#something which. ironically. these ppl do not seem interested in doing

[mirage-coordinator]

post about how censorship is a dangerous thing, and that throwing out “what if a CHILD saw this?” about things you don’t like is parroting conservative rhetoric (because it’s true, some things are going to be uncomfortable, and will make you uncomfortable, but should not be forbidden on the grounds of that discomfort)

it’s some stupid fuckwit covertly arguing that actually, they shouldn’t have to face any criticism for posting their shitty incest fanfic under the guise of a take that any average person would think is perfectly reasonable (they’re idiots who put that shit out in public and are not immune to people pointing out Hey That’s Weird)

[desire-mona]

siiiigh. todd autism headcanons because im projecting.

(using they/he/she pronouns for todd in this post. will explain but also if u dont agree i dont care, tw for alcoholism. time period is vague but autism hasnt existed as a legitimate medical diagnosis for all that long, so keep it in mind i guess.)

- cannot for the life of him stand welton's blankets. so itchy, just thin enough to not warm you up enough but still make you sweat, not long enough to cover your entire body. yes im making the blanket line in their poem about actual blankets, a boy needs to vent somewhere.

- beyond terrible temperature regulation, ALWAYS just a little too hot which is made worse by her sensory issues when it comes to wet fabric. constant slight agony and it never really goes away. theyre about 5 minutes away from crying about how uncomfortable they are at all times.

- had god awful handwriting until high school, like his teachers could BARELY read his handwriting it was Bad. OOOOOH OH MY GOD THERES A TRAIN GOING BY I CAN HEAR IT HONKING this is a really ironic thing to be pointing out rn but its sooooo worth mentioning. its still honking this is fun. 🚂. anyway. her parents made her spend an entire summer fixing her handwriting bc that was like the One thing her teachers criticised. its Fine now but their motor function simply doesn't deliver in the handwriting department.

- had a VERY INTENSE special interest in aquatic life + marine biology growing up, like read every book about any ocean animal in any library intense. his parents eventually forced him to abandon it because its "not a good career focus" but he still perks up when anyone mentions fish. once talked neils ear off about the biodiversity of coral reefs for roughly 2 hours, neil took her to an aquarium for their first date. rip todd anderson you wouldve loved spongebob squarepants.

- looooves pets, namely cats, but they have Too Sweaty hands all the time so any animal fur sticks onto their hands and just feels. so awful.

- had a brief period in his 20s where he was definitely an alcoholic, started as a social drinker but got too addicted to the feeling of not having to adhere to social conventions quite as hard, especially around other drunk ppl. eventually went sober after they realised they just Cant Stand the feeling of a hangover anymore. autistic ppl r more likely to develop a dependency on alcohol if we do start drinking. just btw.

- gets a Pretty Expansive vocabulary after actually starting to pursue literature. sometimes his family lightly teases him about using big words but it confuses the hell out of him. its just a word she thought would apply best!!

- soooooo obsessed with what other ppls idea of them is, both in an anxious way and out of genuine curiosity. would never ask ppl what they think of her bc she thinks thats 1) very broad 2) seems compliment fish-y and 3) just gonna lead to "i think ur great/ nice/ whatever filler compliment." but the dream is to sit someone (neil) down and just ask him every single question possible about how he perceives him.

- asks a billion clarifying questions about anything someone asks him to do, gets anxious about how many questions he's asking, tries to just figure it out, freaks out about the possibility of getting it wrong, ends up doing the thing perfectly. weekly occurrence.

- never fully grasped the appeal of religion (most definitely grew up catholic or christian or Something) just bc she could NOT let the lack of proof go. ALSO not an atheist bc the vastness of space scares them out of it. religious beliefs r a weird topic for them.

- suppresses a good chunk of his stims in public bc One total time someone looked at him weird while he was chewing on a sweatshirt string and he was like i gotta stop NOW. eventually develops tics and has to mask THOSE in public too. dear god someone let this girl unmask. also i started ticcing while writing that bc my body does this great thing where i only tic when im reminded of the concept of ticcing. its great and totally doesnt make me think im faking them (faking for who? dunno bc it usually happens when im alone)

- DOES in fact stim around neil bc NEIL STIMS TOO!!!!!!!! joyous day when they found THAT out! gets vocal stims of random lines from whatever play neil is practicing for. YEAA ART THOU THEEEEREE was a vocal stim for a solid week and a half which made neil VERY excited (autistic neil. how i love u autistic anderperry)

- velcro is The most evil vile disgusting material to ever grace this mortal realm. he hates it more than anything ever and i mean that fully. the feeling of BOTH sides, the noise, how easily it comes apart, she hates it all.

this is the gender part

never really viewed gender and gender roles as anything to adhere to beyond the fear of punishment if they dont. finds any social convention relating to gender to be Really dumb and meaningless, bc gender isn't (scientifically) real in any capacity, so why treat it like that? for the longest time just shrugged and said "eh, i guess im a boy" bc thats what she was used to being told, and didn't feel particularly drawn to agree OR disagree. eventually realised on a late night that Wait. i dont Actually care what i am. like yeah im a Male i guess but also im just me. my brain doesnt have a gender and i basically am my brain, right? and then never really thought about it again because that's genuinely how little he cares. adhering the most to canon with that mindset, she never really tells anyone (for obvious reasons on top of the overall apathy) and just lets the he/him happen to her but. in my dream world? agender they/he/she todd anderson. and this is MY blog so those are the pronouns im using from now on. i will forever love talking abt how autistic ppl very often view gender differently than allistic ppl, will forever love talking abt how autistic ppl are more likely to be trans. autism!!!

also yes that entire paragraph is just my view of gender, change the pronouns and the todd mentions and its just me. what of it.

[darkfictionjude]

been lurking on the blog trying to find if it's been asked before but i can't find it. so what's the reason behind the ppl in town talking about sally and mc like what they have is incest? is the reason purely bc of their previous twin ancestors that had real incest relationship or is it purely like something malicious to talk about mc thing. was kinda confused bc it seemed so sudden when they went out to watch movie and ppl we're talking shit abt their relationship 💀

Wasn’t there another occasion before the movies where people were talking? I’m pretty sure there was…. At the first day of school so it’s not a sudden thing it generally does happen whenever Crowny is out in public with Sally

It’s because of how oddly close they are. Sally was parentified so he has a much physically and emotionally closer relationship with their sibling than most people in a North American family would have. Different cultures have different levels of familiarity with their siblings, but in Canada and the US there is much less tolerance for it, which is why it’s such a thing to accuse people who are very close to their siblings of actually dating (puritan nations usually do think a lot about perversion ironically).

So yeah it’s because of ancestral things within their family but also because of just how odd their relationship is. As above while I do say people think any sibling closeness is immediately incestual when it’s not but also…. Sally’s treatment of Crowny is obsessive and unhealthy and possessive so that doesn’t help either 🥴

Like think about how close Sally controls their life, how interested he is, if he wasn’t Crowny’s brother, would you think that it was obsessive romantic love? While the townies just decided to view it in the worst possible light 😭

[whats-taters-precious]

ok ik this is just a dream but this is actually something I kinda think about a lot: the duality of lotr audience. It might just be me, but it seems more politically diverse than most other audiences. Like, someone saying theyre really into lotr can be met with "lol yeah that makes sense" even in two wildly different contexts. Oh you're catholic homeschooler? yeah I could've guessed you're a lotr nerd. Oh youre a raging homosexual? yep go figure you love lotr.

And I just find that contrast really interesting bc you cant say the same for other fandoms like star wars or marvel. And sure, you could say a lot of leftists and conservatives like those too bc, well, does everyone does. Just like lotr. But no, I don't mean it like that. For marvel and star wars its not a well known thing, like a almost stereotype, that gay people especially like them or that conservatives especially like them, whereas with lotr, at least in my experience, it is like that. As someone who was raised conservative and took a sharp left turn (lol), I feel like I notice it a bit more

a LOT of right, religious, and/or conservative people adore lotr bc it’s a cool fantasy piece that’s also clean and wholesome and—here’s the main attraction for the religious people I mentioned—written by a devout Catholic who ingrained many Christian elements and themes into it. Plus, as Tolkien fought in WWI, it also has a lot of wartime, brothers-in-arms themes, which we all know conservatives are all about. This all makes sense for why it attracts the audience I mentioned. Being a hardcore lotr fan is almost a given in those circles. Ive spent a lot of time in such circles and believe me when I'm talking mega fans

Interestingly enough, I’ve noticed that it also heavily attracts the opposite political spectrum, like leftists and the lgbtq community. Their appeal is a little less clear for me to explain, which is ironic as it’s just as familiar to me as the former but I’ll try my hand at it. It seems like queer ppl like the fantasy genre more than straight ppl (not to get deep but I reckon it has something to do with escaping the unkind realities of this world </3), and lotr is THE fantasy series. Then it unashamedly portrays soft affection between men--and also badass powerful women--which not only is appreciated by ppl who are tired of societal restraints and expectations of gender norms, but it allows ppl to read said affection as romantic if they so wish. Lotr is a story about hanging onto hope and love in the face of darkness, and that's something a lot of queer people resonate with.

and then theres the crossover of these two worlds that may play a part in lotr having two wildly different categories of fans: the individuals that started in the first and hopped over into the second. I fall into this one as do several friends of mine. We grew up in the religious culture where lotr/tolkien was praised by both authority figures and peers, but even after we left that life behind we still clung to the magical land of middle-earth.

idk. i might just be more aware of this duality bc I've experienced both sides--and thus, the power of frequency illusion--but its just an odd experience to witness this shared intense passion for a franchise between two groups of very different people

I was getting coffee with my coworker, who is kind of right-wing and I said jokingly, "You know, I'm awfully leftist," and he said, "Yeah, I figured that the moment I learned you're a fan of the Lord of the Rings."

[fedyasolnishka]

I have a lot of complaints, so here we go:

I dislike how the fandom often reducts characters to one single trait, one which is usually pretty ooc. Since Fedya is my favorite character, I usually get more pissed off about how people treat him (e.g. Fyodor being portrayed as madly in love with Nikolai, or being stinky.)

Some characters are just remembered when it's about ships, where are the character individually? (e.g. Poe, I suppose 😞)

Mori hate, just because it became annoying (and I kinda like his character).

How people complain about taboo topics in a seinen…

If most of the fandom see two characters as family (even if it's not canonically stated) you can't ship them (it's not problem only seem in bsd fandom)

Pinterest fandom is mostly annoying 😞

—❤️‍🩹

The "Fyodor is stinky" takes piss me off too like you can tell that ppl who says that are his haters or fake "fans". Also don't be too upset anon bc Fedya is actually in love with his daughter instead 😇😇. Characters being remembered only when it comes to ships are usually done by shippers that's clearly only care abt 1 chara of the ship while using the other chara as a blank state to project on (while making fun of self shippers at the same time, which is ironic)

Yeah Mori is interesting but ppl in fandom nowadays can't form a thought of their own bc they're too afraid of being canceled or wtv so they just go along with the common takes.

Complaining abt dark themes on a seinen is like complaining abt finding forks in the kitchen. That's how ridiculous they sound. Like no one is forcing you to watch bsd!! Some bsd "fans" also whining abt bsd getting too "dark and depressing" and they miss when the series was "wholesome and fluffy uwu" I'm sorry but these ppl are mafias, detectives that deals with murder cases almost everyday like where's the fluff in that??? They should just watch slice of life series instead if they can't handle taboo themes!!

"You can't ship these 2 together they're like family you freaks!!!" Are plaguing almost every fandom nowadays but like girl I'm an incest shipper what makes you think I care?

I agree also pinterest+tiktok Bsd fandom and you'll see bunch of overtly pearl clutching ppl that can't form their own opinion and makes the most unfunny jokes that's been said by someone else long ago over and over again. Like they're so lame omg.

Overall I don't have much to add since my complains are already being said by you but here's some:

Some Mori haters are also Fyodor haters and wants him to die in the most underwhelming lame way... So you hate compelling antagonist?? Got it 🧐

I personally Dislike The "sanitization" of Fedya that makes him too wholesome/uwu for my liking. Yeah he's polite, gentle and soft spoken but he's still a manipulative CREEP with questionable goals and methods (I wish the fandom see the appeal of Fyodor as a manipulative creep with gentleness and vulnerability more but I see the fandom takes the uwu/wholesome Fedya more) like why do You want him to be boring sooo badd

Tired of the bsd/jjk, gege/asgr or WORSE sukuna/Fyodor comparisons!!! Like STFUU!! Watch/read something other than jjk challenge!!!

Fyodor deserves to be compared to better antagonists/or at least the ones that are similar to him!! Like there's no way he's similar to sukuna or fuckass william afton

[formula-fun]

"it would be like showing up to your first day of work in the CIA and learning your supervisors are Daft Punk or something. like its just fuckin weird"

DAFT PUNK IM CACKLING NSJXNSNS

I rewatched pacrim today! was majorly thirsting over the armour assembly scene i looooooove armour and the whole automated arms screwing parts into place while they're moving is just veryjrjdbs love love loveeee a fast sexy suit up scene

something about the motion of shutting the visor just pings something in my head like crazyyyy I think it's a major reason why I love motorsport, lmao at least 40% is bc of ppl shutting helmet visors

tmi anyway

VERY excited for if I had words, their dynamic is soooooooooo interesting to me like they're both so gone for each other but neither will relent in the race which will always be priority no. 1 which feels so in character for me idk

also i really like the way you write race scenes it doesn't seem so technical that it feels dry but still technical enough that it actually feels like a racing driver's perspective which feels like a really hard thing to manage but you've done it sooooo well

anyway! Very excited!!! Love your writing!!!

That's not tmi at all i literally ALWAYS wanna talk about pacific rim!!!!

The armor stuff is amazing ugg the mechanics of it all? the way everything is manual?? i love it so so much. it came out in the iron man heyday but its the opposite of iron man. theres nothing all powerful or mysterious about how jaegers work or how they're built or how they operate. people did it. people worked together. Nothing is shiny, everything is dinged up, parts need to be screwed on by actual human people, there are mechanics and engineers and shots of people in factories wearing anti static jumpsuits. it makes me insane

(side note but i got into pacrim and f1 within like a month of each other and grew up with this poster in our house which is a spin on this and all i can really say is 2013 was formative. do you understand why im Like This now)

and thank you about if i had words!! im always trying to balance the technical side of things with the frantic energy drivers have when theyre checking their mirrors on the straights dfjdfj its a good time though! i truly do believe that they both love racing and enjoy it more than anything, and it's nice to have someone else around who feels the same way you do <3

[tamlindudley]

Is Dain’s memory reading a passive skill? Is it just on 24/7 or can he turn it off at will? ‘Cuz I know Xaden’s is manual but there doesn’t seem to be any indicator for Dain.

I think it’s harsh to assume that it just happens on its own when clearly everyone are working with their signets to control and utilize it as they need and make it their strength than weakness. And we are aware Dain is one of the best riders, I think he would have figured out by now how to navigate his signet.

But mistakes happen, and I remember Dain saying specifically that it was only a flash of memory which he could have accidentally seen, but the info was not something his law abiding ass thought was a good idea to keep to himself. There was also that scene where he demanded to see Vi’s memory and she later tells him he didn’t ask her first and he was genuinely upset realizing that he hadn’t asked. I also think if he’s just reading all the time, he’d have realized when they kissed that Vi wasn’t into it but he didn’t.

(Of course, if it turns out he just reads ppl all the time, I’ll barf and move on from this lol but this is my current take.)

Besides, we see Dain from Vi’s (or Xaden’s) very biased pov and I truly believe homegirl is exaggerating his intentions, especially in Iron Flame. She’s well within her rights to be wary of course, but just because Vi says something about him doesn’t make it true unless there’s proof.

Him stalling with Vi when she was hurt definitely had to do with Nora being there, and him joining the revolution later definitely has to do with the fact that he clearly realizes his power was misused by his father to hurt other cadets, not just Violet. He’s the one navigating the rights and wrongs, and learning and unlearning everything and it’s gonna take some time. I wish Rebecca put more effort into showcasing his development because these characters who are stuck between two sides of war can be the most interesting when done right.

Fucks Xaden’s pov chapters, I want the actually morally grey pov. I want Dain’s pov.

[chaos0pikachu]

@asexualannoyance trying to get me cancelled but know what let’s do it baby I got god and anime on my side

okay to start, probably my biggest unpopular opinion is: Earth shouldn’t have been cast in this role. It is NOT b/c he’s not a good actor, he is by drama standards, and he’s playing the role of Jim well so far from what I’ve seen. The issue is, he’s not believable. 

Like look, clearly the narrative is setting up a dichotomy between Jim and Wen here. It’s obvious in the way they dress, and the depiction of their individual homes. The age gap is supposed to emphasize this gap in both their maturity levels and overall life experience. The problem is, Earth isn’t believable as a world weary middle age man. Which is what Jim is supposed to be. He’s supposed to be both a pillar of his community and also thoroughly exhausted by the weight of the world he’s lived in up till now. Further, it’s why he’s so enamored with Wen, who is beautiful, and youthful and clearly speaks to a youthful simplicity that Jim does not have anymore. An older actor would have brought that sense of weight visually as well as acting wise I feel. It’s like, look you needed Gong Lee playing Kim Shin in Goblin or Seok Woo in Train to Busan b/c their age is important to the character development and narrative. Choi Woo-shik is an amazing actor, but he couldn’t play either of those characters he needed to play the high school student in Train to Busan. 

I like Earth, I don’t think he’s a bad actor, he’s playing Jim fine. I just think an older actor was needed for this story so it’s kinda a bummer. It weakens the narrative that Jim is this community pillar who has been in the business “a long time” and has all this life experience when he looks all of 29. It also weakens the narrative maturity gap between him and Wen cause they look the same age. When Wen’s like “I like old people *wink*” I’m like, Wen that man is your age wtf are you talking about?? 

All that being said: I really like Jim as a character. And here’s where my next unpopular opinion comes in: I find myself disinterested in the romance so far. Honestly Jim’s inner life and his conflicts with his restaurant, the weight of taking care of his nephew, the weight of debt and finances, are all vastly more interesting to me right now than The Romance. 

😞 😞 gonna out myself right now and reveal this tight-lipped secret I’ve kept for far to long: I didn’t like 1000 Stars. Ironically enough it was b/c Earth’s char was boring, and Mix’s char was the only good character on the entire show. But the other issue is....I really feel the chemistry between Earth and Mix. I’M SORRY. I’m sorry they well work together, but even their love scene in MLC I was kinda like, well it was filmed very well. They have that sort of chemistry where it’s like, we’re good friends off camera and we’ve been friends for a long time. It didn’t read as “I want this person” in 1000 Stars which was fine cause that story didn’t call for that type of energy. But Wen is giving fuck me eyes to Jim every five seconds and I’m just not getting a sense of passion here. It’s fine, they’re fine. 

Frankly though the romance is pretty secondary to the more interesting aspects that are character focused on Jim and Ling. 

Last unpopular opinion. I hope Wen is an unrepentant cheating asshole lol like I saw in the tags a lot today of ppl trying really hard to justify the cheating, or somehow switch it up to blame Alan but like, “not being in love” isn’t an excuse to cheat. 

You just break up lol but I also dig that! B/c it would showcase how Wen is way more immature than Jim. He’s not ready to have the hard conversations with his partner(s). He’s impulsive and selfish in that way 20-somethings are. He avoids conflict if he can and pursues other things that seem easy in comparison or as a fun challenge. I want the story to showcase that Wen’s to young and immature for Jim right now and allow him the potential to grow instead. I low-key do not want them together at the end, I want it open ended. 

Which isn’t what the shippers want lmao

So yeah, those are my, so far, unpopular opinions about MLC 

alright I’ve officially watched the first episode of Moonlight Chicken and how bout that I’ma have some majorly unpopular opinions compared to the rest of fandom I can’t be normal I have be to like not other fans it’s my burden sorry not sorry

[britneyshakespeare]

i enjoy that one side of my personality is that i work w children and am very gentle and calm w them and then that another side of my personality is an eccentric weirdo and that if you only know the former about me you would have no idea about the latter

[kinschi]

Okay about alma and everything, what gets me is that soooo many ppl refuse to even attempt to understand her. Ppl talk about how she was upset over the candle flickering but no one seems to take into account what follows directly after (or even what the candle means for her). They act like as soon as the candle flickered, a switch was flipped and she was instantly othering mirabel. But all we see of Abuela’s reaction is shock (maybe a little fear because she doesn’t understand what that means for her family since the candle keeps them safe), and that’s all we get! And that’s honestly probably the same reaction most, if not all, of them had. Because it was shocking! In the many decades that this had been going on, something like that had never happened! The only other scene we have of her from back then, is after the ceremony, after everyone had left, after the family had retired, and she’s alone with Bruno that she asks for him to look what this could mean. Because the candle sprung into being to protect them, because it’s her connection to Pedro, and she’s scared of losing that connection, but even more so of losing that protection, that safety. And then her son disappears without a word! Like all her fears come alive! So of course she started to hold her family tighter! Who knows how she would’ve reacted if Bruno had stayed and she didn’t have her worst fears confirmed. I keep seeing ppl act like she only cares about the miracle because of how it makes ppl in the village view them, like their family image is all that’s important to her, and it just like ??? How do you misunderstand a character that bad?? If anything, the way the village views them is probably a double-edged sword for her. She was 25/26 (?) when Pedro was killed and the encanto was created, and she was left all alone to take care of 3 (3!!) newborns all by herself. Ironically, there are actually quite a few parallels between her and mirabel, because I have no doubt she was othered in the village as the one who made the miracle (or who’s husband did) that saved them all. It might not have been as bad in the first few years as everyone worked together to pick up what pieces of their lives they had left, but then when the triplets turned 5 and suddenly had magical powers too?? She wasn’t prepared to raise three kids all by herself with an entire village of ppl suddenly looking to her as the one with answers, and she definitely wasn’t prepared for those kids to then be magic! The only saving grace is she wasn’t homeless! That pressure and stress had to be insane! And that doesn’t make it okay that she then passed that same pressure onto her kids and then grandkids, but ppl act like it was done out of malice and it wasn’t. And it only got as bad as it was in the movie after her trauma was reignited by loss of one of her children. Also, why does no one ever talk about the effect Bruno’s leaving had to have had on everyone in the family, it’s literally only ever about how Bruno was effected?? Which is an interesting concept, tbf, but not when that seems to be the only one. Like Bruno literally made the choice to leave instead of talking to Julieta whose child the vision is about and who seems incapable of looking at her kids without an abundance of love just like emanating from her. And he made that choice because of his own trauma with his visions and with how ppl (namely the ones in town) reacted to them. But why are the consequences of his trauma response okay and almas aren’t? Neither of them are okay. But they’re understandable except no one chooses to understand almas and everyone acts like this 40 year old man choosing not to go to his sister whose child is in the middle of all of this and telling her about what he saw and instead running away without saying anything and hiding in the walls is totally good/heroic actually. Like that’s a harsh assessment of Bruno, and is still very mild compared to how ppl talI about alma. Just wish ppl would dedicate even a quarter of the understanding they give Bruno (and lowkey Camilo) to the women of the family 😩

Y'know I actually have nothing to add to that 👏🏼

[twocorvids]

This might be a strange question, but kind of goes along with your post about Rick killing people. do you think Rick shows mercy?

oh god, im so sorry anon, this ask COMPLETELY slipped through the cracks for me.

BUT!!!! GOD, is that a fascinating question!

Because yes, to a certain extent, he does. Rick is capable of mercy, and even empathy to a lesser extent. he is capable of care, of going out of his way to care for people he doesn’t necessarily feel he should. (I AM talking about ppl outside of the Smith family, lol, even though they definitely fit that criteria too.) we see that in the episode “The Old Man and the Seat” with Tony and the lengths Ricks goes to bark at him, but never quite bite. the whole episode is Rick trying to look big, to seem intimidating and like a threat that he really should be, considering everything we’ve seen him do— but for whatever reason, it’s apparent that Tony is not the sort Rick can bring himself to treat cruelly.

and then it becomes clear that this isn’t a phenomenon in the weird Shakespearean play that is Ricks life! it’s something that has happened many times. in fact, it’s revealed that Rick has a whole chamber, or some otherwise “secret” room, full of people he traps in “Globaflyn” to keep them simultaneously in their ideal world and out of Rick’s life. which also demonstrates some severe control issues, but that’s for another time. I’ll stop legit explaining the whole episode, but I will also mention that that plot line ends with Rick trying to comfort Tony’s father a the funeral, and then ends with what is probably the most emotional scene of a character sitting on a toilet.

I bring all this up mostly to ask this: okay, Rick is capable of showing mercy, but what exactly triggers it? what specific aspect of a person needs to be present in order for Rick to show this quality?

and I think the answer is pretty simple: relatability. someone who he feels a personal kinship to. who mirrors him in some way.

and despite how distant of a person Rick is and tries to be, it makes a lot of sense. in an infinity of infinity, it makes sense that Rick would run into the occasional person who is a bit too much like him. someone who, if given the opportunity, could understand Rick a bit too well. considering that Rick has been just about everywhere, it’d be stranger for him not to. and Rick, predictably, is very uncomfortable with that notion. both in terms of bearing the concession of actually seeing another person and having that person see you. it disturbs Rick. it makes him want be kinder, to be merciful instead of defaulting to violence to get rid of most inconveniences, to lessen his grip on this multiverse-level rope in his fight for control— but he’s not ready for that type of change. or at the very very least, he wasn’t ready yet.

it’s so interesting because he is clearly self-aware of how deep his desire for connection is, so deep that it threatens to overtake his need for control— so he merely eliminates those numbers from the equation for himself, albeit in a way that is far more compassionate than Rick tends to go for. his controlling nature just barely takes priority over all else, so he ensures that it stays that way.

side note: where does Birdperson fit into this? well, i think this reveals a very interesting part of their relationship too. because I think Rick let BP(and even squanchy ig) get so close because, ironically, he thought BP couldn’t get close. because he and Birdperson are pretty damn different people, especially in Ricks mind. so Rick thinks they can’t understand each other because they can’t really relate to each other. Rick is loud, destructive, and allergic to all things emotional and vulnerable. Birdperson is quiet, just, and has a certain emotional intelligence to him that implies a deeper knowledge of how people work. and then their backgrounds are pretty different, too.

though it makes me wonder: is Rick aware of how much BP truly understands him? would knowing that change anything for Rick if he hadn’t known? or, is Rick fine with him having such a solid read on him simply because in this situation he isn’t forced to do any emotional labor of his own for BP? sure, he can care about/ love BP, but he doesn’t have to understand him because BP also doesn’t understand Rick! he can experience the more pleasant sides that come with emotions and love without compromising his sense of comfort and what he calculates as his safety. well, that was until he was (arguably) willing to at blood-ridge. but the thing Rick missed there at the battlefield is that BP already understood Rick as a person at that point. and he also understood the damage Rick would inadvertently do if Birdperson took him up on his offer. i do think that Rick has at least somewhat reverted back to that mindset of “we can’t understand each other because we can’t relate, so I’m safe!” current-day, however. personally, I honestly don’t think Rick really realizes how well Birdperson truly knows him, but ultimately; who really knows, huh?

I’m so sorry this is so long and possibly nonsense analdnekendodjj but thank you so much for the ask!!!!

[sweet-dining-car]

I completely agree with your thoughts on Rolling Stock and Pumping Iron. “Ungodly feminine” is the PERFECT descriptor. Like the things I would do for this fictional train man…🤭

And ABSOLUTELY for I Got Me! It’s really not a bad song, it’s pretty good actually it’s just not an introduction for the coaches. Right song, wrong placement. I think if they put it in place of Girls Rolling Stock (which nothing can replace 😭, cuz it’s supposed to be empowering) it would be perfect! Like completely perfect! Even better if they slapped together some more interesting choreography

I too love it when romance occurs on the railroad ❤️

I jam out a little too hard to Right Place Right Time, it looks like I’m having a seizure or something

YES DINAH SHOULD HAVE THAT STRONG OF AN ACCENT. It just sounds so forced and I feel like I would know. I lived in the south most of my life and when I moved and told ppl I was from the south they would always put on the most horrible accents and just get it so wrong. A slight twang is all Dinah needs, like maybe more western if anything.

The OG Rap is so good. I want them to bring back that one😭. Electra sounds like he’s so mad he’s gonna pee himself or someone and Greaseball just seems too tired to care. I love it!

New starlight express freight just hits DIFFERENT! Especially when the coaches are just making fun of them in the beginning it’s so funny

Sometimes I think about my Starlight Express song opinions so here they are:

(PLEASE NOTE THAT I AM AMERICAN SO I CAN ONLY WORK WITH SO MUCH)

Rolling Stock makes me feel manly- something about it makes me wanna pump some fucking iron

Call Me Rusty is adorable and is a better introduction to Rusty than Crazy. Call Me Rusty points out his stubbornness and willpower to win, while also showing that the coaches show genuine concern to his condition and don't just go "man this kid is fuckin insane"

If you think I Got Me is "too empowering," You're weird. I understand thinking it's a little odd for setting up Dinah's character, but there's a difference between that and "oh the women are too independent." I think my biggest problem with I Got Me is that there are not coach intros.

I like Lotta Locomotion for what its worth. It's just a cute lil intro song

Whole Lotta Locomotion- wheeeew- it's certainly... a song! It tries so hard to be girlboss-y but fails lyricwise and makes them even more dependent on men- but Im not gonna lie and say I hate it because Jesus it's catchy-

FREIGHT IS GOOD, YALL ARE JUST MEAN- I specifically like the one version from London 1992 where the coaches ARE BRUTAL FOR NO REASON- Also, versions without CB suck ass

AC/DC is at its best when Electra is an over-the-top diva and the components MUST eat it up.

Pumping Iron makes me feel so ungodly feminine (I wonder which part I sing) AND I LOVE IT. I LOVE FEELING FEMININE. I especially love when Greaseball is super snarky and flirtatious.

He'll Whistle At Me puts me to sleep. Make Up My Heart is beautiful. He Whistled At Me is terrible narrative-wise but MAN OH MAN DOES IT MAKE ME FEEL GIRLY

Coda of Freight is REALLY REALLY GOOD????

There's Me is adorbs and I. MISS. IT.

Poppa's Blues is a banger, yall are just haters. Also, hot take, but Poppa should NEVER be white.

Belle may not have much of a purpose in terms of the story, but jeez, her voice is beautiful. I love Belle so much.

I am a Rap enthusiast, so I have to give you my opinions on all of them. Hey You is a classic and it was my first Rap. It sounds so silly and Electra makes me giggle every time. Check It Out is so stupid but WOW IS ELECTRA GAY- I love the beat too. What Time Is It is so extremely CAMPY but I have a soft spot for it- The only version of Own It, Nail it that I have is the 2017 London workshop, and that one was almost a carbon copy of Check It Out. BORING.

UNCOUPLED is always such a sweet song. I HAVE A GRIPE WITH PEOPLE WHO MAKE DINAH SO MF SOUTHERN. Like, I get it, but don't give her a HUGE accent. See Jane Krakowski.

Girls Rolling Stock makes me feel so girlboss.

CB (or Wide Smile) is a mf bop and a masterpiece

Right Place, Right Time makes me jam out hard

The beginning of He Whistled At Me Reprise makes me so sad- DUSTIN QUIT CRYIN BOY!

Dinahs Disco is so slay and Electra is such a prissy princess-

"CB! CB! YOU GOTTA HELP ME IN THE FINAL SEEECTIOOOON"

One Rock N Roll Too Many makes me lowkey sad- but my god is it funny-

Only He is a masterpiece. BUT... NEXT TIME YOU FALL IN LOOOOOOOVE IT BETTER BE WITH ME THE WAY IT USED TO BE BACK THEN WAS WHEN WE TOUCHED THE STARLIIIIGHT-

Next Time You Fall In Love makes no sense to me lyric-wise but the song slaps

"I love it when romance occurs on the railroad"

The Megamix my beloved

So, tell me what you think! Do you agree? Disagree?

[astroyongie]

https://s0ulcxndy.tumblr.com/post/692940229217304576/if-you-are-interested-in-spirituality-and-kpop

this is certainly about you yongie 🥲 ppl keep judging u and im like 😒

Yes I did saw the post, and honestly I don't really feel target about it nor do I care ^^

It shows the little knowledge they have. Spirituality is an open practice, the way you use it is intimate and to one self different to others. What you seem correct can be seem foolish to others, what is dangerous to one is complete normal to another, depending on how and with who you practice it. Unfortunately, the aesthetic that it has been over astrology, spirituality, tarot, witchcraft, Wicca, ect in the past years has completely made people misjudge a few points in the real practice of it. They read a few posts on internet and they think they already know all the rules when it's something ancient and with depth of layers that need to be studied for years and even when being a practicer with many years, you still need to improve and study it. Like alchemy.

However I am not going to debate on it ^^ Like I have said multiple times, I am an adult coming from a transgenerational family of people who practice that ancient spirituality, I know my boundaries, I know my energy, I know how to use it safely (I know how to use it for good the same way I know how to use it to harm. it's the same coin, different facets).

Whatever I post is either based on readings, or astrology (mostly for personality and action - imagines, head canons, analysis, ect). Names aren't given to the public and they will never be when it comes to Tea posts.

Doing a reading for an idol or any public figure or even people that never asked for it as SPECIFIC rules, rules I follow and I know how to deal with them, I don't really need people on internet teaching me to practice my own beliefs. Whatever info my cards give I was allowed by my own guides to look over it, the info I share (general readings) is chosen, not everything I see I publish.

At the end of the day, double standards keep coming for me and I don't care the slightest. Whenever I post something good about an idol I am praised. Whenever I post something "bad" I am a "liar", "abuser", ect. Same people saying that I invented stuff are the same people coming to my emails asking for free readings, which is ironic and hypocritical.

Anyway, I little ramble to let you guys know that I honestly don't give a damn about what people say of me, or what people think of my readings. Anyone is entitled to their own thoughts and feelings, if my works is disturbing them, block me. If you enjoy my readings and work, then you are the most welcomed.

Just make peace with yourself, and I promise things aren't that deep. Use your energy for things that really matter in your life. bless be <3

[tomatograter]

Do you think Dirk saying that he doesn't like to label himself as gay means he has internalized homophobia? Or does he really just don't like to put labels on himself? I've seen ppl saying it's homophobia but there's ppl in real life that don't feel comfortable with labels so I'm a bit confused honestly, cus we are talking about Dirk and he's... Dirk after all

Easy answer: Dirk is Gay.

Prolonged answer: I think it's kinda weird how some fandom discussion around "Dirk dodging the label in One pesterlog" has largely spiraled way outside of its original context to be talked about in a vacuum, especially when that context is crucial to understanding what is actually being said, AKA — it belongs to a deeply awkward conversation between Dirk and Roxy. One of Many they are implied to have had about the subject of Roxy's sustained, unwelcome, and oft drunken advances towards Dirk (& his splinters).

I'm going to reproduce it plus another bit of text down below, for the sake of comparison.

(To prevent the trickster text from looking like absolute shit, I have altered the background. Read the original here, if you're nasty: https://www.homestuck.com/story/5754 )

Now that we've been reacquainted with how and where that sentiment is expressed, let's try to break down what Dirk is doing here.

He is not receptive to Roxy's early advances, and spends most of the 'intro' for this conversation (not pictured) ignoring when Roxy flirts with him, until she gets upset at how 'boring' he is being right now.

Dirk is the one compelled to apologize.

He proceeds to shut the scenario down as an unwanted probability, eliciting further guilt-babbling from Roxy over how Dirk never wants to play along with the perfect traditional family fantasy, until she finally blows up and says it's because he's gay.

"I mean, yeah, that's what I thought."

Dirk, rather than saying I Am Not Gay, since he looooooves changing a conversational subject, claims that "Gay" is not entirely historically appropriate for this situation, given the non-negligible passage of time and the wildly dystopic circumstances* they find themselves in.

Dirk reassures Roxy he does still care about her.

Dirk is absolutely terrified of a similarly inclined (and intoxicated) Roxy up close. This is the most exclamations he's ever used.

Now, *These circumstances? The loss of 99% of the human race, including their society, customs, culture, and prejudices. (ALLEGEDLY.) It's important to remember that from Dirk and Roxy's side of the timetable, troll culture has been pushed as "the norm" for actual fucking centuries. HIC tried to recreate the caste system by artificially coloring human blood, leading to the death of billions. Faygo came out of the water tap, not water. Troll slang was incorporated into the English language. Humans ceased to organically reproduce. They were actively Discouraged from reproducing, since that's not something HIC could have total genetic control over; rendering traditional marriage and the concept of the nuclear family pointless.

You could also argue that same-gender relationships are not uncommon in Alternia, making "gay" altogether unnecessary by proxy, and that's true! But my point is this one: any union (or at least our society's holy concept of it) between straightie humans would be by definition undesirable under HIC's rule, too. She is the church, the president and the governing body. The population is only as good as they are assets for her to do whatever she wants with, including mass murder.

But wait! While that tracks… Roxy clearly still holds onto very 'conservative' definitions of romance for most of Homestuck. We see this multiple times. Dirk, as proved in conversations with Jake, uses 'gay' as an ironic pejorative. Suddenly it's not Historically Inaccurate anymore, Jake's interests are just gay.

Does this mean the context above is basically worthless, since they don't seem to have internalized it? No.

What must be kept in mind is this: Dirk and Roxy's only "active" link to de facto humanity is our society as it was in the early 2010's. Those glimpses they get by talking with jane and jake. They have all that dystopic context, yes, but the reality that seems the most "unfucked" to them for a grand majority of their lives are the halcyon years before the Condesce's rise to power: back when weed was illegal, BlogSpot was popular, movies sucked, MTV was still a hip channel, and gay generally meant something real bad. The wave of homophobia as a punchline or fear mongering tactic was at THE HEIGHTS. Marriage equality was a hot debate topic. Those were the dayz.

Dirk is keenly aware of the taboo implication the word "Gay" as a self-denomination carries. He's no dummy. But he's rarely direct with his intentions either. He's slippery as a bar of soap. (He's never "straight about his feelings", if you prefer.) And for a guy that cares so much about his reputation and maintaining a curated sense of utter coolness, he wants to avoid outing himself as any sort of weirdo no matter the cost.

But that's not all. I think the gravity of just how much Dirk believes he *owes* Roxy simply for existing as the last human in the same timeframe as her is a severely underplayed aspect of Dirk's core character, together with how much he tries to avoid her sexual advances only to end up feeling like absolute shit over it, because — if they truly are the last people on god's blighted earth, isn't he being "selfish" and "irrational" about not feeling shit for Roxy, in the grand scale of things? Is Roxy not his only friend in tangible reality, even if he avoids the mere suggestion of visiting her? Even if she gets black-out drunk and tries to push him into indulging her, regardless of how many times he's already said no?

(Spend enough time here and you realize how it directly mirrors the jane/jake experience.)

Dirk cares a lot about each and every one of his friends.

He pointedly adapts his speech based on whichever one of them he's talking to in an effort to express that investment. May it be reassuring Jane, fooling around with Jake, or trying to prevent Roxy from falling into a total catatonic doom-spiral; he avoids telling them anything that would be too crushing to hear. That's not what he's trying to do here. Not to say that he isn't bitchy sometimes, but that’s far from the central thing he does. The Epilogues have retroactively led people to believe that Dirk abhors and despises every single person he's ever been close to before (god forbid) LIKING them, and I think buying too much into that assumption ignores the foundations of his canon text, as well as the central motivation behind 99% of his actions in the story. This is the guy that grew up on Friendship Is Magic, has a picture of rainbow dash shamefully glued to one wall and a rainbow poster of Jake's symbol stapled to another, and everything he does is a little cringe attempt to demonstrate his worth by showing how much he cares about people, even when he's punching his actual feelings down instead of up and saying them.

Which brings us back to the load-bearing part of this question: Admitting to Roxy that there is absolutely no fucking way he will ever agree to having her babbys because he is gay is precisely the opposite of what Dirk wants to say, if his intention isn't pulverizing her. So he doesn't. And his worry on this regard is such that it prevents Dirk from even telling Roxy that he does love her, in the platonic sense, as a friend and hell-earth survivor, because he knows that specificity is what that would disappoint her greatly. (He only ever confesses this to Jane, on the death slabs.)

But also I think this is a really funny visual of Dirk's relationship with the word gay, to put statements into perspective:

[gender-i-hardly-know-er]

there are few benefits to being death's shepherd

this is for analogical week day 1- fear/warmth!

okay, this is kinda a weird concept but i like it so it's fine

warnings- mentions of death (like a lot), mentions of murder (logan's killed ppl), swearing, uhhh roman dies but for like two seconds bc virgil is a necromancer, and that's all i can think of

lmk if i should add anything else!

@analogicalweek

If there was one thing Logan missed about being human, it was warmth. He could deal with the lack of heartbeat, the absence of food, and the changes to his appearance just fine; but the warmth… he didn't think he’d ever missed anything more. He supposed it was a fitting punishment, do unto others as you would have them do unto you and such. He’d certainly taken the warmth from more than a few people in his time on earth. At least they didn't have to live with it! He was stuck between the land of the living and the dead, forced to serve as death’s harbinger, guiding souls of the dead to an afterlife he’d never get to see. He was one of many; his fate was not unique, however rare it might have been. Different guides used different names- some just called themselves “Death”, which was far from creative, and technically inaccurate. They weren’t death, they were what came after. Some preferred titles like “Angel of Death”. Again, inaccurate, as the people cursed to end up like him surely never lead lives angelic in nature. From “The Grim Reaper'' to “The Destroyer”, Logan had heard them all, but only one ever seemed to fit. He was Death’s Shepherd. Guiding and protecting the recently deceased (recently is a relative term- his job was time consuming! So what if some of them were trapped in their bodies for a few months? They have a literal eternity to get over it!). It was dull, repetitive, and never-ending. Truly a fate worse than death. No pun intended.

Interesting days were few and far between, but when they happened, Logan was overjoyed. Today was one of those; his next assignment was in a known necromancer’s lair. Now, Logan didn't have any personal misgivings about the practice of necromancy- hell, he’d dabbled in it a bit in his long-gone lifetime- but it sure did make his job harder. See, the system the people in charge used to find the dead and assign them… it was not great. It was significantly delayed, and it had no precautions against wrongful assignment (AKA, people who didn't actually die, or at least aren’t dead anymore). It was little more than an annoyance for Logan, but he did enjoy meeting necromancers. They were always eccentric, and way more interesting than the people Logan met on a daily basis. Plus, with necromancers, you don't have to deal with a whole explanation. They know what you are. You get to skip the whole “being scared” bit, Logan’s least favorite part by a long shot. Even if this was a wrongful assignment, he’d probably get to talk to a necromancer, so it all evened out. He shook off the ever-present cold feeling as he put on his hood. He never was partial to the whole “long, black, flowing robe” aesthetic- he thought it was played out and just added to the fear people felt upon seeing the shepherds, something Logan desperately wanted to avoid. He opted for a simple black suit, tie, and hood. Nothing too extravagant, and entirely practical. He picked up his scythe and went to the elevator, ready to make his way to earth. 

~~~

After an uneventful elevator ride, Logan stood in front of his destination. That was the one thing corporate got right; their travel mechanisms were fast and accurate. 

He walked toward a large, metal door, taking in his surroundings. The house he was brought to could’ve belonged to Dracula himself (Logan had actually met the man before- he was quite nice, really), with its tall, looming doors and gothic windows. Whoever ran this place had no qualms with being known for necromancy. He decided he’d be polite and knock on the door. He raised the large iron door knocker and slammed it down. 

He got a response within seconds, the door ripping open to reveal a man in a purple cloak. “The fuck do you want- oh- you’re one of those… who’re you here for?” 

The stranger seemed to know his stuff, being able to identify Logan abnormally fast. “I’m looking for a…” Logan summoned his schedule book and found the name, “Roman Sanders. Is he here?” 

“Yeah, he’s here, but he’s not dead anymore. False alarm.” They both just sort of stood there for a few moments. Logan didn't need to go back yet, and he didn't want to. He quite enjoyed his time up top. But he also didn't know what to do with himself… the stranger seemed to be having an internal debate of his own, glancing back and forth between Logan and the ground. Eventually, the stranger spoke up again. “Do you, uh- d’ya wanna come in? I don't mind if you do.”

Logan didn't know what to do with that. He never really went out of his way to interact with others more than he needed to, but, seeing as he had nothing better to do, he obliged. “I… suppose I could.” 

With that, the stranger stepped inside and gestured for Logan to follow. Logan trailed behind him through a long hallway and into a surprisingly modest kitchen. He sat at a small dining table and watched as the stranger started making tea. 

“You want anything? I got coffee, tea, water, some sodas-”

“Oh, I can't eat or drink.” 

“What, are you on a diet or something?”

“...no, I’m literally not alive- I can't eat or drink anymore.” 

“...Oh.” the stranger sat on the countertop with his tea. “I’m sorry?” 

“No apology necessary.”

They sat in silence for a moment. It occurred to Logan that he hadn’t really had any human interaction in a few decades. At least not with anyone living. All the other people he talked to were dead… and scared. He’d forgotten how to fill the quiet. Thankfully, the stranger did it for him. 

“What’s it like?” he said, sitting down his tea and leaning forward. “I mean, obviously I know what you guys are, but I’ve never really gotten to talk to any of you. What’s the in-between like?” 

“I- well, I don't really know how to answer that. No one’s ever asked…” 

“Hmm. Favorite and least favorite part?”

“Favorite… if I’m being honest, everything about it kind of-” 

“Sucks?” 

Logan chuckled. “Well, I was going to say ‘disappoints’, but I suppose that works too. I’ve gotten used to most of it, but there is one thing that still bothers me.” He debated telling this random person vulnerable information, but decided that there wasn’t a way for it to be used against him in this instance, so he continued. “I’m so cold. My body doesn't give off heat anymore, so blankets and sweaters don't work. All those do is trap already present heat, but there’s no heat to trap. I miss warmth more than anything.” 

The stranger was quiet for a moment before muttering something Logan couldn’t understand. 

“Come again?”

“...I’m warm. I could… nevermind, it’s nothing-” Logan sincerely doubted that, but he let it go. He needed to be on his way soon. 

“Thank you for talking with me, it’s been a pleasure…” it had only just now occurred to Logan that they hadn’t exchanged names. 

“Virgil- I’m, uh- I’m Virgil.” 

“It’s been lovely meeting you, Virgil.”

“You too…”

“Logan.”

“Logan. Nice meeting you, too. Or whatever. I don't care.” Virgil’s friendly and hospitable air quickly changed, becoming standoffish and impersonal, for reasons left unknown to Logan. Virgil waved him off. “Go on.” 

Logan waved a quick and confused goodbye before taking his leave, out the door and into the elevator. 

~~~ 

“Roman?” Virgil called for his friend, walking through the upstairs hall and sticking his head into every room. “Where are you? I gotta kill you again!” 

Roman came speeding down the hall, almost ramming into Virgil before successfully stopping himself. “Again? I just got back, can't a man get a break?” 

“What if there was a reason this time?”

“What reason could you possibly have?”

Virgil tried his best to make the situation not sound stupid as all hell, saying “Okay, so you know the guys that come when you die? With the scythes and stuff?”

“God, how could I forget?”

“Yeah, well the one that came this time was… kinda hot? And we, like, talked and stuff and-”

“Say no more- if I must die for true love, so be it!”

“No one said anything about love-”

“You didn't have to say it- I know you. You talked to a random guy, something you never do. You are going out of your way to talk to someone you don't know! Who are you and what did you do with Virgil?” They both laughed at that. “If you’re trying to be social without me forcing you to, by all means, continue! I only ask one thing- can it wait until tomorrow? I’d like to actually sleep. Believe it or not, death is soooo tiring.”

Virgil smiled. “Yeah. Yeah, we can do that.” 

He didn't know what it was about Logan that made him want to see him again. Maybe it was the surprise he showed when Virgil asked him questions. Maybe it was the little laugh he was obviously stifling. Maybe it was how upset he seemed when talking about being cold. 

Maybe it was that Virgil wanted to warm him up. 

~~~

When Logan looked at his assignments the next day, he at first assumed there’d been an error; it wasn’t out of the question. In Logan’s century of doing his job, there’d certainly been errors (perhaps even a concerning amount). But when he called to report it, he was told that yes, he does, in fact, have the same assignment as yesterday. Yes, Roman Sanders was actually dead this time, and yes, he had to go pick him up. 

Not that he was upset about this… he wouldn’t mind talking to that necromancer again- Virgil, if he remembered correctly. He couldn't stop thinking about him their conversation. He’d actually asked about Logan’s half-life! No one ever did that. The dead people he picked up were always so concerned about themselves, it was always “what happened to me” and “am I dead” and “where are you taking me”. It was honestly annoying. I mean, yeah, dying can be scary, but if they’d just fucking wait, everything would be explained. Logan was a shepherd, not a messenger! Nonetheless, Virgil was the first person that seemed to care at all.  

He was almost skipping when he reached the necromancer’s home, pausing to regain his composure before knocking. Virgil appeared within seconds, a bit out of breath. He looked like he’d been running. 

“Hey.” Virgil said, leaning on the doorframe and looking Logan up and down. Something seemed… off? Logan couldn’t place it, but Virgil was acting different somehow. Before he could think about it too much, Virgil was waving him in, skipping the pleasantries and bringing Logan straight to the kitchen. Logan rather appreciated that. He was never one for small talk. He sat in the same chair he had before, and Virgil took his prior place on the counter. 

“Soooo… Roman’s alive this time, too,” Virgil started. “I’m guessing that’s why you’re here?” 

“Yes, that’s right. I don't know why corporate thought he died again.” Logan relaxed his head in his hand.

“Oh, no, he did die again. He’s back now, though.” Virgil mirrored Logan’s movements, his crossed legs serving as platforms for his elbows. He rested his head on his knuckles and sighed comfortably. 

“Again? Within a day?”

“Yeah- he’s clumsy,” Virgil said, a bit rushed, before changing the topic. “You said something about ‘corporate’? Don't tell me there’s capitalism in the afterlife, too.”

“I wouldn’t know,” Logan sighed. “I’ve never been there.”

“What do you mean you’ve never been? I thought that was your whole thing?”

“My fate is little more than a punishment for those who led irredeemable lives. We don't get to see the afterlife, but we have to spend eternity leading others there. The closest we get is the gates.” Logan fidgeted with his tie, unsure how Virgil would react. He’d just said his job is only for horrible people… Virgil was going to think he was horrible! Which he was, of course, but it still hurt. 

“Irredeemable lives? What does that mean?” 

“You know. Mass murderers, billionaires, the majority of politicians,” Virgil didn't seem to react at all to Logan’s response. He just kept staring at him and looking away. Staring at him, looking away. Over and over and over. 

“Lemme guess…” Virgil’s brow furrowed as he contemplated. “Billionaire?” 

“God, no. Mass murderer,” Logan laughed a bit. “I killed a few billionaires in my living days- along with… many others, but we don't have to talk about that.” 

“I get it. So you’re… evil?” Logan didn't know why Virgil was smiling, but he knew he wanted to make it happen again. 

“...you could put it that way, yes”

“Dude, that’s so cool! I’m a somewhat evil man myself,” Virgil came down from his perch on the counter, taking the seat beside Logan. “Well, that’s what others seem to think, at least. I sorta just went with it. I’m not evil because I wanna do shitty things to people, I’m just in it for the aesthetic.”

Logan took a long look at Virgil and had to agree. It really worked for him. He didn't normally enjoy the classical goth style, with its ornate black dresses and frills- it was too lavish for his business-like tastes- but the way Virgil looked… he might have started to enjoy it a bit. He was in a long, tight dress- much fancier than the cloak he was wearing the first time they met. His sleeves draped over his wrists, forming long, flowy triangles. He was fucking gorgeous, and if Logan had blood, he’d be blushing.

“Hello? You there?” Logan jolted as Virgil’s hand grazed his, pulling back in surprise. He immediately missed the bit of warmth that Virgil’s touch had supplied, however little. 

“Fuck, you are cold,” Virgil looked at his hand, like he could see the chill on his skin. “And you feel like that all the time?” 

Logan nodded, avoiding looking at Virgil. 

Virgil stayed silent for a second before speaking again, in a soft voice Logan had to strain to hear. 

“I’m- I’m warm. I’ve got body heat and stuff…”

“Yes, I know that.” He couldn’t tell if Virgil was gloating or if he was guilty somehow. But then again, when had he ever been able to tell what others were thinking?

“I’m saying- and it could be a horrible idea and you can shoot it down if you don't like it, it’s kinda stupid- but…” Virgil kept tripping over his words, unable to get out whatever it was he was suggesting. “I’m warm and you’re- you’re cold, so if we like… held hands or shared a blanket or something, you could be warm. BUT ONLY IF YOU WANT TO! Totally your call. You probably don't want to, forget I asked-”

“I’d love that.”

“...are you serious?” The surprise on Virgil’s face almost made Logan laugh. 

“Of course.” he saw Virgil glancing at his hand on the table and flipped it over, his palm facing up. An invitation. Virgil tentatively reached his own hand out, stopping to look at Logan’s face for confirmation. At Logan’s nod, he placed his hand on top of his and laced their fingers together. 

It was instant, like a lightning strike flowing through Logan’s fingers, his arm, all through his body. Just a simple touch, something so small, but it was the most significant thing in the world to Logan. He stared at their joined hands, and he thought he might just cry. Maybe it wasn’t just the warmth he missed. Maybe he missed the affection, too. 

He looked up as Virgil lifted their hands, slowly bringing Logan’s up to his lips. His breath on Logan’s skin was already almost intoxicating, but when he kissed his hand, Logan could’ve fainted. Virgil evidently decided he wasn’t done, kissing up Logan’s arm and pulling him closer. He put his free hand on Logan’s cheek, holding him like a precious artifact- delicate, but firm.  For the first time in a century, Logan was warm. He could get used to this.

[firelxdykatara]

ppl love to forget that katara: 1. has her own taste, 2. developed around aang, he needed her for his development and vice versa, 3. ZUTARA IS SHIP BETWEEN AN OPPRESOR X OPPRESSED!!! Ignoring all of the development they had with their respective partners and the trauma Zuko caused Katara!!

In the infamous words of one Luke Skywalker: amazing. every word of what you just said was wrong.

It’s actually kind of ironic that you bring up Katara’s taste, since, throughout the show, we have examples of the guys she likes, to greater or lesser extents in canon--Jet (explicit romantic feelings on her part, word of god that jet was her first kiss--a kiss that would have been consensual, incidentally, something you should keep in mind for later) and Haru (she denies the crush, but that could just as easily have been because of the abomination he’d been growing on his lip rather than denying those feelings ever existed), both of whom have much more in common (in terms of both emotional and physical maturity, and physical appearance) with Zuko than either of them has with Aang.

Zuko’s book 3 hairstyle is almost exactly reminiscent of Jet’s, even, if not quite as floofy.

(This is probably in part because of Jet’s function as a foil of Zuko within the narrative, particularly given their book 2 encounters, which I think just further solidifies my point that, were it not for extenuating circumstances [like the fact that Zuko was introduced as an enemy and they had significant obstacles to hurdle before they could be friends], Zuko would have been exactly Katara’s type. Had they met under different circumstances, she could have been the girl he went on a date with in Ba Sing Se. Just something to think about.)

So, yes, we’ve established that Katara has her own taste. Her tastes seem to be boys with great hair who are taller than her, the same age or older, and of a similar maturity level.

Aang falls short (heh, short) on all counts. So it isn’t Katara’s taste in boys that led her to be interested in him. Hm!

Next, you claim that Katara ‘developed around Aang’--that she was necessary for his development, and that he was necessary for hers.

Let’s take a moment to examine that, shall we?

I will absolutely grant you that Katara was necessary for Aang’s development--only to a point, of course, but we’ll get to that later--but was he really necessary for Katara‘s growth? I suppose I could grant you this on a generous technicality--he did, after all, provide her with the means to finally leave the South Pole and find a waterbending master to teach her (although she wound up largely self-taught anyway). But that had nothing to do with his relationship to Katara and everything to do with the structure of the plot--Katara and Sokka find Aang (and he never would have gotten out of that iceberg without Katara’s own righteous anger, so even that leads back to her own power), and then they go on a quest to find teachers for the Chosen One and save the world.

The story could not have begun without first finding Aang and then providing means for the other main characters to travel with him (or, in Zuko’s case, chase him), but this has nothing at all to do with Aang’s relationship to Katara. Aang was not a mover in Katara’s developmental arc--if anything, he acted as an obstacle more often than not, his actions ranging from innocent but obnoxious (playing and flirting with girls rather than helping with chores like picking up vital supplies, leaving Katara to do all of the quite literal heavy lifting and keeping her stuck in the role of caretaker that she’d been thrust into following the death of her mother), to deliberate and harmful (hiding the map to Katara and Sokka’s father, a truly selfish action, regardless of his lack of malicious intent, and one for which he never actually apologized), to somewhere in between (”she didn’t really mean that” he says to the man refusing to train Katara because she’s a girl, when yes, she very much did mean that, and Aang was no help in finally getting the old codger to eat his words--Katara had to shove them down his throat her own damn self).

While Katara’s overall arc wasn’t exactly big and dynamic (like Zuko’s redemption arc), or in-your-face (like Sokka getting force-fed Respect Women Juice and his eventual growth into a tactician and leader), it was very much present and woven into her character--and Aang had almost no part in it. He provided her with the means to get to the North Pole, but left Katara alone to fight the patriarchy herself. He messed around while Katara took it on herself to do the chores and keep the Gaang alive, but he did almost nothing to decrease that burden so she could grow out of the caretaker role. (Contrary to popular shipper claims, Aang didn’t actually teach Katara to have fun. She already knew how to have fun. But she couldn’t indulge, because she had a responsibility to her family and her tribe, and later to her brother and Aang and Toph, and Aang goofing off and trying to get her to do the same only added to her burdens rather than subtracting from them.) He provided Katara with the necessary motive to learn to heal herself, but he certainly didn’t seem to learn from the experience of accidentally burning her, preferring instead to claim he was never going to firebend again, despite already knowing, at that point, that he was going to need to master fire along with the other elements to become a fully realized Avatar and defeat the Firelord.

He didn’t help Katara keep them alive during The Desert. (In fact, he ran off, leaving her to desperately try to keep Sokka and Toph from succumbing to the heat while worrying for his safety.) In The Painted Lady, Katara makes the decision to stall the Gaang and do what she can to help the Fire Nation villagers on her own--Aang agrees to help her when he finds out, but he wasn’t actually instrumental in her making that choice. The Puppetmaster was, again, Katara finding a master of her own, and having to deal with the fallout from that. And in The Southern Raiders, Aang was--perhaps unknowingly, if I’m being generous, because he is a child and could not reasonably be expected to fully understand the implications of what he was asking her to do or why it was impossible--actively impeding Katara’s development! She desperately needed closure, something he could not understand and actively belittled and dismissed. The only reason he relented in the end (but not without a condescending ‘I forgive you! Does that give you any ideas???’ parting shot lmao) was because Katara was planning to take Appa anyway, and letting her go (and hoping she’d just magically wind up doing things his way) was easier than trying to fight her on it.

While Aang’s existence was necessary for Katara to start down her own path, she needed neither his guidance nor his approval to follow it--and absolutely nothing would change about Katara’s arc if you removed their romantic relationship entirely.

Possibly because the only changes needed to do so would be to remove the two times Aang kissed Katara without her consent (which, hopefully, no one would actually miss), and the epilogue kiss (which was awkward and unnecessary to begin with, since ending the entire show on a romantic kiss as the final shot kind of missed the point of the story to begin with, but that’s another discussion). None of these kisses (which are the only moments in which Katara’s feelings for Aang are so much as addressed; do note that addressing them, or hinting that they needed to be, is not the same as saying she exhibited any sign of reciprocating them) altered anything about Katara’s behavior, her personal arc, or (and perhaps most critically) her relationship with Aang.

It’s that last point that is really damning, as far as ‘Katara obviously had feelings for Aang, she kissed him in the finale!’ goes. Because she didn’t ‘obviously’ have feelings for him. And the fact that he kissed her before the invasion and then she forgot about it (she literally had no idea what he was talking about during the play’s intermission until he reminded her that he’d kissed her) is pretty clear evidence that she didn’t actually have feelings for him. Not the kind he had for her.

I’ve been a teenage girl. I know what it’s like to be surprise!kissed by your crush. And I absolutely for a full fact know that I had not completely forgotten about that kiss three months later and had, in fact, spent most of my waking hours thinking about it and remembering it and trying to talk to him about it. Now, granted, I was not in the middle of a war, but even if I had been, I doubt I would have needed reminding about the fact that the boy I’ve supposedly been developing feelings for had kissed me and showed clearly that he had those feelings for me too.

At the very least, if Katara was harboring feelings that she was worried about approaching until after the war, her relationship dynamic with Aang should have shifted. But it didn’t. She acted the exact same way with him after the Day of Black Sun as she did before it--that is, as a mother figure and a caretaker, responsible for his wellbeing. (And it’s clear she never took him down off the pedestal she needed him to occupy, either--let it not be said that the unhealthy aspects of their relationship only went one way.)

And book 3 is, incidentally, where Katara went from being vital to Aang’s development to being detrimental to it--or, rather, Aang’s refusal to let go of his attachment to her (despite ostensibly having done as much at the end of book 2) was. Because despite having been told by, perhaps, the greatest authority left in the world on Air Nomad culture (even more than Aang, who had left his temple with a child’s understanding of his culture that was never able to mature because he got stuck in the ice berg while his people were wiped out) that he had to let go of his possessive attachment to this girl who never even expressed the possibility that she might harbor romantic feelings for him to begin with, after Azula killed him and Katara brought him back, he went right back into the mindset of Katara is mine, it’s just a matter of time.

And the narrative validated him for it.

Notice how, during Ember Island Players, Aang says the following (emphasis mine):

“We kissed at the invasion, and I thought we were gonna be together. But we’re not.”

First of all, if you go back and watch the scene, it’s clear it wasn’t a mutual kiss. Aang sprang a surprise kiss on Katara, which left her shocked and unhappy after he flew off. (The decision to have her looking away and frowning was a deliberate one on the part of Bryke, who wanted Katara’s feelings kept ambiguous. Heaven forbid you allow the animators to make it clear that this fourteen-year-old girl who was just kissed without her consent by someone she’d never once demonstrated romantic feelings toward might actually have some. Heaven forbid she have a little agency in her own romantic narrative. But whatever.)

Second, he says he thought they were gonna be together.

He thought.

He never once even asked Katara what she thought--or even how she felt. He just assumes. He assumes that if he kisses her, she’ll kiss him back and they’ll get together. He assumes that she must have feelings for him, even though her body language is closed off and she told him with her words that she did not want to talk or think about this right now, and kisses her regardless of those signals, upsetting her and leading her to storm off.

And the narrative rewards him, because despite the fact that they don’t have a single significant scene together after that second disastrous kiss, Katara just decides off-screen that she Does Love Him Really and walks onto the balcony to make out with him.

The upshot of all this being that, while Katara was indeed instrumental to a lot of Aang’s early growth and development, Aang was not necessary for her own arc, and their romantic relationship (such as it was) actively hampered Aang’s development in book 3, while removing it would change absolutely nothing for Katara (except saving her from some painfully embarrassing memories).

As far as your third point, I’m simply not going to get baited into explaining how reducing Zutara to an ‘oppressor/oppressed’ relationship is not only insulting to interracial couples irl (not to mention any other couple with a potentially unbalanced dynamic of societal power, since there are many more axis of oppression than just racial), but demeaning to Zuko and Katara, their personal arcs as well as their relationship development together.

However, I will point out that Zuko was not responsible for any of Katara’s trauma. She did not find violence and fighting in bending battles to be traumatic--in fact, she reveled in it. She enjoyed fighting against Zuko at multiple points (especially noticeable in their battle at the end of book 1), because she wanted to fight--she always had--and once she had the ability, she was ready to throw down with anyone who gave her the slightest reason. (Including, by the way, her own potential waterbending master.) Aang’s death at the end of book 2 was Azula’s doing, and while I think that contributed to Katara’s extreme reaction to Zuko joining the gaang, it was not something for which she actively blamed him, and it wasn’t something she believed would be repeated--she let him go off alone on a journey to find the original firebending masters with Aang well before she chose to forgive him. So she already trusted Zuko’s intentions and that Aang would be safe with him.

Finally, because this has gotten long enough already, I hope you now understand that Zuko and Katara getting together would not require ignoring any of their development with their canonical romantic partners. We’ve already established that Katara’s arc wouldn’t change in the slightest if all of Aang’s romantic advances were removed, and I haven’t even gotten into how Mai meant nothing in the grand scheme of Zuko’s development because I’m pretty sure that’s just self-evident. I mean, the video compilation put together by Nick showcasing Zuko’s journey throughout the series doesn’t include a single scene with Mai, though it does include several with Katara, and even Jin makes an appearance--because Katara, and even Jin, played key roles in Zuko’s personal journey, while his relationship with Mai happened entirely off-screen and her only real function was to showcase just how unhealthy trying to force himself back into the role of the Crown Prince was for him.

What development, exactly, is there between them to even ignore?

At any rate, I’ve gone on long enough--I hope you enjoy the fact that you activated my wordvomit trap card right when i was about to go to bed, anon, because I just spent two hours writing this instead. In case you’re interested in the TL;DR: at the end of the day, there was no meaningful, mutual development in Kataang’s romantic relationship, and those romantic feelings that did exist were largely one-sided and ultimately detrimental to Aang’s development in the final third of his overall arc. Meanwhile, Mai meant nothing to Zuko’s journey--rather like Aang’s romantic overtures, she could be removed from the show completely and nothing about his story would change--while Zuko and Katara were both vital to each other’s overall storylines, arcs and development. This, coupled with the fact that Zuko never actually traumatized Katara and, in fact, helped her achieve closure from the biggest source of her own trauma, means that Zuko and Katara have better and more believable build up that could potentially lead to a romantic relationship than either of them have with their canon romantic partners.

So no, anon, I didn’t forget anything--I think you may have, though. Perhaps a rewatch is in order? Make sure not to close your eyes for the back half of book 3 this time.