#which has actually been really good for me and my Personal Growth and shit

[wastemanjohn]

will i ever be decided on the question of "do i want to start dating again"

[underestimated-heroine]

The fact that radfems spread this post around is actually really interesting--infuriating, but interesting. Because what they've really done here is tell on themselves.

This is the shrimp guy story:

From an anonymous green text called "shrimp saved my life" [emphasis mine]:

>be depressed, suicidal xanax- addicted incel >one day I go to my /aq/fag uncle's house for some shit >he has pet shrimp, never seen anything like it before >he offers to get me some 53 KB JPG >throw them in a barely cycled tank with some shitty rock >several shrimp die >realize that I killed them with my apathy >realize I need to take responsibility for once in my life >do research, learn about water parameters and so on >eventually I have a beautiful planted tank with no more deaths >notice a female shrimp carrying eggs >haven't felt this excited about anything in almost a decade >the eggs disappear and I once again think I fucked up >a few days later I see a tiny transparent baby shrimp >l suddenly know how the shepherds felt as they gazed upon the newborn Christ >by this point I live and breathe shrimp >all my spare time is spent on shrimp research and watching shrimp videos >l spend most of the money I had saved from my last job on shrimp products >quit the Xanax to support shrimp spending >start putting effort into college in hope of getting a good job for my shrimp >grades improve, no longer facing the prospect of dropping out >relationship with parents improves since I am finally passionate about something and applying myself >l see genuine happiness in their eyes when I talk excitedly about my shrimp >for my birthday my mom makes me a shrimp cake >it even has fondant legs and little chocolate eggs >cry like a little bitch when I see it >mom hugs me and tells me she's always been proud of me >college dorm neighbours demand to see my shrimp >shit they're gonna think I'm autistic >they actually think my shrimp are really cool >they start inviting me to their social events >start interacting with girls, get told by girls for the first time in my life that I'm fun and smart >l think my shrimp would be proud of me if they knew >We're gonna make it bros. Even if you can't do it for yourself, do it for the animals that depend on you.

He did address his relationship with women. By finding a hobby and passion and working on himself--"touching grass"--he stepped away from the echo chamber that filled him with all this rage and convinced him women were to blame for all of his problems. As someone once wisely observed, "the cure is going offline and realizing it's just. really not that big a deal."

And that is what radfems have not done, so of course they didn't spot the quiet flashpoint of shrimp guy's personal development within his story.

Edit: it's been brought to my attention that the version of the greentext post I lifted the text from was censored by someone else. My bad for not realizing that, tbh it was done so well I thought shrimp guy had done it himself, but that's an important part of the post. I've gone back through and un-censored it. The reply which was spread around with the original post addressed the words themselves well, I think; however distasteful and fucked up the incel rabbit hole is, it doesn't diminish his growth.

[astrologanize]

october 2024 sun sign horoscope

aries sun: cheers to you guys because it looks like you are standing up and ready to take on whatever comes your way. it seems many of you have a pretty solid idea by now of what you feel is worth putting your energy into, or you will be feeling this way by the end of the month. there are standards and expectations abound throughout this time, which can be a good thing because you are wanting to make thorough plans and make the necessary strides and make shit happen - but it becomes a not so great thing when it becomes a 'my way or the highway' type of deal. try to avoid dogmatic behavior and being demanding, be open to other possibilities, possibilities that may be out of your comfort zone. although your aries nature may have you tempted to make decisions and throw yourself into whatever has your focus this month, this isn't an ideal time for you to come to any absolute conclusions - let yourself have some wiggle room & levity for now.

taurus sun: hm, you know those moods where you feel like you should be doing something, like you're in an idle position in life? well, you're going to be resonating with that this month because i'm seeing you feeling indecisive, sober, and as if you've hit a dead-end. for some of you there may be something in your life that really has reached a dead-end and you are needing to recognize that there is nothing else you can do for the situation, it is just time to let it go and choose happiness. for others, it is just a feeling that you've hit a dead-end when in actuality this is a checkpoint for you to stop and count your blessings! try to avoid apathy or being a buzzkill, i'm not seeing you or others be outright rude or say out of pocket things per se...but there is a very closed off energy surrounding your month.

gemini sun: there is something in your life that has been draining the hell out of you, a situation or a person or old wounds or an accumulation of all, and by the end of this month you're going to be like 'ya know what...this doesn't even matter'. this may be a slower month for you guys because so much of it revolves around you getting away and removing yourself from whatever this something is - it may be that the issue drones on and interferes with your life to the point where you finally get your fill of it. there can be such a peace in knowing that it is out of your hands. choose to free yourself.

cancer sun: i see you guys are going to be working on your mindfulness this month. there is something in your life that you are going to be wanting to find resolve with, you're going to be trying to find a solution, it's like okay...let me really compose myself and get a grip here. a time for deep breaths! there may be a bitter seed involved here, maybe it's you or someone else, maybe someone else is bitter with you over something and that's why you're going to be trying to ponder a solution, or you may just be in your own standoffish mood over something. regardless, try to set aside any pride and be willing towards the situation, it's a time for you to adapt with what comes your way.

leo sun: oof. not the leo's having their confidence at an all time low this month! i'm afraid this is going to be one of those months where all you can do is just get through it. i'm not seeing many obstacles throughout your month though, all i'm seeing is you feeling totally not in your power, it's like this month is happening to you. on the positive side, it could be a time where you having no ego does make you more receptive to any issues you may need to work on and that doesn't feel great at first but it starts the growth process. for some of you it's like you've made your choice about something and it's not what you want or you've done something that you're not proud of and have consequences to face, very ~i've made my bed and now i'm going to lie in it~. try to confront any waves of sadness, don't fight your feelings, choose to be mature, and remember to get better not bitter.

virgo sun: lol every time i read for y'alls 2024 it sticks out so much in comparison to everyone else's. anyway. this is a lighthearted month!! though you will be having a slew of feelings accompanying it, there are options available to you and chances and surprises that would be worth looking into. you may catch the lovebug this month, you may be flirting with others, others may be flirting with you, you're going to want to look good, pick out an outfit spur of the moment, and be infatuated with life or yourself or someone - which does come with all sorts of emotions. but in order to have these good times it may very well be that you need to wash your hands of something, make a tough choice, relieve yourself of something that has been hampering you; or it could be that you need to remember not to settle and to not make things more complicated than they need to be.

libra sun: there is going to be something that really trips y'all up this month, something you are not expecting, something that you feel out of your element with, something that makes you feel ill-prepared...standing there like omg what the heck do i do?! if you have any plans in mind this month, which you probably do since it's most of y'alls birth month, they may not happen the way you want but it can be a chance to do something different. try to avoid bruised ego behavior like saying or doing something out of pocket just because you're feeling not so great about yourself or what you have (or don't have) happening in your life. try to keep your feelings in check, practice finding acceptance, and lean more on others this month!! it's your birthday season, it's a time to be inspired and embrace connection.

scorpio sun: usually you guys are like 'eh whatever i got this shit' but this month you should set aside what you think you know and have a lil chip on your shoulder, try to level up if you will. there may be a certain connection in your life (platonic or romantic) that is overarching this month with you wanting to get closer to this person or actively getting closer to them - which will involve you curbing any unnecessary sharpness and putting in effort. there is going to be a break in your routine...as there consistently has been throughout this year...and this may be voluntary as you implement or do something new or it could be that your routine is interrupted. i do see you guys extending yourselves this month and putting in extra effort, just gotta make sure it's coming from an earnest place and not you doing a whole bunch of everything & nothing to deflect from what you should do. there is potential for wrongdoing this month, maybe from you or from someone else, due to there being a lack of fairness and accountability/dependability so try to be conscientious to avoid this!

sagittarius sun: i've made a few posts this past year about the grounding energy that has been surrounding us and october for y'all surely is looking like it could be a testament to remaining grounded. throughout the month you will be taking the things that do not pan out in your favor on the chin, that sagittarius ability to shrug things off will be in full effect - but there will be issues with your ego this month, maybe in a positive light you will be choosing to put your ego aside for the sake of peace/connection, or maybe you're going to have difficulties actually handling something maturely due to your ego getting the better of you. what is also coming through is matters of the home/family, maybe you're going back home, maybe you're going to be spending more time than usual at your home, maybe there will be something notable with a family member or someone you live with. try to choose integrity, try to avoid behaving carelessly, if there is anyone that you have strife with then maybe a heartfelt conversation could help remedy it, often the softer road is the more challenging road but it is worth the effort.

capricorn sun: this is an interesting month i would say, it's reminding me of the song "tubthumping" - "i get knocked down but i get up again. you are never gonna keep me down" because although i am seeing defeat in the month i'm not seeing you be dispirited by it and unwilling to try again. throughout october you will be *trying*, you will be putting forth an effort, you will be dedicated (to something), you will be building faith and striving for an embracing of life by the end of the month. other happenings of the month may include you letting your guard down and being serious/vulnerable, you doing away with what you have had in mind, issues with others, you being less social and more busy. for the past few horoscopes the advice has been to take it easy and pace yourself but this month feel free to throw caution to the wind and just decide to do shit.

aquarius sun: back in august there was palpable new energy for you to seize and most of you were taking full advantage of it but that energy is starting to need a funnel. throughout october there will be disappointments, your parade may feel rained on at times, it seems that this will be a time where one thing after another is happening - it's like having 5 different significant incidents happen within a 2-week span. it shall be a time of recognizing that you need to correct course, get the energy in line, focus on your priorities, and show up for yourself in the ways you're needing rather than wanting. for some of you, part of the 'rain' you may be experiencing will be due to you facing the music on something because there is a theme of accountability coming through, and what's fair is fair - what is deserved will be served. try to avoid being scatterbrained this month, try to avoid being overly ambitious, try to get a good grip on what you already have going on in your life.

pisces sun: it is time to call the play on something in your life, something has gotta stop, something needs to be let go of because it's not fulfilling or leading to fulfillment, it's not what you want, and it feels like a chore that isn't worth the effort. for some of you this may be related to a connection but whatever it is, you are going to be choosing (to focus on) yourself by the end of this month. try to set any feelings & attachments aside and be brutally honest with yourself, while also trying to remember that there are other possibilities & opportunities out in the world just waiting for you to welcome them in...ya know the saying...one door closes, another opens.

[dr-spectre]

As someone who's been in multiple fandom circles and calls themselves a Splatoon fan, I've seen a lot of focus and discussion on "THE LORE!!" and "CANON!!!" and to be honest with you... it's getting really tiring and I think people are just WAY TOO obsessed with what a wiki or an intern at Nintendo says rather than forming their own perspective on events and coming to their own unique conclusions.

Now, I wanna say, if talking about lore and discussing which elements are canon or not makes you happy and you love talking about that, then that's perfectly okay. It's fine. It's not for ME personally because my focus on Splatoon is the gameplay, music and the storytelling chops of each Hero Mode.

Story >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Canon for me any day of the week i do not care.

Because, to get away from Splatoon for a second, for my Sonic fans out there, you remember when Sega and the people behind the show Sonic Prime said that it was canon to the mainline Sonic timeline? And if you said otherwise you were technically wrong because "oh Sega said this, so it MUST be true!"

........But then everyone said that Sonic Prime cannot be canon to the mainline Sonic timeline because it has a fuck ton of inconsistencies? Yeah.... funny. Basically, don't put a lot of focus into "what actually happened" and "oh this is what the multi billion dollar corporation said!" because there's always gonna be one guy out there that goes "um this information kinda fucking damages the story in a severe way." (And sometimes that one guy is me.... hehehehe....)

I could obviously talk about.... you know.... Hypno Callie again for the 50th trillion time.... (and i will)..... This bitch.... I wanna love you girlie i really fucking do but Nintendo and millions of people make it hard to....

Nintendo set up Callie's villain arc decently in Splatoon 1 with the Splatfest dialogue, the Squid Sister stories and the Sunken Scrolls, yet they ultimately damaged the progression of the arc by saying "nah fuck u she got kidnapped and brainwashed, removing all of her memories and free will because fuck telling a good story with satisfying set up and pay off that allows for character growth. Fundamentals of storytelling? What are those?" And it also destroyed Callie as a character by reducing her to an object that the player "must save from da evil Octavioooo" and "oh look at her! She put the stupid brainwashing shades onnn againnn!! such a dumb fucking moron dumbass piece of shit right guys?!? lmaoooooooooo!! explore the dangers of addiction and how you need to seriously change your life and be surrounded by those you love in order to change bad habits?? Themes?? PFFTTT! NAWWW! THAT'S LAMEEEE!! It's Callie! No one cares about Callie!! She's stupiddd!!!"

(I talked about Callie in a tumblr comment section one time and I got made fun of for by a guy way older than me. I love humanity.)

It also ruined DJ Octavio's character too because, if what Nintendo said is true about what he did then he cannot be redeemed in Splatoon 3. He cannot go back on the shit he's done. But they try to redeem him out of nowhere and now he's all chill with the New Squidbeak Splatoon and appeared in the Grand Fest.... Yet what he did to Callie which Nintendo loves to push is truly TRULY unredeemable and if that's the case then welp.... I call that bad writing, straight up. It's bad writing.

I really hate it when something happens in a story and you perceive it in a certain way where you feel like it elevates the events, but then the company behind the story chooses to pick the worst outcomes possible just because? And everyone rolls with it just cause? Ugh...

Lesson of today is, don't fucking listen obsessively to what a company says and suck it up. Consume media and come to your own conclusions on what happened. As long as you have tangible evidence to back up your claims you can make any interpretation you want to, whatever makes you feel happy bestie!

[littledigits]

What is your take on the current animation industry and the way its heading for AI and job hiring? Ngl its looking a little bleak and I would love to hear your insight!

HOO. This is going to be a long one, but good question. Please keep in mind I am but one person with my one opinion.

I'm going to give you a little context to what was leading up to the job bust, the shit reality, and the hopeful conclusion.

Its always been a completive industry and unfortunately it will more-so for the next little while, even compared to when I graduated. The reality is, the animation industry GREW SO MUCH over the streaming services greenlighting projects to a point where I was like . WHERE ARE ALL THESE CARTOONS GOING. It felt like we went from nothing to a ton and was amazing that so much work was going around (looking back we see why it was too good to be true) A lot of schools and studios responded to this by growing as well. This means while it may recover, I dont see a way that it could reach the highs we had in the 2015-2021 period - because that wasn't representative of a sustainable model or a model they were planning on sticking with forever.

So the streaming bubble popped, and a lot of the reason why it popped was because streaming wasn't as lucrative when everyone joins in. This is the reality of working under the umbrella of Hollywood companies. Mergers happened, projects got pulled - and it probably wouldn't have seemed as big if we didn't have THE MOST JOBS EVER like, just a year before. It was a big rug pull. With the huge growth came a steep fall and all of it because of bad investments and choices of the people with the money. aka, we all wanted to chase someone elses idea thats making money for them and it didnt pay off - which leads me to AI.

While AI is scary and will do/is doing damage, it will not last forever. The industry only looks like its heading this way because the people who like AI are desperate to make it work, so they're pushing at it from all angles despite no AI company being profitable. ( once companies see that its not going to make them money they will drop it ) Its really nothing but a glorified pattern and predictive text machine that of course looks impressive when you feed it oodles of data. People who live on linked in and drink management courses like its water think that sort of shit is impressive, but they dont actually know how it works and just buy into the tech industry hype cycle . What we're seeing is them trying to make fetch happen, and it wont. (some useful bits will stay around but it doesnt 'think', a lot of this is just pure fakery)

You can trace a lot of things that lost jobs to bad investments from people higher up, who just jump around to different jobs when they make a mistake, or just simply get a bonus.

Its a symptom of the greater issue which is the monopoly of people in media and tech, which have been merging over the years with digital streaming. Lack of regulation in industries since the 80s has lead to a lot of the shit you see all around you, and it starts to be controlled by people who only want numbers goup. Overall , I think the animation industry in north America is entirely too controlled by the major studios and broadcasters, and that's going to be a tricky thing to navigate since they're very mask off about what their intentions are at this point. Its a growth-at-all-cost mindset that leads to things like AI, so while im confidant that what we see as 'ai' will die , we do have to realize as artists that as long as these people are in charge they will always try to find a way to cut the bottom line and not invest in the industry.

Its totally reasonable to feel bleak, but that's the intent. They want people to have to settle for less, and they want them to forget a time that it was better. Demoralization is part of the tactics, and 'starving' people out of jobs so they're easier to negotiate with is extremely common and pretty much what is happening right now. And this is exactly why you're seeing more union push from lots of industries because we're ALL being taken advantage of here. While it feels hopeless, this actually puts us much more in line with the artists and storytellers before us. They were up against the same people fighting the same fight, they were just called communists haha. Different words, same tactics, but the history of moments like this in the entertainment industry is more common then the shiny package we tend to grow up idolizing . ( its good to admire but we do often put these products up on a pedestal to our detriment )

The industry will survive, and it will change into something different which is GOOD. Because what it is right now, while workable and still full of things I enjoy - is NOT sustainable. And if we want to keep the skills of 2d animation, stop motion or any sort of creative trade to continue, we NEED sustainability. This is why collective action is so important, and so is diversity in the amounts of media we have! For example

YOUTUBE INDIE ANIMATION IS KICKING BROADCASTERS ASSES RIGHT NOW AND THEY NOTICE IT.

And while there are ups and downs regardless if you work in a small studio or a large one, I am hopeful that the conversations I've been seeing will spark change. Because as sucky as it is , compared to the rest of my time in the industry ( i think im on like 16 or 17 years now ) , I've never seen so much engagement or even discussion on the topic which says a lot. I think as artists we are always up for putting a lot of hard work into our skills, I think if enough of us point that passion into our community and collective action, we can start building an industry that does not have such a power imbalance, and that starts with community, education and engagement ! ( learning about the history of unions/animation/hollywood/workers rights,and then sharing that stuff! just through convo like this !) I hope this gives you some perspective, its something we're going to have to work at, but not something that is impossible. A lot of how the animation industry functions is not great, but what matters is that we work to make it better and the people who HAVE been doing that work are the ones that you want to find. They are the people with the proactive solutions to show you how to take power back. It helps fight the bleak feeling <3 tldr :

the solution is that as much as it sucks we try to make it better for those who come after us - and you can be involved in that job or not ! even just by supporting or being aware. This isnt animation is all careers, we're all effected by the same thing.

never forget.

[incorrect-rqg]

Okay my intent here is not to start drama in the rqg fandom in 2024 because I love this community and frankly it's not that deep, but there's something I just wanna talk about for a sec.

I've seen the sentiment around lately that the party is unnecessarily cruel to Wilde - from the Prague arc all the way up to Damascus or even Japan - and that this specifically contributes to Wilde's guardedness and unwillingness to be emotionally open with the party throughout the show. That he goes "oh, you want me to be the snarky punching bag with no feelings? Then that's what I'll be."

While this is a sentiment I generally agree with, I take some issue with the idea that the party - Grizzop specifically - is mean to Wilde for "no reason".

Grizzop has a very good reason to dislike being around Wilde, which he expresses on numerous occasions - Wilde's lack of respect for Grizzop's personhood and his use of condescending and demeaning language.

While Wilde never actually calls Grizzop "It" like he'd later claim (just a result of long gaps between sessions and Ben being a human being with imperfect memory), he does call him "this one" and generally treat him in a dismissive and condescending way, even after being told to stop numerous times.

Now, I've seen the argument that this is kind of just how Wilde talks to everyone. That's just who he is, especially in earlier arcs. This isn't entirely untrue, but that doesn't change the fact that like... Grizzop is a goblin (in the RQGverse a minority race with a history of oppression), who has been the target of this kind of language and attitude from humans his entire life. He's entirely warranted in being upset at being treated this way. Wilde doesn't ever really give Grizzop any reason to like him, and frankly Grizzop doesn't owe Wilde jack shit.

Another scenario is the iconic moment where Grizzop punches Wilde in the dick. I made a post about this a couple days ago while Very High and then forgot to delete it in the morning so it's just up now. But I've seen a couple comments (on the post and elsewhere) being like "poor Wilde :(" or "he didn't deserve that" and like... He kinda did? He was being antagonistic and negging Sasha, deliberately trying to make her feel worse about her upcoming Risky Medical Procedure. Even if it was just him being silly that's still a pretty shitty thing to do. You can argue that Grizzop went overboard with the physical violence, but arguing that it wasn't at all warranted doesn't make sense to me.

I love Wilde as much as the next rqg fan. He's probably my favourite character, maybe behind Sasha. But in order to appreciate the extent of his character growth it's important to recognize situations where yeah, he was being shitty and antagonistic.

And, even in a scenario as silly and fantastical as this, I still think it's important to not brush off the experiences of a marginalized person who says they're a target of discriminatory language, even if the perpetrator is someone you like. Wilde is white, and charming, and wealthy, and in a position of power over Grizzop as his handler and as a government representative. He is not the victim in this situation.

Again, very much not looking to start shit here, especially because "aw, poor Wilde :(" is definitely a thought I've had while listening to early RQG. This is just something I've been thinking about a lot during my current relisten and wanted to share with you guys.

[a-dumb-sarcastic-bisexual]

I've been stupid busy so y'all get 2 day old Nimona headcanons

I feel like Todd would try really hard to be friends with the trio after everything went down

Bal is an absolute angel who can do no wrong so while he doesn’t forgive Todd he is willing to acknowledge his growth (sike he has the moral backbone of soggy cardboard and the character development of a rock)

Bal makes no attempt to befriend him but he’s also civil whenever he’s around 

Nimona and Ambrosius on the other hand they’re not afraid to slam doors in his face and tell him to take a long walk off a short pier 

There have been multiple times when they’ve had to hold each other back from beating the absolute shit out of him 

And it’s not cause they’re scared of losing or anything 

No they’re both confident they could kick his ass in 5 seconds flat 

They’re scared he’s gonna try and twist it and figure out a way to make it seem like them harming him led to more of his “character development” 

So they settle for mental torment 

Before Nimona got comfortable with Ambrosius she gave him the shovel talk with an actual shovel in hand 

He wasn’t offended in the slightest 

Was he a little scared? absolutely 

But offended? No not at all

If anything he was incredibly grateful that there was another person in the kingdom that cares for Bal as much as he does 

Maybe a month into them trusting each other Nimona turns around and gives Bal the shovel talk

And he actually started crying 

Nimona tried to stop and get him to calm down frantically asking him what’s wrong while shushing him 

And Bal encouraged him to continue because this was the moment that he knew Nimona viewed Ambrosius as part of their family 

I gave my headcanons in this post about how often I’d think the trio would cry which got me thinking about how they’d comfort each other 

Ambrosius was very used to Bal’s constant crying so he’s pretty good at comforting people 

So when Bal and Nimona do cry he doesn’t overreact 

He’ll quietly console them and wait for them to be done before asking if they want anything 

Food water a blanket 

Anything they ask for he gets 

Bal is a nervous wreck when the duo cries around him 

He’s still not used to Ambrosius crying in general 

And seeing Nimona cry is about as likely as seeing a double rainbow in a tornado 

He tries to damn best to comfort them and most of the time it works (emphasis on most) 

Nimona is just awkward around crying people 

Because crying is something they don’t do often and they haven’t gotten too close to anyone in a long time comforting doesn’t come naturally to them

Most of the time they try and get the boys to stop crying by making them laugh or distracting them

And they didn’t realize how damaging that was until one day Ambrosius just said “Nim love all I want to do is cry please let me do that” 

They started working on their comforting skills after that but it’s very much a work in progress 

While Bal and Ambrosius are incredibly sappy dorks I feel like they don’t overdo it with the PDA

Like sure they’ll hold hands and kiss occasionally but it’s so small that most people don’t comment on it 

But if someone tries to make a big deal about them kissing or holding hands they will go overboard just cause they’re petty like that

[allastoredeer]

I just had to agree, that a huge Alastor fight scene is really all I want for season 2!

During "Stayed Gone", Valentino mentions a time that Alastor almost beat Vox, which implies that he narrowly lost in a fight between them.

He was badly injured in the fight with Adam, and had to retreat.

By the rule of three, it would be so poetic and amazing, if we got a fight scene where he doesn't back down, but continues to fight with everything he has, and emerges the unquestioned victor, wiping the smiles off the Vee's faces for good.

Bonus points if he actually accepts help from his found family, in the form of backup and helping him heal afterwards. He's so stuck on being a lone wolf (well, deer...), that him slowly learning to trust others would be such delicious character growth!

Actually, the way I interpreted Valentino saying that Alastor "almost beat Vox," is that during their fight Alastor was about to beat him. Like, if it continued, Vox was 100% going to lose. But the battle didn't see an actual end, with an actual victor, because, in my headcanon/theory, Vox was forced to retreat.

If Vox won, even narrowly, I don't think he would've been nearly as defensive or annoyed at Valentino for bringing it up. If the fight ended with Alastor retreating (or even losing), Vox would've milked the shit out of that. He would never let Alastor live that down. Hell, if the fight was recorded in any way, he'd be playing that shit on loop.

I think with Vox losing, it'd make him simultaneously eager for a rematch, but also nervous to fight Alastor head-on again considering he nearly lost (which might also explain why they never came face-to-face in season one. They only interacted from a distance, through their different mediums), and why he was SO happy when Alastor lost during the Extermination. He was living vicariously through Adam during that fight (Adams victory was HIS victory) because Alastor finally got a taste of the humiliation and defeat Vox felt all those years ago (and STILL feels, even now).

And considering all of that, I will go FERAL if there's a fight with all the Vees versus Alastor. I want to see what they can do. There are different ways to be powerful out side of strength and magical ability (see Rosie who's not physically or magically as strong as the other Overlords), so I want to see what Valentino and Velvette can do in a fight or on an intellectual level. The brains and the brawn (and whatever Valentino is.) I would laugh so hard if Valentino is actually the muscle of the Vee's. He's got very few braincells, but he can lift 2x his own weight, all they got to do is point him in the right direction. He's all muscle.

And I want that fight to be a close one too. In fact, if Alastor LOSES in that fight, my god, would that be such an angsty, complicated, even more humbling experience for him. Vox would be fucking THRIVING. He would be reveling. He finally beat the Radio Demon. He finally beat Alastor (and the complicated emotions. GOD the emotions that they'll both have during and after that)

But I also don't want Alastor to lose T.T He's my fav, and he already been so thoroughly humbled once, I think I'd collapse if he lost again. BUT if he were on the cusp of losing, got his second wind, and ultimately came out the victory, I would be screaming, jumping out of my seat, frothing at the mouth. I fucking LOVE that shit.

And super, serious 100% extra bonus points he gets help from his found family in the form of back-up or patching him up afterward. I think that would be amazing character growth for him. I WANT IT SO BAD ANON WHY DID YOU MAKE MY OBESSION AND YEARNING GROW I AM NOT A VERY BIG PERSON YOU'RE LITERALLY GOING TO MAKE ME EXPLODE WITH ALL THESE EMOTIONS

[kylethescott]

NaruHina: Minor Edits

I have no other platform for this, so I’ll just put it here and maybe someone will enjoy it. I really love NaruHina, it brings me great joy knowing that it’s canon and has done for the last decade.. People will often say that it’s “badly written” and I don’t agree with that. I mean I think there’s a good reason people started shipping it in the first place, but I do have my frustrations with how some of it plays out.

I want to approach this like Pedro Pascal - Maxwell Lord: “Life is good, but it can be better!” My goal is not to massively rewrite the entire series, but take what we’ve got and talk it over and see how we can improve it with just a few minor tweaks, because I really do think the foundations are solid. Also just disclosing my biases, Hinata is my favourite character in the entire series, something I have talked about in much more detail elsewhere.

So without further adieu, let’s just get into this.

Part 1

I wouldn’t change a goddamn thing in Part 1. I genuinely think Part 1 lays out a really solid foundation for a romantic subplot. The story draws a bunch of direct parallels between Naruto and Hinata that are critical for each character's growth, we see how they help each other and support each other. First Naruto cheers her on in her fight, and then Hinata gives him the confidence before the finals. During which we also see that Hinata is someone Naruto feels comfortable enough around to talk about his deepest insecurities, which is extremely rare for him to do in Part 1. 

NaruHina is built on a classic romance trope: “opposites attract”. Naruto is loud, Hinata is Quiet. He’s rude, she’s polite. He’s overconfident, she’s underconfident. Even just visually, she’s blue and purple, he’s orange and yellow. The reason this dynamic works so well in stories is that they balance each other out. Each of them brings something to the table that the other person needs. 

Hinata needs someone in her corner who can give her confidence, Naruto needs someone in his corner who can see his vulnerability. Together they become stronger, that’s what the best romantic stories are built on, and Part 1 nails that. I think Part 1 also makes some interesting contrasts between Naruto’s relationship with Hinata and his relationship with Sakura, the girl he spends the entirety of part 1 pursuing. 

We now have the benefit of looking at Naruto (the story not the character) as a complete package, obviously that wasn’t true at the time it came out. But if we factor in what The Last will eventually reveal about Naruto’s crush on Sakura, that it’s completely superficial, I think Part 1 actually backs that up pretty well. 

His only interest in Sakura, especially at the beginning of the series, is that he thinks she’s pretty. How could it be anything else when she treats him like absolute dirt. I think the bench scene, while a bit weird, demonstrates Naruto’s complete lack of understanding of romance or love. He was totally fine with kissing her while disguised as Sasuke, after she’d just shit talked him right to his face. This is not a boy who understands what love is.  

(just to get ahead of this, I am by no means a Sakura hater, I do think there’s a lot of problems with the way Sakura is written which we’ll have to get into, but on a basic character level I think Sakura is fine.)

The only addition I would make to Part 1 has already been made, it’s the 100+ episodes of filler everyone skips. These arcs range massively in quality, I will not dispute that, but I like their existence in the story because to me it makes Naruto’s friendships with all the other genin feel more natural. We get to see them bonding by seeing them out on a whole bunch of missions together where they get to know each other better. I think even if you don’t watch them, just knowing that’s a thing enhances the bonds. 

For our purposes, there’s some genuinely great NaruHina stuff in there. Like Hinata finally being able to showcase her strength to Naruto, or the “you’ll make a great wife” line, and just a bunch of other cute moments that I’ll happily accept into my personal canon. (I always see people say that the anime studio shipped NaruSaku, but I don’t really get that because the filler for Part 1 is full of completely explicit NaruHina moments, I digress.)

Early Shippuden

(we’re classing “Early Shippuden” as everything up to Pain’s Invasion)

Now I would never want to accuse Kishimoto of playing favourites with his side characters…but this is a man who once said in an interview that if he were to date any of his characters it would be Shikamaru. No hate on Shikamaru, I love him, but the fact that he gets an entire story arc all to himself while the rest of the side cast all get to beg for table scraps is…well it’s frustrating to say the least. Not because that arc is bad but because I so wish other characters could get the same treatment, especially Hinata. 

What we get from Hinata in early Shippuden is pretty much just cameo’s, she shows up at the start of the Tenchi Bridge arc to faint and then she shows up during the Itachi Pursuit arc to just kinda stand in the background. I don’t think either of these are necessarily bad, but they could be improved. 

The fainting. Let’s talk about the fainting. In both the Manga and the Anime this is pretty much just a gag, and as a gag…ehh?…it’s fine. I personally just find it more frustrating than funny. But it wouldn’t take too much to make it an actual character moment and the best way to do that is to change the reason she faints. 

As it stands she just faints from shock because it’s been 2.5 years since she’s seen Naruto and he gets up in her face. My suggestion is to change it so that it’s actually something on Naruto’s end that causes her to faint. She can still be all nervous to come up and talk to him, but the reason for her fainting should be because Naruto makes some comment about how she’s “gotten really pretty” or something along those lines.

By adding a line like that you change it from a basic “oh no my crush is here!” fainting to a “Oh my god my crush thinks I’m pretty!!!!” fainting, which makes it feel a little more earned as a moment. This also makes it a more significant moment for Naruto, it would show that he thinks Hinata is pretty. Which while not essential to a romantic subplot is a pretty basic thing to get out there. If you want to go all in you can have him be taken aback slightly by her appearance. 

And you can still play into the joke of his ignorance by having him not understand why she’s freaking out over a simple compliment. Threading the needle between showing that Naruto has romantic feelings for Hinata, while also showing that he’s still not emotionally mature enough to recognise those feelings is a fine line to walk, but I think this change would do a lot to help. 

It’s still a gag, ultimately, but now it’s a gag that also signals a change in their dynamic from something that’s more explicitly romantic. 

As for the Itachi arc… I don’t know. Ultimately that entire arc really doesn’t have much going on for Naruto and the crew, it’s a Sasuke arc, so Hinata not having a lot of time in there is fine. I do think however I would slot the Three Tails arc from the anime into canon. I think that arc is genuinely pretty good and well placed in the story as a last hurrah for Orichimaru as a main villain and his particular vibe of mad scientist villany. 

I would make Hinata a little more prominent in that arc (let my girl win a fight damn it!), and just in general have a few more interactions between her and Naruto that showcase that Naruto does like hanging out with her even if he doesn’t understand his reasons why. Yamato sets up a big house in that arc that they all end up camping in, so maybe just a scene or two of Naruto telling her stories of his adventures with her listening intently and laughing at his jokes. 

Pain Invasion

You can probably already guess where my edit goes in this arc, but I will say that all of the confession stuff is great, absolutely iconic stuff. I think the anime takes the win here by expanding the fight scene, but also by adding the flashbacks to Naruto saving Hinata from bullies as a kid. I think that throughline really adds to the scene (and I also prefer that version of the scene to the one we see in The Last). 

It is absolutely cuckoo bananas that Naruto does not say anything to Hinata after he comes back to the village. Even from a basic narrative perspective, let alone as a romance, it’s insane that there’s no follow up. Hinata’s self sacrifice causes Naruto to break the 9-tails seal! It’s an absolutely pivotal moment of characterisation for him even ignoring the romantic implications. The fact that we just don’t address it at all until The Last boggles my mind to this day. 

Here’s my edit: everything happens as it does originally right up until the hug with Sakura, during that hug Naruto catches sight of Hinata over Sakura’s shoulder’s and immediately runs to give her an obviously much more intimate hug, patting her down and making sure that she’s okay, then finally relaxing when he’s sure that she is. Then you can get back to all the village hero stuff. (It honestly feels out of character to me that Naruto doesn’t check in on her as soon as he gets back.) 

We’re talking like 3 panels here, a page maybe, but it would wrap the whole thing up so much neater. I think the hug from Sakura is a…fine moment? But I think if it was contrasted by his actions towards Hinata like this it would be a clear signal to the audience that his crush with Sakura is over, and this is the actual relationship of the story. 

This wouldn’t and shouldn’t lead directly into a romantic relationship, I’m actually fine with Naruto not understanding the love confession fully, but there’s simply no way that it shouldn’t change his relationship with Hinata at all. Even if Naruto doesn’t realise he’s falling in love, it should at least be clear to the audience that he is, especially as we go into the next arc.

Five Kage Summit

“But Kyle! Hinata isn’t even in this arc!” Yes, exactly, that’s the problem. Let’s just look at the scenario presented in this arc:

In a short span of time, Naruto has received two love confessions. One is from the girl he’s always claimed to love, and is completely false. One is from a girl he’s never considered that way, and is completely genuine. If you’re trying to write a romance story, and you’ve just come up with this, you should kiss yourself on the mouth because you’ve just forced your main character to do some serious reevaluation about what he actually wants and who he actually wants to be with…in theory anyway! 

In practice, Sakura's fake love confession is just a waste of absolutely everyone's time. It never comes up again and Naruto never does any kind of reflection on it at all. I know Naruto is dense, I understand that and I love him for it. But come on, even he isn’t emotionally stunted enough to not put two and two together here… right?

It also might be my least favourite scene in the entire series? There’s just no way of reading it where Sakura doesn’t come across as a massive self centred narcissist, especially because it’s such a poorly thought out plan? (Like really Sakura, what are you going to do if he buys this? Date him forever? Quietly dump him after a few months of slumming it? What’s your endgame here, hun?)

But mostly I just can’t believe that the story puts two love confessions right next to each other like this and never once draws any kind of comparison between them. They’re just supposed to be treated as completely isolated scenes, it feels like it should be against the rules or something. 

So, there’s two potential edits here, one is to do what I suggested and have this be a moment of reflection for Naruto where he starts to consider Hinata in a more explicitly romantic light. Or, the option I prefer, just cut this scene. It adds little and detracts massively from Sakura’s character. (I could get massively derailed on a Sakura rewrite here so let’s just leave it there for now.)

On a lighter note I think this period in time presents an fun opportunity which the series never explores. Which is we’re now at a point where Hinata is confident in herself but not actively pursuing a relationship with Naruto, and Naruto is developing feelings for her that he doesn’t yet understand. So what you can do now is flip their dynamic from Part 1 where now it’s Naruto being all awkward and shy around Hinata. 

The best opportunity to explore that would be to have Hinata tag along on Naruto’s training trip with Bee, there’s plenty of opportunities for some cute moments there, and she can still go and join the war later like Guy does, but maybe that change is just me being self indulgent. 

The War

I’m mostly fine with everything that happens during the war, I don’t love Neji’s death but thats got way more to do with how the Hyuga are just kinda dropped from the plot after Part 1, rather than NaruHina specifically, I think as a NaruHina moment it’s solid. It’s another point on the list where Hinata is there to support Naruto at an emotional low point, but this time on more equal footing, holding hands is pretty much the exact symbolism for mutual support. 

I love that Kiba teases Naruto for showing off in front of Hinata, because I think it’s funny that Naruto and Hinata are the last people to notice that Naruto has feelings for Hinata. On the other hand, the whole thing where Minato asks if Sakura is Naruto’s girlfriend is just very weird, especially since it comes after the Hand holding thing. 

One the one hand I kind of like it, because it’s just such a dad thing to ask. On the other hand Naruto’s answer at this point really just should be a flat “no”. But instead he still fumbles over his words as if he still has any interest in Sakura at this point which I just don’t think is true, they’ve definitely moved into a more sibling like relationship by this point. 

I would’ve liked it if after the Infinite Tsukuyomi is released Naruto checked up on Hinata, especially when he was ready to charge out and rescue her the second he sensed her call out to him, but there’s so much other stuff going on by that point in the story I understand why we didn’t get to see that. I can infer that it probably happened at some point. 

Don’t get me wrong, I have major problems with the War arc and how it’s constructed (primarily that it’s just way too long) but as far as NaruHina is concerned I think it’s mostly solid. 

The Last

I mean full disclosure, I love this movie, obviously. I’ve been a NaruHina shipper from day 1 so this movie was like exactly everything I wanted. I think the problems with the movie, and definitely the problems some people lay out against it don’t have much to do with the movie itself and more to do with the audience's knowledge going into it.

Basically, if you ship NaruHina before going into the movie, you’re golden. If you don't, the movie does a pretty bad job of convincing you otherwise, and that’s not the movie's fault, it’s the rest of the story's fault for not making it clear enough that Naruto loves Hinata. Subtle hints and little nods are only really effective if you’re predisposed to shipping. If you’re not then the story up to this point has really not made it obvious enough. 

I think the idea that the movie tries to convey, that Naruto doesn’t understand the difference between platonic love and romantic love makes perfect sense for everything we know about him as a character, but what the movie doesn’t convey is that Naruto did have those romantic feelings all along, he just didn’t understand them. So my minor edit to the memory scene is just to make that more obvious. 

Include a montage of Naruto watching himself hanging out with Hinata, and lingering specifically on the fact that Naruto is always happy around her, I think adding that alone would solidify what the movie is trying to convey in that scene. I would also suggest that it should be more apparent that Naruto and Hinata are pretty much already dating before the movie even begins. This is kind of implied in the movie and certainly hinted at in some of the light novels, but just make it more obvious in the movie. 

They’re really close friends in that way where everyone else in the group just sort of assumes they’re already dating, But Hinata’s too nervous to actually make a move and Naruto’s too dense to. That’s already the conflict of the movie. Just make it more clear that this has been the state of affairs for a while. These are minor things, ultimately, I did say that I love this movie, it’s the fairytale romance of my dreams for these two characters and I wouldn’t want it any other way. 

And that about wraps it up! There are some people who think critiquing or analysing the romance in Naruto is pointless because it’s a fighting anime for boys, but I would retort that romance is woven throughout the entirety of the series from the get go. I mean the series ends with a romance movie, it’s weird to suggest that it’s only a minor part of the series. 

And I genuinely don’t think Kishimoto is terrible at it, even if he himself thinks he is. I think he had a lot of good ideas, he just wasn’t quite sure how to bring them all together, but the best of his moments are the parts that unite romance with the fighting, like with Pain, or during the war, that’s why romance is a completely valid part of shonen. 

I hope you’ve found this ramble entertaining, this is not the sort of thing I usually do but it’s been stuck in my mind, so there we have it.

[neinofthem]

brief vent in your inbox- it's such a big pet peeve to me when people take things like the cat's paw scene as essek instantly being in love with/wanting to bang caleb when matt confirmed he's demisexual. like, we'd know how wrong it'd be to ship beau with a man, but people won't show the same respect for essek's demisexuality

you’re actually so correct. like essek was definitely manipulating caleb on actual purpose. he had his own reasons for sort of flirting that had nothing to do with attraction or lust or anything, he very plainly wanted to get in good with the nein to figure out how they worked and how to swing that to his advantage. to me he reads as a very. ‘use everything at my disposal’ sort of person, and what he had at his disposal was looks, charm, etc. also, caleb was trying to set up a honeypot which essek definitely clocked and was playing into. maybe he thought caleb genuinely wanted to fuck him or whatever, it doesn’t really matter, the point of playing along and doing their batshit mating ritual wasn’t oh wow love at first sight it was oh, jesus, these people have never had a relationship that wasn’t wildly toxic and now they’re trying to bait the other into thinking that they have their shit together and should be trusted with capital S Secrets.

this to me also reads as a symptom of the woobification of essek thelyss, where he goes all doe-eyed over caleb immediately when, at first, it’s canon that he absolutely hated awllll of them very much. caleb intrigued him, yes, but caleb did not compel him to make any genuine overtures of friendship or romance or anything of the kind until much later. this might stem from the need to make essek into the more submissive (in a personality sort of way) between the two in regards to their eventual relationship, which echoes back up along the timeline and makes people think that their relationship has always been like this (with caleb the self confident wondertherapist there to coach essek through unlearning a century of bullshit while essek simpers helplessly under caleb’s fucking electric blue gaze or whatever).

this interpretation of them is problematic even when it’s wayyy postcanon, but people look at this very inaccurate summary of their dynamic and go, ‘oh, shit, essek must have been hiding his inner softboy all along, this changes their whole story’ which, no! if he wasn’t a bad person who did bad things for bad reasons in the beginning (yes I know that this is oversimplification, it’s going to be ok I prommy), then his redemption holds no weight! what’s the point of a narrative about change and growth and building a better self if the character most central to this theme didn’t have to actually make anything new, he just had to scrape away a layer of mean exterior to get to the gooey domestic homemaker big sweater wearing pet name calling somftboi interior? no point. there is no point. fuck!

[tobiasdrake]

YES! Digimon Adventure 02, my favorite *starts rubbing hand together* i'm going to be so obnoxious.

Anyway since you're done with Adventure could you rank the Chosen Children up to now? I'm really interested in hearing your thoughts.

Let's see. Chosen Children from Most Favorite to Least Favorite, since I don't actually have any I dislike.

1 - Tachikawa Mimi. I'm sure there are no surprises about that one. Mimi's job is to be the relatable everykid. The one who acts the most like what an actual real-life ten-year-old thrown into this situation would act like. She cries, she screams, she wants to go home.

But she still pulls it together and has a lot to contribute all the same.

All of the kids do a great job of being relatable, honestly. But Mimi has the most interesting journey to me,

2 - Kido "Joe" Jou. You know, as a kid, I adored Yamato so much. He would have been my #2. But as an adult, I can't help but appreciate how hard Jou-senpai worked at the mostly thankless job of trying to be responsible for these kids.

He's just as scared and confused and lost as they are, and in the beginning the burden of responsibility weighs so heavily on him that it nearly breaks him. But he rises to the challenge. Even after they decide Taichi is officially team leader, Jou is always looking out for them, always trying to guide them as their senpai nonetheless.

Jou giving his life to save Takeru is my favorite Crest activation of the lot.

3 - Ishida "Matt" Yamato. He's still up there, just not as high as Jou. Yamato is the most damaged of the Chosen Children at the start, though it may not be immediately obvious. He comes into the series with more baggage than anyone. He's already carrying his parents' divorce on his back and emotionally spiraling down a defensive rabbit-hole before we even know his name.

Yamato isn't capable of being a selfish person, and that much is on display left and right. His kneejerk reactions are almost always for the betterment of the group. He can't help himself but to care about everyone else. But he's so messed up that he thinks that's a character flaw. Who he is and who he wants to be are miles apart, and who he wants to be kinda sucks so that's a good thing.

4 - Takenouchi Sora. Sora's carrying some damage on her heart as well. She's similar to Yamato, in that there's a stark disconnect in her character. Not who she is vs. who she wants to be, but rather who she is vs. who she thinks she has to be.

I love how much attention her dynamic with her mom gets in the Vamdemon arc. Sora has the most interesting and dramatic home situation out of any of the kids.

But it does feel like the show starts to de-emphasize her over time, particularly in the Dark Masters arc where Sora routinely has to be protected or saved and rarely gets to be the one who looks cool. Whether she's propping up Takeru, Hikari, or Yamato, Sora often ends up taking a backseat as the series draws closer to its conclusion.

5 - Takaishi "T.K." Takeru. I didn't actually like T.K. as a kid. He just seemed like an annoying little kid. But that's because of the dub downplaying his growth and his strength. Ironically, Takeru is probably the one of the original seven who already has his shit together the most from the start.

He's innocent, naive, and abhors violence, but he's not a helpless baby either. Takeru is resourceful, strong-willed, and contributes as much as anyone to the children's survival. Which is, itself, a key factor in Yamato's arc as much as his own.

6 - Yagami "Kari" Hikari. Hikari suffers tremendously from entering the series so late. She has very limited opportunities to shine, something that 02 will help her with.

She makes good use of what she gets and has a lot of great moments nonetheless. Granted, she's a little bit deus ex machina-ey, but she's literally the Light of the Eight Gods so we can forgive her for that.

7 - Izumi "Izzy" Koushiro. He made my kid cry.

No, I jest. Koushiro's in a rough spot where, as the computer nerd of the group in the Digital World, he has to try and walk a tightrope between "Koushiro OP plz nerf" and "It feels like Koushiro should be doing more."

It's not a tightrope he walks easily. He gets off to an interesting start as he's building out his understanding of the Digital World. But that kinda reaches a head at Etemon's pyramid and after that he just starts leaning on stuff Gennai gives him.

Once the setting is well-established, we don't get to see him do cool things like writing a program that will display a holographic map of Etemon's pyramid in physical space anymore. Gennai gives him all of his tools going forward and he just... sorta becomes the Pokedex.

8 - Yagami Taichi. He yelled at my kid for grieving dead friends.

That's less of a jest. More generally, Taichi has a lot of good points. He's the one who keeps his eye on the ball during the Dark Masters arc and keeps pushing forward while Mimi, Jou, and Yamato are having their respective crises. He's usually the guy you want to lean on in a crisis.

But wow, can Taichi be insufferable at times pre-development. He's reckless, self-centered, occasionally sexist, and utterly insensitive to the thoughts and feelings of others.

Taichi is a wild card. You never really know if you're gonna get "gets everyone caught by Etemon because he thought it'd be funny to cause trouble" Taichi or "pulls this team back together after they split up" Taichi.

Though meeting Homeostasis near the end and hearing the background of their adventure seems to do wonders for Taichi putting all of this to rest and becoming an emotionally stronger leader.

[facewithoutheart]

Ten Questions for Writers

Thanks for the tags @shrekgogurt, @artsyunderstudy, @youarenevertooold, & @roomwithanopenfire I’m enjoying all this navel-gazing a whole bunch actually & I’ve done this before but it’s been awhile… sooo

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 169 (niiiice)

2. What’s your total AO3 word count? ~950k (yikes) although some of that is Birthday Man and collabs with people from WIP fest. Don’t ask me to do the math tho; that’s mean.

3. What fandoms do you write for? I’ve written for HP, Check Please, and RWRB although right now I’m mostly a CO writer with a toe dipping into 9-1-1. I have one Captain America fic posted and some WIPs I don’t know if I’ll finish. Nobody look at that AFTG fic; it’s pure crack.

4. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? Whoo boy do I have thoughts here. I want to be the kind of writer who replies to comments and I harbor so much guilt that I’m not; I know I miss out on opportunities to connect with readers, and I genuinely appreciate comments so much; I hoard them in my inbox like a greedy lil affirmation dragon. I write to engage and connect. So, like, I know I should but at the same time I hate forcing interactions. I like them to spawn organically. I keep my circle small because I get really emotionally overwhelmed and then I feel guilty when I can’t give people what they deserve. And I’ve also never been comfortable with compliments or gratitude, I don’t trust them. So here’s a bulk of emotional trauma no one asked for to say: I don’t reply to comments as often as I feel I should and I’m trying to release the guilt I feel about this while also recognizing that not commenting probably has a direct negative affect on my ability to meet my goal of connecting through writing and at the same time my mental health probably couldn’t withstand the pressure I would need to place on it to get to where I’m replying to comments regularly. Hi I’m a mess who’s trying to love herself and often falls short of that goal; aren’t we all?

5. Have you ever had a fic stolen? No.

6. Have you ever co-written a fic before? So many actually! I didn’t think I’d ever get to a place where I trust someone else to the level this would take but I’ve been really lucky to work with some amazing writers even if not all of those works went anywhere. I actually don’t even think I could realistically tag all the people I’ve collabed with bc I’m afraid I’ll miss someone and isn’t that amazing? Personal growth; we love to see her.

7. What’s your all-time favorite ship? Oh man. I want to just be lame and say it’s me and Mr. Face 🤣 I shipped us when no one else did. Um! Snowbaz is always going to have a special place in my heart, but I’m really leaning into Buddie right now because of age and wanting to explore people in their 30’s still figuring out their lives while battling PTSD and late-in-life sexuality realizations. For, um. Reasons.

8. What are your writing strengths? I do like my dialogue a lot; dialogue is often where I start my scenes and I develop from there. I think I’ve done a good job of honing my ability to vary action/dialogue/internality a lot. I also think I keep people engaged or maybe I just keep myself engaged which is good enough for me. Sometimes I’m funny although sadly not as much recently.

9. What are your writing weaknesses? I struggle with remembering to add in physical descriptors. (Like oh shit have I ever mentioned this character has eyes?) Logistics are a frequent source of pain. (Wait, where were their hands?) I think my plots are kind of basic and boring; I don’t come up with really vivid and detailed concepts. I use the wrong words for things. I really hate detailing out backstory. I have to reread my fics a million times to maintain character consistency. Etc.

10. First fandom you wrote for? Hey Arnold. I wish I could find those fics; I bet they suck.

Tagging 10 peeps @sillyunicorn @mostlymaudlin @martsonmars @bookish-bogwitch @cutestkilla @ivelovedhimthroughworse @thewholelemon @palimpsessed @aristocratic-otter & @you-remind-me-of-the-babe

[thelemoncoffee]

today's post is me rambling negatively- and probably upsetting some people in the process too, but i wanna get this out there before my brain inverts thinking about it.

honestly i don't like how the game treated Kaito's pushing Shuichi to keep being a detective as a good thing.

like- in the games Kaito keeps pushing Shuichi to be the ultimate detective, while Shuichi actively doesn't want to be a detective. i genuinely dislike this aspect of Kaito, he has alot of potential and individual traits that i love- but the game squanders it so much his canon depiction annoys me

with the Shuichi situation, detective work was obviously something Shuichi wasn't actually passionate about- as we learn he only started doing it to feel useful to his uncle- and he's proven time and time again that he isn't the kind of person who can handle the emotional strain the line of work puts on a person. but no matter what they kept making Kaito push him to be a detective anyways and framed it as a good thing despite everything pointing to the contrary .

Ryoma already fills the niche of "character who gave up on their passion due to trauma and needs to be encouraged to get back into what they love again"- we do not need to shoehorn Shuichi into it, especially when literally everything about him makes it noticeably unhealthy for him. i wouldn't have an issue with it if the game treated it like the negative it is, but it doesn't, the game thinks Kaito's pushing shuichi is actually a good thing and positive character growth. and that's my main issue with Kaito, really-

Kaito is a great character concept but the more i think about it the more the way he was used was so fucking shitty. i greatly dislike how they had the potential to show him as a super flawed wannabe hero doing the dumbest unhealthy shit cause he has a heart of gold, but they instead tried to play him as a tragic hero

he should have been called out for his shit more. he should have had a character arc where he learned how superficial his aid tactics actual are, and works up to do really heroic things. which- if you left ch5 as is- would make it a really cool instance of relapse into old bad habits under pressure, he would foil Kokichi 100x better like this too. while Kokichi descends into a paranoid mess, Kaito becomes a genuinely better hero- and Kokichi causes Kaito to relapse while he himself shows his true and more caring nature to Kaito in his final moments

but they didn't fucking do that.

Kaito was the tragic hero who was always right even when he was objectively wrong (read: Shuichi situation), a total hypocrite with zero repercussions for his hypocrisy (read: hates Kokichi lying despite lying more than Kokichi), and every character loved him no matter how shitty he was being.

i know he was intended to be a foil to Kokichi, but when Kokichi's relationships with other characters are more nuanced compared to his, it falls flat. Kokichi had people who liked and hated him to varying degrees, everyone had a solid opinion on him- but Kaito? i don't recall anyone outside of Kokichi, Maki, and Shuichi having any strong opinions on him (unless you count Tenko, but i don't cause her hatred was cause he's a man and not because of him as a person), which makes him feel way more flat compared to the variety of people's opinions on Kokichi and makes their foil connection way weaker

i just think Kaito could have been handled alot better- and i often tend to brush lightly on his problems in my posts that use him as a minor antagonist for saiouma

[blackbackedjackal]

I've been watching this whole thing unfold from the sidelines and saw the long post by Tek (hopefully got the name right) as well. I just wanted to say that the situation is wild and what ultimately gets me is not just the sheer level of nuclear vitriol in that verbal abuse, but also the absolute immaturity; specifically, the use of her issues as a shield for said immaturity and unprofessionalism on Dog's part. It isn't acceptable for someone to behave in this manner (and for this long...). Guess she missed the memo that mental illness isn't an excuse to be abusive. Many people with the same stuff aren't abusive at all! As someone who was severely abused in person by people using their issues an excuse to be abusive, it really does enrage me to see it. I am sorry you and others had to go through this, it's absolutely vile behavior. DogBlud abusing people and behaving like a Lycanthropic Rage Karen is not something I expected to see, but here we are. I just hope that maaaaayyyybbbeee she reflects and gets therapy or something about that pathological, self-destructive abuse cycle she throws around towards people who are supposed to be friends. She needs it badly. Up to her if she actually considers growth but the bar isn't high for her there. Love June btw!

The thought "huh she's reminding me of my abusive ex," popped into my head a couple of times, and I was like oooooh, that not good. So I just handled it the same way I did with him, locked her in circular arguments to frustrate her and keep her at a distance mentally, while letting her talk till she confessed to her toxic behavior. When you think you're the smartest person in the room, eventually, the smartest person will tell you to shut up (which Rex and I did teehee).

We had several people come forward to me and trashasaurusrex telling us about bits of her toxic behavior, but tek was the last person she collaborated with. Dog used to talk MAD shit about tek in my server, and I was like "tek either be a literal demon by the way you're describing her or, you, Dog, are a liar." As it turns out, tek is infact VERY NICE and I got angry that Dog dared to take advantage of her kindness in such a horrid way.

The thing is, I've barely touched on the stuff she did to me. I wrote up my testimony the day after I kicked her from my server to a neutral third party who was working on a collaborative project with her at the time. I wanted to give it some warning in case Dog tried to pull the same shit in that server, and around the same time tek and I started talking and comparing notes. Like the screenshots of her convos with tek literally parallel mine at some parts.

Anyway just, yeah I agree with you 100%. She's a serial abuser and manipulator with a mountain of evidence as proof. I haven't even gotten to the 34 minute phonecall like lord that's gonna be a doosey to explain.

She can grow all she wants from this. I hope she does get help, apologies, and, finally, and does better. But she has to PROVE that to me and Rex before she comes back on my block. Neither of us are in any position to be willing to forgive her for the shit she put us through.

[liquidstar]

do u have any recs for folks newer to the yuri genre? I've never really read any manga other than shounen and some magical girl stuff

Omg i can totally give yuri recs. (And which ones to stay away from. Sakura Kiss has cousin shit in it, Citrus has stepsister dubcon, Dragon Maid has lolicon, Happy Sugar Life is also lolicon but it’s edgy about it and tries to act like this makes it deep, we can do better)

Anyway here’s my actual recs! I'm going to give details but if you don't wanna read them I bolded all the titles.

YuriKuma Arashi (By Ikuhara of Revolutionary Girl Utena fame), is about lesbian bears. But it’s actually a metaphor for the simultaneous objectification and demonization of lesbians, the expectation both for purity and predation. There are some nitpicks I have with it like the sexualization being a bit too much to bring the point home, but overall I do like its themes and its message. And I think the ending pulls everything together really nicely. There is both a manga and an anime, and I believe the anime came first. I’ve only seen the anime so I’m not sure if/how the manga deviates!!!! 

Bloom Into You is an absolute must. Like, for real, I think it’s one of the best romances out there, yuri or otherwise. It gets really deep into both characters' respective psyches and the ways that they’re both Very Screwed Up when it comes to love and romance, or really just life in general. Giving details would be doing them a disservice honestly. Both characters are very messy but also do try their best to genuinely communicate, and what comes of that is a lot of teenage lesbian drama, but the growth they both experience though it TOGETHER is just great, and you can tell they care about each other so much.

Okay this one I’m not really recommending for the good writing, it’s more-so just really cool. Liberta (EXPLICIT) is a series about a vampire who can turn her body into guns and a human woman who is sick of being seen as lesser in her ordinary life. And then they fall in love and are vampires together. The artstyle and character designs are awesome and it has some really cool fight scenes. However it also has full blown barely censored sex scenes. A few of them. One of the women uses her tail at some point. If that’s not what your cup of tea is, give it a pass. 

Anyway for something more wholesome you should check out The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn't a Guy at All, which I’m actually not fully caught up on bc life, but has still been a super fun read so far. It’s about a girl who works at a music store, and her classmate who gets a crush on her while she’s at work. The classmate doesn’t realize that they’re the same person, due to her looking different at work, and thinks her worksona is a guy. Hijinks ensue. 

Otherside Picnic is also highly recommended. Its manga adaptation is lagging behind the light novel, which I can’t find a translation of online (But if anyone can help me out w that 🙏). The story itself is about two college students who go on adventures to a parallel plane of reality, which contains cosmic horrors who can only communicate with humans through fear so intense it will make you go insane. They’re also looking for someone who went missing, and gain cool powers like Ghost Hand and Sans Eye. Yes this is still a yuri series and it’s also really really extremely fucking cool. 

She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat, is a slice of life story about… Well exactly what it says. A woman with a passion for cooking, making lots of food and sharing it with her neighbor, and they end up bonding through this. It’s also like, cool to see a big butch woman for a change! The story itself is very straightforward but I love watching the relationship progress as well as the mc question her sexuality. This story will absolutely make you super hungry though.

Show Me Your Bust (EXPLICIT) is also exactly what it says on the tin, though it’s technically a webtoon. Again this is a series with explicit sex scenes, but it actually does have a story and actual depth to its characters. Honestly there’s a lot to unpack with all of them and a lot of the relationships aren’t totally healthy but it’s a drama so that’s the point. 

A Monster Wants To Eat Me is actually hard to describe without spoilers. It’s about a girl who lives by the sea, meeting a mysterious girl with eyes that remind her of the ocean itself. The girl says that she’s actually been looking for the mc for a long time, and it’s revealed that….

And lastly I wanna mention Hanamonogatari, a story about an old widow who begins to regain confidence in herself as she experiments with make-up with the help of another old lady who works at a local cosmetic store. Honestly it’s very very very sweet, it’s rare to get romances like this of old women when so much of the focus of romances (yuri or otherwise) is often on the characters being attractive. I also really appreciate how the make-up is being used specifically to accentuate their wrinkles. Not hide them. Because aging is beautiful too. Sadly IVE ONLY READ TWO CHAPTERS BECAUSE I DONT THINK THE REST ARE TRANSLATED IF ANYONE OUT THERE CAN HELP ME PLEASE DO 🙏

[lunar-years]

i hope this isn't too weird to join the discussion as a random follower but i've been very stuck on the trend you mentioned where prior to s3, fics often had jamie join established roykeeley after a lot of pining and self-recrimination. and i thought hmm i haven't really seen much of that for keeley joining established royjamie post s3, even though it would make a lot more sense given where they all are at the end of s3!

(cont.) i would love to read (or write) a fic about royjamie being on (but on the downlow due to their careers and the homophobia in football) and somehow keeley finds out about them so she has to keep things secret but is also like, oh god, this is it, this was the missing ingredient and i've MISSED MY CHANCE and angsting about whether she made the right decision in the end. it'd all come good in the end but let keeley feel insecure in fic! she's too self-assured in fanon imo.

YES!! You know funnily enough, despite this scenario being like, THE way I most think the ot3 actually gets together after the finale, I haven't written it and it's not in any of my current wips, either, lol. My friends with benefits fic is sort of going to include a similar dynamic (at least in terms of Keeley being like, fuck I've missed my chance and now they're going to get together without me and its my own fault yada yada). Except it's a slightly different flavor of it because they're fwb and Keeley is still participating as often as she pleases and neither roy nor jamie have yet realized how the dynamic has shifted from fwb into something else/more between them. so it's really just Keeley panicking on her own that they're going to realize at any second how they feel about one another and ditch her altogether.

but anyway, YES i want to read your exact version, and YEAH Keeley definitely is too self-assured in fanon, especially for a character who was basically continually in a self crisis spiral for 75% of season 3, lol.

If I had to pick a single headcanoned way I think they get together after canon events, I think Roy & Jamie apologize to Keeley and she kindly tells them she isn't currently in the place for a relationship with either of them, but she cares about both of them deeply and wants them to all be friends (with an implied 'my thoughts on being together romantically might very well change in the future, I'm just not ready for that now.') Which honestly is the right call for her personal growth and self care, because I think Keeley deserves & needs a hot single girl self-love era.

Only, Keeley hasn't actually realized how close royjamie have gotten as she's been having her various s3 crises, and even though she obviously knows they're not obligated to wait around for her to make a decision, I think there's probably a part of her (that she refuses to acknowledge of course) that is like, 'well they've both simped over me this long, of course that door is always going to be open. I can just return to that decision when I'm ready.'

...Color-her-surprised when Jamie and Roy do not just wait around, they get together. And as they all three continue to hang out as friends, she catches on to the relationship and at first it's like okay this is hot, all good fun. But then she realizes just how close they are, and has a full blown crisis because holy shit this is serious, and how did that happen right when she wasn't looking? They're in love, and she's missed out because she was too busy tasking time for herself, and that just isn't fair, is it, she's the one who helped make both of them better!! SHE put in the work and now they're getting the payoff??

Cue angst and irrational thinking patterns and Keeley loneliness that of course ends with a frank conversation and a threesome that turns into canon throuple. amen.

ironically the fic I've read closest to this concept was written prior to s3, Robocop by wildwren. it was part of a roykeeley breakup series, but basically there's lingering sexual tension between all three of them, then Keeley decides she's ready to sleep with Jamie, only to go over to his and find him and Roy already fucking in the car 🫢 and then she thinks she's missed her chance etc. The series wasn't finished (if there was going to be more to it, idk) but the whole thing was BRILLIANT and like. spot on to the dynamics set up in s3, because wildwren is a wizard.