#the writing is really not noticeably worse than before imo

[helianthologies]

ok i have to say now that im like 3/5ths of the way thru the books. i avoided reading the trials of apollo books for YEARSSSSS bc the way yall talked abt them made me think they were dogshit and theyre... really not? i like them. i mean yes there are things that annoy me sometimes but thats true of all riordan books. i love the percy jackson series as a whole but like.... theyre books for teens. sometimes they suck a little

[theyluvlyss]

Can I request if you can Hcs of all the ghost boys + Finney being in love ? ( Feel free to not add Finney since you wrote something similar before )

Xoxo 💋

𝐨𝐟𝐜 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧😌...

it's what I'm here for🫡♡. I really like the idea of writing about them being in love/having a crush rather than being with reader right off the bat !! very cool and unique idea (imo), and it definitely harbors that little difference in feelings/slight nuances that I'm very happy to expand on !

although it took me a bit, I've actually gotten most of the boys done already, and that's around when I gained the bright idea to just ... instead of making you wait, I remembered there's this thing called free-will, and I can quite literally post whatever and whenever I want lol😆 ...

meaning I can just post each boy for you one at a time as I finish them instead of waiting until they're all done and then making one long post :D !

on that note, here's finney's hehe...

𝐄𝐚𝐬𝐲 𝐎𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐲𝐞𝐬

《 ♡ 》 headcannons

───────── 《 .°•♡•°. 》 ──────────

𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐭 :

while it's always fun to imagine (haha, get it💀) what it'd be like for him to be your best friend or your boyfriend, there's times when you yearn for that tension. that something in between that's more than a platonic relationship, but just short of being a lover. and I'm here to revive that feeling of what it'd be like for finney blake to have a crush on you...

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 :

fem!reader x finney blake - she/her/hers pronouns!

𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐦���� :

70s-80s - the grabber doesn't exist

𝐓𝐖/𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 :

cursing, as usual - small mentions of anxiety/nerves - finney being super cute lol - overall super duper fluffy and pretty much everything the prompt describes lmao.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ...𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭

───────── 《 .°•♡•°. 》 ──────────

I know you said I didn't have to do him since I already have, but *adds that mf in anyway because he deserves round two of some lovins😆🫧💙🪩*.

Finney liking somebody/finding someone attractive is usually a dead-end deal. He keeps it to himself - buried deep down within the depths of his gentle soul, never to breach the light of day, because he knows good and well that even if it did arise, all it would lead to is rejection and - if he's extra unlucky - a teasing+beat-down combo attack from some known bullies of his (should they find out or be witness to these nonexistent attempts of confession).

A little depressing, I know, but bffr ... if you were Finney, would you do anything different🤨?

Althoughhhh....

Him having a crush on you, specifically, is very,,, confusing. Think of when you have a crush in real life, but you actually have a little bit more of a chance with them than usual. It's realistic. There's a sliver of hope. A light down in the depths of that depressing darkness.

It's like that.

And dare I say, he's fairly obvious about his liking towards you, but only if you're paying close attention.

If you're in a totally different clique, especially a popular one, just kind of in your own little bubble (which might as well be a whole new world to him), then the chances of you noticing/realizing his infatuation with you is very slim. Even in Finney's own case, he'd view you way out of his league, no chance whatsoever, so don't expect him to make any moves of any kind.

And on top of that (as I mentioned first thing), he'd do his damn best to not let ANYONE find out, ESPECIALLY Robin, Gwen, or Bruce, because the last thing he wants is for them to get overconfident on his behalf and try to set y'all up. What if you reject him?

Or worse, what if you end up liking Robin or Bruce instead of him? He wouldn't be able to take it. And lord knows he keeps his crush hidden from his bullies for highly good reasons. An even worse scenario in his mind than the last one is if they publicly teased him (or the both of you) about it, made a mockery of his feelings for you to witness and either join in or pity him - neither an outcome his ego and self-esteem were built to handle.

Now, the opposite - actually knowing him and/or being his friend - the case would probably still remain the same with only slight differences. He'd still find you out of his league, probably wouldn't make any bold moves. But, being his friend, closer to you, a little more comfortable around you, there may be times where he'd make the SLIGHTEST of nods to MAYBE, POSSIBLY liking you in a romantic fashion. JUST A LITTLE BIT.

BUT, he'd also be so worried and absorbed in his own head about all the different little things - am I impressing her? am I making her uncomfy? Does she already know? Does she not know and thinks I'm weird? Did she already think I was weird before I did that thing? Did she even catch onto that thing I did? Is she ignoring it? Is she ignoring me? Oh my god, she fucking hates me - that he lowkey wouldn't even consider the fact that you've been making more obvious moves on him this whole time.

He would probably end up liking you because of something you said or did. Like, depending on the situation, you said/did something that really resonated with him, or he found himself thinking about a lot. Which would then lead to him thinking about you a lot, and it's a spiral from there. Or, if already friends, it's probably something you did/said that had him now seeing you a new/different light, which, again, spirals from there.

Should anyone that's not you uncover the feelings he harbors, he's so the type to deny it. Gwen could be studying your behavior and body language up and down, and then report back to Finney with WRITTEN, PICTURE, PHYSICAL FUCKING EVIDENCE of you liking him/reciprocating the crush, and Finney would just be like, "...Nahhhh, you're just delusional, she wouldn't even notice if I disappeared the next day." And Gwen would just be like, "This bitch here😐..."

Either way tho, what I meant way earlier by "confusing" is that his version of (just barely) letting you know he likes you romantically is him just being,,, himself/friendly but a little bit more than usual LMFAO. Like, if y'all are friends and he always walked you to and from school, what he would do to further insinuate that he 💙likes💙 you is to just,,, walk you everywhere else🥴💀. Essentially be your moral support wherever you go lmfao.

Or like, besides doing stuff he really doesn't need to do that confuses you, he'd do things that kinda give the OPPOSITE of, "I'm literally in love with you." Avoid/not talk to you, avoid eye contact, stuff that just leaves you like, "...I don't think he wants to be my friend anymore🥲💔." LIKE BOY-!😭

But it's not intentional. It's just his nerves and doubts getting the better of him, y'know? Overthinkin, which leads to overreacting, etcetc., you know how it goes/what that's like lol.

So yeah, basic point, if the feelings aren't already made VERY CLEAR from the jump, don't expect things to get any clearer😻.

BUT, if after a while should he either gain a little more confidence (prolly from Robin) or you grow a pair and make the first bold move yourself (which would confirm it for him to be more comfy getting bolder himself as well), I feel like he'd still remain a little shy and mildly confusing, but very berry cute nonetheless.

I'm telling you, he'd put those crafting skills to work, hon👏🏽!! Just any chance he gets/has to either make you something or just impress you with something he's made, he's putting 1000% percent into it. I'm talking he's going broke, losing sleep, practicing what he's gonna say and how he says it - it's all going into whatever little (or big??) craft he knows you're going to see/he's gifting to you.

He'd also compliment you a lot, along with being more himself, which HELLO, he's so silly when he wants to be. I feel like he'd have you laughing a lot without exactly meaning/trying to, but HE'D FS CHERISH THAT like,,, every time he'd make you laugh, he'd just feel like he was on cloud nine - 'I made her laugh, I did that, me, she thinks I'm funny, she likes me, she's literally in love with me like I am her, otherwise she wouldn't be laughing so hard-'

...😃...Yeah, he takes what he can get and RUNS with it (which is why I think he'd love and is in need of lots of reassuring, plz take care of my baby😭🙏🏽).

On the topic of such, actually, it's kinda funny because it doesn't really affect his envy levels.

I don't think he'd get all that jealous if he saw you with other ppl; it would just be the thing of like,,, "That's what I get for getting my hopes up."/"It could be worse ngl." lmao which is sad on one hand but kind of mature on the other, yk?

Mature that'd he'd just leave it alone, not be pushy. But sad because wdym you think you're not worthy of some love/what you want out of life :( ? Luckily for him, though, I don't think he's able to hide disappointment/sadness very well.

Not that he's going around telling people, but he's just one of those "face/tone of voice says it all" kind of guys. So, depending on your thought process and if you can put two and two together, you're quick to squash any doubts of you being interested in someone else romantically.

"I'm not really into *state another persons features lol idk*. Not my type of guy..." which may or may not be you trying to guide him into asking your type, and he may or may not take the bait🤭.

No, but seriously, he literally may or may not catch on. There's definitely been a few times where he's missed the social cue, and on the inside, you're just like "😔🙄..."

He gets SUPPPPER flattered if/when you get jealous, tho. Like, I'd imagine it's a pretty rare occurrence (surprisingly to you, don't nobody be hitting on Finney Blake, okay💀✋🏽), but when it does happen, you're very quick to make it known you're hardcore crushing and liked him first, even going as far as to make it appear as if he's already taken.

You're hanging off of his arm more than usual or playing with his hand to keep him from fidgeting, you're staring at him with such a strong look of love-sickness in your eyes that might even cause the other girl to throw up, and should she even get as far as asking him out...? Oh boy...

"Actually, Finn, we were gonna hang out today, weren't we? I wanted to help you paint that rocket you're working on, I have the perfect colors in mind already...!"

"You...You do?"

"Yes, I do😃😐."

And the other girl just has to be like, "...I'll um,,,, Nevermind, Finney, I'll see you around."

"Maybe...!" You'll call after her cheekily, smile growing wider and wider as she trails away with Finney yet to even process the entire interaction at all. And while he might not catch on right away, the second he does, he's BEET red💀😭.

He doesn't know whether to admit he's smitten by your hostility or to let you know you don't have to be😭✋🏽. And more often than not, he'll opt for saying nothing at all, smiling to himself all shy while you're back to normal, talking as if you hadn't thwarted off a foe.

Confessing... That's not fucking happening, ever at all💀. And if he did, it would be on his death bed (I'm joking). But srsly, if he can avoid it for as long as possible, he will. The type to tell you on the last day of school, I'm talking GRADUATION DAY, right as one of y'all are leaving FOREVER, on some "I've always liked you..." type shit, and you would just have to be like, "WHYDIDYOUWAITSOLONGWHATTHEFUCK😭💔💔‼️‼️" Which is why I think it'd truly be up to you to confess (hopefully) way sooner😭💀✋🏽.

And if/when you did, he'd probably forget how to,,, exist lmao. Like, one of those moments where the information has to process in his head so he's just standing there looking at you like, "🧍🏻‍♂️:0" for a second before he's like, "o-OH!...I...I like you, too! And I have for- I mean... Like, it's been long. A long time. I've liked you a long time :D."

YOU KNOW WHAT?? If he felt he, himself, absolutely had to confess, he'd write you something. He's not Shakespeare or anything, but it would be much easier and less nerve-wracking for him to just write it all down. He'd hand it to you in person, apologize for the length of the letter that YOU HAVEN'T EVEN OPENED YET😭, and then practically teleport from the scene because he doesn't even wanna stay for your reaction. The fear of rejection is genuinely too much for him.

He'd be better off never hearing from you again if you didn't like him back rather than have you tell him to his face. ALSO, he'd give it to you in private. Wouldn't want to put you or himself on the spot, nor would he want to risk somebody catching him or you with the paper that has him pouring his heart out to you on it.

But, of course (because why else would you be reading this if you weren't expecting The Good Ending™), you're confused while opening and reading it until those feelings gradually begin to swell into a mixture of flatter, adoration, and just flat out love because not only had he FINALLY confessed to you...

But you had found it to be written quite beautifully, and it was overall the cutest thing that had ever happened to you, so now you have to return the favor - scribbling your response in some colorful pen color on the back of his own confession note, doodled with hearts and squiggly lines and all of that nonsense, leaving it in his locker - and letting the events take off from there.

Letting the relationship blossom from there🫧🥹🪩💙✨️.

𝐈 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝 !!

ik I say this literally every time I post something, but I really loved writing this, and it's because I LOVE WRITING; I love doing this shit, idcidc✋🏽😭✋🏽. if I could make a living off of this, I would, and I love seeing your guys' requests every day and reading through them over and over again.

and guys, let me tell ya', there isn't a better feeling in the world than completing and posting one, because whew...!! it's like having an endless supply of inspiration fr, I love it.

anyways, robin's will be posted soon after this one, so be on the lookout🫡😼 !!

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ...𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ...𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭

𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 :

@in3rci4

𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 :

2,103 words

𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬 :

none :(

[theblogwithoutfear]

So I was reading Daredevil (vol. 1, issue 364) and I noticed something interesting about the cover.

Obviously there's a lot of superhero girlfriends that get thrown off buildings. But I think the most famous is probably Gwen Stacy. So immediately I started thinking about that, and I noticed that Karen is wearing Gwen's death outfit—just in inverted colors (The Amazing Spider-man, vol. 1, issue 121).

I also think it's interesting, comparing these two images, to look at the titles. "The Night Gwen Stacy Died" is one of the most famous Spider-man titles of all time

So to call this DD issue "Taking Back the Night" is really interesting to me, calling back to "The Night" title of the Spider-man issue. This DD issue is from 1997, and obviously feminism had progressed further than it had in 1973, when Gwen Stacy died. And though there was still a long way to go, I think writers were (sometimes) doing a (slightly) better job at treating female characters like actual people, rather than props.

So to me, the title "Taking Back the Night" along with putting Karen in an inverted version of Gwen's outfit seems to be making a very clear statement to the reader. It's an argument against fridging female characters (though obviously, that term wasn't being used yet).

This is especially interesting in the context of Daredevil. Only 24 issues before this one (vol. 1, issue 340), Glorianna O'Breen was thrown off a roof and died, and it had barely any plot significance at all. It was, imo, an even worse fridging than Gwen Stacy, because Glorianna hadn't even been in Daredevil for literal years at that point. She was only there so that she could be killed off.

(it's also worth noting that Glorianna is also wearing the short skirt and trenchcoat ensemble here)

There's this really interesting idea being played with in late '90s Daredevil, especially in conversation with "The Night Gwen Stacy Died." The idea is that the Daredevil writers are "taking back the night"; that is, taking back the night Gwen Stacy died. It feels like they're trying to reverse this trope, or retire it (though obviously, the trope didn't stay retired for long). It feels especially significant within the larger context of Daredevil. I mean, he's lost so many girlfriends over the years that it's a running joke at this point.

So to have Karen Page in the same position as Glorianna O'Breen, and in the same position as Gwen Stacy, but with a different outcome, feels really progressive to me (at least for the time). There's a few factors here:

She puts up a fight. Obviously in the end, she's still saved by a man—but in the meantime she's not waiting around like a passive victim.

She's being targeted on her own merit. She's in danger because she's tangled up in some shady business at work; this fight has nothing to do with Daredevil. She isn't being used as a plot motivator for Matt.

The villain who throws Karen off the roof is a woman, not a man.

Karen survives, where the others have died.

Did the writers succeed in "taking back" what they did to Gwen Stacy and Glorianna O'Breen? I don't know. It was certainly an attempt, and it definitely reflects the attitudes of the time in which it was written. It certainly feels like a step forward.

But the fact remains, all of this is undercut by the fact that only 21 issues later, Karen is killed off anyway (Daredevil vol. 2, issue 5).

Anyway, all of this is just fascinating to me. I'm trying to get into more academic/critical comic studies lately, doing close readings and analyses of the texts, and the intersection of Daredevil and feminism is especially interesting to me. I have a different academic Daredevil paper I'm trying to put together for a conference next year, but maybe at some point I'll write more about the women of Daredevil as a reflection of women in comics more generally.

[forest-hashira]

Better Than Sake

hi everyone! this is the first in what will hopefully be a series of little one shots for the Noble Blood universe! some will be timestamps/scenes i want to write but don't fit into the overall fic for various reasons, some will be AUs within the AU. (& yes, i promise i'm still working on the main fic!!!)

shoko and utahime are about 16 or so in this. don't drink underage kids!!! especially not sake that shit is Strong (imo)

series masterlist here | read on ao3 here | wc: ~1.2k | cw: underage drinking, coming out (sort of, it's not made a big deal), love confessions (also kinda), first kisses, this is just shokohime, no other characters involved

“Are you sure we’re not going to get in trouble?” Utahime asked in a whisper, glancing over her shoulder for a moment, checking for at least the dozenth time in the last two minutes that they hadn’t been followed.

“I never said I was sure,” Shoko replied. “I said I was pretty sure, which is not the same thing. That’s why I didn’t bring Ryoji, and why I told you to leave Patience at home.”

“Shoko!”

“Sh!” the brunette shushed, turning and pressing a finger to the other girl’s lips. “If you keep fretting like that, someone’s gonna hear us, and then we’ll definitely get in trouble.”

Utahime frowned, but she nodded, not saying another word as Shoko took her hand and guided her down to the beach. Though it was late, it wasn’t cold, like it had been the last few weeks; it was finally warming up, and for that the girls were thankful.

They sat a short distance from the water, pressed side to side, when Shoko held up a bottle of sake.

“Want some?”

“Where were you even carrying that?”

“A magician never reveals her secrets.” With a smirk, Shoko pulled the cork from the bottle. “Do you want the first taste?”

There was a brief silence as Utahime considered the question; she didn’t really want to have the first drink, but she also knew the odds that shoko would try to drink the entire bottle by herself if she said no were high.

“Fine,” the darker haired girl sighed, holding out her hand for the bottle. 

“That’s my girl.” Shoko passed the bottle to the other girl, and though she noticed the way her words had made Utahime’s face go pink, she said nothing. 

Eager to distract herself from the way Shoko’s words made her heart skip a beat, Utahime was quick to snatch the bottle, pressing it to her lips and taking a much bigger swig than she intended to.

“Ugh, Sho, that is disgusting,” she complained, though she did manage to swallow the alcohol before speaking.

“Is it?” Shoko took the bottle back, taking her own drink, though hers was admittedly more controlled than Utahime’s had been. She swallowed, her only outward reaction being a slight wrinkling of her nose, and she shrugged. “I’ve had to take medicine worse than that,” she said simply, taking another sip before offering the bottle to the other girl again.

“Do I even want to know what kinds of medicines you’re taking if they taste worse than this?” Utahime mumbled, mostly to herself, as she accepted the bottle and took another, albeit much smaller, sip. “Don’t answer that question,” she added, when she saw Shoko open her mouth out of the corner of her eye. “I don’t need to know what you get up to that requires nasty medicine.”

Shoko just laughed. “You’re blushing, Hime,” she teased.

“Am not.”

“Are too. You just even more red, actually.” 

Utahime took another drink. She doesn’t have to look so smug, she thought to herself.

“What’s on your mind, hm? Thinkin’ about what I must be doing to need to take all that medicine if I’m not sick?”

“No,” the darker haired girl answered, too quickly.

“I think you are.”

A small groan, another sip from the bottle before shoving it back at her friend. “Shut up, Sho.”

The brunette relented for a moment, accepting the sake and taking another drink of her own. “Whatever you think I’m doing, you’re probably wrong.”

Utahime startled slightly. “Huh?”

“I’m not sick,” Shoko answered. “Well, not sick sick, but it's hard to work with sick people all the time and not catch something every once in a while. And I don’t take medicine for the same things some of the boys that live here do. I know you’ve heard them talk.”

If it was even possible, Utahime felt her face heat even more. She had heard some of the other boys from around the settlement talk about what caused their… medical problems; they were always so vulgar, and generally rather demeaning about the girls they were fooling around with. “Yeah, I have.”

“That’s not my issue, though. I don’t mess around with boys.”

“Because your parents would kill you if you got a disease from one of them?” It was a poor attempt at a joke, but it made the corner of Shoko’s lips twitch into a smile for a moment.

“No.” She took another drink from the bottle – quite a big one, Utahime noticed – and held it in her mouth for a moment before swallowing, as if she were stalling, or bracing herself for something. 

Though she couldn’t deny how curious she was about what could have her best friend, who was normally so laid back and unbothered, acting so hesitant, Utahime was willing to be patient.

“I don’t mess around with boys because I don’t like boys.”

“Neither do I.” Because really, what was there to like about boys, especially at their age? The only respectful boy she knew was Kento, and he wasn’t appealing to her like that. No boy had ever appealed to her that way, actually, now that she thought about it.

Shoko turned to face her, a slightly wary look in her eye. “I mean I’m not attracted to boys, Hime.”

“Oh.” There’s a beat of silence, then another. “Who are you attracted to, then?” 

Shoko tilted her head slightly, and Utahime found herself caught up – even more than usual – in the way her pretty brown hair swayed around her shoulders and framed her pretty face. Is she always this pretty? Utahime thought, Or am I drunk? Does being drunk even work like that?

“I’m attracted to you.”

When did she get that close? Was she that close the whole time? Oh my god— the slightly older girl’s mind raced, and without even thinking about it, she started leaning in a little closer. “Y-you— you are?”

“Mmhm,” Shoko hummed. Her own face was flushed a bit now, though not quite as much as her friend’s, and her pupils had dilated a bit more. “Yeah, I am. Have been for a while now, I think…”

I want to kiss you so bad right now.

“I wanna kiss you too.”

“I said that out loud?” Utahime asked, not nearly as embarrassed about it as she thought she would be.

“Yeah. Did you not mean to?”

“Not really. But I do want to kiss you.”

“Good. I’m gonna kiss you now.”

Utahime wasn’t sure what she expected from her first kiss, but it certainly wasn’t this. Shoko’s lips were soft, and her touch was gentle, more affectionate and sweet than any boy likely would have been. Utahime let out a small, somewhat muffled hum and pressed a bit closer for a moment, her eyes fluttering shut until Shoko pulled away, presumably to catch her breath. 

She opened her eyes again then, licking her lips without thinking about it. “You taste like—”

“Sake?” Shoko guessed, a slight smile on her lips. “Better than sake,” Utahime replied, smiling back. “Much better.”

taglist: @ghost-1-y @kentohours @whatthefucksatan @mitsuristoleme @lu-dao-writes @peachdues @lik0 @deepestartisanhumanoidshark @here-for-the-tea-baby @staryukis @roselleviennesstuff @witchbybirth @marinnnnnnnnn if your url is crossed out, it's because tumblr won't let me tag you for whatever reason. i apologize! & if you want to be added to the taglist, just drop a reply to the post/put it in the tags of your reblog!

divider by cafekitsune

[do-you-know-this-adhd-character]

Do you know this (noncanon) ADHD character?

SPECIFICALLY THE VERSION FROM DUCKTALES (2017)

Evidence below the cut!

There were two submissions for this one!

Submission 1: honestly i'm surprised dewey hasn't been submitted yet bc he's like. "classic adhd personality type". he's hyperactive, impulsive, easily distracted, and HATES being bored. the official character bio describes him as "quick to throw himself into dangerous situations without thinking" and in the pilot episode gets distracted mid-conversation ("stop! scrooge was trying to keep me out of trouble, but i was so caught up in- why is there a lamp on the floor?") what REALLY sealed the deal for this headcanon, however, was the rsd he displays, bc this kid desperately wants to be loved by everyone and is absolutely crushed when that doesn't happen. his dream world is a high school musical-type high school where he's the mascot and star (nightmare on killmotor street); he had a panic attack because he tried playing a heel in a wrestling match and the crowd kept booing him (rumble for ragnarok); and in one episode started crying bc he thought he disappointed his mom (raiders of the doomsday vault). (speaking of his mom, there's loosely enough evidence to point to her being adhd too, and you know what they say about it running in families.)

Submission 2:

i could go on for AGESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS about dewey and the adhd headcanon. i am going to write a bunch of stuff, but it probably won't turn out very well (i write worse when i'm passionate about something lmao) why i see him as adhd: he has EXTREME rejection sensetivity dysphoria, which to me is most apparent in the money tree and boxing episodes (which i have inconveniently forgotten the names of). he requires attention and love to feel fulfilled, and will go to great lengths to be praised. he hates failure and the idea of being a dissapointment, so he goes to great lengths to prove his worth. he tends to be stupidly stubborn, not backing out of something even if it would put him in serious danger. he's also very impulsive -- jumps into dangerous situations without thinking about the consequence, all that matters is that it's exciting! he's SUPER energetic, and a small detail i noticed is that he doesn't seem to fall asleep easily? he's very chatty, there's an entire episode where he gets involved in a gang of sky pirates because he really, really wanted to talk about a hat he found. a lot of his decisions are irrational or generally just based on strong emotions?? he's definetly more of a thinker than a feeler. ("stop assuming i know things, ok? baseline, assume i know NOTHING!") he exaggerates his emotions or the severity of situations a lot. very easily distracted (or at least pays attention to the wrong thing? like, when they're offered to test out godhood, when they're told they're going to do "god auditions", dewey seems to miss out the "god" part and just does a dance routine (his reaction to realising he messed up is too funny to me, and his dance was actually really good imo) he's constantly breaking into song, uses his name as a pun almost constantly, and has a catchphrase he uses regularly. it's his 'character trait' (i'm not entirely sure how this relates to adhd but like. it makes sense to me) WAY too curious for his own good. generally just really hyperactive? goofs off when it's not really appropriate. i feel like there has been moments where he's been shown stimming before. (ik huey has for sure i'm not totally certain about dewey tho) also he's voiced by BEN SCHWARTZ. that guy seems to want to voice adhd-hi characters that are represented with the colour blue. ICONIC anyways that's all for my silly rambling. dewey and huey are the ultimate adhd autism solidarity duo btw

[debtdeath]

for the ship hcs ask game: flashfire (or just scout & pyro platonically) hcs? opinions? hotel?

(prompt: "Send me a ship + a word, and I’ll tell you the first headcanon that comes to mind!")

you absolutely sent me more material to work with than the prompt asked, which rocks. happy to talk about scout and pyro platonically and/or romantically tbh! for the sake of this being the first time i talk about them (i think) i'll keep it PG but feel free to follow up if you wanna hear NSFW stuff 👍

general opinion:

i think they're neat together! a lot of people are reluctant to ship them together romantically which is like, fair enough etc but it feels like that'd be overlooking their potential for both chaos for the sake of chaos (fun!) and true tenderness between two people who generally might feel pretty misunderstood and isolated from the rest of the team for various reasons (also fun!).

because theyre both on offensive roles i can see them interacting regularly On The Job as well which is always great to write imo.

headcanons:

i generally think scout and pyro are close friends even before becoming romantically involved or whatever...

i like the idea of scout being a bit scared of pyro at first because they're a big question mark, but because scout is this person who finds any challenge worth his time he takes it upon himself to be The First Who Befriends That Weirdo (affectionate).

he'll learn how to decipher pyro's mumbling and learn sign language (which also helps on the battlefield where it's often loud!).

scout is of course extremely curious about what's under the mask but he doesn't pry. none of his business. but if pyro ends up revealing themselves you know he'll be like 👀👀👀

pyro's just glad someone's willing to stick around with them! they don't mind being a loner but like, company is always nice.

they probably also feel pretty >:) about scout—this big talker jock and generally annoying dickhead—being actually nice to them. the power they hold over him... i reckon they feel pretty good about it.

scout strikes me as a romantic regardless of who he's paired up with, and pyro seems like a cuddler so i think their relationship as Lovers would be soooo sweet... inseparable and always goofing around and laughing and pulling (sometimes VERY dangerous) pranks on their teammates.

they're two fucked up little guys who somehow find each other in a weird fucked up world <3

now to specifically get to The Prompt from the ask LMFAO... hotel HUH...

i can imagine a scenario where they have to spend the night in some kind of motel for a duo contract or something and it's (gasp) a room with twin beds bc why would it be a double bed? fanfiction is contrived man (winks knowlingly at the person reading this)...

anyway scout checks in on his own bc he doesnt want pyro's Appearance to alarm the reception lady (little does he know that the lady would think absolutely NOTHING of it, she's seen worse, she's been workin this reception desk for 30 years you know), grabs the key and then gets both him and pyro in.

i think as soon as they get in they jump on the beds like trampolines because The Urge To Have Fun is too strong lmao.

i feel like they first sleep separately but then scout maybe notices pyro having bad dreams or tossing and turning so he just ends up snuggling up with pyro to comfort them :) or it could be the other way around if you want really, i think neither of them is truly free from insomnia, night terrors, and PTSD lol.

i feel like i could go on and just write a ficlet from just this idea but i'll stop here LOL thank you so much for indulging me!

[pleasantspark]

"Did you notice how Viv pretty much lets her Twitter fans write her show for her?"

Which fans should actually be pissed about, because they aren't getting paid for it, nor given acknowledgement that it was their idea.

There's a severe disconnect between S1 and S2 of HB, that you can tell the latter was largely influenced by fans and that's what's hurting the show. All the characters within the show are completely different in S2 from S1.

But even worse, Viv did admit she didn't have any real plan for the show twice and actually changed Stolas' character around. So maybe it's not surprising she farmed for fan ideas/theories....and look what's happening..

With Hazbin, it's not as obvious but you can tell that fan stuff was put in...such as Vaggie being an Exorcist despite the fact before it was confirmed she died in 2014 and spoke Spanish within the Pilot. Now sure, things can change from the Pilot...but at the same time the Pilot is still Canon?

The only way I could really see this working, is if Vaggie did die in 2014, ascended to Heaven and joined the Exorcists. That would at least give her some kind of real backstory, because let's be real...the Exorcist one was just complete garbage. That's how you can tell it was just put on the spot, rather than given any actual thought...among other things that call into question with the story.

Then there's also CharlieXVaggie, that was fan ideas as well and it's obvious considering how shallow/poor it actually is....and moreso admitted that this did come from fanwork.

Now I have to wonder what else in Hazbin S2 is fan ideas...

Lmfaooo, yes. Exactly. All I know is she probably used the "Adam is a sinner and will be redeemed?"

Honestly, the pilot is not canon imo. Because I feel like VivziePop is just catering to fanservice.

It was that way with the Sapphic ship in Helluva Boss, DESPITE the two being together wouldn't make jack shit sense because MAYBERRY FUCKING KILLED HER WHEN SHE WAS ALIVE.

Most of Vivs work is love letters and fanservice.

But the Fans ain't gonna be pissed. No.

They are gonna treat it as:

"OMG WE WERE RIIIIIGHT! VIVZIE'S SUUUCH A GENUIS."

Yeah if she's just a genius then I'm fucking Albert Einstein.

No matter how much backlash she gets, she keeps coming back like she's fucking William Afton.

[twopoppies]

Hi Gina! I wanted to know your perspective on this because you’ve also expressed similar feelings but what is it with the fairly recent discontent with Louis and his “public image”. I’d be stupid not to notice that he mentions the kid now when he didn’t acknowledge him before but outside of that nothing has really changed IMO? If anything he’s been free of any stunt relationships and during FITF era he didn’t assign any BS stunt meanings to any of the songs like he did with Walls. In contrast (and I don’t mean to say this demeaning way) Harry has upped the ante with his stunts with by making out with Emrata and getting O tattooed on him in a giant scrawling font. Do people genuinely believe that in comparison Louis has changed for the worse or do they just not click with him anymore and because of that project a random argument of “he’s unrecognisable nowadays”? For full transparency even though I’m a fan of both I tend to favour Louis so I’m just genuinely curious about this attitude shift from the perspective of someone on the other side of it.

I think the answer to your question lies in the each person’s individual experience and their individual connection to either Harry or Louis. For me, stunts are easier to ignore than behavior I can’t find an explanation to. Sometimes I have an initial unpleasant reaction to a stunt, but most of the time I can see what they’re doing as upholding their closet in the moment, and life goes on. If Harry was constantly talking about the tattoo or continuously walking around making out with people, I’d likely have a much harder time ignoring it.

My personal disconnection from Louis stems from his behavior, not stunts. I don’t enjoy the persona he’s developed. I really don’t want to write a dissertation about it because it just comes across as super negative and all I get for doing it are attacks from people who don’t agree. Suffice it to say that the Louis I see now isn’t the Louis I saw a few years ago. The doubling down on being a father and the random “Larry denials” definitely don’t help.

I’m glad you feel differently. And I’m glad I feel differently about H and still find a lot of joy in him and his music. I hope I find a way back to Louis because I really do want to love him the way I used to.

[aspd-culture]

i’m kind of confused as another system, ik you said you might just delete asks but i hope this is okay bc i’m genuinely trying to understand your point and sincerely confused and asking for clarification

i see your point about neurological disorders being hardware and stuff but at the same time like. i’m autistic and i was diagnosed with autism because i display autistic symptoms. one of my alters displays no autistic symptoms and would not be diagnosed with autism if he individually was tested. so how does it make sense to say he’s autistic?

in the same vein one of my alters displays all the symptoms for dpd and was diagnosed with it when he was out while being tested, but i display none of them and don’t relate to it at all. how does it make sense to say i have dpd?

we share the same brain yes but if one of us shows and relates to no symptoms of a disorder then imo it doesn’t track at all to say we still have it because the host or brain or other alters do. same vein as i’m anorexic but if another alter comes out and has zero issue with eating or the concept of food it wouldn’t make sense to call them anorexic, but it doesn’t make me less anorexic

This one was in the drafts. I really don’t want to get into this again, but I think it’s only fair to post it as I had taken the time to write this anon and answer so I don’t feel I can say “this is too much for me to deal with” when all I need to do is format it and hit post. As mentioned previously, I will ignore or delete asks if they only pertain to this discourse (unrelated in any other way to ASPD) at my discretion. I pretty much never have had to do that, just a couple ableist people telling me how terrible pwASPD are. I don’t intent to do it often, and don’t want to do it at all, but I won’t drain myself to continue explaining why alters inside the same body cannot physically alter the structure of the brain by switching out.

Not displaying symptoms is different than not having them. A symptom holder is an alter who shows the most symptoms of the disorder, generally because they end up pushed to the front in situations that flare the disorder. But the symptoms are not occurring because that alter is out, that alter is out because those symptoms are occurring and that alter knows best how to handle them.

Just like an alter who fronts during a certain kind of abuse every time it happens is not the only one *being* abused, the whole system is, an alter who takes on the symptoms of a neurological condition is not the only one who has it.

Beyond that, it's difficult to notice internally whether symptoms of neurological disorders disorders are present. Most people making this declaration that their alter doesn’t have the disorder are going off the concept that they perceive an alter to not have symptoms of the disorder, ignoring that before getting diagnosed, they likely also believed they had no symptoms of that disorder, at least for a time, or even worse, that the alter shows symptoms, but not enough to qualify for a diagnosis. That diagnosis is not individual, it is related to every alter using the brain. Showing different symptoms of a neurological disorder at different times is completely typical and does not mean you don’t have it, because different situations stimulate different parts of the brain and thus based on the situation the person will be affected differently by that disorder that they very much still have. If anyone on the opposite side of this discourse happens to have a good professional who knows about their system and their neurodivergence, try and ask them if you stop being autistic just because you switched and now aren’t noticing symptoms.

If you look into autism, you'll find it is literally a difference in the brain (neurodivergence). At the end of the day, symptoms or not, if you use an autistic brain, you are autistic, because autism is not actually a set of symptoms. Autism is a difference in the brain that we notice and diagnose using symptoms. Hence why it is a spectrum where two autistic people can literally have entirely different symptoms with no overlap. The same goes for any neurological difference - it is *not* a set of symptoms, we use those symptoms to recognize and identify the difference in their brain.

Anorexia, however, is not always neurological. I think it can be, but it is also sometimes a body image issue or a trauma issue, etc. So yes, some alters can be anorexic while others are not.

Let me say it another way and see if this helps make sense of it. If a system gets accommodations in school like longer test taking or more time to turn in homework, does the teacher have the responsibility to remove those and ignore the IEP or 504 plan because said alter shows few enough symptoms that they wouldn’t be considered to have that disorder alone? Or are those disability accommodations legally protected at all times regardless of who is out?

Should a system that has work accommodations for a disorder lose those if another alter is out? Should your boss be able to, if you have accommodations that say for example that you have more leeway on being late to work, be allowed to ask you who was out and punish you like they would a fully neurologically abled person if it was an alter capable of getting there on time?

Or if the body of a system has,a degenerative brain disease, and an alter who shows less symptoms of it were to end up frontstuck, should they stop taking their medication? Or do they still have a disease affecting the brain that they need to keep treating regardless of who is out? The same goes for Autism, ASPD, ADHD, any disorder that affects the physical function of the brain since they all have the same one.

And if you think they should stop taking meds or lose legal rights to accommodations, where’s the line? Who gets to say if the alter is symptomatic enough? It would be so messy and confusing if those things were allowed because they make no sense. Same brain = same neurology = same neurological disorders.

It's getting frustrating repeating myself here over and over, which is the point of me saying I may delete asks about this specific discourse if I don’t have the spoons for it.

Plain text below the cut:

This one was in the drafts. I really don’t want to get into this again, but I think it’s only fair to post it as I had taken the time to write this anon and answer so I don’t feel I can say “this is too much for me to deal with” when all I need to do is format it and hit post. As mentioned previously, I will ignore or delete asks if they only pertain to this discourse (unrelated in any other way to ASPD) at my discretion. I pretty much never have had to do that, just a couple ableist people telling me how terrible pwASPD are. I don’t intent to do it often, and don’t want to do it at all, but I won’t drain myself to continue explaining why alters inside the same body cannot physically alter the structure of the brain by switching out.

Not displaying symptoms is different than not having them. A symptom holder is an alter who shows the most symptoms of the disorder, generally because they end up pushed to the front in situations that flare the disorder. But the symptoms are not occurring because that alter is out, that alter is out because those symptoms are occurring and that alter knows best how to handle them.

Just like an alter who fronts during a certain kind of abuse every time it happens is not the only one *being* abused, the whole system is, an alter who takes on the symptoms of a neurological condition is not the only one who has it.

Beyond that, it's difficult to notice internally whether symptoms of neurological disorders disorders are present. Most people making this declaration that their alter doesn’t have the disorder are going off the concept that they perceive an alter to not have symptoms of the disorder, ignoring that before getting diagnosed, they likely also believed they had no symptoms of that disorder, at least for a time, or even worse, that the alter shows symptoms, but not enough to qualify for a diagnosis. That diagnosis is not individual, it is related to every alter using the brain. Showing different symptoms of a neurological disorder at different times is completely typical and does not mean you don’t have it, because different situations stimulate different parts of the brain and thus based on the situation the person will be affected differently by that disorder that they very much still have. If anyone on the opposite side of this discourse happens to have a good professional who knows about their system and their neurodivergence, try and ask them if you stop being autistic just because you switched and now aren’t noticing symptoms.

If you look into autism, you'll find it is literally a difference in the brain (neurodivergence). At the end of the day, symptoms or not, if you use an autistic brain, you are autistic, because autism is not actually a set of symptoms. Autism is a difference in the brain that we notice and diagnose using symptoms. Hence why it is a spectrum where two autistic people can literally have entirely different symptoms with no overlap. The same goes for any neurological difference - it is *not* a set of symptoms, we use those symptoms to recognize and identify the difference in their brain.

Anorexia, however, is not always neurological. I think it can be, but it is also sometimes a body image issue or a trauma issue, etc. So yes, some alters can be anorexic while others are not.

Let me say it another way and see if this helps make sense of it. If a system gets accommodations in school like longer test taking or more time to turn in homework, does the teacher have the responsibility to remove those and ignore the IEP or 504 plan because said alter shows few enough symptoms that they wouldn’t be considered to have that disorder alone? Or are those disability accommodations legally protected at all times regardless of who is out?

Should a system that has work accommodations for a disorder lose those if another alter is out? Should your boss be able to, if you have accommodations that say for example that you have more leeway on being late to work, be allowed to ask you who was out and punish you like they would a fully neurologically abled person if it was an alter capable of getting there on time?

Or if the body of a system has,a degenerative brain disease, and an alter who shows less symptoms of it were to end up frontstuck, should they stop taking their medication? Or do they still have a disease affecting the brain that they need to keep treating regardless of who is out? The same goes for Autism, ASPD, ADHD, any disorder that affects the physical function of the brain since they all have the same one.

And if you think they should stop taking meds or lose legal rights to accommodations, where’s the line? Who gets to say if the alter is symptomatic enough? It would be so messy and confusing if those things were allowed because they make no sense. Same brain = same neurology = same neurological disorders.

It's getting frustrating repeating myself here over and over, which is the point of me saying I may delete asks about this specific discourse if I don’t have the spoons for it.

[hidden-poet]

0/10 Edmund should have come back to life, rescued us from the capitol, killed snow and taken us back to district 12 🙄.

Jk jk that was so good 😭 it makes me so sad though because she was never going to have a good ending, even right from the start snow was never going to give up. And yet my heart still broke as I read this.

Just little things like how she lies on the grass even when they bring her a picnic blanket is just 😭😭 she just misses home so much IM CRYING NOW WHAT HAVE YOU DONE

this was so well written and I was so angry like I just wanted a happy ending for our girl 😭 Yk I’ve never read a snow fic where snow doesn’t win.

I’ll have to read again when I have the emotional capacity and I’m sure I’ll notice more. But when you get the supply closet scene and it’s just a reminder that he will NEVER change and her words have never and will never mean anything to him :(( and she just has to accept it.

when she’s talking about how he hasn’t hit her in years but she’s sure it’s just because she’s always either pregnant or with one of the babies 😭😭😭😭 you broke my heart. Our poor girl. She’s forever scared of him. when she steps back from him bc she thinks he’s going to hurt her for asking to see her family even right after birth. CRYING.

He was so much worse in this part than any other imo. The manipulation. and here we (me) were thinking he would calm the fuck down once he had her in the capitol 😭.

omfg when he says he “had” to name the baby without her 🙄 boy you’re the president you know full well you could have waited for her.

The BJ scene made me laugh though. He is just a man 😂.

This man makes me SICK 😭 I know what I get into with fics with PRESIDENT SNOW like I said they never end with reader having any semblance of independence.

thank you for this masterpiece. I will be out of action crying for the next week. As an Edmund stan I’m still hurt 🥲. They *should* have been his babies.

long time anon with my long messages but thought I’d not this time since if I could leave a comment this long on the actual post I would have <3

snow lands on top, unfortunately

Thank you! thank you! thank you!

I like to think that the end is a nice compromise for the reader and Coriolanus.

Coriolanus got to 're-write history' like he wanted. He is finally living the life he thought was owed to him before the war. I really did try and paint him as someone who wasn't a bad person inherently, but has learnt to only feel safe if he has total control over everything.

The base line for his character was the line "He wasn’t a violent man, only a man capable of violence". he wants nice things, and power, and to feel unconditionally loved. He's not above using violence to get them.

And the reader got a life where she never had to worry about her children. The reader was very maternal, but if you remembered back to chapter 3 (i think) she talks about being worried about raising them in the district, and what that would mean for them.

I like to think she was generally happy in later life with her kids. She got to experience the luxury of the Capitol, and got to give her children the best life out of everyone in Panem.

While it is sad she never got to see her family again, as someone who has children very dear to her in her life, i would trade anything for their comfort and protection.

Coriolanus was a good father, and a tyrant husband. I think she could appreciate him in relation to fatherhood. Maybe, even warm to him as the father of her children. But in her heart, he will always be commander Snow to her, and that's put a road block on development of their relationship.

Thank you so much for coming along the journey with me.

I hope to create something else that you can invest in just as much.

💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕

[snickerzanddoodlez]

The Best Bigslie Episode (Wordgirl)

not enough people talk about this episode. Lowkey, it’s the reason I got into the Bigslie ship and is one of my favorites of all time

Here’s my essay on why :P and sorry for all the pictures being so low quality!

I’ll write a bullet point list mkay we’re doing this in bullet points 

Leslie isn’t paid

I think this contradicts some other episodes where it’s implied she’s paid? Small detail, but still, I-

Leslie is working here for free

This is very important to me 

Like, she’s choosing to do this and stay here

Also, yes, there’s an argument to be made that Mr. Big is a jerk, and yes he is but I choose to believe that this isn’t due to malice and more due to the fact that he is a moron

WHEN WORDGIRL FINDS HER SHE’S SO DEPRESSED- and not in a codependent kind of way imo, we’ve seen Leslie is perfectly fine on her own (Leslie Makes it Big comes to mind) and is more than able to take care of herself. She chose to do this and is perfectly capable and fine on her own but she’s still upSET because she cARES ABOUT HIM

Wordgirl: “Boy, you really do know him, don’t you?”

Leslie: “For better or for worse.”

How happy she is when he talks fondly about her my heart

MR BIG SOUNDS SO DELIGHTED WHEN HE FINDS OUT ITS HER HELING WORDGIRL LEGIT- he’s not even mad she was working with Wordgirl he’s just so DELIGHTED

Leslie gets so angry when they’re about to fight Mr. Big, he’s an idiot but he’s her idiot and y’all aren’t allowed to lay a finger on him 

The big “Welcome back, Leslie!” and the biggol hug he gives her I’m crying sobbing shaking he’s so happy

THE SMILE AT THE END I NEVER NOTICED IT BEFORE NOW BUT LOOK AT THEM LOOK AT THEM MMMMMMMMMMMMMM 🥺🥺🥺

Bonus points for Mr. Big calling himself gorgeous and Leslie just agreeing with him 

[more-than-tender-curiosity]

this became v long and rambly sorry!

music was decent but unremarkable overall like none of it was particularly memorable. they made the orchestra pit the pool which was kind of cool and the valley of ashes set was nice. other sets were meh imo. the performers were the only reason the entire show wasn't completely flat. esp eva noblezada and the nick i saw (i saw the u/s). they just did not give jeremy jordan much to do except be in love w daisy in their scenes together so his presence just felt kind of awkward on stage. samantha pauly was decent as jordan but the amount of time spent on nick and jordan (mostly them being v In Love and getting engaged) seems to have ended up leaving nick and gatsby on the cutting room floor. like nick and gatsby talk once when gatsby tells him about daisy and asks him to set up a meeting, they interact a bit when gatsby is panicking right before seeing daisy, and then they talk right before gatsby dies. 2/3 are completely about daisy and literally nothing else which is esp irritating given how uninteresting nick and jordan are in their scenes. even the numbers that were meant to be classic splashy broadway dance numbers were really boring (and i say this as someone w a deep fondness for splashy broadway dance numbers) and didn't feel particularly rooted in the time period, which is a missed opportunity imo. i didn't really like much of the choreography either as someone who has no real knowledge about dancing lol -  it just wasn't fun to watch. they tried to use wolfsheim as narrator-adjacent in the 2nd act opening which was incredibly boring. they also try and create tension by having wolfsheim threaten gatsby bc he's hasn't been doing his job or w/e and it does not work at all. myrtle and george's separate numbers in the 2nd act were better than most of the rest of the show. esp myrtle's bc she has a come-to-jesus moment about tom right before getting killed which has more impact than the entire rest of the show. they move the beautiful little fool convo (as a song) to the end which was baffling to me bc nick is like "you're just hiding away w your money when gatsby got killed bc he took the blame for you murdering someone" and then daisy sings about hoping her daughter's a beautiful little fool like ?????? girl wtf are you talking about. it just felt so out of place. found the writing for daisy v frustrating bc they did the thing where they try to make a character more likable by dulling or removing their flaws and end up just removing anything that makes them interesting. tom was so flat. even the way any scene w him was directed was flat, esp when he hits myrtle. no impact at all you barely even notice it happen. i was bored throughout most of the show. i get what you said about it being beautiful but empty but even the parts that could get by on that had no entertainment value.

Oh holy shit it’s worse than I thought. I knew they made nick straight, which yeah fine okay I can step outside my Stupid Gay Nick world long enough to accept that straight nick is the norm, whatever, so disappointing but whatever—

But he and jordan are like. Engaged?…really? Mr. I Wont Be Rumored Into Engagement? Getting engaged to a woman in the spotlight? Who he can’t even admit to loving fully? Are you goddamn motherfucking joking with me right now?

And like. I get that there’s no real villain in the great gatsby and that’s the point, it’s the system not the people whatever. But you mean to tell me they looked at tom, that fucking asshole, and then *didn’t use him to colorize the scenes?* You expect me to believe anyone else is ‘good’ in this when TOM BUCHANAN’S greatest sin is being boring? Where’s the fucking bottom line? Where’s the depth of character?

And then…nick and jay don’t even talk but three goddamn times?

Huh?

What?

I’m serious. Even canon nick fucking carraway admitted to hanging out with him often.

And also WOLFSHIEM AS THE NARRATOR??

Like. It’s very important that nick is the narrator. He fits such a very very specific niche of a character that he just cannot be replaced without damaging the integrity of the story as we know it, which is clearly cut and dry the story they aimed to tell. Do you think fitz’s choice in OPENING THE BOOK discussing not jay and daisy but NICK’S ‘GOOD’ CHARACTER was just an accident??? Hello??? Is anyone seeing this?

I can’t even. Like. Huh???

God it makes me SO mad they fumbled daisy too. In a modern gaze we have sooooo much more room to explore her character and they just fucking. They fumbled the goddamn bag. The failed her, and I’ve already talked about how unfair it was to cast Eva in a role defined by its whiteness. God. I just. Oh my god

[cringelordofchaos]

It's really difficult to write bullies for a multitude of reasons. Primarily cuz many people have been bullies in their life before - they just don't know.

Which makes everything so fucking difficult. Because, when writing a fictional character, especially one with noticable flaws, you want to explain their behaviour - not excuse it, necessarily, but show the audience why they are the way they are. For example, a character with trust issues may be that way due to being lied to and deceived in the past by those they loved.

But, for whatever reasons I find this becoming more difficult to nail down with bullies, specifically.

Because, again - most bullies don't think they're bullies. In their eyes, they might have not noticed the actual damage they've done to others, or maybe they were just focusing on how much fun they've had with their friends, or the laughs they shared over teasing others. We're the main characters in our own lives so, for us, we fail to realize when in other people's lives, we become a form of an antagonist. I would know

For bullies, writers typically try explaining why they're bullies - it's typically family issues or other forms of inner emotional conflicts.

And y'know what? I think it makes sense. I'll make a concession - briefly, I've bullied others before as a result of peer pressure. I've never fully "fit in" with others, and in middle school that feeling only became more abundant, and my bullies only got worse, so when others told me to do dumb or mean stuff to other kids, I'd... Submit, because when they laughed over or even just desired me doing... Anything, I felt more loved and accepted. I admit it was stupid of me and overall a bad thing to do, and when I realized it, I quickly stopped (though I failed to apologize, and now it's too late). So yeah; bullying can stem from issues and problems from childhood and such.

Though I typically see people saying that bullies being the way they are due to trauma or similar stuff is "unrealistic", and they usually just do it because they're bored - and while I do believe this very well can be the case as well, usually the people that say this (from my personal experience) tend to be ones who say they've been victims of bullies, rather than bullies themselves - so I don't fully understand where their arguments stem from, or why they believe they fully understand the internal mindscape of every kid that anyone can deem to be a bully.

Also, from personal experience, I tend to notice my past bullies have struggled a decent amount themselves over all sorts of things. While I've never come to fully understand them, it was pretty obvious - to me, at least - that their bullying was simply a way of coping or seeking attention, positive or otherwise.

And also, a kid that bullies others just because they're bored makes up for a pretty boring antagonist IMO. i mean, you could probably make it work, but it's more interesting to give them complex family lore and coping mechanisms, even if it's not always the case.

There also comes the subject of prioritizing how much the bully is sad or how they feel, over... Those they're bullying. One time, in a middle school class focused on primarily mental healtn, the topic of bullying was the subject of the day. It wasn't anything too special - just a typical Powerpoint presentation that almost no one really payed attention to (especially since literally no one cared about the class and it was extremely unserious - I can't blame them, I didn't care either). However the presentation exclusively focused on how the bully might feels rather than the victim.

And like, yeah. We should talk about why some kids bully others. But we need to point out now anyone can be a bully, even you - but, from what my forgetful mind remembers at least, the Powerpoint presentation failed to achieve that.

I feel like the concept of The Bully has been a bit... Romanticized??? Is that the right word? So people just see it as a vague fictional concept rather than something anyone can be realistically

I don't know. But long post short - most people don't think they could possibly have been bullies ever, but they want to write bullies, some - due to lack of personal perspective - heavily rely on tropes such as parent issues while I've seen many people criticize these tropes due to being "unrealistic" but those people tend to not have been bullies themselves (or at least don't think they've been).

[therealslimshakespeare]

https://www.tumblr.com/precious-little-scoundrel/757804202511712257/its-not-a-throwaway-at-all-two-things-drive-it

Omg yes I agree with this so much

I see so much criticism of her character’s flaws (which is understandable - to an extent!) and little to no sympathy for what has happened to cause this behaviour. Like give the girl a break, if growing up her boundaries have been consistently disregarded how will she have learnt the importance of respecting other’s boundaries.

AND she’s a young woman in a pow camp! Just bc others have gone through what could be deemed ‘worse’ trauma and are coping better doesn’t mean her trauma should be overlooked and she should be expected to never mess up. At the end of the day you can’t expect everyone to have their shit together at every moment in these types of situations, Bucky certainly has his moments but people move on from that and have sympathy for him, I really think this same sympathy should be given to everyone regardless of any minor previous faults.

I do understand why people criticise Maureen and thats fine, everyone has a right to their own opinions - but! Maybe also have a bit more understanding and sympathy for the characters backstory and trauma.

Anyways so sorry for the rant lol

Nooo, don’t be sorry. Love that I called and y’all came a’runnin. ☺️

Like I said in a previous one, I think it was just risky to have an under construction character going. And then along with my non linear writing style, even more so. But we are all still having fun with it, it seems.

Interestingly I found MotA a bit curious with its lack of gray protagonists. Not that every piece of media needs one, but that was half of what felt rushed about the series to me. Where was your SNAFU? Your Wild Bill? of pacific and BoB? You’d have had them in the Air Force, we just didn’t have time to showcase more than fucker Crosby face planted into breakfast or Egan’s lapses of sanity and decorum as an officer. Which tbh, was a far bigger deal imo than most people seem to agree.

And that’s coming from someone who’d advocate for a silver star from that man and lick his feet clean.

Those dear anons who’ve answered regarding the other point of view have expressed themselves well. And I appreciate it, all this seems to be a genuine desire to understand her, rationalize her, etc. which I appreciate. Loads.

My little cry for help was that yeah, cool that yall are taking it into consideration but, how was I to know? Only thing coming into my inbox was a repeat of her bad behaviors. Which are intentionally alarming, so I get it but.

Yet I was beginning to wonder if anyone actually noticed some of the other stuff. Not as a complete pass to Maureen, nope not at all, just for the sake of this contextualization we all supposedly want with any person or character. But now I know it’s being taken into account.

Which is a relief.

But I just don’t know that because id not heard a peep of it before. So, it was helpful to clear that up a bit.

[mikami]

I’m not saying death note is one big hate crime and we all should just toss it and never read it, no, I would never, but would you agree there’s something ableist about decision to make L/Near “off-putting” and “weird” “not suiting society at all” almost “the freak” characters by giving they’d autistic traits? And I tried to look into it and it seems creators didn’t see it this way, imo it makes it worse. Or how the fandom made those into silly quirky things they do, so adorable and cute and it has infantilization vibes all over. I never saw anyone with similar thoughts here and I asking if I make even a tiny bit sense? Or am I just looking for problems? I really don’t want to get death note cancelled or boycott, I’m just noticing things I hadn’t before

I think you're looking at an issue that goes a lot deeper than Death Note. The quirky genius archetype is old as dirt and Death Note is really just playing into a trope that has existed since forever - part of L's autistic traits are just directly ripped from Sherlock Holmes.

So I wouldn't really single DN out for going with something that is so all-encompassing in pop culture all over - it's certainly not the most reflected use of the trope (and some things Ohba and Obata have said about L and Near read kind of off-color when you think of it as commentary on autism) but it's also well within the margin of what was, and still is, extremely normal in media.

I don't think O&O had any conscious thought about neurodivergence when writing these characters, they were just pulling from the pop-culture hivemind and adding their own quirky geniuses to the list.

Personally, I wouldn't say the trope is horrid in itself.

There are certainly bad renditions of it, but like... look at how beloved L and Near are among neurodivergent readers who very much see themselves represented in them! On the scale of offensiveness, I'd argue they rank mid to low in this context - especially L is clearly a character beloved by readers of all kinds and meant to be so.

So tl;dr: there should be more broad and thoughtful representation of the neurodivergence than the 'quirky genius', but I don't think it's necessary to single out Death Note for something tons of stories have done and continue to do.

Though I'd also say it's a good thing to be aware of the tropes, their prevalence, and their individual executions ofc!

[applesandbannas747]

hi there ✧⁠◝⁠(⁠⁰⁠▿⁠⁰⁠)⁠◜⁠✧

I've been getting into fence recently, and got given the novels for my birthday today, and I was wondering...where do they fit into the canon of the comics, and the reading order?

also, follow up....are they going to ruin the comics for me, because I've read a lot about mischaracterisation, ableism, racism and worse in them recently?

Hey friend! Welcome to Fence!! And of course happy birthday—I hope it’s been a great one! 💜

So the novels exist in a weird pseudo-canon black hole. I honestly believe they were supposed to be more canon than they ended up being but either Pacat realized that he let the author of the novels, Sarah Rees Brennan, get ahead of the story in his excitement OR because of fan reaction/further consideration after Disarmed came out, Pacat ended up backtracking. The novels are meant to take place after RIVALS (volume 4) and before RISE (volume 5) and cover a couple of weeks in that stretch of time. However, RISE picked up right after RIVALS with no hint of any adventures having happened. The novels are not referenced at all—the biggest nod to it is Seiji wearing a watch. That’s the only acknowledgment of it at all, which is strange because some pretty substantial developments happen in the duology that could not be ignored. That is to say, RISE continues to develop something the novels conclusively resolved with no explanation other than the events of the novels simply never happened. Pacat has said that the novels are 80% canon, but the events clearly aren’t included in that 80%—the characterization from the novels does carry over to the comics, so if you notice a difference between volume 3 and RIVALS (volume 4), that’s where that came from. (Striking Distance was written before and during RIVALS (volume 4), despite being published after it.)

The novels are completely unnecessary to read and irrelevant to the plot. So if you read the novels, it’s for your own enjoyment. You probably came to them the same way most Fence comic fans did—through a love of the story and the characters and a desire to spend more time with them. Some people loved the novels, finding them fun and easy read. Some people love what SRB did with the characters. That’s cool for them, but fair warning that the characters are one dimensional caricatures of what they were in the comic and are painfully stupid. Like they are emotionally and cognitively at the level I’d expect to see in 8 year olds. The way Nick is treated by the narrative is incredibly belittling of poor people, treating them like idiots who don’t know anything and are unable to solve their own problems—but good thing the rich people are there to take care of him! Seiji’s obviously written as autistic in the worst way. As someone that’s autistic, I cannot articulate in a way allistic people can understand how much it hurts to have your special interest betray and mock you/what you are. Seiji is like is Sheldon Cooper and Miranda Sings had a child. And the narrative thinks it’s god’s gift to autistic people for it. His entire personality is stripped away and replaced with the author’s idea of autism and it sucks. SRB knows so little about the characters that she looked at Eugene, saw a brown kid, and labeled him Mexican through implication—also had him not understand racism against Asian people despite being Asian too. She implied that Nick’s gay as well rather than his canonical bisexual. Aiden’s honestly bordering on abusive toward Harvard during Striking Distance, and Williams has a really fucked up interaction with some of the boys that’s literally sexual harassment even though it wasn’t framed that way by the narrative. Beyond that, in my opinion, SRB doesn’t know how to write chemistry and in fact turned me heavily off Aiden and Harvard as characters as a ship. She also dented Nichoji’s appeal for me when I consider her characterization. So you’re not even getting any good moments there for the trouble imo.

If I were you, I’d skip the novels. They don’t add anything to canon and you’re not missing any context by ditching them. And you’d be saving yourself a lot of cringing, discomfort, and anger of varying degrees depending on where you fall on things. If you want specifics, please feel free to message me on or off anon! I tried to be as spoiler free as possible here haha

If you want to explore more on your own, you can check out some other asks/thoughts! (These all contain novel spoilers)

My full review of Disarmed

Autism representation in Seiji

Seiji in general

Eugene

Eugesse as a concept in Disarmed

Eugesse interactions in Disarmed

Nick's bisexuality

Coach Williams and sexual harassment

I also found an ask from someone saying they regret reading the novels while going through my posts to compile this list, which I thought was too hilariously on-topic to omit

(PS a birthday song for you to enjoy uwu)