan, never claimed to be, and spoke about her one time. I am glad to know that we have fundamentally opposing views, and if I were in any way supporting her that would stop with this information. but I'm not and never was. what I will not do is call her hot again because Zionism is NOT sexy! and I agree that we should not be uplifting celebrities who are known zionists. but if your activism only goes as far as knowing what actors and actresses have the wrong opinions, that's not enough and it's not activism.

i hope this doesn't come across as too defensive. I acknowledge that this is not the most productive use of anyone's time. I'm probably making it too much about myself but it has really been odd to be accused of being a Zionist because I said one thing about a celebrity when that is so unaligned with my values. I'm aware that is such a first world issue--me whining because I don't like how I'm being perceived on the Internet, but I think it bothers me because this is so far from being an issue about Aubrey plaza and I find it upsetting that the most flagrant and vehement pushback i've ever gotten on this account has been about one comment I made about a celebrity because that's all people know about the genocide in Gaza. that's not activism and it is not useful or helpful to the people being rounded up and exterminated.

tumblr is not the number one place to be educating yourself, but I will link to a website that is a really good starting place to learn more about the issue. its true that if you don't have an expendable income, being informed and educated is the best tool of resistance you have to help the palestinian people. and that doesn't mean just skimming and reblogging whatever comes across your dash, it means seeking out information and making a concerted effort to learn. I would really really recommend this website as a starting point if you don't know much, it's not overwhelming and it's very informative.

i haven't talked about it at length here because sometimes I think an issue warrants its own dedicated space, not to be mixed in with smut and fanfic and my day to day ramblings, but I am capable of being wrong and sometimes there's not a clear right or wrong thing to do. I apologize if I handled anything poorly but I assure you that my goal is always to be doing the right thing. still, I am not an authority, and I don't become an authority just because I have a small following. I don't think everyone with a few thousand followers on Tumblr is qualified to be talking about this because most of us are not educators and are not well informed enough ourselves to be trying to educate anyone else, but it's entirely possible I haven't been clear enough about where I stand. this is just a criminal minds blog, but the girl who is typing on her silly little Chromebook in her silly little bedroom right now is always pro decolonization. I do not wish to associate with Zionists, on my blog or in my personal life.

and let me reiterate I'm not an authority, I don't know everything, and I don't claim to. but you also don't know anything about me beyond this blog, which is so incredibly far removed from any real world issues. I truly hope Tumblr is not the place where any of us are doing most of our activism and talking about Palestine.

anyways I wrote this over the course of like two hours and will probably come back and edit it a lot so please do not take any of this as being like set in stone, some of it is reactionary and some of it is more level headed and well thought out, but I hope it makes enough sense and that I got my point across effectively and in a way that is not harmful

[queen-of-prophecy]

"My oh my......"

"Now how did you come to find your way into my Tower hmm??? Curious considering how it doesn't have any doors. Mostly naughty of you darling, breaking into my house-"

"Ah! Nevermind. I actually predicted your visit some time ago. You're right on schedule."

"Welcome to my Emerald Tower! The most mysterious and magnificent of any kind you'll find in Hell, surely. Here is where I, Queen Vine of the Ars Goetia, Beholder of Fate, The All-Seer, ruler of the Witchholm and loveliest of all those who Fell reside!"

"By the way, if you need the wifi password, it's P@im0nstinks12."

"So by all means! Make yourself comfortable. I'm sure you have many questions-"

Rules And Bio Below! Please read before interacting!

Rules:

Vine is capable of near perfect foresight, and thus can see the past, present and future of whomever she wishes with the exception of anomalies. However, I will not have Vine predict the future without consulting my RP partner about it first, or without establishing them as a said anomaly. If we can’t agree on what can be disclosed to Vine, or if you disagree with my decision to make or not make them an anomaly, please accept my decision if I choose not to continue the RP with you

Vine has extremely narcissistic habits, and is also a very privileged person. Her viewpoints are not going to always be my own, and she is bound to step on toes. I will always try to keep my partners informed of what she’s going to do in the RP, but if Vine does or says something that offends you personally, SPEAK UP. If Vine acting like an entitled queen is going to be offensive to you, we need to stop so we can avoid hurt feelings. This also goes for any element of plotting that you’re uncomfortable with. It’s much easier to do a full stop than to carry on with draa.

Vine is not interested in marriage or children. She can be reciprocative of flirting, but as someone who is demisexual and demiromantic, it takes her a long time to establish love and trust for someone. And this love is not necessarily healthy. If you want to do shipping, or plot romances, be aware Vine will not always act in your muses’ best interests.

I am open to RPing with minors. However I will not RP anything with graphic violence, sex, or other mature themes with you. If I find you’re lying about your age to RP these themes, it will be a full block, and I will delete all threads. This is the only warning you get.

I am open to all OCs and canon characters. If you want to drop little asks, my inbox is always open. However I typically will ask permission to the mun before dropping asks. If I haven’t asked yet, feel free to ping me and give me permission or ask me to. Communication is key!

Please be polite and understanding. All of what we’re doing on here is meant to be for fun, not to be taken seriously. I will respect your opinions and views so long as you respect mine. If I feel any communication is becoming unhealthy or nonexistent, don’t expect me to continue doing RPs with you.

Queen Vine is based on the demon King Vine of the Lesser Key of Solomon. Obviously this is not a canon version of that character, but only an inspiration. Still, as such, Queen Vine does have dominion over her own territory, and as such tends to do what she likes. If you actively want to RP her being a bully, be prepared!

I am perfectly accepting of other people's headcanons and bios, even if they contradict my own. For example, if you play Lucifer but do not have the same backstory as described here, that's fine! Its your character, they don't need to match up 100%

Have fun! Vine may be an omnipotent Queen but she’s also a drama mama wine aunt and spends her days writing fanfics. So enjoy that :D

All Art is made by @trissschmidt43!)

Name: Vine

Sex: Female

Age: ????

Birthday: May 1st (Taurus) / Beltane

Sexuality: Demisexual

Demon Class: Goetia (Pel’s Fishing Owl)

Location: The Royal Circle (Pride Ring)

(eldritch form below) Bio:

In the beginning there were the orders of angels who were set to safeguard humanity and care for God’s wonderful creations on Earth. Among them were the Ophanim, or the Thrones, who worked under the Seraphim to establish to pillars of wisdom that would insure Heaven stood supreme. The Ophanim were mostly paired siblings, including two particular Ophanim, Paimon and Vine.

The role of Paimon and Vine were as herald and scribe respectively. Paimon would be responsible for announcing the edict of the Heavens, and spoke with a powerful, captivating voice. And Vine would be the writer of histories and proclamations, documenting the past, present and future. The two siblings were proud of their public roles, and served, more or less, as the Voices of God.

However, when the Morningstar came to power, things changed.

Lucifer Morningstar was a Seraphim. Beautiful, brilliant, charming and well-liked by the Ophanim, he had become somewhat of a stand-out due to his extravagant ideas for how the Earth should operate, in particular caring for the future of humanity. But he was often put down by his fellow Seraphim and the elder council of angels, who found his ideas too outlandish and believing they should obey the order of God instead. The siblings Paimon and Vine however, found Lucifer’s ideas captivating, and believed that a strong leader should be capable of thinking big. And with God so elusive and difficult to commune with, soon the siblings found themselves siding more and more with Lucifer.

And then it happened.

Lilith, the wife of Adam, found she could not bear to submit to his will and be treated as a lesser being. Though the two had been created as equals, Adam had been increasingly more demanding, and thus the two broke away, Lilith choosing to live away from the enclosed garden. Lucifer understood her desire for autonomy, and admired her. The two met, and fell in love. Heaven had been swift to give Adam another wife, a more humble and gentle Eve, but Lucifer and Lilith felt that the mother of humanity deserved to be able to give the same gift Lilith had been born with. The power to choose for oneself.

And thus, the event that would shape history forever happened. Slipping into the garden, Lucifer offered Eve the Apple. It would allow her to be able to distinguish good from evil, give her wisdom and knowledge, and grant her the free will to decide of her own volition. Eve in her innocence, accepted.

But once it was made clear that the Mother of Humanity had done so, Heaven was enraged.

Eve had been tainted by the Apple. And what was worse, was that she already carried the future generation of humanity in her belly. Worse still, Adam learned of what she had done, and chose to taste the Apple himself, not wishing his wife to suffer alone. With humanity’s future now uncertain, the Seraphim swiftly punished Lucifer and Lilith and cast them down into Hell….a dark, foreboding place no angel dared tread.

The greatest of dangers was yet to come.

For Lucifer had left many friends behind in the Ophanim, who were horrified and outraged at the Elders act of cruelty against their beloved Seraphim. Paimon in particular was crushed, as he had deeply admired Lucifer and his bold take on things. Not willing to let this go without consequence, Paimon spoke to the other Ophanim, all seventy-two of them, and convinced them that they should stand in support of their friend. Not only them, but six other Seraphim who had been close to Lucifer as well, and viewed him as a brother, agreed that Lucifer had been unjustly punished….especially after seeing that humanity had been cast out of the Garden of Eden due to this.

As for Vine, she decided to take the first step. With the stroke of a pen, she wrote in the sacred book of God that Lucifer was to be the future of humanity, now and forever. With one act, she and Paimon set themselves as proud rebels against Heaven, demanding the return of Lucifer and Lilith and the restoration of mankind to the Garden of Eden.

Their defiance took a bloody turn. Angels warred against angels, and in the aftermath, all the rebels were swiftly punished and cast down to join the man they had sided with. But for Vine, who had emulated her leader in boldness, there was a special punishment awaiting her.

After the battle had sent most of her fellow Ophanim into Hell, Vine and her brother Paimon were chained and brought before the Elders. Though Paimon had coerced his fellow angels to rebellion, Vine had committed the first act of heresy in history by going against the will of God, and declaring another to be a greater power. With Paimon watching, the angels cut Vine’s hands from her wrists, declaring she would never again be permitted to write such heresy. While still howling in agony, the two siblings were cast down, the last to fall, and the impact of their rebellion cemented.

Lucifer and Lilith had not expected company, but after seeing so many of their fellow angels scattered, wounded, and morphed beyond recognition, they understood they needed to take control. With Lilith leading the way, supporting her new husband and great love, the two established their dominion over Hell. The six Seraphim who had fought and fell first became part of the Seven Deadly Sins, with Lucifer reigning as King of Pride and Emperor of Hell. The Ophanim, not wishing to relinquish their titles as Thrones, formed the Royal Circle of demons, a large part becoming the Ars Goetia. Paimon swiftly took leadership of these royal demons, as he had headed the rebellion.

Vine, now Queen Vine, was left in far worse straits.

Despite Lucifer’s best efforts, the wound she sustained after having her hands cut from her wrists was irreversible. Every time he attempted to attach new hands, they would rot and fall off, dooming her to dependence. Fortunately, Lucifer figured out a solution. He had attempted six times to attach hands to her wrists, and thus created six magical hands that would not need to be bound to her wrists in order to work. Vine was relieved to have her autonomy and ability to write restored, but was ultimately haunted by the ordeal she had suffered.

Though she and Paimon were still siblings, Paimon chose to cement his position through royal marriages, heirs, playing games of politics and establishing an iron grip on his territories. Vine however, had been too affected by their previous rebellion, and decided she would remain Queen of her principality and operate from afar. Her power, which remained even after her Fall, would be loaned for the use of future mortals who wished for prophecy, witchcraft, and magic. Residing in the Emerald Tower; a formidable stronghold that mysteriously lacks any doors to permit entry, Vine chose instead to continue the documentation she had once taken pride in….this time for Hell.

Present Day:

Though many eons have passed since the Fall, Vine still remains, more or less, as a solitary figure in the Royal Circle. As King Paimon’s sister and a Queen, she is respected by her royal peers, particularly for her ability to see the past, present and future almost perfectly….without the need of a grimoire. However, she is also mostly a mystery as she remains isolated in her tower, rarely permitting guests. Instead, she makes random appearances at society functions, often to give away lavish gifts and give “spoilers�� for peoples future as a form of amusement.

In truth, Vine’s interest in writing the future has….changed. As the population of Hell as grown, her interest has turned more dramatic, resembling that of a novelist for romance and dramas. Her many tomes are in fact “fanfiction” of people’s lives, writing down the intricacies of their relationships and struggles. She even publishes them under pseudonyms online, and seems to revel in the little dramas she writes, since she can already tell what’s going to happen.

Vine does accept the call to service when requested by Lucifer or Lilith, but she has since become notoriously “obnoxious” to her brother and fellow Kings. She often likes to poke fun at Paimon’s pursuit of control and power, perhaps because she already knows the outcome of his machinations, and often speaks dismissively of those she doesn’t find interesting.

What’s stranger is that Vine seems to have adopted a small imp companion in her years of isolation, a tiny illustrator named Triss. No one’s sure how she came to be hired as the Queen’s confidante, or how she even got into the Emerald Tower. But Triss seems to thrive mostly off of reading the queen’s fanfiction, and even draws the subjects to add to the tomes. Triss is a deeply unusual imp, even by normal standards, but is also a deeply devoted friend to Vine, who is exceedingly fond of her.

Abilities and Powers:

Though the Ophanim were irreversibly changed after the Fall, taking on demonic forms, many of them retained their abilities and powers. Vine herself has many of the same powers Paimon has; teleportation, shape-shifting, telekinesis and the ability to traverse through space. However, Paimon has more combative powers than his sister has, which makes him suitable to his role as King. Instead, Vine has the advantage of near-perfect clairvoyance, to which she requires no grimoire or studies of the stars or elements to divine. These visions of the past, present and future are all done through her third eye, which is the only eye that constantly sees everything.

However it is only “nearly” perfect. There still remain people whom Vine refers to as “anomalies”; special people whose futures cannot be divined, nor their pasts uncovered. The best Vine can do is divine the path through the eyes of those around them, but never seeing their point-of-view. Vine has a vested interest in these anomalies, often writing “AU fanfics” where she guesses at their future based on her observation.

Because of these powers of foresight, Vine has taken on many names and forms in order to commune with humans on Earth to retain her importance and power. She has claimed many names and shapes, including that of the Fates. She can be summoned for counsel by humans, but only those who provide the proper tributes; Three cups of wine (red, white and rose), three fruits (apple, pomegranate and fig), and three knives (iron, copper, and steel), lit around a circle with her sigil with three candles (black, white and red). She will permit them three questions, but often keeps her answers ambiguous.

Vine’s weaknesses however, are the same as all immortal demons that live in Hell. She is vulnerable to angelic weapons and arms, and can also be subdued or sealed away by a more powerful demon such as the Seven Deadly Sins, or King Lucifer and Queen Lilith. Though she has yet to make herself so troublesome as to incite their ire, she does have a habit of angering people by refusing to speak of the future. In fact, Vine has a personal rule where she refuses to reveal anything unless it provides ample entertainment for herself.

Personality:

Vine, like most Goetia, is an incredibly proud and vain woman who often disregards the running of her territory, having left it to the work of stewards and magistrates. She has extremely narcissistic tendencies and can be very extravagant and eccentric, often praising her beauty and brilliance, and taking a great deal of stock in public comments online from her fan base. Vine is capable of being good and generous, but that is often reserved with those whom she takes interest in or has a history with.

However, she is also capable of being very vindictive and cold, especially on the subject of her own history. Though few outside of the Goetic Circle know what happened to her hands, she finds it a very sore subject, hiding her scarred wrists under long sleeves and changing the subject when it turns to it. If someone of lower station were to pry at the subject, she would react with swift, unceasing retribution, and will even teleport unfortunate souls into volcanoes if they wrong her.

Yet, despite being Queen, Vine chooses not to marry or have children. She cites her brother Paimon for this reason, stating that child-bearing and marriage was nothing but tedious work, and states that as immortals, the question of their inheritance is rather moot since most of them will live until Armageddon at the very least. Vine enjoys romance stories, but choose to play coy, often flirting but never really pursuing. It’s unknown if Vine has had any lovers, as she does not openly speak of her romantic relationships.

In truth, there is only one person whom Vine treasures above all; her companion Triss. Aside from letting Triss live in the Emerald Tower and hiring her as her illustrator, Vine also shares secrets of the future with her, and they seem to operate on the same wavelengths, enjoying things from afar.

_______

Extra! Bio For Triss, Queen Vine's Imp Companion

Name: Beatriss (“Triss”) Lansher

Sex: Female

Age: 21-23

Birthday: August 21st (Leo)

Sexuality: Asexual (Biromantic)

Demon Class: Imp (30 cm tall)

Location: The Royal Circle (Pride Ring)

Bio:

In truth, no one really knows who Triss is or where she came from. At some point however, during one of Queen Vine’s visits to the Goetic Assemblies, she performed a “magic trick” where she pulled Triss from her long sleeves, and then let her rest on her shoulder for the remainder of the evening. At first Triss was dismissed as nothing more than a royal pet…however as she began making regular attendances at Goetia parties as Vine’s guest it was clear the Queen had a definite soft spot for her.

Triss did manage to secure a position as Royal Illustrator for the Queen’s writing projects. Despite being small enough to fit in a teapot, she is an exceptional artist, and can often draw detailed sketches based off of one lone observation. Triss presently lives in the Emerald Tower, and despite being something of an oddity, appears to be very happy and comfortable in Vine’s service.

Personality:

Triss, like Vine, loves reading about dramatic stories and enjoys the adventure, the plot-twists, and romance arcs of people the Queen writes about. Because she has an insider view on particular Hellborns and humans, she gets the inside scoop on a lot of complex stories from all around. Despite her small stature, she doesn’t seem to be afraid of much, perhaps made comfortable by the Queen’s protection. Triss is also quite bold and blunt. She’s not afraid to use the Queen’s favoritism to her advantage, often pointing to things she wants and asking Vine to get them for her. It’s an effective strategy nonetheless, and Vine rarely denies her anything.

Triss is also a great lover of the arts. Drawing is one fo the things she’s truly passionate for, and she has a creative streak that can imagine many scenarios at the drop of a hat. She also has a great love of charcuterie and cheeses, and it’s believed that a major part of her contract with Vine as her employee is to always have a full charcuterie plate by her bedside. Given it’s the preferred snack of the two when they’re observing the antics of their favorite characters, the Emerald Tower is outfitted with a fromagerie suitable to their tastes.

Given her mistress is so eccentric, Triss herself can be quite the oddball too. She can be unreactive sometimes, and her obsession with cheese and fanfics are often questionable by most.

[gingerylangylang1979]

Carmy, Sydney, and Marcus... Because We Will Never Shut Up About It.

Deep thoughts while waiting for the feeling to come back to my mouth after a dental procedure, so forgive me if this is all over the place:

The dynamics between Carmy, Sydney, and Marcus have sparked endless posts due to key scenes in E7 and E8. Most takes seem to be polarized to either sympathize with Carmy or sympathize with Sydney and Marcus. I’m here to say a binary view is a reductive take. I’m approaching this from a perspective of social consciousness, personal experience, and objectivity needed when creating meaningful commentary on media. Hell, I’m even going to say it’s crucial to analyzing culture in general. Ignoring these factors is much of the reason people fail in relating to each other and moving forward together from a place of understanding and commonality. I’m probably going to piss some people off with my points but please at least read to the end and then be pissed off all you want. 

The usual opinions regarding these three tend to fall into two camps. One, Carmy failed and is a horrible boss and his white man pain does not excuse his behavior and Sydney and Marcus are at no fault and are trying to reach excellence, within a system that is not in their favor, without proper support. Two, Sydney and Marcus are totally to blame for what happened and Carmy deserved to snap and shouldn’t have apologized or accepted them back. Both opinions are usually presented simplistically, sometimes with a few more shades of nuance, but essentially this is the essence of what I’m seeing voiced. Strictly agreeing with one or the other is not accurate. 

My conclusions from take one are that Sydney and Marcus are deserving of leadership that will foster and guide their development to a higher level but Carmy in his current state is incapable of giving them what they need. That doesn’t make him a monster, it makes him human, regardless if he is a white man in pain or not. I don’t know any man or woman in his situation that wouldn’t be struggling given his lived experience. I don’t know any human who is having panic attacks at the drop of a dime, is always on the verge of tears, is still freshly grieving, dissociates, and sleep cooks who would be able to give new employees their best and maintain composure at all times. It’s just not realistic. Just because someone has authority doesn’t mean they can deliver what is needed at all times. 

Sydney and Marcus are both young Black professionals striving for more in Carmy’s kitchen under his uneasy authority. He isn’t looking at them as employees to mentor, he's looking at them as talented resources to help foster stability. That’s where he is at with them professionally. That’s all he has to give. It’s a case of bad timing, not a bad person. Sydney and Marcus were not getting the leadership they desperately needed and their lived experiences aren’t recognized but despite their lived experiences they would still be in the same scenario. Anybody coming into that kitchen would not be getting Carmy’s best. That sucks but it is what it is. 

Much has been said about how we shouldn’t dismiss the relationship between Carmy and Sydney as mentor and mentee because she has stellar credentials, is a superb cook, is a capable leader (in ways Carmy fails), has business experience, and has saved The Beef many times. She is invaluable. So I agree that we shouldn’t just reduce her to a mentee in Carmy’s kitchen. But she did seek to work with him for a reason. She does think she can learn from him. So while she may not be super subordinate to him she herself acknowledges that she has something to gain from him. She told this to Richie in E2. She said they could ALL learn a lot from him. She wants to get to the level of perfection she reveres him for. He made the best dish she’s ever had. She is seeking something from him she didn’t get in her previous experiences, even as her own boss. That does not diminish her, that’s saying basically what her words and actions have shown us. Carmy gave her a title but he never outlined the dynamic and was wishy-washy. One minute she is “everything else” the next he’s “Yes, Cheffing” her. She was confused on where she stood at any time. When he gave feedback or tried to get her on point he never explained how or why. When he snapped at her about Tina’s insubordination I think he was trying to get her to see it didn’t matter, he wasn’t going to micromanage personal dynamics and she needed to steer the ship and do what needed to get service back on track. Instead of that he just barked. Instead of telling her what was up with the risotto and offering to workshop it with her, he was just dismissive and offered a wet eyed apology. He failed to communicate properly when she urgently needed it. 

Marcus is totally new to elevated cuisine having worked at McDonald’s and his time at The Beef under Michael. Once he sees that Carmy and Sydney are coming from a whole other world he is intrigued and wants more. Moving from bread baking to becoming a real pastry chef is his vision. Another establishment may have gotten rid of him once they outsourced bread but he was kept on and given a new trajectory. He admirably catches a spark and runs with it. He starts putting in the work to immerse himself in fine patisserie knowledge and practice. Carmy does allow Marcus space to experiment. He does give Sydney authority to lead. But what he offers them is messy, undefined, and not fully realized because he isn’t capable and he is unaware of how this is being internalized by them. 

Mentally, he doesn’t have the bandwidth and he also doesn’t have a healthy model to reference. We all know it takes a lot of work for someone abused to break the cycle of abuse. All he knows is his own experience. It’s easy to say okay dude, don’t do that but it's harder to just flick a switch and be different. It’s even harder when you are in your own crisis mode and are starting from fucked. Carmy’s trauma can’t just be switched off nor can his bad habits. He tries, he fails. It’s not an excuse but it is an explanation. He is a white man in pain but he’s also human. Sydney and Marcus happen to be at the receiving end. Not fair, but also not intentional. He knows he wants to do better, better just didn’t come fast enough. 

My conclusions from take two are that Sydney and Marcus did make mistakes but they are not worthy of continued blame and Carmy should learn from his loss of control. Sydney totally deserves a pass. As mentioned, she came through for the team big time on numerous occasions. When she quit that’s when Carmy went into full meltdown. Him screaming wasn’t it, to me. Him losing it when she left was the full meltdown. He knows he needs her. She’s MVP. She was overworked, underpaid, harassed by Richie, and hazed. She could have and arguably should have quit many times. She could have gotten a job elsewhere but she chose to stay committed to The Beef until she couldn’t. She reached her breaking point and was like why am I putting up with this shit? I wouldn’t have, I would have been like see ya way before she did.  She helped Carmy transform that place, as noted by Tina and Marcus, yet received very little in return. Maybe she abandoned the team but how many times did Carmy leave her in the lurch? Carmy messed up by not taking the minute he always asks her for and touching base about the tension over the review and making sure they were aligned on all points before launching a new service model. They could have done the run through she seemed to be asking for but he was full steam ahead and ignoring the issue. 

Marcus is a slightly different story. No, I don’t think he deserves to be berated endlessly nor is he a lost cause but he does need to realize that while maybe making cakes and being on task E7 wouldn’t have fixed the shit show his repeated lack of listening to both Carmy and Sydney about staying on task was ignored. He did get space to do his thing all he was asked was to not get sidetracked. Carmy said he trusted him but he still didn’t listen. Carmy gave him a pep talk after he still didn’t listen and blew a fuse in the middle of a day that already started fucked. He still didn’t listen. The day they were starting a new service model and Carmy warned him to stay on task he still didn’t listen. When Sydney got onto him about it he still didn’t listen. That’s a lesson any employee needs to learn. I don’t care how talented and passionate you are what work place would allow you to just not listen after multiple reminders? You simply have to follow direction. Him not processing that is a huge flaw. The thing is a good, capable leader would take the time and work with him to establish a way to prioritize and create a development plan. They would see that he is going to sink if he doesn’t get that under control. It just wasn’t the time for that in the midst of all the chaos of getting The Beef solvable and Carmy wasn’t equipped to give that or recognize it was needed. What I do fault Carmy with is not taking control and realizing they couldn’t do the impossible in E7. He should have just stopped, regrouped, canceled the orders, and done a post-mortem on what went wrong. His blowup wasn’t just about the to-go’s or the review. He was holding it together, barely, for months and this was him finally blowing a fuse. 

I think when some see the scene of Sydney and Marcus talking shit about Carmy they stay stuck on neither accepting blame. I took the scene as two young Black professionals bonding and talking shit because coworkers talk shit about their boss. As far as demanding apologies from Carmy or Sydney and Marcus, fine, sure, whatever. Carmy did apologize to both of them. Maybe it wasn’t as gushing and dramatic as some think he needs to be to atone. I dunno, I think it was okay for where we are in the story. Sydney and Marcus are still a bit bitter and cautious, as one would expect after being chastised in front of peers. I don’t think it’s fair to expect them to prostrate themselves to Carmy, someone they are still giving a bit of side eye to after he did humiliate them. They don’t fully understand what’s up with Carmy. He keeps things well guarded. When he opened up about Al-Anon Sydney, rightfully so, she said it was too personal. So he takes that as let me keep my shit to myself, like I always have, we ain’t that close, sorry. By the same token, Sydney and Marcus may not be at the point of being like hey, these are my experiences being Black in the workplace, thirsty for more, and feeling marginalized so I’m sensitive to x, y, z. 

Everyone is in their own story and not fully transparent because they are all navigating how to exist together joyfully and productively. Nor is anyone a mind reader. But really, at the core all three of their needs and struggles are universal. Who hasn’t felt unsupported and taken for granted? Who hasn’t had to keep adulting when their world is crumbling? I think what’s needed more is a sit down between all of them to hash it out. What we got in E8 was venting from Sydney and Marcus and guilty resignation from Carmy. Not satisfying, but realistic. They have work to do as a team. They need love and forward positive movement more than they need some perceived deserved atonement. Words are easy and cheap. Anybody can say they sorry, what they actually gonna do?

My whole point is we need to look at all of them as just people. I’m not saying be blind to identity but at the core everyone’s arc could be anyone’s arc. All of their struggles are universal. I am a Black woman and I relate to all three of them for various reasons. Like Sydney, I have been the young Black girl thrust into leadership but not supported in growth. My authority has been questioned, I’ve been bullied, I’ve been given too much on my plate because I’m “so capable and being held to a higher standard.” Like Marcus, I’ve hyper fixated on a new passion to the point of obsession and had trouble figuring out how to maintain the baseline while chasing perfection. Like Carmy, I have depression and anxiety, had an addict family member who died suddenly (my mom, I didn’t go to the funeral either and had to go back home abruptly) yet still had to be the boss of a shit show while trying to heal, deal, not overshare, share, yet ask for a minute that was never given all at the same time. 

I don’t know if I’m making any sense but I think everyone needs to look deeper if they seek to prioritize any of these character’s needs over another and be dismissive of anyone’s struggles. I think that’s what the show is kind of about. And maybe do the same thing with people IRL. Anything else is unproductive and unkind. There is not enough mercy, grace, empathy, and understanding. 

Anyways, be blessed and Happy Holidays! 

Edited to add: In no way am I dismissing the conscious or unconscious bias of some viewers who fail to empathize with Sydney and Marcus. I forgot to include that earlier. My point is conscious and unconscious bias can be at play with either take on the conflicts between these three characters.

[mercysventingblog]

why is it so bad for me to like.. not.. like bullying just because the world is cruel?

my mom sees me as a smartass. i dont understand why. all i did was 'argue' against her (add my opinion in opposition to hers).

like, my brother says how he called a girl a dumpling hair or whatever? AND MY MOM ENCOURAGED IT.

so i obvi told her, "this is bullying." her argument was basically "thats the world. the world is cruel." and i told her "you must be the change you see in the world, you shouldn't just endure whatever because 'that's just the way the world works'." and shes like "ohoho, i'm enduring, alright." and "when you were getting bullied, you say anything? no. you didnt. you endured it." and.. oh my god, am i tired.

just because i endured it doesnt mean thats what youre meant to do. (i told her this, and she was just like "yeah yeah okay")

the reason i endured it is BECAUSE i would get bullied more. raise a child who wouldn't bully worse if 'tattle-taled' on. hell-- raise a child who doesn't bully at all! does she not see the fault in her ways? why must she encourage this behavior?

when i was getting bullied, i remember my mom saying how she'll suspend the bullies or whatever.

she didnt. i told her not to.

wanna know why i did that? because the bullying would only get worse.

(sorry, this part is repetitive. im keeping it because i dont want to change stuff and possibly leave out something.)

i think my mom is a yesman.

i cant win against her. i get that "oh youre not supposed to win an argument, merely come to a mutual understanding" but oh my god. i just want her to see my point of view. shes such a brick wall. im so tired. whenever i have a good point, she is just sarcastic and yet she tells me to stop being sarcastic?

althouh i am aware its not literally genetic -- you are a mosaic of everybody you once knew (stole that from pinterest), and i don't think she realizes how much of her glass reflects.

i'm more like her than she realizes and i'm so scared of that.

anyways -- only when i'm done crying does she say "oh, [brother's (the bully) name], don't call people's hair a dumpling!" and.. the way she had to be confronted to say that is so wrong..

im so tired. i dont want to endure the world anymore. i dont want to change the world by being kind anymore. sure, i did once, but what's even the use when people like this exist?

"oh, but Mercy, she's your mother!" does.. that matter? this isnt even trauma this is anger. im typing this out of rage and frustration and i've honestly bitten my nails off already so what else can i do? i know nobodys going to see this. nothing even matters anymore.

honestly, if this is the way the world works then i want no part of it. i might just leave.

(no, i'm not being dramatic and i'm not planning on 'leaving' (a euphemism) BECAUSE of this.. conversation.. (can't call it an argument because.. i 'should never argue with my mom because she's my mother'. (also, i'm not saying you should ALWAYS argue with your mom over everything, only when there is wrong or it's for the better) (please excuse this take and how foul it sounds and all the loopholes im so sad about being misunderstood)) alone but this is always her. if im not agreeing with her, i'm always the one wrong. i have learned i will never be a good person. not just in these interactions-- in everything! in school, in relationships, hell, what can't i do wrong? anyways, that's why i want to 'leave'.)

and i am showing mercy. she makes this snarky remark about how "ohoho, you go by Mercy online, right? have mercy!! you hypocrite.". she doesnt understand the meaning behind my words. at all. she takes everything face-value. she either acts stupid (NOT CALLING HER STUPID. IM SAYING SHE IS FEIGNING IGNORANCE AND UNKNOWING.) or she genuinely does not understand one thing. (AGAIN NOT CALLING HER STUPID. IM SAYING SHE DOES NOT UNDERSTAND THE MEANING AT HAND OFTEN.) (you might be asking; oh, mercy, but why don't you just say the parenthesis instead of these offensive words? and i answer: because these offensive words are the way i can best explain my feelings without making it wordy.)

i'm sorry if i come off as condescending for the clarification. i'm scared of being misunderstood. sorry for everything. please forgive me.

[yonemurishiroku]

I was rereading The Blood of Olympus today, and I realized how much I just do not like Piper.

Whenever Piper is in a chapter, to me it feels like she’s always being pushy, selfish, or overprotective. Also, it may just be me with this opinion.

When Piper is in the temple of fear with Annabeth, Piper is the one who takes control of the situation. In my opinion the way Rick explained it didn’t make sense. Annabeth is the one who is always calm and collected. Even with trauma. Piper is the one who acts on impulse and what she wants, (as displayed when she jumps down the chute even though Annabeth warns her not to). Although this action may have been necessary to the mission, it what reckless.

Also, despite Piper knowing something is up with Leo, continues to treat him like a third wheel and as someone who could be sacrificed. It just doesn’t make her a likable character.

As my last little tid-bit on this topic, Piper committed crimes before becoming part of the seven. I don’t think this should be ignored as a part of her character. It shows how much she craves attention and isn’t above breaking the law to get it. There is certain things that are *somewhat* understandable for not having attention from your parents, but never should breaking the law be considered okay to do because of that.

Who knows, maybe I’m reading her character wrong but that’s the way I see her. Please dissect this.

I just want to say that, as someone who has been trying to keep it down to only Nico, to receive an ask specifically about another character I've paid no attention to surely is an experience lol.

Anyway. Let's see. From your words, Piper doesn't seem to be a likable character, which is to be expected. As far as I'm concerned though, Piper, as a character, just does not interest me enough for me to form an opinion. I'm more of a "eh whatever" or "oh. cool" when it comes to her. It also does not help that I haven't read The Lost Hero, and my brain just straight up auto-deletes everything that's not Nico-related, so you can say my grasp of Piper McLean is limited at best and non-existant at worst.

If there's anything I remember about her, then that'd be the times I had to skip some pages of her and Jason (like I did to Percabeth, bc I disliked romantic scenes with everything in me and that's nothing new).

With that being said, as someone technically blank, I feel that your dislike to Piper is already set in stone, so there's no changing to that, and it's not like you need to change anyway. I wouldn't like such a character in your description either. 😂😂😂

About that scene of Annabeth and Piper, (keep in mind that I am not aware of that scene but directly referencing it through your retelling) I think what Rick was trying is to make Piper a direct contradiction to Annabeth in terms of action repertoire - a type of recklessness to the latter's meticulousness.

(Wow Percabeth and Jiper are actually a square full of contradictions)

However. The line between 'bold, risk-taking' and straigh-up stupidity is but a fine line. I will not judge Piper without properly re-reading the whole thing (which I won't), but I can see where you get it from.

I just want to say a few words about the last part. The thing about Piper's criminal record.

I understand that, from a reader's point of view, it'd be unlikable for a character to commit a crime, specifically, to "gain attraction". Though, while the action itself is inexcusable, it should also be acknowledged that Piper - like 90% of the PJO cast - was a teenager, who grew up with barely any parental guidance (or at least that's what I remember). A figure as such is bound to make mistakes, as well as cause debates over their likeliness. I do agree that what Piper did was wrong (I mean. that's like. the law), however there's a reason and background to said wrongdoing.

It's not okay, nor is it right to do so, but it's understandable. That's all.

That is to say: fuck it. I have been resenting Percy since the day I read PJO, you can dislike Piper all you want. We're just humans, not saints. Just don't go around shitting on people with different likes then you're good to go! 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️😂

While we are at it, I'm quite curious as to how this was "ignored as a part of her character". I'm guessing that Rick failed to incorporate Piper's background into her own character as she's developed? Then that's not Piper's fault. That's just Rick and his YA writing lmao.

[butch-reidentified]

I'm sorry if it came off as rude, I was agreeing with your reblog 😔 I'm aware that butch doesn't really mean masculine, as I said it's just a personal preference, and the butch/femme dichotomy always read as a bit weird to me because femme literally just means "woman".

To be fair, I only have the french context for this and those terms aren't nearly as popular here. But if you have good resources about the history of those terms I'd genuinely love to educate myself on it, it's quite fascinating.

Love your blog btw !

you did not come off rude don't worry!! just felt it was important to be said!!

i used to speak french very well but not so good anymore, but i do understand feeling weird about the term femme bc of it forsure. I would appreciate if we had a different term specifically for lesbians who are - and please interpret this abstractly bc the language for what I'm attempting to describe here simply does not exist in any language I speak - "feminine" in a way that (intentionally or otherwise) subverts conventional femininity and is not appealing to the traditional male gaze/behavioral preference. sort of like... unapologetic outspoken opinionated women, casual dresses and leg hair, floral prints and bushy eyebrows vibes, but not exactly? aspects of femininity but not total feminine performance, and most importantly with gnc behaviors like importantly including unlearning femsoc etc? women who have done the work to unlearn the femininity forced on us growing up and afterward found they genuinely like select "feminine" things in a nonperformative way? language has always felt wildly limiting to me but I'm hoping at least some will understand me on this. and really hoping nobody takes it too literally lol

the reason I (playfully) call my wife femme is she has done that work, has intensively introspected on her female socialization and spent significant time intentionally defying it to give herself perspective and a shot at engaging with traits typically seen as "feminine" from as much of a truly voluntary place as possible, and found she enjoys certain things that fall into that category. most of those things are invisible to people outside our relationship and closest friend circles, whereas if we're downtown she's not going to be viewed as feminine by strangers at all. I think that's a way more meaningful lesbian archetype than using "femme" (or any alternative term) to mean "gender conforming/totally feminine" or even, if we're honest, often used to refer to "straight-passing" lesbians, which my wife is not even close to being.

I personally feel that butch has a highly specific and unique crucial lesbian cultural context & history that would & should persist in a postgender world, that is much more about a specific lesbian "archetype" than relationship to gender & can exist without relationship to gender just fine. to me, butchness requires gender nonconformity in a patriarchal, gendered world, but that's only a prerequisite, not a defining characteristic of butchness itself. does that make sense? sometimes my communication style only makes sense to me n my wife lmfao (same w hers even tho its very diff from mine)

I agree about butch/femme. it's not - or at least shouldn't be seen as - a dichotomy. I don't prefer feminine women, I prefer gnc women for SURE, but I don't consider myself butch4butch bc my preference is for gnc women in general not just butches (like what I said ab my wife being gnc but not butch).

I used to have resources on this, but unfortunately I have a terrible memory and can't remember them at the moment to save my life. hoping someone who follows me will!!

this was much longer than I anticipated lmao & idk if it will actually make any real sense to anyone else 😅

[villainsandvictimsalliance]

So apologies if I missed a post regarding this, but what your thoughts on the canon LOV regarding “found family?” Especially in the newer chapters, I’ve seen meta writers different pov’s of how they are a found family, or that they were never one (I think you may know some of them lol.) I know you do many head canons of them being one which I absolutely love reading. The way I see it is in a sense they could be one, but obviously not a healthy one in a way you would see one normally act. With today’s chapter on Toga’s “love” for the LOV, I’ve seen opinions of how that solidified their disconnect, but they also say they cared for each other in the first place. Which I agree, but in a way I find they do have some form of “care” for each other, but since they are all so mentally unstable right now, they can’t really help each other out since they need someone to help themselves first, hence the kids they are paralleled to (if that makes sense?) But I feel it doesn’t take away the fact that they are friends in a way. I would love to see the LOV at the end of the manga be together again, but build a healthy friendship together and truly start to understand each other, because it is Toga’s turmoil right now in this new chapter even though she does care for them. I guess looking back at what I wrote it isn’t a “found family” perspective I’m viewing, but just friends that are to broken to see each other until they are healed. But anyway, what are your thoughts on the topic and new chapter?

I'm currently not in the best condition to be riding this meta, since my right hand is broken and the cast doesn't allow me to properly cry like I wish I could. I'll try to do my best with the voice to text function of my phone board, so please forgive me for whatever crazy mistakes or misspells I'm about to make.

First of all, I think the complications come from what every person believes is the definition of a "found family".

For me the trope doesn't have to be pure or be innocent, you know? A found family is not the "healthiest" version of a family. What it means for me, it's a group of people you decide to stick with because you feel you belong with them. You feel better with them, you decide to take their side for wherever reason instead of your biological family or whatever. In turn, those people's welcome you in. They give you a place among them, they treat you like you're one of them and they value you.

I don't know when along the line people decide found families were only for heroes and "stable" people characteres? And honestly doesn't make sense. Found families started with the weirdos, the outcasts, the ones who didn't belong or felt like rejected by society. It was for the ones who were deemed dangerous, even. For me it is more a villain/anti-heroes trope on its roots.

Important addition: having a found family doesn't erase the importance of the biological family. It's not a game of one or the other, okay?

So, what that being said, let me deep dive in the complex dynamic of the League of Villains and why they are my favorite bnha group <3

There are different levels of affection.

That's a fact.

Among the big kinds, there's romantic affection, platonic affection for your close friends, familial affection, etc. There are the little specifics, like the affection you may have for your pets or for your belongings, or for your favorite movies or foods, that affection you may have for your teachers or for your neighbors... I think you get me.

Toga's struggle comes from not knowing the difference between the affections she feels. She doesn understand the variations in her dinamics with different numbers of the League of Villains and even with different heroes. Of course you can argue that she grew up with her biological family and with her classmate and friends— so she must know, right? I will say no, because her love is (in her mind) tied with her quick. We know she pretty much repressed her quick for all her childhood and for half of her teenage years, until she ran away.

She knows when she's not feeling affection but does she understand that not all her love is the same?

This chapter tell us that she wants to feel as strongly with Tomura and Dabi as she fell with Twice. She was hoping for it, she was upset when she couldn't use the quirks, she's crying because of that. There's definitely affection there. Even when the member's of the LoV weren't mentally stable or good relationships of any type, there's manga evidence that they care for each other. The went out of their way to do stuff for each other that wasn't really justified even if they tried to lie about their intentions.

I've said before that Spinner is the best example, but he's far from being the only one.

The manga paralleled Overhaul and Tomura in the way they treated their subordinates. Overhaul did not care, they were sacrifices to be made for him to achieve his goal. Tomura took it personal, as the League did. Compress and Tomura reacted immediately after Magne died, not just in their defense, something Tomura confirmed when he told Overhaul Magne lost wasn't the equivalent of one of Overhaul's dead men, she was worth so much more. Toga threatened Tomura when she thought he'd treat them like Overhaul treated his people. Jin and Toga want to take revenge on Magne's behalf and corrected Overhaul when he misgendered Magne on purpose or because he really didn't care. Tomura and Compress cut both his arms for it. Every member of the LoV helped ruin Overhaul.

That's just one arc —not even the arc that solely focus on their dynamic, I must mention.

I want you to think about how many mangas create a whole arc to explore the dynamic of the group of villains. An arc just for them, because the heroes has nothing to do with the arc!

My Villain Academia aims to get the readers and watchers to be more invested, more emotionally involved in the dynamic of this group of villains. Direct parallel to class 1A and Deku, to the plus ultra value, to the origin story explanation of the MCs. Twice overcame his greatest trauma to save Toga. Toga was fighting following Tomurq's values and that's the arc that made a Spinner is so close emotionally tomorrow. That arc was strategically made to give greater impact to all that'd later happen in the War Arc: Twice's death, Toga's despair, Mr. Compress sacrifice, Dabi's big reveal, Spinner desperation to save Tomura and Tomura losing control of his own body.

I can continue listing every single evidence that Horikoshi wrote the League of Villains to be a very fucked up found family, but I prefer to invite everyone reading this to re-read the manga and try to see for themselves.

So there's affection between the members of the League? There is, canonically. It's not a take, the manga says it itself. Is it enough to make of them a found family? Following my definition, it is.

Most members were rejected/isolated by society. They decided to join the League, they decided to stay with them, they sacrificed themselves to save their teammates... So listen carefully: the League was a pit of Insanity, but the only member who actively purposely tried to harm his partners was Dabi. Threats were a common thing, yes, but only one person went as far as to use the League and let one of them died and state he didn't consider himself as part of the whole .

Dabi is a tricky case, since he felt affection but he wouldn't let it get in the way of his revenge or his very suicidal, self-destoying fantasy-plan where he gets to punish his father and at some extent himself to death. Seriously, with how similar is his case to Sasuke from Naruto, I'm not surprised the fandom found a way to misinterpreted his whole character. That's another post, tho.

Like I say, we know the League wanted to be with each other, respected each other in their own way, were willing to protect and cheer and listen to each other... They had alternatives they could— no, would have taken if they wanted to.

It's NOT healthy, they were all making it worse. They actively made each other worse. A fact.

They ruined each other.

And I want people to finally get that love can destroy. Genuine love has no morals, it is not a person taking decisions, it doesn't subscribe to your belief system or culture, it has no agenda of its own. Affection, as a sublevel of love, is just the same. You'd do anything for the people you love and I'd do anything for the people I love and we could kill each other, start a war, whatever, all because we held our love higher than others' love.

Back to square one: Toga's affection and quirk.

Twice was genuinely gentle. It was easy for him to feel affection, to consider someone a friend. That was his downfall with Hawks, both loyal to the end to a group of friends or a cause.

That's not Toga's case. She's emotional, she's selective, she doesn't know how to connect with others after so many years repressing herself. She's desperate to become someone else in the sense she's desperate to connect.

As much as Dabi and Tomura connected with Toga, they weren't that close, were they? Their traumas couldn't allow it. Like you said, they were incapable of moving forward, getting closer. On the other hand, Toga's relationships with Ochako and Twice felt personal.

Twice got past the only thing holding him back, cementeing his friendship with Toga MVA. They were absolute best friends, no doubt.

During the War Arc, Toga and Ochako held a conversation that changed them both forever, a leap in their character progression. But even in the MVA arc, Toga's absolute desperation and desire to more like Ochako drove her to achieve a new quirk level.

The League is Toga's found family. Look back at the War Arc and how they worried about her. Look at how Tomura has treated her through the manga, at Dabi cheering her up and burning her old house. That's more than anyone ever did for her, as fucked up as it is. They care about her.

However, they've reach their limit.

There's no much they can improve in their current state. There's not getting closer, not evolving in their dynamic. In the villain path, the only thing left to do is die for each other.

Enter the heroes and redemption, in the sense they all need to heal if they want to ever continue their relationship.

Now, I believe Tsuyu's theory is roughly explained. "Not enough love" could be simply "not enough intimacy / not as personal as it could be". As a demiaro-demiace, I personally hate when people express love differences in terms of more/less. I don't believe in best friends, don't believe that romantic involvement means "being more than friends", etc. It's stupid for me.

I'm not looking forward to the discourse this will generate. The LoV dynamic is my favorite 'cause it's messy and complex and has many layers and grey areas. I don't enjoy when people erase those facts so it'd match their opinions.

Still, I hope this answers your post? This took me way to long to write with one hand and the voice to text function. Sending you all my love and thanks for sending me this!!!!

[thelunarfairy]

I LOVED EVEYRTHING YOU SAID IN MY YASHIRO ASK AND I TOTALLY AGREE!!

And gosh I never knew nene received that kind of hate? Am I too oblivious 😭😭 but omg the points you mentioned about her being way too nice for her own good? I second that claim- she's actually so selfless. Hell even I would be petty, but that selfless quality makes her even more beautiful.

Also no hate to any character, but I just don't like it when they go about making fun of her legs like anything. Once? Okay, like its comical so it's fine, but I really didn't appreciate the fact that even after mistuba saw that nene's biggest fear was being left alone, unloved, all because of her legs during the mirrors chapter, he STILL chose to make fun of her legs. Who does that please- that instance made me angry-

I really really feel like she needs a break. Or a person who would ACTUALLY hear her out and support her. Because if you want my opinion? NONE of the characters at present would exactly help her out. Like yk what I mean? I want a character being empathetic about Nene for once and hear her out. I feel like the things that happen in the manga most of the times happen against Nene's will. Her problems get doubled, she gets trapped into dangerous situations, she needs a long break-

Anyways thank you so much for the points you shared! I'm so glad to see someone agreeing with me on Nene, she deserves the world and people should know that she's developing too. It's not just kou suffering because of her mother's death and his complex with teru, not just mitsuba suffering because he wants to be a human again but cannot for obvious reasons, not just hanako who killed his twin and regrets it with his whole heart, but also Nene who suffers that complex of feeling unloved, I've never been in the situation often, but I understand what she feels like. Imagine someone says that they find your best friend pretty but ignores you completely, especially if it's a boy. How would you feel? That feeling hits hard. It's not simply "Oh but others shouldn't determine how pretty you actually are." While that's true, we cant help but feel bad now can we?

I STRETCHED THIS OUT YET AGAIN BAHAHHAHA BUT ANYWAYS THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

Awww look who came back to answer me hahaha ♡ I'm glad you liked my answer.

Yashiro's legs are taken to the comical side of the story, it was something built for that, but I like to point out that this actually bothers her a lot. Hanako loves her legs haha but doesn't admit it, Kou doesn't seem to care about it and he also likes (or liked) her romantically, but she didn't notice, the girl with her head in the clouds haha

Don't get angry with Mitsuba, no one escapes him hahaha no one, not even his own mother XD

In fact, your view is correct, the vast majority of things that happen to Nene are against her will, sometimes because she was too naive or because of the influence of other people. She and Kou are very similar, easily fooled by a sad or beautiful story, they are very easy to convince and manipulate. This is not stupidity, it is naivety. They act like children sometimes (not that I can ask much more than that from two teenagers) but they don't think twice before making decisions.

Nene simply swallowed a mermaid's scale without even hesitating, did she think about the consequences? That's about it.

Nene's complexes are more linked to common and more human problems compared to Kou, Mitsuba and Hanako. This explains why people don't care so much, don't these three's complexes seem to be heavier and more intense than Yashiro's? So, even if that is the case, it doesn't negate her problems. Because if she didn't have these problems she would never have summoned Hanako and the story wouldn't even exist XD

Let's see what Nene's backstory will be, I'm curious to know!

♡ ♡ ♡

[consoledacup]

I’ve just finished s5 of AA and I noticed something about Jordan specifically in regards to Layla. It’s almost like he quickly snaps,spirals or worries when he thinks she doesn’t take things seriously. Can you please weigh in on this because I truly don’t understand what that’s about?

Love this question. Astute observation, and I completely agree.

That floods back to his character journey from the beginning. He wants to be this badass leader that people look up to, just like his dad. But he's goofy and playful, and his dad has a hard time taking him seriously. He calls his dad out in 402 about that. His dad expected him to be a screwup, so he wasn't as mad as he was at the perfect son, Spencer James.

With his girlfriends in the past, they kinda ran the show. He became a stoner with Ripley, the stuff with Simone was pretty much always her call... as JJ points out crudely in 506. The minute he challenged either of them, problems arose.

Even this season, when he got Kenny his job, the team still wouldn't take him seriously as a leader.

With Layla, you're absolutely right. Pretty much all their fights happen when he doesn't think she takes him seriously. Layla gave him a wakeup call in 416. She saw leadership in him and didn't understand why he was hiding behind his affable nature. It made him reconsider how he viewed himself, and he finally started to look inward.

So we got that piece. He has a history of people not taking him seriously in the past. And he's not innocent in that and has very much contributed to that ideal.

But Layla has also been in his life most of his own. And he has seen her commitment to other guys. So when she's super cautious about committing to him, he's like, what, does she not take me seriously either?

He knows that she's cautious bc of what happened to her, and he's trying to respect that and is super understanding. But he confesses his feelings, and she's like, "uhhhh the Vortex, uhhhh you're my best friend, uhhhhh" and it kills him because he's never felt so seen or understood or as connected as he has with Layla.

Then in 505, when she's joking about his speed dating, it's clear to us, and probably him, that she's trying to play it off. But he's just so all in with her, and here she is saying she wouldn't want to stop him if he found someone better. And he's like, excuse me??? What about the heat she had for Spencer when he fell in love with Olivia or Asher when he cheated on her? Who is he, chopped liver?

Okay, and again, I love this ask because this is exactly what escalated the fight in 508. He was upset Layla brought Simone into their relationship, but he was more upset she didn't consult him about it. He saw them as this fortified team, and he saw her as someone who took his ideas and opinions and past seriously. And when she acted on her own accord, it upset him.

With 510, he wanted to defend her honor and she very clearly did not need it. And who is he if not a romantic who solves problems by punching? She was kinda challenging his identity, and it made him wonder if she really needed him as much as he needed her.

Then in 517, we don't see much, but he's clearly upset she's not prioritizing him in her life.

And in 520, he flat out says, "If you're not gonna take this seriously..." about the game, but obv about the proposal... he knew most people in his life wouldn't take him seriously at first once they found out he proposed to Layla. They'd bring up his past with Simone and his impulsivity, and he expected that. What he feared was Layla saw him the same way. She says, "Marriage is a big deal." And it gets to him because what is she implying there?? Just because he got married before means he didn't know how to take commitment seriously?

They function beautifully as a team, so his concern and worries are quickly assuaged each time. It's funny because their connection has prompted him to become much more mature and serious about things. But it's also prompted her to not take things so seriously and loosen up. So while they help each other develop these otherwise dormant sides of their personalities, it lends room for some growing pains because of it.

[true-myrmidon]

Hi! I'm just curious why you hate akane because it is very much a new opinion to me

Yeah I don't mind explaining!! It is a very uncommon opinion as she is a widely loved character in the ZE fandom.

◇ JUST A HEADS UP TO ANYONE READING: This is all just my opinion and how I perceive her character. Again, I know that most of the fandom likes her and I totally respect that because I can see why people would. I also acknowledge that she plays a critical role in the plot of all of the games! This is just how I feel, so please don't try to "change my mind", debate with me, or attack me for my opinion! I respect those who like her, I ask for the same back. Thank you!! ◇

Okay, so why I dislike Akane.

In general, I'm not a big fan of her personality. There's not exactly anything specific that I don't like about it? It's just that she never appealed to me. I was never focused on keeping her alive more so than other characters (as terrible as that sounds). Anytime she's on screen I kinda just tune her out. She doesn't hold my attention or have anything that makes me want to care about her.

I'm not a fan of how she treats Junpei. Which is another controversial opinion because a lot of people ship them. I don't doubt her feelings for him; I think they both love each other. But she is so focused on the whole saving the world thing that she can't reciprocate the feelings Junpei has in the way he wants. But she knowingly lets him chase after her his whole life. I mean, I'm sure if she was like "Hey, give up, I'm focused on saving the world", Junpei being Junpei probably wouldn't listen and would find her regardless. But at least an effort was made to try and protect him from throwing his life away for her.

I totally understand WHY she does what she does. She's a really complex character who is doing the best she can to save as many people as she can. But to me, sometimes her actions can come off as a bit manipulative and like she holds little regard for others at times.

She's been through a lot of traumatic events and she's trying to be good and save lives, and she's incredibly intelligent (and her design in ZTD is so adorable). But personally, as a character, I have never been a fan of her, and I've had this opinion since I first got into ZE. But you Akane lovers and supports, you continue to support your girl as much as you want. 😤 I'm not going out of my way to hate on others because I accept that majority of the fandom does not agree with my point of view.

[stagefullofentertainment]

Songs for Hazbin Hotel Characters (Playlists Series)

PART 2

Alright, next instalment, let’s go! For this one, I would love to discuss and put into their respectful playlists songs from a movie series that I consider dear to my soul. Let me introduce to you (or remind about) the Guardians of the Galaxy, films with the most awesome soundtrack!

I’ll admit, I was a huge MCU fan a few years ago but not so much anymore. I’m patiently waiting for the third GOTG volume, though! So, let me take you into these oldies but goodies songs’ journey! This part shall consist of being based on how much Hazbin characters would enjoy MCU movies, a song that would be up to their alley, plus – their favourite heroes.

A little disclaimer: I believe that probably nobody in this cast would be a huge superhero movies genre fan but that does not mean that they would not be fond of some of them!

HUSK

He is the one who most likely would enjoy MCU, in my opinion. Husk just seems like an action movie fan to me. You know that airport fight scene in “CA: Civil War”? That would be the highlight for him.

Just imagine him cleaning his bar and humming this song.

Favourite hero – Rocket Raccoon. I think that Husk would love this character and see some similar traits in himself.

CHARLIE

I’d like to think that Charlie is that person who gets excited about any possibility to expand her knowledge on anything, let it even be super hero movies. She would love seeing all the stories, laughing at funny moments and crying during death scenes. (I bet that she definitely read fanfics about found family/happy ending tropes in Avengers or Guardians).

She must have a musical number prepared in addition to this song, right?

Favourite hero – Spider – Man. Being a “kid” in a grown – up super hero work would be kind of a familiar setting for Charlie.

VAGGIE

She would enjoy most of these movies, plus some nostalgia would take a part in there. She was never in MCU fandom but understands why people love this series. Definitely did some quizzes with Charlie and Husk, like “Which Avenger are you?”, “Which MCU Team you’re on?” and much more to count.

This would be her “go to” happy song. A duet with Charlie, perhaps?  

Favourite hero – Black Widow. One of the strongest characters who does not need to rely on extraordinary powers.

ANGEL

His feelings about these movies would be 50/50. Some he would love; some don’t even give a chance. For the ones that he did like, Angel would comment about how useful or useless the fighting/weapons would be in Hell. I bet that he took some inspiration for the future Turf wars!

This song gives strong Angel vibes! Plus, named after his bestie!

Favourite hero – Loki. Yes, not exactly a hero, more of an antihero. Angel would enjoy watching his endeavours and overall story.

NIFFTY

She only agrees to watch these for the good – looking characters. Nothing more, nothing less. She is not interested in action, magic or world saving. Since there is not a lot of romance in MCU or it is pretty plain, Niffty quickly gets bored.

Niffty would sway and dance around to this song!

Favourite character – Thor. He is the best looking one for her. Plus, wonderful sense of humor.

ALASTOR

These movies are not this man’s cup of tea. Nope. He views them as a waste of time. Alastor would have only seen a few because of “A Must” movie night with others. He doesn’t care about the plot nor the characters. Shows a bit of interested during some funny dialogue, but that happens rarely.

Okay, it is a bit unconventional for him, but! Just skip the love parts and consider this as a song about business (friendship, if you squint) with Charlie. Like in the start of the series he means this only as a necessity, later it becomes genuine.    

Favourite hero – Doctor Strange. I just feel like Alastor would be pleased with this character.

That’s my takes and the end of part 2. Hope you revisited or found about some songs from both awesome mixtapes! I certainly can say that we had a Wham Bam Shang – A – Lang good time!