#so im glad im regarded similarly

[akinachiri]

i just wanna say thank u sm for the bday wishes!!! i have a weird complex when it comes to me and my source things that makes me feel like. im being weird as hell for talking abt source in these ways. so it rly does mean a lot to me that evryones onboard with my source shenanigans n r willing to properly celebrate this with me <3333333

[formula-fun]

my love. today I read your venom au finally (idk why I was putting it off, probs bc I wanted to enjoy as much of it as possible before I go into venom!max brain rot). RAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH ABSOLUTELY AMAZING FIC!!!!!!! DETHRONED YOUR OWN ABO FIC FROM MY LIST OF ALL TIME FAVESSSSSSSSS

in all seriousness tho, I loved it so much, max is so silly there:] he's just a big goopy lad who's obsessed with his human and I have to respect it (me too, mate, me too).

now my love, I have a question that burns me which I'm afraid I have to ask: how upset is max that he can't get his human pregnant? and does he make his indignation with charles' biology known? alternatively: mpreg? 🤲🏻? venom style mpreg? 🤲🏻🤲🏻? for me? 🤲🏻🤲🏻🤲🏻? lestappen with a lil goop baby that wrecks havoc and who lives in charles' pockets? 🤲🏻🤲🏻🤲🏻🤲🏻?

thank u for the fic mwah mwah kissing you loving you all that shabam

my LOVE! thank you sm i'm glad you liked it!! <3333 dethroning if i had words is CRAZY my evil little goo fic has come so far hashasahsah no i have so much fun writing them being silly and bullying each other in charles' brain, it's a good time!!

and im gonna write under the cut because i love this question, i have many many many thoughts. this is also gonna show how little regard i have for the source material unfortunately. but im having FUN

so i wrote a snippet a little while ago abt max's reproductive cycle because apparently this au wasnt weird enough, and basically long story short HE can get pregnant and has in the past, but symbiote babies are very vicious and hungry and their first act in life is usually either to eat their parent or be eaten. so max's parenting instincts are pretty nonexistent. they also reproduce asexually, so his mating instincts are similarly nonexistent. sort of. for a while

max is in love with everything about earth though. he loves that so many creatures instinctively care for the young of even other species, he loves that reproduction is a decision between two parties, he loves that humans devote so much of themselves to raising their young. he finds it all kind of sweet, but the weight of it didnt really click until charles found out max could have babies but was disappointed to learn they couldnt raise them and love them like humans do. its like he hadnt really considered that could even be possible for them, but once he learns there might be a way he goes all warm and soft and max is like ??

cause then max realizes all at once, like. he wants to make something with me. he wants to do the things that humans do when they raise their young, he wants to be with me forever and ever, he wants me because his oldest most ancient instinct thinks i would make a good mate and i would take good care of his babies. he wants to have sex because it feels good and he wants it to be me because he loves me, but maybe also he wants it to be me because he wants me to help him make something thats a little bit of both of us?? and welcome 2 earth alien blob max w a breeding kink

and i dont know, i would like to say they find a way around the problem eventually. maybe there's some way it works out? maybe it's some sort of nature vs nurture situation where max's babies end up being super chill because they were raised in a loving environment, or maybe symbiotes arent driven by a base urge to consume, it's just a product of their hive mind which has been silent since the civil war started. maybe any babies max has end up taking on a lot of charles' characteristics simply because charles was hosting him when they were created. it's possible they find a way around it and get a lil goo ball to call their own. maybe max almost does eat it until he feels how anguished charles is abt it, and then he looks down and registers that their baby is the same soft pink as charles' palms and eyelids and the tips of his ears, and all at once he just can't do it

but yeah definitely a lot of room here for exploration and discovery to say the least dfjskfjsdf

[khaire-traveler]

Its me @solarbeamz again! very confusing experiece i had recently related to a tarot deck... (also thanks for the advice on the last ask! still dont know what the presence was, but im still researching!)

I was pulling tarot about deity work (aka trying to connect with a VERY strong passion related presence i'd been experiencing recently), and instead ended up getting Athena? I'd made a few prayers around my finals week for advice, and a few burnings as tribute (due to school and a grattitude and such,) so i wasn't too suprised. But it was still shocking.

She asked me to make a piece of art related to my trans identity (or so i interpreteted) and when it was all done and finished, she said it was alrigh but not what she was looking for, and then left.

Is this normal for Athena??? or did i somehow mistake her? (i assume it was her because i pulled out a cark from my botany tarot deck which just straight up had her depicted on it, and she mostly confimed her presence?)

Hey, Solar, thanks for the ask! Glad you liked my last answer. :)

In my experience with Athena, that doesn't sound like something she'd do. If she encouraged you to create an art piece and you did, especially about something so personal, I can say with almost 100% certainty that she wouldn't react that way. Typically, for me, Athena is encouraging, persistent, and compassionate. She has always encouraged me to express myself, and when I do so, she has been more celebratory than anything. However, this is just my personal experience.

***Read the following with a respectful and non-judgmental tone; I promise I meant all of this with the best intentions!!!***

Instead, I think your interpretation may have included some personal projection of your own feelings. I know that sounds kinda weird, but hear me out. It's common for personal biases to make their way into the interpretation of a reading, especially a reading done for ourselves. Our relationships with ourselves often leak into the way we interpret the cards. If we are struggling with our identities or negative self-talk, we're likely to be harder on ourselves than necessary. I have experienced this myself many times, and it's something I'm still working through.

I've also noticed that, to attempt to confirm our interpretations, our anxiety or mental state will create the feeling of an entity's energy reacting a certain way, even if that entity isn't reacting like that in reality. This is where the struggle with "anxiety versus intuition" comes the most into play regarding divination. It could be that you had a similar experience where your anxiety over the situation potentially led you to feel that Athena's energy left, despite that not being the case, or if she did leave, it may not have been in the way you interpreted it.

Of course, if none of this sounds likely or resonates with you, then know you're welcome to ignore my suggestions. I'm not the end all, be all authority on anything (I'm not an authority at all, in fact), so take what you wish from this answer and leave what doesn't fit. This is all based on personal experiences that I've had, especially with divination specifically, and comes from the perspective of someone who struggles with anxiety and trauma.

Regardless, maybe talking to Athena again about the situation would be a good idea. If you feel that was her actual reaction, let her know that it hurt your feelings and how it did so. Tell her it's something you would appreciate avoiding in the future. You can say you've greatly appreciated her presence and assistance in your life as well, to end what you're saying more positively.

That said, I hope you were able to find something helpful in this. I wish you the best on your journey and hope you're able to work things out with Athena. This definitely doesn't sound like her to me, but I encourage you to trust your intuition in the situation. What feels truthful to you? Why does it feel truthful? Has Athena ever treated you similarly in the past? Have you ever had experiences where someone rejected you for being trans/expressing yourself before (this question can help determine if you may be projecting unintentionally)? These are great questions in figuring out what you feel is truthful. Take care, Sol, and have a good day/night. <3

[placeinthisworld]

i am relating to SO much of what im reading on ur blog rn. do not get me wrong - i LOVE ttpd and love taylor. it's kind of one of those things that's like "always have, always will." im always going to be so grateful for her work and this community, and as i said - i AM loving the music rn!

BUT. she feels different, and feels so far away. i know we are not owed her time or attention, but when you've built your entire brand on fan connection and being "different" than any other celebrity in that regards, it's going to feel off and unexpected when it suddenly stops with no explanation. most of her little interaction is on tiktok, which is half the time not with actual fans, but rather anyone who uses her song in the background (which a lot of times is influencers!) ppl say "yeah but now she does so much more for us" .... yeah... so many new THINGS to buy.

i also think she's at a place where she KNOWS she is on top of the world rn (good for her!) but it has come with a complex - she knows now she doesnt NEED to be close with her fans, doesnt NEED to use her platform for good, doesnt NEED to take constructive criticism - because the gp likes her enough to where she doesn't even need a strong centralized fanbase. as of rn, no opposition can make a dent in her fame or income and she knows it. and it feels icky, and honestly makes her feel less human (which is interesting, because the ttpd is imo some of the most raw humanlike work)

the new social circle is off too. i dont hate travis, and i was happy for her, but have come to like him less and less since realizing he's a bit sleazy and is kind of only liberal for pay. he's publicly made r*pe jokes and xenophobic comments in the past couple years (NOT from 15 year old tweets! recent!) his dad is also super transphobic and mahomes brother is a charged SAer yet taylor gallavants w both of them. travis just seems like an oaf and while im glad she had something more easy and fun, it's telling that there's been a lack of backlash towards him when he's exhibited the same behavior as matty and the only things taylor could write ab him were sports and high school references. i hate to even touch on her personal life like this but god forbid this is a forever thing :/ omg this is a lot but yeah im glad we're having this convo

yup!! bestie your feelings are so valid and i feel very very similarly about everything!!

she knows she doesn’t need to appeal to a niche audience of tween girls anymore. she knows she’s beyond that. fate worked its magic and now she’s america’s it girl without any of drama of having to censor her work. and while yes i’m very proud and happy for her, you’re exactly right, she’s more than happy to continue to push things for us to buy in order to feel close to her. she’s already established a group of life long fans by those who she’s interacted with, invited to things, sent money too etc. so she really doesn’t have to do anything else besides make more music and have the world speculate about her personal life. at the end of the day she just feels sooooo disconnected to us now, compared to how we used to have it at least.

ugh i knew icky meathead was sleazy without even needing taylor to bring him into the limelight but now everyone and their mom is obsessed and up his ass too. EVEN with all those gross things about him (we all saw the recent commencement speech excuse 🤢) he’s definitely democratic for pay. i definitely don’t think he’s gonna stick around forever, either he’ll fuck up and get caught w another girl or she’ll get bored of his ass (speculating that this is a legit relationship and not PR at least lol) she’s a girl that needs a new boy every now and then i fear.

generally i’m just disappointed in her now in a lot of aspects. but completely disconnecting from the world, acting like a whole ass genocide is not actively happening, only ever promoting of talking about herself or her own work just seems so bland and selfish. she’s mentioned voting like what, twice this year? in generic ghost written sentences on an IG story?

[hyenagurl]

Opinion on drag queens? I can’t stand them tbh

im glad you asked tbh bc frankly i can’t really pinpoint my feelings entirely on them, its changed a lot over the years. when i was a 17-20 i was a HUGE drag race fan and i watched the show and posted on the subreddit, and this was when i first started exploring radical feminism so i wasnt unaware of the critiques going on about them here either. i guess back then i thought it was all in good fun. then a few years ago i lost interest in the show and like you i couldnt stand them anymore, i wrote them all off as overrated, sexist and tasteless caricatures of overblown femininity at best and actual degrading pornographic hateful stereotypes of women at worst (i considered then and now drag queens like trixie mattel, katya, detox icunt and raven to be the worst in this regard).

nowadays… im somewhere in the middle. while i dont know if i personally would go so far as to call it art (at least no more than i would consider the performance of femininity itself an ‘art’) i understand that it has its own history amongst gay men and i do think some of it has genuine merit as performance art - as in, some queens do put in the effort to make their own costumes, do their own choreography, etc. but on the other hand for that, if it is going to be evaluated as a performance art, then like other forms of art it should absolutely be held to the same standards of criticism, and shouldnt be shielded from that criticism just bc its an art created primarily by a marginalized group of gay men (or HST trans women). and thats where the very real feminist critiques on the misogyny in drag comes in, and it disgusts me that any concerns women have are written off as us being joykills or no better than conservative pukes or whatever. gay men are still capable of being misogynist towards women so it shouldnt be surprising at all that a good portion of drag queens are performing a sexist caricature of women (like the ones i mentioned above, those are considered to be the most famous and successful, go figure).

i think what really cemented this view in my mind was this clip that went viral awhile ago of this drag queen running around in a public space with this huge ridiculous floppy breastplate that was bouncing around… but then he ran into this group of children and he IMMEDIATELY cringed and covered himself. and it kinda just clicked for me for how weird some of this is, in a way that nobody but feminists were talking about. you have this grown man gleefully running around with this gross and porny and realistic looking piece of womens flesh worn over his body, because thats supposed to be funny and entertaining, and everyone takes it a face value and doesnt wonder what that says about how we view womens bodies?

i think the conservative backlash towards them in general is massively overblown, i dont think drag queens are in themselves inappropriate to be near children because feminine men are not inappropriate, altho i do think naked men or men wearing realistic breast plates or fetish gear ARE inappropriate to be around children, but thats just common sense lol, and yet both leftists and right wing morons fail to grasp this, that not all drag is child friendly, and similarly that some drag is misogynistic as well. (alot of them are mostly overrated as performers too…)

so yeah tldr i have mixed feelings towards them that can be best summed up as a passive annoyance or ambivalence. i agree that some of its very misogynistic and offensive, but that it varies from queen to queen. im sorry if this was meandering, im still trying to figure out my feelings towards them, and im hoping i can find some more feminist critiques on them to help me gather my thoughts towards them better lol

[ghosttotheparty]

diff anon here- im glad to see i've found someone who thinks similarly! the only difference is that i find myself a little more open to people writing redemption arcs or alternate timelines in which he joins the party some way or another. not complete ooc rewrites, thats just people being in denial, just some canon divergence. but ive been keeping that to myself because im too scared someone will call me out and tell me to pick a side or something like that, so seeing your answer gave me some hope in making friends in this fandom just yet!

yes!! i would be so down for billy to have a redemption arc or for him to grow as a character but it never happened and most ppl act like it did in the final scene w el just bc she showed him a memory of his childhood

i read a fic a while ago (can’t remember what it was called) in which steve said that he wanted to try to explain to billy what was going on and why max was at the byers house w steve but billy went inside before he could say anything and i think that could have been a good arc moment; billy might not have listened just bc of who he is a character but if he’d seen something (like a demo dog or the nail bat or something else that’s just Weird enough for him to actually ask questions instead of throwing hands) i think it would have been nice for him to grow as a person and become a big brother for max (and obv he’d have to grow as a person in regards to his racism and apologise to lucas)

i also think max rly rly deserves a big brother which is why i love her and steve’s relationship so much but it would have been nice for billy to just,,, not be such a douche

[atxxzist]

Hey I saw your ask before and thank you for updating and letting us view your old fics, especially blacklist! It's one of the first ones I came across this page and ever since I've been hooked on your writing bc 🤌 it's that GOOD

I was legit going to re read this fic the other day (im sorry that you don't like it as much since its old work you've posted but I'm in love with that fic:() I wish I could express more how much i loved those characters and story itself!! But your also valid to feel the way you do 😋 your work is amazing, your stories are refreshing to read, keeps people hooked and your characters are amazing. I love your plot lines and plot twists (also your smut?? Excuse me you write it so fucking great 😭 the tension, i feel it when reading and the description is top tier💙 (i know there's no smut in blacklist but the tension was amazing)

😭 u r 2 sweet and always flatter me way 2 much. also ty for always taking the time to send in these messages.

i started the blog almost a year ago and the first part to blacklist was the 3rd work ive ever put out (if counting that atrocious first fic ive written for san which ive made private so long ago and still hasnt looked at ever since) and i think i've said this before but it was never meant to be a series. idek why i made the first part so open ended 🙃 even worse, i wasn't rlly serious when i was writing the first part which is why it kind of had a very sarcastic/snarky/straightforward tone to it and y/n was very kind of judgmental but as the story went on (especially when i resumed it on chapter 3 after finishing my first series) u can see she kind of toned it down and was a lot more down to earth and not so caricaturish? i think?!

more under the cut bc i cant stop talking

sorry im just venting 😭 but as u can see, i have a lot of regrets regarding the series lollll. but i am very grateful bc many seemed to like it, so ty guys truly ❤️ i just wish i would've built a better foundation during the first chapter so i could expand on that and give the characters even more depths bc aside from y/n, seonghwa, and hongjoong, i felt like we never got to know much about the other characters. it was like they were just there to uplift the main three (even sumi didnt serve much purpose). especially seonghwa's group had a lot of potential. and u won't believe this, but at one point, i considered a loveline between sumi and san LOL just thought it would've been interesting bc of her being y/n's friend and san being a bAdBoY but seonghwa was already enough of a headache and i think it would've played out somewhat very similarly to my current series anyways so im glad i didn't.

BUT ANYWAYS! i'm so sorry for the word vomit! i remember when i got your very first message 4 blacklist, it made me so happy. ty 2 u and everyone else who loved it and i hope to one day give it the justice it deserved bc i actually love the concept. writing the series taught me a lot of things i can now apply to my newer works so they can b even better <3

have a wonderful day!

[gentil-minou]

Regarding sentiadrien as a metaphor for disability. I remember in early concepts they were gonna have Adrien use a cane, but the higher ups weren't sure if they could portray it right so it was cut. If sentiadrien really is supposed to be a metaphor for disability as a replacement for what they considered including in the show for real? That's an unfortunate change imo

I've never personally disliked sentiadrien as a concept, but that angle in particular? I don't know if that's the best.

Respectfully, I would have to disagree. I think these two would be entirely different, and that is based on how they might play out.

The issue with the original concept is that Adrien would need a cane but Chat Noir (presumably) would not. This sends a message that a disability is something to pity, that heroes should not have one. I'm glad they scrapped it as it sends a very ablest message. They may still bring it back though, and do something like @sabertoothwalrus all left au (actually i cant remember if it was them or tizzymcwizzy so apologies if im mistaken) and save it for the end, to show that no matter what he's a hero. I think that would be better because the message changes.

Similarly, I think sentiadrien could be done the same way. People seem to think that in order for Adrien to be okay, he needs to become human and THIS IS NOT WHAT I WANT. I want Adrien to take back his own freedoms, specifically cataclysm the ties that bind him to the ring so he can't be controlled or destroyed. But he would still be a sentibeing. He would still have his "disability" and be seen the same way.

As someone who also has a disability others can't see, it's very isolating. I always worry people might think of differently of me if I mention it, or treat me with pity. For years I never even said anything. But I've lived and thrived despite my disability and it isn't something I think needs to be fixed or pitied. It's just part of me, like everything else. I don't need to change, but the world surely does.

I think this could be a powerful message in the show without targeting any one specific disability but rather all of them (especially ones like mine that you can't see). Because they could follow the route where Adrien reveals himself as a senti and the world changes in that people learn not to let their bias go against him. Instead, he is free to be who he is, and the world becomes a little more accessible.

I think representation of all kinds matters, and this is something I don't think other shows have done. That's why I like it so much, because it clear for me as an adult but also I can show it to a kid and be like wow, you felt the same way once. And I think that could be powerful.

Tldr: definitely think treating sentiadrien as a disability could be handled well with a positive message, and i have faith in the writers.

[cosmicangst]

hope this didn’t get sent multiple times😭😭 1) hii I’m the nightshade anon. I sometimes saw mixed reviews so I was honestly really surprised by how good it actually is. To me it’s better than most “popular” ones but I can see why some aspects of it might drive potential players away (the age gaps and cousin li lmao). I was really pleasantly surprised by Enju! (also her smirking face is so funny to me) She’s def passive in many cases but I found her stances believable most of the time-

one of us one of us one of us

love hearing your thoughts and seeing where we vibe similarly and where we diverge. i wasn’t actually aware this one received mixed opinions! then again my moral boundaries are admittedly more permeable in the face of good storytelling and this one in particular is well loved in the communities i frequent (like the r/otomegames subreddit there’s a lot of likeminded freaks there lol) so that’s an honest surprise. but i get and sympathize w the aversion for sure

idk what it is about kuroyuki but he scratches some itch in my id that makes me appreciate his creep factor. my otome logic usually follows that agency and a clear and definite arc (preferably a transformation of active growth) for the heroine are my priority but that can be easily displaced by a specific type of yandere borderline or yandere lite hero. i identify him as such bc straight out yandere feel flatter to me as characters and their gestures of love really have nothing to do w their object of fixation and are just reflections of their own ego

whereas while a borderline yandere like kuroyuki can have toxic and unhealthy predilections it’s apparent that his fixation on enju is grounded by as much genuine love and regard for her as a yandere’s typical self-subservience. kuroyuki will go against her wishes for her sake but the power dynamics here clearly indicate that she has more power over him than the kind he tries to exert over her. an ordinary yandere just preys over the heroine in the guise of “love”. kuroyuki will disregard healthy boundaries but it’s always in service of her. he’s always under her bend regardless

and on the opposite end of that im an absolute sucker for a functional adult of a king whose behavior and character are a complete 180 and that’s why i love hanzo so much lmao my taste in otome men are a diverse mess

yes!!!! i support enju dismantling the system or at least killing those shitty lords who used her as a pawn. she deserves some retribution. the closest we get is whenever she faced her dad after finding her own power but i can’t complain about those moments as they were always 👌

wish we got a fandisc too! i don’t wish for a sequel necessarily as im quite happy w the good/canon endings but if we somehow had like a radio drama or just extra snippets exploring enju’s childhood and bonds w everybody for example i’d be so happy.

anyway thanks for sending me your thoughts! really enjoyed reading them and im glad you liked it. nightshade’s one of the few digital otome that has a permanent spot in my switch menu bc i love revisiting it (for hanzo’s route lol)

[liquidstar]

hi i saw your post bout pro ship going around and Im?? I mean you deleted it so I guess that means u changed ur mind (i also read ur other asks so I know ur not One of Those)

i just find it so weird that pro ship is associated with pedophilia bc like..I always thought it meant "idc if u ship stucky or stony go ship whatever u want"! but now this whole thing reminds me of steven universe fans making an artist depressed for drawing a character thinner or lighter and bc of that i find myself siding with Pro-ship rather than those... but I just wish people dont think pro ship meant oh! i support incest and lolicon ://

as someone in the spectrum this whole discourse is especially so difficult. i also dont want to get "cancelled" when i say Pro-ship (the one with the meaning i believe in) is good bc I really dont want drama at all, but the term that I thought that should he positive and drama free IS the drama itself. ugh. sorry for the rant.

but anyways that post you deleted about hitting people with car is :/ yikes. it just gives me Toxic Fandom vibes, death threats arent cool no matter who it is. im glad you deleted it! posts similar to that are the reason why I feel like "pro ship" looks less toxic tbh even if I dont have any problematic ships and I dont approve of them either.

sorry if this ask is long! I just type this way when im thinking of a lot of things!

anon.... i deleted the post bc i was sick of getting pedo apologists writing essays in my notes about why jacking off to child porn is actually ok and healthy and getting harassment from them. yeah, surprise surprise, the people who defend cp harass people and only use the "harassment" thing as a way to create a weird strawman character to gain the moral highground. but it was the "pro shippers" who just a few months back harassed a voice actor with images of cp because they said they were uncomfortable with it because of their trauma. clearly though theyre the good guys who want safety in fandom spaces, right anon?

i stand by everything i said 100% and if you cant understand why youre either ignorant or lack critical thinking completely based on the way you just assume that Obviously i must have come around to the "pro ship" way despite its links to pedo apologism. if the fine line between you and someone who jacks off to lolicon hentai is so thin you need to distinguish between it every time you talk about it theres a problem. there is no "good version" of it, its just a foot-in-the-door tactic to make you slowly become more OK with their batshit logic over time. its intentionally designed that way. of-fucking-course people associate "pro-ship" with pedophilic content, you yourself literally had to distinguish between those parts of the "community" and i feel like i need to remind you that the whole "pro-ship" thing came side-by-side with MAPs but was later watered down to seem more friendly and welcoming, to trick people into thinking its just a friendly fandom place.

as if you cant be against harassment or bad faith media criticism without being "pro ship". similarly you can be against pedophilic content w/o being an "anti" and i dont consider myself one bc thats a huge strawman caricature, even you yourself used phrasing in that regard lol, i guess im not "one of those" because im not someone with weird "us-vs-them" groupthink. but that being said im obviously against the community that welcomes people who blindly support cp based on an all-or-nothing mentality and borderline cultlike tactics built into it, ones that youre playing straight into. if you have good intent get the fuck out of there while you still can and start examining yourself more. and get the fuck out of your own head with this fear of being "canceled"

idk which post you read that you took that away that i "changed my mind" but go read these instead instead of projecting what you must think is the "correct opinion" onto me

[princeseerow]

actually ive been thinking about race in animorphs because its what inspired that last post. because animorphs sure does make some... interesting choices in that regard

so we have two and a half protagonists of color in the series. i say half because ax isnt a human unless hes in his human morph, which probably is a person of color since hes a perfect blend of the kids. i say probably though because (iirc) a physical description is never given except that everyone thinks hes hot. interestingly enough he can feasibly pass as a berenson cousin around school, which makes me think that either human!ax is pretty white-passing or that the berenson family tree is a little more diverse than i initially assumed lol

anyway, aside from him, its kind of interesting that marco and cassie dont seem to have close relationships with any other people of color in their lives aside from each other. cassie has her parents, but theyre, you know, parents. she allegedly has a niece that was mentioned a single time, but since that concept is eventually dropped in favor of cassie presumably being an only child, i assume thats just a cousin or a family friend. she doesnt seem to have any other friends outside of the animorphs, at least not close or even used-to-be close like rachel and melissa

marco is in a similar boat -- no mentioned outside friends, no siblings or similarly aged cousins, and the only parent he lives with during the series is depressed and distant after the loss of his wife (and i think peter is white? i cant recall if its ever mentioned)

cassie is ALSO the only animorph not to have a family member involved in the war in any meaningful way until the relocation happens, which means we dont get any recurring black characters besides her parents. this is... both a good and bad thing, i think? on the plus side, animorphs' family members generally have pretty rotten luck in the narrative, and im very glad the series avoided any sort of uncomfortable allusions to a black person specifically being enslaved as a plot point. obviously yeerks take black hosts, just statistically, but at least its not a constant reminder

on the downside... i truly think that cassie not having a family member or even a friend being a controller meant it was easier for her to sympathize with the yeerks, because i sincerely doubt she could have otherwise. so congratulations, our only black protagonist has a plot dedicated to "understanding" the slavers' plight. buuuut on the other upside, she's also the animorphs who ends the series the most "okay", so maybe this is a win for black representation actually, lmao

[mithliya]

we dont agree on things but thanks for being a radfem that calls out racism. it's horrible dealing with them.

i just hope that while being critical of misogyny this side of tumblr can also consider misogynoir and racism in the context of woc,,,,, im glad other ppl feel similarly to me in that regard ❤️ so thank u for that

[calangkoh]

hi!! I love your blog and reading ur opinions on fma (mostly from 03) and i noticed that you recently watched cos, i wanna ask, what are your opinions on Alfons Heiderich?

Thank you!! <3

I do have a lot of thoughts about him.

I think in the movie he was so close to the end of his life with his illness that he was desperate, and he was also mirroring the elric brothers in the series with the theme of selfishly pursuing a goal and ignoring/believing himself separate from the world around him. Like how ed was part of the military but frequently defended himself and asserted how he’s not “really” part of it and he “has” to be for his own goal. Another instance of CoS reinforcing the themes of the series in a real-world lens. Alfons made the right choice in the end, and that’s what matters to me regarding his character.

I don’t really consider him to be like Al. Even if he is mirroring the brothers, he’s more mirroring Ed. I don’t think Al in any fma canon would just be like “the people im working for believe in racial supremacy and wanna exterminate others? listen i just wanna do alchemy okay?” and we know the parallel universe version of fma characters arent perfect copies. so even if he is al’s counterpart, i dont think it (at least that one aspect) reflects anything on our al.

i think their dynamic is (as ive described in shitposts) like a hilarious “i found a seemingly insane guy on the street who is just beaming with personality and excitement and im struck with this urge to adopt him and big brother him as much as humanly possible” and alfons watched ed lose his excitement and give up and become depressed over time and started to become sadder or more hopeless himself as a result. i think (or headcanon) his desperation in the movie as being largely affected by edward, his last source of hope, essentially giving up on HIM. It hurts and pushes him to be more selfish and angry with ed enough to strike him, even if from the audience’s eyes ed didnt do anything wrong. And this isnt to justify alfonse’s actions, of course. Just explain.

We know it was planned for alfons to have a crush on noah (and the opening scene seems to imply this) for love triangle purposes and im glad they didnt go that route. I remember they implied a love triangle with the brothers and winry in the series and i just dont like it. love triangles can be interesting but i do not need it splitting up the brothers, and i dont think it fits their characters or how devoted they are to each other to ever let a girl come between them. Similarly, even if its not OUR al, i still think it wouldnt fit their characters. if alfons was jealous that ed was taking an interest in noah (and not even a romantic interest. i believe ed in every situation is either very oblivious to any romance or flirting, or he’s very aware of it but pushes it away/avoids it because he’s too focused on his aspirations to indulge in it [i even think he thinks he doesnt DESERVE to slow down and indulge in a romantic relationship]) the writers were smart to have alfons shove those jealous feelings down and be happy that ed’s spirit has been lifted and he’s getting close with another person. Its more like our al, and its just nicer to see than a shoehorned conflict.

alfons is interesting. i dont vibe with the hate he gets, personally, not that he gets a lot of it, just that the hate he does get is REALLY passionate (and thats okay, i understand. just like how i understand hate for mustang but still personally adore his character flaws and all). he’s a one shot character that i wouldve liked to see more development for. but at least i have headcanons.

[opinionatedqueer]

Greys Anatomy let your characters go challenge

ot Disclaimer - this is my opinion and you are absolutely free to disagree with me on this! I’d love to have a conversation about it, but please don’t be mean thank you!

Over so many years and seasons it is obvious that some characters are going to leave and new ones will join. And that is normal, and necessary for the show to keep going and to not turn boring. Mostly, that works fine, some people will be upset about a character leaving, others will be happy, same thing for new characters, rinse and repeat. 

Its pretty well known in the fandom that the characters get written off in ways that reflect the way the actor was like on set. Meaning, if they were assholes, they would leave in dishonorable ways, and if they were nice, their character would get a happy or heroic ending. (One big example of this would be Isaiah Washington, whose character Burke left by leaving his fianceé at the altar after he outed TK Knight as gay and harrassed him for his sexuality. TK Knights Character George died from saving a woman who was about to get hit by a bus.) 

However, in most of these situations the caracter left the show because the actor didn’t want to/couldn’t play them anymore for whatever reason.

The other option was characters getting written of for plot reasons, not because of the actor. And here is were Greys Anatomy sometimes can’t let go.

The reason that i was inspired to even write this post was the most recent episode (S17EP14 Look up child). In this episode, the character April Kepner returns to introduce a way to get another Character, Jackson Avery, to leave the show with her. 

April Kepner is a character introduced in the sixth season as a extremely religious and insecure character, who slowly works herself up to being a trauma surgeon. Over most of her plotline, her “main thing” is that she is inexperienced regarding romantic and sexual matters, saving herself for marriage because of religious reasons. At some point she breaks this promise by sleeping with Jackson Avery the day of their board exams, which she ends up failing. They continue to have sexual interactions until they at some point break up and April meets the Paramedic Matthew. They get together and plan to get married, however both April and Jackson still have feeling for each other despite both dating other people. Jackson ends up confessing his love to her at her and Matthews wedding, and they run away together and marry each other in some random small church on the way. They get pregnat, the kid has fucked up bones and dies immediately after birth, following which April decides to join the military as a trauma surgeon for a three month tour. Se ends up staying longer, losing more and more contact with Jackson and they decide to divorce shortly after she comes home. She realises she is pregnant, but doesn’t tell Jackson to not complicate the divorce, but guess what, it does it anyways. They figure it out after a while and want to raise their child as coparents. In the fourteenth season April has another crisis of faith and becomes a really wild partygoer to deal with that, eventually sorts her shit out and gets back together with Matthew. They leave the show to take care of homeless people in seattle, good for her.

Personally, i was glad when she left. I didn’t like April, she was annoying and insecure and holier that thou religious. Even other characters and actors describe her character as that (though in the “and thats charming” way, which... noo...). She had shortly left the show before for a few episodes at a time, for example when she was in the military or for a short while before it was made public that she was back together with Matthew. And every time she came back, and it just felt weird. These could have been good endings for her, but they kept bringing her back.

Similarly, the relationship between her and Jackson kept being revived, despite clearly not working. There were multiple episodes specifically marketed as “Japril” Episodes, and they were all annoying and just ended with them deciding again that their relationship didn’t work, no surprise there. 

And now, in the recent episode, she returns again. And gets back together with Jackson. I get that she just came back to create an open for him to leave, but i still think it wasn’t necessary. Jackson actual argument for leaving is that he wants to take over his family foundation to create more equality in medicine.

 (This season heavily features current 2020/2021 topics, and the episodes about the black lives matter situation was actually pretty well made in my opinion, especially the station 19 episode (i have seen PoC talk positively about the episodes and they felt good to me as someone who is very invested in the movement, but i am a white person so please correct me if I’m wrong here))

And that would have been a good exit already, i don’t understand why April had to come back at all.

I assume it was just fanservice, since she actually had a pretty big fanbase during her time on the show, and a lot of people really like their ship. 

But, to me, it just feels like the writers are too lasy to come up with new storylines for the characters and just keep bringing together and then spltting up their couples. And that is annoying, in my opinion, sometimes you jut have to now when a certain plot point gets boring and you might want to come up with something new. 

Japril just didn’t work, but they still kept getting pushed together just to break up again. I really hope that both of them finally leave for good and don’t just randomly come back.

I guess my point is, the show needs to learn when to get rid of certain characters and plotlines. Even if you have to kick a fan favourite, sometimes thats just what a show needs to be able to grow and get better or even just stay good.

(I realize that starting this blog with a post about Greys Anatomy might be counterproductive, but i don’t care. All my friends are gay and don’t really give a shit about it and i personally dont even think its a good show but i have been watching this shit since like seventh grade and now im just somehow attached to it. Point is no one is actually gonna understand if i were to talk about this show irl, but thats what the internet is there for amirite)

[cruddyborderlandstheories]

this DLC has me FUCKED UP and i keep screaming

spoilers for Bounty of Blood under the cut, keep reading at ur own peril. Also some Guardian Takedown spoilers for anyone who hasn’t beat it yet

tl;dr: a comparison between something taken from BL2 and a thing taken from Bounty of Blood. more spoilery tl;dr below the cut.

also the siren thing is not spoilers so i’ll share it here for anyone curious, it’s just this: siren tattoos are blue but when lily absorbs eridium in 2, they turn pinkish/purple. just like how vaults do from bl1 to bl2. they’re white/blue in bl1, then purple-pink in bl2 (and tps), y’know, after Eridium begins erupting from the ground. just a neat little detail i noticed that im not entirely sure was intentional but im gonna believe it is.

tl;dr: Gythian Blood = Core and the Ruiner is of Eridian Origin even tho everyone in the DLC likes to say it was created with Jakobs’ bioengineering. disclaimer: idk if I’ve found every hidden ECHO so I may be missing a few things but I have done every side quest and took ample screenshots of all important dialogue in the DLC : )

“man i just sat here for like 15 minutes staring at my keyboard mentally comparing core and eridium like the dumb bitch i am. 

it's not like we can do an actual comparison because we have no idea what the natural fauna of gehenna was like before jakobs came and mutated everything with core unlike pandora where we know what skags and rakk and shit were like BEFORE the eridium crust erupted. 

altho!!! there's a neat comparison between joey ultraviolet and rose. like obviously he wasn't getting tattoos and was just doing lines of crushed up eridium but the point stands they both have glowy eyes and unique powers so i don't necessarily think this means rose is a siren just because she has magic powers especially when we know she got the whistling passed down to her from her grandmother. 

especially because we've never seen a siren interact with core before. altho that leaves the question we have seen core tattoos now what are eridium tattoos like? actually rose's tattoos were on her right arm obviously she isn't a siren as we know them right now (I saw a post on reddit where people thought rose was a siren) 

of course that brings up the point perhaps siren tattoos ARE eridium tattoos. but then we hear the general's log about how the devil riders were tattooing a man with core and blood so obviously they're not ‘naturally’ occurring unlike siren tattoos. so odds are they're probably not equivalents but something interesting i thought of while thinking about this is how well siren tattoos compare to the Vaults from borderlands 1 and borderlands 2″

anyway. this is all ive been thinking about. yes yes i know guardian takedown post but! >:( im still salty even tho this update has been lovely (outside of Blane not getting his correct damage scaling ‘till today......). so i’ll do that at my own damn pace. now let me elaborate so i can sleep at night lmao

Eridium

refinement produces slag, which weakens people and can mutate things

has mutating properties, mostly with imbuing elements into shit- possibly causes insanity

seems to be connected to another dimension, likely the one the Eridians are from

Core

has a secondary form of Infused Core

has mutating properties, mostly regarding a thing’s body and mind

apparently radioactive

there are some things i wanna note

1) People throughout the DLC say the Ruiner was created by the Jakobs corp (the company) thru bio-engineering but I’m 99% sure that’s not true. The paperwork seems to me like they found the egg somewhere on Gehenna and decided to roll and experiment with it like all corporations do when they find weird alien shit. so maybe they experimented with whatever was inside the egg, but I don’t think they actually created it entirely

“Excavated from [REDACTED] ... Local legends speaks of a [REDACTED]. This theory is not endorsed by our research personnel.

2) The Ruiner’s design reminds me a lot of the Warrior.

3) Core immediately reminded me of Gythian Blood from Guns Love and Tentacles and I don’t think that’s coincidence to have 2 back-to-back DLCs where the big bad is focused on green death juice. I think Gythian Blood and Core are of the same stuffs.

4) Therefore, I think the Ruiner is (mostly) of Eridian origin (if you haven’t already guessed). 

This gives us an amazing look into how the Eridians actually create their beasts!!! And I’m so happy they showed us this.

(side note, Interitus Regina (the long name for Ruiner) literally means Destruction Queen and I think that’s beautiful <3)

i mean the idea that they plunge them from orbit to create an explosion similar to a nuke is fucking horrifying (but holy shit I love it so much ahhh it’s so cool!!!!)

the one side line from Oletta about how the company couldn’t control the Ruiner deffo makes me double down on this theory. I’m not entirely sure how Rose’s grandma knew about the whistling (I don’t think I’ve found every echo log in that area YET), but I would bet it was part of the testing given how many fuckin’ tape players they have throughout the facility. The Warrior was controlled by verbal commands via Jack, so it’s possible that the Ruiner was intended to be controlled similarly, but Jakobs intervention (or something like the way Rose hatched it) fucked it up.

now we know the Warrior was created to protect the Vault of the Destroyer (hmm.) so what the heck was the Ruiner created for? Ruiner is a name given to it by Jakobs/the people of Gehenna so we can’t really assume, but then again the monster names are pretty apt in this series even tho they probably technically shouldn’t be. 

it was only an egg, so maybe it was another test of Core? A Vault Monster incubating until it was ready to protecc and attacc but was never hatched because the Eridians ‘sacrificed’ themselves before it could? (I’m still not convinced the Eridians are the good guys. Listen. LISTEN. The guardian takedown is something to think about, BUT it doesn’t disprove that theory and I’ll stand by it because I 100% trust the Overseer more than bitchpants mcgee over here who thinks he’s soooo special for no reason fuck you and your dumb ‘I did what the Watcher could not’ bull you haven’t done shit.) ok sorry im done he just angers me. stupid guardian man. your whip is stupid and you should feel bad. oh also I totally called us actually being Guardians thru Guardian Rank before the game came out aha yeah.

I definitely think Gythian was a test/use of Core from the Eridians. We see in Bounty of Blood that core seems to mutate more the physical (and occasionally mental) parts of people, like with the crew challenges u do for Juno with all the weird hybrid people and whatnot. Gythian had the whole ‘the heart still beats’ thing going on (which is definitely a physical mutation if i’ve ever seen one), plus the whole, you know, mind control and shit. Which is p similar to what the menta gnats can do when charged with Infused Core. And keep in mind in BLaT we see DAHL notes on what happens to test subjects when injected with Gythian Blood. They mutated physically and went insane.

What im saying is Sirens and Eridium and Elements are connected, so what does Core equal? body/mind sure but are there unique creatures for core (yes holy shit I’m not talking about h2o au for once and FINALLY they gave us a canon name for the green stuff!!!). If not, I’d love to see a Siren interact with Core to see what it does to them. seriously why hasn’t tannis interrupted us yet. horrible excuse for a science lover (kidding kidding, I love her). I’d also really love a fuller rundown on what the hell Rose’s powers were. Because the whistling thing seemed to just be her grandma’s thingie passed down to her from her mom

but the core stuff

her gun seems to be infused with it. So did her sword thing. I didn’t really get a good look at it i was too busy trying to see thru my blurry tears of LOVE for this DLC.

Strangely while her tattoos are (mostly) green I actually don’t know if they’re core infused bc look at this

n look back at hers. hers aren’t very lime.

anyway

her eyes

I’d love to know if the core gives her immediate future sight or just increased perception or reaction times. there’s a huge difference but she seemed to be able to shoot the gun outta the sheriff’s hand near immediately and it seems kinda implied its because of the core (or at least because her eyes are glowing green)

there’s a possibility she has some unique core powers/possibly implants because of her relations to the project in the first place, or as leader of the devil riders after looting the facility. it’s really hard to say without more info and like i said im not sure if i missed an ECHO or two or not regarding her backstory :( 

Her hair is also green which I just noticed. Maybe she has core powers bc her grandmother got suuuuuuuuper irradiated/influenced working on project horizons and it passed down thru her n Rose’s mom, to Rose. Tannis does have a line about Sirens having unique hair colors and, if Sirens are linked to Eridium, perhaps those linked to Core also have unique hair color. Could also explain why only Rose seems to have those whistling powers. That said we don’t really see anyone else trying that whistling thing out afaik and idk if it was, like, a special ability or a certain tone/ditty or w h a t. 

i know being vague with everything gives them more creative freedom to create amazing characters and scenarios, but dammit I want A N S W E R S.

All THAT said man I’m so glad magic is real in the borderlands universe. oh, sorry, “magic”. It’s magic. Science it, tannis, I dare you. either way, I win. Either it’s magic and H2O AU is canon, or it’s science and I finally get my goddamn answers. Hey gearbox can you make a book just explaining all the science and eridian stuff. please. I’d love you forever. please. pleaheheheheaaasseee it’s all i’ve ever wanted.

oh also can i just say, suuuper disappointed we didn’t learn anything about anshin. Really wish non-fan favorite corporations would get the spotlight/lore for once. Like, I like Jakobs as much as the next guy, and I get WHY they did it (can’t have a corporation looking too good!!!) but they now have 3 DLCs (Jakobs Cove, GLaT, and Bounty of Blood) and also a hefty chunk of the main game. Like... we all know Jakobs fuckin sucks, look at what they did on Pandora. I really just want info on a medical corporation 😭 I have to do everything my damn s e l f. but SERIOUSLY IMAGINE the possibilities that could come from a medical corp getting its hands on eridian tech. like, yeah obviously the weapons corps are gonna use it for weaponry and stuff BUT WOULDN’T THE MEDICAL CORPS MUTATING PEOPLE MAKE MORE SENSE??? ldfhgldfshg I have to do everything my damn self...

anyway all that aside, this is definitely by favorite borderlands dlc by a LONG shot. Nothing comes close. Ahhh the lore, the nuclear aspect, the a e s t h e t i c (seriously, have I mentioned how much I adore Trigun???), the art, the music, the cryoslinger, the fact I can bust out going beeEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAans like Ray Chase at any time and it will MAKE SENSE. I love all of it.

oh, also, Rose is totally not dead. C’mon, they couldn’t find her body. She pulled a Lilith. “Are you sure she didn’t just suffer a wound that LOOKS fatal, only for her to come back in a blockbuster sequel...?” is a line from mr Jones himself (the movie guy)

I just hope when she comes back she gets to meet Captain Scarlett. I’d love to watch their interactions plus pirates and or ninjas. That’s 2 DLC villains now that have vanished without a trace. And I like Captain Scarlett way more than Rose (seriously I spent the entire beginning of the DLC complaining about how her voice bothered me- I was so happy she was a villain, I was hoping that was the case).

oh yeah, reminder, the people of vestige were living next to highly radioactive egg for likely years. i feel really bad for them :(

also!!!

this made me smile

[alphaketoglutaricacid]

@onehithero said: ur posts dont leave my head for like days on end. cannot get over just the first sentence u hit the nail on the head so perfectly

hi! I haven't used tumblr for 2-4 years so I apologize if I am breaching net ettiquite (please let me know) . I'm glad you're interested in hearing my thoughts! I think kabus scenes w minato are really interesting cuz they call into question kabus motives. I think a lot of the time kabus actions are framed as heroic in a big idea way (bros we are destroying capitalism for the sake of natsume ) but in Ep 8 and Ep 11 he like compromises his whole plan and natsumes safety by telling minato his motives first in jail and then again when the world is ending and he does not have a back up plan if minato says no.

Similiar to how natsumes story is a shounen protag story riddled with irony because we know her struggles are manufactured by robots, I think kabus arc follows familiar beats of a rugged mentor figure deciding to sacrifice himself for his protégés future that we should also question. I think we should also consider how many people in natsumes life have decided to heroically sacrifice themselves in hopes of ending the gadoll threat and how silly kabus sentiments would seem to her because death is so commenplace in her life. the cyborgs try to distance themselves from the humans but I think just like how natsumes actions seem pointless to the robots, kabus actions also seem silly from natsumes pov cuz he plans on charging in and dying without any regard to the grief he would cause the ppl he leaves behind just like the gears. He thinks his actions are exceptional Bc of tthe world he lives where death isnt a concept but for natsume his sentiments are very banal. In this way we can see in how the interaction goes both ways.

I think minatos pov is also useful in calling into question kabus narrative cuz he's kabus peer. Before I get into this I don't think minatos actions and kabus are equivilent at all. When kabu went let's destroy all the gadoll he neglected some key details like how are the humans gonna eat when thier food source is the gadoll? because kabu does not need to eat, can leave that world when he wants, and is only engaged in a very small part of the human world that primarily engages gadoll as a source of conflict (in both armor repair and like as a gamer) he has this lack of understanding that he doesn't rlly attempt to correct by engaging with more humans other than natsume. Similarly when minatos like oh we have that hole in the tank so we can control the overpopulation of the tankers and cull them tastefully he is also making a judgement on what he thinks is for the good of humanity without any understanding of what it means to be human and what thier needs and wants are. In minatos case it's very obvious he's out of touch and callous and thru it I think we should question kabus approach cuz they do come from similar points of view. And what does minato call it? stage craft. and rlly what can u really call kabus setup of Me and Minatos last stand against the system if not stage craft. one final quest where he can die on his own terms. I think it makes sense that there is no way they could've won without their connections to other ppl and the efforts of the humans and in fact, they likely probably wouldn't get to go out in a blaze of glory like they wanted to. Kabus well intentioned but he is also a lil bit dumb about death and i think it makes him fun. Im glad he didn't die in the end cuz i don't think it would make narrative sense. this got long :pensive: u dont gotta read all this.