#you call this drawing attention to male abuse victims???

[spiltcandycoatedpunkblood]

my dad's been telling me of more advertisements of trash fire d*pp like with perfume is being shown in my old hometown so fucking tell me again 1) why he went through having his ex trashed globally on a livestream and called himself the victim and 2) what this is fucking doing to benefit male abuse victims here

[nihilisticlinguistics]

can't remember where i saw the post reccing Juniper and Thorn by Ava Reid, but they were so right.

Juniper and Thorn is set in the fantasy Russia-esque city of Oblya, in the midst of change as it industrializes and draws in immigrant populations. The protagonist, Marlinchen, is the youngest daughter of the last wizard in Oblya, a man cursed to be dissatisfied with everything in his life.

It's very tightly written -- I could tell within the first few pages that this was a book to pay close attention to. Elements introduced in the first few chapters remained relevant throughout, from the beauty of the eldest sister Undine to the spiny-tailed monster under Marlinchen's bed.

Like a good Grimm fairy tale, Juniper and Thorn uses the fantastic to underscore the real. Marlinchen doesn't just live under her abusive father's thumb; she lives under his abusive, magical thumb, with all the power he can wield to control her life. His curse drives the central conflicts of the story, feeding into his consuming hunger, his relentless desire for money, his anger at his daughters, his anger with the changing world that no longer respects his magical gifts.

Juniper and Thorn contains a romance that I would compare, if anything, to the fairy-tale, Cinderella-esque story of escaping family abuse coupled with the realism that shines through the entire novel. Sevastyan, the male romantic lead, is the youngest principal dancer in the local ballet company, but he's also an ethnic minority (if Oblya is "fantasy Russia," the Yehuli people can be read as "fantasy Jewish") in an unfamiliar city and victim to abuses of a different kind. He's drawn to Marlinchen for reasons that similarly thread the line between fantasy and realism, and he's both an archetype to her (emphasized by his heroic role in the ballet) and just a hurt, lonely man who likes her.

Anyone with a close familiarity with stories is likely to be able to guess the twist, if you're paying attention, but it's a credit to Reid that even after I figured out what was coming, enough story elements were left open that I was never quite sure how it was happening until I was almost upon the reveal. When the last piece clicked into place, I actually said aloud, "Oh, there it is!" It was such a delight, like being led blindfolded by the hand and being able to trust my guide to deliver me through the woods.

Reid's world-building also stands out. It lands in perfect synchrony with the plot; the industrialization of Oblya caused Marlinchen's father to lose his standing as a great wizard, keeps their situation on the verge of poverty, and brings the temptations of the outside world that put the daughters in conflict with their wizard father. Juniper and Thorn spends only just enough time on the worldbuilding to paint a vivid portrait of local life and imply the scope of the world beyond Oblya's gridiron streets. Reid neatly avoids the temptation to over-design her world with more details than the story can use; the entire tale occurs in Oblya, so she sticks close to Oblya, to great effect.

If there's any quibble I have with Juniper and Thorn, it's in the overuse of simile in the early chapters. It's clearly meant to establish the gothic atmosphere, with striking metaphor that calls up gory or spooky symbols, but early on it seems that every other line contains such a line. While each simile and metaphor has the intended effect, taken all together they can feel over-saturated and lose their impact. This issue lightens up as the story continues, and eventually these similes become more clearly defined as part of Marlinchen's own grim and violent thoughts.

A few warnings, however; if you're sensitive to depictions of sex, gore, sexual assault, or abuse, this book may not be for you. All four appear throughout this book, and while the depictions vary in explicitness and intensity, Reid doesn't shy away from their effect on Marlinchen's psyche.

All in all, an excellent adult fantasy fairy tale! I would highly recommend this book to fans of dark fiction, especially dark fantasy, and those seeking a fairy tale with more bite.

[siryouarebeingmocked]

“Men Deserve To Be Lonely!” Responding To Backlash Over ‘The Male Loneliness Epidemic’ - Shoe0nhead

I’d like to draw attention to two of these responses;

“Women are victims, so you’re wrong to talk about how men are victims.”

Last time I checked, victimhood wasn’t an exclusive club. It’s not zero-sum.

This lady feels ideologically threatened by the concept of male victimhood, and assumes Shoe was blaming women.

I’ve noticed that a lot of feminists project like that. Just assume anyone talking about male victimhood who isn’t obviously feminist must be their exact opposite.

Even when those people are explicitly blaming society in general.*

So if a woman rapes, sexually assaults, or abuses a man, how is that men’s fault, again? What if she cheats on him, he finds out, and moves for divorce? 

What if she abuses her son, which leads to issues as an adult?

How is that the man’s fault?

Ironically, the idea that women can do nothing to hurt men is actually sexist. Against men and women.

“I was willing to accept that this was a complicated topic, then I thought you were saying women were responsible in any way, then I decided to be completely irrational even though I knew better.”

Imagine being like this.

Imagine thinking this gives you the moral or intellectual high ground.

*Also, the “water-carrying” insult. The idea is presumably that someone is stupid for supporting some faction that doesn’t care in return. 

The implication is that people should only care about things which ultimately benefit them, which is an odd thing to hear from a feminist. A political movement which has lots of support from “the Patriarchy”, around the world.

Of course, if people thought she was pandering for clicks, they’d call her a “pick-me”. 

And notice how neither example actually proves her wrong. These people are mad at the idea women are responsible, and they don’t even have a counterargument for the argument they made up.

[memory-echo]

What’s a Masterpiece?

Will Chi no Wadachi ever be considered a magnum opus? Should it? To this day, I'm not even sure who is supposed to be its target audience. The comment sections consist of a confusing bunch of people, mostly teenagers I imagine, who cry for incest incessantly while missing the horrific incest happening in every chapter. That can't be the target audience, right? Because the story is for adult males... But too many adult males are too busy ‘choking the bishop’ to a pretty face to pay attention to what's happening. Women are deeply worried they're just like Seiko, or that they’ll turn into Seiko somehow, or they come to the conclusion that they’ll never have children (yours truly included). They can't be the target audience for this manga, right?

There's only one group of people who will grasp the complex message of Chi no Wadachi – victims of child abuse. And that group splits into two: there's a subgroup that is disgusted by the fact that this story hits so close to home for them and they are repulsed by it and they never read it. Then, there's that other subgroup (from which Oshimi comes from); that group of victims who find the veneer of fiction to be the perfect way to deal with their personal traumas. Those folks are attracted to the story like a moth to a flame. I imagine that's Oshimi's target audience, his ideal readers, and that's the group that keeps telling us how great this story is and how it should be called his Magnum opus. The rest of us mortals are just confused by what's happening and the message goes right over our heads, as we wonder if this is supposed to be good?

Art-wise, I don't think there's any disagreement, though. His absolute talent for capturing the intricacies of facial expressions and body language is undeniable. The use of negative space and minimalist backgrounds only adds to the claustrophobic atmosphere, emphasizing the isolation and emotional turmoil that Seiichi feels on a constant basis.

A few readers just can't turn away from the sensitive and brutal, unapologetic and unadulterated psychological drama. Its subtlety and rawness makes it pure. Even if there is no worse feeling than our sense of helplessness, we cannot turn away from the truth, which compels us to keep turning the page.

Many people, however, gave up on this manga as it went along, especially after the time skip. The early excitement is gone and you don't hear anybody talking about it nowadays... Even the fellow who started the whole commotion by making that video about the “manga that breaks you”… I wonder if he's still reading it? 

https://youtu.be/hVYzc2Xpup0

Dr. Yasufumi Nakoshi was the best thing that happened to this manga in a long time, but having a psychiatrist analyze it in Japanese is going to be inaccessible for many readers. Chi no Wadachi needed that doctor to analyze it thoroughly, but with English subtitles.

https://youtu.be/Ivin4VET0Y8

This manga really needs a multidisciplinary dissection: someone to analyze paneling; drawing techniques; the psychological factor and of course provide the context of Japanese culture. I feel like I'm missing so much due to context. Dare I hope that the folks at Deconstructing Comics will someday take an interest in this story, and dissect this manga the way it needs to be dissected.

Ultimately, given the attention Chi no Wadachi has had, I very much doubt it will ever be deemed a masterpiece, which is a shame, but I have a feeling that Flowers of Evil is the big thing for Oshimi's fans. What can I say? The world is unfair.

[coochiequeens]

"Once again we see the thing that never happens, a male sex offender claiming a female identity to mitigate his punishment. It’s beyond comprehension that the courts are falling for this nonsense,” the representative, who has chosen to remain anonymous, told Reduxx.

ByGenevieve Gluck August 31, 2023

A pedophile has avoided jail despite being found with a collection of child sexual abuse materials. Dominic Mark Carter, who now goes by the name Sophie Louise Carter, appeared in court wearing all-pink during a sentencing hearing on August 29.

While still “identifying” as a man, Carter was visited by police in April of 2021 after officers received a tip regarding the potential distribution of pornographic materials involving children.

Carter resisted officers’ attempts to seize his devices, the Daily Echo reported, resulting in law enforcement being forced to “wrestle” his device away from him.

Several images were found on his phone, including two classified as Category A, a distinction reserved for the most severe type of child abuse content which can include images involving penetrative sexual activity, sexual activity with an animal, or sadistic sexual acts.

Carter pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children. During court proceedings, Judge Nicholas Rowland told him: “The reason that children around the world are subject to abuse and it is filmed is because people seek gratification. People like you get gratification from looking at those images.”

Carter’s defense attempted to mitigate using his own history of child abuse, noting that he had suffered “some degree of trauma.” His lawyer added that Carter had “longstanding issue with alcohol abuse” and had been abusing substances.

Dominic ‘Sophie Louise’ Carter outside Southampton Crown Court. Image: Newsquest

Though he was prosecuted under his male name, Carter revealed he now identified as transgender during his sentencing. He was addressed by “she/her” pronouns in court and was referred to with the honorific “miss,” with his legal counsel stating: “Miss Carter has now separated from her now ex-wife… The root cause of the mental health issues is this case.”

The court handed Carter a six-month prison sentence suspended for 18 months. A suspended sentence is an alternative to imprisonment which requires the guilty party to adhere to certain restrictions and terms. Carter is being required to complete 60 rehabilitation activity requirement sessions and 120 hours of unpaid work.

He must also register as a sex offender and is subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for five years.

As he now declares that he identifies as transgender and is calling himself ‘Sophie Louise,’ Carter will likely be permitted to enter spaces reserved for women and girls, such as restrooms and changing rooms, unless otherwise expressly forbidden.

A representative for women’s rights group Standing For Women Hampshire expressed their concerns regarding the situation, drawing attention to the fact that crimes in countries which implement gender identity policies tend to record male crimes as having been committed by women.

“Once again we see the thing that never happens, a male sex offender claiming a female identity to mitigate his punishment. It’s beyond comprehension that the courts are falling for this nonsense,” the representative, who has chosen to remain anonymous, told Reduxx.

“We have serious concerns about how this man will be recorded, both in crime statistics and especially on the sex offender register. For the media to show such deference to the desires of a pedophile that they use his adopted name and she/her pronouns throughout their report is insulting and hugely disrespectful towards women and his very real victims,” she added.

In May, Reduxx spoke with a woman who endured years of sexual abuse at the hands of her father, only to discover that while incarcerated, he had adopted a transgender identity in an apparent bid to obscure his history of sexual offending.

Ceri-Lee Galvin, 24, was sexually abused for nine years beginning from the age of eight by Clive Bundy, and was only told of his new name and early release from prison with his expressed consent. Galvin emphasized that her predatory father’s false identity would grant him access to intimate spaces where girls are vulnerable or in states of undress.

According to recent figures from a Freedom of Information Request submitted by the BBC, over 700 sex offenders have gone “missing” since changing their names through the process of deed poll, which takes approximately 15 minutes to complete, in the period between 2019 – 2021.

[sweaterkittensahoy]

So, about a month ago, I read about Matthew Lawrence from Boy Meets World and several other things talking on the podcast he does with his brothers about being sexually harassed by a male director in a hotel room, and the director in question promised him a role in a Marvel movie if he took off his clothes and let the director take Polaroids.

Lawrence left the room and says his agency fired him for leaving.

In terms of how the industry treats sexual harassment victims, this is not surprising. Especially for male victims, who are expected to act like it doesn't exist for them at ALL.

Anyway, when I first read the quote, I found myself noodling on "Marvel movie" and "Oscar-winning director." Because Matthew didn't--and is not required--to name names, but also, it's such a small pool of options.

There are three Oscar winners in the MCU director pool: Chloe Zhao. Taika Watiti. Kenneth Branagh.

Chloe is off the list immediately because Matthew said it was a man.

But then Taika and Kenneth have never been accused of sexual harassment as far as a quick google search tells me.

The other thing is, Matthew Lawrence in the modern day isn't an actor that would get offered a Marvel contract by having a private meeting with a director. You have to have a certain profile, a certain amount of box office under your feet. He doesn't have that. Not a judgement on him, just a statement of fact. Chris Evans was regularly employed and liked by audiences when he got cast. Same as Mark Ruffalo. Same as Cobie Smulders and definitely the same for Samuel L. Jackson. Same for Paltrow. And even despite his many struggles, the same for RDJ. People showed up either for movies these people were in or--in Cobie's case--the tv show they were on.

Matthew Lawrence joining Boy Meets World was a BIG DEAL. He came on as Shawn's half-brother. Our favorite little meow meow now had a new nemesis/family member. This was top-tier shit.

It was 1997.

In August 1995, The Usual Suspects came out. It won 2 Oscars. It was directed by Bryan Singer. The first X-Men movie came out in 2000.

Bryan Singer didn't win an Oscar for Usual Suspects, but the movie he is heralded for directing DID win two Oscars. Bryan Singer didn't direct an MCU movie, but he directed a movie from Marvel comics.

And this is Matthew Lawrence in the timeframe that he was gaining attention for his role in Boy Meets World and the time Singer would have been casting for Cyclops:

Bryan Singer has a long, awful history of being a sexual harasser at BEST and a sexual abuser at worst. While his reputation catching up with him around the time he failed to direct Bohemian Rhapsody seems to have finally derailed his career, he was literally untouchable for decades as he preyed on very young men.

To call him an open secret doesn't do it justice, okay.

I can't stress enough: NAMING BRYAN SINGER IS BASED ON ME KNOWING ENOUGH SHIT TO DRAW A LINE. MATTHEW LAWRENCE HAS NOT NAMED HIS HARASSER AND SHOULD NOT BE FORCED TO DO SO. YOU WANNA HAVE THOUGHTS ON THIS TAKE, IT'S MY TAKE. LEAVE MATTHEW OUT OF IT.

[nerdby]

People need to chill the fuck out and stop projecting their insecurities onto other peoples' shit. Like seriously, you wanna talk about what's cringe? Every time I log on somewhere and see someone criticizing someone's taste in media like,

"Oh, my God, how could you possibly like that? Aren't you worried that it's like so problematic?"

No, bitch, I'm not. You know why?

Cause, first of all, it's a work of fiction and second of all, I'm allowed to enjoy problematic media. You know why? It's like this, there is this absolutely disgusting book trending with horror nerds on FB, right, called Tampa by Alyssa Nutting. It's a book about a woman that's a teacher and a pedophile, preying on male students. Right, that's disgusting, right?

Yeah, it is but you know what else it's actually an incredibly fucking important subject matter that you should be reading about. Ya know why?

Cause the book was inspired by a true story and stories like these not just about male sexual abuse victims but also about female abusers and pedophiles get swept under the rug so fucking often, people think that they're a goddamn myth. Not only does that fuel gender essentialism bullshit, it makes it harder for male and AMAB abuse victims to come forward and get help.

Cause people think women cannot be abusers.

So, no, Alyssa Nutting is not a bad person for writing this and, providing that it wouldn't land you in a fucking psych ward for some reason, Tampa is probably a book you should be reading. Again, if you can stomach it, or at least you should be looking into the story that inspired that.

Because you can enjoy media without condoning a characters' actions.

Seriously, do you think the entire Hannibal fandom is trying to feed their houseguests their ex-fiancee for dinner?

Cause if you do you have fucking problem and should be in therapy. Not the people who love Hannibal, ok, cause that level of batshit paranoia is -- well, BATSHIT! And it feeds into pearl clutchers' fearmongering bullshit that censorship is somehow justified and every person whose ever liked a horror movie ever should be in a prison cause they're probably a mass murderer.

Grow the fuck up and stop judging people for the media they consume.

If someone likes reality tv let them cause even if it seems shallow and vapid to you reality tv is rooted, somewhat, in reality and can help draw attention to very serious issues. Case and point, the very interesting and very disturbing docuseries about the Duggar family that Prime just launched. Yeah, you know from Whatever Kids & Counting? That reality tv program led to an investigation which led to a documentary that is helping draw to attention to the Duggar family's cult.

People are not bad people just because they don't share the same triggers as you.

[nellygwyn]

I had a feeling that the stan culture surrounding the D*pp/H*ard case would mean that people started backtracking and suggesting that celebrity men outed as abusers by ex girlfriends/partners were unfairly slandered and what do ya know, some idiots on Twitter have decided that Marilyn fucking Manson never did any of that harrowing shit that multiple women have accused him of and is a victim, actually. It feels like everyone just forgot what we learnt during the MeToo era (re: how statistics show that the amount of women who do lie about rape and abuse is extremely low) so they could finally call women liars and schemers but plot-twist, it's progressive because Misogyny Helps Draw Attention To Male DV/Rape Victims Actually!!!

You are out of your minds.

[daddyissuesyo]

Monsta X Yandere Headcanons

tw: implied sexual content, non-sexual consent violation, murder, suicide, emotional and physical abuse, harm/endangerment, severed ties with family, vulgarity

seriously guys this is intense

Shownu: The Protector

- you pique his attention and he asks you out, seemingly normal

- becomes obsessed after the first date and captures you on the second

- avoids physical harm unless absolutely "necessary" to keep you in line. manipulates you until feeling as though you failed him.

- reckless, unconditional love

- you can't help but reciprocate a little; he's just so caring & attentive

- vanilla sex, because he loves you

- funds EVERYTHING you could possibly want: fluffy comforters and a massive mattress, personal maids, deluxe coffee maker, stuffed animals that he doesn't let you name, etc.

- you thought your dynamic was normal until you caught him dragging the limp body of the postman that accidentally saw you changing into a shed

- from that day forth you feared him, yet didn't stop loving him

- "you are my entire world. my everything. we need each other. forever and then some."

- will not kill you unless he convinces himself others will and death by his hands is the better option

Minhyuk: The Deluded

- i n f a n t i l i z e r

- pities you, oh so much

- thinks you are a helpless baby in dire need of rescuing

- treats you like a porcelain doll & refuses to let you make even the smallest decision for yourself

- convinced you are just as infatuated and dependent on him as he is you

- on good days, he will draw bubble baths, play card games with you, and play G rated movies, pausing every minute to explain what happened

- on bad days, he will yell at you, bind your limbs, and carve his name into your flesh

- simply doesn't understand your disobedience and grief and takes it out on you, hoping to "knock sense into you"

- unlike many yandere archetypes, he enjoys parading you about like an accessory. has friends come over to admire you

- "i know it's too much for you to understand, but you need my care. where is this behavior coming from? don't you love me?"

- you'll kill yourself before he can, driven to the point of insanity

Kihyun: The Jealous

- no pets. no friends. no contact with the outside world aside from media he approves.

- shelters you like mother gothel

- insists you cut off all male contacts, even family (if you are lgbtq, it's best not to reveal this to him because then you won't even be able to speak to female family members)

- doesn't hesitate to murder any man you won't cut off. forces you to watch.

- comforts you afterward in a sick way

- you have to PLEAD to go anywhere

- if he allows it, you must wear a face covering and stay by his side

- tends to be rough in bed; he lets loose all his pent-up frustrations on you

- isn't COMPLETELY out of touch with his humanity; treats you well on birthdays and holidays and even permits a supervised phone call with your mother

- "you overwhelm me. you fill me with so much joy and so much rage. you'll never know the effect you have on me, sweetheart."

- inevitable murder-suicide in the end. i give it no more than 5 years.

Hyungwon: The Sadist

- it's all a game of cat and mouse to him; he kidnapped you while you slept after stalking for quite some time

- keeps you in chains in his basement

- decorates his home with your missing posters like a real sicko

- will torture the living shit out of you with no remorse. inflicting fractures, head trauma, slicing you open, digit dismemberment, drowning, strappado

- gets off on your fear more than your pain

- unlike the others, he recognizes when you're suffering; he just doesn't care

- destroys your self-worth and self-esteem by berating and insulting you. it's your fault you can't tell he means "I love you"

- sex entails bondage, degradation, and cruel laughter. incorporates pet names like: "bunny," "little lamb," "kitty," etc.

- may get bored of you and seek out a new victim, leaving you inexplicably desperate for his attention (which is all part of his game)

- always comes back to you after he's maimed and fucked who knows how many people. and you let him every time, holding out hope that he'll stay

- "you're never going to escape me. i hope you know that."

- would rather almost kill you and keep reviving you. you're in it for the long haul.

Jooheon: The Two-faced

- like shownu, things begin typically

- gradually shows his hand over time, but you're blinded by your feelings for him (he's a very good faux boyfriend)

- waits until your most vulnerable moment to attack

- strict and often overbearing; will beat you black and blue to the point of unconsciousness

- will actually apologize, but he doesn't stop

- tries to keep things around that you enjoy and allow domestic hobbies (congratulates your accomplishments but doesn't want to fuel your ego too much because then you'll leave him)

- struggles with internal conflict over how to treat you. wishes he could be more lenient but can't bring himself to

- allows you to have family and friends over while he's present

- very good at acting normal, it's scary. will flash you a psycho smile after they leave.

- "i'm sorry things have to be this way. if only you could see... i really do love you."

- kills himself in the end due to guilt

Changkyun: The Unhinged

- yes, yandere are psychotic, but changkyun is another level

- if you try to escape or resist him, he just stares at you with round eyes, slowly growing a grin that turns into a crazy laughing fit

- protects you from outside forces, unaware that he's the greatest danger in your life

- only upside is he takes you out on the town

- slaps across the face. sometimes at random, just to let you know he's in control

- you live on eggshells, unsure if he's in a loving or violent mood

- a strange dichotomy of worshipping you and craving your attention, yet feeling like you should be the one begging for him

- fucks hard and often, but can't look at you after

- owns an industrial freezer and locks you in there until you collapse from hypothermia III

- "w-were you trying to escape? FUCK no. what don't you understand, hon? you're my fucking property."

- will stab you repeatedly in the end, smiling with tears streaming down his face

Would anyone be interested in me developing these characters/storylines further?

[quirkyhero]

My OchaCow headcanons

___________________________________________________________________

BACKSTORY AND BACKGROUND:

Cow Ochaku: is a wild thang who is a strong heifer as well as adventurous. She was born and raised in an abusive habitat only ment to breed strong bulls for fighting rings. She's been through some shit, and learned to not take some shit because of it.

Cow Ochaku: this gal was raised and taught that she would breed with bulls when she was old enough to mate, she would be forced to submit to bulls for as long as she could and as long as they would need. She remembered being forced to "watch and learn" of what would be happening when she be came old enough to do the same thing. And them, doing things to her in order for her to get the "hands on process".

Cow Ochaku: by the age of 15 she had thankfully managed to escape thanks to her parents and the instructions they left her. Though sadly she was too weak and had no time to save any others. On her own she ran as far as she could, hiding in the city in always with a black hoodie and sweat pants she stolen from a box.

Cow Ochaku: thankfully enough she was found by a kind human who was kind enough to offer her home and shelter. Seeing as she was starving and cold and fucking exhausted, she took the humans offer, still suspicious of this person not sure weather to trust them or not.

Cow Ochaku: this was of course six years ago, and she had come to love her home with trees and forest surrounding the place. There was two male hybrids that lived beside her, their names are Monama, who's a bull and Kouda who'san ox. Monama, while a bit rude at first and Kouda who was pretty shy and skittish around her. Came to be protective of her over the years, now their all pretty close and good friends.

Cow Ochaku: after a long time of healing and bonding, she came to open up with her human farmers and two male friends. She even worked out and lifted logs and other such heavy things, which in turn gained her muscle. She also became quite the fan of martial arts due to the movies they'd watch together, learning new techniques along with the old farmer and their grandkid that was the same age as she.

Cow Ochaku: she had also come in contact with the internet. . .you can see where this is going. As she grew into a strong young lady, she came to also be comfortable with sex. . . That is to say with bottom boys. She absolutely loved her Monama and Kouda who she helped out with their ruts and explored new things (kinks) and the such together.

Cow Ochaku: threw a family doctor, who is a friend of the farmer had come to the conclusion that she may be infertile, and there was only a low chance of her having her own calf. This to her and the others was heartbreaking news, but nonetheless she still clung to hope that she would have her own calf one day. She was just relieved that the others didn't think less of her like the heifers back at the bad place would have done.

HOW SHE IS WHEN SHE GETS TO THE NEW FARM + WITH THE BULLS , HEIFERS , STAFF AND EVEN CALFS!?:

Cow Ochaku: was excited yet nervous to go on a trip to the new farm she, the bull and ox will be staying at for a year for her farmer friend that's going to be there for a study work trip.

Cow Ochaku: on one hand, she could finally make that bull harem she wanted. But on the other hand there would be thousands of new faces and in an environment thats a little similar to the bad place. In a sense that's there's quite alot of her kind there. But with the reasurement of the old farmer, the two boys and her calmed a bit.

Cow Ochaku: once on the farm and out of the moving vehicle. Ocha(Ochako), Mono(Monama) and Ko(Kouda) all went to explore once everything was signed in and registered. Only for Mono and Ocha to get whistled at and cat called by the bulls. Mono wasn't exactly the standard looking bull with him being smaller and more feminine looking with smaller horns, he was mistaken for a heifer quite alot. So them both being cat called was not a surprise.

Cow Ochaku: Kouda on the other hand, was being ogled at by the heifers that was curious about the newcomers. Kouda is pretty big, after all he is an ox, he's actually almost the same height as Kirishima, and poor baby was sticking very close behind his heifer and bull friend, not really liking the attention.

Cow Ochaku: meanwhile Ocha paid no mind to the ogling and cat calls, she was looking at the bulls that came to look at her and her friend. Debating and thinking of who she would start her "Bull Harem" plan on first.

Cow Ochaku: along they're walk they bump into a charming cowboy named Midoriya Izuku and a handsome bull named Kirishima, both kind and cute and sexy in they're own rights. . . Ocha came to terms with the idea of adding the cowboy to her bull harem plan, and let her mind run a little thinking of ways to ruin him for only a moment as to not be rude.

Cow Ochaku: after that meeting she came to see at one point, cute Little CALFS!!! OH MY GOODNESS! Ocha decided that this farm was fucking amazing. After all, it came with plenty of bulls and cute farmers for her Bull Harem plan. The staff were pretty great and there are even cute little Calfs here to watch and play with if she's aloud.

SOME EXTRA DETAILS ON COW OCHAKO:

Cow Ochaku: is a lover and fighter, this as I said came for her difficult past and trauma as well as her new beginning on her home land where she met her boys and humans. So she can be pretty intense, as well as straight forward.

Sometimes she scares the bulls with her strength and stamina, alot of them can't keep up with her during her exploration in the hay. The ones who can keep up with her are kiri and Bakugou, but even they sometimes fall victim to her brutal pace which earns her some heavy respect in their books.

Cow Ochaku: she absolutely adores sparring. At first the bulls wouldn't train with her because, "she's a heifer, she'll just get hurt" which seriously pissed her off. That is until a Bull who was messing with one of the heifers took things too far for her liking got take down by her just grabbing his horn with one hand and slamming the big bull down with just sweeping his leg out from under him and Basically making him face plant down onto the ground.

She Basically forced oversized "calf" to apologize to the heifer, and better not do that shit again. Bakugou who Basically went from not impressed and only intrigued to Having mad respect for her and now wants this woman in his harem, though he ain't the only one.

Cow Ochaku: poor baby still at times has nightmares about the bad place and will sneak into the living quarters of either of her boys or into her human friends room, or just brings all three of them to her own living quarters to cuddle and sleep together. If anything this is something her and Bakugou bond over, since he was a rescue bull from a pretty harsh place and she ran away from a bad place.

One night he just caught her awake early in the morning breathing in the cold air, with a melancholy look upon her usually smiling face. While it's a sad thing to bond about they do bond over it, and it brings them closer.

Cow Ochaku: she's love mochi treats, the kind that the old farmer made specially for hybrids. If you found a way to make them she will be your godamn best friend! Speaking of friends while she can make easy friends with any gendered human, she's not really good with other heifers for some reason. She just. . .feels nervous and a bit off around them

It could be because she has no idea on how to add the heifers in her bull harem plan, as well as the fact that she's not really. . . On the same wavelength of thinking as them at times??? Basically she wants to dominate the bulls while they want to be fucked submissive by them.

She wants to trust Said bull before EVER fucking them, while all it takes is the bull to show off how strong he is to get them wet and ready. She doesn't care for being treated frail and being taken care of while she can take care of her self. She would adore being taken care of twenty for seven by their strong bull. . .she just doesn't get them. . .at all really nonetheless she tries. . . She really tries.

Cow Ochaku: loves giving advice to the bulls about sex techniques and telling them about human sex toys. If she's close to a bull, she teach them some human tricks that she learned while surfing, "the web." She'll also be a babysitter for the heifers and bulls that want alone time at a specific moment so they can get they're grove on if you know what I mean?

___________________________________________________________________

I did my own version of an Ochako Cow! I'm pretty proud of my drawings as well as how I made her! I based her on @miggiisdumb 's Bull/Cow AU cause I'm heavily obsessed with the godamn AU and her writing, please go check out her stuff as well as art cause it's fantastic.

I'm also gonna tag @headkandies in here cause they make pretty good headcanons as well as being a fellow lover of this AU!

But anyways that's all folks be safe and have a Heroic Day! Since it's not safe out there please take a mochi loving Ochacow on your way. 🥰

[liquidthedefunctblog]

Oh yes, we’re still jumping those sharks. This time Rtas ‘Vadum is serving Shinji Ikari at Burger King.

——————————————————————————————————————————–

The Half-Jaw Rtas ‘Vadum settled at his desk, a mass of paperwork looming over him. He would be lying if he claimed that the Arbiter’s entry of the Swords of Sanghelios into the fast food industry had been any less than a tremendous success. The icy relations between the sangheili and their human counterparts had slowly but surely begun to thaw, and the restaurant had even begun to attract customers from outside of the local area. It truly was incredible what devious marketing could do to make even the simplest of human meals seem like ‘exotic sangheili cuisine’, the Half-Jaw thought. Today alone they had served a group of tourists, a local politician attempting some kind of disingenuous public relations stunt to boost his chances at re-election, and a briefcase carrying older gentleman who managed the impressive feat of simultaneously appearing both frighteningly unseemly and superbly proper. So successful had the venture been that the Arbiter had even seen fit to provide ‘Vadum with additional staff, at least after weeks of pestering from the Shipmaster. ‘Vadum picked a pen from the pot on his desk. An Earth-made pen of course. At first he couldn’t entirely wrap his head around the diminutive instruments, but he was getting used to them. He actually had time to get used to them now that he had other workers to deal wit-

“Shipmaster!”

Other workers like the veteran sangheili blademaster who seemed to have selected ‘Vadum’s office door as his latest victim. The Half-Jaw sighed as the Blademaster’s pounds continued.

“You may enter, Blademaster.”

The door slammed into the wall, chipping the paint slightly. In its place stood an aged sangheili blademaster, his golden armour dulled from years of usage. However the weariness of his armour and body did little to conceal a ferocity in his eyes that would strike fear into even the most hardened of men. This was Vul ‘Soran. The former second in command of 'Vadum’s assault carrier Shadow of Intent, in his prime 'Soran had been a warrior without equal. Even entering his elder years, he had dispatched many of those foolish enough to try and cultivate a reputation through his defeat. Following the end of the Human-Covenant war, the Arbiter had made sure to appoint the legendary warrior to a position fitting of his stature. Assistant manager at a Burger King run by his old shipmaster. The belligerent commander let out a huff, clearly trying to attract said shipmaster’s attention.

“Yes… Blademaster?” the Half-Jaw questioned, his head resting against his hand as though to indicate that he had resigned himself to his fate. 'Vadum held 'Soran in the highest regard imaginable, he genuinely did. This did not mean however that he had to be pleased with his performance as assistant manner. In his short period of employment the veteran had already evicted two customers for what he deemed to be overuse of the condiment dispensers, attempted to fine another for spilling some water, and threatened at least three with his sword for some other vaguely defined offences. Were it not for the humans present one might have mistaken the situation for an evening on the bridge of Shadow of Intent. At the very least this was certainly how 'Soran seemed to interpret his job.

“A young human has been loitering at the window seat. I was prepared to deal with him myself, but Scion 'Juran reminded me that after the last loitering incident you wanted to be consulted on such issues before disciplinary action was taken.”

'Disciplinary action’. That settled the argument about what job the Blademaster thought he was doing then. 'Vadum tapped his helmet in a manner that seemed to suggest he had experienced such an inordinate degree of frustration lately that his mind was simply no longer capable of processing the feeling. At any rate, he would have to remember to thank 'Juran later. She may well have saved that human’s life. At the very least she had saved his limbs.

“Take me to this human, Blademaster. I will make a judgement from there.”

“As you command Shipmaster. Follow me.”

The golden armoured commander turned around and left the office. 'Vadum thought about leaving him to it, but he really couldn’t afford to let 'Soran cause another incident. God only knows what consequences his establishment would already have faced for the Blademaster’s behaviour if its proprietor didn’t have access to a glassing beam. He clenched his hand for a moment before following his assistant manager.

The pair made their way into the public section of the restaurant, and 'Soran gestured to indicate a small human male with a white shirt and black trousers sat at one of the window tables. He seemed uncomfortable, disturbed even, alternating between gazing out the window longingly and staring down at his feet as though attempting to hide his own existence from the outside world.

“How long has passed since his arrival?”

“An hour at the very least.”

“And during that time he has done what? Has he made any purchase at all?”

“Not even a thing. The human arrived, sat down, and hasn’t made a move since. Shall I remove him from the premises now?” the Blademaster growled, reaching for his energy sword. Vul 'Soran was never known for his patience with those who would go against protocol, and the end of the Great War had done little to dull this trait of his. The Half-Jaw knew that there would be no hope of defusing the situation peacefully so long as 'Soran was around.

“Stay your hand Blademaster, I will deal with the human. In the meantime I need you to make a call to some of our suppliers regarding shipments. You’ll find everything you need to know on my desk.”

'Soran grunted bitterly as he began his return journey to the manager’s office.

“I trust that you’ll inflict a punishment on the human befitting of his infraction?”

“I shall do whatever it is that I need to, Blademaster. Now go. I anticipate that the supply dispute will be solved by tomorrow.”

Now that 'Soran had gone, and taken the threat of a bloodbath with him, the Half-Jaw finally saw fit to approach the loiterer. It was a simple procedure really. The physical threat of an almost eight foot sangheili warrior combined with a commanding tone of voice was usually enough to get most disruptive customers to either cease their violations or leave. Despite what his assistant manager seemed to believe, the ignition of an energy sword was not something that needed to be done often. 'Vadum approached the human, who on closer inspection looked to be almost half his height. He didn’t expect a drawn out confrontation here.

“Human. You may make a purchase, or you may leave, but do not continue to abuse our hospitality.”

The human made no clear acknowledgement of the sangheili commander’s words, instead continuing to take in the beautiful view of some cars and a bush that could be seen through the window.

“Human!”

“Huh?!”

This second, firmer address was evidently finally enough to snap the human out of whatever train of thought he was on, and he turned to face the towering sangheili.

“As I have made clear. You may make a purchase, or you may leave, but your continued loitering will not be condoned.”

The panic-stricken male seemed paralysed in fear for a moment, but it was not long before he stumbled around his chair for a bit before lowering his head back towards the ground.

“S-sorry…”

The Shipmaster stood in thought for a moment, crossing his arms. Perhaps he had been too harsh on the human. He had meant to appear firm, not threatening. Besides that, the restaurant’s manager threatening what appeared to be a teenager would be a worse public relations disaster than anything Vul 'Soran could manage. He sighed in frustration before crouching down to the human’s level.

“I am truly sorry if you feel threatened human, that was not my intention. However these tables are reserved for paying customers. Do you or do you not intend to make a purchase?”

“I- No… sorry.” The human said, continuing to shamefully look between at the floor tiles.

'Vadum couldn’t help but feel curious about the young human’s motivations. Most loiterers came in groups, with the goal of disrupting actual customers or simply abusing the staff in some misguided search for retribution regarding the Great War. This one simply sat alone, away from the other patrons and making no attempt to draw attention to himself.

“I see… Well in that case, I am afraid it is company policy that I ask you to leave the premises.”

It was this comment that finally emboldened the human to some degree. He looked directly at the Shipmaster, and it was this that allowed 'Vadum to finally see just how miserable this child was. His blue eyes looked tired, not in the physical sense but rather an emotional one. As though they had been drained of all desire to carry on existing, and were simply continuing to do so out of obligation. The Half-Jaw couldn’t help but feel a swell of pity for the human in this moment. He still didn’t know why he had chosen his establishment of all places to go, but it was now clear that he was trying to escape something, be it an obligation, a person, or something else entirely. And then the human spoke. His voice was still hesitant, but there was a new addition to his tone. Not one of confidence, but of desperation.

“P-please let me stay for a bit longer… I don’t-”

“One moment human,” the Half-Jaw interrupted, standing up and walking towards his office. He felt justified in his interruption. There was no use in letting the human publicly shame himself. He didn’t need to know what he was trying to avoid, it was already clear enough that he wanted to avoid it. 'Vadum wasn’t usually one for charity, especially not for humans. That didn’t make him void of pity however. Sending the human back out would only distress him further, and ultimately be of no use to anyone. Besides that it was late in the day anyway, so it wasn’t as though anyone was in desperate need of the extra table. He grabbed some earth currency that he kept for his own use from his desk, and headed back out. In his haste he completely ignored 'Soran, who simply glared at him in confusion while listening to the supplier waffle on over the phone. The Shipmaster didn’t intend to break company policy by allowing somebody to loiter without purchasing food, but he didn’t see much point in removing the human. He placed the currency on the counter, and looked directly at the sangheili manning the till.

“Prepare a hamburger and fries for the human.”

The other elite gave him a bemused look for a second before punching in the order.

“By your word Shipmaster. Can we have a name for that order?”

The Half-Jaw turned towards the human who had returned his gaze to the window.

“Human! Your name?”

The human turned back around, startled for a moment with an almost confused look on his face.

“Huh?! Oh uh… Shinji Ikari.”

Several hours later the Shipmaster was in the process of putting away the paperwork he had finally finished. After finally getting 'Soran to leave his office he had actually had a fairly productive few hours, and had managed to finish the whole lot half an hour before the restaurant was scheduled to close for the day. The whole operation was going unusually smoothly. At least it was until a furious Vul 'Soran appeared once more in his office doorway.

“Shipmaster! The human is still there.”

“He is a customer now is he not?”

“That was hours ago!”

'Vadum shook his head in a subtle manner. He really did wish 'Soran would stop treating the most minor of infractions as though they were capital offences.

“Do not worry Blademaster. I will have him leave the premises by closing time.”

“You made the same claim previously Shipmaster. With all due respect, should you fail to do so again I shall be forced to take matters into my own hands.”

“Yes, yes. I am sure that you would.”

The Half-Jaw passed 'Soran and left the office, partly to get away from his incessant complaining, and partly to ensure that the human went on his way before the Blademaster became violent. He walked back into the public area to see the human still sitting in the window seat. He didn’t seem quite as despaired as before, and had evidently stood up at least once to dispose of the packaging from his lunch. Perhaps this wouldn’t be so difficult after all.

“Ikari was it? The establishment is closing for the day in half an hour; I would suggest that you leave soon.”

Shinji turned to look at him, nervousness once more overtaking his face as he realised the time.

“Y-yes sir. I’ll be sure to leave by then. Can I please just stay for a little bit longer?”

'Vadum considered bringing up the loitering policy, but figured it wasn’t worth it. There was only half an hour left anyway. He would solve the issue as he had done before.

“'Rodam! Prepare a basic ice cream for the human. We need to get some use out of the machine anyway.”

“Thanks… for the lunch too.” Shinji said, quietly and nervously.

“Do not concern yourself with it. I must ask though; why are you so eager to remain here?”

“It’s uh… it’s nice here. There’s nobody around an-”

“Does the human mean to insinuate that we are a failing establishment?” cried out Vul 'Soran, who was currently busy cleaning unoccupied tables, though seemingly more so with listening in to Shinji and 'Vadum’s conversation. The human male’s face turned red with embarrassment and a hint of fear.

“N-no sorry that’s not what I was saying…”

“Ignore him,” said the Half-Jaw. “You may continue.”

“I meant that there’s nobody here I know. I don’t have any responsibilities here, and nobody feels responsible for me.”

“And how did you find yourself here to begin with?”

“I uh, I ran off… Everyone there hates me anyway, so I figured they’d be better off if I left.”

“I see… and what drove you to this conclusion?”

“I uh- I mean I never did anything for anyone else. Whenever they had problems I just hid away until they figured it out themselves. I guess that’s my solution to most problems. Avoid everything until it goes away.”

“So Ikari… I believe the point you are trying to convey is that you hate yourself?”

“I… I guess so. But it’s justified hate right? I’m a terrible person. All I do is use other people to make me happy. I try to force them to love me because I can’t love myself, but then as soon as something happens to them I just run away. I don’t deserve to exist…”

“Perhaps that is so, human. But have you made any effort to solve that problem?”

“I- no, I just told you that. All I do is hide…”

Shinji buried his head between his arms and his legs. Sobbing noises came from within. The Half-Jaw decided to soften his approach, to an extent at least. He didn’t endorse Ikari’s attempts to avoid any meaningful interaction with others, but he wasn’t cruel enough to attack him for it.

“You know Ikari, for thousands of years the title of 'Arbiter’ has been bestowed upon certain Sangheili of great significance. The first Arbiters were the most wise and skilled warriors of all Sanghelios. Part king, part judge, they led the species through even the most turbulent of times. The title in this state lasted even after the formation of the Covenant. It was the very highest badge of honour imaginable to our people. That is until Arbiter Fal 'Chavamee rejected the lies of the prophets. 'Chavamee was branded a heretic, and upon his death the prophets saw fit to remould the role of Arbiter. From then on it would granted only to those deemed heretics. These 'heretics’ would be expected to redeem themselves by giving their life in battle for the Covenant.”

Shinji’s sobbing grew even more frequent. 'Vadum assumed that he had misinterpreted the story to be his way of saying that he could only find redemption in death. Perhaps it was a poor decision to tell this story at all, especially with the wounds of the Great War still fresh in humanity’s mind. But the point of no return was long past.

“That was not the point I was making Ikari. If you would allow me to finish the story, I was going to tell of Thel 'Vadam, the present Arbiter and leader of the Sangheili. I served in 'Vadam’s fleet for some time before his appointment as Arbiter. His faith in the prophets was unwavering, and his campaigns on their behalf were ruthless. I can only imagine how he felt when he was branded a heretic and stripped of his positions. As you may have guessed, 'Vadam was appointed Arbiter. He was expected to die in service of the prophets, as his predecessors did before him. But with time 'Vadam saw through their lies. When the prophets betrayed the Sangheili it was him who led us to join with humanity. Since the war he has made every effort to push for unity. Not only between the divided Sangheili factions, but with humanity and the former species of the Covenant. The Arbiter overcame the worthlessness that had been put upon him by the Covenant, and in doing so he restored the honour to his title. Do not assume that sacrifice is the only path to redemption Ikari. Find your own purpose; do not rely on those around you to give you one. Then you can open yourself to the viewpoints of others. Assist them with their struggles, do not push yourself away. There is pain to be found in forming relationships with others. Even the Arbiter could not unify all the people of the galaxy. But there is no joy to be found in wallowing in your failures, and you will never achieve true satisfaction until you grant those around you a glimpse into your true feelings, and allow yourself to take a glimpse of theirs. Fulfil your responsibilities, both to yourself and to them, and perhaps then you will find that yes, you do deserve to exist.”

Shinji raised his head and looked at the Half-Jaw.

“You- you really think so? But I can’t do that.”

“You will have to. Open yourself to others. Allow yourself to engage in meaningful interaction. Then, and only then, you will find worth in your existence. And besides that, I do not believe that you cannot. After all, you did here did you not?”

“I- I guess so…” Shinji said. He wiped his eyes on his arm, and stood up. “Thank you.”

The Half-Jaw nodded at the boy, slightly proud that his tangential story had made any positive impact at all.

“Think nothing of it. Now return to wherever it is you came from. Take your responsibilities head on, and open yourself to your fellow humans. Farewell Ikari.”

“I- yeah… Thank you.”

And with that the human boy left, placing the wrapper from his ice cream cone in the bin as he did so. The Shipmaster on the other hand turned and headed back to his office to finish the filing. Perhaps this fast food business wasn’t as pointless as he had thought.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Yup, now it’s a Halo and Evangelion crossover nobody wanted.

[jiangwanyinscatmom]

Admittedly, I write unrequited cheng/xian (more ownership than love) purely for the purpose of shitting on every woobified jc trope and exploring how he completely fucked his own chances and will be a cuck for his entire life, but the people that think it should've been endgame and their virulent hatred of mxtx (who CREATED little purple cuck boy) are just so bizarre to me, ntm their aggressiveness and outright misogynist behaviour.

Thank you nonny, I chocked on potatoes laughing at "little purple cuck boy" and will forever have an image in my head of a grape being squeezed like a stress toy that just shrieks like Jiang Cheng. You have made my evening.

Personally, when it comes to thinking of Wei Wuxian himself and with MXTX referring to how he would always choose Lan Wangji no matter what happened regardless, Chengx!an as anything resembling equals is just not a possibility between them. They are on diametric opposite sides and as they grow older that rift gets wider as their ideals in life have formed by the time they are 15 and continue to show that what their ideal person in life is not the other in anyway.

I can see some sort of strange thing on Jiang Cheng's end given he seems entitled to everything of Wei Wuxian due to his sect raising him. But where that childhood romance could have been an argument is non-existent on Wei Wuxian's end as his only interest with pursuing someone earnestly, even obliviously, is Lan Wangji. It's enough to take even Jiang Cheng by surprise each instance Wei Wuxian continues to reach out and tries to reprimand him for it. Am I personally interested in exploring this as a full fledged idea, nah not really. Others can, but I have my canon gay pair that is very happily together and very fulfilling for me personally in the way MXTX explored their love as well as their sexual experiences as consenting adults and the promise of very strongly being a united unit in a marriage that is accepted by those important to them. The other one just doesn't seem all that interesting to explore outside of a meta-textual conspiracy reading of a failed relationship next to the better mirror.

I suppose my major discomfort in terms of the fanbase for this ship, as you say, is the blatant misogyny (that is very disturbingly steeped in a lot of racism also towards a chinese woman), along with the huge attacks of homophobia against Lan Wangji who is the bhgay male LI of the plot, and the abusive dynamics and emasculation they put on him, while propping up Jiang Cheng and inserting Wei Wuxian into a role of heavy feminization that Jiang Cheng has sneered at in story. This part is interesting since Wei Wuxian as Mo Xuanyu tries to use that hate to draw away Jiang Cheng's attention, as well as Lan Wangji who Jiang Cheng had always told Wei Wuxian hated that sort of blatant flirting and hated him for flirting with him as he would with a woman. It is Lan Wangji's acceptance of this outlandishness that helps tear down Wei Wuxian's defenses and he quickly comes to trust Lan Wangji as a non-judgmental good person that he has grown to become. He is allowed to explore his opening love for this man without pressure for once.

I don't actively enjoy ship fandom discussions outside of what I am shown in the canon text of works. Call me boring, but I do enjoy the exploration of canonical pairs in things, more so with any that are LGBT that are intrinsically important to mirror other relationships (it's why I have a soft spot for the Raven Cycle and it's sequels). Certain ships within the sphere of MDZS fandom are also heavily feminized by western standards while looking down culturally how Chinese masculinity is presented.

There is just a lot of fetishization, in a number of categories, that the author and fans of wangxian (and yes I can say some do that I also prefer not to interact with as well as the accusation of "Fujo" from western fans not really making sense in context of what it means in East Asian media as well as very hypocritical to continue to engage with a media that is that) get accused of in this particular circle of "make Jiang Cheng queer". I do not personally find anything redeeming about the louder fans circling the Jiang Cheng obsession due to this as well as their victim fishing among their numbers when they actively attack others in very petty ways while trying to call foul.

[partnersatfazbear]

Fazbear Frights: What We Found Analysis

Here’s my analysis for What We Found, the third story in Gumdrop Angel. I wrote this as I read so it may be a little different than my previous analysis where I read the story first and went back.

If you’re a Michael Afton fan I highly recommend this. Also, there’s possibly some insight into William Afton, Mrs. Afton, and Henry too, so it’s worth a skim.

Pg 144 '...a place thirty-some years forgotten' Just reconfirming FNAF 3 is 30 years past *one* of the FNAF closings, presumably FNAF 2 location.

Pg 145 "The whole building was giving him [Hudson] a headache." FIX THE VENTILATION BRUH

Pg 148 '...they were able to use salvaged derelict equiptment original to the old pizzerias.' Another confirmation of something we heard from Phone Guy.

Pg 147 "How old are you?" "Twenty-three, same as you." I think this gives us Michael's age during FNAF 3.

EDIT: This kept me awake last night. Obviously this is impossible because he has to be alive for at least 10 years before 1983, BUT maybe its just reconfirming FNAF 3′s year? 2023?

Pg 149 "Hudsan's dad died and his mom married Lewis, a ridiculous balding man who wore plaid vests and smoked a pipe" Did... Did this book just seriously imply Mrs. Afton left William for Henry? Really? (Yes, there's differences; the husband is dead and the man wears plaid 'vests' but it seems very odd to include that detail. This could just have been the writer's own imagination, though.) I have seen this as a fan theory and 100% explains the jealousy aspect of William, but I can't help but kinda hate it. I think this is very important, though, and probably Scott's intention. "This horrible little man [Lewis]... would make Hudson's next ten years a living Hell" This REALLY intrigues me given the context I just went over. The text implies Lewis was fairly neglectful to our main character / Michael stand-in Hudson. Maybe I'm wrong and for some reason Mrs. Emily left and went to William? XD Haha, I'm reading too much into this page. Maybe I'll come back to this later. I figure it's more of Scott possibly including double-details (contradicting stuff with the same character that really applies to two, which has been something I heavily pointed out in previous anaylsis on this blog) Having said that, I'm going w/the former because I can't imagine Henry being abusive (neglectful yes, abusive no) and he's never been portrayed that way in official works like William has in the novels.

Pg 150 "Hudson began to screw up in class...a product of spending the night in fear that his stepfather [Lewis]... [would] beat him just for the fun of it." Ooof. Big confirm on William actually being abusive. Unless we stick with the Henry theory for Lewis (combined with Midnight Motorist Henry theory / alcoholic). "...near-daily beatings..." "his mom started taking pills to get through the day..." So, whoever Mrs. Afton is, she was definetly not paying attention. But then, most people married to serial killers either don't notice because of denial (like this) or because the killer is so manipulative / careful they can't notice.

"Barry, who had red hair and freckles..." Yo?! Is that a description of Fritz?! These friends in the story could be the other kids Michael knew's stand-in's, aka the two gravestones with names he used (Fritz and Jeremy), as shown in the checks for the games and FNAF 6. I've long figured Michael was probably friends with the victims--it makes them easier, although riskier, targets [for William]. The two friends are male, too, like Fritz and Jeremy. If you're curious about Duane's description (our stand in for Jeremy), it's "tight black shirt... muscles... black hair long enough for a glossy ponytail..." I'm not sure if this matches anything found in the novels or contradicts them, though. (The novels = TSE trilogy)

"And so it went... until the night of the fire." For context, this is before FF burns down. We're learning of Hudson's life from his close friends in childhood, his father's death, his mother remarrying, to his abusive stepfather, to his grades slipping to this line. This would be a new fire not seen/mentioned in the games...

Pg 151 "...go to Charlie's for a sundae..." Really. Really Scott. Just gonna use this name again. OK. I'm not even gonna discuss this because it's probably irrelevant. *This is confirmed on pg 158 to be an ice cream shop. No lore relevance aside the annoying name coincidences Scott loves to troll with.

"This is not... an advance into enemy territory, a fight with demons, or a descent into Hell..." Uh, what? What is Hudson talking about? XD I'm only noting it because it seems so out of place. He's probably talking about video games or something.

Another note, although I don't have a specific reference since it is mentioned off-hand many times, is that Hudson keeps referring to his "history" which is implied to have kept him from getting a well-paying job and a girl he's crushing on doesn't know this "history" which is good for him. Seems good old "Michael Stand-In" has done some jail time or something. Edit: On pg 154/155 the girl asks Hudson, "Did you do it?" Seems he may have killed his stepfather or been involved with something else just as bad. Edit 2: No, I was thinking too deep into it. This probably refers to Evan's death at Fredbear's. DUH.

Pg 156 describes an actual "prize corner" in FF! What am I even reading? IIRC this is in FNAF 3, too. So they just hand out these scary gift boxes to people that complete the attraction? (Hudson says he *would* have fun handing out the scary toys to kids when this location opens--kind of a bully thing to do, eh?)

"[Hudson] avoid[ed] glancing in any of the mirrors..." I'm only pointing this out because it could be reference to one of two things. 1) We know because of one of UCN's music tracks, William has a fear of his reflection. Michael probably shares this trait, especially since 2) after Ennard and all... and later on pg 157 it also says, "he never wanted to face: himself" Sounds like guilt, my guy.

Pg 157 "blonde hair... blue eyes..." Hudson shares an eye color with Michael. It's possible Michael had blonde hair as a child and it changed to brown (it's common, something I personally went through being technically blonde/ blue eyed myself)

"He [Hudson] knew from personal experience that toys could turn from fun...to torture ina heart-beat" Fairly self explanatory. Either Hudson's worked at a creepy location before or he doesn't like remembering Fredbear's.

*checks how much is left.* There's still 35 pages (not counting back/front) left of this... This is gonna be a lot of notes.

Pg 158 Hudson doesn't have a car. Poor Mike, probably having to walk everywhere. Especially as a corpse.

Pg 160 This page describes many physical issues Hudson has that prevents him from entering the Navy, all from the abuse of Lewis. Obvious paralell to Michael becoming an undead [because his father sent him to CBPR indirectly causing his condition]

Pg 161 "How's your granny, Hud?... ...Is she still alive?" "I don't think she can die." Does anyone in the Afton family really 'die'? XD

Pg 162 These few pages discuss Hudson's grandmother. She's described as "a seer who claimed to know the future... ...wore big men's plaid flannel shirts with baggy jeans" Um, more plaid / flannel? AGH. STAHP. Lowkey, I would totally headcanon my Aunt Jen like this, though.

Pg 163 "Hudson's mom... the way she was before Hudson's dad had died... never... particularly warm and fuzzy... but... effiencient and responsible..." More about Mrs. Afton, so that's kinda neat.

"Hudson's dad was fun and attentive." There's a good Dad in this series?

"Unfortunetly, he also struggled with mental illness." "invisible low points" (Pg 164) Kinda reminds me of how Henry is described after Charlotte's death in the books.

Pg 164 "When Steven got himself into a bad deal that cost him his small business... he'd taken his life." Oh, it is Henry! SMH. Way to use confusing paralells. So, from our understanding thus far, Hudson's real father, Steven, is our Henry stand-in. His step-father despite being described similar to Henry, is actually our William stand-in. Fair game, Scott.

Pg 164 "...he [Hudson] was locked into a supply closet..." Oh shit, you guys. So, let me go on a tangent here, because this IS important! I just watched a retrospective on Sister Location and FNAF 6 earlier and one theory for Midnight Motorist was the person in the chair was the mother and the kid was Michael. I think this little line may confirm that. In fact, the story may be the key to figuring things out. Obviously, the line is a paralell to FNAF 4's scene in which Crying Child was locked in the supply closet of Fredbear's. I know some people, including Matpat, believe[d] CC was Michael, and in this book's context, it sort of works. This does contradict Step Closer and 1000 other things that make Michael the older brother, but maybe it's hinting at MM? Abusive stepdad (possibly Henry... maybe William is gone at this point), checked out Mom (hey, grey couch lady with Foxybro's font). IDK, but its definetly something to think about.

Pg 165 Lewis is mentioned as calling Hudson "nothing" and saying "you're nothing" on several occasions on this page. Just more abuse, for those accurate fanfic writers like me. Also I kinda wanna watch Morel Orel again. Yall know my fav character is Clay. Yall know.

"You're smoke." <-- Lewis / The text later reads, "...there was some irony, given what eventually happened." BRUH. Why did your stepdad die in a fire? :V TELL ME.

"When his family's house burned down at the end of his senior year..." Huh. Is there a fire we don't know about in the game-verse? Could this explain what happened to the FNAF 4 house before MM house?!

"...it purged Hudson of Lewis and his mother." MRS. AFTON BURNED ALIVE, TOO? Bruh. I can't with this story.

The text later describes the fire is concluded to be man-made and Hudson was blamed for it. Can't say if this ties to Michael, but it IS interesting... TBF, there is a small paralell to draw between Henry in FNAF 6 and his history of suicide in the books, too.

Pg 166 "...this place's [FF] busted thermostat.." I just find this line funny.

Pg 167 "...after three weeks of keeping an eye on the place" Some more timeline context for FNAF 3. We know that Michael worked there a little while before we start playing the game thanks to one of the phone calls, IIRC, so this makes sense. If Michael was accused of [something] and also wanting to hunt down his father, then it makes perfect sense why he's working a dead end job at Freddy's over and over and over. Fun fun fun.

Pg 169 "He hated to think about a functional character [Foxy]" This line is in regards to Hudson not liking the set up of Pirate's Cove and Foxy's hook to scare people. Sounds familiar, don't it? (For Michael anyway.)

Pg 173 "Some big find is arriving tomorrow." SPRINGY BOI! COME ON BOOK, get on with the show?

Pg 176 "Granny was wearing a red-and-green plaid shirt and her baggy jeans." Nothing special, but it was specifically brought up twice. I'm kind of racking my brain trying to understand what the point of this character is outside of "woooo everything is haunted don't you know that" kind of character.

Pg 180 "...dropped the crate on the linoleum with a resounding thud." HEY. Poor Springtrap, just gettin' tossed around like the trash he is.

Pg 186 "If you weren't so stupid, I'd tell you more about it." Springtrap bringing the burn. =:)

"A voice with a burr-like rasp...hint of a Southern accent" I'm going to assume this is because it's Lewis probably in the suit in this story and not our old British lad.

"It's was Mr. Atkin's voice." THE MATH TEACHER? *goes back to check* 'The algebra teacher'. Okay...

Pg 190 Okay, so Hudson hear's Lewis' voice this time. Okay, I get it now. Springtrap in this kind of imbodies all of Hudson's old bullies, including the teacher. He also has PTSD, just FYI. IDK if anyone finds that important, but it's fairly obvious by the line "He wasn't in his bedroom. Lewis didn't just slam his head into a desk; his head had been slammed into the [arcade] game."

"Why did he hallucinate a scene from his childhood?" Oh, it's not PTSD, then. It's just the VENTILATION ERROR. lol Okay.

Just a note, as I'm reading through the more action-based stuff, I kind of feel bad for Michael if he had flashbacks like this guy. They're intense.

So, Lewis' voice finally comes out of Springtrap on Pg 213. There's that.

Pg 220 "You can just stay there [in his room]" Kind of a paralell to Midnight Motorist. Lewis is saying it to Hudson. I really feel like the kid in the MM game is Michael because of this story...

Pg 223 "Heat purges. Fire heals." I'm sure that's Henry's life motto.

The ending was stupid, but most in these stories are. Hudson is hallucinating and is implied to have burned himself alive in FF's oven. Meh? The first half of this one is A TRIP and a little insight into what I 100% believe is Michael's childhood. I think the saddest part of it all is that we never got Springtrap speaking to Michael in FNAF 3--and if it's ever remade I hope we get more of them interacting.

[lastsonlost]

The star begins a libel trial against a U.K. tabloid that called him a "wife beater." No matter the verdict, he's destined to lose.

If there's a single word to describe Johnny Depp's status at the moment, I'd go with zugzwang, which chess aficionados know to be the moment when a player basically gets cornered into making a move that will inevitably lead to an even more inferior position. On Tuesday, the star actor appeared in a London courtroom to take on the U.K. publisher of The Sun for characterizing him as a "wife beater" in the print edition of an April 27, 2018, online article.  Unfortunately for Depp, it seems to be a defamation trial that's a no-win situation.

Depp appears to think that success is achievable at a proceeding that will last several weeks and feature all sorts of inside details about his life plus celebrity friends including Paul Bettany and Winona Ryder. Depp is claiming that during his tumultuous marriage to Amber Heard between 2015 through 2017, he didn't actually throw a phone at her, slap her across the face, and grab her by the hair, as she once testified in a deposition during one of the nastiest divorces in Hollywood history. Perhaps Depp will play audio tapes in an effort to claim his ex-wife was the abusive one in this stormy relationship. It won't matter because there's really no reversing the damage that Depp has incurred these past few years.

That should have become obvious on June 26 when it was revealed that Disney was working on a new Pirates of the Caribbean, this time featuring a female-fronted cast led by Margot Robbie. In other words, at the exact moment when a U.K. judge was deciding on whether to actually proceed with Depp's libel suit after the actor's attorneys breached a court order by failing to turn over a series of text messages concerning the procurement of drugs, Depp may have lost his most lucrative role. A source tells The Hollywood Reporter that Jerry Bruckheimer would like to at least nod to the popularity of the Captain Jack Sparrow character in the coming film if the controversies die down, but at this point, Disney is resistant. Depp is too controversial. (Disney didn’t respond for comment.)

So Depp will pursue a favorable verdict and a nominal damages award from a trial that's playing out under English defamation standards — in other words, where the burden of truth is on the news publisher to establish rather than Depp. Meanwhile, over the next few weeks, amid an international pandemic, Depp will surely incur additional reputational harm from these prying court proceedings, the impetus for which was a column questioning J.K. Rowling's defense of Depp being cast in the adaptation of her book Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. It's hard to sue one's way out of controversy.

Given this situation, it's no wonder Hollywood insiders are increasingly puzzled over Depp's moves. I spoke to several industry attorneys and publicists, all of whom offered some variation on the theme that the public would likely have forgotten Depp's years-old troubles but for court actions that keep reminding everyone.

“One of the things you’re always balancing is, how do you respond to accusation? Do you add more fuel to the fire or let it dissipate?” asks Howard Bragman, a longtime crisis manager in the entertainment industry.

Says Neville Johnson, an attorney who has previously brought suits against tabloids but questions the star plaintiff's wisdom here: “Depp doesn’t need the money [from any damages award] and it is not going to enhance his reputation.”

***

How did Depp find himself at the point of zugzwang? More and more, one has got to question Depp's reliance on attorney Adam Waldman. Depp has many attorneys, and the others seem to be the ones actually doing the hard work in court, but Waldman has become Depp's mouthpiece and also looks to be the lawyer who has emerged as the star's svengali of sorts.

Who is Waldman?

A search on Google (where he referred this reporter instead of agreeing to an interview) yields some clues, though hardly anything definitive. Unlike most attorneys, Waldman maintains no bio page these days. A few years back, Waldman's D.C.-based Endeavor Group did have a working website, but no longer. A trip to the Internet Archive reveals that Waldman once took credit for overseeing "all corporate aspects" of the landmark antitrust trial United States v. Microsoft, being the "principal architect of several ground-breaking initiatives" including the Center for Global Development, and even predicting the 2009 financial crisis with a "seminal law review article" authored all the way back in 1993. That would be when he was a student at American University, which did indeed confirm his graduation in 1995.

Waldman, according to reputable press reports, seems to have been involved in various dealings with the Kremlin, Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, and Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. He had a lucrative ($40,000 per month) lobbying contract with Deripaska, was registered as an agent for the Russian government, visited Assange nine times in one year at the Ecuadorian embassy in London, apparently in connection with efforts to strike a deal with the DOJ, and more. His associations have become fodder for intrigue among reporters and lawmakers even if there’s a lack of public evidence of anything more than Waldman having a talent for landing recurring, if minor, roles in real-life Russian political dramas.

I'd say that Waldman's foray on the periphery of the industry hardly matters, except that it appears Depp is publicly burning bridges with the sort of abandon that one hardly ever sees among big Hollywood stars. Depp's recent legal pursuits include battling his former money managers over the disposition of hundreds of millions of dollars; splitting with longtime transactional attorney Jake Bloom; and, of course, continuing to face off against Heard again and again and again, including in a separate defamation suit against her over an op-ed she wrote for The Washington Post. That latter case is currently scheduled for trial in Virginia in January 2021.

That's a lot of legal work, and Waldman appears to have taken on a central role. As Stephen Rodrick put it in an often-cited Rolling Stone article, "Waldman seems to have convinced Depp that they are freedom fighters taking on the Hollywood machine rather than scavengers squabbling over the scraps of a fortune squandered."

Waldman is also conducting a public experiment on social media. In a nutshell, do tactics of preaching to a choir of a small number of Twitter accounts achieve anything outside of politics? Most attorneys don't pick fights with the media during a big case, particularly in the weeks before trial. Not Waldman. For weeks, he's been goading reporters at The New York Times who apparently are investigating him, and he's been whipping his followers into a frenzy with attacks on Rodrick, Variety ("Saudi Arabia's Variety"), THR ("too much corruption") and other journalists and news publications. (That said, Waldman may not be above going to his own favored media outlets. Depp's attorneys have been accused in court papers of leaking to outlets like The Blast, which seems to be to Depp what Fox News is to Trump.) He's also litigating on Twitter, presenting evidence procured from Depp's cases, and overall, exhibiting highly unusual behavior for a working attorney.

To what end? That one is very hard to answer. But if anyone in Hollywood is ready to take on "fake news," the ticket of Depp-Waldman should be deemed real contenders.

***

In the era of #MeToo, allegations of misconduct get attention — and deservedly so — but some newsrooms have traditionally made a distinction between behavior in the workplace and domestic conduct, with the latter being perceived as tabloid fodder. This time, though, an ugly divorce proceeding has transformed into something quite more.

Alas, the trial of John Christopher Depp II v. News Group Newspapers Ltd has now begun.

On July 7, Depp himself took the witness stand and accused Heard of being sociopathic, a narcissist, and completely emotionally dishonest. He insisted her "sick" claims of abuse are untrue. And in opening statements, his attorney David Sherborne said, "This is not a case about money. It is about vindication."

Depp, in fighting a battle against an unflattering headline, is merely going to draw more attention to The Sun's accusation that he's a "wife beater," especially once Heard gets on the witness stand. At the end of it all, no matter the verdict, this trial will likely do nothing to tamp down the controversies that have tarnished his career. He's elevated a tabloid columnist's random musing into something that's going to be covered by serious news outlets for weeks, months, years on end.

For that, Johnny Depp should regain his senses and fire his lawyers.

Vindication ain't possible. The damage is done. That's the only thing a successful libel claim shows.

__________

What kind of Weinstein bullshit is this?  So what, If he gives up on getting Justice for what hes been through Hollywood might throw him some crumbs? 

JUST SHUT UP AND SUFFER IN SILENCE!  ACCEPT THE LIES THAT WERE SPREAD ABOUT YOU! LET YOUR ABUSER WIN!

 I wonder if this clown would tell metoo victims not to get Justice?

[mellifluousmalfoy]

flower curse. // cedric diggory x reader.

HANAHAKI AU.

gn!reader

warnings; blood, unrequited love and angst obvi.

word count; 4.3k

Something wasn’t right. You could feel it, not only deep in your gut but in your chest. Something was definitely wrong and it was hard to ignore as you tried to focus on the notes you had meant to be taking during astrology, but your mind was full of something else, hence as to why you were scribbling idly on the sides of your notebook, dragging your quill easily across the paper as you fought the urge to draw his name. Your chest felt uncomfortably tight, and the feeling of something growing in it caused worry to grow over you like a sudden storm cloud enveloping itself around you. You could feel the drumming of something soft hammering against your lungs, the touch as light as a feather, but with the numbers increasing so did your worry. The soft feathers, you called them, floated around in your chest for what felt like forever as you focused your hardest on your paper, trying to figure out what was happening. Petals.

You never knew why you felt like this, you just always noticed it always seemed to happen around him. It was confusing at first, but your understanding only seemed to grow as it only ever did happen around him, and it was slowly but surely becoming clear to you. You were sick, and it was his fault.

A scowl grew on your face as the harsh words in your mind seemed ruthless on him, but your heart was weakest for him and you hated the vulnerability. Your mind slowly drifted back to what you thought was the sickness, it confused you like many things did. It wasn’t clear to you as to why you were sick, but you never told a soul. No one knew of your turmoil, and you planned to keep it that way. Guilt built up in your chest as you thought of your best friend whom you knew would be worried sick, knowing of your recent coughing fits, even offering to stay in your dorm with you if you didn’t want to go to class. Your mind slowly started to drift back to the cause of everything, and you bitterly laughed as you recalled all the times you choked up the petals just to spend a simple five minutes with him, although it seemed to kill you inside every single time, you endured it. You’d endure anything for him.

You finally mustered up the courage to break your strong glare on the paper below your arms as you let your eyes wander over to where he was sat. He sat bent over his desk, his auburn hair falling over his eyes as his nose scrunched up into the small crinkle you loved oh so much, a habit of his, as his eyes were glued to his book as his nose dug further into it, a small laugh escaping your chapped lips as you observed the dashing male. And once again you were reminded of what was happening to you. You sighed out in frustration, out of frustration to the fact that a simple glance at the boy could get your heart running and the petals banging aggressively against the inside of your lungs. You stood up clumsily, a few pens falling off your table as you tried to leave the classroom as fast as possible, knowing what was coming. You excused yourself as you ran out, not without catching a few strange glances, trying to find the closest bathroom which thankfully was across the hall. You could feel the worried eyes of Cedric burning into your back as you retreated into the marble room.

Cedric Diggory. Mr Diggory. The instigator behind your entire situation, albeit he didn’t know a single thing about it. And he had no idea how much pain he was just putting you through. As soon as you stepped into the bathroom petals were already leaving your mouth before you could even reach a stall, and once you reached one you let everything out, shamelessly belching the petals that were so beautiful but so painful to look at. You looked down at the yellow petals in horror as your mind tried to calculate just what was happening to you. Sunflowers. You absolutely loved sunflowers, from the height to the beautiful yellow of the petals, but they looked absolutely hideous leaving your mouth like that. A huge wave of confusion washed over you as you tried to comprehend why it was happening. The pain in your throat becoming unbearable as if Cedric himself was standing in the stall with you, slowly tighten barb wire around your neck. You squeezed your neck tightly as you tried to soothe the pain.

You were racking your mind to figure out if you had read anything in the disease that seemed to be infecting your body, but your mind was blank. You ran to the library to try to find any material you could on the sickness. You flicked through multiple books before pulling out one that looked promising. You read the pages and your heart broke.

Flower Curse; a disease in which the victim coughs up flower petals when they suffer from one-sided love.

You couldn’t help your heart from breaking into pieces. 

-

Sunflowers.

They were said to be “false riches” because of Spanish explorers thinking they were made of real gold. I guess in this scenario, it’s showing your false hope.

-

You watched him intently as he conversed happily with other students. He was always so bright, he was radiant in the room and everyone and anyone wanted to be the one who he smiled at, and you admired that about him. He had multitudes of beautiful features that would make him stand out in any crowd. You watched him as he smiled at her like he always did. You hated the fact that she was the reason behind his smile, and you could feel that hatred blooming in your chest. She was one of the biggest reasons as to why you didn’t confess, his heart was already stolen. He was already in love, and your pride made you hold everything in, for him. You felt as if you weren’t enough, for him at least. He smiled brightly at her and it was shining in the classroom. You could hear the petals now, they were begging for your attention, the attention that you refused to give them.

You were once again reminded of what was growing inside your body, of what was slowly killing you inside. The flower petals flew around freely in your chest, coating the walls of your lungs in bright colours. You were completely oblivious to how dangerous your condition was and how it was affecting you. But for now, you focused on the male who sat with so much happiness radiating off of him it was hard not to smile.

You stumbled into your house’s common room and immediately let out what you had been holding all day. A variety of colours spilt onto the floor as you crouched over in pain. You caught the worried gaze of your best friend, Fred Weasley, who looked away from the fire that he was so intently watching before. Worry washed him as he watched you.

Orange lilies. Such a pretty flower, but such an ugly sight to see blooming in your chest. Your coughs turned into gags and soon you were hacking out aggressive gags, trying your best to get out the flower that made itself at home in your throat. You no longer threw up pathetic petals, they were full flowers. The orange lilies terrified you as they laid on the ground fully intact. You held the last fully bloomed flower in your hands, your eyes slowly blurring from the pain that resonated in your throat from what abuse it had just gone through

You could feel the harsh stare from your best friend who was speechless. You lifted your gaze from the flowers to meet his eyes. He could see it. He could see the fear that drowned your beautiful eyes. He had no idea how to react to what he had just witnessed, but he was quick to your side as his large frame enveloped your fragile body. He held you tightly against his front, he didn’t need an explanation, he just knew you needed him. You cried in his arms for what felt like hours and it pained him incredibly, he didn’t want to see you in pain like this. More flowers spilt from your mouth as he held you tightly, this time red and white. He expected an explanation, which you could not give him right now. For now, he held you tightly against his chest and cradled you as if you were the most precious thing in his world.

-

Orange Lilies.

They are said to symbolise hatred, pride and disdain. You hated the girl and Cedric for what they did to you, and it embarrassed you.

Anemones.

They are said to symbolise fragility, while the red and/or pink are said to symbolise death or forsaken love.

-

Cedric noticed. He noticed how your demeanour always changed around him, how your eyes always stayed on his figure for a second or two longer, and how you acted as if you were being cautious. He was confused as to why you acted like this. It wasn’t until the day you had run out of the classroom, flowers spilling from your mouth into your hand. It was barely noticeable, yet he noticed. He always did. He understood exactly what you were going through because he had gone through it himself in his fourth year, last year, when he had fallen for a sixth year from Gryffindor who wouldn’t give him the time of day. And so he did the thing he thought would be best for you, he distanced himself. 

He never glanced your way anymore and graced you with the presence of his warm smile that always made your day, it broke your heart. You watched him desperately from across the table. You were currently in class and you were assigned a group project, Cedric being in your group and completely ignoring your existence. He glanced around the classroom looking incredibly uninterested, ignoring you as if he had lost all interest in not only you but the entire project. Your group discussed who would be assigned to which part of the project before the devil himself stood up abruptly, pulling his bad with him, “Sorry guys,“ he apologised as he gathered his things, “my girlfriend is waiting.”

His explanation was brief and he tried his best to keep it just at that, grabbing his robe and clutching it tightly before leaving the empty classroom you all had been meeting in, the guilt that boiled in his stomach was slowly eating away at his insides. The tight grin you always wore faltered as you stood up a few moments after Cedric had left, “Miss Sprout had asked me to help her with the Mandrakes she has been harvesting, I hate to leave like this,” the lie flowed out of your mouth easily as you quickly gathered your things and basically ran out of the classroom. 

You sprinted towards the Gryffindor common room which would most likely be empty, your last period was free and you had just finished your fifth meaning you would now be alone. Once you reached the common room you spluttered out the password and the portrait swung open, you wanted to get in as soon as you could before more flowers would leave your mouth. Fred stood near the entrance, pacing worriedly and instantly came to your side when you walked in and caught you before you could reach the ground. He had been waiting because someone had told him about your behaviour in class today.

You had no tears this time, as if you were beyond that pain. It overtook you to the point where you felt numb, emotionless. As if you had surpassed the breaking point, as if you had been stripped of all your feelings. Yellow flowers spilt past your lips as you didn’t have to struggle for the dainty things to come out. You could feel it. You could something stuck in your throat as you pushed away Fred’s arms causing you to fully collapse, not having the strength in your legs to keep yourself up. You clawed at your neck, gasped for air just trying to get that thing out, and you coughed, and coughed and coughed. You gagged as you strived to get whatever was in your throat, out of it. Yellow flowers kept spilling out, so much to the point you were laying in them, and slowly they came out covered in a crimson liquid that you hated oh so much.

 You kept clawing at your throat, the object was still in there and it was beyond painful. Fred could only watch in horror as you laid with the flowers that were once yellow, screaming out in pain and all he could do was stand there like a clueless fool. Your screams came out pained, as you tried to get that stupid thing out of your throat, but once again only more flowers spilt out. And it all happened so quickly, you hadn’t even realised that it had come out, maybe the flowers had washed it out but now it sat in front of you, glaring at you.

Fred got down onto his knees after he snapped out of it and brought you into his arms, hoping that just maybe his embrace would bring you any type of comfort as you both looked at the object that had come out of your mouth, terrified beyond belief.

A root. A root coated in your blood. It wasn’t small, it was as wide as two of your fingers and as tall as your entire hand but it was thin and nimble. How could that have come out of your throat? You didn’t know, yet here it was sitting in front of you, glaring at you. What you did know was that this sickness, this disease, was killing you.

-

Yellow Carnations.

They are said to symbolise rejection and disdain. Cedric only wanted to help, but it only made things worse, both for you and him.

-

You cried on the floor as your best friend, Fred, watched you with heartbroken eyes, wishing for all of this to be over. You looked up at him with desperate eyes, silently begging for all of this to end. You tiredly explained you encounter with Cedric earlier, trying not to let your sobs interrupt your story as you tried your best to explain everything in detail, “Fred,” your voice was hoarse as a few petals fell past your lips, “it hurts, so so much.”

Fred couldn’t do anything, he was incredibly hopeless in this situation and all he could in this situation was hold you, and that’s what he did. His eyes glazed over as he watched his best friend in so much pain, he took you in his arms again and slowly swayed in hopes of calming you down, “I know, I know..” he whispered out painfully, trying his best to console you, to stop your cries, your sobs were loud. 

Sooner or later he had picked up your smaller frame and took you to one of the sofas in the common room, hoping the soft light from the fireplace could comfort you, and you fell asleep against him, small sniffles leaving your mouth, “How could he hurt you so carelessly?” He thought aloud to himself as he glanced over your tear stricken face. You hadn’t looked so peaceful in what felt like forever, and your calmness was beautiful to him as if nothing could harm you, as if you had no worries in the world. You couldn’t feel the pain, and that’s all he had been begging for the past few days.

He slowly stood up and magicked away the flowers from earlier, picking up the root before the portrait swung open, a first-year followed by the last person he wanted to see at that moment. Anger boiled in his blood as his eyes raced toward you, who laid innocently on the couch, anyone would just assume you were napping not knowing of your turmoil, “Cedric,” he greeted his peer as politely as he could, “what brings you here?”

“I wanted to check up on L/N,” Cedric simply explained, not being able to see you from where he was standing next to the tunnel toward the portrait, “L/N didn’t look well during the meeting today,” He scratched the back of his neck nervously as a sheepish smile was painted on his face. He felt extremely terrible for how he behaved towards you and became incredibly worried when he saw you sprinting out of the classroom and toward the Gryffindor common room.

“Y/N’s feeling a bit sick, but they’ll be on their feet again sooner or later. Thank you for checking up, though.” Fred lied through his teeth, technically it wasn’t a lie and Cedric knew that himself. And Cedric took that as his cue to leave.

He stood outside of the common room as a wave of sadness washed over him, “I’m sorry,” he muttered softly, a tear sliding down his cheek before he left the portrait who watched him as if he was a mad man.

Fred went back to the couch and he could see more flowers next to your head. Had they left your mouth when you were sleeping? How often did this happen? He wondered, he knew these were questions he could never ask you so he was always left to wonder. The flowers were purple and they looked so terrifyingly beautiful laid next to you, if no one knew the context they would think of it as just beautiful.

-

Purple Hyacinth.

It is said to mean “forgive me”, the perfect apology flower, but in this context, it’s your nightmare.

-

Maybe it wasn’t the best choice for you and everyone around you, but you did it anyway. You were sick and tired of the pain you went through daily for nearly two months. Petal after petal, flower after flower, root after root. You hated the pain, not only had it affected you but everyone around you. And you hated to be a burden to them, no matter how much they denied the fact that you were a burden, you knew the truth. It made them tired, and you were beyond exhausted. Fred was practically worrying his head off 24/7, and you wanted to end not only your pain but his pain, and whether yours was worse was the least of your worries. 

And so you both approached Madam Pomfrey and begged her to take you to get the surgery. Your parents were told by owl and they apparated to Hogsmeade that night where they escorted you to St. Mungos. That was just before the term had ended for the Easter break, you hadn’t returned the next term and never left the house during summer. The surgery was a success, and no one had to worry anymore. That’s what you told yourself constantly. You were cured of the sickness, but now you sat in the common room, an empty vessel as everyone hurried around out of excitement, it was the year for the Triwizard Tournament and the Gryffindor common room was booming with the excited screams of all the gals and pals. 

Fred looked at the time and noticed it was now time for the welcoming feast, and so he dragged you out of the common room and through the castle towards the Great Hall. You didn’t resist, you didn’t want him to worry about you but you knew he did, he always did. You pulled your arm from his grasp before turning the opposite direction, muttering an excuse to use the toilet and he could only watch your back disappear into the crowd with a worried gaze. 

You thought about the last five months that had passed, they were hell. You hated every second of it and you couldn’t understand why you didn’t feel relieved these past five months. Now there was just a void, an empty you felt as if could never be filled. Fred visited you often, as often as he could and he was an amazing company to have, and he always made sure he left you smiling, and your parents loved him to the end of the earth for it. Your parents were your shadow, always watching you even if they thought they were being inconspicuous. Cedric hadn’t popped up in your mind at all, now that you thought about it. All you could think of were the flowers, the different coloured petals, the blood-covered roo-

You were brought out of your train of thoughts when you collided with something, or rather a person. Suddenly there was a high pitched voice in your ear that sounded too happy to see you thought caused you to flinch. The voice greeted you and you instantly recognised it. Cho Chang. Cedric’s current fling. How she knew you in the first place? You had no idea, you had never spoken to her before this interaction so you only gazed down at her in confusion before you painted a smile on your face, or at least what you thought was a smile. You nodded your head in acknowledgement before you continued your way down the hall, trying to find a bloody bathroom. 

But before you could go any further a hand caught your wrist, and your eyes caught his. Cedric Diggory. It’s been months since you had last seen him, thought of him, and you wanted to jump up in happiness. Not because you’re seeing him after what felt like forever, but because your heart didn’t flutter when your eyes met, the familiar feeling of a blush creeping it’s way up your neck was nowhere to be seen. You didn’t feel a damn thing while looking at him and you wanted to jump up in glee and scream out eureka. Your pain was over. But you bit back all of your joy and stared monotonously at the boy in front of you, “Oh, hi Cedric.”

Your voice showed no interest at the young couple and both of their expressions faltered. Cedric’s eyebrows furrowed as he noticed how different you behaved. Your usual blush was nowhere to be seen and you held the eye contact instead of your eyes shooting everywhere nervously. Your eyes held close to no emotion, he could only see boredom. You glanced at him briefly, not even caring to hold eye contact anymore, but you noticed his eyes and how they glazed over with disappointment. You had to fight the urge to laugh bitterly at him, “What is it, Cedric?”

Your harsh tone brought him out of his thoughts, he noticed he hadn’t replied to your greeting and you noticed how less and less students were passing you, they all must be in the Hall eating now. Cho glanced between the two of you confusedly, mostly confused with Cedric who stood there speechless, “Oh- I- um-” he stuttered as he removed his hand from your wrist, a small embarrassed blush creeping up his neck. A loud voice boomed in the hall the three of you were currently standing, as Fred called out your name happily, a small grin on his face as he ran towards the three of you. A small grin made its way onto your face when you caught sight of the goofy redhead and the large shit-eating grin he wore. 

“Hey Cedric, Cho,” Fred greeted the young couple happily, slightly out of breath from how fast he had run out of the Hall when one of the third-years had let spilt that you were currently talking to Cedric and Cho in a hall, alone. And so he came to your rescue. You stared at him, feeling something growing in your chest again, but it definitely felt different this time. They didn’t feel like those terrifying flowers, it felt warm. As if you had just taken the first sip of your coffee on a winter day, the warmth spreading through your chest into your entire body. Merlin, it felt incredible.

Fred took your hand in his as he smiled down at you, “Let’s get out of here,” and you happily let you drag him away. Cedric watched the scene that unfolded in front of him, he recognised the look on your face, your gaze, your smile. He had seen it on so many people, including his girlfriend. It was the look of pure happiness, a gaze full of nothing but love, and a genuine smile. Fred had taught you love, and my did you love him so much, and he loved you more than you could ever imagine. He was so genuine, your bond as unbreakable as an unbreakable vow. You had no clue what the future had in mind for you, you just wanted to have a future with him.

Cedric almost felt selfish, thinking he’d have you forever. Thinking if things didn’t go well with any of the girls he had a fling with, he could turn to you for comfort. And now he regretted everything knowing you’d never fall into his palm again. Maybe he shouldn’t have taken you for granted, maybe you would’ve been in his arms instead, gazing at him with those loving eyes. But reality never is on our ides, is it? And so he took his girlfriend’s hand and walked out of that hall, his heart aching knowing you could never be his. He hugged Cho in his arms as he fed her empty promises, not noticing the petal that fell out of his mouth and stuck itself onto his lip. He felt the small dainty thing and picked it up off of his lip, and he could’ve recognised the orange flower anywhere. Even if it was just a petal. How could he not recognise his favourite flower?

-

Butterfly Weed.

It is said to quite literally mean, “leave me,” or “let me go”. Quite a beautiful flower, quite a sad meaning. You had forgiven him but you would never forget.

fin.

[lillupon]

thoughts on kmg situation

Hi everyone, your friendly neighbourhood minwon writer here! I apologise to those of you who were hoping for an update this weekend. In light of recent events, I found it very difficult to get excited about Achieving Escape Velocity. Before I can resume posting, I feel it is necessary for me to work through my own thoughts. 

I am not trying to persuade people into believing a particular side. I share this with the hope that it will help others who are struggling to reconcile feelings similar to my own. I also see this as an opportunity to—with your guidance—become more passionate, and to learn how to be a decent human being, if that’s what I need to do. I recognise that I come barreling in here with my own cultural and environmental biases. Thus, anyone who understands the nuances of this situation better should feel free to educate me on the matter. If this is of no interest to you, kindly scroll on; I hope to see you when I next update. Otherwise, please join me for a few minutes. 

TL;DR

I support both Mingyu and the victim/OP

I believe that people change as they grow older and become more educated and informed

I am conflicted and have my misgivings about the additional allegations (group chat screenshots + bullying a student with special needs—which has now been resolved, yay!)

I will not unstan Mingyu

I will continue to write and update Achieving Escape Velocity

I want to start by saying that I am an older fan in my twenties, and that I have been a fan of Seventeen since 2015. I have found great joy and comfort in them for many years. As much as I have tried to remain impartial, I have likely fallen short of that ideal. The truth is, I adore this boy! I admire his talents as an artist. I am charmed by the persona of him that we get to see in the media; I see parts of myself reflected in this curated persona. That being said, I tried to remain critical of the stance I am taking. I asked myself, “If this situation was not about Mingyu, and was about my local weatherman instead, would I still feel the same way?” And the answer to that was: hell fucking yeah! Don’t worry, Local Weatherman, I got your back… 

Lastly, I want to say that I am approaching this from a Western point of view. I grew up in Canada, albeit with the traditions and beliefs inherited from fairly strict and conservative Asian parents. As an international fan, there will inevitably be some cultural disconnects in this thought piece. 

There are three main parts to my admittedly rough and disjointed thoughts. The first part addresses the original accusations. The second part addresses additional accusations that were made against Mingyu. The final part is about the future of my minwon stories.

You may agree with all of this, part of this, or none of this. These are simply the thoughts I am trying to work through. 

Thoughts on original allegations (therapy records OP)

How do I describe opening up Twitter on Thursday morning? One moment, I was reading about Mingyu drawing pubes on the classroom whiteboard. The next moment, I was reading about how serious allegations against Mingyu were. People were unstanning him and Seventeen, calling Mingyu a rapist, sending him death threats, etc. I truly did not understand how the situation escalated so quickly, and I nearly gave myself whiplash trying to follow jumps in logic. 

One side of Twitter was convinced that the Original Poster (OP) was lying and doing all of this for attention; they said victims could not be believed 100%. The other side of Twitter declared that Mingyu should be cancelled, and bashed anyone who supported Mingyu or remained neutral. People were sending Mingyu death threats despite the history of k-pop artists committing suicide. All of this reminded me why I avoided Twitter for so many years: Purity and cancel culture run rampant; the mobs want blood penance for every wrongdoing without first considering the nuances of the situation. People blindly defend their ults and set aside their morals to do so.

Here is what I got out of my initial reading of the translated (version 1, version 2) accusations:

OP was shy, timid, and isolated from her classmates. When she tried to speak up in class, Mingyu would tell her to shut up. This happened enough times that, eventually, OP stopped talking in class at all.

Mingyu and his friends told sexual jokes while OP was in the vicinity. These comments made OP uncomfortable and triggered her. However, they were not directed at OP.

The sexual jokes and comments did not escalate to sexual assault or violence. OP explicitly states there was no violence or physical contact.

Mingyu and his friends drew and laughed at inappropriate pictures of body parts/hair on the board. OP is not actually sure if it was Mingyu who drew the pictures, only that he was up there laughing with the others.

OP struggles with anxiety and depression; Mingyu was not the sole reason why she attended therapy. OP mentioned that she brought Mingyu up only briefly with her therapist.

Could I believe all of this being true? Yes, because I personally adhere to two Me Too philosophies: 

The first is that women almost never lie about sexual harassment, abuse, or assault. I absolutely believe that Mingyu is capable of making sexual jokes and comments. Teenage boys and girls alike are notoriously emotional and hormonal between the ages of 12 and 14. I can also imagine Mingyu drawing penises on whiteboards, complete with elaborate pubic hair. These are the antics of a typical middle school boy. For some reason, teenage boys—at least in North America—are very fascinated by their own genitalia and like to announce they have one by drawing pictures of dicks on any available surface. 

The second philosophy I abide by is that men and boys in power are likely to abuse it. All men—even k-pop idols—benefit from patriarchy. They are in a position to abuse, degrade, and humiliate women (obviously, I hope none of these things happen, but I also have to acknowledge the possibility that they do). This is especially true in patriarchal Asian societies. Someone as popular and attractive as Mingyu holds great influence and power in his peer groups. Can I see a young Mingyu being a dick to a girl who is quiet and timid and isolated from her peers? Yes.

But also… Who wasn’t a dick in middle school? I feel like my classmates and I were colossal idiots back then. Was it just my school where classmates told each other to shut up all the time? Was it just my school where kids put their thumb and forefinger in an “L” shape to their foreheads and called each other losers? Everyone has a different threshold for what they consider bullying, but for me, these gestures and comments were so commonplace that I merely accepted them as part of the elementary and middle school experience. These things are mean and insensitive, yes, but it’s possible to grow out of these antics.

It is difficult for me to form an opinion about these sexual jokes Mingyu made for two reasons: (1) cultural differences, and thus my own internal biases, and (2) we don’t know about the nature of these jokes. It’s hard to determine whether these comments constitute as sexual harassment without this context. Even then, people have different thresholds of what they are comfortable with, and what they are not comfortable with.

We don’t know whether these comments were along the lines of “That’s what she said” or “You know what else is big?” or “I grow hair down there...on my toes!” ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) Or if they were jokes about sexual experience/performance, speculation about what someone looks like naked, the colour of their underwear, or raping a person (I’ve often seen these “jokes” directed at female streamers and influencers). In my opinion, there’s a big difference between the two. 

The former, while crude and immature, is not generally said with ill-intent, nor is it generally directed at a specific person. These are jokes that teens, both male and female, commonly make in North America. (Perhaps this is part of the problem: the fact that I consider this to be standard teenage behaviour...) I would hesitate to call it harassment unless the victim made it known that she was uncomfortable, and the boys continued anyway. I also understand that the victim may not have felt able to speak out against Mingyu and his friends. In this case, the boys might not have been aware of her discomfort. Teenage boys are not particularly well-known for being sensitive. 

The latter, however, objectifies and diminishes a person, and is disgusting and reprehensible. The latter is, without contest, sexual harassment. Absolutely no one should have to tolerate comments of this nature. Anyone who makes such jokes should be educated on why these so-called jokes are damaging, and how they perpetuate rape culture, as well as the sexualisation and dehumanisation of women, as well as men. Anyone who makes comments of this nature should be called out (and here I emphasise called out as opposed to cancelled) for their behaviour. It is imperative that they are educated, given the opportunity to reflect, apologise, and make amends. This is with the hope they know better in the future and do not make the same mistake again. 

Now, based on what OP said, the jokes Mingyu made seem more like the first case: he made a pun about body hair. I am pretty sure if Mingyu made “jokes” of the second nature, OP would have chosen to highlight that instead of a pun. However, this is something that needs to be clarified. The content of these jokes drastically changes the severity of the allegations.

Currently, I interpret this through the lens of my uncouth Western sensibilities: what OP described sounds like typical Western teen behaviour. There are many actions, events, and experiences that take place during our formative and adolescent years that come to define who we are as adults. Personally, I don’t think that drawing hairy penises on the whiteboard—inappropriate as it is—or being an asshole in middle school are these things.

But who am I to say, “Yeah, what OP went through was not that bad”? I can’t be the judge of that, and that’s absolutely not what I’m trying to do here. I don’t know the whole story, and even then, it doesn’t matter. I am an outsider in all of this. I’m not trying to diminish the years of suffering and torment the victim went through, and I apologise if that’s how I came off. Nothing I said previously changes the fact that these jokes negatively affected the victim. Nothing I said changes the fact that this girl’s voice was silenced because of some thoughtless middle school boy’s comments. These are wounds that people carry from childhood through to adulthood.

Impact matters just as much as intent. I might argue that in cases such as these, impact matters even more than intent. Mingyu might have done all these things without ill-intent, but OP’s trauma is very much real. (As a side note: This is one of the reasons why I am very happy with Pledis’ official statement. Their focus on healing and reparation—without absolving Mingyu or throwing him under the bus (yet)—is the right move.)

I’ve just been seeing so many death threats and demands for Mingyu to leave the group that I cannot help but wish people would extend him the empathy that they themselves would appreciate.

People are condemning a 12-14 year old Mingyu for making sexual puns and being an asshole. People are measuring a middle school aged-Mingyu against the ethical and moral standards they hold as adults, and they are finding that this young Mingyu fell short. This should not be surprising. I know if I judged younger-me by the standards I have today, I would be left wanting. 

I remember the kind of person I was as a teenager. I was hormonal. I made “That’s what she said” jokes, among others. While I never intentionally set out to hurt anyone, I know I have said crude and unkind things. As a teenager, I didn’t possess the tact I do now; I didn’t know how to self-regulate. I could be a mean and horny kid (not necessarily at the same time, haha!), but I also had parts of me that were deeply sensitive and caring and thoughtful of others. Teenagers and adults are multi-faceted. I would not want anyone to dig up these past receipts and use it as the basis to judge the person I am now. I would not want people to pick out the worst of my past actions and words, and use it to invalidate my success today. 

It varies case by case, but for the most part, I don’t think people should be punished for what they did or said as children; I would have been cancelled long ago if this were the case, as would many others. People change as they grow older and become more educated and informed. It is different if these behaviours and actions persist into adulthood. Then, yes: there should absolutely be consequences. I am not saying we can just sweep all our childhood wrongdoings under the rug. It is still important for us to acknowledge and reflect upon the wrongs of past words and actions, and to offer apologies and reparations where they are due.  

Should these allegations prove true, can I support both OP and Mingyu, or is that cheating? I do believe OP and my heart goes out to her. I understand why she chose to speak out. I know it must have been difficult to do so against someone who is a man, famous, well-loved, wealthy, and successful. I know it must hurt to see the whole world adore a man who has caused you pain. South Korea has a culture of enduring silently; this results in great mental strain and suffering. In speaking out, she relived past and present power imbalances. This is not easy for a victim to do, especially when you are a woman in a patriarchal society and your bully is a male celebrity.

I hope I am not invalidating her feelings when I reiterate that Mingyu was a young teenager, and teenagers can be mean and crude—intentionally or not. Mingyu is a public figure, so naturally, he is held to higher moral standards. But he is also human. He can and will make mistakes. He can and will continue to grow. I feel a lot of empathy for Mingyu, both now as he is forced to confront his past immaturities, and as he moves forward in his career. 

Thoughts on additional allegations (KakaoTalk group chat + ableism)

I will not be addressing allegations of Mingyu bullying a classmate with autism now that the issue has been resolved. (Again, I commend Pledis for their response, and for recognising that the ableism needed to be addressed first. Of the three l accusations, this was the one that Mingyu would not be able to recover from. Even now, he will not emerge from this unscathed). I will only be sharing my initial misgivings about these additional allegations.

First off, this is a very nuanced and precarious topic. I don’t want to diminish a potential victim’s experience, yet I hope people understand why I am so skeptical about accepting screenshots of chat rooms as hard proof. Here are a few reasons why:

(1) Bullying scandals have been erupting left and right, especially as of late. Some of these accusations have been proved true. Others have been proved false. Regardless, there seems to be a trend of digging up past receipts—fabricated or not—of celebrities with the aim of cancelling them or undermining their success. 

(2) Screenshots and chat rooms are easily manipulated and fabricated. This is different from a victim with a face speaking out against past incidents of bullying. They could be someone with malicious intent, or they could be a genuine victim. We just don’t know. And in the case of the chat rooms, it wasn’t even the victims who were speaking out.

(3) I wondered if these were antis who jumped on the coattails of the initial OP to stir the pot. These allegations (particularly the case of ableism, which has thankfully been cleared up now) are far more serious than original claims—why wait until now to bring them up?

(4) I find it difficult to trust even yearbook proof because people can and will sell yearbooks if they went to school with idols. In addition, yearbooks cannot prove interaction, and therefore, cannot prove bullying. At the same time, how do you prove bullying incidents from ten years ago? How do you disprove it? Cases of bullying aren’t often well-documented. It essentially becomes a game of my-word-against-yours. 

(5) There is a pretty well-known article from 2016 where Mingyu defended a classmate with a disability. It doesn’t necessarily disprove the current claim, but the timing is important here. The classmate shared their account back in 2016; it did not just surface after recent allegations. However, if I want to believe that the KKT screenshots are false, then I must also be willing to believe that this 2016 article may have been fabricated as well.

(6) As someone in their 20s, the thought of being in a group chat with a bunch of my middle school classmates is baffling to me. Personally, I don’t want anything to do with my middle school classmates.

There is not much more to say on this; I will patiently wait for Pledis’ statement on the remaining allegations.

Achieving Escape Velocity and other MinWon stories

In a previous blog post, I stated that when I write and talk about AEV-Mingyu and Wonwoo—or other variations of Mingyu and Wonwoo—they are strictly characters that I have made up in my head, and they are separate from the real Mingyu and Wonwoo. At the same time, I do absolutely draw inspiration from the real Mingyu and Wonwoo in the creation of these story characters. It is their faces, bodies, and voices that I imagine. Thus, my current anxieties surrounding this situation make it difficult for me to write and enjoy AEV.

However, I still love this story a lot, and I love sharing it with everyone! There’s so much more to this fic that I want to show. As I mentioned in the initial author’s note, this is the first time I’m posting something of this length and I worked really hard on it. For these reasons, I have every intention of continuing to write and update Achieving Escape Velocity. Regular weekly updates will resume this coming weekend.