#the author really put a lot of thought into it

[spiderfunkz]

HYUN-JU x TALL!READER

pairings. cho hyun-ju x f!reader

author's note: where the tall queens at, hellooo! in this the reader is the same height as hyun-ju. also, my requests for hyun-ju are open, but check this out if you wanna request for other squid game characters. if you don't see the character you want to request for send me an ask!

▸ throughout her life, hyun-ju is usually the tall one. you could spot her quite easily in a crowd, she's just really lucky to be blessed with such height.

▸ though sometimes to her, it felt more like a curse. after she transitioned, it was difficult to find someone who wanted a much taller woman as their partner. you know people, they stick with their preferences.

▸ she always felt like the odd one out. but that's before she met you.

▸ you were taller than most of your peers. but that never really bothered you, you were fine with your height, and you never really get why they care so much. you were taught to not care about people's comments as long as you are comfortable.

▸ that's what you slowly taught hyun-ju.

▸ you met her like in any cliché romcom. accidentally bumping into her while walking turned into more dates than you could count. she was so lovely, you wondered sometimes if she was even real. like a dream you've made up.

▸ she values trust a lot in a relationship. thankfully, you were able to give just that. she enjoyed being around you, your presence felt like a safe place to her, and you enjoyed being around her, to you, she is your safe place.

▸ it's cute when you guys are the same height. you love seeing her wear your clothes, your dresses, how it fits her so perfectly, framing her features so beautifully. you love seeing her ask, even when she's shy about it.

▸ "y/n, could i ask you something?" she'd fidget her fingers, "of course, what is it?" your tone is gentle, it makes her feel less nervous. "is it okay if i borrow your dress? the one you wore last wednesday, i thought it looked really gorgeous on you. i was wondering if i could maybe give it a try?"

▸ you'd smile widely, "yes you can! you don't even need to ask, hyun-ju." you immediately get up to find the dress. "i do though, it is yours after all." — "what's mine is yours to share. you can borrow any of my clothes, hyun-ju. i bet they will suit you perfectly."

▸ when she'd come back with the dress on, it would definitely make you gasp. she looked beyond amazing, she looked breathtaking. "do you think it fits me?" she'd ask, "cho hyun-ju, you are the most stunning woman i've ever seen, if you don't marry me right away i will put a ring on your finger before you even know it."

▸ your creative compliments never fails to make her blush. hyun-ju isn't the type to usually just accept compliments, it is something difficult for her to truly believe. but when it comes to you? she believes everything.

▸ her confidence has improved a lot since you've come into her life. your words are so understanding, not pressuring at all, it's easy to take in.

▸ the days where she doubts her beauty are now very rare. but sometimes it does come, though luckily, you are always there by her side.

▸ hyun-ju enjoys being the little spoon, no one can change my mind. she just feels so safe in your touch, so secure. especially when you lay your head in the crook of her neck, whispering soft melodies in her ear.

▸ one day she wanted to buy a pair of heels, but was afraid to get judged in public. she was already tall enough, she didn't want to feel even more out of place than she already does. and you, being the same height as her, bought them without much worry.

▸ you promise to match with her if she goes out with heels. and if people stare, who cares? they are just jealous of two pretty tall girls enjoying their time.

▸ "trust me, hyun-ju, people won't care as much as you think. it is completely normal to want to express yourself and to want to be yourself. who are they to judge? they do not have a right to have a say about you and your choices."

▸ and you were right. hyun-ju's worries were quickly washed away, and after a day of wearing them...

▸ "you are right, my love. but i'm not sure if i'll go out with these often." she shrugs, "oh, why so?" you pout.

▸ "it hurts my feet. i might need some bandages."

[greenerteacups]

What do you think of jkr as a writer? I for one has always felt like she didn’t treat her female characters well. It felt strange, being critical of her when she was god queen of the earth, and also being 10

I think most of the problems in her books can be chalked up to genre hopping. Books 1-3 are perfectly good and serviceable children's books — great children's books, even! They have compelling, relatable characters and juicy mystery plots. They have problems, sure, but for the first three books someone's ever written — especially someone with little or no background in creative writing — they're really fucking good. So: there's her flowers.

The last four books pivot sharply into much more emotionally complicated and sociopolitically loaded territory, because they're describing a war. And it's hard to write children's books about war. I would venture you can't really do it, at least without dramatically misrepresenting what war is! And so Rowling makes the executive decision somewhere during the writing of Book 4 that she's not going to flinch away from that, she's going to go for dramatic realism, and she kills Cedric Diggory to let us know. People had died in Harry Potter before, of course — Quirrell gets sent to the fucking shadow realm, for example. But children haven't. (It also gives parents who are reading these books with their children a warning shot: shit is about to get significantly more real, think twice before you buy the next one of these for your 10-year-old.) After that, Rowling starts leaning much more into dramatic realism, and the fast-paced mystery-novel plotting of the first few books is replaced by a slow, simmering political conflict that unfurls over the course of about a million words.

The problem — besides the fact that she's picking one of the hardest things to write about, like, in all of literature, war is really insanely complicated and emotionally intense and hard to portray well — is that she's now trying to use characters, plot points, and technologies she developed for a children's series to enact a sprawling war drama among teenagers and adults. So Hermione, who was a reasonably precocious snobby eleven-year-old, becomes this sort of encyclopedic all-knowing savant of the wizarding world, who somehow remains functional and mostly even-headed despite her identity being the chief target of a prolifically murderous terrorist group. Draco Malfoy, a schoolyard bully whose primary tools included 1. namecalling and 2. telling teacher, JOINS said terrorist group (and admittedly does react reasonably, i.e., has a total crashout and takes to sobbing in a girls' bathroom whenever he gets a free minute). Dumbledore, who starts out as "whimsical friendly winky-wink trustworthy grandfather type", ends up being Magical Winston Churchill in a violent game of spycraft and espionage, eventually revealing he's only been keeping Harry at all these seven years because he wants to KILL him! And like, maybe really good technical writing could smooth out these transitions and make the first-order dramatic choices seem more natural, but Rowling is like, a Fine Writer, technically speaking. meaning she's reasonably consistent in characterization, her plotting is well-paced and believable, she has a clear authorial voice, and her prose is readable. personally, that's not enough to get me to buy into some of the changes that happen in the later books, and because she stuffs these things so full with new elements every installment, a lot of stuff ends up getting glossed over.

And like, I still love the books. I think they're wonderful, and they taught me how to read. but i can say that and also say that Rowling probably did herself a disservice by trying to write four giant war novels as sequels to her first three mystery children's books.

[yebyyhfushi]

Different anon but I do want to mention that the “This is very old practise, but many in BSD fandom don't seem to know it or be aware how even their fandom has caused trouble to scholars and other regular people” is something I’ve experienced when looking into Japanese authors (before I got into BSD) for a number of reasons.

Like I kept (at the time unknowingly) getting exposed to BSD fanon!Mori content that was presented as if talking about Mori Ougai (the real life author). This was also off of tumblr and presented as if it were purely factual.

Because of that, for the longest time, I thought Vita Sexualis had themes like Lolita (along with thinking what people said about BSD fanon!Mori was stuff about Mori Ougai (the real life author)), so I put off reading it for literal years (because I thought the book wouldn’t interest me).

I deeply regret that as I feel it’s one of the best (unintentional) ace-spec representations (not directly/explicitly stated, but there’s multiple lines and scenes describing the protagonist’s experience that sound very ace-spec to me) I’ve ever been exposed to and made me realise things (e.g., I, as an aroace person, thought I was fine with the current state of aro and ace-spec representation. Now I’m very much not and understand the importance of it beyond like a conceptual level). It’s now my favourite book

That was years ago. I feel like it’s gotten extremely worse since then (this includes people reblogging posts to spread awareness of using tags like “bsd [name]” and not the author’s full name and etc…but then continuing to use the author’s full name (without the media tag) despite the post they reblogged about it). Like it’s to the point where I’ve contemplated not reblogging from people who use the author’s full name (especially without a media tag) and/or not just interacting with the fandom outside of translations

(Fun(?) Fact: My experience with the above also dissuaded me from writing a college essay about Japanese authors because of that very issue)

Ohhhh thats very interesting!! I had seen a lot about Mori (author) on Twitter bcs of an artist who really likes him and his books

It's great to know now about that part of the authors full name and other such information, I appreciate every info about it all

[pangaeaseas]

The Problem of Religion in Harry Potter (or, what is Wizard God?)

tl; dr: I wish more hp fics did something with religion and the wizarding world

so to state my credentials up front: I've read a lot of hp fanfiction, a little on the Reformation and religious history--like, I have probably more background knowledge than the average person but I am very emphatically not an expert and have never actually taken a class specifically on any kind of religious history, and I'm an ex-Catholic who did ten ish years of religion classes. There are probably a LOT more people more qualified to talk about this than me but whatever I've never actually seen very much meta written out on this specific issue so I'm giving it a try. (if you have written or read such meta, please send me recs)

ahh the Problem of Religion one of the great unsolved mysteries of the hp world building (similar issues include What the Fuck is Going on with Ireland, How Does the Ministry Actually Work, What is the Population, etc) and I call it 'unsolved' because the fandom has no massively popular solution (like Lordships for the Problem of the Wizengamot) and in general tends to just not think about it, much like JKR originally did. Now IMO she probably intended most wizards to be, like, generically Church of England or whatever without much investment--basically copying the Muggle equivalent whenever it isn't spelled out how the two worlds differ, which is I think a lot of her un-filled-out world building is meant to be. Which. OK. You can do that, but, you know, religion is a very very important aspect of worldbuilding and in my opinion ignoring it and expecting it to be just the same as 1990s Muggle Britain is uninteresting and lazy.

This (wizards are meant to be some kind of Christian and probably Church of England just for simplicity's sake) is evidenced by things like Hogwarts having Christmas and Easter breaks, James and Lily having a Bible quote picked out by Dumbledore on their tombstone, and Draco Malfoy, most emblematically wizard of wizard characters who can be taken as a potential baseline, automatically saying things like 'Good God'. Which, you know, implies that the idea of a single God, and probably the Judaeo-Christian God because that's the same cultural background as the rest of Britain, is taken for granted by wizarding society. It doesn't necessarily imply anything about Draco's or even the Malfoys' personal beliefs, and of course you have other characters saying things like 'Oh my Merlin' and "Morgana" and things like that. Which in my opinion wasn't meant to be indications of some kind of Merlin or Morgana worship but more quirky and fun flavor things of the kind jkr loves to include without thinking out the implications. But you absolutely can take those statements that way--this post is absolutely not meant to dictate how people want to headcanon and I am absolutely here for giving wizards a well thought out pagan or Non-Christian religion, I just don't think that was the author's intent. There's also plenty of other things that imply Wizarding cultural Christianity that I'm not remembering off the top of my head.

And, of course, much better writers than me have extensively discussed all the Christian themes in HP. Of course, themes don't need to affect how people worldbuild in fanfic.

So: with HP canon, we are looking at a society that is probably culturally Christian and probably (key word) intended to be Church of England. But, because JKR wasn't putting much thought into it and basically just took a Chrisitian bedrock of society for granted, the implications of this are not really explored at all. So what I'm interested in is how fandom deals with it.

Mostly, that is...not at all, either taking cultural Christianity in the Wizarding World for granted the way JKR does or by ind of handwaving that wizards have evolved beyond the need for religion and that's just how it is. And that's perfectly fine! Not everyone wants to come up with a full, working, wizard society, and even if they are trying to worldbuild some aspects of wizarding society religion is often ignored, because people don't want to deal with it for often valid reasons (religious trauma, just disinterest, grew up agnostic, not Christian but thinks wizards probably are etc, etc, etc, ) Personally I wish more fics delved into what wizarding religious belief actually is, but to put it bluntly, that's just me. And I have never dealt with religion in my own fics. So don't takethis as judgement at all.

But there are interesting headcanons when people do choose to try and worldbuild religion in HP.

Fom what I've seen, one of the major ways to deal with religion in HP (aside from not dealing with it at all) is to give wizards, often pureblood wizards, some kind of pagan, often Celtic-inspired, religion. And this is quite defensible! Sometimes this is badly executed and/or turned into Death Eater apologia, but the idea of wizards having a different religion is really interesting and a good deal more interesting (IMO of course) than just not mentioning religion at all. Most fics that I've seen don't delve too deeply into, like the actual history and theology of these religions, but there are definitely some that do. (Also if you know any PLEASE send me recs). So if handled well, this is a great way to add some religion worldbuilding in the world of Harry Potter.

However, my personal favorite set of possibilities--obviously I have some personal bias as a history nerd with a long standing if never as deeply researched as I would like to interest in the history of Christianity and as an ex-Catholic--is that, well, we know the statute of secrecy started..when, exactly? 1690. So this much is obviously a result of JKR's Hollywood understanding of witch hunts (a subject for another time and someone far more qualified). For interested wrodlbuilders, we can take this as a guideline at best, as personally I think it would have taken a good deal longer than one year to agree on and implement something like the Statute and I tend to take 1690 as an end date, not a start. I also tend to take the Statue as a largely European phenomenon, at least at first. But, uh, what was happening in Britain at the time..oh, right...the Glorious Revolution....what was happening that created the conditions for the Glorious Revolution...oh, the English Civil War...which was because of...oh yeah, and what was also happening on the continent, maybe it involved, wait, thirty years..oooh, the Thirty Years War...wait weren't there a whole bunch of massive social shifts happening in Europe at this point in time isn't that funny but surely the stature of secrecy could be considered a part of these massive social shifts...all of which was heavily influenced by...you guessed it, the Protestant Reformation.

Wait. So. Maybe, the separation of Wizards from Muggles, at least in Britain, wasn't actually about Muggles hating wizards or wizards hating Muggles. Maybe it was about religion. Now personally I find this ABSOLUTELY FASCINATING. The possibilities, the possibilities...

Wizards had a massive religious civil war that created the blood status system in its modern form? Particular families have wildly different denominations? Excellent. Religion both in terms of level of religiosity and in terms of denomination is a blood status marker? Excellent. Purebloods are all Catholic (what does this do to both Catholic and not Muggleborns?) Excellent. Purebloods are all Puritans? Weird, but if you can pull it off excellent. Purebloods are all one of the wacky new denominations that sprung up after the Reformation and then either died out or conquered the world? Excellent. Pure bloods are all Lutherans who really hated Henry VIII? Excellent. One of my favoirite ways to create a wizarding religion was someone who had most pure bloods follow a denomination that split off from Catholicism in the Great Schism and then a small minority being Catholic, with the worlds splitting around the Reformation. Even the paganism headcanons can be incorporated: the Reformation could conceivably have made it much more difficult to keep practicing wizard paganism causing separation of the worlds.

Personally I would love to see a world that used the history of the Protestant Reformation super well, but it's not the only way to relate a Wizarding religion or a Wizarding religious history. I just wish more people tried to do that at all. Let wizards be religious! Or let them be irreligious but have thought about it, instead of just ignoring religion at all as something that might conceivably have influenced human societies. Maybe Wizarding Britain has state sponsored atheism. Just say that outright!

Another thing I'd like to see more fic doing is theology: how does having magic impact people's religious doctrine? Does every major religion essentially have a wizarding branch with its own theology because magic impacts their view of the world so much, or do most wizards simply follow the majority Muggle religion in their country with no modifications? if so, why? Do some wizards disagree, potentially violently, over how to incorporate magic into their religion? Do some people refuse to use magic because they think it goes against their religion? Etc etc etc you could go on forever. I've seen fic, which randomly enough was about Regulus Black, do this pretty well (or I thought so as a non-Jew) for Judaism, and I'd love it if done with other religions.

Anyway. Now I have to figure out how the hell religion works in the Wizarding Britain of my own headcanon.

[angstbyangeline]

Never Know

genre: angst

Katsuki Bakugo x gn! reader

Authors Note: it’s semi-unrequited love! And the end mentions the reader ending up with another character. Also MHA spoilers!!! Enjoy <3

⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪

It wasn’t long before you fell for the hot-headed blonde. A handsome face plastered on a nasty, egotistical attitude. Fights would always be about superficial shit. It was playful in your eyes but he would make it his mission to insult you whenever the opportunity arose. Thankfully, you never took them to heart because Bakugo insulted literally everyone at UA. You almost hated yourself for falling for him. He never showed you kindness so why would you even be attracted to him? Your fluttering heart hid behind a slick insult to his face.

Bakugo wasn’t one for romance sadly. All he cared about was becoming the #1 hero and beating Midorya at anything he would do. He usually skipped group hang outs and activities to go train or isolate himself in his room. You knew he preferred being in your presence more than the others since you weren’t as loud. Yet hated it because you always matched his energy.

You spilled your secret to Kirishima a few days after realizing your feelings for Bakugo. You hoped he would offer some advice to get over him but Kirishima urged you to confess your feelings. Laughing, you told him that was ridiculous and confessing would only make the intense friendship weird. You’d have better luck confessing to anyone else.

That night you paced restlessly in your dorm. Going over the reasons that made confessing a terrible idea. You knew you had no chance and you couldn’t even imagine him saying anything to reciprocate your feelings. You sighed looking towards the time on your phone. You had class tomorrow and needed to get to sleep. So you got comfy in bed and vowed that he would never know how much you truly loved him.

°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

The toughest battle had to be fighting Shigaraki. The snake-like figure of hands was an eerie sight. But nothing beats the horrific scene of seeing the unrequited love of your life lying dead in front of you. A hole punched right through his chest. You dropped to your knees and with trembling hands, tried to find a pulse despite knowing you won’t feel a thing. You let Best Jeanist care for him but you had to continue fighting… for him, for the guy that sacrificed himself for his classmates.

Nothing could ever explain the amount of gratitude Bakugo (and yourself) had for Edgeshot. He was truly worthy and earned the Pro-Hero title. You pondered a lot during Bakugo’s recovery. Happy thoughts, guilty thoughts and mostly sad thoughts. You thought a lot about your possible confession. Telling him now could possibly internally kill him, it’s way too early to be bothering him with such inconveniences. So you stayed silent. You tended to him as much as a friend would but never overstepped your boundaries.

Bakugo remained the same egotistical asshole but was much less angry. Edgeshot’s sacrifice put out many angry fires in his soul. He was grateful to be alive. The sacrifice pushed Bakugo to continue training and become the best Pro-Hero. He didn’t want to admit he had become a little soft. Towards you specifically. He appreciated you not overbearing him with questions nor treating him differently. You still insult him when he does it first but most of the time you guys sit in silence and appreciate the moment. You really were a good friend. The best, actually.

You had spent the entirety of UA fond of a guy that would never see you more than a friend. But Pro-Hero life was truly what broke you out of your seemingly unrequited love. The many battles you faced took up most of your schedule and any extra time was spent devoted to helping your agency. Most of your free time was with family or caring to your own needs. You grew to appreciate the local spa down by your agency. Constant appointments every Friday.

It was nice knowing that most of the class would stay together long after graduation. If you didn’t see them during a friendly event, you’d see them out in the city battling villains and exercising the skills they were taught in UA. But there was one particular event that everyone in class 1-A would be attending. Your wedding.

Everything was just perfect, the decoration, your attire, the scenery. It was the talk of the country. This was your public wedding, one for the media. You and your husband had a much more private wedding a month prior. Just for family and super close friends. The spotlight was thrilling and addictive but privacy was an honor for intimate moments.

The bells chimed and the light music began. You walked down the aisle with your father, arm in arm. Glancing at the guests in appreciation for coming, then you looked at your (no longer) future husband. A warm, beautiful smile painted on your face as you reached closer to his person.

All the guests' hearts melted seeing the amount of love you radiated towards your husband. Sadly, seeing your smile only made Bakugo’s heart ache. It was absolutely selfish of him to imagine himself in the groom’s position but he couldn’t help it. He badly wanted to confess his love to you before you had even had the chance to be at the aisle. The angel on Bakugo’s shoulder reminded him that you were happy with this person and he should leave the foolish daydreaming behind. The devil on his other shoulder interrupted and stated that he’s Katsuki Bakugo, the amazing Pro-Hero that doesn’t have time for romance.

The devil also whispered that you were marrying his childhood ‘friend’ and competitor, Izuku Midorya. Deku had one-upped him in the worst way possible. Now Bakugo watches as the love of his life marries his competition. Though, Midorya wasn't any competition at all since he decided to become a teacher at UA after graduating.

The wedding officiant asked, “before I proceed, should anyone present here have any reason why these two should not be married? If so, speak now or forever hold your peace.”

He will never tell you how much he enjoyed your moments in silence, the meals you’d cook together for the group, the smirks on your face when your comeback was better than his, and the way your eyes would light up when talking about your passions. Wishfulling thinking that someday, you’d have that same look in your eye when you talk about him. You’ll never know how much he loved you. And with that being said, Bakugo will forever hold his peace.

[garessta8]

yoooooooooooooooooooooooo

first, as a fellow appreciator of statistics and obsessions, I can't help but admire your work gathering the base information here. (wait, does "reading every DE fic" means you read mine, too??? @_@ shit now i really wonder what you thought of them) and as someone who read not every, but a lot of DE fics, I feel like i can give my own two cents regarding the analysis of said information.

i personally find it ironic that out of allllll Kim's problems described and addressed in the game, people choose to attach themselves most to the least addressed one. i.e. Kim being gay. he has one moment about being gay, but he's a binoclard seolite all the time, but fic writers don't care about that as much… no no no. but as you said, it's about reliability. for the sake of statistics, I'm a white cis middle class woman with terrible eyesight (-9.5 miopia + astigmatism; thank god for contact lenses, because glasses for this prescriptions are thick like actual bunoculars and inconvenient af). Out of all Kim's struggles the most relatable is the eyesight one, and even there I'm much better off because our world has way better ophtalmology. So it's not really relatable. I've almost never been ridiculed for having bad eyesight (at least that I remember), and it doesn't interfere with my lifestyle (except that I need a supply of contacts).

harry's portrait conventionally handsome lmao honestly, from the way Kim talks about Harry's age or if he shaves his moustache, Harry actually was intended to look… maybe he was conventionally handsome somtimes, but now it's shit. maybe not horrible, but shit. and don't forget, all potraits are not drawn hyperrealistically. the opposite, in fact.

anyway… concluding all that:

I agree with your analysis - it's all very on point.

that sad phenomenon results in a lot of fics that go over the same old tracks, often in a way that's borderline OOCing. it can get boring and/or just embarassing to read, sadly, which means less reading material for me but i dont't think that addressing DE's themes as the core of a given fanfic would've made for a better story to read. because they'd be same old themes that would've also probably written in very similar way and grew boring quickly. I'd rather wish that fanfic writers stepped aside from those old scenarios and explored all the "what if?"s that fanfiction allows people. There's potential for so many wild stuff, but people just write about Le Retour and Kim&Harry's post-martinaise shenanigans. And casefics (I just don't like crime mysteries sue me). And wildly misenterpret the nature of the Pale.

lame.

but… Fanfic Helps People Cope from what I've observed, similar warping of themes and characters are just as present in other fandoms. it's not just DE "problem" (i put it in quotes, because I don't think this is actually a problem) the thing is… first, not everybody is just good enough as a writer and author to explore themes they don't relate to. they might realise that, or not… their lack of ability might prevent them from realising the themes being present second, writing these themes is a hard effort, especially for people who don't relate, or would prefer to avoid them, etc etc. it's not the type of effort many people would do as a hobby (a person needs to have a certain masochistic type of personality… yeah) putting 1st and 2nd with "fanfic helps people cope" results in phenomena you've described. it's not "worrying" imo, it's just the way of nature. rain falls, wind blows, and fanfic writers ignore canon material to insert their own problems into the characters.

some opinions on fanfic trends for Disco Elysium on AO3 for the past 2-ish years; i address racism, ableism, jean and kim tropes, accesorization of harry and the way the game themes appear to have warped.

some of you may know i've been reading every fic published on the disco AO3 tag chronologically since 2019 for a little over a year and jotting down some trends (not a proper statistical study, just some tracking of when certain tropes are introduced and when and how they reproduce because i like observing that kind of thing.) there's been an uptick in trans(masc) Kim and Jean character studies since late 2022-early 2023, among many others, but these ones were like overwhelmingly prolific once they were introduced.

harry, kim and jean are overwhelmingly the characters with most fanworks in the tag. and having read a little over 4k works it turns out that people engage in a very distinct way with them for the most part that tracks with the growth of the trans Kim and Jean character studies as a trend.

the disco elysium fandom's english-language writers are, according to my cursory snooping, overwhelmingly trans, some flavor of gay, white and from north america and western europe. given personal anecdotes, i also suspect they are upper middle class (though not as statistically huge as the previous things) and struggle with mental health. in the past decade or so a lot of fanworks have followed a trend of exploration focused on catharsis and personal relatability.

now, kim and harry appear so much in the text with so much detail that there's plenty of personal details to pull from to write them, where as jean's total presence in the game (rarely achieved in one run but i'm taking into account all his mentions and lines) is smaller so it follows that people need to fill in some gaps and there's more characterization freedom. jean is white, younger than both harry and kim, canonically depressed, non-canonically confirmed by his character player an amphetamine addict but presented as a functional person during the game, and covers a very specific narrative hinge that i understand as relevant: he's a bridge between pre-Martinaise Harry and his Martinaise self.

he's objectively a very comfortable character to play with because he's mostly a blank slate except for his relation to Harry and his vitriolic grief towards him. so logistically i understand why people who struggle with mental health, are white, are anywhere between 17 and 35, are functional and able-bodied and may or may not have a complicated relationship with a close person who struggles with addiction or other health issues might go "YES, GOOD CATHARSIS NARRATIVE FOR ME". but the sheer amount of works that value Relatability over engaging with the characters or the themes has resulted in a very strong ripple. which leads to trans kim.

the game paints a deep and vivid image of kim, both from within harry's own perspectives and the objective things he says out loud. he's a walking contradiction, he's alienated from his body and selfhood, he beat himself into submission to stay alive. he's a walking reminder of his assasinated communist parents, the people who killed them paid his salary, his body (racialized, disabled) is both a hindrance to his assimilation and a tangible proof that he could have belonged somewhere but doesn't, that no matter what he does it will be considered first. so he watches his words, his movements, his appearance. so he partakes in hypermasculinity. he's canonically gay, mixed race, diasporic seolite, and disabled. and somehow, the only one of this that is recurringly explored in most fanworks is his homosexuality, usually in the form of being a guiding figure to harry or as a Fellow Gay Cop to jean, or eyes, or someone else.

now, we have the trans kim trope. my opinion on the trope isn't relevant to the point i'm trying to make, but i will say i think transmasc kim is something i enjoy in theory, i think it's a worthy exploration that works very well with the hauntings of embodiment and perception that exist in kim's canon self. but it's very jarring when all of these tales of gay trans kim refuse to engage with race, or with physical disability. like, after you've read 800 trans kim fics you start noticing how solid that avoidance is, how big the elephant in the room is, and i can't help but think that, coupled with the explorations of Jean, the issue is: the white ablebodied writer is unwilling to engage with race and disability.

my charitable reading of this is that the white ablebodied writer doesn't want to write about what they don't know, they don't want to overstep. my neutral reading of this is that the white ablebodied writer doesn't consider how sexuality and gender's material realities are tied to race and ablebodiedness in the real world because they are the Default Categories and it didn't occur to them that kim's experience of them might overlap. my least charitable reading of this without directly falling into the assumption of ill intent is that the white ablebodied writer is uncomfortable with the idea of the fact that their experience of gender and sexuality isn't universal and it's not as emotionally cathartic to think about how they might be racist and ableist because they put on horse blinders and they're trying to write things they like, and understanding this is unpleasant and doesn't belong in their feel-good hobbies.

people love to talk about kim's body without acknowledging the way asian masculinity and femininity exist in relation to whiteness when it's harry or jean in the room. people love to talk about kim's body without engaging with the power relations that exist in many disabled people's sexuality.

the tropes' strength lies in the relatability factor (very high) and the willingness of both author and audience to engage with the canon material for the characters they are writing (very low). and so you end up with a lot of jean character studies about his feelings towards harry (when everyone but kim in the game also knows both harries, but jean is prioritized consistently) and a lot of character studies about kim (that ignore most of the lived experiences of him because they're directly tied to his and his parents' race and alienation that are not particularly cathartic for the white author and reader)

one of the big themes of the game, if not the biggest, is failure. specifically it asks the player to think about what to do when you have failed and you know there are no blank slates, and asks you to empathize not only with harry, whose every thought you're privy to, but to everyone you talk to that has the same rich landscape beyond your brief interaction. when relatability is prioritized in fanworks, this question falls apart, the purpose becomes to find ways in which these characters are like you (the author, the reader) so you can afford them the level of humanity needed to feel emotions about them.

harry's tropification follows four large trends: self-loathing, aggressive addict, psychic omniscient prophet, overwhelmingly emotional and adoring puppy. some authors sometimes are capable of depicting both, usually as if they are unrelated and it's a harry-esque contradiction, but it's truly baffling how rare it is to find stories that engage with all of them or with multiple of them as inextricably bound together like canon material does. harry needs to be relatably lovable (heartbroken, self-loathing, fixable by love, fixable by the universe, capable of change that gets exponentially better) or relatably hateable (physically and emotionally abusive, manipulative, unreasonably needy).

most fics in the relatable lovability fall on the kim/harry ship, most fics in the relatable hateability fall on the jean/harry ship. here's where it ties into the big tropes for kim and jean: the fanworks about a game that asks a question about failure and questioning certainty become stories about inevitability.

jean's vitriol in the game comes from the same place as harry's self loathing: a visceral response to decades of failure. they're not objective truths (i'm thinking about the mirror reveal being intended as a way to make the viewer realize harry isn't a reliable narrator at all, but especially about himself: you see a regular guy, conventionally handsome but clearly in pain and growing old and sick. he calls himself horrible shit, however).

playing up jean's part as the Bridge is comfortable because it allows the player to separate Harry's failures from their agency as a player (something that greatly drives the point of the game home, emotionally speaking -- you're not that different from Harry. Harry's not that different from anyone else he meets. the irreversible failures exist for all of us, as do the chances to try again.) if jean is right in resenting harry, and moreover, he's objectively describing harry's behavior, harry's failures become logical and inevitable consequences of his Way of Being. if Harry calls kim a slur, or threatens children, or scares civilians, that's just because that's how Harry is (according to Jean and Harry's own brain), so the possibility that one of your tries might be meaningfully good becomes... less weighty. it's a fluke, and you'll fail again, so don't get your hopes up. it's almost an excuse to believe that there's nothing new under the sun and going back to old habits is inevitable, but the conclusion becomes "so nothing i do really matters" instead of "it's hard and painful to try again when you've failed so many times before. what does this say about the person who tries?". and in that way jean is an interesting character because understanding why he resents harry for being able to try more freely than him without the weight of memory is important to the theme. what has to click to start climbing out of the grave? can anyone do it? will i ever do it? why now, and why not when i tried to pull him out?

and similarly, when we write about kim, we have to confront what makes him who he is and not another generic character to write, and the fact of the matter is that being a cop, being visibly of seolite heritage, having PTSD, having a visual impairment on record that interferes with his cophood, his cophood being the only identity he appears to have had a choice over, how he treats harry because he's a cop vs. other harry parallels who aren't, how he treats harry whether harry respects him or not... they're important. and trans kim could be a way to approach these themes but it's currently existing in a vacuum of authorial catharsis, and the refusal to address the real politics that give emotional weight to disco elysium is becoming a worrying, overwhelming trend. i urge you all to think about these things a little.

[targayrenss]

.the perfect gift-eddie munson

(weird gf series)

Author's note: I love blythe dolls and I really want a custom one, I thought about them while writing this, I tried not to describe her too much so you can imagine her as you do <3

Eddie knew your huge doll collection perfectly, the first time he walked into your room that was the first thing he saw.

“Wow honey, do you have a daughter I don’t know about?”

You explained to Eddie that the first of the entire collection was one that your father had given you for your fourth birthday.

After that you found a fascination with dolls, some people tend to think that the way you dress and act is because you didn’t receive love as a child or some shit like that.

But in reality your parents loved you a lot, especially your dad, he had given you most of the dolls that adorned your shelves.

“Dad gave me a personalized doll once for my birthday, my brother ripped off its head, I cried for months even kept the head, now it looks cool I guess”

Eddie listened attentively to your little story as you pointed at the doll head, he could see that it resembled you only a few different things that you had changed about yourself while discovering your style.

That story gave him the best idea in the world.

He was like crazy looking all over Hawkins for someone who could help him but apparently there were no places that could give him the help he needed, so he did it himself.

He bought a doll at the thrift store, asked Dustin's mom for help to learn how to sew and that's how he gave you the best birthday present.

All his friends were gathered at your house, eating cake while chatting when Eddie came back with a box in his hands.

“Well birthday girl I think it's time for presents”

He handed you the box while you looked at him with a silly smile

“I said no presents eds”

He rolled his eyes “just open it”

You laughed as you opened the box, your smile quickly disappeared as you looked at the contents.

Eddie looked at you anxiously waiting for a reaction from you.

“So what do you think?”

A small scream came out of you, you couldn't believe your eyes.

Your brothers and friends looked at you in confusion.

“What is it?”

You took out the doll, careful not to hurt it.

“It’s me.”

It was a mini you, your skin color, the huge eyes that this style of doll usually has, but with your eye color. The doll had all your piercings and tattoos. You looked at the drawings that simulated the ink that adorned your body. By instinct, you lifted her dress, seeing that she had even drawn the invisible tattoos that you have. Everything was perfectly detailed.

You looked at Eddie with your puppy eyes, you put the doll back in its box and then stood up, approaching Eddie.

You gave him a small kiss on the lips. “It’s the best gift I’ve received in years. Thank you very much, Eddie.”

You and Eddie were laying on your bed just hanging out.

Your eyes found the mini you on your doll shelf “do you think when I die my soul will be locked inside it? It would be nice if you could take me everywhere like that”

Eddie laughed as he gave you a small kiss on the head “shit, I can’t imagine that”

You raised your head to look at him “but you would still love me right?”

He just laughed as he nodded “for you I would put my soul inside a chucky”

You kissed his silly smile “that will keep me calm until I die”

[wormboytrav]

demon weapons and gender

A while back I saw a poll on here that was meant to get a consensus of who people thought was the biggest misogynist in shounen history. The funny part, though, was that two manga authors were included with the characters. It makes sense; one of the biggest boundaries between me and watching shounen has always been the fanservice and inherent misogyny in the genre. I think Soul Eater is the weirdest example. Its fanservice is overbearing, of course, but it’s surprisingly progressive with gender norms. I’ve been thinking about its magic system and how being a weapon or a meister sort of serves as a secondary gender (thanks for the concept, omegaverse writers), so I’m finally gonna write down all of my thoughts about that here.

From what I can remember, Maka and Soul were written specifically to break out of the gender norms you usually see in shounen, specifically in their relationship with each other. I’ve always thought that was referring to the fact that they don’t get together romantically, but you can also make it about their power dynamic. Maka is the meister, she’s always calling the shots and taking control in any combat situation. Soul, being the weapon, is serving in a support role, refining Maka’s soul wavelength and being a tool for her to use to win. Now I don’t have a degree in gender studies, but I was raised female, and so a lot of these aspects are familiar to me. 

Throughout the series, demon weapons are put in support roles and dehumanized (which seems like a very strong word but I mean it literally), which really is reminiscent of how women are treated in society. There’s also the interesting fact that in weapon form, characters are always shown naked. I was actually surprised when this was never used explicitly for fanservice (as far as I know). Another thing: in the anime, at least, this rule is broken twice. The first time we see Soul and Spirit in their weapon forms respectively, their reflections in their weapons are wearing clothes. Interesting, of course, because that wasn’t the case for female weapons. Later on, though (probably to show off Soul’s cool new scar, but conceivably for consistency) Soul and Spirit are also shown as naked when in their weapon form. 

So, let’s talk about the role that a demon weapon has for their meister. They’re meant first and foremost for their body to be used as an object to complete a task, but they also serve to enhance their meister’s abilities by focusing their soul wavelength and allowing them to perform special techniques. This reminds me a lot of the phenomenon of support characters in video games often being women. They’re often set to be healers, which of course plays on the societal expectation of women being homemakers whose primary role is to care for their husband and children. There’s also, of course, the oversexualisation of these characters, which is often added to placate male fans who would otherwise complain about their inclusion in the games. This objectification really reminds me of the concept of demon weapons being an object used to complete a task (not sex, in this case, but you get the point I’m trying to make). 

But there are also societal expectations for demon weapons. They’re expected to protect their meisters at the cost of their life, something which Soul is known for showing pretty drastically. It all comes down to the duty to serve. They’re also expected to listen to whatever their meister tells them to do, although that seems to be a little outdated, given Soul’s unhappy reaction to Maka pulling that card when they’re doing the whole emotion candles exercise. What I also find interesting is Stein’s reaction to Spirit acting on his emotions during their fight with Medusa--in the manga, at least in the translation I read, he says “Too many absurd weapons…” which I understood as meaning demon weapons are stereotyped for acting based on their emotions rather than logic, which is also a misogynistic stereotype (Side note: when I was looking for that manga panel again, I saw a panel where Spirit is shown with a six-pack and immediately went “He wouldn’t have a six-pack, he’s a weapon!” which, if you replace the word weapon with woman, really is misogynistic).

On the topic of Spirit Albarn. I’ll try to keep this brief, but I have so many thoughts about him that it might be difficult to. Obviously, Maka and Soul are a sort of reflection of Maka’s parents in the fact that they’re a female meister with a scythe partner. So knowing this, let’s transfer the idea of breaking gender norms from Maka and Soul to Maka’s mother and Spirit. By all means, their relationship would be more stereotypical (at least, for shounen) if their genders were swapped. You would have an absent father figure as well as an overly emotional and overprotective mother, which is a story I’ve seen a million times before. Then there’s also just…Spirit in general. The thing that initially drew me to him as a character (besides him sharing a voice actor with Tamaki Suoh) is how deeply he exists for other people. He’s a support character through and through, at every stage in his life. As a middle schooler he was responsible for looking after his meister despite being a kid as well, then once that relationship ended he became responsible for his own child. Not to mention the fact that his family has served Lord Death for generations, and he was probably raised with his final outcome already decided for him. It’s sort of reminiscent of how daughters of a noble family are prepared for marriage; he had no control over his future. There’s also the fact that his specialty is drawing out the best qualities of the people that wield him. This reminds me of those movies with manic pixie dream girls, where the female characters don’t really get to develop besides helping their male counterparts develop. Am I saying Spirit is a manic pixie dream girl? Not necessarily. But I am saying that, to me, he is a woman. It’s just so easy to describe him in relation (or possession) to someone else. Stein’s weapon partner, Maka’s father, Death’s Scythe.

And then there’s Crona, of course. Interestingly, they’re a sort of combination of weapon and meister, and also androgynous. Reading the manga, it felt like the author sort of forgot what gender they were supposed to be and just swapped it to whatever was more convenient for the plot (something which the Death Note manga did with Rem too, kind of).

Anyways. I do think society in Soul Eater is weirdly formatted for meisters instead of weapons, even though professional weapons are more common than professional meisters. I think it’s interesting that there aren’t more classes at the DWMA with a focus for teaching weapons, especially considering Death Scythes don’t seem to always work with a meister at all, and the Academy is supposed to exist to teach weapons how to control their forms. That kind of structural unfairness makes me think there’s definitely a societal bias against demon weapons--although gender is the easiest way for me to explain it, it’s also sort of its own thing. If you use the etymology of misogyny, you could make a new word for it, like misoplogy or something. Whatever. Thanks for reading my ramblings!

[fushiglow]

10 things I've learned about being a fanfic author over the last year

At the time of writing this post, I have been writing and sharing fanfiction for Jujutsu Kaisen for almost two years. This time last year, my in-progress longfic, Over the Threshold, started to gain popularity and, over the last twelve months, I think it's fair to say I have become somewhat of a BNF in the SatoSugu community... Sigh...

While every creative wants their work to be seen, there is a threshold (ha) past which visibility brings difficulties, and unfortunately I went over it (ha) in recent months. It has changed my fandom experience significantly, and not entirely for the better. While there have been friendships for life forged, beautiful memories I'll carry with me for the rest of my life, and more kind words and fanart than I can shake a stick at, there have also been opportunists, naysayers, and even outright bullies.

Seeing your name thrown around in fandom spaces with little regard for the real person behind the writing — for your character, for your circumstances, for your creative liberty — does force you to re-evaluate your relationship with your work and your audience. With that in mind, I thought I'd share the lessons I've taken from the last year as a fanfic author.

I really hope this serves as advice for any fanfic authors seeking more visibility on their work, and also generally encourages more thoughtful engagement with fandom creators. Let's go!

1. Writing for anyone except yourself is still a bad idea

That doesn't mean it isn't sometimes worth taking reader preferences into account. It's just about knowing when to disregard them. We write fanfiction for lots of different reasons that vary from fic to fic. Sometimes, making other people happy is a good enough reason to write a fic, as long as that's what you set out to do and you're under no illusions about that.

However, letting reader expectations creep into your approach to your other work in a way that doesn't serve your personal creative vision is a bad idea, especially because...

2. People disrespect fanfic authors even more than you thought

There are plenty of kind, supportive people in fandom. However, the unfortunate truth is they are vastly outnumbered by people who will gobble up your work without even taking a moment to say thank you for the meal and who will, in fact, demand more from you instead.

Trying to please entitled people who are impossible to satisfy, who bring nothing of value to your fandom experience, and who may even resort to bullying if you don't play by their ever changing rulebook is a pointless endeavour — so don't bother!

3. Your writing process is a constant work in progress

Because you are a constant work in progress. You can't always expect something that worked for you a year ago to work the same now. There are too many variables in play, not least your skill as a writer. If the stabilisers you put on last year are no longer helping, maybe it's a sign you don't need them anymore. Maybe it's time to take them off and try something new.

I am still planning a more in depth writing process post, but the simple truth is, my writing process can be summed up as...

4. Whatever works!

My main piece of advice when it comes to writing is always going to be, "at some point, you've just got to do it". Sure, there are tools and techniques you can use to aid the process, but ultimately it always comes down to you and the words.

There's no right or wrong way to write, and there's no point comparing your process to someone else's, because ultimately you'll do whatever works for you. Whether you're someone who religiously practises a warm-up routine before sitting down to write or someone who stares at the screen for two months straight before vomiting up a masterpiece whole (or someone like me who jumbles their way through with a slightly different approach every time), it's all good as long as it ends with words on paper.

5. Writing for an audience changes the game

For better and for worse! Having an engaged readership on a WIP has, on occasion, created unique and invaluable opportunities to elevate my work beyond what would have been possible by myself. I'm very grateful for the artist-audience dialogue that I know we all crave when sharing our work with the world but aren't always fortunate enough to experience.

However, being aware of your audience while writing also influences your approach in unhelpful ways, no matter how much you try to get around it. Ensuring that I maintain control of that dialogue (or, at the very least, a 50/50 back and forth) requires constant vigilance.

6. Community is a double edged sword

I think everyone in fandom is seeking community of one kind or another. Building a dedicated community around my writing and seeing real good come of it was an unexpected by-product of sharing my fic with the world, but a deeply rewarding one. However, communities aren't static and they require a collaborative effort to maintain.

Series come to an end, fandom trends shift, people move on. On the flipside, you build something so wonderful that others want to share in its benefits without contributing in meaningful ways. Seeing a community so closely tied to your work and your sense of self shift into something unrecognisable until you start to feel like a stranger in your own space is very hard. Furthermore, managing a community in a dedicated forum takes significant time and energy which could be spent writing, which is why...

7. The most successful fanfic authors are selfish

What I mean by "successful" is up to you. However, whether it's replying to comments, supporting fellow creatives in the fandom, or even tagging work for discoverability, some authors disregard anything that prevents them from getting words onto the page. Some people are here to post their shit and leave — and more power to them.

The more of yourself you offer, the more people come to expect until, eventually, the already generous act of writing thousands of words for your fandom becomes the bare minimum. This is often where the topic of "fandom etiquette" comes up, but fanfic authors are already taking on a disproportionate share of the burden simply by sharing their work in the first place. Anything beyond that is a courtesy we are not obligated to extend. We should thank authors who thoughtfully choose to extend those courtesies anyway, rather than vilifying them when they don't.

8. Guarding your enjoyment is paramount

If, like me, you're an author who does enjoy being an active member of the fandom community, then it's important to watch out for the myriad of things that can come between you and your stories. Fandom politics, or even just fandom trends, can have a huge influence on your relationship with the characters that originally inspired you.

However, what other people are doing with them doesn't need to have any bearing on what you choose to do with them if you don't want it to. Responding to fandom trends in your writing can be satisfying, but maintaining a degree of separation between wider fandom and the stories that really matter to you is crucial, I think. That being said...

9. Collaboration feeds creativity

Some beautiful moments have been born from throwing an idea back and forth with my fellow fans. Simple things can rapidly snowball into territory you would never usually set foot in, and expanding your creative horizons like that can only ever be a good thing! Being open with your ideas in fandom spaces is always a bit of a worry, but the reward for extending that trust far outweighs the risk in my experience.

Additionally, I think we get caught up in the idea of absolute originality, but if you're active in fandom, you're always taking inspiration from your fellow creatives. Freely crediting the people who have inspired me has only ever brought wonderful things my way, and I've even gone on to develop collaborative relationships with some of them. Fandom is more fun with other people!

10. But ultimately, writing is lonely work

No matter how many friendships you forge, you still have to retreat into solitude to write the damn story eventually. Writing doesn't lend itself to active human connection as much as art or music. You can chat to someone while drawing or play an instrument alongside another person, but when you're writing, you have to go it alone.

And the worst part? Even when you eventually share your story with the world, no one will ever care about it as much as you do. Writing is such a deeply lonely experience most of the time, I think — which is why it's so important to hold onto all the things that make it worthwhile.

And that's that! I have been stewing on all of these thoughts privately, but I wanted to share them in case they're of value to someone. I tried to keep it as measured as possible, but I acknowledge that I'm in a bit of a bitter headspace about fandom in light of the Discourse TM and subsequent harassment over Christmas.

I don't think it will stop me writing stories for this fandom, but I do think it will make me more guarded in my interactions with the wider community, and I think that's a shame. I joined this fandom as a fan first and a creator second, and I'm deeply sad to feel like some of the parts I used to enjoy most are no longer accessible to me.

This experience has certainly got me thinking more critically about the trend of fandom creators seemingly becoming more distant as they gain popularity. The word "arrogant" is often thrown around, but I think it's much more likely that taking a less active role in fandom spaces isn't as much a choice as it is a necessary measure for the sake of wellbeing and even safety.

Fascinating in a sort of sick way.

[dailydemonspotlight]

Dante - Day 151

Race: Fiend Occupation: Devil Hunter Alignment: Neutral, with the Devil May Cry Agency January 13th, 2024

Okay, okay, this might seem stupid, but... I wanted to cover Dante for today for one reason, and one reason alone. A joke that only made sense in my head. 151 is the amount of Pokemon there are in Gen 1, right? And people say that SMT is just demonic Pokemon, so why not cover a crossover demon from SMT for the Pokemon number? Yeah, it only worked in my head. Still! Dante! While the fact that it's DMC Dante is just a victim of a stupid bit, Dante is an incredibly interesting figure to dig into, historically speaking- he's far more than just the silly, pizza eating devil hunter that Devil May Cry fans are familiar with. I'm not gonna be talking about his appearance in DMC, as that's not really the purpose of this blog (though I do fully recommend the DMC games, they're fucking fantastic,) but I do want to talk about the man from whom Dante got his name: Dante Alighieri.

Dante Alighieri was a complicated man, to say the least. Born to a rather modest Italian family in 1265, much of his life is recorded in his poetry, as he was an avid author and poet. Betrothed and set to marry someone- a girl named Gemma Donati- at the ripe age of 12, Dante was unfortunately in love with someone completely opposite, Beatrice Portinari. While this might seem like the setup for a romance book where they get together at the end in spite of their parent's protests, Dante instead spent his time pining over Beatrice and writing poems to her, frequent sonnets contained in the text Vita Nuova. What this is relevant to might seem strained on the surface, but Vita Nuova actually also serves as an important insight to Dante and his thought process- what led him to writing his most important work, and what'll make up the majority of this analysis: The Divine Comedy.

The jokes about the Divine Comedy being a piece of Bible fanfiction aren't... inaccurate, but it's doing a slight disservice to the work to proclaim it as just that when it really does expand on biblical study and serve as a fantastic piece of literature in-and-of itself. It's an honest to god masterpiece, and the reputation it's built up is well deserved. Split up into three works- Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso- the multi-part series of poems goes into depth about the layers of Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven, as well as their roles and purposes in the grander scheme of things. Driven and shown around by his mentor and main inspiration, the Roman poet Virgil, Dante walks through and experiences a heavily layered metaphor of the consequences of sins and the prizes of virtues, with Virgil serving as the voice of reason throughout.

I can't get too in depth with the work, because I've only read bits and pieces and this is more of a summary, if anything, but Dante's Inferno is where a lot of the conceptions of hell even come from- each layer being based on a deadly sin is a commonly recurring motif throughout much of literature that talks about hell, as well as the idea of the layers themselves. Shit, the layers of hell in ULTRAKILL are literally just the layers of hell in Inferno! Still, the separation of Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven into layers is given a lot of weight, and while I do laugh at the fact that he kinda just put the people he doesn't like in hell and the people he does like in Heaven, the work overall serves as a multilayered metaphor for... a lot. It's incredibly complicated. Dante himself seemed to take inspiration from his own suffering and exile for the work, and it shows in how it develops and he uses it to understand his own issues- as it goes on and the comedy moves from part to part, the prose grows more beautiful and as Dante moves from Hell to Heaven, it begins to paint a picture of hope.

So, why was this guy chosen as the namesake of everyone(I think)'s favorite cocky devil hunter? I... don't know! It's probably due to the fact that Inferno is by far the most popular and influential work in the Divine Comedy, and it goes into depth about hell, demons, and devils, everything that Dante deals with on a daily basis. I personally haven't gotten very far into the DMC series (I'm only just starting 3) but from what I can tell, a lot of the literature themes seem to tie together in the whole family tree of Dante, Vergil, and later Nero. Many of the character's names are taken from poetry, after all. So, yeah. Not much else to talk about here, other than the fact that DMC is pretty coool. Also this blog is now featuring Dante from the Devil May Cry series.

[brostateexam]

ok, im well out of the loop with cassie clare, i havent read one of her books in at least 10 years, but i was big on her as a teenager. did she start off as a fic author? (that wouldn't surprise me) or did she just straight up plagiarise a bunch of shit?

The answer to this question is: both!

I will start off by saying: All of this is to the best of my recollection. This is not a perfect accounting of events. If you really, really want to know, I'm sure there are people who are like actual fandom scholars and archivists who will get it all right, but that is very not me.

And on the offchance that any lawyer is reading this: Please consider all of this as a recollection of events that happened. Not trying to defame anyone here, just talking about events that already occurred. Anything mentioned about the author in question that is not a recollection of past events is speculative and should be taken as such.

Cassie Clare did indeed start off as a fic author. She was decently prolific and wrote a lot for a very big fandom at the time, Harry Potter. She wrote a series (Draco trilogy, had names like Draco Dormiens) that was very, very popular. Presumably many modern readers are now reaching for rotten tomatoes or airsick bags as applicable, but this was circa 2000-2005(ish?), so the attitude toward HP was different back then, to say the least. Her stuff was put up on a fansite that was dedicated to HP only on like a featured page, which was basically reserved for decent writers and big name fans that the fansite runner knew and liked.

All of these people have names and are findable, but I don't remember them because it has been decades.

Draco Dormiens and or the others in the series were at the center of this controversy, and I think that with the benefit of time, it did not age well, but it was very of the time, and people loved the idea of Harry, Ron, Hermione, Draco, and Ginny as articulate, witty, hot older teens being rich and glamorous and magical and cool. Keep in mind, we gotta rewind the clock here. I remember the plagiarism controversy really gaining steam in early 2003, so at this time about 4 or 5 of the books were out and the main people reading them were teenagers and college kids, not the 30- or 40-somethings going to the theme park that you see on the internet now. So this was wildly popular and it's probably not hard to understand why.

Her popularity took a hit when she began to be accused of plagiarism, and when it didn't immediately recede it become a full on controversy. This was a big accusation to level, because she was very popular and very well-liked, and was friends with a lot of other authors who were also popular and well-liked, who largely speaking had her back. Finally, after the furor grew and grew, she acknowledged the controversy and made a statement that amounted to something like: "Okay, I thought it was pretty clear that I was just making references to popular TV shows by stealing dialog from episodes word for word, but I'll attribute everything I use in this way from now on, and I will also go back and add attribution for everything I used in this way."

This was a very savvy way of dealing with the accusations, because it was true that she was doing this (largely lifting stuff from Buffy and from Babylon 5, as I recall) and it was also true that if you were a fan of either show and read her fics, you could absolutely see that she was doing this and take it as a send-up or reference, not as plagiarism. This gave her friends and fans an out, a way to say to people "okay we get it, she acknowledged it and added attribution, can you shut up now?"

Except that wasn't actually the extent of it. Cassie Clare, well known for her super cool magical concepts she introduced in her Draco trilogy, was lifting those from a then out-of-print fantasy series by Pamela Dean. And it wasn't just ideas that she was lifting wholesale and not bothering to change the names of. She was also copying out whole paragraphs and pages, secure in the knowledge that you couldn't buy the books anymore, so it wasn't like she could get nailed by someone picking up the book at a Barnes & Noble and going "hey, wait a sec."

Except, perhaps not surprisingly, a lot of people who like fanfiction for Harry Potter also like fantasy as a genre, and people absolutely clocked some of her lazier plagiarism, because it was seriously word for word, sometimes for paragraphs.

This ultimately led to her getting banned for plagiarism from fanfic.net lol and the entire Draco trilogy was removed.

I think the lesson she took from this may have been the wrong one, and I fear it may have been that if you copy stuff and are popular enough, you can get away with it for years, so keep copying. Her entire career she's been accused of plagiarism, for both for her YA series and for her new series. I can't say if any of the subsequent allegations were true or not. Personally, I'm inclined to believe the claims simply because she has a history of doing it, doing it shamelessly, and lying about it or at least obscuring the full truth back in her fanfic era.

Anyway, I'd like to conclude this by saying if you really like her stuff and want to keep reading it or whathaveyou, I don't think that has a particular moral valence. I believe people in their 20s mostly know her for Shadowhunters, and from what I've gleaned it's about hot people in their 20s being glamorous and magical and witty and rich, and that's a winning formula now just like it was a generation ago. The person who should bear the burden of not being a plagiarist is the author, not the audience.

Hope this was informative, and thanks for asking!

[mintywolf]

A Long Road Home - Page 92 Author Notes

Page 92

The flavor that Imogen/Laura gives to her Dissonant Whispers spell (which inflicts psychic damage and on a failed Wisdom save causes the target to flee involuntarily from the caster) is that she is reflecting all of the pain and noise of other people’s thoughts back outwards, which is a great character detail. Mechanically it’s the psychic damage hurting Laudna, but even though she can tell it’s not Imogen’s voice throwing all those hateful words at her, she’s heard them directed at herself enough to want to run because what follows them is usually violence.

I made a point of using different fonts for Imogen’s Dissonant Whispers to keep them distinct from Laudna’s creepy message whispers. Appropriately enough, the names of her fonts are “Spiritual Lightning” and “Haunted Moon.” (Laudna’s are “Restless Soul,” “Echoes,” and “Witch Girls.”) :)

My original plan was for the cleric (seen back on page 65 as just a hooded eisfuura figure in yellow) to be a devotee of the Everlight but I changed them to a cleric of the Matron of Ravens as a means of preserving some essence of a plot arc I ended up cutting from this chapter because it was just way too long at the script stage. It involved Imogen and Laudna finding shelter from the cold (which they are shortly going to be sent out into, sorry) in a town centered around a temple of the Duskmaven. They are treated kindly there at first, while Laudna is hypothermic enough to be mistaken for a genuine corpse, but once the clerics realize she’s only mostly dead they get caught and Imogen is put on trial for necromancy. This plotline survives in Come In From the Cold (in the most recent chapter, in fact) and, aesthetically, I really liked Sister Iseult, the piebald raven eisfuura paladin who serves as the arbiter of the trial and regretted leaving her out of the comic. I considered including her in place of the cleric here, but since the dragonborn with the gun has already kind of been established as the leader, preventing the cleric from getting the character arc she will have in the fic, I decided it wouldn’t be a satisfying use of a good design. But since the point of that arc was to establish Laudna’s fraught relationship with the Raven Queen (who despises necromancy, which Laudna assumes must include herself, an undead, and not just the necromancer who made her that way) I decided to make the cleric here one of her followers, who is doing nothing to disabuse her of that belief.

Conveniently, there is canonically a notable group of Duskmaven worshipers who wear yellow cloaks, so I didn’t even have to change that, although why this lone member of Paragon’s Call would be so far away from Bassuras is a question I will have to answer later, haha. They could just be wearing yellow to compliment the gold on their tabard.

Speaking of yellow, the rogue was originally supposed to be thinking "Dibs on her bandana," which was just a silly throwaway line (like obviously it's part of her character design she's not going to lose it in a prequel) but since I forgot to work it into her outfit in the previous scene I had to change it to the bounty hunter planning to steal her coat, which Laudna made for her, and now it comes across as a lot meaner than intended.

[naehja]

You know this moment in the prisoner of Azkaban, when Snape catches Harry who had sneaked to Hogsmeade. While he's a ass and shouldn't have speak about James, he was right to yells at Harry for have left Hogwart's security.

1) Snape fully believes that Sirius is guilty. After all, if he had knew who was the traitor, you can be sure that he would have told Dumbledore. So he 100% thinks that Sirius has betrayed the Potter. And thinks that if Sirius has tried to kill him at 15, then betraying his best friend or triying to kill a child is something that he can do. After all, he's Bellatrix's cousin.

2) Snape knows that Sirius is smart and can be manipulative.

3) Snape knows that Harry didn't have all the informations (like Sirius was his godfather or has betrayed his parents). But that he knows that Black is after him.

4) Snape knows that Sirius knows Hogsmeade very well and that he knows all the secret passages of Hogwarts.

5) Sirius knows about Potter's invisibility cloak.

6) He's right when he says to Harry that "everyone tried to protect you but noo you can't listen when people are worried for your safety and you have to do everything you want!" I mean yes it's suck that Harry can't go to Hogsmeade but 1) it was likely until the madman who wants to kill him get arrested (even if WE knows that Sirius doesn't want to kill him, the minister, Dumbledore and the teachers don't know at this point) 2) he could have negociated with Dumbledore after that. EVERYONE thought it would be safer that he doesn't go at Hogsmeade this year.

For being fair Fred and George thought he just didn't have the authorization. If they had knew that Harry was Black's target, they would have maybe not giving him the map. They're troublemakers but they can also be protective if needed.

Harry says that Hogsmeade is safe but he has no proofs. Even when he knows that Black is near of Hogwart, he still wants to go, even with his invisibility coat.

And for being fair, if Harry had been found by MacGonagall or Dumbledore, they would have been dissapointed and would have lectured him. They could have confiscated both the map AND the cloak until the end of the year. Beause the map wouldn't have insulted MacGonagall or Dumbledore but would have probably reacted to their attempt to reveal it.

Snape likely knows about the map, even if he never had proofs. What he says to Remus shows he KNOWS.

So yeah Snape has been a ass but he was right to be angry. Like he says, the ministery has put a lot of mesures to protect Harry and Harry doesn't care and do whatever he wants just for have fun. I know he's a teenager but people told him "Black wants to kill you". And it was a temporary mesure. He could have go to Hogsmeade later.

And for Snape, who tries to keep Harry alive, it must be SO frustrating to see him ignore all the protections put to protect his life only for have few hours of fun.

Even Remus lectures him for that.

And for Harry who refuses to see potential danger, we have also the case of the firebolt. With Hermione who was right about it, because yes it was suspect to receive a suck beautiful gift with no expeditor name. Especially when someone wanted him dead. And when we sees how Sirius has managed to buy it, it was very easy. So even a criminal escaped from prison could use his money (funny because Ron pointed that it would be impossible for Sirius to buy it. and we discover that it wasn't).

Yes i know that Hermione's cat wouldn't have helped Sirius is Sirius was really a bad guy but still.

Harry refused to listen Hermione when she says "it's suspicious, it may be dangerous" and she even suggested to tell a teacher about it. And Harry refused to listen.

I mean, for someone who know that a guy want to kill him, he's very nonchalant. WE know that it was safe because WE know that Sirius is innocent, but nobody knew at this point (and the first time we read the book, we didn't know). But if Sirius had really been what people thought he was, had really be a murderer who wanted to kill Harry? And that Hermione didn't tell anything? Well, we can guess would have happened as soon Harry would have tried the firebolt, right?

Yeah Hermione was maybe wrong to tell McGonagall behind Harry's back but Harry was kinda irresponsable too. He acted like if he wasn't potentially in danger. Like if everything was normal.

I understand that he wanted to be a normal kid but he had someone that everyone thought to be a murderer after him. And It also must be annoying for people who try to protect him to see him ignore the protection to do whatever he wants without thinking to the potential consequences.

[armandauntie]

I love this take so much! You bring up so many key points from the series that I keep mulling over, and I think your commentary on these themes as a reflection of Anne Rice’s own internal debates over morality are really poignant and help put all the wild character choices in context, especially the question of ‘what the fuck happened to Daniel? Why did Anne Rice drop him like a hot potato after QOTD?’

It also makes a ton of sense to view these shifts through the lens of Rice interrogating her own beliefs and faith. From what I know, she was constantly redefining herself in relation to Christianity and Catholicism, which especially as a woman in her era makes a lot of sense due to the debates in the Catholic Church at the time over whether women deserved like… any rights and how a lot of even slightly feminist Catholic women (for example, my mother) had a really hard time reconciling their faith alongside it all. I think it’s fairly noticeable how Louis, Armand, and Lestat in particular are constantly debating with others and themselves over how to reconcile faith with their existence. And complete forgiveness (especially from women and children to men who abuse them) is a pretty significant part of being a “good person” in Catholic faith, so it makes a lot of sense for her characters to exemplify this as well.

I also loved your point on how Armand’s character deepens and becomes more (straightforwardly) sympathetic over the course of the series and as Rice’s view of him changes. The TV show sort of paints him as somewhere in the middle of her two extremes, and you’re exactly right that the series gives more space for characters like Louis and Claudia to have righteous anger and not have to forgive, which may end up changing Louis’s future relationship with Armand from the books.

One of the exciting and also nervewracking thing about this series taking a different artistic direction is that it’s really hard to guess exactly where they’re going to go and who they��re going to focus on in future seasons. We can definitely assume that Lestat is a mainstay but in terms of when and how Louis and Armand appear, it’s a lot harder to predict. My selfish hope is that we can get more spotlight on Louis and Armand and how they process forgiveness and abuse, since I’ve so far really enjoyed what the show has done on the subject.

Okay last thought and slightly off-topic, but I also selfishly really hope the show in the future focuses more on Armand’s cultural and racial identity and how that affects his belief system. Armand being South Asian and (maybe, sort of) Muslim has so much potential impact on his character, and a nuanced reflection on that would mean so much to me and also really valuable for non-SWANA/South Asian/Muslim people to see.

Anyways thanks so much for this essay! It really got me recontextualizing the series and Rice as an author and made me excited to think about even about the books and moments I don’t usually care for as much. I’d love to hear more takes you might have on the topic!!

Consent and Abuse in The Vampire Chronicles (and how it explains things like Daniel and Louis's disappearances)

TW: discussions of abuse, sexual abuse and rape, and CSA throughout this meta.

I’ve now read the first six Vampire Chronicles books, and I want to talk about the role that consent, or more importantly, the lack thereof, plays in the morality the books espouse. When I was a few books in, I discovered this post by @diasdelasombra, which uses excerpts from several scholarly texts to create a schema that helps us understand who Anne Rice considered a “worthy” victim of abuse. To summarize, the characters that Anne favors and who are featured in the narrative were violated against their will, but don’t whine about their misfortune. Instead they extend grace and forgiveness to their abuser. (Think of David or Lestat) The characters who are portrayed as conniving, wicked, or who are punished by the narrative are those who don’t adequately protest their assault, or who harbor anger or plans of revenge towards their abuser (think of Claudia).

When I say abuse here, I am specifically talking about sexual abuse and rape, but also being turned into a vampire against your will. Being bitten by a vampire is obviously sexually coded, and being transformed into a fledgling vampire nonconsensually is a metaphor for a rape. So I’m going to spend this meta talking about nonconsensual turnings interchangeably with rape.

When I read about the dichotomy of victimhood detailed in the original post, the books suddenly shifted in my mind, and I felt like I understood Anne as a writer for the first time. I love these books and their resulting adaptations, but I do believe that Anne had many flawed beliefs, and this insistence that the only proper response to assault is complete and total forgiveness of the perpetrator is certainly one of them. I want to take the theory put forward by the original post one step further, and propose that in addition to imperfect victims, Anne also struggled to write about characters that engaged in sex/vampirism consensually. This feels very Catholic to me; you’re allowed to enjoy sex, but only if you didn’t ask for it. It’s the lust and the longing that’s sinful. It’s this discomfort with consensual desire, along with the insistence that victims must forgive their abusers, that is at the heart of many of the most frustrating aspects of the Vampire Chronicles. It also drives some of the conflict I see in the fandom, and has the potential to impact the TV adaptation in interesting ways. I talk about all of that in detail below the cut:

We can see this central belief about abuse and worthy victims easily in the characters Anne chooses to feature. Lestat, David, and Marius were all turned against their will, but crucially do not linger, protest, or whine once the act is done. Lestat is incapable of holding any kind of grudge, Marius approaches vampirism and eternity with calm stoicism, and David immediately forgives Lestat for turning him against his will.

I think this is key when we try to understand why Anne wanted to replace Louis with David as a companion for Lestat. Louis’s turning is complicated; you get the sense that he did consent to it, even as he tells Daniel that he “can’t say that [he] decided” to become a vampire. And even though he does forgive Lestat at the end of IwtV, the telling of the story in that book is filled with resentment and anger. Louis is not a perfect bastion of forgiveness by any means. Anne talked about how she wanted to move on from the grief that Louis represented and also the passivity he embodies as a character (which she classifies as uniquely feminine, which adds another dimension of meaning to who is allowed to consent to sexual acts and remain angry at abuse) but I also have to assume that she wanted to move on from his anger. Which is actually a huge disservice to Louis, Lestat, and the complexity of the narrative.

The other characters who are turned consensually are all abandoned by the narrative. Madeleine is killed, Gabrielle largely disappears after TVL, Nicki kills himself, and Daniel goes mad and is then simply forgotten.

My love of Daniel is the reason why I started stringing this theory together. Daniel is the most clear-cut case in the entire chronicles of a consenting adult who deeply desires to become a vampire. He has no reservations, no resistance. The Devil’s Minion chapter is unique in that it lingers on Daniel's love and desire. Daniel is briefly allowed to want something unabashedly that is also coded as sinful and evil. And once the consummation of his desire happens, Anne simply doesn’t know how to continue to writing him. Armand’s insistence that fledglings will come to hate their makers seems in some ways to be a result of Anne’s worldview, that desire cannot cannot endure unpunished, rather than something Armand would believe in-universe (he never hated Marius, after all). When fans rail at the way Daniel’s story seems to disappear from the page, this is what we are protesting: Daniel’s desire deserved to be shown, Daniel deserved to evolve, and Daniel’s willingness does not require rebuke.

There is of course another interpretation of the Devil’s Minion chapter, which is that it is Armand playing out his and Marius’s relationship, but this time with Armand in control. In some ways I think the Devil’s Minion chapter is the one successful attempt Anne makes to subvert the cycle of abuse. Yes, Armand is re-enacting many of the things done to him, but Daniel is happy to do this role play with him, at least for a while. While far from perfect, their relationship manages to turn abusive history into present day kink, and exist in a context of mutual care.

Armand himself is probably the most interesting edge case in terms of Anne’s dichotomy of worthy and unworthy victims. He asks to be turned into a vampire, but he’s also a child, which makes his ability to consent unclear. (Whether Anne even believed that child sexual abuse was possible at all is up for debate; she wrote a message on her “fan voice mail” that is still transcribed on her website that defends a convicted pedophile and seems to argue that 14 and 15 year olds are effectively adults and therefore cannot be abused. Yikes yikes yikes.) This kind of uncertainty seems to be reflected in the changing way Anne writes Armand throughout the series. He’s evil at first in the same way that Claudia is evil; a conniving forever child who is smart and vicious enough that what was done to him can be justified. But Anne softened on Armand after Queen of the Damned. As the series goes on, Armand comes to resemble Anne’s perfect victim more and more. He forgives Marius relatively quickly, for instance, for turning Benji and Sybelle without his consent.

For Marius (and Lestat) overcoming victim status also means becoming the abuser, the rapist, the perpetrator of the dark trick. The only way to not be trapped under the cycle of abuse is to perpetrate it. Even though it is hidden in a lot of language about love and forgiveness, this theme is ever present in the Chronicles and to me it’s where the true horror of the books lies.

We see these values begin to be applied to world building and the book’s overarching philosophy more and more as the series progresses. Akasha is the big bad in Queen of the Damned because she represents the ultimate lack of forgiveness. She is angry at all the men in the world for their collective abuses (a world view that seems to originate at least partially from the overly protective and restrictive way Enkil treats her, in my opinion) and seeks to kill them. She is an unquestioned evil, in a way that most characters aren’t in The Chronicles. And Maharet and Mekare, who are much more forgiving towards Khayman, one of the perpetrators of their own rape, are the ones able to defeat Akasha. Forgiveness and grace trumps righteous anger every time.

Memnoch the Devil is an interesting book (even if it is not a *good* one, imo) because it spends its pages interrogating this idea of abuse and forgiveness, but blows it up to a theological scale. Memnoch’s main argument with God is that he lets humans suffer needlessly. Memnoch feels that all that is good and holy amongst humans can be found in the way we love each other and find joy in sex, art, food, and celebration. But God requires humans to suffer through disease and death, and sometimes even violence brought about by religion. When Memnoch is put in charge of hell, he makes souls worthy of heaven by working on them until they are ready to forgive God for the suffering they had to endure during life. That’s what makes you worthy of heaven: forgiveness. I find this so interesting because it almost feels like Anne is arguing with herself over philosophy and religion. Memnoch is very convincing and his belief that joy without guilt is good is given due weight by the narrative. In some ways it’s what these books are about- sensual pleasure without guilt. But on the other hand, Memnoch is the devil (if that- Lestat is never quite sure if he’s really the devil or just a malignant spirit) which means we shouldn’t trust what he says. The idea of God as the ultimate abuser— the person who puts humanity through unspeakable horrors on a wide scale, and then requires our forgiveness in order to find peace— really chimes with the way that Anne writes about abuse in the rest of the series. According to this view, the cycle of abuse is absolutely inescapable. It is decreed by the almighty, and the only way to not be completely crushed by it is to accept its omnipresence and embrace its perpetrators without anger.

This focus on forgiveness is clearly a huge part of Anne’s (and therefore the vampires’) worldview, and I of course find that pretty problematic. But I also think it hurts the reader’s ability to connect to the characters and can have the unfortunate side effect of draining the books of the conflict needed to create a propulsive plot. The vampires’ inclination to completely forgive those who have wronged them, and to not linger at all in any feelings of anger, grief, or resentment, sometimes leads to baffling situations where conflicts that loom large in one book are completely forgotten in the next. The most jarring example of this to me is Armand casually playing chess with Santino in Queen of the Damned. Santino! The vampire who kidnapped him, forced him to eat his best friend, and generally tortured him. And they simply never address this. They just start playing a casual game of chess on Night Island after Akasha has been defeated. Situations like this can make character seem like they are acting completely out of character, and it makes it hard to understand their motives. Yes, there’s the in-universe explanation that time heals all wounds and eventually vampires just live long enough that they can’t hold any grudges. But I still think it’s reasonable to assume that Armand would hesitate before casually engaging with Santino again, no matter how long has passed. This kind of automatic forgiveness also means that we skip over so many conflicts that that would be fascinating to read about. If Armand and Santino really do need to reconcile, I want to see what that looks like. I want to see Armand remember Ricardo when he looks at Santino. I want to see what David and Lestat mending their relationship after Lestat’s violation looks like. But we don’t get any of that and instead the vampires move seamlessly on to something else, which is often much less interesting than these interpersonal conflicts that Anne ignores. And because of that, I think this focus on forgiveness creates books that are less fulfilling than they could be.

I think this focus on forgiveness is also at the heart of some of the conflict I see between book readers and show-only fans. I often see book readers talking about how Armand and Louis come back to each other later in the books, that Louis forgives Armand enough to live with him again for a time. And this makes sense in a book universe that prioritizes forgiveness above all else. In fact it actually signifies positive character growth for Louis, as it means he is becoming closer to Anne’s definition of a worthy victim who can forgive those who wronged him.

Fans of the show insist that the TV version of Louis will never forgive Armand, and for all I know they might be right. The TV show has shown that it’s very capable of taking the events and themes that Anne presented and reframing them. The show is already presenting a more critical depiction of CSA, in my opinion, by doing things like eliminating the incest subtext between Louis and Claudia and making it clear that Marius groomed Armand. I also think the show does a better job of keeping emotional stakes consistent. Louis may forgive Armand, but something more substantial than time passing will have to happen to facilitate that in the TV show. So show Louis may indeed never forgive Armand, given those new parameters.

In its efforts to reframe some of Anne’s themes, I believe the television show is shifting the emphasis on forgiveness slightly. Louis’s arc over the first two seasons depends on him reaching a state of forgiveness, not for an abuser, but for himself. He extends grace to Lestat as part of this process, but I really believe that the catharsis comes from Louis embracing his own failings and his own power, and moving forward with confidence. He has not forgotten his anger or the things that were taken from him, but he has the ability to face the rest of eternity now without self-recrimination. I imagine moving forward that this is going to be a major theme of the show. No matter if you sought vampirism out or had it thrust upon you, you must learn to how to deal with its horrors and its perks. You must learn to embrace your own monstrosity and not shrink from it. And you must find a way to accept the love that those around you are willing to offer, whether or not you always perfectly deserve it. I think these are lessons that Lestat, Armand, and even Daniel have yet to learn in the television show. Those character arcs are going to fuel the show through its coming seasons, and I for one cannot wait to see it unfold.

I’m interested to hear from other readers to see if they picked up on these themes, and how they anticipate the show will adapt them. Please tell me your thoughts! And thank you for reading this far.

[fangirl-nadir]

Is no one gonna talk about how only close friend and family are supposed to refer to half-foots by their first name, and how by the end of the manga most of the party call Chilchuck "Chil?"

[aroaessidhe]

2024 reads / storygraph

How You Get The Girl

Contemporary romance

follows a basketball star who left the sport 8 years ago after an injury, who unexpectedly becomes the foster parents for her niece who she encourages to join the high school basketball team

and the team’s coach, who happens to have been a massive fan, and also needs a co-coach

they start to become friends, and when the latter reveals her insecurities about dating and relationships, the other offers to practice dating her so she can figure things out. but of course they start to fall for each other..

lesbian MC, questioning demisexual MC