#that kind of makes the situation worse for everyone

[mizamelon]

Tagging @sakiyaki-sashimi just to make sure she sees this too!

So Enstars has had problems for awhile now but it's gotten much worse recently.

First there is Adonis, one of the idol is the game. He is the only character with brown skin and he's from somewhere in the middle east. Despite being very kind and sweet, other characters treat him like he's scary or as a monster. And they do this pretty much exclusively because he isn't light skinned, which is very sad.

Next, you have Hiiro and Rinne Amagi, who belong to an indigenous tribe based off the real-life Ainu people. Their characterizations draw from several different negative stereotypes of indigenous people. Hiiro is seen as stupid and doesn't understand the modern world due to being raised in a village away from "normal" society for all his life. Rinne is a drunk and a gambler who's just very rude and crass to the other people around him. I believe Happy Elements (the company behind Enstars) got complaints a couple of years ago from the Ainu people about how their culture was being represented in the game. Due to this, they decided to make the Amagi's village super technologically advanced, which is another stereotype that comes from an overcorrected attempt to not portray native people as less advanced than their colonizers. (I think at least, I'm not an expert on these things so sorry if I get something wrong)

And then we get to Ibuki and Akatsuki. Ibuki's heritage is different from the Amagi brothers as his ancestors are Ryukyuan, a native people who mostly live in Okinawa I believe. Firstly, when Ibuki was added to the game, he called his own ancestors demons, which... isn't a great start, but he seemed to be proud of his family and where they came from. It seemed Ibuki's identity was going to be a large part of his character and we, the fandom, were hopeful to see how it goes.

Then they added him to Akatsuki, an already existing unit. This unit's theme is based around traditional Japanese aesthetics and culture. And when Ibuki joined the unit, he talked about wanting to embrace more of his Japanese identity, which is just really weird and it's clear the writers didn't actually care about portraying an indigenous character. It's just really gross for them to make Ibuki ignore the native culture of his family and to instead turn and embrace the culture of the people who colonized and oppressed them.

This decision by the writers has upset literally every corner of the fandom, English, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, etc, etc. Everyone hated this decision but Happy Elements has stood their ground and refuse to listen to us. So (mostly English fans I believe) have called for a complete boycott of the series in order to hit them where it hurts the most, their pockets! I added the part about not financially supporting the Project Sekai side of the collab because this series hasn't been perfect either and I don't want them getting any ideas...

But I hope this covers it all! It's a really unfortunate situation overall as Enstars was a fun series despite it's flaws but it's clear now that the people behind the game really don't care about the fans or the characters anymore...

As the pjsekai x enstars crossover approaches, I would like to remind everyone that there is a boycott of enstars going on right now due to the blatant racism and pro-colonization views promoted in recent stories.

The most important thing is to avoid everything on the enstars side of the collab. I forget what they're getting specifically but don't watch the song mv when it's uploaded to their official channel and do not download the game.

Now this next part is just my opinion but I would also avoid any monetary support of pjsekai's side of the collab. They don't deserve any support for collabing with a racist game/company imo.

Just please don't mindlessly celebrate and get excited over this xoxo - an ex-enstarrie

[blu-writes]

By Primus’s Will Pt.3

A/N: I’m sorry for the long wait between chapters! I’m currently moving and have been swamped with completing art commissions to help fund said move. ^^

TW: talk of wounds, blood, talk of death

"Thank you human." You looked up at him, still nervous over the fact that an alien robot sat in your garage.

"Y/N. You can call me Y/N" He nodded and closed his eyes, continuing to let you try and work on his side.

You wiped some of the sweat from your forehead and put the dirty rag over your shoulder. You had gotten his bleeding to stop temporarily, but you knew it wouldn’t last long. Especially if he woke up and tried to leave.

Turning and looking at out the door to the shed you saw the trail of blue “blood” beginning to dry and stain the floors of the shed. You filled a bucket with water from a tap in the back of the shed and tossed the water onto the concrete floor. You grabbed a brush broom and began to scrub at the spots.

You heard sirens racing near your house and looked back towards the road. An ambulance came racing towards your shed, nearly running you over before transforming into another tall robot.

“Where is Optimus Human!? He needs my attention!” You pointed into the shed, where he had to lean down to see into the building’s doorway and he dashed inside kneeling to look at his friend.

“I’m guessing you’re who he referred to as ‘Ratchet’? I’m Y/N, it’s nice to meet you.” He stayed silent, studying Optimus’s wounds and your handy work of his bandages.

“I tried my best to bandage him up. I don’t know how your bodies work-“ He turned around quickly and stared at you “Do you always talk so much? You know nothing about us yet you seem so calm and collected. Does our presence not scare you?”

You flinched at his words, realizing he was right, but you were scared at the two gigantic beings in front of you. “Trust me, I am absolutely terrified. But your friend was hurt. And bad. I don’t know where you two came from or what you’re doing in my garage. But I don’t want you to lose a friend because of a bad fall from space.”

You turned and started to leave the garage, huffing to yourself when a voice called out. “Wait Miss/Mr. Y/N. I want to thank you, and I want to apologize for my friend, we've grown custom to not trusting everyone we come across. And our situation is not very common, so your level-headedness during this has been surprising to say the least." You paused as he spoke, still facing the door to leave, and shook your head. "Don't worry about it. I can't say I blame him." You turned and walked out of the garage, still hurt by the quick judgement from Ratchet. “Stay here as long as you need. I’m going to close these doors so nobody can see you from the outside. If you need me, open the door and honk your horn once. I’ll hear you.”

Before either of them could say anything else you closed the doors and went into your house. The hot air of the desert was thick and you were happy to get back inside and cool off in the comfort of your home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Optimus’s POV ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ratchet watched every step Y/N took, careful to make sure they didn’t try to do anything hostile against either of us. Trusting somebody entirely new, and of a different race, would be hard. Not only for Ratchet and I, but for every other Cybertronian who came to Earth and tried to form any kind of alliance with the humans.

“Ratchet-“ A cough rattled through my chest, making an awful echo in the garage. I covered my mouth, drops of energon falling into my open palm. “Lay down Optimus. Your condition is only getting worse, I need to patch you up immediately.”

“If you hadn’t been so worried about talking to that human maybe you would be in better sha-“ I looked up at him as he caught himself, before groaning as Ratchet pulled out a large chunk of what looked like a rock, it’s tip covered in bright blue fluid.

“She/He patched you up well enough to keep you stable.. Impressive..” Ratchet dropped the rock and began working, his large hands working efficiently and quickly, stopping the bleeding much better than it had been before. “If it weren’t for Y/N, who knows what condition I would’ve been in by the time you arrived.”

He nodded, keeping his eyes focused on my side as I sat back up, making sure the wound stayed closed. “Y/N seems wonderful Optimus, They do, but we can’t go trusting a random Human just because they helped us. We’ve never had good luck with humans, all they want is to destroy us and use us for parts.”

Wrong. Bumblebee had a wonderful Human friend, he was the first scout sent here, instructed to stay hidden amongst the humans. Until a decepticon scout had managed to track him down. “How is Bumblebee? Have you managed to fix his speech yet?”

Ratchet turned away, sighing. “No, his voice is..irreparable. I’m still baffled he even survived that ambush.” If only I had been here to protect him. “And what of his human?” He looked back at me this time, shaking his head.

“Unfortunately she didn’t make it. Bee is lost without her, they were partners for 3 years. And he blames himself for her death.” I couldn’t help the frown that spread across my face. “I could’ve saved them both.”

“Optimus-“

“I could’ve saved them, Ratchet. It’s my fault Bee is injured, and it’s my fault that his friend passed away.” The door to the garage slid open, and Y/N stood there, refusing to make eye contact with Ratchet.

“I want to know who you are, and what you all are fighting for.” They turned to look at Ratchet, scowling at him. “I can help more than you think. And you can use this garage for whatever you may need.”

Tag List: @jaguarthecat

[the-raven-and-the-tower]

Before their friendship developed, Harding was hella suspicious of Lucanis out of protectiveness and mean about it.

Harding: The Demon of Vyrantium, huh? And they called you that before the demon.

Lucanis: Ah. You don't have that enchanted barbed arrow in your quiver because you think it's pretty.

Harding: It is though, isn't it? The red shimmer is the enfeebling magic. And the spiked tip is designed to splinter inside the target.

Lucanis: Very nice.

Refusing to be baited. He's called the situation out for what it is and now he refuses to rise to a taunt as barbed as her arrow. Lace is just being protective of her people, and he seems to recognize that. Worse, he may think he deserves some level of suspicion, based on what we find in his mental Ossuary later. But further... Lucanis just left behind a year of torture and imprisonment, he's no stranger to being taunted with his own death. Harding isn't getting a rise out of him that easily.

Harding: I thought you'd like that! I really hope I don't have to use it though. It cost me a lot of gold.

Lucanis: That's why you only have the one.

Harding: Well, I only need one. Especially from this close.

Lucanis: You cannot help but flinch whenever I use my skills. You think, "Ah, this time he's definitely gone full demon."

Harding: It's not personal.

I read this as progress from where their relationship was last time we heard them speak. "It's not you I don't like, I just don't trust the demon you have in you."

Lucanis: If you're watching me in battle, you leave yourself open to our actual enemies.

Logic and reason, using their shared goal as the hinge. Wise Crow.

Harding: The power of the demon-possessed assassin should make up for how twitchy everyone else gets, right?

^ Cranky or not, she listened. Right after this, we got into a fight with some Darkspawn and Lucanis was actively cheering Harding on when she kept her focus on the fight. And he does it by praising her ferocity. "Harding, that was terrifying!" but in an almost proud way. It was great.

His response is kindness.

When we go on his "getting to know Lucanis' quest to the markets in Treviso, he does this-

Lucanis: Ah. Here. (finding what he was looking for)

Rook: A potted plant?

Lucanis: For Harding's garden. Spearmint is supposed to calm bad dreams. It's good in desserts, too.

He's brand new to the team at this point and we know he's rejecting sleep, avoiding it at all costs. Meanwhile, Harding is brand new to having nightmares - it's not hard to picture her stumbling into the pantry for a cup of something bracing and forgetting Lucanis is there. The same person who has openly threatened to kill him and gone so far as to tell him how she'll do it, and he's getting her a potted plant. I love seeing how he uses his carefully-honed skills of perception to help instead of hurt. She likes plants, so he gets her one. She has nightmares, so he finds a way to help that fits into her likes already. It's a beautiful thing.

They develop a friendship later and we get a lot of great banter from them around dreams, but even so, when we go into the Ossuary of Lucanis's mind, we find this;

HARDING: Don't worry, Rook. I've got my eye on the prisoner.

Still a prisoner in his own mind. I also have to wonder if a little of Lace's early treatment of him reminded him of the guards in the Ossuary. I appreciate that Harding was just being protective of her people, but to a man who has just left a year of torture in an underwater prison behind, anyone who describes how they're planning to kill him if he steps out of line has to remind him of it a little.

ROOK, displeased: You've conjured up a friendly face, Lucanis. But your real friends and allies need you, in the real world.

HARDING: Rook, are you sure Spite isn't tricking you? What if there's no Lucanis - just the demon?

Lucanis's impression of Lace's fears earlier was 'You cannot help but flinch whenever I use my skills. You think, "Ah, this time he's definitely gone full demon."'

ROOK: After a year in the Ossuary, you might believe that. But you're no demon.

HARDING: Look around. This isn't the mind of a human being, let alone an Antivan Crow.

It's Harding's voice, but Lucanis's thoughts. It makes me think of the scrap of a thought we found in the Ossuary; I didn't want you to see that. Again... -I'm not this. I cannot be this-

ROOK: You're still the man you were, Lucanis, even buried in this pain. No demon would punish itself like this.

HARDING: You really shouldn't trust anything you find in the Fade.

ROOK: I trust you, Lucanis, and I trust myself to get you home. Let me.

HARDING: You know that's the kind of attitude that's gonna get you killed, right?

ROOK, still to Lucanis and not the projection: I'll risk it. I have a master assassin on my side. Don't I?

HARDING, fading into light: Just... be careful.

And because I have no idea how to end this thread other than angst, I present to you this;

A Lucanis who has finally escaped the Ossuary of his own mind with Rook's help and begun to believe that he can have a future with Rook, maybe even a happy one. Free from the mental shackles of his mind, he starts to build a real friendship with Lace even as they stop having as many midnight talks after each of them starts sleeping through the night better.

Losing both of them in one night when Lace sacrifices herself to save Rook from Ghilan'nain after Lucanis gets slammed into a rock and has to watch helplessly as Lace dies. And then the bitter triumph of making his kill after she buys them a distraction... only for Rook to be snatched into the fade by Solas's betrayal.

Rook was in the Fade for weeks. Imagine that first night, with Lucanis alone with nothing but his guilt-ridden thoughts and Spite's screams.

[every1sno1fangirl]

Happy Hifuumo Friday everyone!

My week was actually pretty bleh again, though this time it wasn't really because of my health acting up until just now as I'm writing this because I made the horrible mistake of trying to eat pizza again.

I feel kind of weird about it. I'm not sure how common of an experience it really is to fall out of love of something you ate all the time as a kid and sit there wondering whether or not you even truly liked it or if you just did because you were expected to.

Either way I don't anymore, and I'm tired of testing "Well, maybe I just didn't like THIS pizza..." and getting the same results, even ignoring how my stomach very much doesn't agree with any of it anymore.

That's a pretty minor thing overall, I'll admit that...

But I'd honestly rather not delve into the deeper, more worrying political stuff or even just my general life situation. Doomposting doesn't really do anything to make me feel better; I have to prioritize my time and energy better than that.

I go out and I take these pictures and write what are essentially diary entries—these posts—and I do that to put a smile on my face and have a good time doing something I really enjoy.

Ruining that wouldn't make me feel better about any of it. Just worse. So I won't!

Instead I'll ruminate on and introspect about changing myself and getting out more again since I'm no longer completely incapacitated by my Crohn's disease.

A good first step will be setting an actual schedule for the whole week.

It should help me be more productive and get more enjoyment out of my life, if I stick to it.

Especially when it comes to the fun things—you can expect a bunch of Civilization VII posts from me soon!

Anyway, as always, I love you all, have a great day/night!

[the-cosmos-withinus]

Shadow Puppets AU

Hey~o, I’m Dollie, my twin sister and I just finished watching the Owl House a week ago and started an AU rp on our private discord, but I made this blog to share little crumbs here and there, some writing, some art, if people are interested I might post big lore dumps but here are some basics

The Collector’s tablet has been hidden in the Human Realm, and was initially found by priest from Gravesfield who buried the tablet believing that a being of great Evil was inside it, 

It was later uncovered by young Philip Wittebane, who is at first wary of the legends about the Devil in the Woods, but after hearing the Collector speak of living in the stars with his siblings, Philip comes to believe that what he’s found is actually an Angel

They quickly become friends, and play together a lot, their first real bonding experience being to make shadow puppets on the wall (hence Shadow Puppets AU)

Since the only people who can hear or see the Collector are people who have touched the Tablet, their antics are usually chalked up as Philip’s imagination as a lonely kid

However the Collector can also momentarily manifest and affect things in the physical plain, such as catching Philip when he falls out of a tree, or scaring away wolves, which has led to divisive whispers that he either has a Guardian Angel or has summoned a demon

Years later when Caleb leaves for the Demon Realm with Evelyn he takes the Collector’s Tablet with him, having been warned that there is a dangerous entity from the Demon Realm trapped inside

there’s more to this AU that extends into Philip’s adult life, and the Belos Era and more stuff about his childhood friendship with the Collector (who Philip names in this AU, it’s so cute) but I only promised the basics, I’ll elaborate later if there’s interest

[ask-elland-n-will]

[OOC rant about HL rp space here on tumblr: Wanted to mention this for a while but engagement requires... engagement. The more rp blogs exchange asks, the more pathways there are to communicate, to create a net of connections, make characters and the world around them come to life. Over the past year and a half I sent hundreds of asks, in anon/as me/as my characters. I understand being shy. I've been there, and it took some great people in this community to get me out of my shell.

But it is just what it is: unfortunately, if there is no reciprocity, there is no dialogue.

You don't have to wait for a green light/talk in DMs first with creating an rp scenario to send anyone an ask or to initiate rp by tagging someone. You can if it makes you more comfortable but don't have to. Most of us have Rules of Engagement but that's all the pre-requisites.

Before I burned out, I sent people asks just to make them happy, give some interactions for their characters. I wanted to find out more about MCs/OCs. But at this point (and I am not alone in this) whenever this turns into a one-sided communication, I am bothered by it, and I stop sending asks after a while.

I get that if I do it with anons, people won't know who to reply to. But even starting small, sending an ask or two for at least some rp people, so that we know you want to engage — it means a lot. It makes us want to continue playing in this HL sandbox.]

[katyspersonal]

Posting about it like 18 hours late after waking up, but I also had such a strange dream tonight?

In it two of my enemies that worked together against me in reality actually became enemies to one another, and for what reason they did..... One of them crafted some very intricate plan to trick me into thinking I'd get full help for my countless mental troubles, including financial, if I only signed certain papers I got, and the other one disrupted her plan by simply telling me to "trust no one" over a balcony of their.... "house"? Dreams that turn the online into "reality" make little sense but I feel like most people here have them sometimes so you get it probably?

Ironically, I trusted them, and seeing how I clearly was welcomed all of a sudden, went to their place wanting elaboration. (Their house looked exactly like if their blog became a house and it was hysterical) Turned out the other one's plan was to actually not only take all money meant to support my sorry existence away from me forever, but also keep me unemployable since legally I was "helped" or mad shit like that (basically slow, hungry death). And this person turned against their long term "ally" in MY favor because, I quote, "genocide of disabled people is not a joke" gfhtjgugjj We even continued talking a lot about world and people and all other things the other one tried, all while avoiding to as much as address our own grudge.

I really don't know why I'd have a dream like this, it felt so random? It doesn't feel like wishful thinking either. 😕 But it better not be a sign that I've misdiagnosed which one of those two became more malicious in the end, or so help me

[tenwhiteandalusians]

is episode 8 the domitian arc ? more on this and EVEN MORE narratives i’ve been ignoring that the show said “actually,,,” about in 5

[spocks-kaathyra]

.

[theblankest123]

Quick quastion:

[getosugurusbangs]

i wonder just how many times i’ve seemed really annoying just for it to be me having adhd

[selfinflictedgunshotwound]

i cannot possibly understand extreme sex negativity or extreme sex positivity. like. there's no nuance the way you people do it...

[ourceliumnetwork]

it is not slacking off to write or create it is not slacking off to do things that are fun i am not slacking off or procrastinating right now i'm allowed to do things i enjoy doing for fun including playing games and writing and such

[paarthursass]

aurel and astarion are like two cats being forced to share the same house. and most of the time they just hiss and spit at each other and occasionally you'll find them trying to beat the shit out of one another. but then also sometimes they sit up on the fridge together and glare at everyone else. before one of them pushes the other off the fridge.

[leatherbookmark]

oh god okay i understand that maybe not everyone is as indecisive/comfortable with saying "it depends!" as me, but like, i'm sorry, i'm sorry, but i just can't take people who call izzy a villain seriously

[sol1loqu1st]

catching up on fantasy high junior year and Oh Boy Lads, Riz Is Going To Continue To Hit Close To Home For Several Reasons Huh