#this can be a very dark fandom if you explore certain aspects of it

[silverloreley]

I was thinking about how, on the Isle, instead of death, there's the Sleep. Something that should have killed them instead sends them into a coma until they're recovered enough to wake.

But you also said that for every Sleep they suffer, it takes something away from them, as though a part of them did die after all. It makes them weaker - physically, mentally. Every time it happens, they wake up a little bit less than they were before.

Suppose you have parents that do care about their kids, because not every parent on the Isle can be horrible. Some parents do care for their children and want what's best for them, insofar as they can have that on the Isle.

But then they fall into the Sleep. Maybe they got sick. Maybe there was a fight or battle. Whatever the reason, many parents, good and bad, would have died several times over the course of their children's childhood if not for the Sleep.

And they wake up, time and again, and are weaker, each time. Maybe it's mentally; they can't focus long enough to do much. Maybe it's physically; they're ill, and can't care for their children.

And so you have children on the Isle whose parents do care for them but, thanks to the Sleep, cannot actually do anything concrete about that. So you have an entire generation of children being neglected and left almost entirely to their own devices.

Yes, that's pretty much correct, and that's why I think my interpretation is more cruel than letting them actually die, there's stuff of nightmares behind the apparently light and silly Descendants (which I find very compelling, tbh).

The idea of decent parents struggling with terrible living conditions and their kids suffering for it is what makes the punishment most cruel, the "good" idea was to teach the villains to care by using their own children so they'd choose to make themselves a good life for their sake, but it just, sort of backfires when the living conditions are pitiful and the only way to grant kids a semi-decent life is either become minions or get worse criminals. It's more or less the reason why prisons don't actually lower criminality rates: if you give people no better choice, they'll fall back into bad roads, or even worse than before.

About the permanent damages, I meant to tackle the issue when talking about Jay's mother, in his case, Jafar took the chance to have complete control over Jay and it's not the only one.

Oh, good parents! In one of my fics I'll have a mention of Claudine's mother stabbing Frollo's comatose body every week or so to keep him under. Will, Anastasia Tremaine's husband, in my verse went under the Sleep two or three times and the last is when Anthony decides to take things into his hands and becomes the protector of the family in his stead. Facilier, on the other hand, manages to avoid death so swiftly that he's basically the same as he was before the Isle. Zarina depleted her magic and that's why Harriet had to raise her siblings... And so on.

There are many instances worthy of being explored, the idea of a not-death but with consequences, short or long-term as it can be, has many ramifications, many more than just death can have imho.

[galedekarios]

i'm reading a new interview tim downie gave about gale and it offers some of tim's own headcanons about gale, as well as tim's thoughts and insights on gale's character:

Nerds & Beyond: I like that you mentioned that the game is full of rounded characters because they are, they all have different aspects that make them feel real. I adore that Gale specifically is so serious and studious, but at the same time he has this really playful side — he often jokes about how he was a mischievous youth, he encourages other people like Arabella to do so, he understands when The Dark Urge first mentions their violent thoughts. There is a lot of nuance and depth there. But the quality that I love with Gale most is that obviously he is very ill when we first meet him – not that we know immediately – and he’s dealing with a lot of chronic pain. I find him incredibly selfless because he takes that day-to-day head on to help the party, which is an aspect I feel continues to show throughout the three acts. What’s your favorite quality of Gale’s, or what did you take away from him? Tim Downie: It’s so interesting hearing you say that, because I had so many different feedbacks about what people take from the character and sometimes things really surprise you. It’s interesting hearing that such and such has taken that particular aspect, because there are broad things like “He’s funny,” and that’s quite nice, that’s a nice trait, though not one you necessarily get to see that much. It’s so interesting hearing other people’s views about what they take from Gale.  The idea of dealing with chronic pain I found really interesting and an interesting subplot to play, and that was the great thing about doing something like this is that it is so unbelievably nuanced. You have so many layers that just keep going and going and going, as much as we all contain multitudes within ourselves. We all deal with these things, but only certain things pop up to the surface at any given point.  What did I take from Gale, though? I liked his studiousness. I would imagine that he was probably bullied as a kid for it, and he was probably a bit of a joker because he was bullied, and he uses that as a defense. But an even bigger defense for him is “I now know stuff that I didn’t before,” and that’s a power. It’s very similar to when you are being bullied and you’re the funny one – that’s your power, that’s your thing. “I may not be able to hurt you in a traditional sense, but I can say things that will make you feel pain,” which is a very different thing because you physically can’t go after them.  That’s the wonderful thing about acting and this character as well is being able to explore all these things that you might not have, that you might have gone, “I’m not gonna look at that again, I don’t want to deal with that,” and then it brings it up again and it’s like, “Oh, this is actually quite cathartic,” to re-explore these these moments of sorrow and loss and how you deal with grief and things like that and heartbreak and how you get over that.  It’s not all just tears, you do try and make a joke of it.

i really like that they are addressing the topic of gale's chronic pain. it's something that doesn't get addressed often, not even in the game itself.

i also found his answer as to why people might connect to gale very nice:

Nerds & Beyond: Gale is the most popular origin character to play as. What is it about him that you think allows so many different players to connect with him to the depths the fandom has? Tim Downie: I really don’t know. I think you’d have to ask the players that, ‘cause I don’t know, to be quite honest with you. He’s a wizard, and who wouldn’t want to be a wizard at the end of the day? I always say the difference between wizards and sorcerers is that sorcerers just pretend – they just assume they know what they’re doing, but a wizard has really learned this trade. And so there’s that kind of weight of knowledge and learning, which I would love to play as and be for a length of time.  I think it’s also the frailties. I like characters, and a lot of people do I’m assuming, that have flaws, otherwise you’ve made them completely unapproachable. To be completely superhuman or completely extraordinary at something then removes the humanity from it because it becomes like, “Well, that’s never gonna happen.” But when there’s a flaw, when there’s, “Oh, I’ve got that wrong, too,” or like, “My knees hurt” as you say, or “I’ve got a bit of a headache. I really don’t want to do this,” “You’re really annoying me, this is very annoying, could you please hurry up?” or “Stop licking the damn thing,” it’s always those moments that are fun because it shows what we’re all thinking at that point, it removes it from almost archetype and stereotype and it becomes human in a way.

gale is approachable and likeable, has flaws, but is genuinely nice. i think that very much sums up his character.

this bit here made me laugh:

Nerds & Beyond: When you’re talking about those different layers in the humanity building, I think one of the most important aspects in this game is the more “background” or passive dialogue, so dialogue that is prompted in the world and not in the cut scenes.  For instance — the first time I made Gale sneak he immediately complained about his knees, and it was such a real moment where he was just like, “Oh, don’t make me do this. This is not what I’m here for, I’ve got bad knees and I’m not made for this.” Did you have any of those background lines or moments that stick out as being particularly fun to craft?  Tim Downie: I remember the first time I ever had to do waiting, I found it infinitely interesting in so many ways. The idea that I did actually just have to wait and just actually, “Hmm…” Those little things I find really funny because they’re probably the closest to me that the character ever gets. His waiting mannerisms are kind of very English – slightly annoyed and I’m not going to show it to you though because we’re all being very nice, but I’ll do it with a huff and a slightly sarcastic, “Well, that’s great. Another 20 minutes. That’s great.” Those kinds of sentiments I found wonderful and incredibly fun, and funny, to do. 

if you want to read the whole interview for yourself, you can do so here!

[yusiyomogi]

honestly I'm sort of surprised that people (that I've seen anyways) tend toward "Oh I didn't like dunmeshi's second half as much as the first half" cause like I read 1-40 over the course of a week or so but as soon as I hit chapter 45ish I locked the hell in and finished in a single day. Genuinely the second half so much more fun.... ofc I also tend more towards incredibly plot-heavy stuff so that might be a factor but like it's weird to me

yes, for sure, i loved the second half so much more than the first half! i love worldbuilding and plot-heavy stuff, so it was more interesting to me too. i also like complex characterization, which ofc was present in the first half of the story, but truly shined in second half, especially with characters like kabru, mithrun, laios and marcille. as fun as "monster of the week" can be, there are certain limits in what aspects of the story you can explore. and dunmeshi wants to explore these aspects and it does a great job!

i feel like a lot of people who find themselves disappointed by the second half, simply had incorrect expectations. many people enjoy this kind of simpler storytelling and there's no denying that dunmeshi is super funny as well, but the first, like, 1/4 of the manga can give very wrong impression of what this story will eventually develop into. and fandom doesn't help! like, when anime started people basically treated it as ultimate dnd show, silly rpg-inspired fantasy with all the familiar monsters and funny characters bound by their class and race. the impression was so strong, that i only became interested in dunmeshi when people started posting their reactions to falin resurrection. i thought, oh, maybe this story is actually something bigger than i expected.

and it's another problem too, because some people constructed the opposite idea: that dunmeshi develops into something "dark and gritty" down the line. and ofc it has very dark elements in it, but it never fully commits to that sort of tonal shift or subversion, it's just a natural development of the story which stays mostly light-hearted. and this is something people also dislike and find disappointing in the end.

[annamariehamilton-unofficial]

Random Ghoulposting: A Gay Ghoul?!? Followup, part I

So, my little "No gay ghouls? hold my coffee" joke post seems to have gone a bit viral, which I was not at all expecting; anyway, I just wanted to post a little followup with some of my personal thoughts and theories apropos of Tokyo Ghoul and the lgbt community. I wouldn't consider myself to be queer, but I do know a bunch of people in that community, so, idk, hopefully this is insightful.

Obviously you are welcome to disagree with me, this is just my specific interpretation.

The Fandom

As I've deep-dove into the TG fandom in the last few months, I've discovered this really interesting paradox in that Sui Ishida, the author, has a really unfortunate tendency to rely on negative stereotypes and tropes for his characterization of queer characters. And yet, at the same time, TG seems to deeply resonate with (some) members of the lgbtq community because its themes of being an outsider in greater society and the importance of learning to accept those who are different from you. Like I don't think I've ever seen a work be both so riddled with homophobic/transphobic stereotypes and also so beloved by people in the queer community (at least so far as I can tell on Tumblr, which is, admittedly, a microcosm).

A couple of reasons for this, I think. For one, I've noticed a lot of queer people really resonate with horror and fantasy. And not just queer people -- people of any minority/marginalized identity, really. But it is a pretty pronounced trend among queer folks as far as I've seen. Fantasy and horror are this really great venue for exploring feelings of alienation and "otherness" in ways that can honestly feel more authentic expressed with "unreal" elements than in a more strictly realist fashion. Like instead of it being like, "ok, here's this gay/black/disabled/autistic/whatever character, you're supposed to relate to them because you share an identity," it's more like, all right, this character is a werewolf/vampire/ghoul/whatever, and this story shows viscerally how it FEELS to be "other," and THAT is what makes it relatable.

So, even though TG does have some homophobic aspects to it, the premise, of a group of people who are marginalized by society for something that isn't even their choice, but who are still shown to be complex *people* just as much as the human characters, would really resonate with anyone from any marginalized background, queer people included.

(I mean, I'm an Autistic somewhat-acespec Christian girl with anxiety and a certain amount of religious trauma who has a special interest in dark fantasy and classic literature, and TG hits me RIGHT in the identity-specific feels, so I can see how it would for others too).

The other thing is that, even though Ishida relies pretty heavily on problematic queer villainy tropes, I think he does just good enough of a job of giving all of his characters some shred of humanity or relatability, that ... well, I won't say that it's *okay*, because it's still not, but I think readers like myself are a bit more willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Like yes, Nico is kind of a walking toxic gay stereotype. But let's also not forget that he stood up to an *extremely* physically and emotionally abusive partner to try to protect Kaneki and two other innocent victims, just because he thought it was the right thing to do. Tsukiyama also falls into the predatory gay man stereotype, at least at first, but he was just so enjoyable and fun (and, despite all his weird cannibal obsessiveness, he did seem to genuinely *like* Kaneki as a person) that he became a fan-favorite even when he was still the stereotypical queer villain of the week. Ishida also gave him something of a series-long redemption arc, turning him into a complex and lovable character who is, still, a fan favorite. Uta is a legitimately cool and nice guy, even if he does do some *very* morally questionable things with the Clown Masks later on. Even Jason is a monster plain and simple, but he became that way because he himself was abused, and his reminisces about his mother remind us that even the worst people still have someone they love.

I haven't read all the way through :re yet, and the negative queer tropes apparently get even worse there ... Mutsuki's descent into mental illness and jealous rage plays into a number of uncomfortable transphobic and misogynistic tropes, but I guess it sort of makes sense in the context of their past and struggles with mental illness, and the themes of the story with the relationship between trauma and moral decay. And prior to that really unfortunate arc, Mutsuki was genuinely a super cool character. Matsuri Washuu's profession of love to Urie was ... real weird, and the way he did it was gratuitous ... but you do kind of feel bad for the guy for being basically forced into marrying a woman he isn't attracted to for the family honor.

Then, of course, you have all the characters who aren't canonically queer, but are so relatable in more positive ways for queer folks that many fans headcanon them to be queer. Hide's unconditional love and devotion for Kaneki comes to mind. Or Hsiao and Saiko coming across as being queer but in a good/cool way. Or Juuzo's ambiguous gender expression, and Juuzo being completely unhinged but also one of the most well-loved characters in the series.

So I guess what I'm saying is ... yeah, the portrayal of queer characters in TG is problematic, and I don't mean to be defending it, exactly, but I guess what I'm saying is that even when the author is being awful with the tropes, he's still somehow able to write characters who feel human enough to occasionally transcend those tropey boxes he pushes them into.

I will also note that most of the queer or queer-ish characters are still alive in the final chapter. So, of all of the terrible tropes TG engages in with its queer characters, at least "bury your gays" isn't one of them.

IDK just my thoughts. I'll be posting another follow-up with some of my in-universe headcanons later on, I think.

[target-core]

since you made that post, I’d love to share some of my own personal experience enjoying billford fluff, as survivor of an abusive relationship (though this is absolutely not me speaking for every survivor btw) if you don’t mind!! just because I think it’s an interesting perspective to bring to the table and I don’t want to repeat what the other asks have already said (and you seem curious and I love sharing thoughts about this)

tbob means absolutely everything to me but, in my head, it's already more or less reached the pinnacle of showing the darkest parts of their relationship and, to me, nothing else can fully compete with that. plus, when I'm in fandom spaces, I often use it to unwind and relax, and I just do not have the time or energy to use that space to engage with fictional versions of traumatic events that I have already been through, in excruciating detail. not only because I'm in a headspace where I just can't handle being triggered atm (unlike reading tbob, where I know what to expect and have coping skills already prepared) but also, personally, the concept can seem boring to me sometimes. I've already lived through this and spent years processing the meaning of it. I don't need to see fictional characters I love do the exact same thing repeatedly. especially since my own experience with my own suffering tends to be very mundane and tedious, and that’s part of why it’s miserable (no one ever talks about how boring pain is god .. but that’s a topic for a different conversation that has barely anything to do with this).

but obviously, I still want to engage with fandom spaces, even if I tend to avoid certain aspects of it (not even necessarily by default, it's just a pattern I've noticed with myself). so what can I engage with instead??? well I love these character dearly, devoid of whatever awful things they may or may not have done (looking at you especially bill, you motherfucker). I love their weird and nerdy personalities, I love their relatable backstories, I love how you can explore other themes through them (such as neurodivergency and trauma as a mental condition, rather than as an experience), and I love also how they can actually be really romantic, in a twisted weird way. I mean, merging bodies and minds, calling someone your “muse,” or even just the idea of a demon falling in love with a scientist who’s studying him just feels objectively romantic to me, in a strange and eerie way. not to mention (as I think someone else has said), not all abusive relationships are 100% bad all the time. in fact, that can be why they are so difficult to leave, because when you love someone you want to cling to the good. and I don’t think the good should ever be dismissed or invalidated, no matter how awful the bad is or how much it outweighs the good. plus also, if we’re going back to comparing billford to my own abusive relationship, those two really aren’t a perfect 1:1 comparison. not only because they’re fictional characters living in a world with magic and we aren’t, but also because they’re more like amalgamations of ideas than they are real people. and I love exploring those ideas on their own merits, regardless of the abuse.

so now that I think about it, I don’t even know if “fluff” is an adequate enough descriptor of what I like .. or if it is fluff, it still has some level of darkness or weirdness to it too, even if it’s small. I guess it’s more like I just enjoy the lighter, more whimsical aspects of billford that have more nuance to it .. but also billford is just so inherently incredibly dark that this feels fluffy by comparison. but also that’s literally just my own limited perspective (and I’m not even always consistent with it .. like I said this is just a pattern I’ve noticed with myself). I definitely don’t think it’s the only way to enjoy the ship and I absolutely 10000% get why other people might not feel the same and would want to explore the darker, more abusive aspects to them (technically I also do, just not via fandom). I’m never going to begrudge anyone who wants that and I hope this isn’t interpreted as a dunk on people who do <3333 I just love these stupid characters and their relationship so much and I think talking about this sort of thing is really really fun and interesting

anyways I’ve written probably way too much (and if I don’t stop now then I never will) so if you’ve gotten this far then thank you!! hope you have a wonderful day or night or whatever time it is where you are

Thank you so much for your ask !! :) please don’t apologize for them being too long, I really don’t mind

I have been in abusive relationship(s… lol🥲) myself, and I think with Billford I kind of do the opposite of escapism where I latch onto the darker parts and keep thinking about how it connects to my life over and over and over.. I’m gonna be real, I think the way I engage with them is actually kind of unhealthy LOL but it does make for interesting art and analysis in my head, so I guess it isn’t all that bad..?

I don’t mean to imply their relationship is all darkness. I think there’s levity to be found too… and as you said, abusive relationships aren’t bad all the time. There is genuinely cute stuff that happens between them, even though I tend to view those moments more cynically. I think for those nicer parts, I can’t enjoy them as much *because* I view them so cynically, because I project onto them. It feels too real for me to think of those moments as genuine because it opens up the possibility of a world where things could’ve been better. It’s hard for me to explain, I apologize if I don’t make any sense.

I really really do not want my original post to be viewed as a dunk either. Different interpretations are the spice of life!!! It’s all awesome. I enjoy seeing them in anything. I was more just genuinely curious on why the common interpretation is lighter than what’s presented. I feel like that might’ve not come across as well as I intended, and I’m sorry about that.

Thank you again for your ask!

[respawned-dove]

darkfic and nsfw content will be featured, therefore minors are not allowed to interact and will be blocked if seen.

Archie / they/them / 22 years old

This is a writing blog centered around the Team Fortress 2 characters! I will take x Reader requests as well as character x character content (up to three characters for this type). I really love the BLU team please ask about them and request them! I do both headcanon lists and short fics.

Content I will do

sexual and wholesome fics alike, yandere, noncon, violence (torture, whump, murder, general gravel wars horrors), abusive dynamics, honestly most things, feel free to ask to be certain and keep in mind I have the right to deny anything I wish to. Please mind the tags and don't eat the dove if you don't want it.

About the Author

This blog is run by a system and multiple alters will write here. Archie is a collective nickname you can use for everyone for the simplicity! We are very passionate about writing and about exploring the darkest aspects of humanity through fiction. TF2 is a fairly new fandom to us, but there is so much untapped potential for dark content with these characters that I hope to dig into like an untouched goldmine. We've got some illnesses that affect energy levels, so there may be occasional necessary hiatuses. Otherwise we will be here having fun and doing what we love!

[narhinafan]

Honestly SP seems to make me hate ships that I normally would not hate because they're in the realm of fanfiction and fan art and I think that's harmless. Not taking the toxic fandoms into account it was SP that made me hate NaruSaku and Ichiruki.

I'll make this brief. Why do I now hate Ichiruki? I didn't always hate it. I was actually more of a fan of Ichiruki than Ichihime until I reread the bleach Manga last year and then watch the anime as well and I grew annoyed every time there was an Ichiruki moment. Not only does it break the pacing of scenes it makes characters acting out of character Ichigo and rukia especially. I don't mind non-canon crack ships as long as it's kept in the realm of fan art and fanfiction and not inserting it into what is supposed to be Canon moments in the story and at the expense of other characters.

What could have been an amazing movie where we explored a mirror universe instead we had NaruSaku the movie where Naruto and Sakura are acting both out of character and it kind of feels like there were two movies in one and the version that Kishimoto wrote was mostly cut from the cutting room floor.

There was a huge opportunity to explore a different aspect of Hinata and Sasuke's characters. Instead we got some stupid ship movie with NaruSaku. I mean there was so much potential with road to ninja Hinata and Sasuke and it was wasted. I mean the exact opposite of who these characters are in personality. I mean there's so much you could have explored. The best scenes of that movie arguably were like 5% of the film if even that and when you compare it to the likes of One piece strong world which came out a few years before actually respected The source material and the author you could tell the difference is night and day hell Naruto the last felt like a genuine story by Kishimoto and you can tell the difference between that film and road to ninja.

I argue that the tie into the movie was better than the movie itself because it actually explored Ino and explored the road to ninja version of Sakura who arguably was more likable than her canon counterpart. It's rare that you get to explore near universe versions of characters concepts are usually explored in science fiction and the very fact that SP wasted a cool concept was tossed aside for a freaking ship that had no chance in hell ever being Canon will never not piss me off.

SP makes it seem like every anime they seem to do a series of it makes it seem like that series is concerned with shipping and I don't think shipping is bad but it should never come at the expense of a Canon story written by the author. The author and only the author in my eyes in an official product should be able to dictate what ships happen and what ships don't for better or for worse we're not the people that choose who ends up with who the author does. This shipping bullshit kills the integrity in my opinion of these stories that we all enjoy because it seems like certain people are more concerned with the shipping aspect then the actual story

Honestly I was never a fan of Sakura, but it was more her fandom that made me hate her, SP's bias was just the icing on the cake that gave me more reason to dislike it.

I am more of an IchiRuki fan I watched the anime long before the manga hence all the scenes made me a fan though I have nothing against IchiHime and after reading the manga it was obvious why they happened and that SP was really bias towards IchiRuki through out the anime. Its no surprise the author had complaints and refused to let them do another season without his supervision.

Yes RTN was ruined by NaruSaku honestly considering it was set after Pain's confession and none canon it could have tied into Hinata's feelings for Naruto/Menma while exploring a different take. I really want to know why Menma ended up dark side considering he had a family and Hinata clearly loved him. It could have been a sweet story where Hinata toughened up to help Menma after people rejected him for the fox.

So true SP's shipping bias is so unprofessional and as you said ruins the integrity of the stories as they force a ship that contradicts canon and usually in ways that aren't believable.

[ilynpilled]

do you believe jc’s endgame is to die together?

i think i have communicated much of this already, but let’s just say i am more open to the possibility than most jb/jaime ppl, but i am not at all as certain of it happening as most ppl in general fandom seem to be, and i am also not a huge fan of it personally. here is my perspective:

yeah, it is explicitly integrated into their belief system. it faded from jaime’s, as he did abandon her, and already often contradicted it through moments of being ready to recklessly die, or his passive suicidal ideation, but it was always present as a key aspect of their ‘destined lovers’ delusion. the thing with me though is that i dont really think this is how george tends to do foreshadowing? he does love to be unpredictable. and i have seen this argument many times before by other people who doubt this being their trajectory. not to mention the whole idea seems to get deliberately deconstructed over time.

jaime comes to the realization that she was the stranger (and we know he is cersei’s stranger, but she does not think he means death). he starts treating the relationship very differently (george says they are “effectively estranged”), and their fate is no longer entwined in his head. them saying they will die together is telegraphing that is very in your face. i mean the text is telling us what would happen explicitly. is that supposed to be deliberate and meant to be a tragic irony? i can see it working from that perspective maybe. but i think this aspect would still be effective without the double death necessarily, even though i can see how the wording may be deliberate here, i just have certain thematic gripes with it. we know these two are not supposed to be reliable narrators when they say this. their relationship is a twisted attempt at self-love. again, i get that there is a subversion happening with cersei being killed by him for one, but is the belief system supposed to end up “endorsed” by the text from the pov of jaime’s character, even if it is tragically ironic? what i am saying is that ig i would be more certain of it happening if cersei did not keep repeating it explicitly atp while jaime is completely contradicting it simultaneously. if they are supposed to doom each other, what is really the point of that divergence? of the deconstruction of such a narrative in jaime’s head? why not send jaime back and have him not make those kind of key choices? jaime’s arc is supposed to be about choices (“whatever he chose…”), and defining his own fate and identity (like you do not even have to believe it is about exploring redemption to get this out of the text), so i really still cannot help but dislike the idea that this is set in stone despite everything that he keeps doing and the choices that he keeps on making. like there is an essentialist aspect to this belief system that i would prefer to be subverted honestly from the perspective of his character. i want all of these choices to have some kind of result (the letter, oathkeeper, the pit, rejecting her because of certain ultimatums even before the cheating reveal, abandoning the pursuit of the brotherhood for the vow to cat in adwd). + the hand that held her foot could have very well been the one that got chopped, so there is symbolism there. he is not tied to her. and that hand loss and “change” is constantly emphasized when it comes to JC. and i really do not want jaime to die before having some kind of confrontation with bran tbh. and i have talked about the widow’s wail thing before. if jaime is gonna wield it (which i think there is a set up for), then he would have to come out of KL alive with it. the weirwood dream also has them separate. her torch being the ‘only light in the world’ is replaced by brienne’s sword’s fire being the only one still burning in his darkness when the ghosts rush in.

this is another argument that i have seen before, and see validity in. george does write that belief system as something that has an element of ‘sociopathy.’ like of course it isn’t meant to be ‘romantic’. and jaime is also growing out of it. his relationship with a lot of characters now, brienne included, is a testament. i do not at all mind if jaime dies down the line, i just really would prefer it if there is some form of triumph over the self when it comes to his ending. i also atm cannot imagine how it would go, and what would cause jaime’s death, and how they would “leave the world together” logistically with the valonqar prophecy existing. so while i think george might be capable of executing it in a way that i could like, and i see that tragic irony working out, i still am not crazy about it as a concept atm for all the reasons above. we will see.

[hopeymchope]

re: toxic fanbases. I'm not good at telling what fanbases are toxic. I'm both a doormat ("that rando who started yelling at me all of a sudden probably has a good reason and I'm dumb for not seeing it 👍") and a weirdo who tends to stay within very small circles. With Danganronpa, I feel like there's *something* that makes it a little jarring compared to other communities, although it's by far not the worst community I've personally interacted with.

Its popularity definitely plays a massive role; it's actually impressive to see how active Danganronpa circles remain after all this time, but the downside is that there's a lot of brainrot, distant memories, and most importantly people who've been involved with it for WAY too long. I myself have definitely grown horribly bored of having the same tired debates be brought up time and time again - I can imagine people with a different personality from mine getting very upset over that.

Though I don't feel a connection to that aspect at this time, the prevalent young fanbase also comes with its qualities and flaws.

I could go on, because this community is so large and so old that it's genuinely, like I already mentioned, jarring at times. I'll turn my back from being told DRAE is irredeemable media because it uses dark humour to see someone draw a Komaru with giant tits requesting coitus. There are times when interacting with Danganronpa fans has made me wish I'd just never known about Danganronpa at all, so all things considered, even if I can't put words on it, there's a strong negative aspect to it.

At the same time, I don't know how it being Danganronpa specifically relates to some negative experiences I had - was some of the abuse I endured as a Wiki admin related to the way the DR fandom is? Or did it have to do with Wikis more than it did with DR, with French users more than it did DR? Maybe the problem is that this series has given so many of us such intense brainrot and we can't stop getting involved with it.

Sorry if this long ask is annoying in any way - I figured you might be interested in exploring the conversation around how the DR fandom might come across as toxic, objectively or subjectively OTL

One thing I remember for sure is that when I posted Akudama Drive LGBTQ headcanons, I felt perfectly fine and happy about it - but when I decided to post my Danganronpa headcanons too, I had a strong feeling that I was taking a risk, however small. That's not a very nice feeling to get as an adult who's just trying to be a little happy and silly with PNGs.

Oh, I don't mind a long ask at all! I'm grateful for the detailed thought you put into this, honestly. :) I'm a pretty wordy person myself — you may have noticed.

I think a lot of what you're describing as negatives within the DR community are unfortunate constants with fandoms of ANY popular media these days. Not ALL of it, but....

Every piece of media is gonna be declared irredeemable/offensive/problematic by some parties now if it delves into any kind of darkness or deals with any kind of major crimes, it seems like I've seen more than one person online state — with a straight face, mind you — stuff like "Danganronpa is toxic AF, many of those characters are LITERALLY murderers" and I'm just over here thinking are you fucking serious? I don't remember seeing people say stuff like this in my fandom circles before 2019 or so, but I see it everywhere now. It seems to have grown more prevalent since the 2020s hit? There are people who just can't stand to deal with any moral grayness, any dark theming, etc — and they don't think anyone else should allowed to enjoy that stuff either. (Now I'm wondering whether there are people similarly dismissing Akudama Drive. Much smaller fandom, so maybe you don't see that. But I can imagine someone grumbling "These characters are LITERALLY criminals, wtf." LOL)

We all know Internet Rule 34, but I feel like there are certain built-in multipliers to it that increase how widespread it is. Animated media? That's a multiplier that will cause even MORE porn to exist. Japanese media? That's another multiplier. Which means there's tons of porn of DR characters — even for the teen characters that're underage in most countries like Komaru. At least I've never stumbled across porn of the small children like the Warriors of Hope, THANK FUCKING GOD. I sadly don't doubt that it exists, but I hope to god it remains in a dark corner, out of my goddamn sight.

And I definitely feel much, MUCH more afraid to say anything about LGBTQ headcanons for popular media than I do for relatively small fandoms. Maybe that's partly symptomatic of being American in an era where tolerance and acceptance of LGBTQ people is sliding horiffically backwards? At least I think I'm safter to share such things on Tumblr than I would be on Reddit. I'd be afraid to talk about my personal DR LGBTQ headcanons, too. I've even drafted a post about that once and then been like "You know what? No. I'm not opening myself up to abuse for this," leading me to delete it. I've done similarly for the Madoka Magica fandom as well... too active, too big = too likely to result in blowback. I believe Akudama Drive is a pretty small fandom, though, so it makes sense to me why that'd feel like a more comfortable place to talk LGBTQ concepts.

But with all of that said, I can't claim that the infighting over interpretations of characters and events that I see on the DR Wiki is something that every fandom deals with. Maybe some of them do; honestly, Fandom Wikis weren't really so huge a thing before I got deep into DR in the back half of the 2010s, and I haven't really gotten involved with any of the Fandom Wikis I've come across afterwards either. So I don't know for sure! But it seems like that could be uniquely unpleasant about the DR fandom — the way people define "canon" as a matter of personal interpretation.

Since I'm stuck on the English side of the DR Wiki, I'm not certain whether you deal with the same stuff in the French incarnation. Characters like Komaeda and Ouma are especially difficult to police — they have so many fans who think they are pure of heart, and so many fans who find them loathesomely manipulate, and you can't necessarily be certain what about them is true or false. Put all that together, and it's hard to keep things to "Just The Facts" when people fundamentally disagree on what the facts ARE, which can lead to a lot of infighting among the people editing the thing! God... even deciphering the truth about what's going on in V3 and determining how we should or shouldn't explain that haziness is an awfully sticky wicket all by itself.

[thelioncourts]

What are some of the worst IwtV takes you've seen on Twitter/Tumblr

oh god

kink shaming. like, in general, but in anne rice's world? are you joking?

book fans thinking the show is going to cater entirely to the books and show fans thinking the show isn't going to include certain aspects of the books. neither of you are correct.

the inability to accept that lestat does, and will continue to do, bad things. of course they all will, it's not lestat that solely does bad things, but there's this weird stan-crusade that's like 'he's a perfect angel baby, he had trauma as a kid' and yes, he did have severe trauma as a kid, but no, he's not good. we're talking about a character that, as the protagonist of the series, rapes and assaults and murders and does all these things. you can still love him! believe me, you can!! but accept that he's not good. point above brings me to my next point: the villainization of fans for liking "~problematic~" things and/or characters. this is tvc, they're all problematic and they all participate in and do problematic things. your favorite is not good. the hypocrisy is. a lot.

people not getting that louis being black does change a lot of things, make things different; yes, he's still louis, but if you think him being black is not a game changer in his characterization, idk what to tell you. it's very obvious from the research the writers' room was posting before the strike, in the interviews given by cast and crew, and every aspect of the show.

there's more but these are the big ones. I just think a lot of people are in the wrong fandom. not in a 'I'm trying to gate-keep this fandom from others' but in a 'if you can't handle kinks that aren't your own being explored in fanfic or accept the darkness of this world and want to sanitize it, maybe you should go to a different fandom.'

[ohwolfling]

Thanks, I do appreciate the clarification. I was mostly bothered by your tags that said "you can't logic and empathy and beg someone / out of finding the clearly bad things sexy", as though there's anything wrong with finding bad things sexy in the first place. That, and the implication that enjoying a "bad ending" somehow shameful or reflective of people's media literacy. I for one thoroughly enjoy popping red flags like candy; I love putting characters through bad endings and chewing on the deliciously fucked-up results. That doesn't mean I don't understand what the canon was portraying. And I don't think I or anyone else should have "learned shame" over enjoying dark fantasies about getting to be awful (or be with an awful character).

You shouldn't have shame about exploring darker things in fiction where it hurts no one. You should probably have enough to not transfer your emotional or sexual response to it to a person portraying it. You should have enough to tag cw/tw. You should have enough to genuinely feel the devastation of a victim stepping into the role of abuser because it's the only way they can feel safe.

We might just be at an impasse here because for me personally understanding canon also means being a certain level of mindful about trauma. I don't want to be the king of trauma or speak over anyone... we all cope as we cope... but the way we engage with media and fiction often extends to our real world views. Baldurs Gate 3 is rare in how well it handles all of that and never infantalizes its characters. They get to be fuck ups, difficult people, & whether they do a Bad or a Good or a Meh, their victimhood is never questioned. There's no implication they deserved it.

I DO think that the aspects of fandom I was discussing (and only you, Anon, can know if that applies to you or not, idk you) engage with the story in a way that is almost an abuser fantasy. I think many people hide behind being femme or being romance fangirls to say and do things that by now most of us recognize as really bad and upsetting when a man does the same. That does transfer to real world danger, even if that danger isn't being abusive yourself but seeking out abusive dynamics in relationships.

That of course is not the same as you and your partner(s) deciding with full consent & safe boundaries how to bring pain, shame, or non moral character role play into your world. Let that freak flag fly. But for me the act of empathy & navigating trauma is the point so I personally can't do that.

Ultimately, if my advocacy for survivors & my work to translate trauma on screen as more than just a sandbox for non-traumatized people to play in (or worse a practice pitch or inspirational mine for people who get off on doing the abusing) makes you have a lot of big feelings and is unpleasant for you, I'm maybe one of the people you should block.

My lens will always ultimately be that violence & trauma on screen should prioritize care & being cathartic or resonate with those who have survived violence & trauma irl. And that extends to not being very keen to sexualize or goof off or whatever about abuse survivors being doomed to fail or becoming abusers themselves.

That's not a judgement of your character - I'm not a god. It's simply a reality of who I am and how I engage. And for me, those things are non negotiable. 💖

[liladiurne]

20 questions for fic writers!

Thanks for tagging me @givereadersahug

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

I've only just reached 14!!! But one of those is a translation of an already published work, so technically it's 13.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

571 k

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Just HP for now.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Brighter Than Bright

On the Deficiencies of Translation Spells

Miraculous

Certain Dark Things

with great outbursts and lightnings

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes! Sometimes it takes a while, because I need lots of energy to respond, but I try to respond to each and every comment, even if I don't have anything particular to say. Leaving comments is harder than it seems, and I'm grateful for anyone who takes the time to tell me how they feel about about my fics.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Mmm. Probably Sudden Light. It's not so much an unhappy ending, more of an open ending, but I guess that because there is no obvious closure, it can be seen as a pretty angsty ending.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Oh that's hard... It's probably a tie between On the Deficiencies of Translation Spells and Certain Dark Things. Both have similar "and they lived happily ever after" endings.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not hate, no. Just questionable and sometimes rude-ish comments. Which I just ignore and delete now. I used to spend so much energy on trying to reason with those people and justify why I wrote the things they questioned or didn't like. I understand now that I can't please everyone, and I don't bother interacting with those readers anymore. And I'm not above blocking people to protect myself and avoid drama.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Yessss! The filthy kind!! 🤣 Okay, no, I really really enjoy reading porn with feelings. So that's what I try to write.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I haven't written one yet, but I'd really love to someday. They are a ton of work though. If I did, I think I'd love a LOTR crossover... I'm just absolutely in love with that universe and would love to explore it more and maybe have all my favourite characters mingle!

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes, by myself. I have some trust issues when it comes to my works and those have caused me to refuse any translation requests. I hope, in time, I can get over this fear. But I've had fun translating one of my own fics into French, and I'm hoping to translate more in the future.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No, but I would love to!!! I think I would find it hard to do though, because I get very possessive of my ideas and things usually take shape so vividly in my head that I would find it hard to compromise on certain aspects of a fic. But with the right person, I would love to try a collab!

14. What’s your all time favourite ship?

Snarry, no question. But I do enjoy reading Harry with anyone. He's my baby and I'll always support him! He just deserves all the love! And all the sexy times!

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Probably Brighter Than Bright. I'm not doubting I will finish it, I know I will, in time, but I just don't know when. Because it's such a big endeavour and I've been having inspiration problems with that fic for a long time.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I think I'm really good at writing introspection. It comes easy to me anyway... if that's how we define strength?

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Dialogues, probably. It's the aspect of writing I struggle with the most.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I did it and it's fun! But it's important to double check with a native speaker and make sure it's all good.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

HP all the way.

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

I would normally say with great outbursts and lightnings, because it's my very first snarry and the most precious to me, for many reasons. But I think my favourite may actually be Certain Dark Things. Because it was so fun to write, because I love the imagery and the atmosphere of this fic to death. And it's based (loosely) on my favourite book, so it would make sense why I love it so much.

Tagging: anyone who wants to play! I don't want to bother anyone, so please if you feel like doing this, pretend I tagged you. 🥰

[rollercoasterwords]

☕️

Okay, I want to know your feelings about Jegulus. Do you see this ship as canon in any way? What is appealing and what can be not good about it, in your book?

hahaha boy oh boy well. hm lots to unpack here let's see.

i mean first off full disclosure right off the bat i am currently. writing two jegulus fics. so! clearly i do enjoy the ship in certain contexts and think it can be quite compelling. when i first heard about it i had very little interest but i was drawn in by, of course, the opportunities for angst and tangled relationship webs and also further exploration of the dynamic sirius has with his brother.

when it comes to canon, though, i tend to be a bit iffier about jegulus. i've never written jegulus in a canon-compliant universe and don't really have a desire to, but i have read one or two interpretations of their relationship that i enjoyed. but what i enjoy about their dynamic in canon is, predictably, the angst, and the exploration of the darker aspects of regulus's character and how james deals with that darkness. and of course the pain of jily later on down the line if regulus is watching james move on and fall in love with someone else <3

in general, though, i mostly enjoy jegulus in aus. and to be honest...i don't even really read much jegulus or seek it out. like, i have 212 hp fics bookmarked on ao3 (i bookmark fics i've read + enjoyed + want to be able to find again later) and only 7 of those are jegulus. and 2 are background jegulus lmao. so!

as for what is appealing about it. i like looking at regulus as a character who has a bit of a skewed moral compass and gets tangled up in fucked-up shit and doesn't realize he's in over his head until it's too late. i think that character creates a really fun setup for all sorts of different storylines. and i like exploring james as a character who feels an intense pressure to be like...this paragon of goodness, whose goodness is then challenged by his entanglement with regulus and the lengths that he's willing to go to for a person who he knows is just...kind of fucked-up and has done fucked-up things. like which of our own morals are we willing to sacrifice in the name of love? that question really compels me in the jegulus dynamic. and of course the messy relationship between james + sirius + regulus, exploring the black family home dynamic more and the ways it shaped sirius + regulus differently, james as a focal point of like...escape and goodness that they both turn to, in a way that sort of tugs him in different directions...honestly i just think there's a lot that can be really compelling about the ship!

that being said. what can not be good about it....well. look. everyone is allowed to enjoy this ship and these characters in whatever way they want. of course!!! however. since u ASKED. i am taking this as license to be a little bit of a hater <3

i have of course already written my rambling little philosophical essay on what i think went wrong with the jegulus fandom, so i won't go in depth on the confluence of factors that turned jegulus into such a cesspit. however i will say that the reason i don't really seek out jegulus fic very much and tend to just stick to like...reading the stuff my friends write bc i know i can trust them lmao is because i think that many of the things i find compelling about jegulus in the first place sort of get stripped away in a lot of popular fanon. like if regulus isn't morally bad in some ways i do feel like...that is just not the character i'm interested in. if there is no darkness or angst to it....well. it is not my cup of tea xx also an unpopular opinion i have is that i do not particularly want regulus to have friends lmao like i just am not really a fan of the little group of friends that has been created for him...i'm so sorry but i do not think pandora and regulus black would hang out xx and i am a barty + evan hater so i simply have no desire to read about those guys either xx

the last hater note that i will add. i cannot STAND seeing timothee chalamet's face everywhere thanks 2 the jegulus fandom. i absolutely need people to stop acting like regulus was a gorgeous little twinky model (NOT! that i think timothee chalamet is gorgeous. people act like he's the paragon of divine beauty tho). sirius is the only character in my book who u can get away with fancasting as a celebrity the rest of them....well they are all just guys. timothee chalamet is also simply my parasocial enemy i want to grind that man into dust simply for the way people foam at the mouth over him when u can walk into any intro creative writing course at a liberal arts college and find five men who look exactly the same. and that's my two cents on that!

[princeescaluswords]

what do you mean by 'not aesthetically pleasing'? I've seen you use it a few times for things that seem unrelated to aesthetics.

You've all heard the phrase "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." It's so ubiquitous it's a clich��, though a very useful one. We call a pleasurable or appreciative reaction to a particular sensory input "beauty." As we grow and accumulate experiences, we begin to understand that there is a certain set of characteristics that, singularly or in combinations, we find beautiful. This is our aesthetic, and we all have one. It's very hard to define our personal aesthetic, and sometimes it can be damaging to try, like pinning a butterfly to a board, but we know it when we sense it.

As an aside, sometimes enough individuals in a society share so many aspects of their aesthetic in common that it becomes a public aesthetic. This phenomenon can be positive or negative or sometimes both at the same time. You only have to open Tumblr to see debates about public aesthetic and the campaigns to preserve or change them.

When I use that phrase 'not aesthetically pleasing' I am 99 times out of 100 referring to my personal aesthetic. It's important to me to make a distinction between my evaluation of a cultural object's quality with how it makes me feel. My favorite example of this is The Godfather. The Godfather is among the best United States films ever made. The writing is precise in its economy, insightful into humanity, and perfectly balanced between expository detail and pacing. The acting is exquisite from Al Pacino and Marlon Brando down to Abe Vigoda. The directing and cinematography is symphonic in creating tone. The setting and action is timeless while still being aware of history and the principles explored are universal without ignoring the nature of the Mafia as a product of class uprising and xenophobic oppression. There are many reason that it is consistently listed in the top ten movie rankings, but nevertheless, I hate it.

It does not sit well with my personal aesthetics. I despise the way in the movie the victims of these criminals vanish like ephemeral soap bubbles on the screen, even though I am intellectually aware that this is deliberate because it represents how the mobster justify themselves and 'this thing of ours.' I detest how the movie makes the point that the same qualities that make Michael Corleone a war hero make him an effective don. I am unsettled by how bonds of love and family transform people into heartless murderers. This isn't a rejection of darkness or unsettling images; there are few movies darker than Kubrick's and I am aesthetically pleased by his disturbing works from The Shining to Dr. Strangelove to A Clockwork Orange.

I recognize that there is a difference between the quality of a piece of media and my aesthetic reaction to it. I think it's a significant problem in United States culture -- and especially the fandom -- that this awareness seems to have been discarded. Too many people operate under the oversimplified idea that "if I like it, it's good, and if I don't like it, it's bad." Don't get me wrong, an individual can derive aesthetic pleasure from a quality piece of media, but it's not a necessary relationship.

Take my primary fandom, Teen Wolf. While as a work of art it has significant flaws -- shoddy chronology, an overindulgence in spectacle, needless casting bungles, and a recurring practice of prioritizing the emotional trauma of white male characters and white male characters alone while portraying the neglect of the emotional trauma of characters of color and women as necessary to the plot -- most of it still provokes within me aesthetic pleasure. It's why I talk about it, but I don't try to say it's on the same level as The Godfather.

There is a resistance to separating quality from aesthetic pleasure that I lay at the feet of Post-Modern thought. No, I am not a fan of Foucault or the people he inspired. By rejecting any attempt at objective measurement, we have become bound to the subjective, and it has created a toxic cultural experience. That's why I try to be clear when I voice an opinion dependent on quality or voice an opinion based on aesthetics.

[paragonrobits]

so i unfortunately recently ran into a BUNCH of videos by a youtuber I really, really don’t like for various reasons; their vitrolic hatred of Steven Universe and refusal to think of the series in any way except a very binary moralistic view that doesn’t acknowledge the Gem’s different robot-like psychology, them constantly calling the creator of Steven Universe a Nazi despite Sugar being Jewish (and pointedly ignoring or dismissing all evidence to the contrary), having a long list of writing dos and don’t that mostly amount to ‘black and white morality is the only acceptable writing, everything must be Relatable or its bad writing, and everything i find icky is morally evil’ that i really don’t like for a lot of reasons, but that’s not the thing I feel motivated to mention right now

specifically I noticed some other videos they did on other series, and out of sheer morbid curiousity and a good helping of ‘i already hate these people, I must plumb the depths of my hatred for them and see if I am morally opposed to them on EVERY level’ and the off putting thing is that they came to some similar conclusions I have in other series, most especially in Mass Effect; that the genophage was wrong, and that the geth are more broadly sympathetic than the quarians (or at least the quarian admiralty board) and it was uncomfortable to realize that, but it made me think about WHY i felt that way and to analyze my knee-jerk responses, and I ultimately came to a few conclusions:

the first thing is that while I DO feel the genophage is ultimately wrong, and that the quarians wronged the geth, I still feel these youtubers addressed the problems in too simplistic a manner; among other things, I don’t think its right to imply the quarians deserve extinction for the actions of their ancestors or their authority figures, nor do I think its appropriate to completely depict the krogan EXCLUSIVELY as victims.

but something else dawned on me when i noticed they did a video on how the Dark Side of the Force needs to be treated more neutrally or given good points (for some reason??????) and that really stuck out to me because it felt so BIZARRE. in contrast to their constant moralizing and insistence on extremely simplisitc, puritanical notions of straightfoward moral resolutions, the Dark Side is interesting in this regard because there’s not really any way you CAN canonically regard it as neutral or having the ability to BE neutral. So why come to that conclusion?

part of it is that a LOT of people insist on viewing the Dark Side in ways like this. It’s hardly unique to a small bunch of Youtubers I’m starting to regard as, if not the starting point of the most toxic and vile elements of the puritanical part of fandom in recent times, at least excellent examples of its flawed mentality and methodology. It does stick out because these are people who often tend to express EVERYTHING in extremely simple, binary and black/white terms, and here they are insisting that the Power of Turbo-Fascism should be treated more equally. (I doubt they THINK of it as turbo-fascism, but the point still stands that the Dark Side has always been explicitly malicious and serving selfish, dominating ends, and the few times it has been fully explored, the writers at work outright SAID they took notes from fascist recruiting methods as a baseline for how the Sith would lure in potential recruits.)

Part of it, I think, is a certain contrarian element. Fair enough, I’m like that too; if you are just told a thing is pure evil without context or textual proof, its easy to just say ‘but what about if not?’. The Dark Side of the Force is very prone to people in general trying to see the positive aspects of it (despite those positive aspects already being present in the harmonious, life-affirming aspects of the Light Side, and that’s not even getting into the potential idea that there IS no real Dark Side, just selfishness and lack of self-control causing psychology and Force powers to meet in very bad and self-destructive ways). But it also does reflect a popular thing I’ve noticed in the parts of... not just fandom but broader attitudes in general, when you examine people who are resistant to self-examination or asking themselves if they are at fault, or being mindful of themselves.

Among people like that, you often see an attitude I might summarize as ‘Feeling = Good’. This is the people who tend to lean very hard towards romanticism and ideas like passion (by its own, and by itself) being a purely positive and benign, even transformative thing. Its a common social idea (even one present in the Jedi: “DON’T THINK. FEEL.”) and a tremendously romantic idea, often leading into the false assumption that if feeling is good, overthinking things is bad, or that feeling ANYTHING strongly is good, and if you’re not 1000 percent super passionate all the time or you’re NOT yelling your feelings the second you feel them, something is wrong with you.

Combine this with the double standard people like this tend to have, and the way they regard themselves as Wholesome and Pure (and thus, by their own definitions, as incapable of wanting bad things, or that their feelings might drive them to do something they don’t actually want to do), this tends to lead into a rabbit hole where the ultimate conclusion is that impulse is the same as thought and drive, and thus it is ideal to constantly be led BY those drives. Rule of impulse, you could say.

Now, consider the Dark Side which, at its core, is about the complete surrender of personal thought and will towards pure selfishness and putting your will upon the world. Canonically, this invariably results in domination, conquest and subjugation; that’s what the Dark Side IS. In contrast, the Light Side is about harmony with the greater world, in a way that resembles something of a very vague and Westernized take on Taoism.

So I think what you might be seeing here is how you get people going down a rabbit whole of moral purity that leads to Randian levels of self-perpetuating false conclusions, combined with an insistence on passions only ever being a good thing (to the extent of implicitly regarding self control, or the DESIRE to have self control, as a sign of being a bad person because a Good Person would not have those feelings) coming to a trainwreck in a legitimately funny way given that its interacting with a fandom concept that I, again, can call the Power of Turbo-Fascism because that’s what it narratively IS.

At worst, its rather revealing; at best, its a stunning lack of self awareness.

[noperopesaredope]

I know Curly fucked up and fumbled the ball in regards to Anya, but damn do I feel bad for him. He did not deserve this shit. While I think it's interesting to analyze and acknowledge that he was an enabler and also talk about how he was one of Jimmy's victims, I think I'd like to see more people analyze the disability aspect of Curly's story.

While being disabled isn't necessarily bad or a "punishment" (as some people have put it), you have a strong point on the horror aspect of it all. What makes Curly "scary" to me isn't because he was severely deformed and disabled, but because of the unimaginable pain he was experiencing.

Again, being disabled isn't necessarily terrible, but chronic pain is a bit of a bitch. Everyone I know with chronic pain wishes that they didn't have it. It's lowkey the main disability where people are actually like, "I hate this and it feel like I'm dying." Curly has what seems to be one of the most severe types of chronic pain imaginable, constantly in pain and unable to move without suffering. The idea of never-ending pain is part of the true horror to me, and part of the scare factor.

(Also, for me personally, the idea of never being able to blink is deeply upsetting because I have issues regarding eye-based body horror and the idea of never being able to protect my eyes via my eyelids is distressing).

One thing that I find interesting to see in fics and even sometimes in the game (as well as on a meta level in the fandom) is how dehumanized Curly is treated by people. Post-crash, people kind of infantilize him or treat him extremely differently, like he is a completely different person and no longer Curly. But while the trauma may have changed him, he is still very much Curly and has the exact same mental capacity as before.

The only reason he is dependent on others is because of his physical disabilities. It feels like people would be constantly talking down to him or treating him like a child when he is very much still an adult with an adult mindset. He can understand what people are saying, and while he needs help doing certain takes, it feels weird to see anyone baby him. I like fics where Anya treats him as having mostly the same mental capabilities as before while taking his trauma into account, and talks to him the same way she always has because she knows he is still the same person, just with a different body than before.

I feel like if Curly's head was fully protect from the crash and thus looked the same as before (but he was still unable to speak for whatever reason and experienced a certain degree of paralysis in the face), people (specifically the fandom) would treat him very differently. They wouldn't draw him in some of the ways they do and in certain memes or portray him in certain ways in fics and whatnot.

It can feel pretty annoying sometimes to see people draw him like a "smol little guy" when it comes to his Post-Crash self. The only exception I have to this is if the person draws his Pre-Crash self the exact same way. Make him always and forever baby. This phenomenon of him being infantilized is a mild form of horror to me.

You also said there is a horror in the loss of autonomy, and I believe that this was one of the most tragic and dark parts of Curly's story, as one of the most interesting to explore. One moment that disturbs me a lot is Jimmy hurting Curly while giving him the pills not just because Curly is getting hurt, but because it is caretaker abuse, something I find incredibly disturbing. Seeing someone mistreat a person who is dependent on them, especially in ways like this is absolutely horrible to see and extremely upsetting. It's like going to a nursing home and seeing one of the stronger nurses beat the shit out of one of the elderly folks in a wheelchair.

It's such a bad situation because there is no way to fight back and can happen behind closed doors with no forms of intervention or ways out. Possible even worse, their abuser is someone who is meant to take care of them and keep them safe and as healthy as possible, but is instead hurting them at their most vulnerable.

It's also part of why I can't read fics where Anya is more resentful towards Curly. Fics where she is still a bit angry and doesn't fully forgive him? Yes. Fics where she doesn't feel bad for him and sometimes acts cruel towards him? No. And I think that's because at the end of the day, she is his primary caretaker, and the idea of a caretaker taking their anger out on their patient is deeply uncomfortable to witness.

It's possibly the most horrifying part of Curly's situation. His helplessness and inability to protect or advocate for himself, trapped in his own body which is constantly in pain. I'd love to see more discussions about Curly from a disabled perspective, as I think it's one of his most interesting traits that could be explored more.

getting attached to how Curly encapsulates the horror of disability and loss of autonomy while being dependant on people that make any and all decisions for you