#the fact that these people actually exist is mind boggling to me

[brutal-out-here]

Saw someone in a instagram comment section earlier saying repeatedly that she was not to be called “cis” because she was in fact a women and not instead a term “made up by the internet to discriminate against and make people who aren’t transgender feel bad about themselves”…. Like there was dozens of replies from this person saying this over and over again to anyone who tried to explain what being cis actually meant

[etoilesbienne]

I try to be a fair person I try to be understanding. but I am sick and tired of having to read about the many sins of Léa for being a whistleblower. People are straight up putting words in her mouth for things she did not say.

Frankly I'm a little appalled that the MCYT community can have a huge moment about the heavy amount of misogyny present in the space and come away with the take she didn't actually experience hate from the fan community. No the other admins didn't not experience hate, but she didn't say that. She said she received hate for being the first person to come out. Or how she was discredited repeatedly and the "Jay" document was used to shame her pointedly and make her out to be unreliable and "a hater." Gee whiz I wonder where I've heard "she's just hysterical and took things too seriously and is a vindictive person out to get others projects to fail." That sure sounds familiar. Especially in CC spaces pertaining to women. Why would she be exempt from misogyny at the hands of the fandom?

Though the way people behave about former admins expressing frustration at the lack of internal translation is making me crazy. There is nothing wrong with Quackity speaking his native language in a stream for announcement. None of these admins ever said he was at fault for speaking Spanish, they were criticizing the lack of internal communication outside of the streams, and the fact the studios had no official translators on payroll to help with communication issues between languages. They aren't asking for him to speak English, tbf most of these admins don't even have English as a first language, why would they want a stream in a different language they aren't fluent in? I don't think Léa was expecting Quackity to suddenly start speaking French. They're asking for translations in the languages they do speak so they can understand these important announcements about their jobs, because they were not receiving the information about these announcements any other way. To be honest it still boggles my mind, even after all of this, that QStudios never even had official translators to relay messages between Quackity to other streamers and admins. Regardless, I feel like people are interpreting this pretty fair criticism of the complete lack of translation to non-English languages impeding the already barely existent communication to be as bad faith as possible from every side. On one hand you have people choosing to believe that is what the admins are saying and agreeing with it and then being racist toward Quackity over it, on the other hand you have people choosing to believe the admins are being racist toward Quackity and sending them hate over it. I'd be insane to deny racism toward Quackity wasn't also happening though.

I don't know what else to say than people who have been working insane hours for months on end to be exploited, and they're upset. This is a server a lot of people cared about as fans, of course the first person to come out and reveal the terrible conditions is going to receive the most amount of hate over this specific instance. It's not an unfounded claim. Have you seen the shit people say about Léa on twitter? It also doesn't mean the other admins didn't receive hate in their own regard, it's just the first person to come out is usually the biggest punching bag for it. Misogyny didn't magically dissipate from the fandom with the removal of a few problem CC. My god hear yourselves and the way you talk about a woman coming out as receiving workplace abuse.

[raine-kai]

Minor OPLA Details I Love

Now that I have come to terms with the edits to Nojiko (I am a sucker for sister stories and was deeply sad they edited that trust and support out), and watched pretty much every reaction video I could find on YouTube, I have some things I wanna point out that I absolutely adore.

The fact that though this Luffy is softer, less inclined towards insulting and strongarming people like Coby and Zoro respectively, it is done in such a way where it enhances the resulting relationship.

The degree to which Zoro is attached to Luffy warms my heart as a Zoro->Luffy shipper. The way in Baratie he initially wanted to sit next to Luffy, and only ended up farthest from him because his swords wouldn't let him is <3

The toning down of Sanji's fixation on women is done excellently, and is actually enhanced by the change to Nami's character, where she is not inclined to encourage him. If I'd heard about this before I'd seen the season, I would have doubted that it could work this way, but it still feels like them, and I look forward to seeing how this dynamic endures next season.

The Kobymeppo Diaries adaptation worked so well? I'm impressed with how naturally they had Helmeppo progress from asshole to very likable.

The Mihawk-Zoro duel was so good. I am not into action scenes, but this show made me realize that I'm just not into typical Hollywood action scenes, and I'm really into these more choreographed, emotionally heightened fights that OPLA pulls off so well in general, but it was especially apparent for me in the Mihawk-Zoro duel.

Given that they included more set-up in this season to Baroque Works, I'm wondering if they'll bring Kuro back as one of the random Baroque Works agents.

I love that Luffy's growth as a captain gets more focus in this show than it did at this stage of the manga. I love that Zoro is at his side, explicitly his first mate as he councils Luffy to be more cautious than Luffy naturally is.

I also love that the Zoro-Sanji rivalry originates more in Zoro needling Sanji, which seems to be out of his need to be Luffy's right-hand man, and seeing Sanji as a potential threat. (Honestly, I'm not a fan of how their rivalry began in the manga/anime, and as a Zoro->Luffy and Sanji->Luffy shipper, I am so happy that what I headcanon as the real reason they argue is canon so far in OPLA.)

The sheer attention to detail, omg. All the details that lead back to systems and figures and events and companies that we know exist in the One Piece universe is mind-boggling to me and I have so much respect for the crew that put all those set pieces together.

The way they made Usopp's lies a charming personality quirk, both through the actor's charisma and through this version of Luffy's reactions, was remarkable to me.

I just love this show. The way they managed to rearrange canon in a way that still feels so authentic to the characters and their relationships and the world and the story is amazing. I feel so lucky to be part of the One Piece fandom this year, we are blessed. 🥰

[edelgarfield]

why are y'all so allergic to acknowledging that Ludinus makes an extremely good point. sometimes people can be factually correct but still bad people, or they can have a logically sound argument even if you don't agree with it.

ludinus is pointing at a giant crushing a person beneath their heel and saying "hey they shouldn't be able to just kill someone like that" and y'all are responding "my neighbor punched his brother so actually we're the same ☝️🤓"

if a group of people said "our current rulers are exploiting us, we want them gone" and those same rulers came in and indiscriminately slaughtered the resistance y'all would say to bring out the fucking guillotine. this is the same situation except the rulers are gods and the subjects are mortals. ludinus & the cast have all but said "the gods' control of Exandria/mortals is an allegory for colonialism/imperialism" in fact I'm pretty sure on an episode of 4SD they straight up SAID that and y'all are saying "hmmm the colonizers have a point." what about this isn't clicking.

"they're just like us" "they're family" dude, if my brother started a religion where the purpose was to worship him, and he made people go out and start killing on his behalf, I would be like "what the fuck is wrong with you" not "hmmm good idea, let me get a piece of that pie"

if my brother killed thousands of people I wouldn't be like "aw, i forgive you, why can't we be a family anymore 🥺" I would be like "holy shit you're fucking disgusting. die." Imogen got so much shit from the party & the fandom for wanting to save her mom, AND she's always been willing to kill her mom if liliana won't see reason but when it's the gods they're allowed to kill as many people as they want bc they love each other? the fuck?

"they're just like us" except if a character had a body count anywhere close to that of the gods they would understandably be considered irredeemable. like it's fine to sympathize with the gods, I very much do, but the absolute refusal to recognize that their presence on Exandria is inherently exploitative & that Ludinus has every right to want them gone is fucking mind-boggling.

so which is it, are they "just like us" and should be held accountable for their actions the same way and held to the same moral standard? or are they different and all the "mortals and gods are the exact same actually" is a load of horseshit?

"but they love us" cool my mom loves me, doesn't mean she has the right to control me for the rest of my life. it's not about whether the gods are good or bad, it's about the fact that no civilization should exist to be exploited by another & mortals have the right to self-determination. but fuck all that I guess bc God forbid Ludinus have a point.

[akookminsupporter]

I agree so hard with your post.

Because in 7 years in the fandom, what I have often seen is that people are so very ready to dissmiss ANY existing bond between Jimin and Jungkook, just so they can deny a potential romantic one.

Which is mind boggling to me, because really?

It's so simple to believe that they have a deep friendship while not believing it goes any deeper than friendship.

Nobody is forcing anybody to believe they have a romantic attachment, and I respect the fact that some people don't see it (or don't want to see it, whatever), but to deny their friendship, that's just lying, pure and simple.

And there is no reason to lie about their friendship, unless you actually do see a lot more than friendship there, and that your only way of denying the existence of that something more is to try to deny every single bond of theirs.

"And there is no reason to lie about their friendship, unless you actually do see a lot more than friendship there"

This.

[super-hero-confessions]

The fact that there are people not willing to understand the political commentary being made with The Boys is not only mind boggling, it irks and disturbs me. I am begging people to please try to understand and stop being so childish about what they don't or maybe even look at the world around them to see why what's being presented might be more relevant than they realize.

1. The show and comic are satire. They make political commentary in often the most crude way it can be presented whether you like it not. It's fine if you don't like satire or political commentary but don't sit there and complain about it when you knew what you were getting into before it got this far. Nothing about that has changed. If you are someone who unironically takes satire seriously at face value rather than trying to listen to the message? I can't help you, sorry.

2. If I see one more complaint about Homelander not being killed in Season 3, I'm going to lose my mind. There were thousands of people in Vought tower. Thousands. Including Ryan, Becca's son. If you're someone who thinks all of those people should be sacrificed so the "goal" of killing Homelander can be accomplished? Congratulations, you think exactly like a war criminal. Fuck the "fuck Ryan" crowd.

3. Homelander's not just played by the best actor or is the biggest draw of the show, killing him off is so shortsighted. Not just because losing him would ruin the show. There will always be more "Homelander"s as long as the root causes creating them are allowed to fester and continue to exist. If you think killing Homelander will solve all of their problems and everything will be 🌈✨🌅☀️🦄🦋🌈💖🧈🪰🌈 if or when they do this, you are missing the point of this entire series. They are literally using Ryan to exemplify this.

4. The fandom misogyny against Starlight is so transparent. She's not without faults, but she is the least "traditionally masculine" woman on this show and I think that says enough. Her goal is to neutralize and damage the credibility of Homelander without pushing him directly over the edge because she doesn't want millions of people to die at the expense of "scorched earf" like William Butcher. She's quick thinking and does what she needs to in order to survive in a moment and try to protect people, but in case people forgot? She's following Hughie. Hughie is the one who gave that speech about saving everyone, even if they don't deserve it, especially if they don't deserve it. He is the guy asking why violence is their solution for everything and he has always been that guy. Why are people blaming Annie for Hughie doing what he does best and being an actual good guy that promotes goodness in the people around him? If you're going to be mad, at least be consistent. If you don't like moral lessons or questions being presented to you through media, I don't think the superhero genre is for you.

5. William Butcher is not the hero of this story. He never was and never will be. He does not have good intentions, and he never has had them. This isn't even a case of "the road to hell" or misguided pursuit. He knows what he does is wrong and does it anyway and makes this very clear on multiple occasions. This has always been the case. The guy literally "fridges" his own wife and people are actually surprised he would cheat on her? He is on an adjacent boat to Homelander as far as severely mentally ill men in dire need of help go, the main difference being that Homelander has little to no understanding of how his actions are "wrong". Butcher may actually be worse off than Homelander as when you look at their issues, at least in some ways, he's more like an evolved state of Homelander or the "next stage" of depravity. That is why he's been building Homelander up to his level so they can fight. To say either of these men are beyond saving is deeply hypocritical and commits the exact same moral failing that William Butcher is practicing. Hughie is the real hero, die mad about it.

6. This show is reflecting the current political climate and pointing out the faults of both "sides". You can't dehumanize another without first dehumanizing yourself. If you know anything about America or even the world, you'd know that some people are being forced to live in these sorts of environments. We literally have a real threat looming over us. White nationalists want to take over the country and implement a conservative hellhole dictatorship. They have a whole balls to the wall plan for this! I want to throttle half of this fandom for being so stuck in their own privilege that they won't take a second or two to think about the people who can't afford to not live through this.

I live in constant fear of what could happen to me and my family. I don't get the option to tune it out or pretend it doesn't exist. I live in a red state. I don't have the money to move. I'm pretty much everything the modern Nazi despises.

And yet, there are people in this fandom complaining about political commentary that is directly reflecting our current society, parodying and satirizing it to try and put forth an extremely important message before it's too late.?

I need people to understand this. Not want, need. My life is literally dependent on whether or not people will understand these things before it's too late because of where this country is headed. I wish I could say it wasn't that big of a deal but I can't. I can't because I don't get the privilege of living in the part of the world where it wouldn't be. Please, I am begging, begging people to take a moment to please look in a mirror, self reflect, and consider "why". Consider whether or not you might be part of the problem because we all have our bad takes, bad days, lapses in judgement. No one is perfect and that's okay. We live and we learn. Lighten up on the faults of others, lighten up on your own faults.

I really like learning so I really would love the opportunity to keep living so I can do that, but I'm scared out of my mind. I'm terrified and it's not just for me. Please, please, I need people to understand.

7. The Trump stuff is funny. It is! Donald Trump is funny if you don't think about the inherent dread of him having political power. I would love to be able to laugh and cringe at him flailing and failing and being ridiculous without that looming threat of the damage he could do on the world. I would love more specials from John Oliver with the breath of relief that Trump won't ever be given political power again. That's where the Homelander Trump metaphor comes in. That's what Homelander is supposed to give us, a way to rehumanize Trump but also reiterate why he should not be given political power. If you're bothered by it then again, this is satire. Satire is not made to be taken so seriously in that way and you will be much happier when you stop doing that.

Please. Please. Please, please, please, please, please. Please vote. If Trump gets elected again, I may actually die and it may not even be from conservative witch hunting.

I fell severely ill back in 2016 when Trump was elected. I broke out in hives the day he was inaugurated. The entire time he was elected, my health continued on a steady decline and I am still trying to recover. I'm not joking. I know how it sounds but I am not kidding at all. I don't know if it was an allergy or what but I have no idea how my body will react if he is elected again but whatever it is, I don't want it to happen.

I just want to be able to enjoy my favorite shows and or comics and live my life. I want other people to be able to do this too, but that can't happen if we keep rejecting every prompt we're given to self reflect.

You're human. So is everyone else around you. Please don't ever forget that.

[philtstone]

title: darling.

Summary: Shawn and Jules, in the hotel room in Canada. Shawn's having thoughts. Mostly about Juliet, naked, but about a few other things, too.

i blacked out and this appeared on my google drive & then i was too shy to post it on tumblr even tho i did post it on ao3 and then i was like. actually we're going to embrace this era. especially because zainab helpfully reminded me that ive definitely written adult flavored fanfic before, lol thus go my ongoing efforts to rectify the criminal lack of juliet appreciation out there (its been boggling my mind for weeks). i guess when im not writing meticulously introspective fic from juliet pov im writing shawn pov about how amazing juliet is. title is from layla by derek and the dominos, set immediately post-vancouver part 2, and ... enjoy?

Excerpt:

“What are you thinking about?” Juliet asks, suddenly and softly, from where her cheek rests gently against him.

Oh. Shawn had thought she was asleep. He realizes that maybe he is being a little obvious – there’s a tension in his body that generally shows up when he’s thinking too hard about something, and Jules is draped (completely naked!) directly on top of him (also naked!) and so can probably definitely feel it. Gus once described it as vibrating. He said, in his good old dependable Gus voice, You’re vibrating again, Shawn. I already told you I wasn’t gonna work any cases on labor day. It goes against my principles as a pro-union man!

Shawn could respect that, for sure. Murderers did work on labor day, but it was only fair that, as men of the people, Shawn and Gus respected the concept of a statutory holiday, regardless of the fact that unions don’t exist for self-employed business owners.

Would I Saw Jules Naked For The First Time Day be statutory, or more up to personal observance preferences, like Father’s Day? 

Shawn has to wonder.

Wait – the one-in-a-million girl in his arms asked a question. Focus, Shawn.

Read the rest on ao3!

[descendant-of-truth]

I finished rewatching Axess today and now I'm even more mad than I already was about them not including the fact that Netto and Rockman are brothers

You're telling me that they added a whole plot about Yuriko being the long-lost twin sister of Mariko who had been presumed dead during her childhood and DIDN'T use that as an opportunity to parallel the main characters?? The main characters consisting of twins who were separated by a screen and secrecy for years of their lives while one was presumed dead by the other???

I just. it was RIGHT THERE. they had to go out of their way to make Yuriko a character with that much drama behind her and yet they couldn't be bothered to use the built-in twin drama from the original games??

Like, if there was any plot point that deserved to be expanded on in an adaptation of that series, it was the fact that Rockman was originally a human before he died and was brought back as a navi by Yuuichiro. It's a story that begs to be explored but for some reason I can't fathom, it's not included in any of the adaptations.

And it just keeps getting more outrageous because Yuriko's main purpose in the first game was to foreshadow the brother reveal. She asks Netto if he's a twin and you can respond with either yes or no, something that seems a bit silly on a surface level but might prompt the player to start asking questions.

The game actually does a really good job with hinting at it if you interact with the right people and items, rewarding your engagement with story details you might not otherwise see. And it's a right shame that we never got to see how the writers of the anime or manga might have tackled it, because it fundamentally changes so much about how you perceive the story.

Netto and Rockman being best friends doesn't lack emotional impact by any means, but it's so much more complicated when they're brothers. In the anime and manga, Rockman existing in a different world from Netto is just How Things Are, but in the games... it wasn't supposed to be that way.

There's an underlying sense of tragedy to the situation, made hopeful by the fact that Netto and Rockman are still brothers who make an amazing team despite the barrier between them (and in some cases, arguably because of it)

And there's... a little bit of that in the adaptations, I suppose? They do occasionally lament the fact that they can't live in the same world, and are overjoyed when something plot-related happens that lets them do that for a brief amount of time, but it's inherently a different conflict.

I wonder if anyone's asked about this during an interview, because it just boggles the mind how something so important and obvious to the story was left out to dry in all the adaptations

[iwannayellmyopinons]

So- I recently found out that the Buttress: a pretty popular music artist is a terf, and the shit she had been spewing is so mind-boggling it hurts.

Here are a few tweets of hers outright showing this along with her response once they were brought up.

The tweets:

The responses:

Obviously, I hate all of this. And since she wants a 'proper' argument, I'll share it here.

For one, it isn't just about playing pretend like yoj thinks it is. It is a mental battle for trans people. It isn't just 'feeling' like one sex or another. It's the physical and mental distress of feeling that your body is inherently wrong the way it is originally. Something that has caused many people to end their lives over due to how insufferable it is, with this, it's something that is only helped once the person starts to transition. So no, it isn't just pretend. It's a real struggle that you somehow claim as sexist when it honestly isn't. It doesn't fall under the definition at all. So why are you trying to undermind transpeople for trying to make it so they can look themselves in the mirror and finally feel relieved at the reflection they see?

Secondly, your definition that gender is a social concept is correct - it is, that's why non-binary/genderqueer and other genders that do not fit into either male or female exist, but your definition of actual sex is completely off the mark. You're not taking into account that a part of gender dysmorphia is in part caused by hormones, y'know- the same things you claimed help determine the biological sex of a person. That's why people who are trans need to go through hormonal treatments. To fix the physical chemical imbalances they experience. You're also not taking into account intersex people. Who are BIOLOGICALLY either both male and female or neither based on their outward genitals and reproductive organs. Hell, you aren't even taking in the fact that some women can be born with XY chromosomes, and men can be born with X chromosomes without showing any outward biogical appearances. Meaning yes, you can be STRUCTURALLY a different sex to the biogical sex you have. Granted - this is rare, but it still happens, and we have records to prove it. Meaning the only thing you're able to stand on at that point is the period thing, and even then that's fucking stupid. What about women with menopause? Are they not real women because they can't bleed between their legs anymore? What about women who take birth control and have stopped experiencing their periods thanks to it? Are they not real women?

Thirdly, your idea that since no one is being respectful towards you means you are somehow right is not proof at all, it just proves that what you're saying is so ridiculous that no one wants to take you seriously. All you're doing is spreading hate about a certain minority, and yes- being transgender is considered a minority. Just not the minority you're thinking of given your tweets. It's infact something you are very lucky enough to never experience. But let me ask you a question: What if one day - out of the blue - you suddenly gained a dick. You would still have a feminine appearance, but biogically, you were a guy. Would you be able to call yourself a man? Even if it made you physically uncomfortable/ill to be called such or even look at the new dick you had. Think long and hard about this question, hell- try to even image yourself in such a state. Then maybe, just maybe you'll share a little more respect for the people who had or are currently living like this.

Now, good day to anyone who is reading this. I'm gonna go like nice pictures.

[akkpipitphattana]

Okay, now I wanna know more about this tag. It’s been haunting me since this morning (as someone who watched and enjoyed after the fact).

honestly it’s hard to explain if you didn’t experience it, but while the show was airing there were some absolutely BONKERS takes going around to the point it genuinely made me wonder if we were watching the same show. like namely a lot of the out there ones were coming from f*rceb*ok stans, but there were some that persisted from people that were pretty neutral on ships and just tried to come off as being super great at analysis but it was so odd.

like we had people claiming mew and top never played games with each other and that they weren’t toxic at all, people thinking sand was like genuinely still into boeing, people that thought ray blowing up at sand after finding out about the deal with his dad was because he viewed sand as an object, people that thought nick was totally innocent and that boston was the actual devil despite everyone else doing the exact same shit he did in their own ways. also people that said it wasn’t real queer media because sandray and topmew ended up together which was like ?? huh

like there were so many people watching that show just half paying attention or trying to make fanfiction out of the show and calling it canon and it absolutely boggles my mind. like SO MANY people left that show angry/pissed and still hold grudges against and i’m just like. well maybe if you actually took the show for what it was instead of coming up with things that didn’t exist and expecting an outcome based on that it wouldn’t have been so disappointing

[galinneall-dearg]

Hi Dearg, hope everything is going well on your end!

Just wanted to say that I really love your content, especially the mood boards, they’re so cool ✨

I also really like that whole “Donald w/out Douglas” concept you introduced with that one Traintober art (I think it was “smoke”). Like it’s so damn sad, but in a good way. It might be like 4 years old but it has a chokehold on my brain, mainly cause Donald is my favourite TTTE character and I like seeing my faves in negative situations and watching them work through them. Also, my favourite kinda relationship in media is Platonic Siblings, so no wonder the Caledonian Twins are my faves 🤣

Thank you for dropping in the lovely message ^^ Things are goin' good for me at the mo'

Eyyyyyy the separated Caledonians AU! Oh wow it has been four years hasn't it? Damn I was 18 when I drew that and now I'm turning 22 tomorrow..

The fun part of the whole thing was definitely everyone who chipped in with ideas, and had their own interpretations. The ever-wonderful @/mean-scarlet-deceiver wrote a brilliant little ficlet, and over on AO3 TheWhiteShellMermaid actually went ahead and wrote it all out in a fic (the fact that this exists still BOGGLES MY MIND XD. Never ever thought this would happen)

I'm not a writer so the fact the idea got so much traction was definitely unexpected... But the fact that it resonated with people still holds a special place in my heart <3

[thesherrinfordfacility]

LWA: /Does/ Aziraphale build actual relationships with humans? It's an interesting question, because his interactions with Maggie or Nina are not much more intimate than they were with Anathema Device after he and Crowley ran her over. Aziraphale doesn't go to the pub because he wants to /avoid/ people ("this is why I don't go to the pub!"). Gaiman has said repeatedly that Aziraphale is just not that interested in interacting with people beyond a certain point. He's polite and friendly to everyone--which is the point: he's polite and friendly to everyone, including the two guys who threatened him in Edinburgh. Aside from the ball in S2, he doesn't invite humans into his shop to socialize. We know he went to a "gentleman's club" to learn how to do the gavotte, but enjoying a night out is still not the same thing as developing individual friendships. Presumably, like Book!Aziraphale, he was on good terms with various prophets, but even Book!Aziraphale doesn't go much beyond thinking about them with mild fondness. He and Crowley are attached to /humanity/, rather than to individual humans. The flip side of this is that it's not clear that either one of them would be much fun to be around for any length of time! They are canonically reality warpers, they don't exist in time the same way, and beyond a certain point they don't understand human psychology.

I was idly thinking about miracle ethics the other day, which maybe has some bearing on this question. I'm not sure that either the novel or the TV series has a thought-out position on the matter (in the novel, Adam denounces "messing about," but then Aziraphale and/or Crowley miracles up a reservation at the Ritz...which is surely messing about, or is it?). I think everyone is in agreement that in S2, the ball crosses a boundary line once Aziraphale begins overwriting everyone's minds, and both Nina and Maggie call him and Crowley out for treating them like toys. S1 and S2 also suggest that Crowley's interrogation technique is troubling, and it's noteworthy that Aziraphale dislikes it: in S1, Aziraphale objects to hypnotizing Sister Mary Loquacious and at least tries to be kind while questioning her, while in S2 he resists interrogating Gabriel "properly." Crowley's second interrogation in S2 comes across as invasive and even violent, enough so to cause Gabriel pain. By contrast, neither the novel nor the series seems to suggest that there's anything wrong with Aziraphale doing the Jedi mind-warping thing if it's in self-defense. (In fact, it's arguably odd that he /doesn't/ do it in 1793 and 1941.)

LWA!!!✨ hello, hi, been a while! i hope you're well :)

you're right, it is an interesting question! and its boggled me for a good little while - but the conclusion ive clumsily arrived at is that it's kinda as you say and what neil has said, but i do wonder if there's a little bit more to it (at least from how ive interpreted it, anyhow). because whilst i think aziraphale doesn't initially want, need, or set out to form emotional connection to humans, he arguably ends up doing it anyway, and to those humans the connection is indeed meaningful. in time, i think they come to mean something to aziraphale too.

because my thought process on this is indeed clumsy, the points im essentially trying to make are the following:

aziraphale definitely has respect and admiration for humanity - and this is in part due to things about humanity or that humanity has come up with that aziraphale personally enjoys

he indeed doesn't invite humanity into his inner sphere, or actively seek it out (your eg: bookshop and pub), and its his innate benevolence as an angel that manifests as friendliness and politeness

but i do think he does inevitably end up forming connections with certain individuals out of his tendency to kindness and protectiveness, even if he doesn't intend on forming those connections originally

whilst he may not have huge emotional investment in these relationships he unwittingly cultivates, they certainly have meaning to the other party

and whilst he may not feel any deep attachment to individual humans, he does seem to develop more personal sentiment as time goes on.

i think it's fair to say that the bonds, significant or otherwise, that form between aziraphale and individual humans appear to be a byproduct of his kindness and potentially of his protectiveness. that would track, given his perceived original purpose on earth, but i think aziraphale carries out his duty a little more subjectively than was originally intended.

he was sent to earth as guardian of the eastern gate which, by my reckoning, was more to keep danger out of eden rather than to directly protect adam and eve. but he hears they are to be exiled from paradise, will be thrown into the cold whilst eve was pregnant, and gives them his flaming sword as a means of protection. the scene from s1 doesnt show that they converse to any extensive degree, or that there is any significant interaction between them, but from aziraphale's recount of it, it does appear to be out of kindness and anxiety about what will happen to them without it (immediately proved right by the lion sequence). i don't think it would therefore be much of a stretch for adam and eve, retrospectively, to look back on their brief interaction with aziraphale as meaningful, and that there would have been an idle outline of a bond between them as a result; but in aziraphale's part, his connection to them appeared to start and end with this rebellious act of kindness, rather than any deep, personal stake in their wellbeing - again, perhaps just sheer protectiveness over god's first humans (that he helped to design and bring into being?) because to his mind it was the right thing to do.

next that springs to mind is shakespeare; whilst this could be seen as self-serving, i don't think that's entirely the case. it wasn't until shakespeare was whining, "been like this every performance, juliet, complete dud; it'd take a miracle for anyone to come and see hamlet!" that it seems to even occur to aziraphale that he could do something to help. he does push this on crowley to perform, but it is essentially his idea. and actually... what would aziraphale have to gain by it being more popular? he's seen the play and presumably enjoyed it, and whilst popularising it would perhaps mean he could see it again, i doubt he was thinking this deeply about it. instead, i think he just wanted it recognised as an act of kindness. he doesn't outright compliment the play (only compliments burbage), but the fact that he sees it as worthy of being made popular would indicate that it deserves it. the interaction he has with shakespeare didn't form any significant bond, but given shakespeare's exploration of fatalism in his work (especially hamlet), i don't think it's impossible that he would have looked back on this interaction as being potentially linked to hamlet's sudden (?) rise in popularity, even if he didn't fully understand just how true that is. again, a connection that to aziraphale maybe means very little, but to shakespeare may have meant a great deal.

then jumping to current day, aziraphale certainly appears to have possibly his most significant human relationship (as far as we can call it that) in the form of maggie. we know that she has been around the record shop since she was very young, and so has likely known aziraphale all that time, and he does seem familiar with her. it seems that it goes beyond friendly professionalism, or generic fondness; it takes him a while to understand the situation about the rent, and it's largely self-serving to forgive it, but the first interaction we see between them is aziraphale being kind enough to wipe the debt and allow her to keep her tenancy. again, yes, mainly so he has his steady supply of 78rpms, but the way he immediately jumps to "why? don't you like it anymore?", and "well it's entirely my fault for not collecting the rent!" feels like he genuinely at least has some feeling of protectiveness over her. when talking to her in the record store about nina in ep2, he again seems genuinely affected that she's upset, and that he can't quite help her with the issue. now, again, it may not be the case that aziraphale feels anything for maggie beyond fondness, almost like one would for a child, but her reaction on both occasions - and her subsequent protectiveness in kind over aziraphale come ep5 and 6 - indicates that from her perspective, whatever relationship they have with each other holds importance.

(caveat to the above, for anyone else reading - i do feel like there is something more to maggie, which ive half-heartedly theorised about, but may well look further into in the future. in any case, i think there may be more to why aziraphale and maggie have the level of connection that they do - and no, not that maggie is a demon)

there are multiple other interactions he has with humans that kind of follow the same theme. aziraphale seems to act out of perhaps self-interest predominantly, but there is always an element of kindness and/or protectiveness that comes along with it. and no, aziraphale doesn't appear to invite connection with all of humanity/just anyone, but i think this is the point; instead, i think he does evolve to entertain forming connections to certain individuals based on their own merit. i think it would be ever so slightly reductive to consider that he only does this out of angelic, detached benevolence, and instead i think it's a mark of a deeper personal character development; that aziraphale is allowed to form meaningful human relationships because his purpose on earth is no longer dictated to or audited by heaven, and he is free essentially to do as he wants. i don't think it's a stretch that aziraphale has suffered by his ostracism from heaven and the other angels, and other than crowley he has no interest in being friendly with demons; so why not open himself up to connections with the beings that he designed and nurtured, has protected, and has provided him with various means of finding happiness?

moving on to miracle ethics... yeah. the ball was a complete nightmare in this regard; aziraphale may have his ulterior reasons for the ball and it going the way it did (👀 @ crowley), but it is a huge violation in more ways than i probably could talk about and keep this answer length somewhat reasonable. that being said - did aziraphale even intend it to go as far as it does, or is he so furiously driven by his subconscious (?) motive to manifest a further development in his and crowley's relationship that even he is swept away in the tide? he remarks in ep2 that you cant just miracle up love, but instead he could create a situation (inspired by austen - what a dork) where it would happen organically.

there certainly isnt, as far as i recall, any intent on aziraphale's part to play god by assuring that the falling in love of nina will happen, but perhaps more in his own personal excitement for what the ball may precipitate for him and crowley, his power has manifested a bit more than he originally planned or even noticed. nina and maggie's comments about treating them like toys is still true - you could say that about humans setting up their friends or engineering blind dates etc - but i don't think aziraphale ever meant for the scale to be what it was. guests came in through the door in their fancy clothes; there's certainly no indication from aziraphale's perspective that they weren't already dressed like that (if he even noticed, frankly). there's nothing to suggest to aziraphale that humans wouldn't know how to dance the quadrille, and he doesn't partake in any conversations that sound like they are directly lifted from the pages of pride and prejudice. and that would parallel, as you said, his apparent disdain for the forceful removal of control that crowley seems to prefer to use. maybe this is a reflection on it being unkind and therefore against his angelic identification, or a more personal distaste for removal of agency (aziraphale seems pretty adamant in both s1 and s2 that being human comes with choices, even if the context in which he asserts this is... questionable).

as for aziraphale and his little dalliances with miracles being used in self defense; ill be honest LWA, im drawing a blank on when this occurs - other than perhaps the men that turn up in the shop threatening him into selling... is this the scenario you mean? (feel incredibly dim rn, but it's been a long day!)

[chxna-cheeseycake]

Hi I once again forgot my Tumblr existed how silly of me 😙 Anyways, I was briefly out of my Aphmau phase but as with most fandoms, the Aphmau phase truly never leaves you. So I'm back in this bitch again and feel like talking about Dante more because he's the only Aphmau character I care about anymore <3 Jk but also Dante is my everything so whateves.

Anyways so like I think about Dante and Gene's brother relationship a normal amount (wrong) and it just like??? Bothers me that we didn't get a more complicated relationship between them in Mystreet like we did in MCD. And maybe I'm just a slut for angst but I loved the brotherly angst between them. Also Gene's a big bitch and I firmly don't believe he should've gotten a redemption arc in Mystreet. Or at the very least it should've been done better cuz how are these people just okay with Gene so quickly after all that shit he did in highschool :/ Keep in mind I haven't finished watching Phoenix Drop High yet cuz I'm a lazy hoe but I still have a good idea about the stuff he's done to people as a Shadow Knight. Honestly, Zane and Aaron have a right to not like him and watching S3 of Mystreet I didn't really appreciate how they made Zane and Aaron out to be kinda bad just cuz they didn't want to besties with Gene like Aphmau. I don't know if that's actually what they were trying to go for but it just gave they kinda vibe off to me and I don't like it oof. This is like one of the few times I think I can see myself defending Aaron's ass cuz like shit I wouldn't forgive Gene that quick either regardless of how genuine his apology is. Cuz I know from personal experience that it's hard to just forgive someone after the shit they put you through :/

And also like, I think it's really stupid how Dante just doesn't know about the stuff that Gene did back in highschool. And I blame that on the fact that Mystreet as a series has a bad habit of dumbing down the MCD characters for no good reason. Garroth is a supreme example of this with his MS and MCD counterparts being almost unrecognizable from one another. It just really boggles me how Dante could just not have an inkling of what's going on especially when his own friends were being targeted by Gene and his wannabe mean girl posse. It's a fucking stupid writing decision in my opinion and only further proves how dirty they did Dante's character in Mystreet. God I might be taking this a little too seriously but as a Dante lover I can't help myself. I will be a hardcore Dante defender even in death broskis.

Now honestly here's what I personally would have done to really reflect the complex and strained brother relationship that Gene and Dante have in MCD into Mystreet. Gene is still a big bitch in highschool to everyone but Dante actually knows about this. He's not dumb to the fact that his older brother is pretty much part of a gang. And that's because Gene doesn't treat Dante the good at all either. Yet Gene would have the audacity to say and act like he's such a great big brother in front of other people cuz he's a dickhole like that. But Dante keeps claiming that Gene's a good brother and says he looks up to Gene anyways. Why would he even do that though? Because Dante could either just be saying that to stay on Gene's good side or he just genuinely thinks that Gene isn't hurting him at the very least because Gene is his big bro and big bros would never do anything to hurt their little bros, right? I mean just imagine for years that Dante knows Gene isn't a good person but is led to believe that at least Gene wouldn't be mean to him. Imagine Gene graduates from highschool and moves out of the house and Dante still is able to think highly of Gene. Imagine one day, Dante actually has a crisis regarding Gene caused unintentionally by his friends who thought that Dante didn't know about what Gene was doing as a Shadow Knight. They realize that's not the true issue at hand here and feel awful once they come to the truth faster than Dante himself. Imagine Dante having a hard time being convinced that Gene was treating him horribly because Dante doesn't want to believe that such a thing happened to him because then that would just be too much for him to process and accept. And then imagine the brothers seeing each other in S2 after not talking for years as at that point Dante understood that what Gene did to him wasn't right.

That's the type of conflict that I think Mystreet would've benefited from. And it would bring so much more depth to Dante and Gene because again, they were done dirty in Mystreet and I will always die mad about how their interesting and complicated dynamic was stolen from them in Mystreet. I have like so many other ideas like this not just for Dante and Gene but for the entirety of Mystreet as a whole. I literally have a whole Google Doc detailing so much shit I would rewrite to make Mystreet a better series which goes to show how stupidly passionate I am about this damn Minecraft roleplay from my childhood 💀 Anyways, that stuff in my Google Doc can be for another time cuz I don't feel like typing anything else right now lol.

[strawberrynightmere]

I have made this post simply to vent about three characters from Philomel the Fake / There is no place for the fake princess.

Warnings include: an ungodly amount of complaining, child abuse, the effects it has, and spoilers for the manhwa/novel (but I'll try to be as vague as possible, or you could do the sensiblething and not read this post if you don't wanna get spoiled) and so much swearing that it would make Vivian Medrano say "tone it down" (hyperbole, also a lot of that too).

How can one hate fictional characters to the point of just wanting to punch them in the face whenever one sees them? Now, there were a few instances where I was like, "Yeah, understandable," but that was only one character pre fandome, but three? In one fandom? (Technically more, but most are unimportant to me as they get what's coming to them), and all three of them are the protagonists' parents?

Now, let's start with the least worse because this one is tame compared to the other two.

French Gumm Wizard. You pulled the short end of the stick in the Manhwa Shitty Naming Poll (tm), and I pity you, but only a little beraly existent bit. The sole reason for you having 4 different fucking kids with 4 different fucking women (in the most biblical possible way) just for the purpose of a god fucking dammed experiment is mind-boggling to me and the fact that you forgot about the fourth child because once that pregnant woman was out of sight she was also out of mind for you.

Now, anyone who knows his character knows he's a fucking phycopath, and this is not a hyperbole, he genuinely is a phycopath.

He is a terrible parent because of the 3 kids he was aware of existed think of him as an anoying-ass colleague who, if they saw walking their direction, they would immediately teleport to their ass to the othe side of the rode just not to be in his close vicinity. And if they had the power, they would choke him to death, but murder is illegal, and they would be the prime suspects.

The moment you met the daughter you forgot about, you asked if she needed money? Like, alright, it's not like there were people coming to you for that, but for fuck sake, that's a fifteen-year-old that ran away from the imperial castle, she might've stole something from there so she could be well off.

But good for you for feeling bad for the first time in your fucked up life and trying to atone to her, and wanting her to move in the tower with you and the sons even though she didn't have magic. However, you need to draw a line somewhere when it comes to murder. It's one thing to kill someone who planned to harm/kill Philomel, but it's another thing wanting to kill someone who Philomel has been on good terms with.

Now, this bastard, the reason Philomel had to mask her personality during her childhood, that the mask ended up being a part of her in her teenage years. Eustis, it's the name of a terrible man who abuses a dog with anxiety, and the only reason he's married is because his wife pitied him (ifykyk).

There is a lot to unbox about his character, but none of that can excuse what a burning pile of trash he was to Philomel.

Oh, he was just a child when his half siblings wanted to kill him for a decorative piece of metal that indicates that you're a monarch of a country.

That doesn't excuse the way he treated his assumed daughter.

Oh, but he was sad his wife died. Besides, Philomel didn't look like either of them.

But did she deserve the kind of treatment since she was a newborn? And did anyone hear of recessive genes? Oh, right, this is a fucking fictional world so recessive genes are a non existent thing.

But what about the things he did for Philomel?

Philomel doesn't remember the limited times that he wasn't a gaping asshole to her, and she has a photographic memory or used to have because when she discovered that he fait was gonna be at the guillotine was the moment she realized nobody actually cared about her or even loved her for who she was.

But Philomel committed crimes!

Look at this child!

Look at this nine-year-old who just discovered her own future just because of a baby swap that she was not guilty of. And tell me that she deserved it! Tell me that she deserved getting punished just because she was being a child!

Eustis knew she was at the door of his office when he said he wanted her to be quiet like a dead rat! And yet he was surprised when those exact words came to bite him in the ass at full force?

That burning pile of shit did not deserve Philomel, nor does he deserve his biological daughter. If the baby swap never happened, I doubt he would've ever been a good father to her.

And now for the scum who started all of this.

This delusional ass bitch that would make me advocate against women's wrongs!

You're gonna tell me that the reason for not only Philomel's abuse but also Elencia's is because this nutbag has a thing for men with dark hair?

This crazy-ass cunt that agreed with the experiment that Le Gummdrop was doing, ran away from the mage tower, heeding the safety warning and going to the empress who she worked under in her youth and was on friendly terms with, only to swap the babies when the empress died due to childbirth and booked out of the empire right into the woods because she was attacked to the emperor?

Now, she might've felt guilty for it, but that didn't stop her from throwing things near Elencia, almost hitting the girl and screaming at her. Believe it or not, that's abuse.

And yet this mentally unwell trash had the nerve to yell at Philome to leave them alone because she loved Elencia like an actual daughter.

This pure girl!

This pure soul that she kidnapped and abused. This child who cleaned up after this grown ass woman's temper tantrums.

All because she was physically attracted to her father.

I don't care what shitty excuse someone could pull out of their ass to defend her. It won't excuse the crimes she has committed.

No amount of garbage manhwa parents would ever top these three for me.

[just-antithings]

It always boggles my mind that antis think that sexualising teen fictional characters = you must see actual teens in a sexual light and want to sexualise them. You must want to harm an actual teenager.

It's such an extreme leap of logic to me.

Apart from the fact that these characters are fictional and therefore cannot be harmed, and fictophilia exists... everyone was a teenager once. It doesn't even occur to antis that it isn't about them at all. That people are simply reliving their own experiences with characters they like or putting their blorbos into the same situations they went through.

I'm simply not going to write a 17 year old as pure and childlike because that wasn't me. At all. Nor was it any of my friends. Nor was it even my own mother when she was a teen. It just feels infantilizing and unrealistic and I can't relate. I wasn't even really that rebellious, either, but nor was I an uwu wholesome bean that never thought about sex ever.

But apparently, if you so much as acknowledge puberty, teen sexuality or, lord forbid!, teen pregnancy, you're clearly a pedo who secretly just wants to harm the youth!

Needless to say this mindset reeks of conservatism. It reminds me of how the conservative christian, catholic and JW family members, teachers or other people I knew treated me when I was that age myself. Treating sex and sexual thoughts as evil. Treating me like I was still 6 and needed to be sheltered from everything.

It also frustrates me how antis often throw this predator accusation at creators or fans in their early twenties. People who, depending on their age, country and circumstances, could literally still have been in high school themselves less than 5 years ago and therefore have that still be a recent life experience for them (and let's not forget how the pandemic disrupted people, either). But no, that surely has no influence on anything they make and young adults are just creeps! /s

.

[rymixta]

Misunderstood season 4 of The Dragon Prince by fans

I'm pretty embarrassed about The Dragon Prince Season 4 hatred from fans, here are a few things I want to say in defense and support.

The wide or tiny audience? What about if is needed novels and other for uderstood?

Yes I agree it's a bit mind boggling - that they said you don't need to read the comics to understand the story - probably this will be answered by a wider audience in the next season...

On the other hand, I'm arguing, that instead of trying to get a wider audience, they keep the existing one, and  I think they achieve this precisely with a lot of things are dosed outside of the series - through graphic novels and stuff...you're in touch with the story and space even while waiting for the next season and "you have something to do" - by that I mean, if you are really interested in it and are a big fan, then you also enjoy these things and watch them - and thanks to that you have a better chance to understand - and that's when you run out of things in the serial that others don't understand or don't notice.

Complex things cannot be understood at first sight and not everyone can understand them.

My other thought is connected to this - the dragon prince is an incredibly complex world - and whenever something is complex - you can never understand everything the first time and that's what I enjoy so much - I have a reason to watch the series again, because I often only understand some things after a few seeing of season or of the moment. Which may not be fully the purpose of the show - but I know this when I make games and ciphers - I know how it is a perfectly thought out, complex and brilliantly fitting idea - but at the same time, not everyone will understand my idea on the first try and some people will not understand it at all, and whoever understands it will then say wow, that's brilliant - but I had to put all the pieces of the puzzle together - and that's exactly what happens to creators - they have some brilliant ideas of a complicated interconnected world - which are not straightforwardly meaned out and it's impossible to understand them all at once without a deeper of interest.

They build it for their fans, there are a lot of things that are not easy to notice if you only see the scene once. I like the fact that often on stage even those in the background have some kind of interaction. And so, I have to see some scenes more than once - because I really don't have eyes on both sides of the screen. And season 4 has this too.

The Dragon Prince is about patience, reality and deep understanding.

Honestly, I'm really sorry for the attitude of the fandom. I think this season is misunderstood - as is Callum and Rayla's relationship and my genial camp ciphers (By this I want to indicate that it is not possible to reach everyone without explaining to them in the end how it actually works). In every serials, we have cheap arguments, rapid development of romance and it's still the same, everyone wants everything now - that's what romantic Christmas movies are for. But the dragon prince is about patience...and I think this brilliantly reflects the story of Aravos....also his "absence in the serial",...his whole story is about infinite patience. You can see the hatred..honestly - you can see it on the creators, every other interview they don't look so enthusiastic anymore. Yes, I had to listen to them and maybe hear some explanation of how some things were intended, either from the creators or someone who already understood - but that's my interest in the world - and it helped me understand a lot of things and love the season. Btw. they said there will be Soren interaction with Viren etc.

Animation - yes, the first parts were probably built distantly - like our previous two years of study - how good you can apply your skills?

What I definitely agree with fans is the animation, yes I was also irritated by Rayla's appearance as a lumberjack at times and bugs in the form of disappearing body parts and clothes. And I really missed moving her ears.

Ununderstood Rayllum

As for Rayllum - again, you can't understand it without looking carefully, and the creators themselves said so. The problem with fans is that they expect what they have already seen, what they have seen hundreds of times, but this is something else. With 1-3, were often about a lot of expression with words.. Season 4 is about what is not said (in the words of the creators), many things are not expressed in words, but in body language - and that's definitely something that hits an older audience. They said they would like to speed up their relationship - but that it's not possible - it's not natural and I like that. Rayla tries to give him space, and he gradually transforms his ignorance into small, often minute acceptances of her presence and small touches. The next season is supposed to bring a deepening of their relationship on the level of friendship instead of romance (see today's twitter the Dragon prince) - and it probably makes sense, they are not crazy teenagers, they are almost adults, but not so much and they have to find a way to each other again and build new trust and only then on it build love for the other.

Fall in love again This is my opinion. I find it hard to compare the previous arc and this one - it's different. My relationship with season 4 was building like Callum and Rayla's relationship...first it was WTF, then eeeeee I'll see what happens, then I can't stop and then I'm so glad the series is back and I love it.