#to the ambiguity of it and the fact I get to decide whatever the fuck I want about it

[umbreerie]

𝕺𝖛𝖊𝖗𝖍𝖆𝖚𝖑 ; Random thoughts.

More cringe about this terrible brain worm but I wanted to mention, basically I've been thinking a lot about Kai and Eri.

Specifically the fact that Kai was kind of forced to be Eri's adoptive father. She was given to him after she was abandoned by a woman that would probably, technically, be Kai's adoptive sister and it wasn't Kai that ever wanted this. Moreover, he was directly instructed by pops to experiment on Eri and find out what exactly her quirk was / how it worked.

Which, as a side note I think is interesting and I think it makes Overhaul's own frustrations towards pops not supporting him on his "plan" make a lot of sense. Because Pops was the ultimate reason Kai was on that path in so many ways.

Like, imagine you've been groomed to take over this criminal organization and lead it into the future, an organization thats been struggling since long before you were even born, the man who helped and supported you and made his dream of making things better for the organization your own and even gave you the tool to make everything right again and remove all those struggles.... Suddenly just says no right when you're on the verge of making it happen. I'm not saying Pops was wrong for NOT wanting to use Eri this way BUT he def is to blame for Kai ever getting to that point in the first place.

And no, see I think the thing here is... I've already mentioned Kai protects some things on to Eri and I have a whole headcanon about how Kai was experimented on as a child too in a similar way. But I think Kai's unkind and callous treatment of Eri is kind of a combination of Kai's projection onto Eri and a deep resentment he feels for being forced to be her carer in the first place. Keeping in mind Kai did nothing to get himself saddled with a whole child. Looking after Eri was NOT Kai's decision or interest in anyway. Eri was not Kai's responsibility like that. And being forced to "look after" a child you're not ready or willing to look after can be its own unique kind of trauma.

But I feel like this is kind of... An overlooked struggle because the only point of reference most people have for this situation is parents who are stupid enough to have children they don't want which makes it easy enough to ultimately see this as the parents fault and place blame and shame on them regardless, there's not really a lot of point of reference for people who are forced into parenthood who didn't do anything to put themselves there. And this wasn't a situation that could be remedied by saying "no" or giving the kid to someone else, especially in Kai's situation. He was directly ordered by his oyabun to take this child on AND find out exactly what her quirk was and what was going on with it. Being suddenly given a child was probably daunting enough but given a child who has an unknown and insanely dangerous ability that allows her to wipe people she's in contact with out of existence is surely a whole other thing. We're also pretty much told this is the reason Kai had to keep "disassembling (killing) Eri". It was the only way he knew how/could stop her rewind.

But Kai can't let himself blame pops, because pops was the man who saved him ━ but who can he blame ? Eri's mother left the organization and ran away - the only person left to "blame" for this is Eri.

Like at the end of the day, Eri was a small child whose care was forced on the shoulders of a deeply traumatized and neurotic individual who clearly hadn't healed from any of his own shit and never possibly could have given the environment he was in so of course it was a terrible tragedy but AT least Eri did end up getting a happy ending.

Kai on the other hand.... Not so much. And no, maybe he didn't deserve one but, imo, he was at the very least terribly wasted as a character and I think we should have seen a lot more from him and his ultimate conclusion was kind of ass, along with pretty much all the other incredibly cool, complicated and fun villains Hori made.

[bomberqueen17]

tone indicators

I reblogged this post without adding any commentary bc queue and not a lot of computer time lately but like okay here's the thing about tone indicators:

they're yet another in-group set of coded speech. like an inside joke, or a meme, or a conlang. if you are in a group that uses them, they're great and perfectly comprehensible.

but if you don't happen to have come from inside a group that uses them, they are exactly as exclusionary as any other heavy jargon or inside joke or acronym. I mean have you ever listened to soldiers talk? The US Army communicates in heavily jargon-ified speech, liberally laden with acronyms, so much so that it's a self-referential joke to make up obscene or deliberately-obfuscated ones to slip into official reports since the sorts of people who'd kick up a fuss about obscene language won't understand them.

It is exactly the same thing. Except that's exclusionary on purpose, and tone indicators are exclusionary in effect but tout themselves as inclusionary.

So if I, an outsider to this, am reading along, and after a sentence, there's a / and then between one and three letters, that is not enough information for me to use to look it up.

This is absolutely inaccessible if you are not alreadhy in the group that uses it.

I wouldn't mind if the people who used them were just like 'oh ha sorry jargon, i'll try to explain if it's not clear, sorry i forget you guys don't know them' just like any other inside joke or meme or whatever.

But I was in a discussion with someone on a Discord and when I was puzzled about them including these weird slash-acronyms after their statements they were like oh how nice for you that you're not neurodivergent and don't need to use these.

Uh no. The opposite actually. I'm the kind of neurodivergent that needs context. I handle being excluded from conversations very poorly. And that's where I get pissed off, that people seem to be holding these up as the new be-all end-all of Finally Solving The Problem Of Ambiguous Tones In Social Interaction. The hell you are, kids. They're just another layer, and I'd say the worst one yet, out of many many many attempts to solve this exact problem. They are fundamentally inaccessible. Don't mistake the fact that you learned them (somewhere, in some context inaccessible to me) for them actually being universal.

Considered against the many different solutions that have been offered since text-only speech was invented, tone indicators stack up as among the very least-accessible of the lot, since they contain so little context in and of themselves-- if a key is not provided then they're totally inaccessible, and are exceptionally difficult for non-native English speakers, and in general require so much memorization or cross-referencing as to be prohibitively hostile to outsiders.

And that's fine, if what your'e doing is just meant for talking to your friends. But don't come into my conversations and berate me for not having memorized whatever incomprehensible set of acronyms you've newly-decided are the new universal truth. And what drives me the most insane is how many of these acronyms someone has now decided to assign a whole new meaning to are acronyms that are well-known and already existed and are in heavy use. So if you try to look them up guess what you get! is it gonna be the newly-created version or the one that's been in use for fifty to seventy-five years??

For one, P.O.S. has had a specific meaning in written and spoken English for a really damn long time and if you call me a piece of shit in the actual language I speak I am absolutely not going to interpret your conlang as having intended something nice. (YES REALLY THEY'RE USING THAT ONE TRY TO GUESS WHAT IT MEANS. NO. NO! I know. Fuck! That's wild. Absolutely the fuck not.)

[marys2ndson]

hunting fucking sucks: a fic rec list

I just love when their lives suck not because they’re vessels for archangels or whatever, but just because their job is the worst. thankless, dangerous, morally ambiguous, leaving them injured and dirty and bone-tired. i <3 whump

Due East by sowell (4,700 words)

Just hunts and angst and them, together. Love the characterization. 

“I think I like you injured. Less bitchy,” Dean says with a smile, and Sam blinks at him. / “What?” / “You think I haven’t noticed you sulking for two days straight?”

Hard to Come By by sevenfists (1,700 words)

Hunting, driving around, sleeping in shitty motels. Making difficult choices, dealing with hard realities. 

"You don't smoke," Sam says, and Dean says, "What's it look like I'm doing?" The cigarette tastes like ass. He smokes it anyway, tapping the ash out the open window. It's August. Sam turns up the air conditioning. Dean turns it back down.

Below Breath by kalliel (3,100 words)

Season 2, case fic. Love the complete lack of exposition. You’re just thrown into it on Dean’s terms, and everything is complicated and difficult and unknown. 

Dude, he says, and shoves you in the back with his shotgun. You resist the urge to turn around and smack him with it. Or kiss him, all teeth. See how much he’s paying attention then. 

Every Rhyme Without Reason by kalliel (44,800 words) 

Season 1, case fic, Sam POV. Fascinating and atmospheric and a tough read bc Sam’s life is very uphill at this point, but he’s so present, wrestling and grappling with it. Love him. <3

Maybe they killed that rawhead, released that reaper, slashed that bax'aan's throat. Maybe they'll kill this thing in Rime. But this is what's gonna get them: They have $127.34, four more nights, half a tank of gas, and some cold leftovers to their name. Out here, there's nowhere to go but down; and even then, they're going to have to limp.

With Gravy by kalliel (3,700 words)

Vague season 2. A hunt gone wrong. Slim chances of survival, complete darkness, pain, and heroism. 

The tunnel stretches on and on, and all Dean hears is their footsteps getting heavier, sloppier. One kid cries. The woman cries. The man's leg doesn't quite clear some jutting rocks, and he weeps.

The Real Thing by ameliacareful (14,200 words)

Jensen wakes up in a motel room in Dean’s place. So outsider POV. That thing about the third trial, about Tom and Shep… Kill me. 

“Are you doing that on purpose?” / “What?” / “Sounding like him?” / “A little. Does it work?” Jensen asked. / Sam did that funny little flicker of a smile/grimace that Jared only did as Sam. “Yeah, it does.” His gaze hardened. “Don’t do it again.” / Sam was suddenly very big. Armed. / “Gotcha,” Jensen said.

Catch Your Death by road_rhythm (22,300 words)

They work a ghost hunt while Sam’s sick. This fucks severely! All their petty fights and their biases and bickering really get the spotlight they deserve, as well as the fact that they just really love and care about each other. Feels exactly like a really good ep of s2. And takes up some of the interesting Sam issues as well.

It was this, every time. Sam lashed out and Dean came back with impenetrable patience and washcloths and medicine and touch and one day it would be his life. And there was no answering back to that.

my habit of breaking hearts as soon as i have them by acccording2thelore (6,600 words)

WARNING: major character death. 

A hunt gone wrong. Staggering grief and horror mixed with intimacy and connection. <3 

If he can just get to Garth, he can send up some of his people and help carry Sam to the base of the mountain. Dean won’t make it that far.

the blurriness of being alive by hathfrozen (3,500 words)

WARNING: major character death. 

Sam dies of an infection.

“They don’t get to grieve for him,” Dean tells Miracle when he decides he isn’t calling anybody to tell them. “They ain’t allowed. They don’t get it.” Dean’s had the worst things in the known universe leeching off of him, trying to turn him into evil, but this is the most rotten, meanest he’s ever felt. He doesn’t fucking care.

A Lifetime or Two by nigeltde (18,400 words)

They work a case with their mom; Sam gets banged up; they try something new. This fic feels so real and lived in. The familiarity between Sam and Dean, the way Sam feels left out, Sam’s quiet loneliness and enduring hope, Dean’s desperate affection. <3

Sam would say lucky it was just broken bones. Lucky nothing else cut too deep. Lucky his ear was intact. Dean gets lost, strung out, trying to calculate: if Sam had been concussed, would that still be good luck? If he’d lost the finger, should Dean be thankful? Where does it end, the tallying? Sam thrown through glass, dragged across pavement, tossed into a car, stitched up in this cramped doll’s house of a room, having to bluntly endure; this is what he’s supposed to be grateful for?

Settle Down My Shivered Bones by abitingsmile (4,800 words)

WARNING: disordered eating, food insecurity, and child neglect. 

Pre-series. John, unreliable and off hunting somewhere, and Sam and Dean, making it work with too little cash and too little food. Love this exact flavor of codependency, not sweet, but hard-earned and for survival. 

Sam still bickered with him about school and television and laundry, but not about food. Hell, he practically waited for Dean to give him permission to eat, because that way they knew there’d be enough. John or no, this was something incredibly important they could control, they could handle. John simply wasn’t in the loop anymore.

[i-am-a-secret-ssshhh]

An Obey Me X Twisted Wonderland Prompt

So, if MC went from Obey Me to Twisted Wonderland, I think it would be very funny if no one believed them when they started to open up about their time in the Devildom.

Like, they tell people they lived with the Seven Deadly Sins, they know the Crown Prince of Hell, etc. but no one believes them. They just kind of brushed it off as them trying to either get attention or to claim that they do know a thing or two about magic, but it's just different, when they are all under the assumption that MC doesn't have magic at all.

So, a bit frustrated, I would love it if MC would just start making shit up. They think they're probably never getting home, and even if they do get home, there's no way the people here will ever actually know anything about the Devildom because it's in another world.

They start making up random holidays, random trends, random career paths, random foods, and various other things. It's all fake. They know that it's fake. But they don't care, at this point it's entertaining. It would be super funny if they had an entire notebook dedicated to their lies so that they can keep them straight. Or if they had a datebook and just filled out random dates with various holidays.

(Bonus points if they end up convincing a few people, or letting the Adeuce duo in on the secret and they began treating it like MC was telling the truth and they believed them word for word)

And then the Obey Me Boys come, and everyone realizes, "Oh my god, MC wasn't lying. We need to learn more."

They start questioning all these crazy things because, even if these people and that place are real, all these facts can't be, right?

Everyone, despite not knowing about this prior, immediately agrees with whatever MC said. Lucifer and Beelzebub are probably a bit more ambiguous with their answers, Lucifer because he doesn't want to lie about the Devildom, and Beel because he doesn't want to answer in a way that may contradict, what MC has said.

Examples:

Random Twst character: So, do you guys really have a weeklong Chicken Dance Day Festival?

Diavolo, who has no idea what they're on about: Of course, it's a week after our two-day Macarena Day Festival.

.

Random Twst character: Do you guys really eat fire?

Satan, just hearing this for the first time: Most of us, but there are certain colors of fire that the lower-level demons can't stomach.

.

Belphie: *Gets woken up by Random Twst character*

Random Twst character: Do demons really hibernate for three decades after a few centuries?

Belphie: Yes.

Belphie:...

Belphie, deciding to add onto whatever the fuck they're talking about: But I'm a special case. I hibernate whenever I want for however long I want because I'm the Avatar of Sloth.

.

Random Twst character: Is it true that you once held up Lord Diavolo's Castle with one finger because there was a rat?

Barbatos: Of course. Mc could never have killed the rat if I hadn't.

.

Random Twst character, looking judgingly at Lucifer: Do you really breathe fire?

Lucifer: *Raises an eyebrow, but gives no actual response*

Random Twst character: *Is intimidated and drops the subject*

.

Random Twst character: MC says that you once gambled for five days straight and held a winning streak that entire time.

Mammon, feeling his ego grow ten times larger: Course they did! MC should want all of ya' to know about the Great Mammon.

.

Random Twst character: MC says you can talk to fish.

Levi: Duh.

.

Random Twst character: Is it true that you once knocked out an entire banquet of demons with one soup?

Solomon, suddenly feeling very hurt: Wha-

Simeon and Luke: Yes!

Beelzebub: *frantic nodding*

(MC didn't actually lie about this one, but maybe exaggerated a bit)

.

They probably confronted MC after a few days, and they all had a good laugh about it.

If MC did have a notebook or a datebook filled with whatever they've made up along with when these things supposedly take place, they would probably make more for the Obey Me boys who are now in on it.

[thatanimewriter]

LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD.

➳ request: I was wondering if u can like oneshots Bakugou x reader where reader is similar powers to Ruby and Weiss from show rwby and has weapon like Ruby I hope this makes sense

➳ character/s: bakugou katsuki

➳ warnings: canon typical violence, swearing, bakugou being in denial and very competitive, mineta being weird (mentioned to be looking at the girls, reader not specified to be in women or men's change rooms), bro is pining hard

➳ word count: 0.8k

➳ notes: what a cute little conceptt, he'd mistake a crush for an enemy-

𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐬 / 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭  / 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬 / 𝐰𝐢𝐩 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭

bakugou hates cool people. that's what you think, anyway. you've never seen him smile - not smirk - to anyone in the class regardless of if their quirk or combat abilities were good or not. in fact, you're not sure his face could ever show any form of happiness. there's a few reasons for this theory.

once, you were at the training grounds and you'd perched yourself on a ledge, shooting at whatever 'enemy' was in range with your gun-scythe (his words, not yours) and all he did was scream at you from afar. if you were being perfectly honest, you couldn't actually make out what he was saying because he was so far away. to entertain yourselves, you shot at him instead and earnt yourself what you thought was a middle finger.

another time, you'd been running late to class, so you'd sped there in a flurry of petals. supposedly, bakugou was about to enter the classroom before you whooshed past him and plopped in your seat panting obnoxiously. soon after, you heard a series of coughs and the door slammed open to reveal his spiky hair and deep-set frown.

"oi! flower power! you nearly fucking killed me!" he claimed, pointing an accusatory finger at you and holding a fistful of petals in the other hand.

admittedly, that one was your fault.

however, the day after that incident, he was sparring against you and seemed to be getting quite the ego boost since he was kind of kicking your ass. his cockiness quickly morphed to anger as your gaze flicked to midoriya, who had managed to sweep kaminari from his feet. taking bakugou's temporary distraction, you copied midoriya's move and pinned his shoulders to the ground. you got a lot of spit on your face that day after he berated you for not having your full attention on you.

the rest of class 1-a was unsure if he was really into you and was scared of the feeling or if somehow you'd become worse than midoriya and bakugou's very limited world. there's a couple times jirou thought she caught him staring at you from across the room but she wasn't sure if glaring can still be considered as staring.

in the changing rooms one afternoon, mineta was peering through a small hole in the wall and admiring the girls'... assets. this was no surprise to anyone in the class, but midoriya had a suspicion that he would eventually act on when mineta mentioned your name and a large explosion set off immediately after. typically, bakugou grumbled under his breath and maybe hit mineta over the head for saying disgusting things about women, but that particular day, it seemed your name was way over the line.

after another series of situations that made bakugou's feelings on you ambiguous to everyone but you, midoriya decided to ask him on a class camp whether he liked you or not.

"huh?!" the look of shock and disgust on bakugou's face would've indicated no if not for the fact that that was his default reaction to anything ever.

"i don't know, you just seem to be a little more... activated when they're brought up or when they're around," midoriya mumbled, rubbing the back of his head nervously.

"no i'm not!" bakugou protested, crossing his arms over his chest and huffing indignantly.

"you blew up mineta for even mentioning their name when we were getting into our hero costumes."

"that doesn't mean anything!" crackles started emitting from his palms in rapid succession as he continued to think about midoriya's implication. "i don't catch their petals when they fly around and feel them and wonder if their skin is as soft as the petals. i don't wonder if maybe their shampoo smells like strawberries and i don't hug a pillow at night thinking about how it feels to cuddle them!" the sparks died down the further he rambled.

"do you ever think about, i dunno... what it might feel like to hold hands or something?" this was a stretch and there was a high chance that midoriya might get blown up in a minute, but technically bakugou brought it up first.

"sometimes, it's no big deal or anything," bakugou grunted, scuffing his shoe along the dirt and kicking up dust clouds.

that night, bakugou went to bed with a very erratic heartbeat and a very twitchy eye. maybe he's not getting enough quality sleep. he just thinks your gun-scythe is cool and you have a cool quirk that could maybe, totally not likely but maybe could destroy him in a fight. he didn't want you to surpass him in any way, but he liked watching you do your thing and that pissed him off. how dare you look really attractive when you're training?

"stupid red riding hood," he scoffed, rolling over and thinking about the red hooded cape you always wore. maybe he could try it one day. would it bring your bright smile onto your face?

[batsplat]

What was the deal with dovi and his two teammates he did NOT get along with? Personal dislike or what?

so I've rattled off the actual details of the dovi/jorge feud here and this post gives great insight for dovi/iannone. the thing about dovi is that it's kind of funny that it happened twice to him of all people, you know? and the fact that there's (to my knowledge) been fuck all reconciliation? like I said here:

which I think is probably like... my general explanation. it's a) circumstance and b) abysmal interpersonal chemistry. in both cases, you've met the general criteria for intra-team issues:

I should have added that the first criterion is a little more complex than that, because it's also about how competitive the bike is versus expectations. if you thought you were going to be fighting for a title and you're not because the bike is shit, then that's not really the time and place to be starting feuds. but by 2015 ducati was very much on the way up again: for a hot moment early that year it looked like dovi might be a genuine title threat in that year and in 2016 they got their first win since 2010. so, suddenly you've got a manufacturer that's reevaluating its current line up and deciding they want a bigger name to lead the actual title charge... which is where you get the stakes from in both those feuds. dovi/iannone was driven in large part by 'which one of us will get fired' and dovi/lorenzo had the tension of 'this is not the challenger ducati was expecting'. so now you are competing over something a little more substantial... and that makes the difference between 'ah whatever I can paper over these interpersonal tensions' and 'you know what fuck this guy'

the interpersonal chemistry question is obviously more opaque, and again you have to say dovi just got a little unlucky in that regard. from how he talks in his autobiography, it seems like the first feud was just a bit of a radical mismatch of personalities. in iannone, dovi sees someone who is arrogant, obsessed with image and too concerned with beating dovi. it's not exactly a surprise that dovi was severely displeased when he thought he would be dropped for iannone. with jorge... well, you can really see how the competitiveness comes in here, right - the relationship was broadly cordial in 2017 when jorge was in the wilderness and then swiftly deteriorated when he actually got to grips with the bike

also, clearly jorge had some slightly weird stuff going on with dovi... idk, some of the passages read like he thought dovi kinda looked down on him? constantly talking about how clever dovi is, how dovi knows what he's doing... the thing about jorge is that he had a lot of stuff going on as a young man and he was overthinking a lot of things... and some of those things were definitely his rivals... and that did affect several of those relationships for quite a few years. then there's the stuff where jorge repeatedly says how much effort he put into that relationship, celebrating dovi's results in 2017, dovi not appreciating it... I mean, maybe? I can imagine dovi being extremely unmoved by this lol, and certainly not feeling like it means jorge has any credit in the bank the following year. he doesn't like jorge, which is fine... but then occasionally he says something in the press with just enough ambiguity that it allows jorge to go absolutely ape shit and it spirals from there. just a bad combination, really. jorge thought he'd be number one, dovi was very possessive of that project and not willing to cede the lead without one hell of a fight... and they have history and they're both not really particularly willing to give each other the benefit of the doubt. not great

as much as I obviously wasn't being serious calling dovi an awful teammate, he's also not that conflict-averse. he's always been opinionated, reasonably willing to get into arguments (including with the ducati higher ups) and also clearly willing to judge his fellow riders, often quite harshly. he's perhaps not particularly inclined to change his mind either once he's made it up... definitely a character, and perhaps not the type who's really interested in reevaluating relationships post-retirement. jorge on his part has mended quite a few bridges, but it really is just with his fellow aliens - you'll note he's repeatedly incredibly rude about dovi's track record and lack of premier class titles. jorge in general can have a bit of a habit of 'punching down' in a way you won't really get from the other aliens. his nostalgia-inflected warmth towards other riders again really does seem pretty limited to just the aliens, which is how you get him doing instagram throwbacks to motegi 2010 (bonkers lol) and all this *gestures* dani stuff... but with him and dovi, neither of them have really made an effort, and I doubt they will. dovi's the type of guy who wants to see himself as honest and straightforward with these things, so no forcing reconciliation after the fact I reckon. what's wrong with a couple of burnt bridges, right

[deecotan]

I found this art and it's yours but I can only find it on pinterest and it's consuming me pls show me the original post or just give me a backstory I am Haunted

https://images.app.goo.gl/NU3FarXZQHfRyE258

Ahhh, Zoro Gets Violent the comic. One of my most reposted artworks ever. You can find my original post here. (Also on twitter.) Honestly I'm more upset about the fact that the reposters always seem to leave out the second part of the comic whenever they reposted this, cause like if you want to steal something at least steal the complete set, no? :/ (Sarcasm.)

The basic gist of the comic is basically Sanji got captured and held hostage by a bunch of bad guys, and Zoro got so furious that he barged into their lair, slaughtered the hell out of them, and had to have Sanji calling his name and murmuring reassurances to him just so he can calm down.

I did intentionally keep the backstory ambiguous because, well, I like to keep the interpretations up to the viewers to decide. But my original intention is that there is a reason why Zoro in here is so uncharacteristically violent - even more than usual, knowing how much faith he put in Sanji's ability to hold his own. And I tried to show... or rather imply that, through one of the panels of Zoro hugging Sanji (or Sanji hugging Zoro?). Sanji isn't wearing anything below his waist. Zoro, upon finding him like that, had assumed the worst.

Now I tried showing it through Sanji's dialogue, but if it wasn't clear enough, nothing really did happen. Whether that's because Zoro had arrived soon enough to stop anything from happening, or because of any other reason, that's up to you. Why the bad guys captured Sanji in the first place is also left to interpretation. The main focus of the comic really is just the depiction of Zoro's mind slowly coming back from a mix of pure, unadulterated rage and gut-wrenching fear when faced with the reality that Sanji (might) got hurt - with only Sanji's voice guiding him away from that frenzy. It was to show the utter desperation behind Zoro's eyes when he sees (or rather believes) Sanji got hurt, and contrast that with the bloodied carnage Zoro left behind - the only evidence from what happened before Sanji is able to get Zoro to calm down. Zoro is one of the most level-headed characters in the series, and he always has faith in Sanji's ability to hold on his own. Putting Zoro in a situation where the admirable steadfastness inside himself shatters because his lover is in danger is a really interesting subject to tackle.

Gotta admit, when making this comic I was actually in a pretty low place, hence why the outcome became pretty dark. Maybe a bit edgy. And I guess also kinda personal. But it did help me process whatever emotion I was feeling at the time, and reading other people's receptions of it had honestly helped me go through a difficult phase in my life. Three even wrote a fic based on this art which still made me giggle and kick my feet to this day. I love reading people's interpretations of my art, and receiving a wholeass fic about it? I'm over the fucking moon. (Go read it, it's an excellent fic).

So honestly? I still consider "fear" as one of my best artworks of all time. And while I was obviously bummed about the fact that it got reposted a lot of times, if it means that some people might be curious about the backstory enough to find my account? So be it. I'm glad people are able to enjoy my art, in any way they can.

(Still, obviously, don't make reposting art into a habit. At the very LEAST ask for the artist's permission. Respect your fandom creators, people.)

[eris-snow]

𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐛𝐲𝐞.

Tags: Deku's birthday series 2023, izuku x fem!reader, angst

“There are so many things I wish I could tell you. I want to be done with all the white lies and ambiguous phrasings. So here, I’ll say it, my last secret to you: I love you, Zuku. Please remember me. Please.”

“Get up, you lazy ass!” Katsuki barks from the doorway, barging into his room fully dressed.

Startled awake, Izuku almost tumbles out of bed with a squeak. “Ka-Kacchan!”

“Deku!” He mimics, not looking the slightest bit fazed. In fact, he looks angrier than usual. “If I don’t see you dressed in 5 god damn minutes, I’ll make sure to punch you so fucking hard it’ll make One For All look like a love tap.”

“If I don’t see you out of my room in t minus 5 seconds, I’ll use said love tap to get you out!” Izuku refutes, rubbing his eyes groggily. “What is up with you? It’s only 10 am—”

“Shortie and I stood outside your shitty apartment for half an hour until Auntie came home from the grocery store. You slept right through 30 minutes of endless knocking and doorbell rings.”

Katsuki’s face was the definition of terrifying and pissed, and it didn’t help when his hands started steaming. “Be glad that Shortie was there, if not there would be scorch markings on your door—”

“I’m so sorry, Kaccha—Starlight’s here?!” Izuku yelps, this time actually tumbling out of bed as he scrambles for his drawers. “I thought we gave you a spare key, Kacchan! I—why is Starlight—”

“You changed your fucking locks without telling me after the war, shit nerd! I ain’t have your new keys, so I was half contemplating blowing your door off its hinges—”

“Cut me some slack, Kacchan!” He rushes out, rifling through his closet for suitable clothes. “It’s my birthday.”

“I don’t cut any slack, Izuku.” Katsuki spits, throwing the nerd’s towel in his face. “That’s Shortie’s job.”

“Mean,” Izuku pouts.

Katsuki simply smirks back. “Happy Birthday, Izuku.”

--

“Happy birthday, Zuku!” You greet him, giggling when you saw the towel wrapped around his neck. “What time did you wake up?”

“About 10 minutes ago,” He admits, stealing a glance at the blond. Katsuki’s eyes were scanning his phone screen, a lazy, smug smirk plastered on his face.

“What do you want to do today? We get free rein until dinner time, because your mom wants us back so we can cut the cake.”

A smile plays on Izuku’s lips, and he almost tears right then and there. He was so fortunate to have friends like Starlight and Katsuki. He’d completely lucked out.

“Well…”

--

It was just like the old times. You, Katsuki and Izuku had always been a pack since you were little, and you force yourself to focus on whatever was happening now instead of what would happen after.

Even with the sun beating down you your neck, you survived with the sun hat you’d brought along with you. As you put it on, Izuku comments on it as he digs into his ice cream.

“That’s a nice hat there Starlight! Where’d you get it from?”

“Quite a while back,” You reply, tilting it upward so you can meet his eyes. “The person really knew what I liked.”

--

Izuku couldn’t name a day more perfect. Sure, it wasn’t anything fancy, definitely not as amazing as his meeting with All Might or the day he’d gained his Quirk, but it seemed like the world had decided to give him a peaceful day where nothing went wrong. By the time the three of them had gotten back for dinner, he’s grinning so widely he didn’t know it was possible.

He blows out the candles with a wish and a note in his pocket, praying for his friends, his family, you and Kacchan’s safety because he can’t stand it if you get hurt. He prays you’ll always be here, and that he’d be the number 1 hero (It’s been his dream his whole life, after all.) It’s only when everyone had started digging into the cake, did he realise you were missing.

“Where’s Starlight?” He frowns, checking the balcony. No, you’re not there either.

“She said something about taking a breather,” Katsuki said, poking his slice of cake with a fork. “When I asked her where, she just said, ‘It’s a secret’ and left.” He points his fork at Izuku. “Eat your cake.”

Blood rushes to his head, and for some reason, he’s getting dizzy just thinking about you.

Strange.

“I think I know where she is. I’ll bring her back. The sky’s dark already, Starlight shouldn’t have to walk back by herself.”

Katsuki eyes him suspiciously for a moment, something flickering in his eyes before they drop down to the slice of chocolate cake. “I’ll tell Auntie for you. Go do what you need to do, nerd.”

Izuku smiles at his best friend and thanks him, wearing his dumb bright red shoes and leaving in a hurry.

Katsuki stares at the cake, an icing drawing of himself and you on the cake next to Izuku’s face. He smudges the icing drawing of your face, standing up with a sigh.

“I hope you know what you’re doing, Starlight.”

--

“Hey.”

You whirl around, shoving the lamp in the direction of the voice. Izuku’s shadowed face smiles back gently, making you relax slightly. “Hey.”

The clearing looked different at night. A swarm of fireflies danced around the meadow without a care in the world, making the lake almost sparkle as pretty yellow dots dance around the beautiful glade.

“Kacchan said you stepped out. I got worried.”

You laugh, shaking your head as your fingers creep into the note in his pocket. “Sorry. Needed a breather.”

“No, no! Don’t apologise!” Izuku sits down on the grass next to you, face warm in the glow of the light. “I just wanted to make sure you’re okay.”

That phrase causes your smile to wobble.

“Right!” You dig through your pockets, not allowing even a moment of awkwardness. “Now that you’re here…”

Three small, wrapped present emerges from your pocket. Overpowering emotions are surging behind a fortress you’d encased them in.

You made a promise. You’re not going to cry.

Izuku’s mouth falls open into a small “O” as he takes it tenderly in his hands. He cradles it gently, with scarred hands you’ve come to know.

“What is it?” He asks dumbly.

You chuckle, gesturing. “Just open it, silly. I want to see your reaction.”

He rips open the first one and finds a shimmering silver watch, staring back at him in a shiny transparent box. He sputters indignantly. “Th-This must have cost a fortune! How did you-”

“I may or may not have saved up for it by using my internship money.” You scratched your head, blushing slightly. “It was a little pricy, sure but—”

“How did you know I wanted this brand?” He asks, shaking a little as he pries the lid off and holds it like it’s worth an entire building. “I-I never got it because—”

“You’re afraid it gets damaged during a fight,” You finish. “I know you don’t like accessories, so I asked Hatsume to reinforce the entire thing. I paid her for the modifications as well. Plus, you’ll need something to wear for formal occasions. They never have clocks in ballrooms.”

“You’re going to make me cry,” Izuku warns, looking at you with glassy eyes.

“You have two more gifts left, Zuku. Don’t cry now.”

Izuku takes that as a cue to shred open the next present. Your gifts may be small, but you sure know how to make them impactful because he absolutely loses it when he sees the next gift.”

“Prototype pins for his merchandise from his U.A days,” Izuku whispers, fingers quivering as he counts the pins. “Fi-Five? You got all five of them? I-I’ve never seen it before, how did you—”

“I pulled a few strings,” You say, gently. “It’s yours now.”

With tears bubbling over, he tears open the last gift. At first, it confuses him, and he has to will himself to put the waterworks on hold so he can actually see the gift properly. “Is this…” He cranes his head around, squinting. “Is this a photo of this place?”

“Yeah, I manage to paint this really good painting—”

“You painted this?” He interrupts, full-on sobbing now. “Why would you do this much? I don’t understand, I—”

“It’s a photo of this painting.” You correct. “So you can slot it in your wallet or use it as a bookmark or something. It’s your birthday, Zuku. Of course it’s important to me.”

Izuku tucks all of these precious gifts into his pocket and turns to wrap his arms around you in a tight hug. “Thank you so much, Starlight.”

You’re startled at first, but slowly, you adjust yourself and hug him back. “You’re welcome, Zuku.”

Fireflies dance around you for a little longer until Izuku finally pulls away, wiping the tears out of his eyes. “I, uh, I wanted to pass you something, actually.” He unfolds a note and hands it to you, a practice you’re so familiar with seeing that you instantly know what this is about. “I didn’t get the right time to pass it to you.”

The note is pure white, and you take a deep inhale and read the words to yourself.

I’m so glad I met you. Today was a blast. Thank you for today.

Somehow, those three sentences are what push you off the edge. One tear slips past your barriers, and soon another flows after as more tears join the first.

Dread and a feeling of longing engulf you a whole as you break down into quiet sobs, clenching the pocket that held your note, your last Secret to him, so tightly your knuckles hurt. You were almost contemplating not giving it to him.

“It’s not fair…” You mumble, body convulsing as you try to clear your tears.

“I promised not to cry.”

Izuku panics almost comically, leaning over you and trying to find a way to stop you from bawling. “Hey, don’t cry! I-I didn’t mean to make you sad, I swear, I just—”

“I told myself that I wouldn’t this year. I never follow through on it.”

Izuku frowns. “What are you talking about—”

“Can I get another hug? Please?”

Izuku relents cautiously, and you wish you could explain it to him but you can’t as time slips away fast. You bury your head into his shoulder, trying to memorise everything. The way you fit into his arms, the way he smells, the way his voice is quiet and so gentle and raw when he’s with you.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Izuku asks, patting your head gently.

“Everything.” You mutter, pulling back a little to sit beside him with your back against the tree.

Your tears keep falling, a waterfall of emotions suffocating you as you struggle to get that one word out.

“Stay with me, Izuku.” Your voice comes out broken, as you lean against his shoulder. “Don’t go.”

He’s so much taller now, compared to when you were kids.

He’s stronger too, and he’s not even quirkless.

All things considered, he doesn’t need you anymore.

But you still need him.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Izuku soothes. “I’ll be here tomorrow, too you know.”

That only makes you sob harder.

Memories filter in and out of your head as you finger his note, reminiscing on how the past month has gone.

“You will?” You ask, so small and scared because you know he will, but he won’t and it tears you apart inside. “You’d be here so we can continue to tell each other to sleep earlier, even though we’d go ahead and sleep late anyway?” you swallow thickly, throat running dry. “We’d-we’d have so many more Sunday breakfasts that you’d only eat katsudon no matter how hard I’d try. I’d tell you how much I admire your eyes because they’re just so bright despite everything that happened because you’re Izuku, and I’d tell you how I got your nickname because then, I wouldn’t have to lie to you.”

The words are pushing out of your mouth faster than you can process them, and Izuku just listens to them wordlessly, letting you ramble.

“We’d help each other with our nightmares like we always do, 'cause despite the fact that we have therapists I know that going to you is so much better. We can have more Movie Nights until Shoto is finally caught up with his childhood shows, and come here more often for more picnics. When we get into villain attacks, I’d know you’ll always have my back just like you have mine. We’d figure out our shit together by talking on the rooftop, and I’d tell you how I found this clearing as we light up 17 candles on your birthday cake next year…”

You trail off, fingers wrung together tightly. Tears fall as your voice loses all stability. “I’d have more birthdays with you, and I’d actually be celebrating it with you without having to push my thoughts back down. I’d be happy, and I’d be there for you…” You break off into a whisper.

“…And you’d remember me.”

Izuku’s frown creases deeper. He hates seeing you upset. His head is throbbing, spinning as he tries to focus on you. “I won’t forget you.” He promises. What else can he do?

“I wrote you a note.” You finish, completely ignoring him as you shove the note into his hands with your face hidden. “I wrote you a Secret, too.”

Izuku glances at you with curiosity and concern before his eyes drop down to the lime-green Post-it. He has no idea why you’re busting out all of these memories on him as someone had perished, but all he knew was that you—

I love you.

Izuku drops the paper in his lap and whirls to you with shock, eyes blinking rapidly as he stares back at you.

“What—”

“There are so many things I wish I could tell you. I want to be done with all the white lies and ambiguous phrasings. So here, I’ll say it, my last secret to you: I love you, Zuku. Please remember me. Please.”

“I do, I will, I—” Izuku sputters, face turning red. His head is pounding now, and he struggles to stand when you do. “I don’t understand! Where’s this coming from? What’s with all these lasts and—”

“Shouldn’t we discuss this tomorrow?” You divert, finally wiping your tears away. You square your shoulders and manage a watery smile, before you turn heel and make your way to the path back home. “I’ll explain it all tomorrow. It’s getting late, and I should get home before my parents get worried.” You pause and turn back. Izuku is nodding slowly now, hand outstretched like he wants to catch your wrist, but he doesn’t.

“We can do that. We-we can do that. Just—promise me that you’ll explain everything. I don’t want to be kept in the dark anymore. I need answers. Starlight, please?”

You don’t want to lie, you don’t want to lie, so you just maintain your smile as you whisper, “Whenever you're ready.”

Izuku takes it as a promise, and relaxes with a wobbly smile of his own. “Okay. Goodnight, Starlight.”

You smile, even though it’s painful, and take in a deep breath even though it feels as if you’re inhaling shattered glass. Finally, you work up the courage to say those words, even though it felt like the world was ending in just an hour now.

“Goodbye, Zuku.”

--

Izuku arrives back at the dorms to be greeted by a new face. His smile lights up his entire face when he bows and greets. “Hi! You must be the new transfer Kacchan told me about. I’m Izuku Midoriya, nice to meet you!”

The girl smiles back at him with a warm smile, holding the door wider. Her eyes sparkle like the stars above, and she sticks her own hand out as a greeting.

“My name is Y/n L/n. I can’t wait to spend the rest of the year with you.”

[kenjiyabuki]

stuff that made me go 👀 from ep1

Well, gore-y horror from between 70s-90s w queer subtext is one of my most favorite genres ever, so obviously this show is right up my alley. Just the idea of Thai folk horror and 90s slasher fusion w a bunch of tense gay situationships sprinkled on top sounds like a dream to me <3

so OFC I enjoyed the first episode, the gore, haunting past, creepy mask and dick biting and all & now i'm ready to theorize

here are some little details that got my attention and some thoughts that were thunk by me:::::

After Por's (Us) classic setting-the-up-story horror tale gets called out as teasing from White (Fuaiz), Por and Top (Jet) turn the accusation back to his boyfriend Tee (JJay), calling him the best at tricking the younger ones/newcomers to the group.

Based on the trailers, it's safe to assume that in the past, it was Non (Barcode) who was the gullible young one and he was bullied (among other things that will happen to him) even after group decided to utilize him for the short film. Compared to loudmouths Por and Top, Tee seems more on the quiet and stoic side (albeit w anger issues) so this is definitely a clue. Trailers made me think Por was the main terrorizer of Non but maybe Tee played a bigger role.

If Non is the whatever the hell that is dwelling the forest, then why did he cop a feel from Tee while him and White were busy being the couple who chooses the worst time and place to get nasty in a horror? Is it a payback for the tricking the young ones Tee was so good at?

If this isn't a translation mistake, Jin (Copper) calls the movie "his" even though the credits says otherwise.

Firstly, I want to thank my trusty Yandex Image Translator for making this revelation possible:

While Jin says that he made the film for a contest he was in, it's Por who is credited as the Writer/Director/DoP. In fact, Jin's name is only under the cast list, along w Tee, Top and Fluke (Bump).

And maybe even MORE IMPORTANTLY, although we clearly saw him in the movie, taking off the mask just before Por shuts of the laptop & later Top admits he wrote the story, Non's name is nowhere to be seen in the credits. Not only he "disappeared", they also made it seem like he wasn't there in the first place. Uhmm, that's a cunty move to do to an old "friend"...

That really suspicious and ambiguous conversation between Tee and Por.

They might be talking about Non BUT Tee specifically says he doesn't want HIM, which i'm assuming to be White, to get involved and find out more. Por's face drops at first but then he brushes it off w saying it wouldn't matter even if he did because its not relevant anymore.

There are also other new guys who are oblivious to their past but it's White who is worrying Tee. Along w Por's reaction and him constantly teasing their relationship, I think this might be a sign that Tee and Por might have some kind of history??? I am hoping that as messy gay entangled relationships on top of the supernatural horrors would be even more fun!!!!!!!!!

Phi and White's lil sexual tension moment.

Here's the thing: this wasn't even a set up for Jin or Tee to get jealous or anyone to get thoughts because they weren't there to see it. It just happened so quickly and then Phi turned back his attention to Jin to get scolded (as he should) BUT i was stuck on it because what was the reason????????????? Why did White seemed lost in thought over it?

Jin might be jealous of Tan (Mio) for some fucking reason?

Jin gives Phi half a blowjob, BITES HIS DICK (best moment of the ep), chews him out (verbally) and then suggests Tan in his place. Well, Tan and Phi do seem close and Tan knows about their failed FWB. Still, it's interesting that Jin singled out Tan and thinks they had a similar thing, even though Phi assures him that isn't the case.

Honestly, the possibility of tangled relationships is getting to me AHHHH I didnt get that vibe from the trailer at all but I will be glad to see it. Insert the *I'm excited because I love mess* gif I cant be bothered to search rn.

Top being the token salacious fool archetype of this slasher.

Following up on the theme of horror gays being in entangled situationships: A high Top making passes at his friends might not lead anywhere as it just might be him fulfilling his role as the facetious, big mouth guy. But i will just put it aside just in case..... 👀👀

Bonus strays thoughts::

According to character profiles, all the boys are the same age, except Tan and White who are 2 years younger

Por says to Tan "you two got in [their friend group] in 12th grade". I am assuming other person is Phi as White got into the group as the boyfriend. I want to see how they got to be friends tho.

Smoker Tan has asthma and he needs an inhaler which definitely won't be a big problem in the future, right?

It's interesting how Phi wants to be a director and we fittingly saw him being a leader, being levelheaded and "directing" the critical situations, assigning roles to the group etc

Top claims Non is haunting them because they completed his film without him. Babygirl, I dont know if intellectual property theft is enough to turn into an evil ghost, I know you guys did more than that.

Random but I kinda want Fluke to be the Final Girl, surviving until the end w just a puke bag and 2 years of medicine knowledge.......

[ao3-oner]

Hello, a fellow JDG fan here also deeply mourning the loss against WBG...(it was so close too, damn. BTW i strongly believe that if the meta had been hyper-carry ADC JDG would have made worlds) and as much as i think it’s a shame that the WKFA series is getting discontinued, i’m just gonna say i think it’s good that you’re not forcing yourself to write things you’re not interested in! Plus i will eat up every fic you write anyway lol so keep up the good work

However i’m probably not the only one curious about what the fic might have been, so could you tell us a bit about your ideas/brainrot scenes(If you’re comfortable and willing to share of course)? I read the scene you posted on ao3 and i’m guessing the context is that siwoo hooked up with jaehyuk and then got kicked out and spent the night at jinhyuk’s room. I hadn't expected that siwoo would have had a... thing? with kanavi too but could you tell us a little more about that? And also I’m especially curious about what kind of ending RuLehends would have gotten at the end of the fic, happy/sad/ambiguous?

Wow this is a barrage of questions, so please feel free to ignore stuff(or this entire ask) if you don’t feel like answering. Have a good day!

Hi, and thanks for the ask!

Like I said in my longer update post, I am more than happy to talk about what some of my ideas for what the Worlds fic could have been, including further context for the scene that I did end up writing - in fact, after posting that one scene, I found myself thinking "I really could just write the scene right before that one... and maybe the one before that... and maybe-" until I realized at that rate I would just be writing the entire fic inside out lmao

But yeah, let's start with KanHends! My main foundation for their relationship is a quote from Kanavi where he said he considered himself to be good friends with both Chovy and Lehends from their (few) Griffin days together. As for Kanavi and Lehends's sexual history together, it wasn't so much of a 'thing' as a one night stand, which was actually was going to be a part of the vihends plotline:

My hc for this subplot was that when Viper and Lehends first started working together on Griffin, there were feelings there and so they started hooking up and Viper wanted them to be exclusive. Lehends... didn't really want that level of commitment, at least not yet, but rather than talking about his feelings like a normal, healthy person, he decided to resolve the issue by sleeping his way through the rest of the Griffin roster, leading us to this exchange:

Past! Jinhyuk: "We shouldn't. I mean, you're Dohyun's..."

Past! Siwoo: "Dohyun's... what?"

Past! Jinhyuk: "I dunno. You're Dohyun's something."

Past! Siwoo: "That's the thing, Jin: I'm not his anything. I'm not 'his' at all, and that means we can do whatever the fuck we want. So, are you in?"

Dohyun finds out, of course, and is absolutely heartbroken because he thought he and Siwoo had an understanding. Siwoo explains that he's happy to keep his situationship with Dohyun as long as it remains exactly that: no strings attached. Jinhyuk is honestly kind of pissed that Siwoo essentially used him as a means to set boundaries with Dohyun, but lets it slide because he did know what he was signing up for and he still generally likes Siwoo plus the sex was really good so

That whole past interaction was going to feed into Jinhyuk being honestly worried about Dohyun's well-being going into Worlds, because based on what he's heard from both Jaehyuk and Jihoon, it certainly doesn't sound like Siwoo's gotten his shit together. Even if Siwoo claims he's now ready for a committed relationship with Dohyun, Jin is pressing X to doubt. That, plus Jinhyuk still feeling slightly guilty for interfering with their relationship all those years ago, was going to incentivize Jinhyuk to talk to Dohyun at Worlds about his relationship with Siwoo, with his goal being to try to prevent his friend from getting his heart broken all over again. Oh, Kanavi plotline my beloved... Have I mentioned how much I love Jinhyuk? Because I really do.

On another note, Jaehyuk's quip about "the best night of [Jin's] life" in the scene that I wrote out was also a reference to this backstory: Jaehyuk didn't know about Jin and Siwoo's fling until Worlds where Jin mentions it in the context of a different discussion about Siwoo’s escapades, something along the lines of the exasperated declaration, "Yes, we've fucked! Best night of my fucking life! But that only shows how none of this means shit to Siwoo! That's just what he does. That's just who he is." Jaehyuk was honestly pretty shocked to hear that, but didn't get too snippy about it until he saw Siwoo walking out of Jinhyuk's hotel room and kissing him...

Speaking of, you've hit the context of the stand-alone scene squarely on the head, so I'm glad to hear that the key points came across okay. What happened the night before that scene consisted of some very messy sex between Jaehyuk and Siwoo, followed by Jaehyuk ordering Siwoo to get out of his room. I like that scene a lot - very hot, very angsty - so I won't share too many details until I'm more certain that I'm not gonna fully write it out. But yeah, it ends with Siwoo in tears outside of Jaehyuk's door, pounding on it until Jin comes out to see what all the noise is about, takes one look at Siwoo all fucked and bitten and sobbing, then says something along the lines of "For fuck's sake, you two..." and drags Siwoo into his room. They just sleep, of course. Siwoo just needed someone to hold him after that, and #Kanavi'sAGoodFriend.

As for your question about what ending RuLehends had in store for them... Since the full fic isn't going to be written, I honestly think it's better for you to decide that for yourself. What even constitutes a happy ending for them? Are they together? Apart? Does Siwoo end up with Dohyun instead? I think all my readers can decide what they think should happen, or what they want to happen, and mentally sub that in for 'canon'. At this point, I rescind my right to make a call about the ending either way. Maybe Singed from the hit game League of Legends shows up in the real world at the very end, flings Siwoo over his shoulder and sprints off into the distance? Idk. Have fun with it!

As always, don't worry about asking me things regardless of how long or short they are - I am happy to be yappy. You have a great day, too, wherever you are, and I hope to hear from you again!

[hyperactivewhore]

I can't believe the topic of what happened between Damon and Caroline is still being debated, as if it should've ever been debated in the first place. Damon 100% raped and abused Caroline, and Elena 100% knew about it and still chose to be with him anyway, because she gave no shits about anyone else but herself and was a shit friend and a piece of shit in general. And you wonder why people hated Elena so much? For that exact reason right there and deservedly so. Stop being so stupid and in denial. And Caroline being the one to actively pursue Damon first and consenting to sex one time only doesn't make what Damon did null and void. The dude is still a fucking rapist and abuser. I get you hate Caroline, but come one now.

Jesus. Take a pill and calm down lmao, no one is attacking you.

There is no evidence of Elena being aware of the rape because the writers decided to act as if Damon never touched Caroline: I'm aware he did, he forced himself on her and the show never addressed or even recognized the trauma she endured. Just as they decided to act as if he didn't also rape Andy and as if Katherine hadn't raped Stefan and as if Klaus hadn't made out with Care in Tyler's body, which is no matter what sexual abuse all the same, especially because Caroline was gonna have sex with him - I don't think he would have went further with her, though.

I do agree however with the fact that Damon 100% raped Caroline, Stefan probably knew (as it's implied) and people pretending otherwise is just stupid and awful. This conversation says everything we need to know:

[Stefan: They are people, Damon. She's not a puppet. She doesn't just exist for your amusement, for you to feed on whenever you want to.

Damon: Sure she does. They all do. They're whatever I want them to be. They're mine for the taking.

Stefan: All right, you've had your fun. You used Caroline, you got to me and Elena, good for you. Now it's time for you to go.

Damon: That's not a problem. Because... I've been invited in... and I'll come back tomorrow night, and the following night, and I'll do...with your little cheerleader whatever I want... to do, because that is what is normal... for me.]

But blaming Elena for it is straight up disgusting. As far as I know, the only time she brought up her "relationship" with Damon was in season four, some comment about how Caroline jumped in bed with him. She would have never said that if she knew he had raped her, and it's left ambiguous for a reason.

Liz was the best friend of the man who raped her daughter, Caroline got along well with the woman who raped her husband and Caroline herself was forced to get along with Damon, the man who abused her and traumatized her. Deciding if x person knew what had happened has always been our choice, the writers would never dare to address the sexual abuse this characters did simply because they were fan favorite.

Being honest it's quite stupid of your part to act as if Caroline herself wasn't also a bad friend. Everyone in the Mystic Falls gang was at one point. Hating Elena - and Matt - was literally a trend that started in social media and got out of hand because people got caught up in it, everyone was crying when Nina left and everyone hates season seven just because she wasn't on it, the character people despise so badly. And the fact that you're implying I've ever defended a rapist is fucking disgusting, I've never done that and I've never will, stop being stupid and grow the fuck up, the way toxic stans lose their shit because people don't like Caroline is ridiculous.

[understandableparadox]

Bottom of the barrel isekai review

did i say I was going to read something horrible for you? turns out it was horrible for me.

behold a fucking pre-amble. I think the idea of loving and being loved is a concept ambiguous enough for it to be idolized by almost anyone because the ways to love are so varied and different. unconditional, unrequited, toxic, wholesome, forbidden, destined, love has more modifiers then fucking charizard and oops we gotta update that sentence because someone on book tik tok has invented a new type of love known as Squimy love. what does this mean for your children? more at 11.

regardless we yearn for a type of romance or if you are aromantic a form of intimacy in the form of the platonic. in some cases we can form such ties with people we don't see, people that Do not know that you exist.

in worse cases, sometimes the people who don't know we exist want to foster that relationship further for their own benefit. Parasocial love.

im sure you heard it from whatever drama youtuber you have decided to use to funnel useless bits of rage bait into your ears but its a tale as old as creepy guys. streamer is a little to eager to play into the fantasy of the viewers, that they love them, that they thing You, that's right, You dear viewer are special...Then they use that to groom or take advantage of a kid and they don't go to jail and someone writes a long expose piece on them and you want them to get hit by a truck but god rarely allows such lovely Closure...

anyways that defeintly has nothing to do with the work we are unraveling today, right? right???

oh.

oh no....

god, just kill me... ok the premise is simple, the internet has been made by a reincarnated rando who has decided that anything in regards to adventuring and fighting is just not in the cards for him so he has decided to just be a streamer. The only streamer in the world...Well more of a podcaster, given his streams are soley voice. but lets not label spikes being driven into my head.

but hey, thats a intresting concept, the idea that someone has created the true information highway across a world that is fucking Eras to early for it, theres a lot of things that one can explo-

kill me kill me kill me kill me kill me kill me kill me, please, im begging, im pleading, im a fucking deer on the side on the road stareing at you with blank uncomprehending eyes, my comprehension of Big Block Of Metal screaming down the road is null, dont let up on the gas and turn me into a grease smear so I may obtain something resembling an iota of peace of mind

NOT EVERY FUCKING CHARECTER NEEDS TO BE THE STRONGEST, THEY DONT NEED TO HAVE THE MILLION MANA MULTIPLIER, ITS OK TO BE SOMEWHAT WEAK, DID LUFFY POP OUT OF THE BARREL SCREAMING GUM GUM GIGA COCK AND ONE SHOTTING EVERY POOR PRIVATEER AND BUCANNEER THAT SO DARED TO GIVE HIM ANYTHING OTHER THEM WARM PRAISE AND DELIGHTIED WELCOME?! NO, BECAUSE WE ARE ALLOWED TO ENJOY THE FACT THERE ARE STAKES, THAT NOT EVERY SITUATION IS ONE IN WHICH WE ARE IN SOLE COMMAND OF! THAT GIVES IT SPICE.

anyways they wont talk about this for ten additional chapters and then again for the arc finally so i'm going to ignore it and move on.

they also go to a school that accommodates commoners and nobals, but its also the first school that actully does this, which is really intresting as its a mixing of classes and allowing "commoner" students acess to higher education and training for magic for a war with the demon king, meaning is this truly for public betterment or is this a method of ensureing nobel students arent drafted into war due to magic potential by haveing a healthy supply of seemingly more expenda- oh? your bored? you want me to jinkle something in your face? oh i messed up that sentance? You Meant to say jiggle? ok cool

reaching the end of the comic we come to its inevitable Gimmick because one cannot be Fucked to try to make just one gimmick work. thats right, the streamer has developed a collection of accidental parasocial relationships with various well endowed women across the nation, each in astoundingly have posistions of power or in some way highly skilled.

Each woman dispite not knowing who the streamer is, never seeing his face are thusly so infatuated by the mere sound of his voice and the kind words he mutters that they have their brain matter utterly rewired, becomeing true devouts for their favorite streamer...

Rinse and repeat for 20 plus chapters and you get Shitty Ecchi Slop delivered out to be consumed en masse because men cannot hope to penetrate the core of male lonliness without true introspection which in turn is stymied by a hunered or so other dude bros who loathe the word and offer a far easier view in which to dye the world. thus they seak idea of being coveted by someone in mangas in increaseingly more convluted power fantasies...

IS WHAT I WANT TO END THIS ON BUT IT GETS WERIDER, DISPITE BEING SLOB THE AUTHOR IS BASED ON TWO AREAS IN PARTICULER,

HOLY SHITBALLS BATMAN, IS THAT AN ISEKAI CHARECTER THAT ISNT IMMEDITLY BUM RUSHING THE FUCKING SLAVE MAKRKET OR GIVING IT A TUT TUT?! IS THAT A HUMAN BEING WITH ACTUAL FUCKING EMPATHY?!

OH MY FUCKING GOD IN HEAVEN I DIDNT KNOW THOSE EXISTED, NOW AINT THAT THE SHINIEST FUCKING PENNY IN THE BUNCH, BUT OH PLEASE DO SAVE ROOM FOR DESERT BECAUSE IN THE SAME FUCKING CHAPTER

THEY BRING THE ABOLTION OF SLAVERY, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN PARASOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS WORK FASTER THEN ABRAHAM LINCON AND HIS INDESCIVE BEARED ASS.

IMAGINE MY FUCKING SHOCK AND AWE, HEARING THE TERM SLAVE AND BEING AWASHED WITH THE TRUAMA OF WATCHING SO MANY BLACK HAIRED SAD EYED ANIME PRETTY BOYS EITHER DECIDEING TO BUY A SLAVE WHO ALSO JUST HAPPENS TO BE THE FUCKING POSTER CHILD FOR STOCKHOLM SYNDROM OR JUST SAYING "THAT SUCKS" AND LEAVEING IT BE, READY FOR THE INEVITABLE KNIFE IN THE HEART AND THEN BOOM, STREAMER SAYS SLAVERY IS BAD AND THEY GET RID OF IT, MAYBE I DO BELIVE IN THE POWER OF THE STREAMER.

DID YOU FILL UP ON SWEET SWEET ANTI FANTASY SLAVERY COOKIES?1 YOU GOD DAMN IDIOT, YOU SHOULD HAVE SAVED ROOM FOR "GUY WITH NORMAL OPINIONS ABOUT SEX WORK"

I AM A CONVERT, I AM A DEVOUT, HAND TO THE HEAVENS I SHALL ESPOUSE THE VIRTUES AND DIVINITY OF THE STREAMER, WITH A WAVE OF THEIR VIRTUAL HAND SOCIETAL PROPLEM LOSE FLIGHT AND FALL TO THE EMBRACE OF THE COLD GRAVE, I JUST NEED A CHAPTER WHERE STREAMER SAYS TRANS RIGHTS AND I PROMISE I WILL NEVER EVER TALK SHIT ABOUT THIS SERIES AGAIN, PLEASE MR. STREAMER, JUST SAY TRANS RIGHTS ONE TIME, JUST ONE SINGULER TIME AND I CAN ASCEND THE RUNGS OF PEACE AND JOY.

turning down the notches this manga is funny in the fact that it pulls me back and fourth with wild abandon between utter and complete slop and genuinly funny bits and abnormally normal opinions for the genra.

"Is the underlying story, barring any other concept, good?" 

there really isnt a story, its just streamer talking and women going batshit insane.

"on a sliding scale of min to max, how much is the author using this to explore fetish" 

medium. the story has an obsession with the idea of yandere but it rarely goes into the idea of a stalker. the women are respectfull of his boundries barring one but that one is called the odd one out. aside from that, alot of scenes are just an ecuse to draw anime tits.

"How many story crutches does the author use to explore the story" 

it dosent need crutches because it has little to no intrest in telling a coherent story, it talks about what it wants and drops the rest.

 "Is the author attempting to use the story as a way to explain why he is not weird."

streamers can solve all of socitial ills as long as the women who they create parasocial relationships in are in posistions of high political power. .

[boxoftheskyking]

@shayvaalski FRIEND

I'm so excited to talk to you

So I saw this play, which was really lovely, and it's essentially about the writer and their relationship with their father, who was emotionally withdrawn and never really connected with his child, never talked to them, impossible to please, etc. Not a good relationship, caused a lot of harm. And as a result, the writer and their family did not have a memorial for the father when he died. So the play kind of functions as the memorial, dealing with the realities of who the man was, but also enacting a ritual - with the writer playing their own father in the piece. And at the end, he gets a really lovely and moving sendoff into death. There's acknowledgement of the harm that was done and never resolved, but then there's still this acknowledgment that this person has died, and a reverence and tenderness about that.

And I also have been seeing some arguments on the internet about certain characters in fiction who continue to have relationships with family members who have harmed them. People saying "characters should be allowed to just cut these people off, it should be normalized to not interact with people who have harmed them." Which, I mean, I feel some kind of way about bc they are fictional characters and cutting of the source of the major conflict in the story seems.... antithetical to storytelling. But whatever, I get the thing that they mean in terms of real life.

But then in engaging with this play, I saw this writer wrestling with the contradictions of this very harmful and painful relationship, while also feeling a need to acknowledge the death of a person in a ritual way. And it's Not "forgiveness" (which is not a thing I believe in personally - I get that the framework is helpful for some people, but to me it's super Christian and not useful for me, it's not the same thing as "healing" or "picking up and moving on" to me). And it's not really about the person who did the harm, it's about the person dealing with how to think about that person. It's not about the father, it's about the writer - the father is dead and is not watching the play.

But it really made me think about the principle of the Inherent Worth and Dignity of Every Person. And it's so easy to frame that is "it means unhoused people and people who are different from you." But it also means Assholes and Dipshits. And people who do harm.

And like even the person who has committed the most vile acts has inherent worth as a living being. And it actually makes the actions worse, I think? Because you have this spark of the divine in being Animated Meat and THIS is what you do with it? You have the tools to do good and all the potential in the world to nurture and wonder and care and you choose to hurt instead. But even after the action (since I don't believe in sin), the badness is not Inherent. It's chosen, sometimes repeatedly. And so when a villainous person (or abusive person, or person who has harmed willfully) dies, there's still a body-to-body instinct to acknowledge that the body that once had life no longer does.

It doesn't excuse and action and doesn't mean you should be Sad about it, but I think a thing religion does for me is challenges me to live with uncomfortable questions and in ambiguous spaces. Where maybe I'm not sad that a person is gone, or that they hurt, but I still believe that they are not Worthless, and that the fact of life within their pile of cells is still divine.

And to me it's different from like a Martyrdom thing where we suffer and say You can do bad things to me and I Forgive you and it makes me Shinier. But we can be like "What the fuck are you doing you dipshit, cut it out" and still believe that they have capacity to make other choices. Engage with the reality of harm and reduce the ability to harm people, but not decide that this still-living person is fully defined forever and could never act differently. Because harmfulness and callousness and all these negative things aren't inherent and born into people, they're actions chosen. Which we all have the potential to choose and need to work at not choosing. But the life and sentience itself is worthy of acknowledgment.

I don't know, I guess it's kind of basic when you think about it, but it's a challenging thing for my mind to hold, and makes me pull away from easy good/bad thinking, which I think is good for me. Which is I think what this old minister of my church from before the UU days mean by "freedom, fellowship, and character in religion," which I've always liked.

ANYWAY I always tell people I'm religious but not spiritual bc I don't really care about anything metaphysical/truths of the universe but I do find religion helpful as a way to make choices and spend my time and pursue integrity.

Blah blah

[chronicowboy]

wip wednesday

tagged by two absolutely beautiful human beings @alyxmastershipper and @jeeyuns (who i can't tag in things for some reason 😤 homophobia)

as many of you may know i am still firmly in (fanfic) writing jail until i can get a doctor's appointment for my wrist in october 🫠 buuuut i do still have a half-written fic i swear i will finish one day about buck meeting another best-friend-slash-legal-guardian-slash-parent-figure-etc. for which you can find a previous snippet here last time was mainly oc so have some jealous eddie and dad buck

"Who were you texting?" he asks as he steals one of the beers from Buck's hands. If the simple brush of their fingers didn't have hope rearing its gruesome head, Buck maybe wouldn't think that Eddie seems reluctantly curious like he's scared of whatever answer Buck might give. And Buck really doesn't know how to explain this situation with Dina without blurting out a love confession, so he panics.

"A friend." Shit. Eddie's eyes narrow like a bloodhound catching its scent. That was possibly the worst answer Buck could have given, faux nonchalance and deliberate ambiguity only increasing Eddie's suspicion. Not to mention the fact that Eddie knows basically all of Buck's friends because they're his friends too.

"Uh huh." Eddie nods slowly, dropping the two empty beer bottles from the living room into the recycling.

"Hey, did you finish my beer?" Buck frowns, hoping he can steer them away from this conversation with their usual banter.

"You were drinking it slow." Eddie shrugs.

"I was savouring it," Buck argues back with a sniff.

"Buck, you eat like a Victorian street urchin who doesn't know when they're getting their next meal. You've never savoured anything in your life." Eddie rolls his eyes, overtly fond in that way that never fails to make Buck's blood bubble like champagne. His expression turns hesitant as he screws the cap off his beer. "Chris said something about Charlotte's mom?" He raises his eyebrows slightly, takes an almost too casual sip of his beer.

"Not her mom," Buck denies and why the fuck would he say that? "Um, Dina. You know her? Mom's best friend?"

"Oh." Eddie blinks, pausing where he'd been picking at his label.

"N-not that there's anything there," Buck adds quickly. "We just got to talking whilst we were waiting for—" Buck cuts himself off before he can say our kids like that's his to decide, clearing his throat. "It was nothing."

"Chris didn't think it was nothing," Eddie mumbles in the exact same voice Chris had used when he'd told Buck not to date Dina. He doesn't know what that voice means. He hates not knowing.

"Well, even if it wasn't nothing—" he pales when Eddie's eyebrows twitch "—which it very much is... Nothing. But if it wasn't, Chris asked me not to date her, so that would make it nothing, you know?" Eddie's face softens then, that same expression he wears whenever Buck gets too close to tearing his heart out of his chest and handing it to Christopher.

"So, that wasn't her?" Eddie asks with a nod to his phone in his pocket. It buzzes as if in answer, and Buck wonders if the universe has gotten tired of screaming and is now resorting to undermining whispers.

"Yes, but..." Buck sighs. "Again, I really have to point out that it's nothing like that. For a lot of reasons." He ignores the questioning glint that creeps into Eddie's eyes, somewhat more dulled than it normally is when Buck is embarrassing himself. "But Chris is always number one, so..."

"Can I ask you something?" He's not sure if it's the tone of Eddie's voice, hesitant and ambiguously hopeful, or the fact that Eddie asks the question at all when they've never needed permission to pry since the lawsuit and everything that came with it, but Buck's heart stutters in his chest.

"Of course," he rasps carefully.

"Purely hypothetically," Eddie starts, keeping his attention on his beer bottle. "If you were to meet the love of your life," it's a struggle not to laugh in Eddie's face, "ask her to marry you, plan a whole wedding..." Eddie bites his lip and looks up at him with something burning in his eyes. "If Chris asked you not to marry her five minutes before you were set to walk down the aisle, what would you do?"

Buck frowns a little, wonders if that's even a question at all, but then remembers that Eddie doesn't know that Buck has already met the love of his life, has already been condemned to a lonely existence because of that.

"Well, I'd have a conversation with him about why he didn't want me to marry them," this he stresses, suddenly realising Eddie might not know that he's bi and hating the hope that rises in him, "but I'd be planning what I was going to say to them the moment he asked."

gonna tag my usual babes if you guys have anything to share <333 @danielsousa @shitouttabuck @folk-fae @butchdiaz @diazass

[the-cookie-of-doom]

sooooo..... thoughts on Mike/Peem from He She It? 👀👀👀

So. Mike and Peem. First thing’s first: Mike is a terrible person. I don’t care. I’m 100% a Mike apologist, and to that end, Peem is not entirely innocent. He’s the one sleeping with the guy who’s already in a public relationship. Now, the responsibility for that lies solely with Mike!! Peem doesn’t owe Pear any loyalty. However, going after someone in a relationship is a sleazy thing to do. Though there is that interesting moral gray area of, “Yeah he’s cheating on his girlfriend, but only because he’s super repressed and closeted, so it doesn’t count if he’s exploring his sexuality,” which is usually used to make an otherwise shitty character more sympathetic. Your mileage may vary here. Cheating is cheating; if Mike was worried about anyone finding out, he could have broken up with Pear and just kept seeing Peem in secret. He had options. But personally, I do think it’s an interesting character motive; it’s messy! All of them are! The only person in this entire cast who isn’t a fucking disaster, is Pear herself. Girl did not deserve all of that. 

So, all of that aside, I love Mike and Peem’s mutually assured destruction thing they’ve got going on. Because Peem knows/believes Mike doesn’t love him, but loves Mike anyway, and Mike has to know they were always going to be caught eventually. There’s no way to hide the fact you’re sleeping with your best friend forever. And because he refused to just break up with Pear, there was always going to be incredible fallout from the eventual discovery.

The acting teacher at the beginning aid: “In the real world, we don’t know who is acting. Sometimes, in the world of performing, we don’t know who’s real. Sometimes we can’t tell them apart at all.” 

Combine the fact that when Mike pulled Peem into the pool the first time, he started to drown. Mike immediately jumped in to save him, and when pressed, Peem says he was just acting. Implied: trying to get attention. He’s hurt; he’s feeling rejected by Mike, then they had a heart to heart where Mike gives in to him a little, and Mike literally saved his life. Peem is feeling vulnerable. It’s easier to let Mike believe he just wanted attention in a superficial kind of way, than to face the deeper emotions he’s feeling in this scene. Probably because he knows Mike won’t be able to meet him halfway, but he knows Mike likes feeling wanted. He can handle Peem being sad and rejected—he can’t handle Peem’s heartbreak, or any implication that Peem is in this for more than easy sex. Which is likely what Mike is telling himself he wants; he’s in complete denial of both his sexuality and his feelings for Peem. 

So: we have already established that Peem told Mike he faked the drowning. What was a funny/cute moment between them becomes tragic when Mike pushes Peem into the pool again, remembers this incident, and decides to walk away rather than save Peem again. They’re in the middle of a heated fight, Mike feels like his world is ending, and he sees this as Peem’s attempt to keep him from leaving, which only pisses him off more. But he truly believes Peem can swim; this was an accident, not a murder. As horrible as Mike’s actions are, he’s a scared kid at heart; if he had any idea Peem was going to die that night, as angry as he was, I think he would have saved him. As much as he was denying his feelings, Peem was still his lover, and before that, his best friend. He wouldn’t have intentionally left him to die. That’s what makes it so tragic. Things didn’t have to happen this way, but a domino effect from the very beginning meant they were doomed to end up here.

I'm just. So !!! About these two. I've had a fic idea rolling in the back of my mind ever since I saw it with a Bad Ending where Mike drowns, wrapping the story up where it starts. Peem is there, and it's left ambiguous whether Mike drowns himself, or Peem does, or if it was just another tragic accident. But whatever happens, Peem is there. He forgives him. It's going to be okay. Mike has already lost everything, now they can finally be together, without anything or anyone else standing in between them.

[thestalwartheart]

Hellooo I thought I might bang out some incoherent thoughts following your post about the influx of Blanc fans who hate Bond (or think they do because they've never actually bothered to watch any of the films) since I can't sleep :). I mentioned in my reply to your post earlier that a lot of people can't handle the idea of being emotionally invested a piece of media where the main character is morally ambiguous which genuinely annoys/terrifies me. It would be interesting to get a sense of how you/others actually became Bond fans in the first place and some of the reactions you get from people if you tell them. I get that part of the appeal for Benoit is that he's a bit of a blank slate. You can really project whatever you want onto him because he intentionally doesn't have many defining characteristics, other than the fact that he's queer and has a killer wardrobe. He's always in control of every situation he's in as well as his emotions and understandably, he makes you as a viewer feel safe. Like I get that and I love him dearly but he's also ripe for a certain kind of fan to be really really annoying. I also remember during the glass onion press tour when Edward Norton would always say in interviews that he thought Daniel was more Blanc than Bond in real life and when someone told Daniel about that he was basically like "what the fuck is Ed on about??" which I thought was hilarious. Not to read too deeply into it but I genuinely feel like so much of what he brought to Bond comes from his soul and I always got the sense that his Bond films are deeply personal, which is why they have us out here crying and throwing up. Anyway, thank you for all you have given to the Bond/00Q/Daniel Craig enjoyer community, you are truly a gem <3

I became a Bond fan when I was about twelve and my mother decided moderating film content for a girl about to enter high school was a useless endeavour. Pierce Brosnan was my first Bond. It was the gadgets that hooked me in, mostly, but I grew up after that point watching the films and loving them. Casino Royale was the first one I ever saw in cinema and I'll never forget the tension during that poker game with Le Chiffre. You could really hear the audience's teeth grinding with the stress lol.

I've never really heard any adverse reactions from people when I tell I'm a fan of Bond, but that might be because Daniel Craig's interpretation of the character seems to have lent the films a certain credibility that people aren't as willing to extend to the previous films. At worst, people think it's a bit naff that I like them, which...yeah sure. It probably is! But cringe culture is dead and I am enough of a critical thinker to enjoy problematic or morally ambiguous content without believing any of it should happen in real life. For instance, I think had there been a real public inquiry into intelligence services like M faced in Skyfall, I would probably take the side of the opposition. But it's Bond, so I was cheering M on while she quoted Tennyson.

The best way I can sum my thoughts on Daniel Craig and Bond is to refer to the lovely Ben Whishaw, who said in this interview that Daniel was remarkably clever in the ways he managed to bring the franchise into the twenty-first century, while still being aware of the history of it.

Interestingly, he also said there actually is a lot of Daniel in Bond's character, which is something I was delighted to hear him point out. I mean, Daniel Craig will be the first to admit that he doesn't want to be anything like Bond (see this post for an example and a laugh). Yet, he manages to capture the really vulnerable core of Bond under all that masculine posturing. In the end, Bond has accepted that life isn't all about duty to your country. Love, friendship and family are the things that make you feel steady even when you feel like you're about to tear yourself apart. I can't imagine any previous iteration of Bond managing to carry off that message in a believable way. And I think it happened because Daniel Craig had an incredible, unprecedented amount of creative control over the character.

I'm sure the Knives Out films gave Daniel a wonderful reprieve from having to carry all that literary and film history, but he's so proud of those Bond films, and has said so over and over, even when he's been frustrated with the toll on his body and his personal life. They're great films, and, oddly enough, I think people are only realising it now that his era is over. I hope more people dive into them and see the passion he had for that role, even with all of its ups and downs.

The last thing I'll say is that some fans have a tendency to project their own joys, frustrations and preferences onto actors, assuming that they are, in some way, facsimiles of the characters they play. At the end of the day, Daniel Craig simply doing his job. The characters are brilliant because he is brilliant. It's not real life.

Anyway, I'll continue stanning both Bond and Blanc! Thanks for the ask, friend!