#yes those fans provide better context but

[chevelleneech]

"i was more curious to know how do you go from "we didn't meet/call eachother" on July 14th to applying for Buddy program"

Anon I mean this in the nicest way. This is not what the real conversation is. Please follow real non shipper Karmies who have corrected this translation MULTIPLE TIMES. You have real legitimate non shipper Karmys, telling you this is not true. Jk never said anything about not calling. So we can let this mistranslation go. This has been explained by Jk solos too and others. Cause the translation got JK dragged and they wanted to clear it up. What Jk did was tease Jimin and say when Jimin was free he didn't find JK and when JK was free Jimin didn't find JK. He playfully put all the blame on Jimin and Jimin said that is not true, he did. Jk was starting up Jimin lives. Do you not think he can pick up that same phone and call Jimin? They were meeting clearly, but apparently not enough to Jk's liking. Hence the you're here FINALLY. And regardless if they see each other every day, they can still agree to enlist together, because they are the closest at the end of the day with each other and each other's families, regardless. And you wanna go through something with someone you know you are extremely comfortable with and never gonna get tired of, since you see each other every day in the buddy program. As for the Special Forces thing, what JK wanted to do, is not what Tae is doing. It would have required longer serving & he would not be back on time. It would have been a lot more fun, yes, but he also wouldn't have Jimin. And if it was really important for Jk to be with Tae, then Tae could have joined JK at 5th division to enlist as his buddy. That did not happen. Its time to let this go.

And well if you think they're closeted, sometimes you have to read between the lines of their dialogue & not over think it, cause they certainly ain't gonna give you the full story.

The anon didn’t say anything wrong for you to respond with, “I mean this in the nicest way.”

Saying they didn’t call each other or meet up is still valid, because even with JK saying what he did, the only people who know for a fact he was being playful is himself and Jimin.

You guys are so hard pressed to make it a fact that Jimin wasn’t in the “wrong”, that you’re refusing to let anyone else have an opinion on the conversation. The translations from the show weren’t wrong, they just weren’t 100% verbatim. But saying someone didn’t reach out is the same thing as saying someone didn’t call. Calling is reaching out.

I mean, I get it, people don’t want anyone being dragged over mistranslations, but the show didn’t mistranslate. They used different wording, which is fine. Especially since it isn’t something that drastically changed the conversation. Your whole upset over what the anon said is because you guys keep putting it in your heads that people taking JK’s words at face value for the most part, somehow paints Jimin in a bad light, when it doesn’t.

You guys want it to be playful teasing because that’s the only way y’all are able to accept their bonds. As having no conflict whatsoever, and that’s not realistic. They said they hadn’t seen each other. JK “joked” Jimin didn’t reach out. So what? You can’t say just because we saw JK starting up lives filled with JM content that he could have picked up the phone but didn’t, because you don’t know that he didn’t. They didn’t talk about whether or not JK reached out, but also… we all saw how often he asked Jimin to hang out. He made it all of our business by doing it online, for whatever reasons.

At the end of the day though, Jimin and Jungkook know what went on between them, and they chose to give us a little glimpse of it at the start of the trip. But there is no way to claim anon is happily okay with mistranslations, just because you and many others would rather nitpick exact wording.

Jungkook said what he said, and Jimin presumably didn’t what he did. Neither of them, as far as any of us know, did anything wrong though. Because we don’t know what happened, so we can’t say JK was only teasing or that Jimin wasn't denying something he did indeed do. At the same time, how JK felt about their bond and proximity in 2023 is his right to feel. So even if Jimin did reach out once or twice, if Jungkook feels like he didn’t do it enough, then that’s how he feels. That doesn’t mean Jimin was wrong for choosing not to reach out as often.

Jimin has his own life the same way Jungkook has his, and once again, we do not know what caused them to lose out on being attached at the hip the way Jungkook was used to. We also don’t know why that would have frustrated JK in the first place, because as far as we know, they’re just friends. So why would he feel any type of way and why would he so consistently do it on a public form, then say, “Finally!” when Jimin shows up, if he was only joking? There is no answer for that, because they didn’t give it.

Anyway, disagreeing with people is fine. It makes sense to come to your own conclusions as best you can, but acting like you know better just because you’re choosing to believe people who speak the language makes no sense. Take in their translations and understand that wording may not always match up, but they don’t know the details either. Yes, they can say, “They were speaking in playful tones.” and that should be factored in, but JM and JK are also professionals on camera. They weren’t about to hash out their shit for us to see, with serious tones and argumentative wording.

They were poking fun and being sarcastic, because they were on camera. Truly, how often have we seen the two of them argue? We only even know about a singular time, from seven or so years ago, and you can’t tell me it’s because they just don’t. The members argue. They’re human, but they don’t show us, because they likely don’t get into too many conflicts about music and business. It’s likely only personal drama, same as any other close circle of family and friends.

So, whether you like it or not, it is okay for people to interpret their car conversation as, “Hmm, seems like they may have had some tension between them last year.” And if they think Jimin was at fault, so be-it. It doesn’t change anything, and JK saying as much should not have gotten him dragged. The same way assuming Jimin is the reason he and JK didn’t see each other much, is not a reason to drag Jimin.

This is their business, and while we can observe and make our own assumptions, we aren’t getting any answers to the nitty gritty. And neither are Korean fans. They just happen to speak the same language.

Lastly, anon was clearly just wondering if they went directly from not hanging out much to enlisting together, did that decision come earlier on or at the last minute. It’s okay to not pretend like you know it all, which anon did. They don’t know the members and thus are curious about their motivations. But as I said, it’s possible they made this decision a long time ago. So you’re not offering anything productive to our conversation by acting like anon asked something stupid or is against Jimin or JK. It was a question.

[ash5monster01]

hey!! could you please write more neil perry smuts? they’re so rare and your writing is amazing

your wish is my command 🤍

It’s Just Practice

Pairing: older!Neil Perry x actress!FemReader

Warnings: 18+, smut, dirty talk, language, oral f & m receiving, p in v, fluff, MDNI!!!

Summary: It’s Neil’s first sex scene on a new acting job and not only is he terrified but he’s afraid he’ll be so uncomfortable it will affect his acting. You provide a solution.

word count: 4.2k

Masterlist

You don’t miss the way Neil wipes sweaty palms on the front of his jeans, eyes darting to the filming schedule for the week, eyes wide like a deer in headlights. Ever since you both had started filming this movie he hadn’t been nervous, in fact he was a natural, which you appreciated considering you had been doing this your whole life. That’s why his behavior has caught you off guard, the script pages fanning against your fingers as you flip through them in search of the lines you’d have to brush up on this week.

“What’s up with you?” your voice comes out sharp, startling him as he jumps to turn and spot you in your director chair, legs crossed, and script open on your lap.

“Nothing, I’m fine” he says unconvincingly and it almost makes you snort considering an actor should be much better at lying than he is.

“No you’re not, take a seat Bambi” you tease, watching the doe eyed boy nervously approach his own director chair beside you and take a seat. You know he hates when you call him that but someone so innocent looking like him exploring the world of acting on unsteady legs reminded you of the sweet deer.

“I swear I’m fine” he says, stretching his fingers over his thighs, looking anywhere but you as he clearly battles with whatever inner thoughts currently had him this on edge.

“Neil, I’ve been doing this a long time. So let’s skip whatever this is and get to the part where you confide in your experienced friend” his cheeks burn red, taking your words in a context you don’t quite understand yet, because he was currently freaking out about the scene scheduled for tomorrow.

“It’s about tomorrow” he nearly whispers, causing you to lean closer to make sure you don’t miss what he says.

“What about it?” you ask, eyebrows furrowed together as you close the script and plop it on the ground beside your chair. A nervous hand meets the back of his neck, massaging the flesh there as he attempts to find his words.

“I-I’ve never filmed a sex scene before” he whispers again and you can’t help the giggle that bubbles past your lips, shocked that of all things you two had already filmed together this was the one that shook him the most. “Please, it’s not funny”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. It’s just-, usually the men I act with look forward to those scenes the most” you offer, trying to calm your laughter down. Neil shakes his head so you reach to place a hand on his arm, offering as much comfort as you can.

“I’ve never done one before and if I’m being honest the guy who went to an all boys high school wasn’t actively getting laid in college” he tells you and this is something new about him that you hadn’t known, it could explain why he was still so nervous and sweet around women unlike some people in this industry.

“You have… right?” you find yourself asking and Neil wears a panicked expression.

“Yes, yes, I’ve been with a woman. Just not on camera, not like this” he gestures to the script, knowing the scene the two of you were to perform tomorrow was a high stakes passionate moment between lovers.

“Take a breath Perry, it’s easier than you’d think” you assure him, squeezing his arm once more before letting go.

“How could it be easier?” he asks, exasperated and little shaken up about this whole thing. He’s nearly positive that if he had known there was a sex scene he may have never taken the job.

“It’s easier because not only are we professionals but we’re friends. You can’t look at it like an intimate moment being watched by an audience, you have to be comfortable and trust me” you tell him, reaching for your water bottle. Neil lets the words sink in as you take a sip, eyeing how some of the water dribbles along your lip and your tongue darts out to catch it.

“Friends don’t kiss each other” he says with the shake of his head and you snort, twisting the cap back on your water bottle.

“In this business they do, it’s nothing, it’s friendly!” you assure and Neil can’t help but chuckle, finding a semblance of amusement in this minor crisis of his.

“Well if you don’t remember, this is only like my third acting job that isn’t theater” Neil says, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees and rub his hands together. You watch as his biceps flex under that thin material of his shirt and gulp lightly.

“Alright, here’s the deal. After filming today, come to my place, I’ll cook you dinner and we can…. practice the scene. Make sure you’re comfortable” you suggest, wringing your hands together and hoping the boy doesn’t take it in some weird way. You had been doing suggestive scenes a long time, long before it was probably even appropriate, so this should be nothing. How hard could it be to make Neil comfortable with you?

“Okay, that sounds good. Thank you” he says and you crack a smile even though you were suddenly the one who was nervous. There was nothing normal about cooking dinner for a man and practicing fake sex but then again nothing about this job had been normal so far. So you nod your head and prepare for the worst.

“Yeah, anytime”

It’s taking everything in you to tear your eyes away from them nearly empty casserole dish, the very one you and Neil had just picked at in order to delay the next part of this hangout. You felt silly even making it considering it was the only thing you ever learned how to cook and you had to double the recipe to feed more than one person. It was even more embarrassing digging through your kitchen for more than a single serve dish to cook it in.

“The food was great” Neil offers and it springs you into action, shoving the chair away from the table as you collect the dishes and start towards the sink.

“Thanks, I’m not much of a cook” you say, smiling as he meets you at the sink with his own used plate. He smiles back as you take it from his hands, setting it in along with the other stack.

“I brought my script, you know, just incase. Even though there isn’t a lot of dialogue” he says and you giggle, realizing your were more comfortable with him than you had previously thought.

“Great, why don’t we go to my room” you sound silly saying it, like a teenage girl unsure of how to get a boy in her bedroom but Neil doesn’t even flinch as he nods at you and waits to follow in your direction.

You use the opportunity to snag your empty wine glasses and the rest of the bottle from dinner to bring with you, flashing him a quick smile over your shoulder as he follows you up the stairs and to your room. He’s ever the gentleman as you set the glasses on your dresser, pouring fresh glasses as he eyes the minimal belongings around the room.

“Cozy” is all he says and you smile, handing him a glass while sipping from your own.

“Temporary, I travel too much for work to ever get comfortable in one place” the notion surprises Neil, considering he stayed in the same place for nearly his entire life. Even through all of college and into his adult years he still hadn’t even spent as much time out of Welton as he did in it.

“Sounds lonely” he suggests as he moved to sit on the end of your bed and you tip back the rest of the wine before joining him.

“Maybe, but I’m used to it” you tell him, taking the script from his hands and opening to the pages. If you were to survive this, you’d have to be as professional as you could.

“Alright coach, how do we do this?” he asks, lacing his fingers and stretching his arms out in front of him. You chuckle, shaking your head lightly at the boy who was so nervous about this earlier.

“Well the beauty of a sex scene is we have creative freedom. You only have a few marks you have to hit, other than that there isn’t much direction to follow” you explain, holding out the script to show how the script indicates where they kiss, where their hands should be, certain sounds, in only various places.

“Okay so make it your own but also hit the marks” he nods, glancing at the script as he lets the new information sink in.

“I find it best to count and also pace it as if it was real. So from the moment we first kiss, count to five and then put your hand on my cheek” you explain, pointing to the written direction on the page and Neil nods.

“Okay, so it starts with us at the end of the bed and I lean in for a kiss” Neil says, holding the adorable glasses he wore up to his eyes. You smile as he drops them back down into his front shirt pocket again.

“If it makes you more comfortable we can practice, I promise I don’t bite and I haven’t been told I’m a bad kisser” you shrug and he bellows a laugh, moving the script from out of between you both. He was nervous earlier but he also liked you, thought you were funny, and if you were this willing to work with him there was really nothing he should be afraid of.

“Tell me if I do something wrong” he whispers, ducking in close and tracing the tip of his nose along the bridge of yours. You suck in a sharp breath, unprepared for his causality about the whole thing.

Slowly you tip your head up, eager to chase his lips with your own and finally, just as in the script he meets you, unpracticed lips fumbling together as he kisses you like it’s real. You kiss back slowly, sighing softly as his hand meets your cheek and slowly slides into your hair, fingers lacing through the locks and grabbing a fistful to steady your mouth against his own. If Neil was truly unexperienced it would not be this good.

Following the next part of the script he slowly eases you onto the mattress, chest pushing against your own until your head meets the soft cushion of your bed. For once you’re thankful your character doesn’t have to do much of the work, you just let out soft sounds of delight as his lips trail down your neck and meet the front of your chest. You’re not even sure if you’re acting anymore when you roll your hips into his own.

“We can stop here” he mutters against your skin but you feverishly shake your head, hands meeting his face and keeping him where he was.

“No, it’s okay. We’re gonna see a lot of each other tomorrow, better to just get it out of the way” you urge and he nods, continuing to kiss your neck as he starts shoving your dress up the sides of your hips just like it is in the script.

“Tell me if you get uncomfortable” he mutters, lips kissing along the fabric on your chest and stomach, inching his way down.

This would be the scene where he removed your panties, the camera would be just on your face as you moaned out words of pleasure, as if he was actually giving you head. Ever the actor though, Neil has found himself with his arms hooked under your legs and head awfully close to your underwear where he can undoubtedly see the wet patch beginning to form there. You both freeze, realizing fairly quickly this wasn’t a scene surrounded by a hundred workers, that you were alone and he had made you wet.

“I-I’ve never” Neil suddenly says and your cheeks tint pink, hands already reaching to shove your dress back down and over your hips. “Could I?”

“What?” you can’t help the shocked voice that leaves you as the brunette boy gives you a sheepish look.

“I know we don’t actually have to but I really am comfortable with you and if you’d let me?” he suddenly feels like an idiot, coming over here for help and then nearly begging to eat you out. You can practically see the thoughts racing in his head and you slowly pull your skirt back up.

“Go ahead” you urge and despite the initial shock Neil doesn’t let it falter him as he slips his fingers into the hem of your underwear and slowly begins to slide them down your legs. If you had known the night would turn out like this you probably would’ve never invited him over but it was already too late, you wanted him hopefully as much as he wanted you.

“Just, make sure I do it right” he says and before you can respond with some sort of agreement his tongue darts out and glides through your folds, a squeak escaping the back of your throat as your head drops back against the mattress.

Neil realizes the reaction you made is a good one so he dives right in, relishing in the taste of you as he licks and sucks, exploring all the new parts of a female body he’d never understood before. When his nose nudges against your clit a loud moan break free from your lips, making Neil’s eyes widen as he dares to do it again in order to confirm that was the spot to get such a reaction out of you. When he realizes it was no mistake he moves to suck hard on that one spot and your eyes nearly roll back in your head.

“Shit Neil, you really sure you haven’t done this?” you pant, whimpering as he slides a finger into you. Neil hums in response, the vibration of it tingling up through your whole body. He doesn’t pull away to give a verbal answer and instead speeds up his movements that you begin to feel the coil in your stomach tighten.

It’s when he slips a second finger into you and he moans against your clit do you feel your orgasm near the edge. On instinct your hand flies down to tangle into his hair, thighs slowly tightening around him as his movements never cease. Your other hand is wound so tightly into your sheets you miss the sly look he gives when he realizes you’re about to finish. With one last pump of his fingers and harsh suck to your clit you’re cumming swiftly, tightening around his hand as he continues to coax the orgasm out of you. The whines that leave your mouth are delectable and when your body finally relaxes against the mattress he pulls away, a happy smile on his face as his heart thrums in his chest.

“How was that for practice?” he says, breaking the silence, and you laugh quickly. At least he was able to be confident in this situation.

“I’d say we were a little too professional” you respond, breath coming out in heavy pants and Neil stands from the ground at the end of the bed, smiling down at you. Yet it’s impossible to miss how hard he is in his jeans, the length of him pressed uncomfortably against his zipper, and you gulp. Neil notices your eye line immediately, suddenly nervous all over again.

“You know the next part of the script is me helping you out?” you say in the form of the question even though you both know it’s not. Neil chuckles even though nothing is entirely funny about how your suggestion has suddenly made him harder and the look in your eyes proves you’re not going to let him off that easy.

“You don’t have to, I’ve kinda already stepped over the line” he shyly says, that nervous hand once again returning to the back of his neck. It doesn’t matter though because you’ve already sat up and started tugging at the zipper of his pants, fingers fumbling the button open.

“Shut up for once Perry and let’s finish what we started. Practice or not” and with one fowl sweep your tugging his pants and boxers down in one go. You had never considered the size of him before today but you’re not disappointed, in fact you’re shocked to see he had been hiding all that all this time.

Neil’s the one whining now, member standing tall and proud, grazing his lower abdomen and leaking with precum. You smile at him, hands pushing the T-shirt up and over his head before standing and pushing him down in the place you just were. He shifts, clearly in need of some relief, but you don’t touch him just yet. Instead you reach for the bottom of your dress, slowly tugging it up and over your own head just to reveal you had forgone a bra.

“Oh God” Neil says at the sight and you just grin, hands falling to his thighs as you lower yourself to the ground, kneeling where he just was. Neil can barely watch as you place a soft kiss on his thigh, hand rubbing up to his pelvis and dangerously close to where he was desperate for your touch.

“You know Perry, of all things I never expected you to be so desperate” you tease and he goes to give a witty comeback, he really wants to, but you have your hand wrapped around the base of his cock and any words in his mouth are swallowed in an instant. You wait a beat before pumping your hand softly, when you earn a soft moan you finally dart your tongue out and slowly lick the tip.

Neil’s squeezes his eyes shut so tightly there is almost tears coming out of them. You smile at the sight before taking him into your mouth fully. The gasp he lets out is music to your ears and you take as much of him as you can. What you can’t reach you use your hand and just like that Neil Perry is a mess of a man in your bed, when not so long ago this was supposed to be an innocent and professional practice. When you speed up your movements he’s quick to snap his eyes open, sitting up in an attempt to push you off.

“Baby, I’m not gonna last if you keep going like this and personally I’d like to be inside you when I do finish” the pet name and the sentiment has your ears burning red but you release him with a pop anyway, arm wiping at your chin as you smile up at him.

“How does it go in the script? Me on top?” Neil blushes and you lift from your knees, crawling above him on the bed. His eyes dart from your own, to your breasts, to where the two of you will meet, and you can nearly see the gears turning in his head.

“God I’m in trouble” is all he says when you grind down onto his length, covering him in your slick.

“Why’s that?” you ask, an innocent look on your face as you settle above him and grind against his length again, not quite lining him up to slip inside yet.

“There’s no way I’m not going to get a hard on, on set tomorrow. Especially after I already know what it’s like to be inside you” he pants, hands gripping your hips as you move slowly against him, nearly killing him.

“You haven’t been inside me yet, in fact we could just stop right now and save you the embarrassment” you start to say lifting up, but his hands grip tighter, and bring you back down. You’re sure he might leave finger marks but at this point you don’t really care.

“Baby, I am painfully hard and this either ends with me inside you or me awkwardly going to the bathroom to resolve this little issue, and I’d much prefer the first one” the sentence makes you giggle loudly and Neil finally breaks a smile, grinding his hips up into your own and you’re quickly reminded of the sheer length of him nestled deliciously between you.

“I prefer it too” is all you say before you grab his member without warning and line it up with your entrance. Neil squeezes your hips tightly and watches with wide eyes as you slide down his length. Slowly, slowly, until you’re flush against him and your head is tipping back at the sensation.

It’s better than he could’ve ever imagined and without you looking he gains the courage to reach and grope your tits, shamelessly feeling them up. The action makes you grind against him and he stiffens, trying to make sure he lasts as long as he could. He didn’t want this to end. Yet you seemed to have enjoyed the feeling as well and without warning you’re grinding quickly against him, using his hold on your chest for balance. When the feeling doesn’t become enough you place your hands on his own chest and lift off him. His hands instantly leave your breasts and return to your hips where he guides you back down on him.

You stay like this for a while, filthy moans leaving both of your lips as you bounce on his length, your eyes rolling back every time he hits that spot inside you. When Neil is sure he can’t take it anymore he’s flipping you onto the bed, hovering above you and giving no warning as he starts drilling into you. The moan you let out is pornographic and as he continues to drive into you he leans down and takes one of your nipples into his mouth. When he feels you tightening against him he smiles and meets his lips with your own.

“Come on baby, finish one more time for me” he encourages before pulling back and thrusting into you faster. When his fingers meet your clit and begin to rub, you feel the coil tighten in your stomach, ready for release.

“Shit Neil” you gasp, hands gripping his arms and holding on tightly. Neil smiles and never slows his pace.

“Come on baby, so fucking pretty like this” he says breathily, moaning softly in your face and it’s enough for the coil to snap. You tighten down around his length, legs trembling as they try to close together and he never ceases his movements as you cum hot and fast.

“I’m not gonna last much longer” he warns and you wrap your legs around him, indicating to finish in you, and it causes his hips to stutter. When your lips meet his own he’s finishing, warm ropes filling your inside, and he pushes in deeply once more as he settles against you.

You both lay there for a moment, letting the weight of what just happened settle in. You had never let a coworker step over that line before but it wasn’t regret you were feeling. In fact your stomach was warm with desire that hadn’t quite burned out yet. You had found Neil charming and kind from the start but you had not realized the feelings that bubbled there all along. Brewing into something much bigger and deeper than you ever realized. Something that made you go through with what you just did.

“So that just happened” Neil breaks the silence and you giggle loudly, hand falling against the back of his head and keeping him against you. The warmth spreading from your stomach and all the way up your chest.

“I told you there was no reason to be nervous” you say, fingers grazing through his hair and he chuckles, arms wrapping tighter around your bare waist.

“That may be true but now I’m more nervous everyone on set will see how into you I really am” Neil admits, lips brushing against your chest softly and ending with a soft kiss.

“Good acting is all, Oscar worthy” you say and he laughs again, head lifting to look in your eyes. They’re so full of adoration your heart stutters in your chest and you realize just how gone for him you really are.

“Hopefully that wasn’t all it was, acting” Neil says softly and you shake your head, hands coming to rest on his shoulders.

“No, that was real” you admit and he smiles before leaning and pressing a firm kiss against your lips. One that conveyed he had no interest to stop kissing you after this moment. Maybe you were done for, in over your head, but at least you had this moment. A feeling, the idea of hope, that you could hold onto forever.

“It was real for me too”

[creatingblackcharacters]

Sort of on the topic of fantasy racism? I was wondering if you would have thoughts on this thing I’ve been thinking about.

I’ve always loved running orcish characters in DnD, right up next to Halflings. I love taking the extremes of certain styles of play, and I also like subverting them. It’s probably also important to note that none of my games I was in really leaned into fantasy racism as a part of the stories, everyone kinda just was who they were.

Recently, I’ve been thinking about creating an online avatar for myself, sort of in the style of those elves and demons and animals and such that people tend to do, for use in interacting with people on my art blog.

My first thought was to sort of take a combination of my favorite characters from the past, so I got to drawing and I eventually came up with a orcish wizard woman, since I felt like that fit, especially with sort of the feel of being tall and a little bulky compared to the people around me, but still wanting to be pretty and feminine without feeling like I need to lose the strong parts of myself.

But then I started getting to worrying, because, well, I know in the past orcs used to be sort of a black stand in, and definitely in a bad way at first, just sticking the racism of the time into a book with POC as the evil green people, as game makers were prone to doing. More recently there has been more love for fantasy races and fantasy as a way to explore and understand racism, of course, and I guess a large part of me isn’t quite sure how that stereotype has aged or what it has become.

Because I’m not black, is the thing. I’m technically mostly Hispanic, but frankly for all intents and purposes I just look white. And so I’m wondering if either 1: Making my online avatar an orc would be tantamount to (fantasy?) blackface or 2: acting like that in and of itself is the racist thing, and that I should be assuming no current social correlation between fantasy orcs and real life people.

All in all, I’m thinking I’ll probably stick with something less worrisome/socially complicated like a golem or an elemental or something (other things I have enjoyed creating characters for) but I just saw one of your previous asks and it inspired me to reach out and ask for your thoughts and see if maybe there’s some context you could provide on the topic.

This is a hard one for me, because I feel like I can't give the "right" answer. On the one side, yes, historically orcs are Black & Indigenous savage caricatures written by white men. There's no getting rid of that, and people are always going to rightfully feel offended. On the other side, if people are trying to do better by orcs and give them more backgrounds and stories and treat them less like racist cannon fodder, could there be a change in the character as a whole within the D&D community? Maybe! I do feel like such a cultural shift en masse should be led by Black and indigenous fans, though. Can't reclaim a slur that was never targeted at you, and all that.

I feel like saying that having an orc as your pfp is "blackface" means that you (general) actually see the orcs as Black people. No, no one should look at your pfp and say "they're pretending to be Black!" Because we don't look like that. We don't "identify" with orcs. Now, people who are more intense about it being a racist caricature may come at you, and they have an argument there! But "blackface"... No. Think of it like this; if you posted a jim crow lip caricature as your pfp; I'm not gonna think "oh they're pretending to be Black" but I am gonna think "oh they're a racist" lmao. But from how you've described your character, I doubt I'd think that off rip.

It's up to you, to be honest. If you're passionate about orcs, and you want to explore their humanity and give them a better rap, then do that! But educate yourself, and be prepared for some people to be uncomfortable with your actions, or to disagree.

[nalyra-dreaming]

i agree w/ the other anon wrt loumand. the book version was flat & anticlimactic too, & imho that was likely anne's intention. i know some disliked the show toning down the 'infatuation' & depicting a muted romance, but imho they served the book's actual themes, just not in the way some wanted! it was a rebound of sorts in both versions, w/ louis convincing himself armand could provide him w/ things lestat couldn't, then being brutally disillusioned. to depict show!loumand as an intense, passionate love story would've been redundant bc louis already had that w/ lestat. he didn't want a mentor either, he wanted agency & respect, to be treated like an equal. and ofc in the end he just swapped one cage for another, armand was just better at playing pretend.

i know some fans take book!loumand's 'infatuation' at face value & i think that's where the disappointment comes from. to me, they were just 2 strangers projecting impossible fantasies onto each other & setting themselves up for failure. & while i sympathize w/ fans who wanted their romance elevated, i don't truly think the show 'did them dirty' overall, & even the more controversial changes made sense in context. they did capture the essence of loumand, while giving them way more dramatic scope than in the book. i'd be surprised if we ever got a trinity gate-esque reunion, but who knows?

I don't think we'll get lovey-dovey-Loumand in any kind of Trinity Gate in the show.

I used to think Dubai was Trinity Gate, but.... it very much wasn't.

And, I mean... Trinity Gate is not what a lot of fans seem to think it is from fanfics as well, at least not canonically?

Because Louis goes to Armand, yes, after lets the ever multiplying vampires drive them from NOLA - and Louis is with Armand so he is safe.

"So I let them drive me away out of the cities, and even from New Orleans, I let them drive me away. My beloved Louis de Pointe du Lac left soon after, and from that time on lived in New York with Armand. Armand keeps the island of Manhattan safe for them—Louis, Armand, and two young blood drinkers, Benjamin and Sybelle, and whoever else joins them in their palatial digs on the Upper East Side."

This is from "Prince Lestat". Yes, Louis lives with Armand, he stays in those connected townhouses with him. Lestat comes by from time to time to listens in, before he finally returns for the events that unfold there, but this is the book where Louis literally comes to terms with his own story (he reads "Interview with the vampire" and accepts his own story and himself) and which ends with LOUIS saying this:

“Beloved maker, beloved Prince, I will be with you soon.”

And in the next book they reunite for good.

Like... I know there is a lot to be said about Trinity Gate, and that Louis and Armand came a long way for Louis to be safe there.

But... while there is certainly a level of trust and love there... it is the place where Louis realizes he wants to be with Lestat.

[jiangwanyinscatmom]

Can you tell me why you like Lan Xichen, if that doesn't bother you?

I know why the fandom at large like him, but I disagree very hard with the "N°1 Wangxian shipper, best wingman, the only person in this cast that has eyes" thing they've got going on because all of this is directly contradicted by canon, and I'm just not a fan of blissfully ignorant characters that are fine with staying blind to the faults of others depending on how convenient it is for them.

I may be exaggerating a bit, but his "You were his only mistake" speech while advocating and protecting and giving the benefit of the doubt to Jin Guangyao made me a little bit salty, and the implications as to how he participated/supported the siege and Lan Wangji's punishment didn't really help.

I usually enjoy your takes and often agree with you, so I figured I'd ask, maybe you'd provide some insight in his character that I missed?

Hello anon,

I think part of this does simply come down to personally what type of person I myself am able to tolerate and want to see the potential of capability and being better. I do agree on with Wei Wuxian as he observes Lan Xichen's faith in Jin Guangyao, is that he unlike him was able to interact with memories of Nie Mingjue and the only reason he himself was able to believe that Jin Guangyao wasn't what he presented as. Lan Xichen isn't presented as a character to despise even in his ignorance which yes, is a factor of his one comfortable position, yet he is a kind simple man.

Simple kind men, are not meant to be politicians and should not be as they are easily manipulated. Yet the people that Wei Wuxian commends and listens to are simple, kind people. He understands very well where Lan Xichen himself comes from as a party close to Jin Guangyao and as an outside party to Wei Wuxian. They don't know each other, Wei Wuxian also is not a grudge holding person for slights against himself because they are wrong. Why would he himself care for what is not true? He knows who and what he is, whether it's liked by outsiders or not. He knows how to work with either reaction and is not sensitive to what is said about him, he also doesn't need others to take up that mantel in his stead, what he appreciates is those that trust in him as he is to support that.

Wei Wuxian also understands the casual misunderstandings perpetuated, some of which he did continue once he came back and hid for a time as Mo Xuanyu. He didn't think his unconscious love from when he was you g would reawaken, he WAS fucking around to disgust Lan Wangji to abandon him. He did not expect Lan Wangji to be caring and as loving as he was because the man hadn't so openly been anything like that in their youth.

Lan Xichen had the privilege of knowing this about Lan Wangji, hence his protectiveness and assumptions. While Wei Wuxian did not. It's a case of great misunderstanding on part of what Lan Xichen knew against what Wei Wuxian knows. As the audience we DO have a greater privilege than either of them because we get insights into both's actions and thoughts the other has no idea of. They are outside observers of the other.

Do I think Lan Xichen held a grudge towards Wei Wuxian either? No, but he was weary of Wei Wuxian's intentions to his brother given the outside view he had of them. Subconsciously yes we see that Wei Wuxian greatly loves Lan Wangji, but that is not apparent for Lan Xichen given the history he had seen. He had at one point thought a friendship with Wei Wuxian would be good for Lan Wangji who didn't ever seek companions, yet the only thing he was seeing and told was the hurt and struggle Lan Wangji struggled with. He had no investment or friendship with Wei Wuxian to think of other context.

Wei Wuxian also gets this, it is why he is terrified of the potential hurt Lan Wangji had been put through unintentionally because of himself and the assumptions of outsiders as well that influenced both of their hesitance to be open of their growing feelings, trust and love.

We all want to think of the best in those close to us. Wei Wuxian understands how that becomes so natural to the point of blinding yourself to the worst. It is what he did when it came to Jiang Cheng who continued to escalate his hate and actions towards Wei Wuxian who gave Jiang Cheng the benefit of doubt until he no longer could. And it is what Lan Xichen is faced with when it comes to the whole of Jin Guangyao's crimes exposed. Wei Wuxian was the perpetual stain and hurt for Jiang Cheng and did take the blame Jiang Cheng put upon him while reasoning with himself that Jiang Cheng had such a right and what good would it do for him to complain.

Lan Xichen trapped himself in the blindness of wanting Jin Guangyao to be reasonable in his choices in a very unfair world that condemned his class. He did know that Lan Wangji loved Wei Wuxian, he was weary of that love due to not knowing the whole. And why at the end he is disgusted, horrified, hurt in his own self snd yes embarrassed with his stubborn assumptions and blindness. He is not proud of that and what he is torn up over at the end. It's not the great tragic friendship he supposedly lost, it is his own stubbornness and ignorance he let overcome him and what he allowed to go on for too long. He is forced to see his one sided idea of Wei Wuxian was wrong, he has no hate over that, he to a point had seen Wei Wuxian as an influence for Lan Wangji to open up, yet lost his own faith in that due to his assumed biases.

He to a fault is coddling to the point of it being offensively infantilizing to Lan Wangji. Wei Wuxian understands the why of this and also is completely logical in understanding as to why Lan Xixchen thinks as such. He thinks Lan Xichen is a good man, because he is, whether we the audience like it or not in the logic of their world Wei Wuxian understands the mechanism of Lan Wangji's punishment as well and the cruelty it was for the society they are stuck in that is slow to change. Simple kind men are not made to be in a world of intricacy and conspiracy because it is more complicated than they know. Good intentions and offer of protection is dangerous when you have not been exposed to cruelty that can personally hurt you and take advantage of you when you are ignorant to the extent of the backlash.

I think this is also why Wei Wuxian in the end does respect Lan Xichen he had been there as well. He can't condemn something that he had been a part of at one point and had been taken advantage himself by multiple others.

[blackbatcass]

If it’s okay could you recommend comics for the flash fam? I really want to start reading them but I have no idea where to start 😅

YES I ABSOLUTELY CAN ANON!! reading flashfam comics can change your life for the better fr, unlike batman comics which usually change your life for the worse. Flash comics are honestly very simple to get into? for the most part you can just pick which era you want to start with, hop on that mainline ongoing and read from there.

this got kind of ridiculously long (i ramble about flash sorry)

i am not by any means a well-read silver age fan so I'll just skip right over those LMAO. if you want to read barry's run i assume you can just read flash v1 up until crisis. if you're interested in reading wally as kid flash he's featured in backups throughout a lot of v1 iirc!

unsurprisingly, my number one rec for the flashfam would be the flash volume 2 (1987). it's got pretty much everything you need. it introduced the speed force, basically created what we think of as the flashfamily, reintroduced & created beloved characters, and built up wally into the loser we know and love today<3 at its core it's the story of wally's journey from the very start of his career as the flash, learning how to fill barry's shoes and be a grown-up. it starts when he's this insane cringe 20 year old loser and ends with him as a full adult who's married with two kids LOL. it does soooo much work for wally as a character it's unreal.

but to keep it real flash v2 is......very long. like Incredibly long. it is 200+ issues and ran for over 20 years. so i can break it down into some smaller pieces & try to provide a roadmap so it's maybe a little less intimidating

the bad news is that the first guy to start out on the run fucking HATED wally for some reason lmfao and it shows. it's painful to read. the good news is he only stayed for the first 14 issues lol so honestly you can just skip those and start at #15 where william messner-loebs took over. now......the messner-loebs era is also not perfect and can be a bit of a slog. I love it in the fond 'wow wtf was all that' kind of way but it is definitely not a masterpiece. there are a lot of unmemorable, bland (occasionally batshit & ridiculous) arcs and he introduces a whole army of mostly forgettable side characters. credit where credit is due there is a lot of good stuff in there, he set up some stuff that is foundational to flash lore (like LINDA!! and hartley!) but it's not for everyone. if you want you can jump in at #31, where wally moves to keystone, or if you read some of it and it's not for you it's honestly fine to just skip to #62 where waid's run begins. #62-65 are a flashback retelling of wally's origin story (basically flash year one) and it's sooo good. essential wally reading.

the waid run is definitely the best section of the comic. it's classic it's iconic it builds the flashfamily it creates the speedforce it introduces bart allen. it's phenomenal. if you are interested in characters like bart, the garricks, johnny & jesse quick, and max mercury they are all integrated into the flashfam over this run. if nothing else i would recommend reading this part. oh and SPEAKING of bart allen, he gets introduced in issue #92! he hangs out in flash for a bit, zero hour happens, and pretty soon after his impulse series starts in 1995.

this is my #2 flashfam rec! if you have been in these tumblr circles at all then you've heard us rave about impulse 1995. it's simply Thee comic of all time. everyone on earth needs to read it im not kidding. it follows bart's life living with max mercury and his daughter helen, trying to adjust to normal life in the past. it's just. it's the best. it's 89 issues long, but honestly it goes by SUPER fast. i would recommend doing what i did and reading impulse and flash in parallel, just to get that organic experience & context. they cross over several times until impulse eventually ends.

ok back to flash v2. once geoff johns takes over..... i mean i won't say it ruins the comic and there is definitely stuff worth reading but i love waid infinitely better. it's really up to you. waid also comes back now and then to write a few chunks.

the flash series doesn't end until 2008. the next big thing after would be flash: rebirth, which. i am not a fan of for obvious reasons (get back in that coffin barry) but it's essential to understanding the plot so i have to include it lol.

i honest to god have no idea wtf was going on during flashpoint & new52. I will not pretend to understand that era. however if you are interested in the modern flashfam & the introduction of characters like ace west and avery ho, there are a couple good places to start! if you want to read williamson's run, you can start at the rebirth flash run (flash v5 #1). wally is eventually reintroduced (thank god) during this run.

if you want to start at the jeremy adams run (which features lots of members of the flashfamily) you can start at flash #768, which runs all the way to #800.

I would personally recommend the current flash ongoing written by si spurrier! it is kind of a lot and I'm in the minority in my love for it but it's interesting, thoughtful, has a role for pretty much every character, and has a lot of really cool cosmic horror elements. i will concede that it is VERY complicated and technical but you can tell spurrier has things to say and honestly it's so rare that a comic makes me think these days that i'm eating it up.

there were also two recent flashfam miniseries that just finished, speed force and jay garrick: the flash! i enjoyed both. they're short and fun.

aaaand that's my list! it is by no means comprehensive and it is very possible i got some things wrong so I apologize in advance. if you have any more questions I will be happy to try and answer them. I hope this was at least a little bit helpful and not even more confusing lol!

[thelonesomequeen]

hi I wasn’t here around the jenny slate era but since that movie with Blake was released users of tik tok are bringing up what she used to tweet, her insensitive jokes and something about a podcast and hitting Chris? If you don’t mind explaining to me

Honestly, I’m kind of surprised she was never called out sooner for her poor behavior. I do hope that she has changed for the better, but she hasn’t done anything that proves she has (in my opinion) because she mostly stays quiet now and she deleted her twitter which had most of the receipts of her crappy comments anyway. The best thing she could have done for her own public image was step away from word vomiting all over social media.

A lot of Evans fans get slack for hating on Jenny simply because she dated Chris and that isn’t true at all. A lot of fans were initially happy for him until they discovered that the relationship started off with what looked like an affair and that Jenny was/is a person of questionable character. People had reasons for disliking her and I’ll post actual receipts of her tweets below.

When it comes to the hitting during the podcast, yes it is true she was slapping at him and punching at him, but I will say that a lot of people have characterized this as a form of physical abuse and I’m not sure I’m comfortable going that far with it. I think it was in more of an obnoxious attention getting type of contact versus her actually aiming to harm him or physically dominate him in any way. But that’s just my opinion. With that said, I’ll also say that I don’t love the whole “play hitting” thing myself, it’s kind of weird to force contact on someone else like that, but I do think she was unfairly demonized in this instance. And what’s weird is that commentary came long after they broke up. I don’t remember anyone being alarmed by her contact with him during the podcast when it initially came out. Mostly because people were very focused on what both of them were saying and how they were interacting with each other.

With that said, I believe the podcast is still on YouTube and I would encourage you to listen to it for yourself and make your own judgement there.

Now, as for her making shitty comments that were transphobic and fat phobic in the past? Well I’ll leave some receipts for you and again, let you judge for yourself. What I will say is that these are only a SMALL sampling of her posts and that more are out there, but you get the idea. It also took forever to find just these, and I’m sure you’ll get the point either way. And before someone comes back and says “…but but but! Some of the tweets are from as far back as 2010! That’s 14 years ago!” I’ll say you’re correct. Some are on the older side. But keep in mind that Jenny would have been 28 at the time of those tweets. Older than Alba is now for those keeping score. These tweets were also posted by Jenny HERSELF as a full grown adult, and not her friends back in their teen days.

Just as a final note, please do not go on after reading these and use them as an excuse to harass anyone. The point of this post is to provide context to newer fans who do not understand why older fans disliked Jenny and it is not meant to rehash old drama or cause problems for her in the present.

Examples of homophobic and transphobic language:

Examples of fat shaming:

Example of ableism:

Perpetuating rape culture/sexual assault :

Other weird shit:

And we can’t forget a classic example of how she would bait and troll the fandom (this one had everyone thinking she was pregnant):

[catesartworks]

Isekai Maid Asks Pt.3

More asks under the read more! Very long, I go into depth about some of the titles from the maid slapping masterlist

Content Warning, I talk about slavery, human trafficking, stalking and physical abuse within the context of the story

Made some edits on 7/5/2023! :D

Thank you so much! :D

I did like “No More Turning a Blind Eye” at first until the gentrification storyline where the main couple decide to kick out all the people living in poverty so they could build an art center and destroy their homes. Apparently I was supposed to root for them? It was so disturbing I had to stop reading it and I couldn’t enjoy it anymore. Now it serves as a reminder of just how low nobility can sink to get what they want.

For the next one, I wouldn’t say I hate “I am the Real One,” I still love a lot of things about it but after a certain point it kind of became slow so I had to take a break from it. I also wasn’t a fan of how they handled Cosette’s maid. She’s basically Kira without the money, and I think she would’ve been a good character if they gave her a chance. She did it all for her younger brother, who was ill, and was going to risk hell and high water to make sure he was provided for.

Thank you so much! I have a few:

Beware the Villainess  (Great to start after watching Bakarina)

The Monstrous Duke’s Adopted Daughter

The Villainess’ Stationary Shop (So fun!)

Not Sew Wicked Stepmom (So Cute)

Master Villainess the Invincible (Martial Arts Villainess, we need more of this!)

Thank you!

As for Erica, she lived in a part of Limpette was being colonized by the invading nation of Teffrah. They set up segregated neighborhoods with only Teffrah nobles, which is where she grew up. The nobles in Teffrah like to come to Limpette for it’s environmental beauty, but discriminate against the population that lives there.

Erica was set up with Mr. Katopodis because his family had a summer home there and they wanted him to get remarried so he could have a male heir. 

1) Yes, Nasir regretted killing Zoe. He was definitely gro//omed by the female lead, Belliana and was taught that she “saved him” by buying him and turning him into a slave. He thought that because she did favors for him and allowed him some level of freedom that he was better than other slaves and that Zoe didn’t appreciate the female lead’s supposed generosity. He ends up killing Zoe by accident, but he convinces himself that it was for the best.

It wasn’t until he wanted to get married to a woman he met that the Belliana showed her true colors and forbid him. She was one of those people who thought, “if I went back time and there was slavery, I would buy them and treat them nice!” But at the end of the day she was just another slave owner.

Belliana refused to let him get married because she wanted to avoid her own death flag, and she even had the woman he wanted to marry sent away to die. In a rage, he kills Belliana.

2) Bridgette tends to internalize the justifications that the stories make for female leads to abuse their workers. It’s true that stealing is wrong in general, but she was basically a slave to the female lead and was never compensated. Belliana stole the fruits of her labor from her.

Bridgette has done wrong in the past, but cannot always remember. Her memory isn’t perfect, but she has done things like murdering a noblewoman, delivering poison, hitting other maids.

3) Clara’s ending had her being given a sum of money by Phoebe after Phoebe dies. She leaves the manor and lives happily.

Clara as a character wasn’t liked from the beginning due to audiences being distrustful of any female character other than the protagonist. Comment sections were waiting for Phoebe to stand up to Clara, who they thought was too greedy for a maid because she was beloved by people in the story.

Audiences hated it so much that they harassed the author into making a new version of the story to cash in on the isekai craze. The author noticed that a crack ship formed between Prince Dimitri and Phoebe, it shot up in popularity and audiences wanted them to be together.

 That is how “Flowers Thrive in Autumn” became a new novel starring the reincarnator Phoebe called “The Wicked Woman Delivers”. In this version of the story, Clara is secretly revealed to be a “white lotus” character who frames the newly reincarnated Phoebe and must “be taught her place” as a maid. It sold very well, but the author hated it and she took a break from writing because of all the stress it caused her.

4) Reincarnators, when discovered are quietly approached by the military and asked if they have information on weapon development. The Teffrah military is especially interested in trying to build airplanes and colonizing surrounding countries.

Reincarnators, particularly ones in nobility are allowed to roam around as long as they contribute to society and bolster Teffrah’s “superior” image.

The abundance of reincarnators also play a huge role in the general support the nobility has for eugenics and maintaining the class system, because they want the general population to believe that only nobles can create generation defining art, music, and technological advancements. It also fuels anti immigrant sentiment.

A lot of reincarnators are from the commoner class in the future, but many usually get caught up in the glamor of being a noble and allow inequality to continue because the class system personally benefits them, or they’re overwhelmed and prefer not to get involved in trying to tackle societies problems.

The type of reincarnators that come into the world are extremely specific, and not to get into spoiler territory, but there is a reason why so many office workers get isekai’d into Teffrah.

5) I’m not sure I would want to do that trope. It’s been used a lot and I don’t think I can do anything new with it that hasn’t already been done.

Thank you! As a fellow autistic person, I’m happy you identify with Marina! 😊

Thank you very much for reading Isekai Maid! I really appreciate it. ^ ___ ^

1) I’m not entirely sure I can add more to the list, but I’ll try and update it. I know there’s more to the list than what I’ve listed, but the maid slapping trope isn’t a pleasant one for me to look at so it might take me a while.

Reading those kinds of scenes gives me flashbacks to when I worked in fast food service, and seeing the comment sections basically cheer for the kinds of people who made my coworker’s lives miserable,or made them cry and over the pettiest things like food not being hot enough is kind of exhausting.

As for Villainess Reverses the Hourglass, I have to say I do enjoy the manwha a lot since it’s my gateway to Otome Isekkai, but it has some ISSUES, especially with it’s discussion of politics. Some of my issues goes into spoiler territory, and I feel like some twists end up undermining the themes of the overall story. I love a good revenge story, though, and it was one of the earlier stories I read in Otome Isekai. So yeah, not everyone’s cup of tea and I get that.

2) For “Author of My Own Destiny”, yes, it’s pretty gross to give her dirty mop water. Yuck! But this maid character doesn’t act like a person, she is an obstacle to be hit and smacked by the noble MC Fiona as a cheap power move with little to no true consequences.

Hitting maids (even terrible ones) as a trope has never been about justice. It’s always been about reinforcing class dynamics and suppression of the lower classes by portraying commoners as greedy and abusive to prop up noble protagonists. It implies that if nobles don’t “correct” commoners, they will get “out of control.”

Protagonists, who when confronted with nobles who do identical things, let them off the hook/delay accountability or attempt to be cordial with them (such as in the case of Fiona).

Let’s not even get started on male leads in romance fantasy/Otome Isekai, who do all sorts of crimes like stalking, harassment and other forms of abuse and are romanticized for it because they are nobles.

These stories are power fantasies, ones where readers who might have been abused by people in power themselves and want justice vicariously through fiction. But between a noble and a commoner, there are no stakes if the MC is a noble. The noble has everything at their fingertips to win.

And what is odd about the whole sequence in “Author of My Own Destiny” is that Fiona (the MC) does the following:

She slaps the maid twice

Splashes her with the mop water

Calls her lowly due to her class, mocking her for being a commoner

Threatens to cut out her tongue

Threatens her with magic

Internally is disgusted that a commoner/maid would look a noble in the eyes.

In the next chapter, Fiona directly passes by the stepmother, Countess Green, the cause of all of this. Her stepmother who verbally abuses her, makes her life miserable and has most likely been encouraging the evil maid’s behavior. The ultimate showdown, right?

Since what happened to Fiona was such a horrible experience, you’d expect her to unfold the same amount of abuse tenfold on the stepmother. Right?

But she doesn’t. Fiona, who the chapter before was slapping a maid and making threats to cut out the maid’s tongue, suddenly goes “I don’t want to cause any trouble.” 😔

She even says “I wish I could slap her (Countess Green)” UM what?? Fiona, girl you were slap happy last chapter, what’s stopping you? SLAP that noble!

Literally a chapter before she was hitting a maid for all of the abuse she suffered, but now when she has the ability to stand up to the person who made all of this happen in the first place, NOW she backs out?

From a meta point of view, Fiona lets the noble slide, but gets violent with the commoner. There is no true accountability if one party is condemned due to status, but the other gets away scot free because they’re a noble. Who’s power fantasy is this? Who does it serve?

The only reason is because she knows she would get struck back, and it would cause a problem she can’t prepare for. This isn’t the power fantasy I want. Accommodating to the nobles who do harm to you, but smacking any commoner who crosses you. That isn’t power, I don’t know what that is, but it’s not justice.

Edit (07/5/2023):

SPOILERS for chapter 24:

The stepmother only gets smacked once she loses her status. Not only does Fiona refuse to confront her stepmother on the abuse she instigated through he maid, but she is also allowed to get away for presumably weeks after in incident where Fiona slapped her maid around.

Another interesting note is that Fiona is much more violent with the commoner maid than her noble stepmother. Even when she does finally slap the stepmother, it’s only one and done. She doesn’t manhandle her like the maid.

And that was only when she was sure there would be no consequences for her actions and her stepmother lost her status. When it comes to nobility, only when she is sure their wealth would be stripped does she begin even thinking about striking them. 

End edit

It’s interesting that the justifications of hitting maids is often brought up, because every comic I have on the list justifies the maid abuse by basically saying “those dumb lowly maids were being uppity to me, a noble! >:(”

I am the Real One: A maid badmouthed Keira’s lineage in “I am the Real One” SMACK!

The Lady Needs a Break: Rubia wanted breakfast and was given a lower quality than usual food - SMACK!

Duchess’ 50 Tea Recipes: The maids didn’t tidy up Chloe’s room and help her get dressed, they were also, like, totally mean girls to her even though she is the lady of the house and could easily fire them -- SMACK! Slap the head maid and threaten her coworkers!

Solitary Lady: The maid gives Hillis cold water, is slightly annoying? Hillis throw water on her and threatens to chop her hands off (this is actually what I based Lady Deliliah’s remarks on)

These stories all have the same excuses. All of their maid abuse was justified in some way by the story by making them all stereotypically evil. It’s easier to overlook the social implications of a noble hitting a maid if the maid totally deserves it because she secretly kicks puppies and steals food from orphans?

That’s why I tend to look at the meta implications of the trope more than the in- universe explanations because these maids dress like working class women, many come from lower status,  so the logic would be that they would be trying to supporting their families and want to just do their jobs. But these evil maid characters don’t act like they have anyone who depends on them to keep their job.

The maids are essentially a stand in for what are essentially high school/office level “mean girls.” Why not fire them if they’re so bad at their jobs and harass people? You can’t fire “mean girls,” you work with you HAVE to interact with them at some point. You can, however, fire a maid because being a maid is a job and she works for you.

Even a noble household, no matter what they would think of the MC, would be in big trouble if they let commoners mistreat their family member and drag their name through the mud. It could easily be a gateway to disrespecting them and their own power/influence.These stories pretend that maids have so much power and the nobility who employ them have very little to stop them.

But at the same time, noble MC’s can hit, smack, and thrash their maids with no consequences whatsoever, but can’t fire them? The power dynamics are completely dishonest.

And what pains me is that people in service positions CAN be dicks, or abusive. But at the same time, many don’t last long and there is a reason. If someone is spreading rumors, talking shit about their employer’s kids, not doing work, etc then ideally they’re outta there because work needs to get done. But even so, toxic workplaces exist everywhere and people slip through. People who are horrible do end up with those who are vulnerable. And when this happens, accountability is essential and justice is needed. 

If majority of these stories even touched on this subject knowing this, and how someone like these maid characters even made it in such a workplace while being uncooperative and unhelpful, then it would be really fascinating and open up questions on how to better improve workplaces. You could talk about how who gets promoted, favoritism, discrimination, etc.

But most on my maid slapping masterlist don’t. To these stories, a maid’s status is the worst thing about them if they aren’t submissive. 

This evil maid trope also undermines the impact of abuse main characters have suffered too, because it makes a big point on how low the status of the maid is committing the abuse, instead of the abuse itself being detestable and worthy of accountability.

And that honestly really sucks. It’s not right, that isn’t the author’s intention, and I feel like that shouldn’t be what I take away from this story.

[gofancyninjaworld]

Tbh, sometimes you're way too hardpressed on intradiagetic explanations in opm that you don't much factor in extradiagetic explanations.

Murata puts emphasis on detail yes, but I'm pretty sure there are just instances where he draws something doesn't have a deeper explanation behind. Like, idk, maybe Murata just got better at drawing leather, not bc Saitama got gifted better boots by Genos to replace his "plastic" ones. Tatsumaki doesn't wear pants isn't bc she's stupid, it's bc Murata is kind of a pervert.

Or like how Fubuki's boobs got bigger over the course of the manga, what, you're gonna tell us she got a boob job in between? :/

True, all analyses devolve into absurdity when followed too far. However, I hope I can justify my approach in this specific instance beyond 'it's fun', which is a sufficient answer to all things fannish.

First of all, it is true that a lot of the changes in the characters' appearances derives from Murata making stylistic changes. In particular, when he started drawing One-Punch Man, he was very keen to break out of the expressions and visual shorthands he'd developed during Eyeshield 21 (see volume 1 of One-Bukoru for more on that). It would seem that in time, he's developed an OPM visual shorthand that still leaves him scope to present the characters semi-realistically when the story demands it.

Let us stay outside the story a little while longer. It would make no sense to consider an intradiegetic explanation for Saitama's clothing in the webcomic. ONE draws clothes on his characters because they normally need some sort of clothing -- once he gets a look for them, that's it. Except where the choice of clothing is plot-relevant (like Teru choosing a terrible t-shirt for Mob), 'clothes were provided' is all that one need to say about it. Murata is very different in this regard. Outside of his art, he has a lot of interest in clothes: for example, he regularly promotes his uncle's kimono store on his Twitter. He spends considerable time referencing outfits for characters (and it's a fun sport for fans to find -- and price up -- those references). He spends a lot of time agonizing what a chracer's outfit says about them. See, for example, this titbit from his 11 June 2018 stream on King's clothing. His awareness of how clothing is an expression of a character's personality and the social signalling it provides has made it explicitly into the text, where Saitama asks Genos if his clothes make him look poor.

Therefore, let us get the first thing straight: the state and type of clothing has meaning within the context of the OPM manga, much more so than it does in the webcomic.

Let us consider the second party in this. Within the manga, it is canonical that Genos is well dressed -- and has been becoming more fashionable with time. Conflict between himself and the shoddily-dressed Saitama would seem likely. Let us consider what we see, therefore.

It is canonical that Genos cleans and repairs Saitama's clothing, including his precious hero uniform. He even goes so far as to have it professionally tended to on occasion (complete with dismay when Saitama gives it away...). He is very invested in Saitama looking his best.

Building on this, Saitama's cheaply-sourced outfits are disliked by Genos. When Saitama asked about looking poor, Genos changed the subject as he wasn't comfortable with telling Saitama bluntly that yes, he does look *that* poor. Genos being unhappy with Saitama's appearance extends to that hero uniform, which Genos has offered to replace as a gift (see 'Road to Hero').

So, we have in place, without an ounce of speculation, a man who dresses cheaply and badly. We have his closest associate, his disciple, being well dressed and distressed on occasion at his master's appearance. It is also well established that his disciple actively tries to improve things for said man.

Given that Genos's care extends to repairing Saitama's clothing, it is not unreasonable to impute that at least some of the improved fit and appearance of Saitama's wardrobe in the story is due to Genos's efforts.

Onto the other side of Saitama fitting his clothes better: food. It is established both within the text and supplemenatary to the text (ONE's interview in the Hero Encyclopedia) that Saitama had difficulty on consistently affording enough to eat before he met Genos. At times, he was even glad for food handouts from grateful people.

Since Genos's arrival, Saitama eats three good meals a day (eating three times a day is non-optional according to Saitama, what is optional is how much to eat: a banana will do if there is no other food available), both because Genos cooks and because pro-hero employment has meant a steady paycheck. It is not plausible that two months of eating well after being undernourished should have no effect whatsoever on how he bulks out.

Notwithstanding changes in Murata's art, it is unreasonable to presume that all the changes in Saitama's appearance can only be due to the art changes. I agree that one should not be overly speculative in one's analyses, but where there is good grounding for inferences, failing to make them is poor reading (1).

Then and now

If you're looking for extradiegetic readings of OPM, I can't recommend better than the Youtuber keatsta https://www.youtube.com/@keatsta2928/videos A long time fan of One-Punch Man, he's unfortunately not been reading the manga since chapter 165, but is still reviewing the webcomic. He's always got something interesting and insightful to say.

As I hope you're able to tell, I do consider the context and authorial intent in deciding how heavily to lean into an intradiegetic reading. Extradiegetic readings often carry the air of objectivity, but that is not necessarily justifiable or even the point. I'll give an example from my own life. Back when I was a snarky teenager, I attended one of my grandfather's art exhibitions. At the reception, I happened to overhear an art critic explaining to someone the signficance of of my grandfather's use of yellows in a painting. I thought (but thankfully did not say) 'how silly -- Grandpa just happened to have a lot of yellow paints to use up at the time.' I knew this to be so because I'd been around at the time he'd painted that picture. My grandfather has been gone for getting on a decade now, and I have no idea where the painting is hanging but I hope that its bold, yet nuanced use of yellows is stil speaking powerfully to someone.

Aside

(1) The inference that Genos has had a hand in improving Saitama's appearance would be 100% uncontroversial if he were a woman and Saitama's girlfriend. It is a deliberately jarring element of One-Punch Man that Genos has the concern for Saitama's appearance and well-being more normally reserved for romantic partners. Without necessarily being romantic.

Like I was saying, beware false objectivity. It often conceals a bias.

[transpersian]

That anon is unbelievable. 💀 Like yeah, people can do/say/wear whatever they want in their own homes, but it's also common fucking knowledge that you alter your habits a bit when having guests over so that they're comfortable. This might differ some between households, but there are common boundaries that most people expect to have respected when they're a guest in someone's home - such as not seeing their host in the nude (or partially nude) with no warning or consent.

That's just basic fucking decency that Poppy apparently lacks. It sounds like she didn't even provide a heads up that this was something her guest should expect during this visit. A 42y/o with a background in social sciences should not need to have normal human behavior explained to her. At best, she's a shitty host who bullies her 18y/o guests for being asexuality after daring to express a minutae of discomfort.

Even if we remove her victim's age and orientation from the equation, it isn't much better. I'm pretty sure the vast majority of people, when accidentally seeing a platonic friend in a state of undress, are going to feel awkward and instinctually look away. It isn't just out of personal discomfort, but out of respect for the other person's privacy and dignity as well! Not that Poppy would understand caring about that.

I can believe that first encounter was an accident. But Poppy's immediate response to her guest having a completly normal fucking reaction to this scenario being to get offended and then mock its sexuality is so incredibly telling. It's clear that the second time was intentional as hell, for no other reason than to be petty and provoke more discomfort as punishment for Poppy having her ego shattered by an 18y/o that didn't want to see her topless. Pathetic.

Disclaimer: I'm all for destigmatizing breasts being uncovered in a nonsexual manner. But - just like cis male chests - there will always be contexts where they are presented sexually. "Free the nipple" doesn't suddenly mean it's you're no longer capable of inappropriately exposing your breasts to someone. Intent and context are key. A cis man walking around in nothing but his underwear while an unsuspecting guest is in his home has the same potential of being inappropriate/uncomfortable, regardless of breasts being involved or not.

Ah, a sensible anon! Thank you for writing, anon.

This is another one of those asks that I don't really feel a need to respond to most of; it's just a solid articulation of how obviously horrific and callous this behavior is to any decent human being with a proper grasp of boundaries, compassion, and consideration for others.

But it also highlights something that I think is glossed over a lot: while the problem is always relevant, what's truly telling is how people react to being told they've hurt someone.

Do they show concern and want to understand how their actions affected the other party? Or do they get defensive, going so far as to, perhaps, dismiss the person's concerns entirely?

Or even better, let's set aside the nudity, the location, the terminology used, etc for a second and ask this:

Why are so few people talking about Poppy's attitude towards Dormiyu's "weird asexual shit" and how flagrantly acephobic it is?

What mental gymnastics are we pulling to make that okay, along with how her and Zena laughed about it together? In front of Dormiyu?

But yes. Behold, my "massive hate campaign" is now being used to... checks notes Boost and defend a teenager who's accusing a 42yo of sexual impropriety and bigotry, while her fans are bulldozing in here with superstar arguments like "technically the dictionary says that isn't flashing" and "if you're in my house, I'm allowed to be nude around you, it's my house."

And these are the same people telling me that I look insane and ridiculous?

Yeah, they hold no power here. We'll see how it all washes out in the end.

[lindszeppelin]

I almost feel bad for some of the Kaustin shippers. So many have done face reveals and/or use their real names/provide other identifying information about themselves.

Like, most are young and in Kaia’s peer group or younger. I was wise beyond my years when I was that age but boy did I get more polished with age. I’m beyond glad there is no internet footprints of most of my thoughts and opinions from that age! I’d say they should know better, but they don’t have the perspective to how much their thoughts on relationships will change as they experience more relationships and witness how other people’s relationships fall apart. It’s the curse of being young: you think you know more than you do. They don’t know that how you feel in your early twenties will not necessarily hold up the rest of your life. That said, I low key feel Mollie should know better. She’s in freakin’ law school and is essentially studying and analyzing consequences at the end of the day. Like…does she think law firms or clients can’t one day come across her blog, tweets, photos (whether they’re still live when she officially enters that profession or on something like screenshots or the way back machine that someone will track down her footprint…which will be fine bc she’s literally teaching her followers how to better stalk Austin via the way back machine 🙄🙄🙄🙄) will find her literal stalking and investing sooooo much time into a relationship between people she’ll never meet cute or professional or even remotely okay? Like how is she not scared that this could be a huge embarrassment and liability to be such a rabid fan who follows several people’s every move? It’s a terrible look professionally.

Like I said, I kinda feel bad bc you don’t know what you don’t know. But they also write fan fiction as they go based on tips of icebergs (largely out of context) and are thinking it’s cool to leave their identifiable information out there. I don’t think I would have done that even at 22 so I cannot wrap my head around it. Sorry- just wanted to vent about this.

Related: I hate it when they say we’re infantilizing Kaia or any young women when we point out age differences aren’t cool. No, we’re 🚨warning🚨 them based on what we’ve learned. Not every older dude is a predator- I don’t think Austin is “ preying” on Kaia. But you hit a few nails on the head some posts back talking about him being a bit lost when he met Kaia. He had just finished some intense projects and was still likely finding himself post his relationship with Vanessa. Yes, it had been 2ish years but a) it was a long ass relationship, b) he wasn’t even living in LA the entire time between relationships and didn’t go home/see his family and c) throw in a global pandemic in there so those 2 years were weird AF. I’m personally of the belief that if an older man is with a younger girl something is a bit off, even if it’s neutral (read: not a bad guy or a predator) but is in a weird place or hasn’t grown into their adult life yet and just has a bit more work to do. I personally think he should have stayed single a bit longer to grow into his adult self. I don’t judge him for going for a younger woman and I semi get it, as I also believe we mentally/emotionally revert back to the relative age we were when a relationship began (post break up). He was so young when he and V got together and was in a serious relationship in his twenties. Of course he’s going to relate to younger people for a hot moment (and that’s not taking away his intelligence or maturity in other ways…this can happen to the best of us). But yeah, he should stayed single and someone should teach Kaia that older men who wanna date young women probably aren’t the best idea for a spectrum of reasons. It’s not infantilizing- it’s a warning, it’s concern, and it’s about being literate about human psychology and behaviors regarding patterns and societal standards that we need to rethink.

Sorry this was longer than I intended. I guess I’ve been wanting to say all of this for some time so it was bottled up. Hope it didn’t come across as a hater- I don’t hate Austin (I’m side eyeing and running out of patience the longer this goes on bc I believe him to be smarter than this, but I still don’t think he’s a bad dude.) As I said, this happens to the best of us and it’s not an attack. Life is messy and dialogues about this stuff are important. And bc we’ve lived it, those young whipper snappers should respect their elders and not gaslight our lived experience/observations/lessons learned 😂

Hello anon! I just wanted to have some dinner and craft a response for you, because damn this was so well put together that it deserves a little more depth of analysis from me. So thank you for taking your time to write in your thoughts.

Off the top, I do agree that the younger generation is way too lax with how they throw around their identifying information out there on social media. A lot of them just aren't aware that whatever you post online leaves a footprint, and even if you try to delete it or conceal it, it will always be there. So even if they think they're being cocky by revealing their faces and leaving their names and where they live and such out there without a care, welp that is gonna come back around and haunt them later. Us millennials (i assume you're a fellow millennial, or Gen X at most lol) know the dangers of the internet as we grew up with the beginnings of social media. I would think twice if i were these kids uploading their faces and other shit to twitter/tumblr. Employers can find all of this even when the shippers don't think they can.

I think when we were these shippers ages we all said some pretty cringe shit online. Here's hope that as these kids grow up they realize the damage they can do by how their words and actions can affect others. And I will also just say here that just because someone goes to college for higher learning doesn't mean they are smarter than anyone else. Book smarts don't equal street smarts. and in this world I highly value being street smart and internet smart over book smart. And i think we all know that not every profession is well suited to everyone that signs up for that career field. Passing the bar is insanely difficult and even then, do you know how many half assed shitty lawyers there are out there roaming these streets? Crazy.

The stalking in this fandom is horrific, and if she really is dishing out details on how to stalk Austin's past social medias to obtain information, then they are certified crazy. It's giving straight jacket. It's giving delusional stalker. And to answer your question of how they can overlook what they say online...arrogance and ego, simply put. You think you're untouchable until one day you're not.

This point you bring up here about Austin and Kaia, dude, amazing. This needed to be said. You are so correct. Of course Austin is not a predator. Only fucking idiots would say that shit and compare him to Leo. This man clearly went through the ringer, and his choice in dating partner only reflects the mental state he was in (and might still be lingering in) at that time. He had a full fledged identity crisis meanwhile he flew to London straight after being released from the Hospital in Australia and filmed MOTA, then a few short months later he met Kaia under questionable circumstances. Plus the whirlwind of the award season and the hefty Elvis press tour is so much for a person to handle, especially when this was his first time doing both of those. No man or woman under normal circumstances would get mixed up with someone much younger than them (especially when the younger one hasn't even been a legal adult for that long). it's really a reflection of a switch not being turned on for the older person AND fucked up trauma somewhere in the young person. Trauma all around really.

At kaia's age, being with a man much older than her might have given the impression to others that she was so wise beyond her years, but she's a damn child. She shows her age all the time when she takes pictures with her young friends, go to these embarrassing parties that involve BDSM or sex or fanfiction readings in her "perverted bookclub". That is all stuff a 22 year old and younger would probably be found doing. That is not something a functioning adult who's doing okay would engage in. Plus, by her own admission she has been around men much older than he all her life thanks to Cindy pushing her to model since she was so young. So she is fucked up from that, and dating older men is what she is used to. She thinks it's normal. But in reality, it's not. And it's the fact that these shippers who are her age DON'T have a problem with it, but those of us who are close to Austin's age have a MASSIVE problem with it.

You're telling me that if theses shippers were to see a regular 32 year old man holding hands with a 22 year old out and about in the grocery store or whatever that they'd be cool with it? No, you side eye that shit. It is not normal or usual, it is odd. I as a near 30 year old woman would never in my life consider dating someone Kaia's age, are you for fucking real? In Hollywood this weirdo shit might be immorally normalized, but in regular society it is NOT OKAY. And I hope Austin get out of this funk he's been in for 2-3 years now. Continuing to be with her will only further damage himself in the long run, as you can clearly tell this man is not in love with her.

I think I hit on everything I wanted to comment on, but honestly I don't remember so im just gonna leave it here lol.

[sophieinwonderland]

i think you're losing some scope here. i know the tumblr tags represent more to you, but you clearly have drastically shifted your aims

you don't uplift endogenic systems anymore, not really. you seem more anti-anti-endo than pro-endo these days, and as someone who followed you early on, i have to say i understand but it makes me sad and uncomfortable enough to finally have to say i don't really fully support what's going on here

i know you have been relentlessly abused and slandered for 3 years by a community of people that shifts and grows and changes endlessly, like a ship of theseus of mean teenagers. i know you can and have changed minds. but you no longer seem to care about even that; you really genuinely seem to be lashing out, saying things that are deeply unnerving to endos and anti-endos alike, those with religious trauma AND many with the common sense to know that yes, proselytizing IS often harmful. There is a reason missionaries are tools of colonialism. im almost certain you know this and are just being inflammatory, but the friendly fire is IMMENSE. You look foolish and dangerous to many of us, and again that makes me sad and honestly a little worried for you

i think maybe finding another plural community to post activism in is a good idea, or at the very least a tumblr hiatus. it's ultimately up to you, and you are the arbiter of your own mental health, but please at least consider the things I've said here. i know im on anon but again i have had a lot of respect for you for a long time, especially for staying compassionate and composed given the context, but i couldn't fault you for any of this. i just hope you find something both more productive and more rewarding.

i could totally be misreading this and you are making these decisions for some solely rational reasons and you ARE more active elsewhere, but. i dont know. you dont seem to post positivity like headcanons anymore, just neverending anon hate and intentionally inflammatory (often triggering) pseudo-religious doctrine. that doesn't seem healthy for anyone, including your endogenic follower base

proselytizing IS often harmful. There is a reason missionaries are tools of colonialism. ... you dont seem to post positivity like headcanons anymore

I really do want to get back to the headcanon posts.

At least the big ones seem to take a lot of effort and I haven't really been feeling it for a while.

But I do find it ironic that you would say this when those very posts ARE my proselytism. To the extent that I proselytize my ideology to other communities, these are the posts that I consider most valuable to those aims of gaining outside support.

I don't openly proselytize in the way of "you should become plural and make a tulpa because plurality is cool and will help you feel better" the way Christians might because that feels scummy. Even if early studies are showing mental health gains from tulpamancy and I might be justified in doing so.

But I will make a huge post about how the Avatar is actually plural, trying to tone down my plural language and explain the terms I use in ways that non-plurals will be able to understand, with the intent of introducing them to plurality and get them on board with pro-endo ideology.

And if after learning about plurality, they decide on their own to make a tulpa due to resources I provide, or realize they were already plural because of similar experiences to myself or other systems I interact with then that's a huge win.

Those posts are the gateway, the same way missionaries might provide food or medicine or other types of support to local communities as a gateway, I provide detailed fan theories with lots of pictures to keep them entertained, and make sure to post them all over the tags of that fandom. Any fandom tags that are relevant, and then with plural tags to fill the rest out. In fact, I think of it a two-pronged approach, where plural tags help me get more notes from plurals and cause the post to appear higher up in the fandom tags to reach non-plurals.

You may think my focus has changed... and you'd be right about that. Lately, I've put a lot more focus on arguing. Maybe more than I should.

But as far as "proselytizing" is concerned, those posts you want me to to do more of have been my vehicle for it. Just less overtly.

And I don't think I've been particularly subtle about stating the intent behind them.

I'm stopping just short of some of the most manipulative tactics religions employ, but I'm self-aware enough to realize that I've always only been a few steps from them.

Frankly, if you want to spread an ideology, it would be silly to not look at the most successful ideologies, whether political, religious or even moral philosophies, and figure out why they were able to achieve the dominance they did.

[ashtraythief]

This is kinda a weird question, but isn’t it strange that we all love fan fiction and reading romantic plot lines in them and smut and all of this but our favorite show is Supernatural, which is just this story about platonic love? I think that really drew me to the show, I’ve never seen a show that focused so heavily on platonic love, not romantic, and made that the same focus of the entire show. It’s so lovely to see. Did that draw you into the show too?

Ah, yeah. Fandom and their endless quest to make everyone bang and/or fall in love (which I say lovingly, because so do I). And I don't think it's a weird question at all.

Honestly, I started watching Supernatural for very shallow reasons. It was recommend in the “ridiculously attractive people” category of a streaming site :D The pilot was way too scary for me though and so I quit again. But then a while later, I was watching Leverage on TNT and that ep was followed by Playthings. We left the TV running and I just… got sucked into it. Obviously, I had no idea about the context, only remembered the pilot vaguely, but boy did I fall in love immediately. With them, their relationship, the humor, the love and I went right back to the beginning and forced myself to put on my big girl pants and suffer through the scary eps (yes, yes, I know, they’re not that scary, I’m a wuss) and I was so gone on them, it was ridiculous. So yeah, it was the abscence of romance i guess, because I did fall in love with their relationship. In which Playthings truly is a magnificent gem even among the riches of season two.

I think if Sam and Dean’s relationship were romantic (if they were an unrelated het couple because let’s be real, nothing else would have been on network TV seventeen years ago), I think I would have been almost as enamored. Though I don’t know how to build a relationship like that without their past. It would have needed to be grown up together in some kind of way. I think their relationship would be compelling either way, but it is definitely more compelling for not being romantic. For one I think because romance is the default setting for the all-encompassing, soulmate-type relationships, and also because it’s just so unusual? Like even for one of those fated soulmate romance stories, Sam and Dean are still weirdly intense. They’re just more. Unhealthy, codependent, whatever you want to call it, but it makes for good stories. And I think that’s beautiful.

As for why we make wincest…. Well, the shallow reason is that they’re both beautiful men and it’s fun to imagine them bang. And sometimes you gotta be shallow. But also it just seems…. logical. They want to share everything (they do almost share everything, I mean consider what they know about each other’s sex lives and how they enable each other, like Dean wanting Sam to get laid to cheer him up or Sam wanting to drag Dean to a strip club to cheer him up, like they know sexy times can make you feel better and since they can’t provide that themselves they try to find ways to at least facilitate the happy-making sexy times), they are incredibly intimate anyway, there are many instance where they are jealous of romantic partners/friends and there is an exclusive claim on the other that’s rarely relinquished. Honestly, sex is probably the only facette of an intimate interpersonal relationship that’s not covered due to the whole being related thing, but fandoms love to break taboos and explore all sorts of boundaries in transformative works, and wincest is truly the most low hanging fruit of them all. It’s right there. Dancing out of reach. The show itself plays with it, both as jokes when people mistake them as a gay couple or when Sam and Dean use couple-coded language for each other, like when Dean asks if Sam wants a divorce when they’re fighting. They also made actual wincest shippers canon. Like, I was an innocent brofan of the show when I saw The Monster at the End of the Book, and bam, wincest in my brain, like a lightbulb went off and it took up residence there because it just made so much sense. In more serious themes, other characters comment on how special or twisted their relationship is, both friends and villains alike, they sell their soul for each other (or at least try to in Sam’s case), they do or attempt to do unspeakable things to save each other, they are canon soulmates, they have an extensive repertoire of love language and love acts to show their love for and knowledge of each other, they have a whole you-are-the-most-important-thing-ever thing that goes down in a fucking church, I mean, the show makes it abundantly clear that Sam and Dean are it for each other. And so I think that it’s very natural that people go with the wincest. Even though we have to take the incest hurdle, but hey, fantasy is for the dark, transgressive stuff, right? 

At the same time, it is refreshing that the show doesn’t center romance when almost all other shows do, and I think it’s one of the reasons people do enjoy it. And once you have the magic of Sam and Dean, whether you ship wincest or not, you don’t want them to mess with that so you want the non-romance thing to stay (unless you want a certain ship to go canon of course). In conclusion, wincest just makes sense, on every level really and we just creatively want to explore that in fun ways while keeping what’s great about canon in the show. The true art of shipping, I think.

[u2fangirlie-blog]

Reading Dungeons and Dragons Player's Handbook

I haven't played Dungeons and Dragons in 28 years. Recently, I've been invited to play again. I have thoughts about the handbook. What's it like reading the Dungeons and Dragons player's handbook? Some sections are written like an instruction manual written by engineers who assume the reader has a certain level of background knowledge. It's difficult to read. From the perspective of a community college English instructor who taught students to write research papers, this the same problem as reading texts that are unfamiliar and written in a style that is specific to an academic discipline or industry that outsiders find difficult to comprehend. Students often struggle with reading journal articles and give up reading. They misunderstand the content, misrepresent the authors' ideas, and use information incorrectly or out of context. I wonder if this is the same for players and Dungeon Masters.

In the way the D&D handbooks are written, sometimes the rules and spells don't make sense to me. I think this is because the game is decades old and the manuals have been revised so many times by different people that they have lost perspective on making the rules clear to outsiders and newbies. Is it intentional? I don't know. (I suspect that might be a form of gatekeeping.) I do understand that some rules and spells are written vaguely so Dungeon Masters can apply their own interpretation during gameplay. This allows the game to be modified to the group's needs and preferences.

In my opinion, unclear rules are the result of word economy and trying write as concisely as possible. Book publishing is expensive for the parent company (Wizards of the Coast) and the cost of books for the gamers. If books are pricey, people won't buy them. However, in trying to reduce costs by using fewer words, context is lost in the effort to avoid wordiness. The player's handbook is free on the D&D Beyond website, along with information from other manuals. The handbooks could be improved by adding context and clear explanations. They need to use more words for us dummies.

When I get confused reading the D&D rules multiple times, I feel that old math anxiety take control of my brain. I can't think clearly and get frustrated. I feel stupid. It's like my brain is Teflon coated, and the words slide off. Then my brain shuts down. It feels like there's a wet towel or heavy blanket over my head. (Actually, that's a physical sensation of anxiety and depression.)

Thank goodness for the internet. I can research the rules. This information wasn't readily available online 30 years ago when I started gaming in college. Today, the message boards on D&D Beyond and fan-run webpages often are no better than the handbook. People write responses and regurgitate the rules in the exact same wording for confused gamers who ask questions.

However, some websites write articles explaining the rules more clearly, giving definitions and context, and providing examples of using the rules during gameplay. YouTube has many D&D video creators who explain the rules and demonstrate gameplay. I'm grateful to those writers and video creators who understand what their audience needs. Sometimes I save reader friendly versions of webpages as PDFs. Later I print them out and take notes in my own words. (Yes. I still print articles. My brain processes text better in print rather than electronic text.) Those are my thoughts about the D&D handbook.

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

[animebw]

If you asked me to describe the appeal of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, it would be this: it feels like it was written by a kid.

Admittedly, that sounds like a backhanded compliment. And in some sense, perhaps it is. But for better or worse, no other story, in any medium, so perfectly captures the feeling that it was brought to life specifically by a child’s active imagination. Hell, even saying it was “written” by a child feels too concrete a description. Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure is like one of those colossal, ongoing make-believe sessions you’d dream up with your friends on the playground, a story you would all craft together on the fly as you pretended to be heroes and villains and wield whatever nonsensical powers you could dream up. I shoot you with my energy laser! Nu-uh, my magic vampire ice powers make me immune to lasers! Oh yeah? Well I punch you with my magic punching ghost who can also stop time! Not so fast, I also have a magic punching ghost but when he punches things, he heals them! And you just keep going, making up new characters, new powers, new settings and new stories to tell within them, coming back day after day to continue the ongoing saga with second and third and fourth generations of your own make-believe heroes. Plus there’s a lot of pointless gross-out humor because you’re all like seven or eight and some dude almost being forced to lick a dirty toilet seat is still the height of comedy.

That is the appeal of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure. That is the special sauce that makes this series truly one-of-a-kind. Yes, all long-running shonen are written for kids to some extent, but only Jojo’s truly captures that primal, lizard-brain euphoria of seeing your actual childhood imagination play out before your eyes. And while that style is responsible for all this franchise’s weaknesses and lowest points as well, it provides a niche that simply is not being filled by anything else. If you want to revisit that very specific feeling of being a kid and making up grand stories with your friends, in the days before you were fettered by the expectations of professional writing and could just let your imaginations run free, then Hirohiko Araki’s almost-four-decade-long magnum opus is by far your best option. Who knows, maybe Araki actually is immortal and his childlike whimsy has remained immortal with him. It would explain a lot, honestly.

I bring all this up to put my own feelings toward Jojo’s in context. I like Jojo’s. At times, I love Jojo’s. But when I see so many Jojo’s fans who treat it like gospel, who attack anyone who enjoys it the wrong way (*cough* let people watch parts in whatever order they want *cough*), who embody all the worst aspects of toxic, possessive fandom, and I just can’t help but think... really? This? This, of all franchises, is what you’ve chosen to devote your entire personality to defending? The show that, again, feels like it was written by an actual child? This is the show we’re treating like holy text and excommunicating people for daring to criticize it or see it from a different perspective? Like, guys, come on. This is the show where Araki forgetting how powers work or retconning stuff he no longer likes is literally a running fandom joke and some of y’all losers still treat it like this sacred cow that must not be defiled on pain of death. Get over yourselves already.

Anyway, my point is, as much as I’ve enjoyed Jojo’s, I have never once taken Jojo’s seriously.

Until Stone Ocean.

Stone Ocean is the first time that Jojo’s has felt like an actual fully realized story. Not just a collection of especially dynamic poses or an often logic-less stream of consciousness, but filtering all that insanity through a narrative with genuine stakes, with characters who genuinely grow and change, all building to one of the single most bonkers endings to any anime ever that nevertheless feels like a more meaningful conclusion than any other Jojo’s has managed. It’s so good it honestly makes all the previous parts look worse by comparison. You’re telling me we could’ve had the lovable cast of Diamond is Unbreakable with a plot that doesn’t wait half the season to show up? You’re saying we could’ve had the sheer propulsive energy of Golden Wind with a protagonist who has an actual arc and presence in the story? You mean all this time, Jojo’s could have channeled its childhood-imagination stream of consciousness into a genuinely compelling story without losing that free spirit at its core? Araki took thirteen goddamn years to figure out how to actually write, but the result is so goddamn entertaining it’s hard to care. Stone Ocean is peak Jojo’s, and until Steel Ball Run comes along to show us anime-onlys why it’s apparently the single greatest work of art to ever exist, Jolyne Cujoh will remain the queen of this ridiculous franchise for quite some time to come.

[mcmactictac]

So I’m trying to write a paper on the pros and cons of fandom culture for a media class right. And let me just say it makes me SO MAD trying to find sources because there are so many genuinely wonderful things about fandom and there are many complex social issues reflected in them. Yet so many of these articles are all just based so heavily in sexism? Like playing into that “crazy fangirl” stereotype. And listen I get it yk some people are like that. But I want to talk about WHY fandom is so important to so many people.

Everyone is so quick to judge without getting any understanding of where the sense of attachment comes from. Yes, fandoms have bad people. Yes, there is fetishization, doxing, and a shit load of other problems. It just drives me nuts that those problems are pointed out and no academic sources make an effort to figure out why those problems occurred. Like the relationship between society and fandom is so fucking interesting and its really interesting to see how different fanbases reflect different viewpoints on things.

Also I’m tired of everyone saying we control the media. I have not sat through years of queerbaits; through all of November 5th and the hell that came after it for people to say that producers always listen to fans and give them whatever they want/target everything towards them. Like yes ofc massive media companies are going to take advantage of people cause sadly that’s just how so many of them are. But that doesn’t take away from the genuine meaning and support that media gives us? 

Like brief academic moment here we’ve been talking about Stanley Hall’s model of communication and the idea of encoding and decoding, and how media can have multiple different meanings. I fully agree that people’s own cultural experiences and personal contexts change the way they interpret something. And it’s absolutely fascinating to see how fanbases can have such a large majority of people who draw the same conclusion from media based on their experiences. Especially with queerbaiting and queer coding. I've been thinking about BBC Merlin a lot recently and how interesting that show is not only on its own but in relation to it’s fandom. How so many people can watch it and see magic as something so clearly queercoded, and identify themselves with that characters, and then other people can insist that we’re grasping for straws. 

I just wish it was taken more seriously yk? Like the good and the bad that comes along with it are both very real and intense emotions, especially with so many neurodiverse people in fandom space who become hyperfixated on media. That’s something that has a massive impact on people. Fandom can be a space to connect with others, to explore your own identity, to critically reflect on what you’re consuming, to inspire yourself to create! 

Whenever people outside of fandoms talk about fanfiction it’s always about slash fiction and YES that is a part of it but I have read some truly incredible and impactful fanfictions that has understood the target audience better than a majority of media sources. Fanfiction that can speak to you, reflect your own feelings, provide a sense of comfort or a way to express emotion. Like yes there’s fic’s that are just smut but I’ve seen just as many 100k+ fics that are like focused around found family, mental health issues, AU’s with incredible worldbuilding, fans who put the devotion into creating well rounded characters and expanding upon the foundation placed before them. I’m tired of all that being ignored, because it should be appreciated. I’ve seen so many people who manage to communicate a certain feeling or emotion through fanfiction better than in books I’ve read.

And as so much of adolescent culture shifts online I think fandom spaces are HUGE in terms of self discovery. I’m tired of adults invalidating fandoms because it’s just “made up of obsessive teen girls” there is so much more to that and every day I am tempted to write an essay (not for class) on it because I have so many thoughts on it and I absolutely hate that people refuse to take it seriously.

Wow ok clearly had some feelings there thanks for coming to my TED talk