#this has been bothering me. i think its called toxic positivity. people throw it at me and it makes me feel worse. stop đ
"good people are out there you just need to get out and find them"
cool thanks. but i'm too tired to keep ~going out and looking for them~ i'm too tired to keep trying, using up all my energy, getting super overwhelmed and burnt out after just a couple weeks of trying as hard as I can, met with other people barely trying back or not being very responsive, and needing to recover from it for a year or more each time because it overwhelms and burns me out so bad. I get nowhere no matter how hard I try, all i get is uselesss advice from people i try to befriend who dont want the responsibility of friending me. i'm tired of trying beyond my limits and causing more issues for myself. or dealing with issues I get from meeting the "wrong" people. if the "right" people exist, why can't they find me? why does it have to be only my job? i'm too tired and overwhelmed and burnt out to do it!!!!! the right people will just easily help and be there for me right? so I guess i just have to keep waiting for them for all eternity????? i'm tired of waiting. give me more than "just wait/keep trying/don't give up" because those instructions unclear and my useless attempts are very discouraging and exhausting and i'm so overwhelmed that i'm losing the ability to even socialize at a minimum at all now!!!!
if humans are meant to be social creatures and we require positive interactions with each other to stay healthy, then why do humans ostracize their own? why do some of us struggle so much and are denied any help and instead blamed? why can't I be given advice on how to live a lonely life without anyone else by my side instead of being told "one day! keep trying! you need people because it's essential to being human!" even though i've been waiting for "one day" for 25 years and could wait 25 more, or even longer? I don't know what i'm doing wrong or how to improve it so waiting is all I have. what if I wait forever?
13 notes
¡
View notes
Hey I was wondering if you're still a fan of Helluva Boss and what you thought of the latest episode?
@megashadowdragon asked: have you watched helluva boss episode 6 which came out today ( if you were unaware) what are your thoughts
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It warms my heart to know you guys ask for my opinion ^^ now let's get down to business
WARNING THIS REVIEW WILL BE A NEGATIVE ONE WIT A HINT OF POSITIVITY THESE ARE MY THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS ON THE EPISODE YOU DONT HAVE TO AGREE WIT THEM BUT DONT WASTE MY TIME WIT YOUR NEED TO ATTACK ME FOR HAVING THOUGHTS OF MY OWN YOU HAVE BEEN WARN
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
To answer both questions yes I still watch Helluva Boss however after their latest episode I think I will just stick to writing fanfiction about Blitz and Striker as well as stick to whatever content the fandom creates.
This episode if Imma be honest with you guys was not worth the wait, hell I was literally tempted to leave the episode as it just didnât have my attention as the others.
The episode had some decent moments where I was chuckling a little but other than that I wasnât that into it, to be honest the bad out weigh the good.Â
Also I wanna add that a while ago I wrote how Vivzipop and her crew did not know how to handle complex characters or complex scenes and I was right, this show and their crew do not know how to handle mature topics without reducing them into a joke but we are getting ahead of ourselves so letâs start with the pros, the cons, and everything in between.
Letâs start of with the pros,
Loona knowing when Blitz was being serious was a nice touch, it showed that even if Loona acts like she doesnât care about Blitz she actually pays attention to him and knows when he is being serious and when he is joking around.
Moxxie was the true MVP his interaction with the agents had me smiling as well enjoying his moments.
Blitz protecting Moxxie
STRIKER !!!! I am a simp for this imp and Iâll take whatever crumbs I can get to see him ^^
Verosika, Fitzorallia, love them, love themÂ
And thatâs it...to be honest thatâs it...like other than that thatâs basically all that I like from that episode...
Now letâs get into the rest of this episode...
Okay was anyone other than me confused as to why they decided now was a good time to introduce the agents so late in the game?
Like at this point I am convinced that Vivizie and her crew are just winging it.
The agents were literally thrown in the show and it felt outta the blue, like I said it feels like Vivizie and her crew donât know what they are doing and are just throwing things together like they couldâve given us hints that the agents were watching them, or give us a hint that they were being spied on, it didnât even have to be big it could have just been small.
An example would be from my favorite book series Cirque Du Freak, in the first book Mr. Crepsely (a main character in the book) mentions something small that will become huge in later books, it was small but allowed the reader to be curious it gave the reader that something big was coming and we should be prepared.
Like I said it was a small hint but I left me curious and wanting to read more to find out more about what is going on.
Helluva boss didnât do that it just threw this new idea and new characters without giving the others to grow.
If they gave us a hint that they were being watched it wouldnât have felt like that idea came outta nowhere.
Also was I the only one that was uncomfortable with the way Blitz kept making jokes about the agentâs dead mom? Iâm sorry but that was just wrong on soooo many levels.
Also with the truth serum thing...why did they use it if they werenât even gonna get answers like again this came outta nowhere because the truth serum was supposed to make them speak the truth not look like they were tripping on acid. On less I missed something please let me now if I did.
Also to be honest the whole confession thing was once again treated like a joke, especially when Blitz asked Moxxie why he let Millie peg him, ummm...an emotional scene like that shouldnât have jokes of any kind surrounding it, especially when it was supposed to be a heartfull moment.
Now Blitz ... okay Blitz and his vision was a little decent but I also didnât like it. A lot of people had their speculation especially with the Stolas scene but the more I look at it the more I see it as a bittersweet moment.
Revealing that he was afraid of intamacy wasnât that big of a surprised since we already knew that like it was nice for conformation.
Okay now onto the Sto*itz moment in the song ... like I said this was bittersweet moment,
People interpet the scene as how Blitz is afraid to love Stolas others saw it as Blitz was still chained to Stolas and would only be free if he and Stolas talk it out and another mentioned how he was forever chained to Stolas and how toxic the relationship between the two is.
Honestly I viewed it as how Blitz will be forever trapped in situations like this were he is to afraid to love someone or love himself and unless he comes to terms with his own demons heâll forever be trapped in an endless cycle of pain and misery.
Now onto why I think that that Vivizie and her crew canât handle mature themes.
Two characters have just had a revelation about their relationship with one another and instead of being honest with each other it gets turned into a joke...again...
Moxxie told Blitz what he felt and Blitz told him he treats him like shit cause its tough love...da freak ??? You just had a moment where you realized you pushed everyone away because you were afraid to be alone so you rather push everyone away so you have an excuse to let them leave and instead of admitting to that you just tell Moxxie it was all tough love.
Not to mentioned that youâre giving compliments and than tell him your done because your out of compliments...again you had a huge revelation and instead of giving the characters time to digest what they went through you just toss it to the side.Â
Another thing that pissed me off was how right after a huge moment you throw in a fight scene...I...why...just why ???
You had an emotional scene (that had no build up) but than throw it to the side for a fight scene that shouldnât have been added at all.
Like the minute Millie and Loona saved them they shouldâve opened up a portal and take them away not waste time on fighting only for them to get caught in the end.
Like I literally feel like they wasted all that time on animation than on writing and planning what they wanted from this.
Like again they had an emotional connection/scene and threw it to the side for some fight scenes which was a disappointment because had Loona and Millie saved them and take them home Blitz couldâve had some major character development and the four of them could have a heartfelt scene admitting everything that bothers them and help them get closer.Â
Nope, they decided to just throw a fight scene why I donât know but it bothers me how they just tossed an emotional scene for some action scenes.
So yeah I am not happy with how that was handle at all.
Letâs also get to the Loona and Millie scenes...Millie crying for Moxxie once again made no sense as we never seen Millie care for Moxxie, hell she cares more for Blitz than Moxxie which is fucked up.
Hell when Moxxie was being critizied by her parents she didnât do much to defend him hell Sally Mae was more honest with him than Millie.
Honestly Millie feels like she is being written by twenty different people who donât know what they want from her.
And Loona, Loona could seriously be written outta the episode and nothing would changed.
Also they truly refused to let their characters grow seriously Moxxie was still treated like shit by Blitz in the end so yeah no character growth at all.
And now onto the last scene with Stolas and Blitz ... holy shit man Imma be honest with you guys Stolas asking for sex after saving them feels fucked up, to me it felt like the only reasons he saved the imps is so that he doesnât get in trouble and for Blitz to reward him for saving them.
Again they couldâve had Stolas saving them and they could have had a heart to heart moment nope we had to toss all that emotional build up (if one can call it that) and toss it to the side for cheap jokes and a horny owl.
needless to say I was beyond disappointed with this episode and with the way they handle the âsaddestâ scene in the episode I am scared to see how they will handle the other scenes.
AGAIN I honestly donât see why this episode took so long and I feel like Vivzie and her crew are more focus on the animation than anything else which sucks because this show has so much potential and it is being thrown to the side for pretty designs and shipping moments.Â
Anywhore thatâs my thought on this show let me know what you guys think ^^
~GoNEF out ^^
39 notes
¡
View notes
recs for someone new to omgcp
[February 2021.]
Reading, or not reading, OMGCP fics has come up in a couple of conversations Iâve had recently with artists newish to the fandom (ie. @jovishark; @decafffff), who are making OMGCP art (!!!) but havenât started exploring fic -- but maybe want to? Which of course reminded me that Iâve never bothered to make an actual, concrete recs list for this fandom. So, I mean. Here is one.
The approach is, what do I think about when I think about OMGCP fanfic? What comes to mind, what stands out to me? I have excluded some very popular fics. Some of these I just donât think are very good, and others I do think are good, and/or I enjoy them, but I donât see why youâd need me, specifically, to recommend them. I am thinking of a story like maybe iâm waking up, which I discuss below because I link to a podfic of it. It has a lot of merits, to be sure, but itâs the second-most-read fic in this fandom by hits, and itâs got thousands of comments, and itâs by an author whose work is relatively widely praised and circulated. I am not sure what telling you more about this fic will add to the conversation; if you want to find and read it, you inevitably will. Iâm happy to, say, answer asks about these kinds of fics, or talk more generally about them via DM or whatever. Feel free.
Also, I donât think thereâs a point to pretending to be objective about fanfic; this list has a perspective and that perspective is mine. In this fandom I largely read stories that navigate the tension around Jack, Bitty, and Parse, in various permutations. This is not to say that Iâve never read fic about the frogs, or that I have no interest at all in other pairings, but I am by no means an expert on Dex/Nursey and can really only speak to the one fic about them that sticks out to me because it goes beyond being merely Dex/Nursey and does something else. This is just to say that I am sure there are great and interesting fics about other things and ideas--but Iâm not the person to hear about those from.
Likewise, Iâm not super interested in stories that really reproduce that which is already in OMGCP. I like Zimbits--albeit maybe not in the ways or for the reasons most fans would--but I do not really need to see endless iterations of the same story about them falling in love and being cute together. I donât think these stories are bad or they shouldnât exist or that they have no merit by default. Still, I donât need fanfic to give me more OMGCP. I need fanfic to complicate, to comment on, and to transform OMGCP. Many people donât work like this! Totally okay! But I canât rec you fics that do that.
What I have noticed, however, is that over time there appears to have been a shift in how people do write fic for this fandom. (Other than, you know, increases and decreases in activity pending the status of the comic, pairings going in and out of vogue, and so on.) Early on, say during Y1 and Y2, the comic was about the group of friends having a cool time at college together; about whether the burgeoning attraction between Jack and Bitty would manifest and, if so, how; and, especially, Jackâs past coming into fuller view for Bitty and how it would have to be dealt with in order for a relationship between them to work. YMMV on how great the comic executed there, but as Y3 went on these themes increasingly disappeared from the story. I think this means a lot of fic written over 2015-2016 or 2017 has one kind of tone, and was written mostly around these questions; after that, it feels like a new crop of writers and a new crop of ideas started circulating, that is, either embracing Jack and Bittyâs canon relationship and accepting its relative straightforwardness in text--or deconstructing it, imagining what readers arenât seeing, or how problems not dealt with in the comic would manifest later. People who have read my fic know which of these Iâm mainly interested in exploring.
All of which is to say, looking at what Iâm reccing here, when the fics were posted or when I first read them probably has a lot to do with why they stick out to me so much. Because thereâs no real culture of fanfic criticism--and I mean that in the positivist sense of broad evaluation not explicitly for fault and merit but rather, for context--I think itâs really hard to keep this in mind. But Iâm obnoxious and I canât just be easy about things.
Fic recs
In alphabetical order, somewhat unsorted; if a stand-alone fic has a summary Iâve included it, but in other cases Iâve recced a couple of conceptually related fics or series, which Iâve tried to just describe or explain as opposed to copying the summary off AO3.
There are so many more fanfics I think are great and worth reading! In an ideal world Iâd come back and add more later, or create a secondary list thatâs more along the lines of âif you like this, read these,â or whatever. But, being realistic, this is a starter kit. Iâm open to talking about fanfic.
- - - - - - - - - - -
7-0-2 by Idday; Friends in Low Places and Sorry for the Blood in Your Mouth; I Wish it was Mine by blue_rocket_frost | Iâm not sure it would be correct to say that I donât like Parse/Tater, or that Iâm not interested in Parse/Tater. Iâm not interested in Patater a priori; I think it could be interesting, with teeth. These fics stick out to me when I think about this pairing, because they feel different. Accusations of a preference for just linking any two white men who happen to be hanging around have validity, but because of what hockey is and how it works and whoâs hanging around it, itâs not exactly a leap to imagine what kind of gritty spark the friction between two closeted NHL players would create. A little violence in your sex? A little sex in your violence.
A Sight Worth Seeing by sadtomato | A four-fic Jack/Bitty/Shitty/Lardo explicit BDSM series. Either you want that or you donât. Itâs nothing hardcore, and not properly a four-way, really; more properly a kind of voyeuristic round-robin. Thereâs a more open and egalitarian view of sex here than I really get from the characters in the back end of the comic. Itâs an expansive, propulsive view of sex and relationships thatâs really nice to see. I love Lardo's detached coolness, and Bitty as a smooth operator; if youâre looking for some kind of Dom/sub dynamics world, this really isnât it, but itâs a lively exploration into the sexual dynamics in a group of friends thatâs super close to the good-times vibe you get from Haus scenes in the first couple years of extras.
call me son (one more time) by Summerfrost, Verbyna, and blithelybonny | This is a series, incomplete, and you will love it or be massively put off by it. I mean that as a compliment. I love it. The premise is, Bob Zimmermann and Kent Parson have been having sex since Kent was, like, 19. Everyone in this story has been chewed up: by themselves, by each other, by hockey. Plainly, this is a pretty bleak view of what OMGCP, as a story, is supposedly offering. If you want fic that is dark and glamorous, treading the toxic melange of substance abuse, sex-as-sublimation, and so much money you canât possibly throw all of it away without trying, this series has that sick-inducing shimmer to it. But, again, its strength is its examination of Kent Parson, textually and meta-textually, as someone to be projected onto. Bob, Alicia, Jack, and Bitty all impute certain feelings of their own onto him, displacing their own issues to a character whoâs centralized in every fic but defies neat or total comprehension. Some critiques Iâve read of this series feel itâs too dark, and Iâve also seen it argued on FFA that an overwhelming amount of praise heaped onto these stories has made it tough for other writers to make headway in writing Bob/Kent fic. But Iâm also not sure you could engage with Bob/Kent fic without going down this road at some point? Iâm sure there are ways to scale it back, but ultimately itâs a story about how hockeyâs violent, homophobic, old-guard gatekeeping has continued to set the terms for a younger and ostensibly less toxic culture. I fully embrace PWP fics that tread on the power dynamic without fully excavating it, but buried within any PWP is the fact that a 53-year-old man is ensnaring a 19-year-old, no matter how much the latter is, realistically, into it, and legally empowered to consent. Not to mention the dynamics of it being a 53-year-old man who is the father of the 19-year-oldâs ex-boyfriend, and a 53-year-old man who is an eminence grise in the field the 19-year-old is trying to make a career in The sexual element--the vaguely incestuous nature of it--is making textual the subtext of how hockey works, actually: objectification of teenage bodies as older menâs capital.
Coach Z by thistidalwave | Just before the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, tp prospect Jack Zimmermann overdoses on his anxiety medication and is admitted to rehab. His future turns from a clear-cut road to the top into an uncertain path filled with therapy appointments, ignored text messages, a group of boys who aren't there to teach him a lesson about himself, and, of course, hockey. | I keep reccing this fic because it has 360 comments on AO3 but nobody, as far as I can tell, has ever read it; it never appears on rec lists. This isnât the kind of fanfic I usually go in for, but I canât help being charmed by it. This is a character study in the truest sense, a kind of Mighty Ducks-but-better view on what Jackâs time coaching peewee hockey might have been like. I have no interest in kids and my own aesthetic is maybe a little darker than this, but I admire this story because it injects vibrancy into a period of Jackâs life that OMGCP has left largely unexplored, and so has the fandom. We know nothing about what made Jack want to go to college, nothing about how he spent his days in between juniors and Samwell. It posits a very sympathetic and patient Jack/Parse dynamic, showcasing the exact kind of ragged teenage push-and-pull that would have led to the circumstances we see in Parse I-III. The outside perspective Jack needs is largely present in an OFC whoâs not a love interest. Super unique, somehow both engrossing and low-key.
#dirtbags by angularmomentum | A series that is a Kent Parson/Claude Giroux fuckfest with feelings. Iâve long suspected that Parse is popular in part because he is the character who most easily elides OMGCP with the actual NHL, or rather, NHL fandom; I think he made it appealing to write OMGCP fics where the NHL is a factor. Case in point, this series, which is basically âwhat if Kent Parson was a real hockey player and therefore part of NHL RPSâ? I have only read some NHL RPS, so Iâm not the person to assess accuracy, but what I do know is superstar IRL hockey players take turns here as the caricature fanfic versions of themselves, and since Kent Parson is already that, itâs great how seamlessly he integrates into their social fabric. Rambunctious energy peppered with regret and loss, but ultimately this series is farcical, and it doesnât take its sentimental ending too seriously--which, good.
fated to pretend by nighimpossible | 5 Jack/Kent fics that Ransom and Holster dramatically reenact for the Haus + the truth. | As a fic format, 5+1 doesnât usually work for me, but this one isnât just front-loaded with five too-knowing vignettes; it then wraps up by using its +1 better than you might expect. Sometimes I talk about economy of fic, and this one exemplifies it. A zero-waste fic.
go ahead and move along by originally |Â "Leave, Parse," Jack says. Again. Or: Kent finds himself stuck in a time loop. | Kent Parson is trapped in a Groundhog Day scenario on the day of Epikegster. Iâm sure you can imagine, just from that, what happens. And yet I think this fic is super entertaining, reserving some key surprises. What this story is doing is something a lot, and perhaps even the majority, of great Jack/Parse fic wants to do: digging into the question of just why this canât work in comic canon. Most often this is approached from the past, by writing teenage Jack/Parse deep-dives that examine their lives mid-juniors, or by writing AUs where enough circumstances are shifted that it does work, or via future fics that posit enough growth has happened, and enough things have changed. But this fic makes Parse live the same bad day again and again, testing multiple theories about just how dependent on circumstance and incident real life actually is. Another day, another tone, 10 minutes sooner, not at all--you just canât know why it didnât work until you exhaust every possible variable. I worry that this rec has sucked the life out of the story, though--itâs so fun!
I Saw a Life and Strange Lovers by @bluegrasshole | Most AUs in this fandom seem to retell the story in a new setting or with some big detail change, following OMGCPâs rhythm beat-for-beat. I think of this as, âItâs the plot of Check, Please, butâ -- theyâre doing high school football? Theyâre acrobats? Theyâre a/b/o? Theyâre in a DIY punk band? And so on. These two stories are not that! Theyâre both 1950s AUs, each deeply felt, and yet hugely different from each other. I Saw a Life is about displacement and fragmentation, two sides of a similar but incongruent social critique; Strange Lovers is a finely wrought social drama about coal mining in Nova Scotia in the 1950s, centered around historical events. I suppose a theme on this rec list is something like, âI donât even like this, butâ -- yes, okay, I donât even like Dex/Nursey, but--! This fic is so overwhelmingly complete, the AU laid out so carefully that the story breathes with all the background details informing the writing that arenât actually, in the story; you just know theyâre below the surface. (With the exception of one investigation of Jackâs character in a short, separate fic.) I Saw a Life, meanwhile, really tests the limits of the notion that Jack and Bitty are soulmates--not by calling it into question but by asking, rather innovatively, how the setting and place of the comic itself activates that.
Les Hivers de mon enfance by staranise | What do you do when hockey is the language of prayer for your soul, and also the toxic thing that almost killed you? 2009: Jack Zimmermann takes a mental health year. God knows he needs it. | Hereâs a fic by someone whoâs no longer around so much, but she felt ubiquitous in 2016-2019 OMGCP fandom. Before any of that, though, she wrote this one lovely fic about Jackâs pre-Samwell recovery. The author is Canadian and really irritated by hockey culture, and I think this fic benefits greatly because she is clear-eyed about Jackâs being caught in an exploitative system; itâs hockey heâs in recovery for, in a way. Thereâs an epistolary element that works for me, too. I read this early on in my time in OMGCP fandom and it really stuck with me.
Lysistrata? I Hardly Know Her! (by which I mean everything) by @tomatowrites | It feels somehow like cheating to recommend OMGCP fanfics by my OMGCP BFF with whom I make an OMGCP podcast where we talk about OMGCP. You know the fics I really want to rec, like truly the ones that speak to some kind of shared depravity, are the ones where Jack is miserably mpreg for the second time and accidentally lets his kid see Kent Parsonâs Long John Silverâs shrimp scampi promo spot, which obviously would get twisted into a self-hating three-way. How many times do I have to rec this fic? As many as I need to, is my feeling. If you donât know, Long John Silverâs is an American fast-food chain that sells, like, fried pollock sandwiches; it is nautical-themed; I have never eaten there; I donât know where there is one; I donât eat fried fish. (Shrimp, on the other hand?) All of which is to say that it takes a real genius to investigate a premise that far out. And while a lot of people almost certainly will start reading this humanityâs depths-themed sex scene and back the fuck out, readers with refined taste will note that Kent, the point-of-view character, is right there with you, despairing that he canât help himself. And so long as youâre in that story collection, honestly, youâll love petite gems like Jack is transmasc, Jack and Shitty play hockey in 18th-century England, and oh, right, heâs from Georgia. Tomato holds the distinction of being probably the gamest author I know in this fandom, just really like fearless in her pursuit of any range of concept sheâs pushed to. (I can push her to?) See, for example, a sublime bandom AU; Bitty is cancelled for buying a maybe-unethically exported Roman fragment of a youthâs torso; or, god, the masterwork that is this future fic series where Jack keeps relapsing and Bitty exiles him to their guesthouse. Do I think you need to read a fic where Bitty is snide about the teen prostitute whose baby theyâre adopting? Yes, I mean, he would be snide, donât tell me he wouldnât. I could go on, but my main thing here is, if I have to pick just one, Iâm going to pick this Lysistrata fic. The premise, literally, is that Bitty reads the Lysistrata and it gives him ideas. Like most of Tomatoâs OMGCP fic, itâs a stripping away of the comicâs polite fiction that Jack and Bitty could possibly attain the ideal it reaches in the comic without some kind of messy, efflusive breakdown. Life is like that, you see! Tricky. Like a lot of people, although itâs tough to say precisely how many, I have always intuited that maybe Bitty is kind of a natural top? But obviously when you meet him, as a literal virgin, itâs hard to see how heâd go from zero to self-actualization so neatly. This fic floats a theory, and it has a fun little side plot for Whiskey, something I never thought about or needed before Tomato built it out herein. In conclusion, BONUS: Dexâs gay lobster novel.
only fools rush in and the light of all lights by decinq | This person wrote of the nature of the wound, one of the early, formative Jack/Bitty fics that was oft-recced when I was getting into the fandom in 2016. It forms part of a larger series that deals deeply with how Jack has been shaped by his struggles (? I hate this word) with homophobia and his own mental health. Itâs a picture of the character as you might have imagined him much earlier in the comicâs run. The formatting is atrocious and he authorâs flair is what Tomato would call âAO3 house style.â Itâs a voice that works great for her writing. I think itâs at its best in these shorter fics; the former is about Parse and Shitty stumbling into a relationship almost accidentally; the latter, an eerie PBJ vampire fic. I had begun writing a fic where Parse is a vampire early on in this fandom, only to read this and immediately quit, because you only need one, and this oneâs all I need. The Parse/Shitty rare pair fic shares its exuberance with hockey RPS when itâs good: hereâs how fun it can be when youâre young, rich, and jocular. And I donât even like accidental marriage AUs, theyâre usually boring, so that says a lot. By all means, read the wound fic; read the entire series. But these are highly unusual.
OVERDOSE and Oomph and a little spin-o-rama by jedusaur | None of these are long, or plotty, and theyâre all a little experimental. OVERDOSE is an AU set in a world where you know how youâll die, but no details; Oomph, a little fic where Jack hears hockey pucks talking to him. This is the kind of stuff I used to think Iâd find in fandom forever, coming out of Lotrips lurking in the 2000s: short, zany bursts of energy that surprise and delight. a little spin-o-rama peers at Kentâs character through the grim reality of being the hypertalented superstar stuck on a dead-last team. All three are sparse and stylish in a way thatâs really smart, practically economical.
Sowing Season by @agrossunderstatement | Parse and Zimms, Zimms and Parse. Kent Parson's life, from the Q, through his early years with the Aces, to Jack's senior year. Canon divergent. A story of love, loss, moving on, regressing, hockey, and found families of all kinds. | Effectively a novel, digging into Kentâs personal history, mostly concerning his life in juniors but expanding into his present, overlapping with the plot of OMGCP. I think there is room enough for endless speculations on what went down pre-canon; this one offers a fuller life for Kent than nearly any others, digging into him as a whole person rather than as a satellite to Jack or the plot of the comic. Which isnât to say that the Kent/Jack stuff isnât dealt with here; it explicitly is. But the fact of Kent Parsonâs life, if we can begin to imagine it beyond mere text, would exist before, after, and alongside Jack; he gets to juniors without Jack, presumably, and he is the captain of a hockey team without Jack, and Pinkerton lays the foundation of Parseâs character within a junior hockey that Jack also inhabits, more so that Parse existing for Jack, so to speak. And Iâm not implying this latter tactic is wrong; I have certainly employed it, and others have employed it to great impact and effect. But, still, the title of this series tells you what you ought to know: Kent and his story are the potentiality of OMGCP, up to a point; seeds being planted. Young hockey players, similarly. The question implied there is, what will be reaped? And the answer to the latter, in a sense, that reaping is a sort of violence. Which makes this series sound pretty heavy, but itâs not -- more like, realistic.
(tell everyone) you were a good wife by @queerofcups | The biggest problem with pretending that he doesnât know that Kent Parson is fucking his husband is that Jack canât tell Kent how grateful he is. | The ne plus ultra of PBJ triangulation; Iâve been squealing to the writer about how good it is since August, begging for behind-the-scenes insights, and Iâd only do that if I really meant it. The precarious social fabric stretched across these three chapters is fraying before the readerâs eyes. The details are delicious, and I donât want to spoil them, but they sing in chorus with the plot. My favorite OMGCP fics, honestly, remove the romance narrative guardrails that keep things in the comic itself humming along. I think Dannâs take is to ask who in this comic has power and what they would end up doing with it. (Or not doing, from another angle.) At one point, early on in its telling, OMGCP looked like it was going to be a story dealing with the compounded traumas of hockeyâs discontents. Then, of course, it wasnât. This is a fic that steps back and asks what the fallout of that oversight would be. But thatâs just the moldering core of this fanfic; itâs actually embroidered, like I said, with glittering detail. The color of the suit Bitty wears to his wedding is burned into my brain. The gray manicure of a woman Jack knows. The ingredients in a cake. This is one of those fics I still havenât reviewed because the thought of stacking everything I could say about it into mere AO3 comments is inadequate.
when youâre ready by megancrtr | The Acesâ director of communications gets the call at 3:13 a.m. Jack Zimmermann has withdrawn from the draft. | âWhat happened at the draftâ is so mythological it gets asked in the comic proper, and Iâve never counted how many fics attempt to answer this question--from Kentâs point of view, even--but itâs gotta be, oh, hundreds. This story replays the situation from the perspective of an Aces staffer who just wants to do her job, and gets at the jarring discordance between the plot of OMGCP in its quest for social justice and the business of actual hockey. Important context is that this story was written around the time the comic was playing out the end of Y3 and start of Y4, and Bitty pointedly asked Jack the question, âwhy canât we?â This story reframes the question as literal, rather than rhetorical. A sterling example of fanfic being a gloss on its source.
BONUS, podfics
hockeyed up | There are many things on Jack's mind. Namely: hockey, hockey, Bitty, hockey, anxiety, hockey, hockey, anxiety, Bitty, hockey, hockey, anxiety, and hockey. | A fic read aloud by its French-Canadian author. Also a relatively early OMGCP fanfic; composed while the first semester of Y2 was posting, the story suggests a version of OMGCP that was in some ways more and in other ways less complex than what it would turn into not long after. The real power of this podfic, however, is that itâs read by the writer, so you can hear the intended emphasis in every line. Also, because sheâs French-Canadian, Sophieâs intonation is what I picture when I read or write dialogue for Jack.
maybe iâm waking up | Itâs almost funny. All he ever wanted was to play hockey, to play in the NHL, to win the Cup. ThisâSamwell, the team, the Hausâwas supposed to be just a detour, but now it feels more like a destination he failed to realize heâs already reached.(Or: Jack signs with the Falconers, graduates, and leaves. It's the hardest thing he's ever done. What comes after is even harder.) | Donât get too excited; this isnât finished. A podfic of probably the best-known, most-recced fic in OMGCP fandom. Striking for its use of metatext woven into the story, this is one of several early longform Jack/Bitty fics that posits that maybe Jack has a lot more development to undergo before he can really, truly, be okay--or be okay enough to be with Bitty? To be honest, this story strikes me now as too long, but the parts in it that work are effective beyond that which fanfic demands. Meanwhile, this audio version only covers six chapters, but itâs so slick, so well-realized, so true to the story. Podfic as art.
my own dear friends | Ever since the day he met Jack Zimmermann, Shitty has seen it as his solemn duty to aggressively love him. (He just didn't know how aggressive the love Jack needed would be.) | Thereâs previous little Jack/Shitty in this fandom and a lot less quality BDSM,
the cityâs ours until the fall | Kent has been, historically, good at thisâforgetting about things until suddenly he doesnât, and then itâs like the scar has never been there in the first place, just the wound. (Or: Kent Parson lets himself be happy, after all this time.) | Iâve never read this fic and I never will. I cannot imagine how, no matter how good it is, it could compare to the version that lives in my head, with Kentâs voice so totally realized. Vocal fry and pathos, a languid energy that I still think about when I think about Parse.
the model home | Itâs going to be better, and thatâs great, but sometimes Jack thinks, why canât it be good right now? | j/k j/k, this is a self-reminder to finally one day review this.
101 notes
¡
View notes
actually, i don't really think that a fat character being in love with food is that bad? (in response to all of your posts about soos and hunk, specifically)
it's not like their eating habits are something forceful, it's not like they bodyshame themselves or are disgusted by their own eating.
don't get me wrong, i've watched gravity falls, i'm two episodes into voltron and i really see all of the points you made. the stupid or lazy stereotypes for example and i'm not here to argue with those.
but so far i get the impression that eating isn't something bad for these characters. like you said, hunk's always thinking about food and that's supposed to be some crappy kind of joke but eating seems to be something hunk genuinely enjoys. and if you genuinely enjoy eating, there's a chance you're fat. and maybe the intention of these jokes is fatphobia but there's no fatphobia itself in the show, like hunk doesn't get really insulted for being fat and therefor doesn't lose his positive attitude towards food. that's a good lesson i, as an overweight person, take from this character. (please correct me if i'm wrong, as i said, i've just watched two episodes so far.)
and soos gets insulted from characters in the show a lot, that's true but it's not like he's bothered. he doesn't mind the fatphobia in his surroundings and whether that is because he was written to be rather stupid or because he just doesn't care, it's not something to make out as bad. if little me who was teased and bullied for her weight would've seen this earlier, maybe she would've been off better.
again, feel free to disagree and i'm not here to fight or say that you're entirely wrong, that's just my view on the eating thing because as long as the love for food is genuine and not made out to be a toxic element that the characters suffer from, i don't see a real problem there.
This is probably about a older post and tbh I don't know which mod originally posted about these characters. Hopefully I can explain this:
Loving food can be a neutral character trait but it disproportionatly is applied to fat people. Because content creators think people are only fat because they eat too much. That's the crux of it.
"Like you said, hunk's always thinking about food and that's supposed to be some crappy kind of joke" but nothing that's it that's the joke. "Fatty gonna eat." The implications is that food is a source of earthly pleasure and fat people don't have any other hobbies other that food because again, content creators think you can only be fat from over eating.
"and if you genuinely enjoy eating, there's a chance you're fat." There's a chance that any body type can enjoy eating, fatness has nothing to do with it.
People should enjoy eating anyway. Being obsessed with food is not enjoying eating, is a disordered eating condition. Thinking about food 24/7 is an obsession. (IRL this can be a sign of malnutrition, dieting/starvation/caloric deficit or working in a way that requires meal planning, like chefs or a soup kitchen coordinators. I don't think even mukbang people think about food all the time.)
Why would they change Hunks character joke, it's a tried and true one after all. Even if the in universe cast don't mock Hunk doesn't mean it doesn't play into audience expectations in a negative way.
Next character:
"he doesn't mind the fatphobia in his surroundings and whether that is because he was written to be rather stupid or because he just doesn't care, it's not something to make out as bad" if a character is being bullied and harassed and doesn't call it out its still bad? Even if he doesn't get on a soap box and have a speech he needs to have friends checking up on him, defending him. Especially on a children's show. I have no idea if this ever happens (I haven't watched it all) but bullying a character and showing that character and his friends putting up with it isn't great. Little you deserved to feel impowered by a fat character saying "fuck off" to bullies, not someone putting up with it.
If he's supposed to be "dull witted" and can't realize he's being bullied I just....the fuck? I mean "fat people are stupid" is a stereotype, so, yikes.
You know, I'd hate to bring this series up but you know enjoys eating? Like in a healthy way? The family in Blue Bloods. I catch parts of it because my mom watches it, I hate it so much its clichĂŠd cop propaganda. They have family meals together. Delicious food, variety of foods too, everyone has helpings of food on their plates (including the women no bird eating cliches to be found!) and they talk and enjoy meals together. It's probably a nightmare to film, but delicious to watch.
No one character is obsessed with food. But they enjoy these meals. Some are more chubby than others but it's all equal enjoyment.
Anyway,
If a character is fat and is shown constantly eating then its a stereotype. Especially if there is no thin people to match.
Fat people have assumed relationships with food. Thin people don't. Fat people are assumed to care too much about food, eat too much and that's why they are fat.
You don't have to blacklist and throw away media that you love when there are problematic elements either. If you personally found it comforting that Hunk is still obsessed with food but his friends don't mock him for it then I won't try to take that from you, we all like stuff that can be bad. The media is out there and can't be changed, but moving forward I want better rep. I hope I kinda explained why it's a sticky situation.
35 notes
¡
View notes
Jace Beleren, Masculinity, and the Trans Experience
(This post is a Twitter thread I wrote in response to a Goblin Lore podcast episode called âJace Beleren and Toxic Masculinityâ.)
I feel I have a unique perspective on this topic as a trans man. Trans man Jace isn't my headcanon, but it's an interpretation I love. He's my favorite character of all time, and as a trans man, I feel like reading Jace's flaws as toxic masculinity isn't quite right.
There are several "pillars" of toxic masculinity that Jace doesn't have. He doesn't have the self-destructive emotional repression, worship of sex and violence, or desire to subjugate women and his peers that men who experience toxic masculinity have.
Even BEFORE Ixalan, Jace was an example of many positive masculine traits. He was curious and emotionally open. He wrongly believed he could make decisions for others, but he cared for people, wanted to protect them, and couldn't sit idly by when he knew people were in danger.
In Agents of Artifice, he financially provided for Kallist and Liliana, and in Magic Story invited the Gatewatch to live in his home. Jace wanted to heal Garruk, tried to stop his rampage and had a Hedron implanted in Garruk's shoulder to relieve the effects of the curse.
"I don't want to hurt you, Garruk."
"Lucky for me, I don't feel the same way."
"Garruk, this is not a fair fight. You've suffered enough. Please. Come with me."
[...]
Jace stood in thought. Garruk held him by the throat, could end his life in an eye blink, had already proven he was immune to Jace's illusions. Garruk laughed again. If Garruk was open to having friends, then Jace might have been a good one.
"You win," said Jace. "We will leave you alone. I will not seek you out. But please, if you change your mind, come find us on Ravnica. Something is still not right here. We can help you."
In "Revelation at the Eye" Jace tells Ugin that Zendikar isn't a puzzle to be solved, and that it didn't matter if killing the Eldrazi has consequences, there are real people on Zendikar fighting for their lives and he needs to help them.
"Zendikar isn't a puzzle to be solved," said Jace. "It's a place. It's somebody's home. And those people are out there, right now, fighting for their world and wondering if anybody's going to help them kill what's killing them."
He showed scenes of suffering, thenâof families mourning the lost, of landscapes ravaged by Ulamog, of even the skies and seas teeming with the Eldrazi menace.
Ugin cocked his head. The hedron architecture of the chamber seemed to melt and flow, became a pattern of tessellating dragons mocking him from the walls.
"So certain," said Ugin, "and so young."
Ral Zarek tried to kill Jace and ruined his relationship with his close friend Emmara, but in "Project Lightning Bug", Jace forgives him. Jace is honest about his feelings with Ral even after Ral was openly rude to him.
"I don't remember home," Beleren said quietly, unbidden.
"What?"
"You talked about growing up in Ravnica. A lot of my memories from my childhood are gone. Chopped up in my head into a few impressions. Most of what I remember begins here, on Ravnica. I'll never have roots here the way you do, and I admit I'm off to other planes a lot. But I think of myself as Ravnican to the core, too."
In Kaladesh block he wanted Chandra to be able to confide in him, and didn't want to stay home when he heard she could be in trouble. He used his mind magic to help Nissa sleep when she had a sensory overload in the busy city.
Nissa looked up. Jace and Gideon were exchanging a look. Both glanced at her.
They stood as one.
Jace turned toward the coat room. "I'll head to Kaladesh. It should be easy for me toâ"
Lavinia appeared in his path, one hand resting on the pommel her sword. "Again?" she said, in a weary, disappointed tone.
He frowned up at her. "You can't expect me to sit here and do paperwork!"
Across the streets, beyond the barricades, the Consulate's panharmonicons are still blaring "The Gremlin's Wedding March" at us on infinite repeat at double speed. They left them on all night, and after the moon set Nissa started crying, hands clamped over her ears.
[...]
Jace sat down with her. They talked a minute and his eyes flashed. She curled up in a big potted plant and didn't wake up until the sun fell on her.
But what does being a man mean to Jace Beleren? Well, take a look at his feelings towards Gideon. Jace saw Gideon as the male ideal. I think Jace admires (and is envious of) the way Gideon is a representation of positive masculinity.
Eyes widened, jaws set. They understood their task, he was certain of that. But were they actually prepared to perform it?
What would Gideon say?
Jace smiled. Of course.
"For Zendikar," he said, raising one fist in the air. It felt thin to him, lacking Gideon's armored fist, his baritone war cry, his iron conviction.
None of that mattered. The soldiers shouted as one voice, holding their weapons aloft.
"For Zendikar!"
Gideon is not violent or hypersexual. He's kind, not afraid to ask for help, a defender rather than an aggressor. The pillars of toxic masculinity are absent in both Jace and Gideon. So why does Gideon's mere presence make Jace insecure? I think that insecurity is dysphoria.
I'm only 5 feet tall. People treat me like a kid, think I need help, and certainly don't see me as a man because I'm very small. It feels bad knowing my looks don't inspire others or make them feel safe like big tall guys can.
Gideon is super tall, muscular, conventionally attractive. He's charismatic and a natural leader. Gideon's like a human lighthouse. Jace is average height, out-of-shape, often pale and sickly, and his telepathy makes people automatically distrust him.
It's easy to see why people follow Gideon's lead so easily rather than Jace's. As a trans man, I personally related to Jace's insecurity. He feels inadequate compared to Gideon.
"I'd rather stand," said Gideon.
Jace stood up. It was an error. He still had to crane his neck to look Gideon in the eye, and now the size difference between them was glaringly obvious. He hated feeling small. Hated it.
Jace wanting to lead the Gatewatch didn't come from a desire to dominate others and be an ~alpha male~, but from a desire for people to believe in him. What Jace really wants is to prove to himself and others that he's competent and that he can be trusted.
This vision appeared whenever the man was struggling at a task.
[...]
"Listen, you aren't really suited to this task. Let me handle it." The vision's voice was gruff but friendly.
It came off as condescending.
The man was annoyed.
"I can do it myself."
The hallucination sighed. "You and I both know you're not suited to this. Let me handle it, you go philosophize on the other end of the beach."
"I said I can do it myself." The man let his irritation reach his voice.
"No, you can't. I call the shots and execute, you stand to the side. That's how this works."
The man responded by throwing his hook at the hallucination. It went straight through the figure's eye and landed behind him on the sand.
The time he spends with Vraska is so good for him! I loved that [the podcasts hosts] talked about how he was finally happy to follow someone else's lead! He didn't need to be a leader, he needed someone to trust him. She respected and loved him and thought he was incredible for who he is.
Vraska looked him in the eye. "You're incredible. You know that, right?"
Jace returned her smile and felt his cheeks warming. "I do my best."
"Well, your best is incredible," Vraska said, turning toward the central tower and approaching a large gate on what appeared to be its back side.
Liliana never told Jace he was incredible.
Liliana would have scoffed. She would have made a dismissive joke, rolled her eyes, and called him a show-off. She would not bother to talk to him for days. She would consume the body of a demon with a crocodile's jaws and laugh over the sound of its flesh tearing off. She would do all sorts of things, but she would never call him incredible.
It was important for Jace to get that validation. Now he's not insecure about his appearance. It's not that he finally developed into someone who was caring. He was caring all along, but he was held back by insecurity about how others perceive him. He learned to love himself.
Despite all his good qualities and deeds he still felt insecure because it wasn't easy to visually see him as a "strong man". I think it's important to acknowledge positive masculinity even when the man in question isn't attractive or charismatic, and even if he makes mistakes.
As a trans person, Jace's experience reminded me of the struggle to "pass". It's frightening how easily insecurity can turn into toxic masculinity when you feel different from "real men". If you don't look the part, some people will just never acknowledge you.
Next to 'perfect' guys like Gideon, it's easy to see our own perceived weaknesses and shortcomings. Easy to feel resentment for it. But from this struggle comes the strive to be better men, to be confident in ourselves, and comfortable in our bodies.
There's SO much I wanted to talk about, like how Jace's trauma shaped his need for control, how the IRL gamer guys he was created to represent actually hate him, how he's a male victim of abuse by a female partner, etc but this thread is already terribly long.
TLDR; I think toxic masculinity as a reading of Jace is missing some perspective. The trans perspective. Not all insecurity men experience is toxic masculinity. Sorry I totally should have waited until part 2 was out, but I couldn't stop thinking about that episode.
There's a lack of trans men's voices in... basically everything, and this is something I think we should definitely be included in. I'm so grateful for the Vorthos community opening these kinds of discussions. Super excited for part 2 of the podcast!
303 notes
¡
View notes
Remember Me ~ Worick Arcangelo x Reader
Disclaimer: This is going to have mentions of past abuse and supposedly illegal behaviour, but considering itâs Gangsta weâre talking about, I donât think anyone should be surprised by darker themes addresses.
Birthdays...Have always been tedious. A drag. More work than they are worth...So, I wonder...Why do I actually bother doing a party at my home?
I mean, itâs true, I get it, Iâm 21, Iâm of age...Legally an adult, legally allowed to drink, legally everything whatever...The same as it has been for the past 3 years...
And MAYBE itâs fun to sometimes gather around with your friends and do the same things everyone always does at parties, loud music, alcohol, cigarettes and gossips...
But there is always that annoying anxiety feeling surging through my veins whenever I have to be around more than 3 of my friends, considering this is a party organised by me, and everything has to be done perfectly, everyone must feel good, and at home, not to be left out...
I can already envision myself being the only outcast, anyway, but thatâs besides the point.
Itâs already evening, the alcohol is sitting on the table, the pizza boxes are stacked up in a mountain on the floor, plastic cups everywhere, ash trays placed strategically, dim lights, coloured light projectors to make the room look like a disco...
And then thereâs me. Sitting anxiously on the couch in the living room, dressed in a pair of dark jeans and a long plaid shirt with the sleeves rolled up, along with some silver rings and a necklace. Casual, comfy, yet pretty elegant in its simplicity.
My friends arrived soon, very loudly congratulating me on aging one more year, fantastic...But they had a mischievous smirk on their faces...
And they brought in a tall, blond man who looked very macho, and I could only blink in confusion as everyone walked inside.
âUhm...Who is he? One of yours boyfriend or something?â I asked, eyeing everyone attentively.
âNooo, silly! Heâs our gift for you!â my best friend grabbed the man by his arm, shoving him towards me.
âIâm...Not sure I follow.â I spoke with even more unease, not wanting to believe what I was hearing.
âHeâs Ergastulumâs most wanted Gigolo! And tonight, heâs all yours to do with as you please! Câmon, you deserve to let loose and have fun once in a while, yâknow? Forget about all those jerks and enjoy pleasure like youâve never felt before~!â my other best friend grabbed me by my shoulders from behind, putting her chin on top of one of her hands, slurring seductively.
â...I see.â I muttered, looking away, trying to mask my displeasure at what I was hearing.
âAnyway, letâs get you drunk! You wonât get to enjoy anything if youâre so cold and reserved with everyone, yâknow? Maybe thatâs why youâre always alone! Now câmon, letâs have fun!â she dragged me to the drinks table, and we started playing drinking games like never have I ever...
Gotta say, Vodka and Baileyâs has always been a shot combination that I adore, and Iâm grateful that it takes a long time to get me drunk, because these girls are wasted, while Iâm not, so I can escape their grasp. Drunk dancing isnât that fun, even to watch, and they were making fools of themselves, screeching, giggling...More or less sounding like pained donkeys.
Or maybe Iâm just too judgemental and mean because Iâve been in a bad mood and spiraling since they got in my home. To be fair, I donât even care what is the truth. These are my feelings and Iâm not going to play them off as insignificant or non-existent.
Eyeing them carefully, I take a pack of cigarettes and make my way out of the house and sit on the stairs, taking a deep breath of the cold winter night air, I light up a cigarette, taking a drag and staring up at the sky, letting my endless train of toxic thoughts overwhelm me.
I was so long in my own mind that I didnât notice the door opening until a shadow blocked my vision, and I noticed the platinum blond man sitting down on the stairs below me, resting his back on the wall on the side.
âYâknow...I havenât been to many birthday parties before, but Iâm pretty sure the birthday girl is supposed to be pampered and the center of attention, and yet, here you are, outside, alone and sad.â the man spoke seriously, with his usual light glint.
âHow much did they pay you?â I muttered, lighting another cigarette, realising that the other one burn without taking another drag of it.
âHmmm? What do you mean?â he asked, raising an eyebrow at me.
âIâm tipsy, not stupid. You think I canât think rationally after 8 shots? Youâre dead wrong. Now, tell me, how much did they pay you and what exactly did they tell you to do?â I asked in a pressed tone, side-eyeing him.
âYouâre certainly perceptive, I give you that. Tâwas quite a lot of money to spend the night with you.â he tilted his head in a playful way.
âNot only they have no faith in me to get someone to even remotely like me...They have to pay someone to do something that I dread with a burning passion. Do you even know my name? I donât know yours.â I shrugged, hanging my head, gritting my teeth in annoyance.
âI see your friends screwed up a bit. Nameâs Worick, nice to meet you.â he extended his hand towards me.
â...Y/N. Nice to meet you too...I think.â I sighed, staring reluctantly at his hand, before slowly shaking it.
âPretty name for a pretty girl. Wanna talk to a guy youâll never see again? I heard that venting and letting out pent up emotions helps.â he offered, making me look at him with a weird face.
âYou know youâre not gonna get any action, so you try to do something for the money you earned, huh?â I snorted, raking my fingers through my hair.
âHey, donât look at me like that. Contrary to my profession, Iâm a pretty chill guy. What do you have to lose, talking to someone youâll never see again? And besides, I have little room to judge you, so if thatâs your worry, you can throw it away.â he lit up a cigarette, puffing up into the sky.
âYouâre...Not wrong here. Okay, fine, Pretty Boy. Imagine this. Youâre not even of age, you get your first lover and youâre happy. You finally feel superior. Someone gives a fuck about you...Thatâs the definition of a lover, after all, I guess...But hereâs the deal. Barely one month into the relationship, the person starts getting very pushy and pressures you, without you realising. Words and actions. It goes to the point that they force you to do things that you donât want to and youâre not ready to, mentally or physically...And you canât do anything except for denying, since they donât listen and they overpower you. How is that, so far?â I spoke, taking a few breaks in between sentences to keep myself grounded and lucid.
âVery suckish. Does any of your friends know that?â Worick asked in a gentle voice.
âThey do...My two best friends do. The ones who apparently paid you. I donât know whatâs in those tiny brains of theirs, but I donât think a one night stand is going to somehow magically get me rid of all problems, traumas, self-issues and nightmares Iâve been having for the last years. Or maybe Iâm just paranoid. I donât know, and at this point, I canât stay that I care.â I shrugged, leaning back on the stairs.
âMaybe you have the wrongs friends. I heard words about you that I donât think friends should speak like that about their so called best friend who trusted them enough with their bad experiences.â he pointed out nonchalantly, as I shifted my gaze towards him with a frown.
âAfter today...I...Think the same. I...Just...Wasnât expecting something like this. What more can I say. I am disappointed. And if that wasnât enough, my second boyfriend, who was a virgin, saw my own virginity as a prize. And the third pity-dated me. Can it get any worse? Because, if yes, I honestly give up.â I sighed, ruffling my hair, obviously done with life.
âLife sure sucks, huh? And most people donât make it any better. All we can do is get stronger, carry on, and fight our nightmares.â he nodded in agreement, clearly sympathetic.
â...I see youâre speaking from experience. I wonder what happened to your eye...It may sound insensitive, but after what I just told you, I donât think thereâs any more need for caution.â I smirked at him with a dark sort of self-deprecation that I could also sense in him.
âWell, yâknow...Sometimes parents arenât the safe haven they ought to be.â he shrugged, extinguishing the finished cigarette on the stairs.
âI see. Yeah, life sucks. I guess I can see why you become a Gigolo. An attractive guy selling his body for money...By what they said, you are the most popular. I can see why. I feel sorry for you.â I gave him a sympathetic smile that disappeared as fast as it came.
âYou have a pretty smile, yâknow? I always thought that people who can smile despite all theyâve been through are the strongest.â he commented, smiling back.
âIs that why you appear to be so cheerful? Youâre strong, not only physically, but mentally and emotionally too? Wish I was the same. Maybe people wonât find me such an easy target to take advantage of.â I snorted sarcastically, making him chuckle.
âItâs a pity people are shit to the few remaining ones who donât give in to societyâs awfulness. But what is a sweet girl like you doing in a shithole like Ergastulum? Doesnât quite add up.â he asked, getting in a better sitting position.
âLife happened. Dad left us, and mum is abroad working to get me enough money to go to university by the end of this year. This place, despite how scary and dangerous it is, was the cheapest place I could afford.â I bit my lip, trying not to worry too much about the future.
âIâm sure youâre gonna nail it, so donât worry too much. You seem like a smart girl, so just study hard and donât forget to enjoy life. By your standards, not othersâ.â he smirked, tilting his head towards the door.
âYouâre funny, Worick. I wish we met under different circumstances.â my voice became lower, only to get interrupted by the door slamming open and the girls leaving the place.
âWell, look at you two, lovebirds! You look so cuuuuuuuute! Hey, Gigolo, better take good care of her, got it?! The night is still young for you two! Awesome birthday party, as usual, Y/N, see ya next time!â the girls left, making me blush from embarassment, looking away.
âYouâve got very sensible friends.â he muttered ironically, shaking his head.
âIâll...Go tidy the apartment. Maybe Iâll be able to focus on something else. Come one, Iâll warm up some pizza.â I shrugged, getting inside the house.
âI didnât think youâd want me around in your home.â Worick pointed out, leaning on a wall.
âYou got paid to spend the night with me, correct? Then youâll do what you got paid for. Keeping me company. You have no idea how refreshing it is talking to someone with some fucking brain in their head.â I plopped down on the couch, putting my feet on the table, turning on the TV to a rock music program and patting the seat next to me for him to join.
âItâs an honour to spend time with you.â he chuckled, taking a slice of pizza, leaning back on the couch and mimicking my position.
For the rest of the night, he was gracious enough to help me tidy up and clean everything, and when we were finally done, I went to change in my nightgown, taking a book and getting in bed, only to see the man leaning on the frame of the door awkwardly.
âAh, yes, how could I forget. Let me find some larger clothes for you to change into.â I put the book down, going to the wardrobe and finding some oversized clothes in which I sometimes sleep.
âAre these yours?â he chuckled in amusement.
âYep.Gotta be comfy when you sleep, right?â I shrugged, getting back in bed.
âYeah, youâre right. Thatâs why I sleep naked.â his grin grew wider, making me frown in confusion.
âSleeping naked is comfy for you?â I put the book on my lap, looking at him for an answer.
âDid you try?â he asked smugly.
âYeah. I felt incredibly uncomfortable and anxious the for hours and couldnât sleep. At 4 AM I couldnât stand it any longer and I put a nightgown on.â I scratched my cheek, looking away.
âThatâs adorable. What were you reading?â he asked, getting closer to me.
âGet changed and you can come over. Iâm not letting you sleep on the couch. You got paid, you deserve better.â I waved my hand at him dismissively, only for him to leave the room, get changed, take the book from my hand, flip through all the pages, and return it.
âAh, Picture of Dorian Gray. Iâve been wanting to read it for a while, thanks for the opportunity, I have to say, I rather appreciate his monologues.â he gave me a shit-eating grin, plopping in bed next to me.
âI...You...Huh?! You canât tell me you just read THIS book, right now, for the first time in your life, by just flipping rapidly through the pages!â my expression was that of pure shock and disbelief, which clearly amused him.
âThatâs exactly what Iâm saying, sweet cheeks.â he smirked, laying his head down on the pillow.
âYou...You have an extraordinary visual memory?!â I asked in a voice that I wasnât sure was heard.
âYouâve got that right, darling.â he chuckled with a satisfied smile.
â...WHY THE HELL ARE YOU A PROSTITUTE?! YOU ARE A GENIUS! YOU COULD DO SO MUCH MORE WITH YOUR LIFE! EARN AN UNBELIEVABLE AMOUNT OF MONEY! DO YOU HAVE NO AMBITION AND SAFE-LOVE?!â I grab him by the shoulders, shaking him, until he stopped me.
âCalm doooown, Y/N, calm down. Thanks for looking out for me, but life is life. Donât worry about me. Iâve got all I need here. You, however, have the whole life ahead of you, so donât waste it like I did.â he advised in a soft voice, making me look at him for a few seconds, before sighing, getting up, and picking another book.
âWe wonât be seeing each other again, will we? Well, if thatâs the case, take this. Itâs a thanks for being nice to me today...But promise me you will take your time reading it, unlike now. Rest, relax, drink a hot cup of tea, and read each page carefully. Enjoy it, live it, feel it. Can you promise me that?â I asked, handing him the book.
âThe Hobbit, huh? Pretty cover, intriguing summary on the back...Fine, Y/N. I canât 100% promise you, but I will try. Are you really willing to part with this one? It seems special for you.â he asked, more serious this time.
â...Maybe sometimes the stupid ideas that your heart gives you are better than the rational ones from your brain. Now go sleep, I want to read.â I looked away from him, opening my book and pretending to read, away from him.
Five minutes passed, then ten, and fifteen, all of them in a deadly silence, almost awkward, until a chuckle split the atmosphere, making me turn around, looking at the man with a confused look.
âUsually, when people read, they turn the page after five minutes. Whatâs on your mind?â he asked, taking a strand of my hair and loosely twirling it with his finger.
â..Well...Youâre a stranger. And...Weâve only talked for a few hours. I know it makes no sense to ask this of you, but...I wonât be seeing you tomorrow anyway, so...Uhm...Do you think...I'm...Cold and mean...And unapproachable?â I mutter, looking away from him.
âNot at all. I find you very endearing. The quiet ones are always the ones who have the best surprises once you get to know them. People deal with problems differently, it just takes the right person to want to understand you.â he kissed the strand of hair, making me bite my lip and turn off the lap light so my possibly pink cheeks wonât be noticeable.
âGreat. Thanks for the info. Now...How about you earn the money you got paid? You can do that by holding me and playing with my hair until I fall asleep.â I try to keep my voice from wavering.
âYou donât have to put that pretext as a front, I would do that even if I wasnât paid.â he chuckled lightly, holding me close to his chest, his fingers masterfully soothing my senses as he caressed by hair.
â...Thanks.â I muttered, hiding my flustered face in his chest. âI have insomnia and general sleeping problems, including sleep paralysis and nightmares...And the only thing that used to be able to put me to sleep without waking up in the middle of the night would be mum holding me and playing with my hair until I fell asleep.â I confessed, my voice becoming softer and more emotional.
âThank you for trusting me with this precious memory, Y/N. Itâs going to be okay. Now close your eyes...Sweet dreams, Y/N.â his peaceful, velvety voice was the last thing I heard before falling into a restful and calm sleep, for the first time in ages.
When morning came and I woke up, the bed was empty on the side that Worick was and I almost feared I imagined the whole thing...Until I noticed a piece of paper on the pillow where he slept.
âYouâre a beautiful person, donât let the darkness take over you. I hope to hear from you again, in the future, under better circumstances. ~ Worickâ
To that, a phone number was written, and the first thing that came into my mind was to get that it tattooed on my body so I wonât lose it.Â
Of course, that will never happen, so Iâll settle for writing it everywhere I can.
For some reason, I wanted to make him proud, and I still had no idea why, so I only called him once a year, on my birthday, and on that day, we would chat on the phone all night, in memory of that night.Â
Finally leaving Ergastulum to go to University and get a better life for myself was something revolutionary for me, but after over 6 years, I managed to do just that. However, there was something that never left my brain, and that was the platinum haired man that completely changed the way I viewed life and how to approach it.
And I returned to Ergastulum after almost a decade.
I was dressed in a cute dress, and this time, unlike last time, a confident smile was on my face. Even though itâs fake, I adopted the âFake it till you make itâ motto, and nobody has to know about my problems.
I vibe.
Asking around for Worick, I find out he works as the Benriya with another man called Nicolas, whoâs a tag, and even better, I got his address, so I knew just where to go.
As I entered the shabby apartment that was, for some reason, unlocked, I see a meek looking woman sitting on the couch, looking down.
âDid Worick get a girlfriend?â I leaned on the wall, a playful smirk on my face.
âWh-What?! G-Girlfriend?! W-Wait, who are you?!â she shot up to her feet, looking at me with big, blue doe eyes, frightened, might I say.
âYouâre adorable. Whatâs your name? And can I ask where Worick is? Iâve been told this is where he lives.â I played with a strand of my hair, trying not to intimidate the girl...Too much.
âU-Uhm...He...Heâs in his room...Who are you, miss?â she asked, trying to get some courage.
âA friend, Iâd like to think. From about ten years ago. Now, if youâll excuse me...â I was ready to go look for him, only for a door to open, and the man in cause to appear, wearing only black boxers, and stretching...He obviously just woke up.
âAlly? Whatâs all the noise?â he yawned loudly, rubbing his eyes.
âDo you have a cute nickname for me too, Worick?â I smirked at him, as he widened his single eye, his jaw dropping in shock.
âY/N...?â he muttered my name, making me grin widely.
âGlad you remember me. It has been quite a while since weâve seen each other...And you age like fine wine, Iâm telling you...Youâre a sight for sore eyes.â he chuckled softly, only for him to come and pick me up, spinning a bit, before putting me down, cupping my face and kissing my forehead, leaving me a surprised and flustered mess.
âAnd look at you! Can you get prettier than this? I told ya, you have a beautiful smile!â he grinned childishly, pinching my cheeks, making me yelp in pain and slap his hands away.
âJerk! That hurts! Ahem...Anyway, dear Gigolo, how are you? I heard some stuff about you working with someone named Nicolas...But I doubt her name is Nicolas.â I chuckled, pushing him softly away.
âOh, yes! Y/N, this is Alex, our new friend. You can say sheâs kinda...Our secretary? I guess? Anyway, come over, we have a lot to catch up on!â he guided me to his bedroom that was, unsurprisingly, messy.
âWonderful and clean, just as expected. Have you ever thought of opening the window?â I teased him, plopping on his bed that was unexpectedly soft.
âYou, lazy little vixen...Here. I bought it years ago, after finishing the book you gave me, and I wanted to find out more. Now, Iâm giving it to you. Are we even?â he smirked, handing me a copy of Fellowship of the Ring book.
âWeâd be even if Iâd spend the night over as well. And if you gave me drinks and pizza. Basically a date. That will do.â I told him, looking dearly at the book I got gifted, although I already read it before.
âMy God, since when are you so bold?â he asked, getting on the bed, resting his chin on my knees, looking at me like a happy puppy.
âDid you miss me, Worick? I hope you did, otherwise that little piece of paper you left would be incredibly disappointing and misleading.â I pointed out, booping his nose.
âIâve been thinking about you since then. By the looks of it, so did you. Are you sure you want a date with someone like me? You are beautiful, you are brilliant, your attitude in endearing as hell...And Iâm still a Gigolo and my life is here, in Ergastulum. Donât regret it later on.â he asked with a more serious tone, only for me to scoff and pull on his hair playfully.
âI wouldnât be here otherwise. Besides...Unlike you, I donât need to be paid to spend quality time with you, doing nothing but chilling and chatting.â I teased him, making him laugh, as he plopped next to me, poking my cheek.
âGreat, problem solved! Youâve got yourself a parasite latching on you. Good luck getting rid of him now.â he grinned cheekily, only for me to cup his face and pull him into a kiss.
âWhy would I wanna get rid of a parasite this cute? Now shut up and hold me, itâs been ten years and Iâm touch starved.â I grinned, nuzzling in the crook of his neck.
âDamn, how I missed you.â he held me tightly to his chest, occasionally peppering my face with kisses.
It was definitely worth coming back to this God Forsaken place, even if it is for only one person. Thereâs place for everyone in this world, and in othersâ hearts, and I found my place, in Worickâs warm arms, where I feel safest and most loved.
255 notes
¡
View notes
HC: Peter Parker didnât know he was Bi until Harley Keener
So this took a turn I wasnât expecting, also itâs a lot longer than I was expecting Iâm sorry also Idk how to do the cut thing so my bad Â
 TW: Mentions of Rape
Okay so Peter Parker is *Straight*
He likes girls, really likes girls
He literally went on a date with Liz (it may have ended with her moving away bc he put her dad in jail but thatâs besides the point)
And he may have had a brief crush on MJÂ
So Peter Parker is *Straight*
Boys are gross, and trust Peter he knows
He doesnât ever want to think of men in a sexual matter
He 10/10 supports anyone who comes out to himÂ
But anytime he thinks about how boys could possibly be into him, his brain immediately goes to Skip WescottÂ
And how Peter was 9 when it started and that he never wants to be in a position like that again
It was horrible and scary, and Peter Parker likes women and only women, and he will never be anyoneâs Skip. And he will never put himself in a position where there can be another Skip.
So Peter Parker thinks men suck.Â
(Obviously beside Ned and Mr Stark, theyâre cool, but Peter has known Ned forever and Mr Stark is literally a super hero, and Peter only became such a huge fan of Iron Man and Tony Stark because of what happened)
His therapist tells him it was his way of coping with what happenedÂ
Then one day Happy picks Peter up at school on an non-lab day because Mr. Stark has someone that he wants Peter to meet
Peter really hopes its the Black Widow (because theyâre both spider themed heroes !! how cool !!!)
Peter meets Mr Stark and this mystery person in the living room
Mr Stark introduces Peter Parker to Harley Keener
Harley Keener looks hot good, hes tall and wears a leather jacket and cowboy boots with skinny jeans. He looks so out of place, but he doesnât look bothered by it either
Peters heart skips a beat, but Peter chalks it up to be anxietyÂ
âHey there Peter, Iâm Harleyâ
Oh my god he has an accent, an actual southern accent
And doesnât that just make Peters heart raceÂ
âTony here tells me youâre a real Einsteinâ He laughed
Harley laughed. Peter is not laughing
Peter hears his blood rushing, and feels himself go cold. His spidey-sense is just going off
Peter looks to Mr Stark whose smile falters at the look of pure-fear on Peters face
Mr Stark doesnât know. Peter never told him. Any files about what happened never include Peters name, or any family members name, so Mr Stark wouldnât have stumbled on it, unless he went into Peterâs Therapists notes, which he hasnât because he may be nosy but he isnât invasiveÂ
Peter knows what this is, he knows heâs going into a panic attack. He was triggered and he needs to get out. Out out out before anything can happen
âSo-sorry, Iâve gotta, I gotta go, something came up wi-with May. It was um, it was nice meeting you Harley.â
Peter left, and made it back home, though he doesnât remember how he made it from Manhattan to Queens and into his apartment.
Heâs home and itâs not the safest place, canât go into his bedroom but itâs better than there
Tony beat him to the apartment (without Harley), already sitting with May when Peter walks in
May is quick to give Peter his favourite over-sized sweater (it makes him feel safe) sitting him down in the living room, putting a knit blanket over him, and giving a bottle of water.Â
âPete, you okay kid?â Mr Stark asksÂ
And Peter is fine, he always has been, so he nodsÂ
âDo you want to talk about why you were triggered into a panic attackâ His voice is soft as he speaks to Peter, like Peter would break
May sits next to Peter, pulling him into herÂ
âAdrian Toomes was not the first person Spider-Man sent to jailâ Peter started the story like this because it was easier to tell it, his therapist may not be happy with it but sheâll be happy heâs making progress by telling some
âSpider-Man was 11 when he sent his first person to jail. It was a year long trial, one kid versus one 18 year old. He used to call Spider-Man, Einsteinâ
Peter seemed to be done with his explanation after this, deeming it enough information for Tony to understand what happened
It wasnâtÂ
But May sending a text that said âSearch Skip Wescottâ gave Tony the opportunity to find out what happened laterÂ
(Tony is really pissed when he reads what happens, and makes sure Skip get transferred to worst prison and that he can never leave)
âOkay, Pete, Iâll talk to Harley about not calling you that. But Harley will be going to the same school as you, okay? Thatâs why I wanted you two to meet.â
After that first night Peter goes back to being his usual chipper self
And Harley starts at MidtownÂ
Peter was just rounding the corner outside of the school to see Harley getting dropped off by Happy
After a moment of hesitation Peter went up to Harley and offered to help him on his first day (because Peter will not let his overwhelming fear take over and he will be friendly for the sake of Mr Stark and that is all)
Despite Peterâs uneasiness and distrust Peter and Harley get on like a house on fire
Peter started to feel really close to Harley, and Harley would often throw his arm around Peterâs shoulder and call him things like sugar, or sweet thing or darling
And Peter liked that a lot, except he didnât because it was weird (but he really did)
And Peter would always go tomato red whenever Harley was around
Even Ned and MJ recognized the crush Peter had on Harley and vice versa
âDude when are you going to make a move on him?â
âWhat the fuck, Ned? Iâm straight, Harley and I are friendsâ
âPeter are you being serious right now? You both obviously have a crush on each other. Harley knows you like him too.â
âThe fuck MJ, I expected you to be more understanding about this. We are friends. Maybe I come off as gay to you because I choose to respect people and am not the exact definition of a âtoxic male,â but I donât fucking like you guy assuming that I like men. Men ainât shit and Iâm not going to find myself in another situation like I used too. I like womenâ
âWhatâs your issue Peter? You homophobic now? Didnât peg you as that.â
âFuck MJ, this isnât your business. Iâm an ally, people love who they love, but I donât like men, and you need to stop pushing that on me. I have my reasons, you have yours.â
âPeter, the way youâre going off on MJ isnât really helping your point much-â
âWould the two of you just shut up about this. I donât like other guys. Women are it for me. I will not be stuck under another man. Fuck, Iâm straight and you need to stop pushing the idea that Iâm into Harley just because you want me to live out your little fantasies of what my life should be like.â
Peter didnât talk to them the rest of the day. Not because he was angry but because he was embarrassed that he said too muchÂ
At the tower Peter and Harley were cuddled together sitting next to each other watching Brooklyn Nine-Nine and talking
Peter really loved Harleyâs Blue eyes
And his accent
And his face
And Harley in general
But totally only in a friends way
Theyâre bros
âI want to try something real quick, you can tell me if Iâm wrong, but I donât think I amâÂ
And then Harley kisses Peter
Harley Kisses him
And Peter freaks out
Without even thinking about it, Peter pushes Harley off of him and bolts, leaving the tower without his phone, shoes or bag, Peter just leaves
Once Peter gets outside he throws up, before his anxiety takes over again and he just runs and runs and runs
Harley is left now sitting on the ground, tears in his eyes, confused and hurt about what just happened
Tony makes it to Harley in record time thanks to Friday, and without a question Harley explains what happened
âI thought he liked me too, Tony, I really did. I donât know how I messed up this bad.â
âIâm sorry Harls, Peter has been hurt a lot and I just donât think he was ready yet emotionally for a relationship.â
Tony knows that Peter has probably just been triggered. Heâs only heard Peter talk about girls romantically, never boys, but he was sure that Peter and Harley were going to be together at some point
Once Harley finally calms down enough and goes to his room Tony calls May
âMay, is Peter with you, he left all his stuff here.â
âNo, I thought he was staying with you tonight. what happened?â
âHarley kissed Pete, and he freaked out and ran out without any of his stuff, I was hoping he was with you. His phone is here too.â
âI think I know where he is, College Point Park. Ben and I used to take him there after any court date.â
âIâll meet you there.â
âWhat about Harley?â
âHeâs already asleep, Iâll meet you there.â
Tony and May get there in record time, finding Peter sitting on the rocks facing the East River.
âPeter?â May called out.
Peter turned around, his face clearly red, tears streaming down his face.
âI donât understandâ Peter finally said as May and Tony got close enough
âWhat donât you understand?â Tony asked
âHarley kissed me. He kissed me. I expected to hate it. But I didnât. I liked it when he kissed me. I should hate it though. Heâs a boy. I shouldnât have liked it.â
âPeter itâs okay if you liked Harley Kissing you, and itâs okay if you like him romantically tooâ May tried to comfort
âBut itâs not May, because if I like Harley, and I like him kissing me then that means that I liked it when Skip kissed me. And I didnât like anything he did to me.â
âPeter, I like when Pepper and I kiss, but that doesnât mean that if May were to kiss me that Iâd like it. Same thing goes for you kiddo.â
âI like girls though. I canât like Harley.â
âYou can like both boys and girls. You could be Bisexual or maybe not. No matter what itâs okay.â May said again.
âI need time. I canât- I need Dr Rosenburg and I need to not be Spider-Man and I need to not see Harley or Ned or MJ. I need time.â
âOkay baby, you can have as much time as you need.âÂ
Peter ends up taking a week off of school, with daily appointments with his therapist. He went completely ghost mode. Wasnât active as Spider-Man, wasnât active on social media. Didnât read or respond to anyoneâs messages. Only talking to May or Tony and only if they were at the apartment.
After his week off, Peter finally reappeared at school, still having not responded to anyoneâs messages, preferring to just deal with things in person.
âPeter oh my god youâre alive we all thought you died.â Ned shouted from down the hall going to greet his friend, MJ and Harley in tow.
âIâm fine guys, I just had some stuff from the past come back up that needed to be dealt with before I did anything that would hurt other people.â
âWhat are you talking about Parker, you wouldnât hurt a fly let alone anyone else.â MJ said confused
âIâll tell you when Iâm ready too but Iâm not there yet. My therapist thinks I made good progress this week though.â
âYour therapist?â Ned asked.
âUh yeah, sorry. MJ, Ned, I really messed up with how I treated you guys the other day, regarding my sexuality, turns out I may of been wrong and you guys were right, I just repressed any of those emotions due to trauma. So, Iâm sorry you didnât deserve that.â
Ned and MJ obviously forgive Peter bc duh theyâre friends
âI would like to talk to Harley privately though, so you guys wouldnât mind?â
So Peter pulls Harley to the side finally getting the chance to talk to him, and wanted to say his words before he lost his nerves.
âPeter Iâm sorry-â
âI liked when you kissed me. Thatâs why I freaked out. I didnât think it was possible for me to like that, or men. Iâm sorry for pushing you away. I wasnât prepared and my brain automatically went to a dark place. I like you Harley Keener, but I have problems and I want you to be aware of that before we do anything.â
âOkay.â
âIf we are going to try this I need you to be aware of my limits. I have a lot of them apparently, and Iâm not sure if more will come up or not, but my therapist said that I should talk to you about this stuff before we do anything. If you still like me, that is.â
âPeter Parker you are too precious, of course I still like you, I donât plan on not liking you for a while yet.â
And then Peter smiles and he feels relieved, because getting to this point took a lot of work and now heâs here and he likes a boy who likes him back who wonât hurt him
358 notes
¡
View notes
Ahaha i understand! IB is intelligence bureau, in simple words collecting and securing data of my country and keeping an eye on border details. So i was asking, if i am going to pursue, will i successfully get it? If not what career am i most likely to get in. Sorry for the confusion- and oh! Also i am still pursuing my studies and have not yet decided my path.
Hellow! First of you donât need to apologize! Itâs all fine!! I didnât really know how I would read this one because there are a lot of career spreads, so I went looking for a more suitable spread for you. I found this one and I hope it can suit you. If not we can have another row when I am opened with tarot readings again!
Oh one more thing, Thank you so much for explaining!!
Also I am so sorry for the delay! I hope I can redeem myself with this reading!!
That being said, letâs dive in shall we?
Order of the cards
Eight of Chalice
Ten of Swords
Ten of wands Reversed
Knight of Swords
Knight of Wands Reversed
Three of Chalice Reversed
â1:Your Goal:
So we start off with the eight Chalice- so this card talks about âfinally letting goâ of any type of stress, something that has been bothering you for so long, all the choices that maybe somebody picked up for you, or any type of choices you are going through. You want all that to end because it only brings you stress and saturation. You feel you need to escape something and you feel this job can be just that. Helping you move on. So you expect to also leave things behind, you probably have to take a step out of your comfort zone in order to face happiness.
â2:Your Challenge:
So with the ten of swords, since it is horizontal all I can feel is a negative vibe from this so if it would be in its normal position it would be reversed, this lets us know that something has been dragging on and you have been resisting this force because you aren't ready to face this. This also makes sense with the eight of cups, because this is an old situation that has caused you some pain. The sooner you recognize it happened or will happen the better because the soon you will move forward and go past that. Whoever or whatever is blocking you also shaped you and that is a positive thing because now you will see things with other eyes
â3:What Pulls You Back?:
We got the Ten of wands reversed and everything so far has been fitting perfectly. So what have you been hiding from yourself or others? This card tells me that you are trying to do it all by yourself and maybe this job you want is a secret and you want it to be kept private. Maybe only close friends know but you donât want to tell much more about it. This or something that has happened that is a very problematic burden to you and almost no one knows of this because you are trying to keep it to yourself, you donât want to burden anyone with it...I feel like itâs associated with a past trauma or a stuck emotion in a situation. This will hold you back from what you want and you should share what has happened in order to move forward, once you âaskâ for help people will want to help you and support you which is something you need. On another note, this card talks about being more organized, either with the plans you have or throwing/ give to charity things that you donât need. You need to simplify and ask for help.
â4:What Pushes You Forward?
What keeps you going, which tells me the knight of swords, is your courage. You might not think you have it. But you do. You are rebellious and a free spirit even if you don't feel it. This is what keeps you going. If you donât believe this is true, then letâs call it âstubbornâ Yes, itâs not something bad being stubborn which just means we will face everything and not give up. You have your own mission and you want to carry it no matter what, no matter what you have been through, no matter what others say. âKeep moving forwardâ Is what I feel the card is saying. You might not think things through and try to jump right in, this might work for you but donât forget that planning won't harm you but keep in mind that plans fail and that is ok, they are just guidelines! You have good communications skills and you can easily form a solid argument on important matters. This card also tells me that you are better in a group that have the same goal and this will allow you to grow
â5:What the Job Gives You?
The knight of wands reversed, warns you to be careful, you might be so excited about being here that you almost burden yourself. What do I mean by this? You want to do everything and helping everyone, you might have trouble even saying no which leads you later to stress and delaying things that are important. This is your passion and we know it is, and you have a lot of energy to show but slow down, this will get you into trouble with coworkers and with yourself. You might even be restless because you have so much energy to give but right now you canât move, just take a big breath, try to relieve this tension. Your time to shine will come in time. This card also warns us that you might get stuck into a routine in the beginning and you start to maybe regret your decision but you have to remember why you started here, why this is your passion. You might feel a lack of direction at some point but donât fret, you will manage to get the hang of it. About the finances- you might feel secure but donât think that the money you get stretches donât âwasteâ money on things you donât need at least for now, you have to save some for an eventuality!
â6:Underlying Factors
For the last card, we have the Three of Chalices reversed! This card appearing is no surprise, this one talks about working alone. You might neglect yourself to work and disconnect with friends and family. You are exhausted on social media, this probably had to do with the job you get, once again you feel stressed, probably because you canât put your energy on this job as you want so you are drained. You should take some time off, if you have a vacation it would be best to take it. IF you are away from them, donât go on the internet because it can cause you more stress, talk to your friends instead, read a book at night, find small things that calm you. Something that also can happen is that your work environment can be toxic, with gossip and trying to destroy someone's career. You may see conflict and you werenât expecting that and you seem to be caught in the crossfire. Try your best to avoid it, donât take part in the gossip, just do your job and everything will be fine!
Ps: Furthermore I want to add that we took two tens in this pile and this number is associated with Capricorn, which also talks about career and ambition. You might tend to try to do this journey alone. You will be determined to an end. Another thing that showed is the knights so I am sensing you will probably work with someone from the past, this is also backed up with the chalices that speak about relationships and connections that you shared.
I hope you liked the reading, any doubt please you can ask directly! Donât forget to reblog and to leave feedback!
Please stay safe and sound
Kapuff!Witchout!
2 notes
¡
View notes
Homestuck's always been antagonistic and insensitive, but I don't recall seeing any of you try to dox Hussie? But please, continue to rationalise how cyberbullying lgbt people for not being nice enough and having opinions about a fictional character you disagree with puts you in the right. A story doesn't go the way you'd like and this is how you respond? You COULD have just not bothered reading it instead of CHOOSING to make your online life about something you hate like a toxic weirdo.
Hi, Kate. Iâm so glad you could find my blog. (Edit: that was a joke. Apparently, some anons find it impossible to tell that I donât actually think youâre Kate). Itâs clear to me that you didnât take the time to read through any of the content thatâs actually on here, since youâre throwing around rather wild accusations, so let me take this down step by step.
Homestuck has only rarely been antagonistic and insensitive. Things like the Alpha Trolls - which were clear criticisms of fandom culture - were relatively few and far between, and when we complained about them, they actually stopped. Remind me, for instance, how relevant the Alpha Trolls were to the plot? How long they stayed as mockeries towards the fandom? Yeah, not long. I actually have talked about this before on the blog - alongside other things I thought were negative towards the fandom from the original comic - but the difference here is that... in the entirety of Homestuck, these things were outliers and inconsistencies. They stuck out because they were in stark contrast to the otherwise wonderfully handled content Homestuck went over.
For instance, Homesuck is critical of abuse - especially in terms of relationships. We see through a critical lense the shit normalisation of parental abuse can do to a child - with actual talk of triggers and of the mental and emotional scarring left behind, and the complexities of the childâs feelings towards the parentâs death through Dave - and we see how self destructive relationships can be, how harmful they are, and how hard it can be to leave them - such as Tereziâs very toxic blackrom with Gamzee, which was always portrayed as something negative and harmful especially with how worried Karkat was for her and how withdrawn she became during its run, and Dirkâs relationship with Jake, which goes very much over how communication can cause a deterioration in romantic relationships especially when the two participants have conflicting mental illnesses.Â
It also goes over how men, though they can be mired in toxic masculinity, can choose to be good. How sometimes weâre not born as good people, but we can become good people through the love we have for the people around us, through frequent attempts to check what weâre doing, through the sheer willpower to be good. Dirkâs entire arc, knowing that he could very easily become Bro but deciding he doesnât want to be, that itâs something he wants to work on, is so important and incredibly powerful. Mental illness in men is often just given as an excuse to make them violent with no attempts at betterment - so Dirk actually existed as proof that you donât have to be that stereotype.Â
In contrast, Homestuck^2 completely uncritically gave Jade, who was cis, a dog dick, made her, a bisexual woman, a sex maniac and the yaoi âwoman who gets in the way of the gaysâ trope, made her a cheater and someone who forced her partner into the relationship to begin with, and made her a neglectful mother after having cheated with her best lesbian friend in something that has incredible recall to just about every futanari video ever - and they tried to claim that this was good representation of trans women, actually, and that the only reason we didnât like it is that Jade is âa womanâ who âhas sexâ.
Likewise completely uncritically, they made Gamzee, an anti-black stereotype, enter a relationship with Jane, a fascist, and then made the entire thing into a cuck joke wherein Jake being frequently drunk and sexually assaulted was funny because he wasnât âman enoughâ. They then forced him to go back to his abuser after he left her in a scene that read very much like, âridiculous man thinks woman is abusing him, go back and do your manly jobâ.Â
This, of course, doesnât even go into the travesty that is any form of trans representation in the comic. Roxy, a trans man, is barely even focused on as trans; they make no attempt to enforce in the fandom that heâs a trans man the way they do that June is a trans woman, and even then, they seem to think that just saying someone is a trans woman is actually good representation. Not, like, bringing it into the comic - just saying that itâs a thing. And of course, thatâs not even going into the completely uncritical lense they have of Vriska, wherein her being a trans woman completely frees her of any and all blame for the past abuses she has comitted, and once again she becomes an amazing character to save the day without a single flaw - which in turn inherently associates trans women with abuse apologism, abusers, and the ideology that just because weâre trans we can get away with anything scott free.Â
I honestly cannot think of one instance of good and genuine representation in Homesuck^2, nor can I think of any scene where negative content was actually treated as the negative thing it actually is. Thereâs no critical lense at all, not like we have in Homestuck; thereâs just no fucking comparison. And this isnât a one-off situation, either. Whereas Homestuck does do fuck ups - isnât perfect - in between the otherwise brilliant content, Homestuck^2 is just founded upon these horrific takes. Thereâs almost no good content in between, and what is left is a slog to get through when surrounded by the thick slurry of shit that compromises futa Jade, abuse apologism Vriska, and victim blaming Jake.Â
Of course, we didnât âdoxxâ Hussie. Hussie actually listened to our complaints, for the most part, and worked with us to create something that worked well. The way Homestuck^2 was touted to work. You know, since it was meant to be written with the fandom in mind, influenced by the things we suggest and react to. We went into Homestuck^2 with the explicit idea that we were going to be listened to and taken into consideration when it was being written - the way we were with old Homestuck. Iâm very sorry to say that, when you make these expectations, people are going to be a titchy bit upset when you then commandeer the entire thing and exclude the fandom from any of the process that you said they were going to be part of.
Additionally, itâs rather funny, isnât it, that what you call doxxing is actually just people upset with how triggering content is being handled, and going to the people who actually wrote the content in order to voice their complaints? Itâs almost as if social media exists to allow this communication between reader and author, which is a fundamental thing youâll learn in any creative writing course, such as the one Iâm on currently, wherein youâre actually taught how to respond to social media and to build up your image with your fans.Â
Homestuck^2 is an ongoing piece of media. Weâre well aware that we have a potential to change these uncritical takes and the horrific way theyâre being handled if the writers will just listen to genuine criticism. This is, frankly, no different to the people who go to J. K. Rowlingâs Twitter to tell her how harmful her transphobic comments are; because if she believes these things, they will work their way into her texts and will perpetuate harmful ideologies.Â
The literal same thing is happening in Homestuck^2 - again, such as futa Jade, which normalises the point of view that bisexuals are cheaters and completely trivialises what it means to be trans, or Gamzee, which perpetuates just about every anti-black stereotype possible. Media does have a very powerful impact on what people see in the real world. This is why, for instance, positive black characters are so important in media; if theyâre always portrayed as villains, then people will see real world black people as villains as the ideology is perpetuated to the point of fact. This is especially true if the people already believe in the ideology.
Fiction is one of the best ways that we can counteract this cycle. If you make a character that they like, and they happen to be positive representation, and then they watch more media that is likewise positive representation, itâs more likely to stick that these positive representations are the actual experiences of minority groups. Also? Itâs important TO those minority groups. A black person, especially right now, doesnât want to see an anti-black stereotype fuck a fascist, engage in sexual assult, and then enact pedophilia - only to die at the hands of a hero and be laughed at for the death. Surprisingly, shit like this is why we need to tell the writers that what theyâre doing is harmful, that theyâre perpetuating phobic ideologies, and that we need better representation - especially in a comic that is this widely read, and also has a very large minor fanbase.Â
I shouldnât need to explain why exposing minors to anti-black stereotypes, transphobic, homophobic, biphobic, abuse apologism, victim blaming, and the trivialisation of rape and sexual assault (especially towards men), might be a federal fucking issue.Â
So, no, weâre not actually cyberbullying LGBT+ people. Weâre trying to hold shitty writers accountable for the incredibly toxic and harmful ideologies theyâre forcing into a text that has always been written with critical thought in mind.Â
I should also point out how funny it is that youâre focusing on how some of the writers are LGBT+ - as if weâre not? Iâm trans, Iâm gay, and Iâm ace. Yes, I can actually be these things and absolutely furious that a trans women is writing some of the most transphobic shit Iâve seen in a while into characters she then claims to be completely free of blame. We can be furious that people within our own community are enforcing negative stereotypes.
Being LGBT+ does not make them free from blame. We cannot give them a free pass to be racist, to be transphobic, to be homophobic, biphobic, to be abuse apologists, just because theyâre LGBT+. Not only because thatâs just a terrible fucking idea to begin with, but because it also reflects so, so badly on the community as a whole. As if being part of the community instantly means that you can do no wrong? As if there can be no toxicity within our own community, despite the fact that there very much is and it is still an issue to this day?
That is such an issue, one of the biggest issues even shown just in Vriska and the way Kate handles her as a whole - and, once again, is WHY we need to get them looking at this shit more critically. This view that LGBT+ people can do no wrong and cannot be criticised is shoved into Homestuck^2 and, once again, perpetuates the ideology. This isnât something to be proud of. This isnât something thatâs actually okay.
Also, your point that the writers arenât nice enough and that we disagree on fictional characters - well, Iâve already been over the second part. But for the first part, I would like to remind you that they arenât just random LGBT+ people on the internet that weâre going to because we think their takes are a little shitty. Theyâre actual writers working on a piece of media. They are official content creators.Â
Again, one of the first things you learn on any creative writing course is that when you become a writer, you gain a significant amount of responsibility for your interactions with the fandom. This is something that you genuinely have to expect, and if you donât, then, unfortunately you just donât know what it means to write something that thousands of people have a potential to read. As a writer, it is your responsibility to portray your image online; it is your responsibility to engage with the fans in a meaningful way; it is your responsibility to not cause drama and to listen when criticism is brought up, to have genuine discussion and not to perpetuate hatred - especially towards your own fanbase.
Consider, for instance, the way Iâm talking to you right now. This is the sort of tone that someone should take when talking to a fan about genuine criticism. When things are brought up, you go over them step by step, you listen, you write back - you donât go on a flurry of âfuck yousâ to a minor who asked you why your team didnât post anything about the BLM movement on the official Twitter, and you definitely donât respond to every comment with genuine criticism with the word âpigshitâ. You almost definitely donât tell your trans masculine and masculine-aligned nonbinary fans that their opinions donât matter.
As a writer, Kate and the rest of the team have a responsibility with their interactions with their fans. They arenât just normal fandom voices anymore; theyâre official fandom voices, voices that have more weight behind them than anyone else. Theyâre who people are going to turn to when it comes to anything regarding Homestuck^2. Their words now reflect literally everything about Homestuck^2, the future of Homestuck as an expanded universe, and the opinions of the group as a whole. They have to be careful with what they say. They have to be held to the same standards as industry voices because thatâs essentially what they are - especially now that Homestuck is something you pay for.Â
Also, this isnât a point of the story not going the way I want. This is a point of many of people in the fandom being upset with how content is being handled, upset that their voices are being shut down, upset that triggering content is being laughed at or used flippantly and without care or respect. This is people being upset that trigger warnings were removed specifically to make the comic unsafe for them as a punishment for daring to say that something was wrong. This is people being upset that a piece of media that used to be so fucking good at portraying sensitive content in a critical light, that used to be so good at normalising LGBT+ identities and healthy representations of those identities, has suddenly turned to this.Â
The story can go whatever way it wants - and frankly, thatâs fine be my. What isnât fine is that content is being used specifically to hurt and to incite.
And, of course, that final piece; nothing will improve if we donât say that itâs wrong to begin with. Someone needs to voice the complaints of the fanbase, othrewise these toxic ideologies are going to go unchecked. One of the biggest things Iâve come to understand while making these posts is that a significant portion of the fandom feels isolated in their hurt; they donât think other people feel the same way they do, and several people have mentioned feeling like they were going crazy because they were upset with things that the text and writers are normalising. Itâs so important to make sure that these people know theyâre not alone. Itâs so important to make sure that our voices are heard. Itâs so important to try and create critical discussion and debate over something that so many people still fucking love.Â
The thing is, I donât hate Homestuck^2. I actually really, desperately wish I could enjoy it. I wish I could read through it and theorise, could go in depth about how amazing the characters are, could write long and extensive posts on how creative and engaging it is - could even just go on about how interesting the Meat-Candy divide is, and all the points theyâre trying to make about canonicity. But I genuinely fucking canât. There is just so, so much wrong in the text that is completely unrelated to plot and to the overarching Point that makes it impossible for me to read, to want to read, to try to encourage other people to read. Theyâre things that literally donât need to be in there, either; stereotypes and toxic ideologies and uncritical or badly handled sensitive topics that could be rectified so, so easily.Â
Homestuck^2 could be amazing for a lot of the fandom. It could be something that we all rally around the same way we did for the original comic. For for a lot of people, it has ruined their fandom experience, has ruined their desire to want to read anything more to do with Homestuck, and has caused a significant portion of the fandom to just drop out entirely. That in and of itself should be a sign that this isnât just a little fandom drama. That this is something much bigger and much more serious that, just maybe, needs to be looked into, talked about, understood - and, potentially, changed.Â
66 notes
¡
View notes
(via https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7vTyjuuslUqiHauSgsmbuQ?si=WJHuwxgiQ422gub_5ZEC5w)
I got a little obsessed with the idea of creating a Lyctor Love Songs playlist for The Locked Tomb. Iâve finally finished fussing with it and wanted to share! You can read a breakdown of my rationale for these songs below the cut because I always wish other people would do this for their playlists, and now itâs time to put my money* where my mouth is.
This playlist is conceptually a definite spoiler for the process of achieving lyctorhood as revealed at the end of Gideon the Ninth, so proceed with caution if you havenât finished that book yet. I also made this after reading Harrow the Ninth, but Iâve tried to censor (or at least be vague) in my references to spoilers for that book.
Possibly obvious content warnings for murder, suicide, toxic relationships, and cannibalism mentionsâstuff youâd kind of expect from this series, honestly. Iâm adding an additional content warning for the lyrics of We Both Go Down Together by the Decemberists including implied rape, which is not in line with the content warnings you might expect for these books.Â
*obsessive energy
Umbrella - Rihanna
This is a much more wholesome song than the rest, but I really wanted to include it for "When the sun shines, we'll shine together, told you I'll be here forever, said I'll always be your friend, took an oath, I'ma stick it out til the end," and "You're a part of my entity, here for infinity." It has a bit of a âone flesh, one endâ feeling to it.Â
#1 Crush - Garbage
This song is creepy, obsessive, and uses some upsetting violent imagery, which is exactly the mood Iâm after here. I really like the idea of being haunted by the other personââSee your face every place that I walk in, hear your voice every time that Iâm talking.â I also like the implications of seeking powerââThrow away all the pain that Iâm living [...] and I could never be ignored.â The line about selling their soul doesnât hurt this songâs case either.Â
Drain You - Nirvana
This feels like a pretty easy connection to syphoning for me, and for this context the gorey, semi-medical imagery is spot on. Also how could I resist âwith eyes so dilated Iâve become your pupil,â when there is just so much eye-related lyctor baggage in this series?
Animals - Maroon 5
Here comes the cannibalism. There are so many cannibal songs. I also included this one for the language about absorbing the other person and not being able to escape each other.
I Will Possess Your Heart - Death Cab for Cutie
Here for creepy possessiveness, pure and simple. Also, âI wish you could see the potential, the potential of you and meââthe potential for achieving ultimate necromantic power? Maybe!
Banks of the Ohio - Dolly Parton
When I first had the idea for a âLyctor Love Songsâ playlist, it was just going to be a bunch of murder ballads, but expanding my criteria turned out to be more fun. I really love the way Dolly Parton sings this traditional American murder ballad. This one gets to represent the traditional songs on this playlist because of its river imagery and because I think lines like âshe cried my love donât murder me, âcause Iâm not prepared for eternityâ play well with the lyctor concept. It also makes me ridiculously happy to include a 19th century song on a playlist for a distant future sci-fi setting. Weâre all lucky Iâm not making a playlist of the oldest extant folk songs I can find for the archives on the Sixth.
Phenom - Thao & the Get Down Stay Down
More cannibalism imagery, yes thank you. Anatomical imagery? Yes, thank you. âScorched earthâ? Sure, Iâll just take that for my distantly post-apocalyptic playlist, thank you. I also like the narrative in this song around rising to power. âFirst of the secondary classâ plays well for me with our spoilery knowledge about the nature of lyctorhood in relation to the powers of the Emperor.Â
Under My Skin - Jukebox the Ghost
Iâd never heard this song before I started working on putting this playlist together, and a friend suggested it in our group chat. Itâs completely perfect, and in my opinion, a total bop. âI can fit two people under my skin [âŚ] crawl up in there and join me within. I can feel your heart beating under my skin,â etc, etc.Â
Two of Hearts - Stacey Q
Same vein as the one before! I also think thereâs room here for intentionally misreading âI got this feeling that you're going to stay, I never knew that it could happen this way, Before I met you I was falling apart, But now at last I really know we're made of two hearts that can beat as oneâŚâ with lyctoral intentâthe narrator is in a stronger position now that theyâre entwined with the other person.
Tears of Pearls - Savage Garden
So this song is here in part because my high school friends and I once accidentally listened to this Savage Garden CD on repeat at a sleepover for like 5 hours straight, so I love taking the opportunity to break out this song in particular. That aside, I think the toxic relationship structure described here plays well with the lyctors, especially as we see them in Harrow. I particularly like this part near the end: âWe twist and turn where angels burn, Like fallen soldiers we will learn, Once forgotten, twice removed, Love will be the death, The death of you.â I would love to include some religious imagery on this playlist, thank you Savage Garden. Also, as we see in Harrow, the older Lyctors sure do handle their emotions...poorly.Â
Iâm Sorry - Margaret Cho
An excellent murder ballad! âIâm sorry I killed you dear, I only wanted you to be near,â and âAnd I sincerely apologize, My actions were unwise, And now I realize that it killed me when you died,â and âMy pride was stronger than your will to live.âÂ
We Both Go Down Together - The Decemberists
Another murder ballad, and even within the murder ballad genre, I think this one is exceptionally creepy. Especially with the murder-suicide implications, I think âwe both go down togetherâ works well with the creepiestreading of âone flesh one end.âÂ
Arms Tonite - Mother Mother
Another absolute bop suggested by a friend in my Locked Tomb group chat. I love the imagery, and I think it works exceptionally well for the lyctoral conceptââThat I died right inside your arms tonight, That I'm fine even after I have died, That I try to escape the afterlife, That I try to get back in your arms alive.â
Genghis Khan - Miike Snow
Another super possessive song. I know it isnât really explicit to cannon, but between this and Banks of the Ohio, I really like taking the literally all-consuming lyctoral process as a weird extension of the possessive âI donât want you to get it on with nobody else but meâ energy in this song and some of the others. Please also accept for consideration these linesââ'Cause I don't really want you, girl, But you can't be free, 'Cause I'm selfish, I'm obscene.â That has been part of the fun of this playlist for meâwhile I think some songs track for some characters more than others, Iâm really having more fun with playing with the idea of someone who would intentionally murder and absorb someone they love in exchange for power.Â
The Beast - Concrete Blonde
Another creepy, somewhat cannibalistic song. âLove is the leech, sucking you up, Love is a vampire, drunk on your blood, Love is the beast that will, Tear out your heart, Hungrily lick it and, Painfully pick it apart.â Cannibalism and that idea of draining someone of their power is a great combo.Â
Savages - Marina
I love Marina, which is probably the only reason Iâm not bowing to the fact that it bothers me that this isnât even arguably a love song. We see in Harrow how vicious the old lyctors are, and how their dinner parties feel like a thin veneer of civility over some truly rotten cores (I say this as a person who genuinely loved Mercymorn, but like⌠theyâre terrible). Also, how am I supposed to resist âIs it a human trait, or is it learned behavior, Are you killing for yourself, or killing for your savior?â and âIâm not afraid of God, I am afraid of man.â More religious imagery? in my locked tomb playlist? Itâs more likely than you think.
Cannibal - Kesha
More cannibalism! I love how vicious this song is, for this purpose. I also feel like âI have a heart, I swear I do, But just not baby when it comes to you,â works well, even if Iâm not sure I can 100% justify it.Â
Bring Me to Life - Evanescence
An explicitly canonical choice. âNow that I know what I'm without, you can't just leave me, breathe into me and make me realâ and âSave me from the nothing I've become.â Because Iâm an absolute turd, I love the semi-joke Iâm finding in many of these song lyrics about the partner being unable to leave. Also because Iâm terrible, I really like that this song can be read as regret over having become a lyctor in the first place.Â
Monster - Lady Gaga
Cannibalism again, and I like that thereâs some eye stuff in here.Â
Cellophane - Sia
I like the anatomical imagery, with veins and blood and brains and all that. I also like âPatience is your virtue, saint o' mineâ for a little call out to one of our extant lyctors.Â
Most of All - Fuel
Like âBring Me to Life,â I really like the regret and self loathing in this one. I also like the mentions of memories because [redacted]. âAnd I hate you now, And I miss you most of all, All those times we laughed, The scars that you left.âÂ
â39 - Queen
First of all, I really like this song. I donât think I should quite call it a bop like some of the othersâmaybe a jam? A song thatâs explicitly about leaving Earth behind for deep-space exploration and the passage of time works wonderfully well for this sci-fi series about a society that has abandoned a dying(?) Earth and that is populated with a group of very damaged people staring down the barrel of a traumatic immortality. I also like that thereâs a bit of eye imagery in the song. I especially like âFor my life still ahead, pity meâ as a cutting line for a lyctor.Â
11 notes
¡
View notes
I Need to Talk About âProblematic Favesâ within TWDG [1/?]
You know what I love about TWDG and its characters...?Â
How flawed they all are.
Iâm not talking that theyâre flawed in the stupid âMy biggest problem is that I love too gosh darn much!â or âMy defining character flaw is that Iâm super clumsy lolz!â I mean that practically every single character weâve met across these games has done at least one terribly awful thing.Â
That includes all of our favorite characters.Â
It doesnât matter who your favorite character is. They have done at least one terrible thing within these games, if not many.Â
This can include theft, murder, assault, using racist slurs/being racist in general, different acts of violence using weapons, verbal abuse, lying, sacrificing others for themselves, property damage, assisting in suicide, abandonment, and many other things that potentially result in the harm of others or themselves.Â
We donât like to think that our favorite character could ever do any of these things, or if they did, they have an excuse for why they did it.
Take Clementine for example. We all love Clementine. Weâve all been with her since the beginning, weâve all watched her grow, and weâve all morphed her into the person she is by the time s4 ends.Â
But when you look at Clementine, as well as some of her actions and behaviors across the series, through a completely unbiased lens, itâs not hard to throw a certain overused word at her.Â
âProblematicâ
Clementine has killed several people. Most of them were in defense, but there are certain kills that are hard to defend or justify.Â
My favorite example to use is when she shot the asshole who traded her bad bullets then asked Javi to lie for her. Itâs easy to say, âWell, she didnât mean to do it! She thought the bullets wouldnât fire! Besides, that guy WAS the asshole who sold her the bad batteries and attacked her!â
Okay, fine. But that doesnât mean diddly squat.Â
Clementine knows better than to point a gun at someone she doesnât have any intention of shooting. That was one of the first lessons Lee taught her, and itâs even a lesson she taught Sarah in s2. Clementine pointed the gun at him and fired anyway, which is WHY he got up and ended up attacking Javi. Then, Clementine shot the gun again, but this time it actually fired and killed him. She knew she fucked up, but the deed was done and she murdered that man.Â
Clementine is just one of many characters who we could throw that phrase âProblematic Faveâ at. At the end of the day, I could argue that every single favorite character within TWDG would fall into this category at some level, whether it be low or high.Â
Even characters who we baby like âOh precious child who has never done anything wrong in their life!â have an argument that can be made against them.Â
Well, okay, except Rosie.
Rosie is the one exception Iâll allow. Even though sheâs not a person, sheâs a dog, but I still consider her a character.Â
But, Clementineâs different. Sheâs our protagonist, therefore, itâs much easier to explain her actions or make excuses for what she does. Hell, a good chunk of her actions are made by us, so if she does something âwrong,â then weâre to blame for making that choice as her, further developing her character with the use of that choice.Â
What about the characters who arenât our playable protagonists?Â
What about the major and side characters who have made poor decisions? The characters that weâve thrown this label of âProblematic Faveâ at more than others? The characters weâd consider âvillains,â or in the very least âantagonistic.âÂ
What about the characters under those labels that we end up loving, and even defending, despite the terrible things theyâve done or said? Despite groups of others in the community saying that itâs wrong to like these characters?
Today I want to talk about those characters who are higher on the âProblematic Faveâ tier list, and get to the bottom of WHY we love them.Â
Itâs not wrong for us to like these characters.Â
Letâs get that out of the way right off the bat.
Itâs not wrong to enjoy or love an antagonist, or a morally complex/gray character. I argue that everyone has an antagonist that they love, whether it be within the twdg universe or otherwise.Â
Iâm not here to shame anyone for liking a character who happened to be labeled under this âProblematic Faveâ term by others who like to throw it around to start fights.Â
If anything, Iâm letting know that itâs totally okay to love these characters as long as youâre being safe about it. As in, youâre not excusing these bad behaviors while acting like these unhealthy things are okay when theyâre clearly not.
Now... maybe youâre wondering WHY this is something that I feel I NEED to talk about. What brought this up and whatnot.Â
I need to talk about this because I have a problematic fave and itâs bothered me for a long time.Â
Before I get started, we should all be on the same page of what defines a âProblematic Fave,â since itâs a phrase that Iâll use throughout this whole thing.
 If you go to Google and search this term, this is the definition itâll bring up:Â
Very vague. And when I asked you guys:
Itâs an easy enough term to understand. We all get the general idea.Â
The problem is, like I mentioned before, every single character within this TWDG universe is problematic at some point. Theyâve all said hurtful things, theyâve done hurtful things.... itâs the apocalypse!Â
But there are a handful of characters who end up getting this thrown at them WAY more than any other characters. Not just âvillainâ characters either, like the St. Johns or Lilly, but characters who seem to have more gray coloring to them, those who are more antagonistic, who make more poor decisions, who get others killed or hurt, who display unhealthy behaviors. Those who we canât quite put our fingers on if they are âgoodâ or âbad.â
Iâm sure that at least one character has popped in your brain as youâve read thus far.
Letâs talk about the popular ones:
KennyÂ
In my opinion, Kenny is... well, he's problematic. Whether you love or hate him, you have to admit that a lot of his actions over the course of seasons 1 and 2, though mostly 2, are harmful.Â
Iâm one of those people who donât love or hate him. Iâm more on the dislike side when it comes to s2 Kenny, but I can see why someone would love or hate him overall.Â
On one hand, he IS an interesting character to take the time to study. His character tells us a lot about what happens to a normal, nice family man thrown into the apocalypse who loses everyone heâs ever loved, including his only child, his wife, and what happens when that family man has to keep going with the world trying to beat him down.Â
He has his kind moments. He clearly cares about Clementine and AJ, but his behavior and actions, if not kept under control, could lead to disaster. They DO lead to disaster, since no one can stand to be around him, leading to everyone abandoning him, and in turn, abandoning Clementine and AJ.Â
All of the weight of whatâs happened to him has left him angry and violent. He lashes out at Clementine after Saritaâs death, going as far as to BLAME Clementine for it regardless of her choices. He isolates her from the group, becomes possessive the moment they meet back up again, and picks fights when he shouldnât, which result in harm to her and others. He beats the shit out of Arvo in front of everyone as if heâs right in physically harming this disabled kid because of the situation they all find themselves in.Â
In the end, if you actually have Clementine shoot him, he tells her and the player that âyou made the right choice,â as if he knows heâs been such an antagonistic character that itâs only right that he die.Â
The end to every good story has the so-called âbad guyâ die... right?
Kenny is an obvious example of a favorite character being problematic, if not THE most obvious. He has so many people who love him, and just as many who hate him.Â
I canât tell you how many times Iâve heard or witnessed arguments about Kenny and this phrase was thrown around with other words like âtoxicâ and âabusiveâ yada yada.Â
It makes sense to me that someone would question why Kenny would be anotherâs favorite character just as it makes sense that someone would love him.Â
It all depends on how you see him and if youâre mature enough to accept and understand his trauma, unhealthy behaviors, and overall character [the good and the bad] for what it is. Heâs a broken man, but it doesnât give him an excuse to lash out at those heâs supposed to love and protect.Â
What really gets me is that Kenny is loved by so many people and theyâre vocal about it, probably even more vocal than those who hate him. And Iâm not shaming you.Â
The kind, mature Kenny stans of our community arenât afraid to express their love for this character. They know who he is, and theyâre willing to discuss him with others who love him, as well as with those who donât in a calm manner. This is something I highly respect and thought deserved acknowledgment.
I have a point to mentioning this, because with my problematic fave, I have never openly admitted to how much I like this character because I was always scared of the potential hate that could be thrown my way. I mean, whenever I search this character, thereâs a lot of shade being thrown around.Â
Then times changed, my blog grew bigger and I became more confident in sharing my opinions and views, as well as discussing several positive and negative aspects of TWDG with all of you.Â
Now, this isnât just applicable to Kenny, either.
Of the characters who fall higher on this âProblematic Faveâ tier list weâve somehow acquired, there are a lot of people who absolutely adore Minerva.Â
Marlon-
Even Lilly has people who love her-
Hell, there are people who SWEAR by 400 Daysâ Nate.Â
^THIS crazy bastard!Â
I was even shocked to see there are a handful of people who really like Arvo, too!
Before we continue, I do want to reiterate that Iâm not coming for anyone who likes Kenny, Minerva, or any of the other characters mentioned above. I want to make that clear in case I say something pertaining to these characters that you take offense to. Well all know how easy it is to be offended on here. Besides, Iâm not one to judge given that I have my own problem character that I love and yâall are gonna judge me anyway, so letâs just chill.Â
This whole idea of why we love these characters is fascinating.Â
If we ever met these people in real life, we wouldnât be so quick to love them and we know it. But, because theyâre fictional and put out there for us to analyze and talk about with one another, we find ourselves attached to them.
I simply want to understand why.Â
Now that we have a list of the more popular characters who fall into this tier, Iâll be using them as examples throughout the rest of these posts.Â
However... before we get into that, Iâm sure youâve noticed that I havenât told you who MY problematic fave is and why.Â
Well, allow me to enlighten you because, even though Iâm using Kenny, Minerva, ect. as examples, this character will be my MAIN example.Â
Time to come out and admit it.Â
...
...
...
Itâs David.
I really like David.
I even dare admit that I.... kind of love him?
Why, you ask....?
David is a character Iâve rarely talked about.
The only time he ever seems to come up is when weâre talking about Livid, and we all know how that one goes.Â
Even when we talk about ANF as a whole, itâs usually a discussion about Emo Clementine or how Gabe shouldâve had a better character arc or just how gosh darn gorgeous Javi is or how Conrad is actually the best character and totally shouldâve been a romance option because Javrad is the true OTP of ANF.
But thatâs a topic yâall arenât ready for.
Anyway.
I know that there are those out there who, like me, like David for what he is and his character development throughout ANF. Iâm not going to act like Iâm the one person in the world who likes him because I canât be.Â
However, it seems like every time I get an ask that involves David [and isnât Livid] is hateful or otherwise negative a good 95% of the time.
That, on top of being a predominantly s4 blog, is why I havenât talked much about David or admitted that I like him as much as I do.
But now the catâs out of the bag.
CJ has a hidden love for David Garcia.
Itâs true. This jerk is my big problematic fave.
And I can already hear it now:Â
âCJ, how can you actually like David after he treated everyone so poorly and took AJ away from Clem?â
Oh, I donât know... how can anyone love Kenny after the way he treated everyone so poorly and was a real prick to Clementine after Saritaâs death?Â
Why does anyone love Minerva after she got Tenn/Louis/Violet KILLED and Clementine bit?Â
Why does anyone like Nate, who literally murders an old, wounded couple and is overall an insane son of a bitch?
Thatâs why weâre here, ya dingus.
To figure this out.Â
In preparation for this, I actually went and did some digging on what people think of David. I thought, âMaybe Iâll find some character analysisâ or posts that share my thoughts.âÂ
After reading a bunch of threads about him on various websites, I concluded that 99% of them look the same:
[ Also, where are these people who support David against Clementine? Because I did not find them, random person on wikipedia. I must not be looking in the right places. All I found were Kenny defense posts on your David thread. Riddle me that, random person on wikipedia whose name I scribbled out but just realized I missed the âedited byâ rendering the scribble pointless!]
This did nothing but increase my anxiety about making this whole post because Iâd rather not have paragraphs like this sent to my inbox for the next twenty years.Â
But, Iâm doing it anyway. Obviously.Â
I have a real love-hate relationship with David, in case you couldnât tell.
I should hate David. I really should.
I mean, I donât like Kenny, and I fucking loathe Lilly. Theyâre two characters that have a lot in common with David, so logically, youâd think that Iâd group him in with them and hate his dumb face.Â
But I donât.Â
Even though David is an asshole.Â
He likes to do things that really piss me off, then turn around like âI canât change because Iâm a soldierâ as if changing and not doing bad things is completely impossible for him!
David breaks a grieving womanâs arm after her husband dies, takes AJ away from Clementine after kicking her [a 13-year-old] out of their group by herself, gets more upset over how his glass got broken than over his wifeâs cut hand, constantly fights with and puts Javi down, barely mourns Mariâs death, and a number of other things.
I know change is hard, David, and you have a lot of trauma from being a soldier, but thatâs not an excuse to do bad things! I firmly believe that with enough effort, love, and support, you can slowly get better! I really hate you, you infuriating man!
But I also love him.
....But I also really hate him.
Do you see my dilemma?
And yâknow what? I got plenty to say about all the things heâs done.Â
David is a fascinating character.Â
Even now, going back up and rereading what I wrote, I have to urge to jump in and be like âWell, okay, I actually have a theory on why he did that...â as if Iâm ready to defend him from myself. How does that work?!Â
Well, okay, not necessary defend him in the way of justifying why heâd break that womanâs arm or anything, but instead show that heâs a gray character who is much more complex than people give him credit for. I have the urge to explain Davidâs character as a matter of character analysis and discussion, not pretend he didnât do anything wrong or make excuses for his unhealthy and problematic behaviors.
Does that sound familiar?
David Garcia is to me what Kenny is to a lot of people.
I have a theory on why he married Kate in the first place when they clearly werenât compatible as a couple! I have theories on why he was quick to boot Clementine out but look the other way when Lingard got high on their meds! Explanations of why having him and Gabe alive in the end is the better ending!
oh god everyone is going to hate me haha-
I have it all, and maybe one day Iâll sit down and write an entire in-depth character analysis of David if anyone is actually interested, but right now I just want to understand why I like to him in the first place because it makes no sense.
Since day one, itâs boggled my mind as to WHY Iâve always found myself leaning in favor of David.Â
With every episode that came out after e2, David was the character who always piqued my interest and I found myself wanting to side with him just to see what would happen. Why did I still like him even though he kept doing things that I knew were wrong? Or that pissed me off?
Why was I furious when I reached my ending only to have David end up dead?
Why was I so pissed that this character, who drove me INSANE for most of the game, died?
Is it because I see a part of myself in him? Is it because of his character design, the performance of his voice acting, and his overall writing? Does it have anything to do with his backstory and relationship with Javi? Is it because Iâm actually one of those people who see someone like this and think âhey I can fix you!â but donât know it? What is it?
Why is David Garcia my âProblematic Faveâ of TWDG?
Continued in [2/?]
58 notes
¡
View notes
Amphibiaâs Season 1 Finale: An Emotionally Charged Climax Of Brilliance
For those who havenât watched Amphibia yet, or are only halfway through the series, Iâd highly recommend not reading this post on the events of Season 1â˛s finale. This is an episode that should be experienced blind, rather than having it spoiled for yourself, unless you really donât mind at all whatsoever.
No matter how many times Iâve re-watched Amphibia Season 1 on Disney+, I gotta say its finale was easily up on my list of top moments from animation back in the 2010â˛s. Amphibia starts off with some pretty simple straightforward slice of life stuff throwing in a nice mix of drama and comedy. Although, as the series has progressed, Amphibiaâs storytelling makes it clear weâre in for a bigger shift with dramatic writing once Season 2 rolls around in the future. This last episode of Season 1, Reunion, gives me the impression it could very likely be transitioning into heavier stuff, like Gravity Falls did, when itâs second outing steps up to the plate eventually. Season 1â˛s finale has seriously impressed me with what it managed to accomplish in its themes that were set up as early as its first episode. We finally get more insight into what Anneâs daily routine with Sasha mustâve been like before she was suddenly dropped into this crazy lovable world of anthropomorphic frogs. What I really appreciate about this backstory is it reels us in just enough with seeing Anne and Sashaâs chemistry. It doesnât do a big exposition dump about what good friends they are, rather Amphibia just simply shows us first hand. From the get go itâs made crystal clear that Anne and Sasha are very close, seeing how Sasha stands up for Anne when someone tries to steal her food on a special day no less.
Or else you can forget about coming to my awesome house party next week.
Happy Birthday, girl!
Like, extremely close given how happy these two are to see each other. Anne & Sashaâs interaction here is safe to say they go way back before their current school year. Almost as if, theyâve known each other since they were younger.
âSashaâs been my friend since Kindergarten. If she says itâs fine. Itâs fine.â
Anneâs piece of dialogue here makes it evident how much she cares/trusts about Sasha as an individual. Even enough to allow her in doing morally questionable stuff highlighted with this brief montage spotlighting Anneâs passive behavior towards Sashaâs dangerously impulsive attitude. Time and time again Anne willingly goes along with Sashaâs mentality of, âDo whatever we want.â, because in her eyes thatâs what being best friends is all about. Giving the other what they want regardless of the moral implications around whatever their actions are. Not to mention, when you take that into account that Anne has been around Sasha since preschool, itâs equivalent to putting your foot down on a family member. Anne doesnât want to hurt Sasha, considering sheâs like the sister Anne never had, being an only child and all. That further establishes emotional weight for something Anne fears to lose out on, which Sasha takes advantage of greatly.
Anne, this isnât cute anymore. Weâre meeting up with Marcy right now! End of discussion...
âHeh! Sheâs persuasive, right?â
Look, if a friend likes a pencil case, you get it for them. If your friend likes your new shoes, you give them to her. And if her friend wants you to steal a crazy music box from a thrift store, even if you really donât want to, you do it okay? Because if you donât, they might not want to be your friend anymore...
Sashaâs serious verbal abuse has made Anne completely twist around the very concept of what a healthy friendship basically is, overall. For whatever the reason at some point, be it the very school environment they both grew up in or personal family issues, Sasha has become an extremely toxic influence on Anneâs important decision making and it painfully shows here in her self-esteem. This kid has made it second nature for herself to never be honest when a friend is doing something that she internally deems highly questionable in moral terms, since sheâs so afraid of permanently losing those who claim to care about her own well being. Anne believes it to be a âgolden ruleâ that if youâre openly honest with your close friends, it will only lead to failure in a nutshell. This is honestly one of the strongest elements of Amphibiaâs storytelling on how it explores the human condition of real friendship. Itâs not sunshine and rainbows, but an honest reflection of who you are as a person. Those you choose to let into your life for better influencing yourself, also reveal your true nature as an individual. These particular lines from the episode, Flood, Sweat, and Tears, sets the mood into motion that vital theme its story centers itself around.
Sharing a room doesnât make you best friends. Being honest with each other does!Â
In fact, if you ask me, youâre better friends now than you were before.
Seeing how greatly Amphibia explored this statement means a lot to me, since I myself have struggled with passive aggressive behavior plenty with my own friends. There were social experiences I went through in my childhood that made me bottle up how I genuinely feel a lot, so being honest with my own circle of close friends was a serious challenge for me. While I have come a long way in the improvements of being more honest with my pals whenever something is bothering me, itâs still a never ending struggle I deal with on a daily basis, considering itâs much like second nature to me. This significant moment hit all the right chords for me in showing that beauty of human connections, by taking the good and bad people can experience in dealing with their own differences. Anneâs journey to better understand what real friends are and stand up for herself is a very empowering one to see occur, as she continues to come out of her shell, while putting her foot down when more immoral shit starts to hit the fan. Another giant step forward for her own independence comes to light in the tenth episode, Toad Tax, when Anne wanted nothing more than to be respected by the towns folk, instead of being openly called a monster and getting severely alienated for it, too. Which, again, it really shows just how much Sashaâs manipulation has had a grip on Anne, given she first thought that by joining the Toad force that sheâd garner their respect. However, that idea was nothing more than a deeply shallow belief, which wouldâve made the town more afraid of her rather than love and accept her.Â
All I wanted was this townâs respect, but just because these people treated me crumby, doesnât mean Iâm gonna do the same to them. Iâm done with this. I donât care if theyâve broken the law, you canât treat people like this!
In a very jarring contrast to Anne, Sasha is a more two faced individual with her own motive for getting herself, Anne, and Marcy back home by any means necessary. To put it bluntly and harshly, Sasha is a real bitch hilariously to the point where she is the sole reason why Grimes minions become more competent, due to throwing out fake compliments to help their lack of motivation, since his intensity as their ruthless leader was backfiring greatly. Itâs priceless to see a villainâs cold blooded behavior ironically be a big detriment to their rule of power, as other works of fiction have shown it to a âpositiveâ influence on their minions, where a teenage cheerleader blonde archetype has to patch things up.
You lot are without a doubt the most useless group of toads I have ever seen!
Just try saying nice things for a change. Get them to love you and theyâll do anything for you.
That actually works?
Ooooh, it works alright. Trust me.
Sashaâs already cold and calculating manipulation is influenced in return by Grimes heartless nature. Sasha & Grimes combined make for a deadly combination for one Hell of antagonistic duo, but thatâs not to say this series doesnât add layers to this complicated girl. While she is a very toxic verbally abusive person, Sasha isnât without her own humanity either. Besides lying about being the only human in the world of Amphibia, Sasha genuinely is concerned about reuniting with each of her friends and not just for keeping them underneath her thumb in a controlling fashion. The voice acting here from Sashaâs VA really helps elevate that idea thereâs more to her than how she acts.
Hold on for a little longer girls. Iâm coming for you and when I find you weâre gonna get home, but first I think weâre gonna have some fun with this place.
By the time Anne and Sasha reunite by the finale, both have changed. Anne for the better and Sasha for much worse. Anne has become more selfless and free to make her own choices that she feels morally comfortable with doing, while Sasha is out to kill Hop Pop, due to his vital actions in earlier episodes, for encouraging more Frogs to rebel against the Toadâs rule of power through fear and violence. Sasha doesnât view Hop Pop as as an equal living thing, but another obstacle thatâs keeping herself, Anne, and Marcy from their one way ticket home. She strongly believes that killing Hop Pop, to keep the other Frogs back in line from having a voice of their own, will allow them a better chance to get back home with help from Grimes. Sasha knows to an extent the terrible thing sheâs trying to help Grimes commit, however she still only views Hop Pop as not an equivalent human being, but an already figurative dead frog for them to dissect in their biology class.Â
So youâve probably already noticed the Toads in this valley have one job. To rule over the Frogs. And lately those Frogs have been stepping out of line.
Sasha is a serious fucking jerk, but a well intent extremist on wanting to get everyone back home, who doesnât fully grasp the full context of what horrible atrocities sheâs helping Grimes commit through doing this attempted murder.
Anne, what are you doing? Are you really gonna risk your life for these...talking frogs? We donât even belong here. Donât you wanna get back home? See your family?
Yeah, but...
Then put your sword down, now!
END OF DISCUSSION...
There we go, thatâs my girl.
There that wasnât so hard was i-
WHAT THE HECK!?
For someone whoâs Anneâs best friend, you sure donât know her very well! She brave, sheâs smart, and most of all sheâs not gonna be pushed around by a bully like you!
I think Iâve had enough of you, squeaky toy.
Anne, what are you doing!?
Something I shouldâve done a long time ago. Standing up to you!
Thanks for believing in me, Sprig.
Can I just say that I love how they donât try to pin blame on Anne for being consistently manipulated by Sasha? While Anne most certainly needs to stand up and not allow Sasha to abuse her like this anymore, Sasha is the sole person responsible for making Anne feel so insecure, who needed to be put in her place. It was very important for them to make that clear who is at fault here in this situation more than anyone and Sprig was perfect for telling off Anneâs abusive friend. Canât begin to describe how cathartic it was for seeing that bitch get hit in the face for trying to once again pull on Anneâs emotional baggage. That highly noteworthy moment aside, there is a really interesting exchange between Sasha and Grimes showing how warped Sashaâs definition of friendship has become over the years sheâs grown up with Anne in school.
Youâve given me plenty of advice, now let me give you some. Stamp this out. Make her yield. Fail and nothing will ever be the same.
Not gonna happen...
So, taking into account everything that Iâve covered at this point, this makes for a wonderful climatic finale to a slow burn where previous episodes have emotionally prepared Anne for facing down the very person whoâs been hurting her most of all. One of her closest friends, whoâs been like a symbolic sister in the past to Anne, but has turned into this very hurtful person with a seriously warped idea of an âaffectionateâ friendship based on similar ideas of control as seen with Grimes. While Amphibia has plenty of comedic shenanigans in its storytelling, thereâs always been this dramatic undertone centered around Anne and Sashaâs views of what relationships are all about for what each one has based their ideals on. This Disney series is centered around gaining new bonds, while looking at old ones in a much different perspective, as seen with Anne and Sashaâs falling out.
Anne, you donât have to do this.
Yes I do...
Anne vs Sasha is an important key moment that the finale nails on every possible level, given each side here has something lose, if the other one wins this duel. These are old friends, or rather family in a sense, standing up for what they think is the right moral thing to do and you can feel this high stakes tension every second as its building up to their swords finally clashing again against one another. Reminds me a lot of the Star Wars battles where itâs not necessarily remembered so much for the fights themselves, but the emotional weight that is carried in every moment which is happening between its characters and I applaud Amphibia for taking inspiration in utilizing that trope of writing.
Much like how DuckTales (2017) handled its amazing Season 1 finale, Amphibiaâs writers know the most crucial element to focus more than anything are the characters themselves and what theyâre feeling, rather than making it a big flashy battle of epic proportions. Granted, thatâs a nice icing on the cake and all, but the real meat should always be in how youâre executing the important themes youâve introduced from the start. In Amphibiaâs case, itâs the tragedy of friendship turning into something nasty with Sasha treating Anne poorly and breaking apart their once stable lives, due to that very nature which dropped them into this world where they have to now fend for themselves.
Thereâs so much powerful heartbreak emitting from this one pic here and hoo boi we havenât even gotten to best part, yet. Itâs delightfully angsty and shocked the Hell outta me when first watching this episode. Fuck, it still does quite frankly knowing the people behind this show had the guts to go that far dramatically.
Theyâre just slimy little frogs, Anne.
They donât matter!
Theyâre not just Frogs. Theyâre my friends!
After Anne finally beats Sasha the entire castle starts exploding, due to Wally misinterpreting her on not blowing up Grimes base. Hereâs where the most heart wrenching scene comes in as the cherry on top of this intense finale to Amphibiaâs first season. As the castle is falling to pieces, Sasha almost falls to her death but Anne catches her in time, despite just fighting her tooth and nail seconds ago to save the family she was trying to kill for her selfish reasons. Thereâs a crap ton of symbolism here in this poignant moment of characterization for Anne & Sashaâs current state of friendship now. All of this is topped off by the music piece, Lean On Me, being poetically woven into it.
The Plantar family is doing everything in their power to hold Anne up equivalent to how theyâve made her into a better individual than she ever was around Sasha. While Sasha is putting all of them in danger as a figurative ball and chain that, besides holding them back from staying alive, is also keeping Anne from becoming the best version of herself she can be. In these last moments, Iâd like to believe Sasha finally put it together in her mind just how much sheâs royally screwed everything up. Not just what she attempted to do with Hop Pop and most likely the rest of his family, but how seriously disrespectful she was to Anne for who knows how many years of their friendship when Sasha started abusing her. Sasha was most likely feeling a ton of self-loathing and terrible guilt before making this shocking pivotal decision next in saving Anne and the Plantarsâ.
Hey Anne...
Maybe youâre better off without me...
Like, on one hand it can be simply viewed as Sasha simply saving these people from dying, too. However, Iâd prefer to make it darker for the sake of heavy angst and say she was committing suicide, as well. Sasha realized in these last moments, before thinking that she was going to die a painful death, how shitty she was to Anne. Sashaâs abusive behavior is what started this whole story in the first place. If it wasnât for Sasha, none of them would of ended up in the world Amphibia to begin with, but it needed to happen for Anne to become better about who her real friends are and maybe this rough experience would even help Sasha, too. Weâll just have to see what awaits for Sashaâs character arc in Season 2â˛s future. As it stands now, Anne may have a lost a dear friend, who was basically like a sister to her years back, but gained something even better.
A family and terrific friends who care deeply for her.
Hop Pop, you three are my family. Iâd never let anyone hurt you.
Thanks for taking the time read this very lengthy post of me gushing about this powerfully bittersweet finale. Canât wait for Season 2!
39 notes
¡
View notes
[meta] What, if any, games, movies, books, tv shows, etc. have you drawn influence from for your character?
Okay so round 2, much in the same vein for Arthur there are... A lot. Possibly even more things that influence and inspire where Ottoâs muse and views comes from. That said in writing this there are also a LOT of similarities between the characters I can pick out certain attributes and to be honest thereâs a lot of crossover with the traits and characterisations highlighted.
Namely: playful and proactive, self-serving yet loyal to those that meet his criteria as to who is deserving of it. A grifter by nature that will approach almost any situation if he feels heâll get something out of it while equally hoping that one day someone might actually bother to ask him (and maybe give him a true reason) to stay.
Dorian - Dragon Age: Inquisition
Uh, the heir of a famous magical dynasty? A flair of magical talent that made him the envy of his peers? Studied at one of the best colleges for the magical arts before being kicked out and privately tutored before eventually vanishing and being found by Magister Gereon Alexius who offered to take him as his apprentice eventually becoming a fully-ranked enchanter. A pariah for opposing every fault his homeland is renowned for?
Itâs been years since Iâve played DA:I and Dorian always was one of my favourite characters but tbh I completely forgot his background and itâs only in revisiting it now I actually realise the similarities in the framework of their characters/development/story line. Not to mention the fact they both enjoy playful flirtation and witty banter and oppose the things they donât fit into their view of the world. They will probably do the right thing, but that doesnât mean they might not take their sweet ass time in actually getting into a situation.
Isabela - Dragon Age II and InquisitionÂ
AND AGAIN. Isabelaâs a great character - a pirate scourge of coastlines and nations around the world who values fun, freedom and getting ahead in life. They both value solving situations in clever and devious ways and getting ahead even if it means being somewhat selfish when theyâre dealing with other people, example: Otto conning Deirdre out of $28k when she tried to cover for Regan or those plans he has to try and record a banshee scream? Theyâre both always down for trying to squeeze that little bit extra out of a person. If it one ups them in life and people are gullible enough to fall for it well... They really did it to themselves didnât they?
But that doesnât mean there arenât depths to that hardened persona they both present. There are actual feelings and things hidden behind the wall and appearance they both present to the world. And underneath it all theyâre both afraid of being left behind, but figure itâs best to push people away before they decide to leave of their own volition. At least that way they can say they have some control over the situation..Â
Sera - Dragon Age: Inquisition
Apparently this is a DA characters list but you know what sue me. x) So NEXT on the list is Sera, an elven archer who is incredibly impulsive and reactionary. She takes pure delight in humbling the established authority she views as arrogant and selfish. Itâs less about whatâs right in the grand scheme of things but more about whatâs right in that very moment. She doesnât believe in actions taken for a greater good, instead viewing it as just another excuse to hurt others undeserving of such treatment because itâs easier than making the truly hard choices in life.Â
Felix Dawkins - Orphan Black
Look Felix is one of the many fascinating characters on Orphan Black. Donât get me wrong there are SO many and itâs a great show. But Felix is a character whose very existence proves that you can have a very effeminate, boisterous, loud, witty gay character and not have him be limited to the perpetuation of the sassy gay friend stereotype. Why? Because he has a whole complex personality beyond just that aspect of his life. Heâs got to deal with real life issues on top of all the drama clone club brings into his life and he deals and he survives and he cOPES.
Not to mention heâs a positive representation of foster children being happy, positive representation of LGBTQ+ characters and gives positive representation of sex workers. Not to mention on top of all that representation you see how heâs smart as hell, the only person who knows Sarah well enough to keep her on track. The BEST uncle to Kira and one of the most supportive characters on the show.Â
Sarah - Orphan Black
Felixâs foster-sister, another character that shows the positive and complex dynamic that foster families tend to have while also demonstrating the fascinating found-family dynamic with clone club. Sarahâs interesting because sheâs a natural chameleon, sheâs street-smart and tough, a born outsider living on the fringes by her wits while in possession of a dark sense of humour that sees her by.
Sarah and Otto have a rather morally ambiguous compass, theyâre both characters who swing between being very self-serving and selfish and acting for the greater good when they decide itâs needed. Not to mention the act as if they donât care about other peopleâs issues (see clone club) when actually it transpires they both might just care a little more than they actually let on.
Garcia Flynn - Timeless
Unfortunately Garcia fits the my favourite character type: tall, dark, snarky, sassy antihero motivated fiercely by love and willing to do things of questionable morality against a greater evil, self-aware and doesnât make excuses for his behaviour, but isnât wringing his hands over it either. A character who so dearly loves the people in his life (see revenge for his wife and daughter) so much so heâs still fighting for them 5 years later just to be alive and not even to have anything to do with him again because he knows the things heâs done are enough the he could never go back to being that person for them. The man who loved his mum and went on a trip just to make her happy and save his brother. When he truly cares for someone he does EVERYTHING for them while somehow having none of the toxic jealous possessive business, despite his well-attested Garbage Drama in other departments, and just generally being a mature adult and an essentially good person who has gone down some really dark places and is finally rediscovering what heâs buried and lost. Look man, Iâm a suuuuuuuuuuuuucker for found family, enemies to lovers, and villain becomes weird family member. And he covers all of those, so yes.Â
Thereâs a lot of that Iâm planning and drawing on for Otto, this weird currently antagonistic little self-serving shit who is out for his own ends but maybe along the way finds some semblence of a conscious and maybe has a fair few moral dilemmas and self-questioning moments along the way? Who maybe finds friends (and even love?) Who has to deal with FEELINGS and things heâs repressed for years because of the things heâs done just to survive the life he fell into? Uh, yes give me give me give me.
Jesse Custer - Preacher
Okay, so this oneâs kind of another given. Jesseâs another character Iâm fascinated with because before Genesisâ arrival he was a down upon his luck preacher. A man who was trying so hard to fit into his dadâs ideal and not let the life he had before affect his day to day. Except it all goes to hell in a handbasket because of course it does.
Jesse essentially gains the ability to make anyone do anything he says. And that power? Itâs addictive, and we see the struggle he goes through to learn how to control and manipulate it to his own end. To begin with he tries to right wrongs, to tell people to stop doing the bad things theyâre doing in their lives and fix them so theyâre better people but with each act that power and god-complex grows. It goes to his head until we meet the moronic messiah Humperdoo and Jesse eventually agrees to take his place. The messiah-complex and power corruption is complete, and the repercussions of his choices are devastating especially with how they impact Cassidy or Tulip and the repercussions in Angelville.
Much like Ottoâs own magic, the more its used the more enticing it is to carry on using it for more and more things. At first it was small deeds, little acts of good until Otto in kind started to realise that good deeds werenât enough to make a change. They werenât enough for other people around him and with each act it grew and grew - and it continues to grow. The question is to what level? And if it ever got out of control, would he ever know how to stop it?
Crowley - Good Omens
An overall non-threatening demon, who tries to be âevilâ in his own way to fit into the role his society (other demons) expect of him. Crowley wants to save the world (for his own reasons) and can be rather self-serving in certain moments. Thereâs plenty of times he tried to convince Aziraphale to run away with him and let everything else forgive the irony but for lack of a better term âgo to hellâ but he always comes around in the end (typically to a Queen track) to help when it really counts for something.
 Not to mention his flare for the dramatic, very rarely thinking things through, with many of his own plans backfiring on him. Â
Sound familiar?
Wrench - Watch Dogs 2
Part-hacker and full-fledged anarchist who wears a freaky mask with LED displays capable of bizarre emoticons. He's vulgar, crude, entertaining and an absolute adrenaline junkie who lives on the edge. He's jokingly called the wrench because he's the wrench you throw into somebody's gears to grind them to a halt.
The final one on the list, because itâs a side I havenât yet played into so much but Iâm curious to given means and opportunity to. Otto does have some inclination towards an anarchistic nature, if a system doesnât seem to work he isnât afraid to speak out or more likely act out against it. Whether itâs in the greater good or not isnât so much relevant rather that he would happily take a torch and burn something to the ground if it meant starting again with something new and better in its place. Itâs definitely something I want to explore more down the line.
I also find it interesting the whole concept of âhiding behind a maskâ which is something wrench quite literally does. Both have built personas to defend themselves from people breaking through and seeing that what actually exists on the other side is a rather shy and awkward person who tries to âact outâ and be âdramaticâ in an attempt to get attention from a world in which thereâs so much noise how could anyone ever feel like their voice mattered let alone be heard unless they started shouting âHEY, LOOK AT MEâ at the top of his lungs? Â
7 notes
¡
View notes
Like, the thing you guys gotta understand is my loud opinions are far more defense mechanism than they are âI think I am right and nobody else is ever and people should listen to me only.â
Nah. Theyâre literally just me being as loud and as visible with the stuff that matters the most to me as is possible....because that actually minimizes the flack I catch for yâknow...stuff Iâm truly passionate about believing.
For example, my online behavior and tendencies in fandom on tumblr specifically....were largely shaped by my experiences in Teen Wolf fandom. Where I started out being as civil as possible wherever possible, and gradually got louder and angrier over time because THAT DIDNâT MATTER. Its why tone policing is bullshit, through and through. Because the real issue was never HOW I was saying what I was saying, it was what I was saying at all.
See, I flat out donât like the fandom fave Stiles, as heâs portrayed on the show, and never did. Not from day one. He bothered the fuck out of me from the pilot. And this is a very controversial opinion in TW fandom, and was far more so back when I was first becoming âknownâ in fandom, whatever the fuck that means or is even worth (seriously, its not worth a lot. You guys, stop putting so much weight in the visibility of more âwell knownâ bloggers....that doesnât directly translate into the influence you think it does, especially when those bloggers are still holding what the majority of a fandom deems âunpopularâ opinions).
But back in my early TW days, I wasnât really âknownâ at all, for my blog and my opinions on the show. I was better known for my fics, which at the beginning, I was writing and updating fairly quickly. Iâve published somewhere just shy of 100,000 words of TW fanfic....and the vast majority of that was all written in just the first year or two in fandom.
And the thing is, for people who just found me on Ao3 and not on my blog originally....they werenât as immediately aware of my bias against Stiles. Because I hate bashing ANY characters in fic. Even ones I donât like, because the point of fanfic for me, is to FIX my personal issues with the source material, improve on the things *I* especially dislike....so even though I dislike Stiles on the show, in my better known TW fics, he was still present, and I was still trying to be as true to his core characterization as possible, WHILE addressing what I considered his core problem areas.
The kicker being.....a LOT of Stiles-fans LIKED my fanfic depiction of Stiles. A lot of S/terek fans included. You look at my TW fics like Where Wild Things Are or Lightning Crashes in particular....youâre gonna find a LOT of comments from self-proclaimed S/terek fans and Stiles stans....and those are just the ones I didnât delete when I was forced to aggressively moderate my comments when a lot of those same commenters got loud and angry at me.
Which they did see....once they started connecting my Ao3 account to my blog, and my opinions on the show in general, which were starting to be more widespread in fandom due to some better known mutuals. I mean, its not like it was a big secret. My Ao3 pen name for my Teen Wolf fic is bigskydreaminâ. It....wasnât really anything I felt I needed to clarify, lmao.
But once people realized that the very same writer they liked for his take on Stiles very vocally disliked the showâs Stiles because of behaviors and scenes that I quote unquote deemed abusive (which I do, and stand by to this day).....they went fucking APESHIT on me. Like.....I can not even TELL you the extent of the nasty comments, anons, emails and reviews I got from some of the very same people who previously were glowing in their praise of my fics, especially the Stiles scenes.
All because I didnât like the showâs depiction of certain behaviors and toxic dynamics, and set out to improve these things in my fic while being true to the characterizations....and which they had LIKED....until they realized my take didnât come from a place of âoh I think Stiles is just the best.â
And then the fateful day came when one of them flat out asked me why I didnât ship S/terek and if I would ever write S/terek....
And I had the balls to answer honestly. LOL. I wasnât even insulting or offensive...just blunt. I told the person that I have serious issues with S/terek because of the power dynamics and the way theyâre romanticized within fandom and most fics rather than called out and addressed, and I said I would never have any interest in tackling these topics myself in any kind of S/terek fic because my own past with abuse makes the ship just inherently unappealing to me because of how I perceive it, and I feel zero desire to âfixâ a thing I wouldnât want on any level to begin with.
And they went and told all their friends and lol, RIP the rest of my TW years - and this was probably back in like, Year Two of my time in TW fandom. For a more accurate estimate, look for when I lost the will to update my big fics, because like. What was the point? Any positive reaction I got from updates at the time was just drowned out by the hate I got for adding to a story many of them were still reading, judging by the way my hit counts were still pretty steady with what theyâd been with previous updates.....but that at the same time, they were heaping all kinds of shit on me for just....having opinions they didnât like at the same time as I wrote stuff they still DID like.
The juxtaposition of those two things....lol. Man. Its a trip, Iâll tell you that.
And to be honest, the same thing has been happening ever since I started being more involved in Batfandom. You guys know how I reblog a lot of my own posts? Thatâs not something I used to do like, ever in TW fandom...because all the content I was making then was fresh. But Iâve always been a fan of Dick Grayson even while I was knee deep in TW fandom, so my longtime followers can tell you....Iâve been making these posts about him all along. A lot of my more popular Dick Grayson posts were written years ago, before I started getting active in this fandom....which only really happened over last summer.Â
And the difference in TONE in a lot of my posts, is a lot of the âtamerâ posts.....which express the exact same viewpoints I have as in my more heated posts.....is because my âtamerâ posts were written as one-offs that I just wrote in passing while in a fandom that generally didnât have any interest in my Batfamily musings....which did not at all stop me from still making those posts from time to time....because I donât post ANYTHING for the sake of getting notes. Its literally just shit thatâs on my mind, that I want to put out there for people to do whatever the hell they feel like doing with them.Â
And so most of the posts I reblog, that seem more âmildâ....its because I wrote them years ago, they got like maybe ten notes at the time, lol, and Iâm reblogging them now because I have more of a platform and think theyâd still be of interest to fans of that content specifically....but the stark tone difference is because when I wrote THOSE....nobody was jumping on my back the second I hit post to tell me how obviously wrong and stupid I was for not getting this or that or that and having this opinion on this character or just âcaring too much about fictional characters.â
Like, you get what you give, people. You throw shit at me, eventually, Iâm gonna start throwing shit back, and no, you donât get to be pissed about that when all the evidence is there that Iâm MORE than capable AND willing to have a good time just by myself....and more than happy to have people join in....as long as nobodyâs being a douchebag. But if you get your douchebaggery on and start making my life hell....Iâm gonna start raising my voice, because that shit fucking sucks.
The sheer vitriol I got for simply stating that I have no interest in writing a S/terek dynamic I see as inherently toxic due to the inherent power imbalances, BECAUSE of my own history as an abuse and rape survivor, which I was frank about.....it blows my mind. People are literally OFFENDED that in response to questions THEY asked me, I said....I do not like this thing, because of how it affects my feelings about my own trauma.Â
Like, for years I have gotten monthly hatemail in my asks for spreading toxicity and hate through the TW fandom and âhurting real abuse/rape survivors by misleading people and calling S/terek pedophilic and misusing terms like thatâ....
And the utterly hilarious thing (in that not at all sort of way), is I have never ONCE called S/terek pedophilic, or anyone who ships it a pedophile. Never. Once!
You know why? Its not even because of my own personal view on whether or not thatâs an accurate label for that ship....its because IT WASNâT EVEN RELEVANT TO THE SPECIFIC CRITICISMS IâVE ALWAYS FOCUSED ON MAKING.
Like, I literally never even got AROUND to expressing whether or not I thought that was a label that applies to that ship, because Iâve always had plenty of thoughts just purely on the specific power imbalances as I break them down in my view of that pairing....REGARDLESS of what you label those power imbalances. I donât fucking CARE about the terminology. My concern has never once been what the fuck you call it, so I never made it ABOUT what anyone calls it, and purely focused on why I think it isnât healthy just in specific terms.....and yes, pulled from my own personal experience and knowledge of abuse to back up why I feel that way, and to clarify why I feel so strongly about it.
But does any of this matter? Nope. Because all people cared about when directing hate my way for my oh so controversial opinions was not what was accurate to my views, but what was effective in discrediting them.
And the same shit is already happening in Batfandom, and its obnoxious, and tired, and yeah, its why Iâm already kinda coming out of the gate hot and heavy, because within like....less than two months of me starting to post more regularly about Batfam specific content and getting some followers who have large fandom presences and boosted my posts to a pretty broad fandom circulation....
Its like, welcome to TW fandom, rinse and repeat.
Hardly any of the actual flack Iâve gotten in this fandom so far has anything whatsoever to do with my opinions on the Batfam....its almost all about the fact that I donât like noncon/pedophilia/incest fics and am critical of the permissive attitude fandom spaces have cultivated around this stuff. And of the fact that I think the culture of false positivity fandom spaces try to enforce at the expense of marginalized fans who try to speak up about their experiences with racism and other forms of oppression and bigotry online, like, is similarly bullshit. Like, the thing people donât like me for most of all, is that Iâm LOUD and OPINIONATED about saying that these things specifically, fucking suck, and here are my own personal experiences that make me feel that way.
And notice the lack of actual argument with my actual posts. Notice how its all about ME....my volume....my âirrationalityâ....my obvious mental health issues (Iâve heard that one a couple times already, lol - no shit, Iâm ADHD, have longterm PTSD, and a literal lifetimeâs worth of trauma Iâm still actively unpacking and sorting through, lol, what the fuck was the revelation in me having mental health issues? Iâm not shy about it, and I donât use it as an excuse for being an asshole.....guess what? Iâm an asshole sometimes, and I can absolutely point to when and where Iâve been one. Iâm not hiding it, and Iâm not hiding behind mental illness).
Plus, yâknow thereâs my âfake wokenessâ because a white man canât have any possible reasons or experiences that lead to him choosing to prioritize supporting people of color in fandom over other white people while still firmly being motivated by things that are born of his own life and his own lane, and just *gasp* happen to make me care more about certain shit than other white people do, like.....Iâm as transparent as I am about my feelings and motivations for a REASON. Iâm not UNAWARE of any of this or how I come across.....the thing so many of you donât get is that none of this is a multiple choice test where you have to circle the right answer and you pass, youâre a good ally or a good influence or a good person.....all of this is just life. Its just us all making choices and everyone else reacting to those choices in whatever the hell way they choose.Â
Iâm not trying to win any points with anybody.....if I DID care about cultivating my own influence in fandom, I MORE than have the communication skills to couch my most controversial opinions in language that would be more palatable to the MOST influential corners of fandom, draw more people in, be less alienating or distancing to people who have a kneejerk defensive reaction to a lot of the things I say....like, however influential I may or may not be in various fandoms and various fandom circles....I am perfectly aware of how I could say or do things differently to have MORE influence in broader reaching circles....I just fucking hate that kind of game playing.Â
Iâm the opposite of trying to win points....I just want the people who are around me and who follow me to actually RESPECT me enough to fucking listen to me and what I have to say....because otherwise, how do either of us even benefit? Whatâs the point? Whoâs gaining anything from any interaction?
So yeah. Iâm loud, and vocal, and opinionated....I say exactly whatâs on my mind and I donât apologize for it. Iâm an asshole to people who are an asshole to me first, and sometimes I fuck up and Iâm an asshole to people who donât deserve it. And if you call me on that and I pull my head out of my ass soon enough to notice in time that youâre right and I owe you an apology, Iâll do that! And if you donât want to call me on it and choose to take the offense I caused as a reason not to follow me or interact with me any further....thatâs perfect valid and understandable too, and absolutely your right! Do what you need to do for you!
But the one thing that will never ever ever win you any points with me and that I just despise more than anything....is the fundamental lack of awareness, and lack of respect for me and what Iâve lived through....that the S/terek readers of mine who started the chain of events that led to me settling on my current approach to interacting with fandoms.
That thing where some people in various fandoms think its perfectly acceptable and reasonable to like some of my fan content....but then get pissed and upset with me because I donât like all of the same things you do, think all of the things you do, and am judgmental about various ships you might have or fics you might read or write......and then take this out on me.
Nuh uh. Not okay. Never okay. Do not pass go, do not collect $200, I DO NOT SIT THERE AND TAKE THAT SHIT.
Because the thing the people this describes seem incapable or unwilling to grasp is....
For all your talk of âdonât like/donât readâ and telling me and other survivors to take responsibility for curating our own fandom content and experiences and avoiding things that might trigger us....
Even when I TRY and do that to the absolute BEST of my ability.....some of you still get pissed at me and go on the offensive because I donât want to interact or be around certain content or people who are inspired to create that content....because of what it brings up for me, because of my various past traumas.
Like, thatâs what it boils down to, IN MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCES. People liking what I have to say, until I say I donât like something they donât like and hereâs why....and then its open fucking season, because how dare I not want to associate with them because that association is likely to expose me to triggering things they also at the same time expect me to take responsibility for avoiding, so as not to blame anyone else for my exposure to such things.
Can you please maybe understand why that fundamentally DOES NOT FUCKING WORK??
And is not only utterly unreasonable, but offensive to ask of someone whoâs just trying to participate in fandom and have a good time and simply STATE when and where relevant, that there are things that impact my ability to have a good time, just as there are things that impact the ability of other fans to enjoy themselves alongside you as well?
Or are we ever going to get around to some people admitting that their fandom experiences have absolutely nothing to do with caring about the âcommunityâ people swear up and down exists, and solely prioritize their own personal enjoyment, and FUCK everyone else? (While meanwhile, also being all: but why arenât they making more of the stuff that I at least was enjoying when they werenât bitching about not having fun here?â LOL. Canât ever forget that part.)
Its just.
You all are fucking exhausting sometimes, I swear. And that doesnât mean Iâm going anywhere, because I have as much right to be here as anyone, and I DO still manage to have a good time a lot of the time in spite of this crap, but thatâs never gonna stop me from saying I have a right to have more of a good time and less of a literally triggered time, if any of you might ever care to prioritize that for me as much as you ask me to prioritize your good times for you.
This isnât me doing anything other than saying....you all are fucking exhausting sometimes, I swear. Because sometimes, I just want to say that. Sometimes, it feels good to say that. And at every time, I have every damn right to say that in any way, shape or form I want to say it, at any volume I want to say it at, because none of this is me yelling at anyone, it is every single one of us sitting safe and comfortable in front of a screen of some kind, reading someone else express themselves and deciding how we want to take that expression and whatâs being expressed, and how we want to react or not react in turn.
Like....just...its that fucking simple. That is literally all so much of this fucking âdiscourseâ is. People experiencing life in different ways than other people, and some people wanting to improve their experiences, some people wanting their experiences to stay just the way they are, some people wanting to ignore every experience that doesnât fit their expectations or desired interactions, and other people just.....idk, just being fucking high, letâs face it, half the shit on this site is just plain weird and I like to assume the best of humanity and just chalk it up to half this siteâs user base being high as fuck most of the time they post, LOL.Â
*Shrugs* Congrats if you actually read all the way through to the end of this post....like....this is where I reiterate...I have ZERO expectations for this post. I have NO clue how people will react to it, how many or how few people will take it in the way I want it to be taken, especially because *I* donât even know how I want it to be taken or what I would like to come of it. This is literally just me saying shit that is on my brain in response to my own personal experiences on this site and in this fandom. It is utterly, 100% up to you guys to decide what you do with it from here.
If I have one want for all fandoms, I guess it would just be.....for people to look to their own behavior and motivations and choices and take responsibility for their own shit before projecting onto other people and expecting them to do all of that while still refusing to do any of it themselves.
Too many people keep trying to drive one way on what are supposed to be two-way streets, and being shocked when that repeatedly results in collisions, pileups, accidents and blatant hit and runs.
We all live in a society.
Quit treating other members of that society like they only exist to cater to your existence alone.
17 notes
¡
View notes
When Your Birthday Is Between 2 Signs: The Cusp Sign Phenomenon
Sometimes people born during the last or first days of a new solar sign, canât even tell which their zodiac sign is and feel connected to aspects of both astral energies.
Although the rising sign determines the outer you, the ascendant energy that marks the hour of your birth, cusp sign is different; it occurs when the sun position is moving to the next sign in a cycle that varies a little every year.
Meaning that if for example you celebrate your birthday on April 18, it is essential to investigate the sun position to understand if you are predominantly a Ram or a Bull.
On the other hand, if you were born on the border between two signs, itâs possible to identify yourself with both. For example, people who were born on August 20, 21 or 22 can feel identified with Leo and with Virgo at the same time.
I am an Aries Sun but I am on the cusp of being a Taurus Sun, 2 days before the sun moves into Taurus. Meaning I am a Aries-Taurus Cusper. A Mixture between Fire and Earth, the Ram and the Bull.... and ruled by the masculine Mars and the feminine Venus.
Are you one of them? Keep reading.
ARIES â TAURUS: The Cusp of Power...Born between April 18th and April 22nd.
The combination of Aries leadership, with Taurus intelligence, gives them the key to success
They donât waste time thinking about how they can achieve their goals, they go out and take it.
Hard workers, donât allow themselves to be easily manipulated with promises or easy money.
They are passionate and caregivers. Always protecting their loved ones. Though they are very ambitious and power-driven, they wonât hesitate a bit when it comes to helping those in need.
Aries is a restless soul, while Taurus is much calmer and passive, but they have something in common, an element that will always turn their lives upside down: love.
TAURUS â GEMINI: The Cusp of Energy... Born between May 18th and May 24th.
The combination of Taurus and Gemini is quite intelligent. Taurus provides stability and Gemini energy, cunning, and personality.
However, people born under Taurus and Gemini cusp can turn out to be a little lazy because they rely more on brains than on effort.
They have great power of conviction to get everything they want.
Taurus brings patience and perseverance, and Gemini knows how to take the bull by the horns helping them to put aside their controlling aspects.
These two brains united in harmony act faster than anyone elseâs.
Willing to talk about anything, draw the best conclusions, investigate, and experiment new emotions, Taurus-Gemini love unexpected trips, innovation, and surprises.
GEMINI â CANCER: The Cusp of Magic... Born between June 19th and June 23rd.
People born under the signs of Gemini and Cancer have the power to brighten anyoneâs day, even when theyâre having a bad one of their own.
Trueborn sentimental, this cusp is very sensitive and very prone to sadness when disappointed.
Couldnât care less about what other people think.
Anyone born under this Gemini-Cancer combination has a superior intuition capability and a powerful mystic gift which they use to achieve their goals and overcome lifeâs obstacles.
They reconcile Geminis rationality with Cancer emotionality, generating an intriguing personality that drifts between the sensitive and dark side of the moon, and the eloquent and methodic Mercurius.
Though a little inconstant, the Gemini-Cancer Cusp prefer the âand they lived happily ever afterâ type of romance.
CANCER â LEO: The Cusp of Oscillation... Born between July 20th and July 25th.
People born on the cusp Cancer and Leo, are characterized by having a strong character and a sentimental point of view about any situation.
They are romantics and dramatic by nature.
Cancer-Leo is a very temperamental sign, which act before thinking and get carried away by emotions.
They tend to be generous, with a strong protective instinct.
Cancer-Leo cusp sign wonât bother to pretend, or even learn to try and dissimulate anything.
Like an open book, their faces will always be the reflection of their souls and moods.
It is a dangerous combination of many things, but they are outstanding people with high values and honest feelings.
LEO â VIRGO: The Cusp of Exposure... Born between August 20th and 25th.
People who are born under these two signs tend to feel their circumstances constantly challenge them.
They are characterized by having a lot of pride, internal strength and very little patience when it comes to dealing with toxic people.
Leo brings the touch of vitality and perfect energy to complement the gift of Virgoâs work and his proficiency in any field.
They tend to mistrust and evaluate others, as well as their situation, using their acute sixth sense to prevent any mistakes or misunderstanding.
They hate depending on others, feeling disposable or without direction. They want to know exactly where theyâre going and how to get there.
Leo-Virgo analyzes everything and wonât settle for anything less than the best possible option.
Their appearances deceive a lot, and they know it, sometimes they come out cranky but wonât do anything to change it because they believe being faithful to their personalities is unnegotiable.
VIRGO â LIBRA: The Cusp of Beauty... Born between September 20th and 25th.
People born between Virgo and Libra bring magic to the world. They are pure beauty, honest friends, and incredible hostess.
Among its most common features, we must highlight its manic side. Cleaning is one of their main obsessions.
When they have something in mind, theyâll need to achieve it in reality, or else theyâll feel defeated and get easily frustrated.
They love sincerity, brave and honest people who always speak truthfully.
On this cusp, we have the union of control, wit, and strength with harmony, sublime intelligence, and intuition.
They love to help solve other peopleâs lives, but they hate to ask for help or face their problems.
They are brilliant, but out of love, they can make the same mistake again and again.
LIBRA â SCORPIO: The Cusp of Drama and Criticism... Born between October 21st and 25th.
People born under this combination have great magnetism and good fortune.
Libra and Scorpio share a great physical beauty and sexual attractiveness.
They like to stand out and be the center of all attention.
Leaving aside their beauty, we must highlight the bright side of these powerful people. They can convince anyone in the cleverest possible way.
People born under this cusp sign are very critical of injustices and inequity.
They have been born to be sociable and sensual towards almost everyone, thatâs why the turn out to be heartbreakers par excellence and sometimes take advantage of it to overcome any obstacle that comes in their way.
SCORPIO â SAGITTARIUS: The Cusp of Revolution... Born from November 20th to 25th.
This cusp create seductive rebels, people who have been lucky enough to be born under the signs of Scorpio and Sagittarius have very positive aspects and a tempting dark side.
Restless, very energetic and very thirsty for information and freedom, Scorpio-Sagittarius will make their dreams, and their loved ones, come true.
They love to inquire, travel, learn and want to know everything.
Daredevils, they are among those who believe in easy comes-easy goes. For them, easy things are for people who are afraid to ask for more, while successful people go after the hard-to-reach scenario in any situation. They are always going challenge after challenge.
They look for intense and extra-passionate relationships.
For these magnetic people thereâs no better gift than unconditional support, that understands without asking too much, and that takes care of them if they fail. Trust and the freedom are essential for Scorpio-Sagittarius because they hate being interrogated, suffocated or not allowed to make their own decisions.
SAGITTARIUS â CAPRICORN: The Cusp of Prophecy... Born from December 19th to 24th
Sagittarius and Capricorn cusp understands that the key to success is hard work. You wonât find them throwing the towel, NEVER.
People born under the union of these two signs are very focused on the ânow or neverâ mindset and prefer to take a chance and see what happens rather than wait and let things flow.
They are restless and if it comes to bet everything on a single card, they will.
They have an elephantâs memory and can go back to resuscitate passions, emotions, and resentments without making any effort.
The Sagittarius aspects provides very impatient energy, but Capricorn delivers the perfect, and needed, dose of patience.
They can differentiate a good deal from a bad one in a heartbeat, so youâll find them making businesses, starting companies, and investing with excellent outcomes.
They donât usually accept orders; they feel much better working on their own.
CAPRICORN â AQUARIUS:The Cusp of Mystery... Born from January 17th to 22nd
People with the privilege of being Capricorn and Aquarius cusp enjoy the most energetic personality traits of each sign.
Capricorn gives a good dose of willpower and a hard-working vision to achieve success in the short and the long term.
Aquarius, on the other hand, provides a good dose of creativity and desire to escape conventionalism, always aiming to set a new record.
These two energies come together to create a very overwhelming and independent personality.
Capricorn-Aquarius hate critiques and hate meddlers.
âLove me for who I am or leave meâ: thatâs the Capricorn-Aquarius motto.
Although theyâre faithful and tender lovers, some can even call them home-loving, they also enjoy having some spare time to be on their own.
AQUARIUS â PISCES: The Cusp of Sensitivity... From February 16th to the 21st of February.
The combination of Aquarius and Pisces have a vibrant intelligence and emotionality.
The combination of Aquarius and Pisces have a vibrant intelligence and emotionality.
They tend to get carried away by situations and difficulties and use their intuition to thrive.
They love discovering, experimenting and trying new things.
They hate unconstructive criticism, hypocrisy and cannot stand people who live in the past holding grudges.
People who are born between Aquarius and Pisces are characterized by always having time to help others, support and as many hugs as needed.
Sometimes theyâre very insecure and cautious when it comes to starting new relationships.
Aquarius brings its irreverent and antagonist side, Pisces the emotional and enigmatic aspect.
This cusp brings a magical, transparent, loyal and heartfelt vibe to their love relations.
PISCES â ARIES: The Cusp of Rebirth... Born from March 18th to March 22nd.
At this cusp, we find people characterized by being innovative, dreamy, intelligent and tremendously emotional.
They know how to empathize and have a very well structured vision of what they want for their future.
Even when their lives may be going through a rough patch, this optimistic combination knows thereâs always a solution to any problem.
They might usually have all the stability they seek, because being so independent will still go for the difficult path to prove themselves, and others, they are capable of anything.
Having a very peculiar mindset, they get easily misunderstood by others.
Intuitive and lovers of nature and details, they donât like monotony and want to build a magical world around them.
Hopefully this has helped you in discovering your zodiac personality traits if you are on the cusp of a sign. Comment below if you are on the cusp!
Much love to all... go in peace my friends
175 notes
¡
View notes
Hi, i was wondering if you could write a Elliot x Reader imagine where Elliot goes to see Krista and he tells her how much he misses you, since you are away on a business trip, and one night he gets really lonely and gets upset but luckily its the night you come back and you find him crying so you comfort him. Thank you!!!
What a sweet idea, hope you like the read xx
Y/N = your name
title: The Silence
genre: angst
words: 2229
Iâve been seeingKrista for a long time now; sometimes out of choice, most of the time mandatory.Sheâs managed to get a lot of things out of me over the years that, until thatpoint, I fully intended on taking to the grave. Weâve spoken in depth about my drughabits, abhorrent thoughts surrounding world corruption, hell, even the factthat I see my dead father every now and again, and sheâs never once made mefeel like I was doing something inherently wrong. Thatâs not to say she hasnât triedto change me; weâve had our fair share of fights, but I never hold any of itagainst her because I can recognize the toxicity of all those things. Itâs herjob, after all, to guide me in the right mental path; Iâm just stubborn. I knowthat. What I didnât expect, however, was to ever be in the position Iâm in now,talking about this. Krista puts her hands neatly in her lap and almosthesitates before she speaks.
âElliot, Iâm worriedthat youâve become a bit emotionally dependent on (Y/N).â
âWhatâs thatsupposed to mean?â I ask. It comes out a lot more aggressive than I intend, butthatâs purely because Iâm embarrassed. Me? Dependent? Krista purses her lips asthough sheâs about to say something she knows is going to upset me. Iâvelearned to chart her facial expressions by this point.
âSheâs been gonefor six days now, correct?â I nod but I donât look at her. âAnd you called mehere for an emergency appointment. Elliot, I thought something tragic mightâvehappened.â
âIâm allowed tomiss her.â I mumble through dry lips. Sheâs right though. Iâve never seenKrista on a day other than when I was scheduled to. But I didnât know who elseto go to.
âI know that. Ofcourse you are.â
âShouldnât you behappy Iâm not alone anymore?â
âWell, itâs notreally about that, is it? Of course Iâm happy for you, Elliot. But you justsaidââ
âI know what Isaid.â A fraught silence. I can feel myself forming walls around my mind toavoid the anguish that inevitably follows vulnerability.
âLook, Iâm yourtherapist. I have to show my concern when a patient says something like âIâmgoing to kill myself if she doesnât come home soon.â I look away from her andstare at an unidentifiable stain on the wall to keep myself from biting my lipsraw. âElliot, what are you thinking about?â
Itâs obvious,isnât it? (Y/N). Her smell. The way she holds me into her chest for hours withoutspeaking because she knows I just donât have the words sometimes. How much Ihate that I need it. The silence,since sheâs been gone.
âNothing.â I say.Krista frowns. She knows Iâve already initiated emergency shutdown in my brain.
âPerhaps yourreactions are a result of something deeper, Elliot.â
âNever mind,Krista. Iâm sorry for wasting your time. Iâm not going to kill myself, I wasjustâŚkidding.â Some joke. I snatch up my backpack and stand up from the chairbefore she can even react.
âMaybe if you talkabout how youâre feeling I can understand a little more. Take a seat, Elliot. Iâmno stranger.â Sheâs right. I wonder if her masters in psychology has given herthe ability to smell out when her patients want to say more but are afraid to.I sit back down. âWhy do you feel so anxious when (Y/N) isnât around?â Thewords are begging to pour out of my mouth but Iâve got it on latch. âGo ahead,start small.â
âWhen Iâm aroundpeople I still feel⌠alone. Like nobody can hear me.â
âWhy do you feellike no one can hear you?â She crosses one leg over another and leans back intoher chair.
âBecause, I donâttalk.â
âWhat do you mean?âThis is hard. I look at Kristaâs face and I wonder if Iâm just another patientto her. I wonder if she really wants to help me or if itâs all for a paycheck.The words trickle slowly. If not for her, for me.
âI mean of course Italk but⌠it feels like my mind isconstantly running. Like a million things are sprinting around and bouncing offthe inside of my skull and I canât get any of them out.â
âYou are a deepthinker, Elliot. Thatâs something Iâve learned about you. Youâre alwaysthinking, and while thatâs not a bad thing, itâs healthy to take a pause oncein a while to breathe.â
âIt feels like Icanât breathe sometimes. But (Y/N), she can hear me. Even when I donât talk.âFor some reason, this pulls a smile out of the corner of Kristaâs lips.
âWhat does she do?âShe asks. I run my hands through my hair a few times.
âI donât know. Idonât know why she cares. But she does.â
âEveryone deservesto be cared about.â What a completely delusional statement. Not me. Not afterthe things Iâve done. âAnd sheâs not the only one, Elliot. You are not alonejust because she isnât here. Have you guys been talking?â
âYeah, kind of. I donâtreally like talking on the phone but Iâve been calling just to hear her voice.â
âWell, maybe youshould consider calling her whenever youâre having a bout of anxiety. Thatmight help ease it a little bit, at least until sheâs home.â
âShe didnât pickup any of my calls today.â The words come out dryly.
âShe is away onbusiness. Have you considered the fact that sheâs just been busy?â
âIt went straightto voicemail every time. Itâs been hours and she hasnât said a word.â
âI understand howeasy it is for the mind to go immediately into the worst-case-scenario, but thatâswhere you have to reason with yourself. If sheâs that special to you then you haveto understand sheâs most likely not ignoring you, Elliot.â
âShe always picksup my calls.â Iâm getting more insistent because Krista doesnât seem to get it.âWhat if something happened to her? How the fuck would I find out if sheâsacross the country in Seattle? She could be deadâŚorâŚâ I have to take a momentto catch myself. A horrible, familiar feeling washes over my chest and spreadsdeeper into my body. âOr she could be fine.â
âExactly.â
âAnd sheâs justrealized she doesnât need me.â This makes Krista frown again, but I couldnâtcare less. I feel like the weight of the world has settled itself on my throat.
âJumping to conclusions like that is only going totear you apart, Elliot. You have to learn how to reason with the voice in yourhead that tells y-â I donât even let her finish. I grab my backpack and headout the door with my head ducked down. Krista doesnât call after me.
My apartment is inshambles when I walk in; not that it was any different with (Y/N) here, but atleast she made the mess feel like home. I start picking up some of the clothesoff the floor and run across one of her Sonic Youth t-shirts Iâve been sleepingwith. I press it into my face and take a long inhale to scrounge what I can ofher smell.
Itâs funny howfast things can change, even after long periods of stagnant routine. A year agoI was living here alone. The only people who ever visit me are Darlene and Angela,and even that is a rare occurrence. Loneliness owned a large part of me. Itnestled itself into a deep, dark crevice of my mind that I never kept an eyeon, and it grew. After I met (Y/N), it was still there; reared its ugly headwhenever she was asleep before me, or when she got home late. But all thatmattered was when she silenced it. As soon as her eyes would open, as soon asshe walked in through the door and kissed me, I forgot all about it. Lonelinesslost its power to her.
But now sheâsgone. I slide my phone from the pocket of my jeans and desperately try callingher again. The picture I have for her caller ID pops up on my screen. Itâs one ofher kissing me on the cheek on Valentines Day and I almost look content. Thefirst Valentines day I ever spent with someone else. How could a picture thathas so many happy memories tied to it, bring so much grief? The voicemailrecording answers and something comes over me that is even worse than the loneliness.It almost feels like anger, but darker. Loss, maybe. Mistrust. My heart feelslike its fighting to come out of my chest. Just like that, sheâd decided toabandon me just like everyone else. Why did I ever think it would be anydifferent?
I flip the table overin a fit of blind rage and all of its contents go flying across the room.Flipper whines at my feet, afraid of whatâs happening. Iâm afraid too, so I canâtoffer her any condolences. I storm into the bathroom and stare at myself,buggy-eyed. What looks back at me is repulsive, naĂŻve, undeserving. I take thehairbrush (Y/N) left on my sink and throw it at myself, smashing the mirrorinto fragments but I can still see this gaunt, pale face through it all. Ipunch the mirror again until it splinters so much I become unrecognizable. Isit my fault? How could I have not learned by this point that good things willnever stay by the side of someone as miserable as me?
When my ears stop ringingI can hear Flipper barking frantically in the other room. I wash my hands ofthe blood and lean on the reddened sink as I chew the inside of my mouth,trying to calm down. Itâs alright, Iâve been alone, I can learn to be aloneagain. Maybe loneliness is all that I have. Itâs safe, at least, and consistent.I close the bathroom door behind me so Flipper doesnât cut herself on theglass. She wonât stop crying. Her whole body jumps every time she yelps. The noisejust adds to the chaos in my mind.
âFlipper!â I snatchher up in my arms and realize the door is being knocked on rigorously. I hadnâteven heard it from the bathroom. I pet Flipper a few times and place her backon the ground where she continues to bark. Flashbacks of 5/9 and the chaos thatensued wash over me; the danger, the loss. Dark Army? FBI? Why would theybother knocking?
Suddenly theknocking stops and I realize Iâve been standing in the middle of my apartmentstaring at the door. The doorknob begins to jiggle and I fear that it could beanyone. Slowly my feet slide towards the door. I think about grabbing a knifejust in case.
âElliot!â The doorswings open and (Y/N) drops her bags to the floor. âI almost didnât think youwere home! Why didnât you answer?â My jaw drops open and releases an exhalethat purges whatever feelings of grief I had just conjured. âWow⌠what happenedin here? You have a big rager when I was gone?â She points towards the table I knockedover. Despite the mess, her face gleams with excitement to see me and her voiceechoes like a familiar tune over all the madness in my head. I run over to herand wrap her in an embrace so tight, she laughs.
âWhat are youdoing here?â I canât ask her soon enough.
âI came home earlyto surprise you! We finished a few days early, and Seattle was a bore anyway.â(Y/N) kisses me and plops onto the bed. I feel like Iâm in a dream and Iâm notallowed to touch her. Her presence alone, a shining light in a desolate place. Istare at her and wonder how she always manages to catch me when my arms andlegs are hogtied and Iâve tossed myself into a hole. âWell? Come here! I need asnuggle after all that traveling!â She kicks off her sneakers and pulls her shirtover her head, patting the mattress beside her. I shuffle over without saying aword like a catatonic patient in a psych ward.
âI thought⌠youhad left me.â The words roll out of my mouth like lead balls.
âWhat in the worldare you talking about? I couldnât wait to get out of that place. Iâm sorry I missedyour calls, I was on the plane. And I wanted it to be a surprise, but I forgotyou hate those.â She laughs and it fills the room with color. I slide into thebed next to her and pull her into my chest. âI bought you some cool things fromSeattle though, wanna see âem?â
âNo, not rightnow. Letâs just lay here.â I stroke the back of her head and soak in as much ofher as I can. She traces a finger up and down my back and I can feel the stressleaving me, all of it.
My questions areanswered through the silence. She is my angel.
103 notes
¡
View notes