#you dont need an outside perspective to have magic explained to you

[velaraffricate]

i think i might end up writing some sort of isekai story, i feel like that'd be a really fun way to talk about the language and worldbuilding. in my current small attempts at writing a story, all the dialogue is just in english cus any other way of writing it (footnotes, parentheses etc) would just be annoying i think, and i'm never quite sure how to describe worldbuilding details in a casual way that makes sense for the character but doesn't leave the reader confused and feeling like they need a glossary of all the new terms.

with an isekai'd protagonist, both they and the reader are experiencing the world for the first time, the text can simply be written in the conlang to emphasize just how disorienting this experience is, and, most importantly, they can bond with a cute elf over learning their language.

[lunatic-fandom-space]

You know what its past midnight Im gonna make a post critisising acotar despite never having the read the series, the only book of SJMs ive actually read was crescent city but I spend a lot of time in anti acotar circles bc its fun being a little hater sometimes and I think I know enough by now to atleast critise some of the themes. I definitely know more about this series than I should, like I know about that immortal horse whose horse wife tragically died in horse childbirth and then Im pretty sure he died of horse sadness. And yet, despite cari can read being pretty good at explaining magic shit, I still dont know what the hell syphons are or why illyrians have them or why they matter so you really never stop learning huh

Anyway, I wanted to talk about the misogyny within the universe of acotar because its really bad, both in the sense that its just annoying and insufferable to read about even second-hand and in the sense that its badly written. The thing that inspired this was this short piece of flashfiction by @feynessupremacy about an unnamed girl from the hewn city being married off and having a horrible time living in this endless cycle of misogynistic abuse that her mom is still in and that her dauggters will end up in, all powerless to do anything against this kind of systemic sexism. I thought it was good and made its intended point pretty well but it also made me once again realize how borderline comical this series portrayal of misogyny is

Like, okay, once again, I have not read these books myself but it very much seems like the sexism in this world just materialized in the second book, from the summaries Ive watched it straightup seems like it was just not there in the first book. I mean hell, the entire plot hinges on the fact that Tamlin was sending all these fae disguised as fucked up creatures out so that they would hopefully be killed by a woman so she could break the curse, which implies that women being hunters was pretty normal. (Also, dont come at me with any kind of "oh, it doesnt specify the gender of the person who needs to break the curse a guy couldve done it as well", sjm is too insufferably heteronormative to consider that)

So basically what Im saying is, from my perspective it very much seems like sjm put not only systemic misogyny but like, incredibly violent systemic misogyny to the point where women being brutalized is basically completely normal, in her fantasy series for the sake of making a man look good because hes a wittle sad :( about it sometimes which is honestly pretty funny to me

But it gets even funnier because it doesnt even seem like sexism is really a widespread thing ? Like, i have never seen anyone else directly address this but its all I can think about: in the Nightcourt, the misogyny and institutionalized violence against women is literally the worst it possibly can be with genital mutilation and everything and then in the rest of Prythian its just like, not there. There are plenty of women with political power, the queen of adriada comes to mind first, Im pretty sure I read something about a woman from the wintercourt who was in a similar position of power, its unclear to me what all these fuckin priestesses do because theres no focus on the religion at all much less the institution(s) behind that religion, but they have to have some kind of power if theyre anything like priests in our world (although tbh they seem more like nuns to me functionally just with a diffrent name), especially Ianthe who was like a high priestess and directly in charge of Feyre, who shouldve been the most powerful woman in the springcourt by virtue of being with the high lord, Amren and Mor seem to be well respected outside of the NightCourt, their only deity is the MOTHER. Sure, there arent any "official" High Ladies but if being a High Lord entails being chosen by the magic of the land or The Cauldron or The Mother or whatever other kind of magic bullshit and women just dont get to have it for some reason, is that really indicative of the broader culture being sexist, or is that just God, Who Canonically Exists being sexist? Idk about you, but Im leaning towards the latter option

Thats not even mentioning the mortal lands which seem to be ruled by queens exclusively at the time of the story taking place, or Hybern which had Amarantha and I think her sister as well be these high-ranking generals and it wasnt presented as anything unusual. Like, are you telling me that the kingdom whose only value is "we love slavery, we would like to have slavery back" is more progressive than the court of fuckin Feminist King Rhysand?? I Am Going To Turn Into The Joker

Anyway, I think thats all I have to say, please correct me if I got any of this information wrong I cannot stress enough that I have not read these books and dont plan on reading them anytime soon, atleast not in english because reading the term mate a 1000 times sounds like too much for me to bear, atleast in german theyll probably use a term like "Gefährte/in" which doesnt make me think of actual animals

[fae-morrigan]

I'm going to try and be as nice as possible here since you've admitted to not being caught up, and therefore you're not really playing with a full hand in this conversation. I get it! DC puts out a lot of stuff! But, as a nonbinary person, aka the specific flavor of trans Sydney is, I feel maybe you'd appreciate my perspective on why I actually think this story was kind of awful, and why SOKE's approach is deeply refreshing. I'll even suggest a non-jon alternative that does queerness well as my final magic trick!

Nicole Maines, trans activist and current writer for DC (she's actually about to take a swing at Jon, you should catch up to read her stuff she's really good at it) has posited before that there is a difference in representation for queer people and representation for straight people. Largely, she points to the difference being how the narrative treats it- Does it treat it like its somehow... odd? Does it need to be exposited to the audience what a gay is at every turn? Is the character and story entirely based around their deviance?

And... yeah, as a nonbinary person, reading this story, I realized very very very quickly that it was not made for me.

Sydney isn't really a person outside of their nonbinary-ness. At most, they're meek, and the (cis) boys teach them how to be stronger and hashtag stand up to bullying. They take a long page to explain their identity to the two of them in a way that is, kind of cold and detached in a way that you can tell is meant to exposit to the audience, not really how a trans person would explain ourselves? And we never get much insight into how THEY feel about all this. Its about the Supersons, and them being allies! It's not really about Sydney at all.

(Also Tomasi is kind of a of a raging conservative in most of his works, so. Like. Don't like that he was given this story as opposed to a trans person.)

BUT! I do sort of give Belle Reve a pass for its simplicity, and how it uses queerness to self-actualize for our supersons, because... its a short story! It's meant to be quick, to the point. Not spin off into a whole storyline. And y'know, some stories are made for cis het people, they clearly need to play catchup judging by the state of the world, lol.

And yet, whenever I re-read it, I feel like an outsider looking in on a stranger describing, wrongly, my own life. I mean, I was sydney in middle school. I was out as nonbinary then and I've had to have these conversations before. So much nonbinary representation in media, especially comics, feels the need to do this. I'm tired of it: I want to exist and not have to explain myself. That's what a lot of queer people, including other bisexuals (as you mention you are), like about SOKE! It's just... present, its real, but it isn't usually a huge kerfuffle about it.

So many queer narratives are about the fact that we're queer. Actually, its almost all of the mainstream ones right now. Its like its the only conversation we can have about ourselves. I would love some comic narratives that are queer, but are also about something else too. DC is finally giving that to us, and there are a LOT of people who have been craving that after a constant... barrage of 'white dudes finding themselves' as a gay staple.

Also: SOKE is a coming of age story! It IS Jon finding himself, having an identity crisis, its just not focused around his queerness... It's focused around his identity as a burgeoning Superman in the wake of life-altering trauma. Something that continues to carry his story even now, and honestly, I think it does it very well. From a writing standpoint (as I make comics, I dont just talk about them), building Jon's story about his struggle to do the right thing in the wake of the biggest shadow in the universe has much broader applications for a plethora of writers than... well, he's bisexual superman and that's it.

And I do know you are interested in a story about self-discovery that isn't related to being a Superhero, but I would remind you, this.. is a superhero genre. There's gonna be cows outside and so forth, the superheroing is usually metaphor FOR that other bit of self discovery: Its why people write in this genre. That is absolutely the case with Jon at points. I suggest you read the age up as being metaphorical, as that's explicitly what Bendis intended. I've read thousands of superhero comic books, and I think the one that gets closest to even approaching the non-superhero thing is maaaaybe far sector (which, even if its not, you should read anyways omfg NK Jemisin is a wizard).

But him being into men DOES come up as part of that. They DO deal with his queerness. Right here! Issue seventeen. I don't know if you got to that part during your initial read (I am guessing not as this issue came out at the very very end of '22), but its my favorite issue for a reason!

I do, admittedly in my little mean heart, take umbrage with you deciding Jon hasn't had development, that he had potential, not has, despite admitting to having not caught up with him at ALL. And like yeah. They did stuff with him that's pretty upsetting for the plot. Because this is a narrative. And conflict has to happen for a narrative to happen. It can't just be happy all the time or it'll get boring super fast, especially with DC, a property that has gone on for like 80 actual years. You gotta shake things up!

But y'know what? I still have opinions on things I am not caught up with, like BNHA, so its very glass houses of me to give you shit for it, lmfao. My soapbox is fragile and is at risk of being eaten by termites.

So, instead, I direct you to this reading list made by my pal & mutual @bobbinalong. It has every Jon appearance you missed, categorized by if its essential, if its pre or post age up. That way you know exactly what you've missed out on, past AND present, and can catch up if you wanna join in on the conversations we're having.

And now, on the topic of comics you should read if you want good queerness that ISN'T Jon Kent, because I'm tired of that swagless white boy:

Bad Dream: A Dreamer Story by Nicole Maines is a paperback graphic novel about young trans girl Nia Nal (yeah, from the CW show! she's in the dc comics now!) discovering she has powers from her home planet that are SUPPOSED to be passed onto the eldest daughter, but skipped her sister and went to her. It's casually queer BUT ALSO the queerness impacts the plot, its fun, its got so much women in it, it made me CRY:

Go forth!

I just wanna rant for a moment here.

I am slowly getting back into comics (you can thank Wolverine for that) and I'm starting by reading the comic issues I've already bought but haven't read yet. One of them is the "Saved by the Belle Reve" anthology.

One of the 8 stories in the book was a Super Sons comic called: Back to School.

the whole story revolves around Jon and Damian befriending a kid named Sydney, who gets bullied by 2 other boys because they're non-binary.

Damian teaches Sydney to fight so they can defend themselves, and Jon talks to them about turning the other cheek.

"I hope i know myself as well as you do one day" hit me hard.

I wish they handled Jon being bisexual kind of the same way they handled identity and gender in this comic.

i haven't been updated on recent dc comics news since early 2023 so i don't know much about what's going on with Jon now.

I still think that Jon being bisexual isn't bad, in fact i think it would have given him great character development of sorts. I think it's rare to see in comics (i could be wrong, i have not read much) a character go through some sort of self discovery that isn't at all related to being a superhero. I would have loved to see Jon navigate adolescence. Having some identity crisis, finding himself, like most teenagers do.

He had so much potential. Aging him up not only ruined a lot of his relationships (w/ his parents, damian) it also ruined him as a character...

(that's all I'm gonna say for now since i don't really remember much of what i read 2-3 years ago, so i could still be wrong)

tldr: I guess I'm still upset about DC aging up Jon for the plot and just slapped bisexual on him

[pianostarinwonderland]

Hi! Sorry if this is random, but what are you thoughts about a MC that can teleport?

I m thinking of two scenarios with the Dorm leaders and the MC that can teleport (could even be their UM; unqiue magic)?

But for exemple; this MC dont use teleportion unless someone really pushed their buttons. They would very much be standing their ground in arguments and is no ”coward”. But if in a heated argument with their partner or when they fighting with their partner, MC could very much use their UM (teleportion) when they had ”enough”.

Another exemple would be that they use teleportion to simply avoid someone for whichever reason which could be the dorm leader.

But basically; how would each of the Dorm leaders react to a MC thats can teleport in particular when they are in the middle of a argument/or if they trying to avoid them?

What do you think? Sorry if this is outa nowhere, but I could imagie them getting annoyed at the MC, some of them getting more annoyed and some less annoyed.

I like the idea of a UM that enables the user to teleport out of stress!! Maybe with how powerful the UM is, this MC/reader has a hard time controlling it, so whether they like it or not, in a stressful situation, they end up leaving it. 

It doesn’t have to be limited to the dorm leaders, it could be to any stressful situation, i.e. missing Grim. There’s potential in the idea, and I personally would like to see it outside of a romantic relationship perspective, particularly the argument kind of stress. Like, what if someone they care about is somewhere unfamiliar or you heard they were in danger or in pain, so out of stress, you end up wherever they are? Or maybe they are so stressed over Trein’s exam that they just poofed away. 😂

But to entertain your question, well I suppose as long as MC/reader can explain it properly to their lover, I don’t think the dorm leaders would be That pissed off. Of course, the first time it happens, I think all of them would be livid to some degree. From least likely to most likely to get angry:

The least likely to get angry is Kalim, but this depends on the argument. Chances are, Kalim would be shocked and surprised that you disappeared and probably would panic. If the argument has something to do with your behavior, it is possible he might be mad, but I see him being more worried. 

The second one would be Leona. Feels like he’ll catch that you were trying to finish a sentence then you went poof, so he can guess that it wasn’t intentional. I think he’d keep a clear enough head to think about what could have possibly happened to you, but he may still be filled with that stressful energy from earlier that would leave him pissed. 

I’d say Malleus is the third in ranking. I think he would be more hurt than angry over you leaving him (because how many times has he been left alone in his life?) in the middle of an argument. At the same time, it would shock him to see someone aside from him and Lilia, maybe his grandma too, actually being able to teleport. But he would look for you too. 

Vil would be angry, of course. It’s quite immature to leave in the middle of an argument. But he’d keep a cool head and decide that it’s best you two need to cool off. He’ll still pick up your calls or texts (if you have your phone) and I’d bet that’s how he realizes ah, you did not intend for that.

I’d say Azul is similar to Vil, but he is more likely to yell to air about how infuriating it is for you to leave in the middle of an argument and go “fine if you want to play it that way”. He’ll still read your messages, though, so if you tell him that you are in the middle of nowhere, he will get worried.

Please, I see Idia going off if you teleport away. The guy would be nearly rapping to thin air about how immature you were and how you just left him like that. Pretty similar to Azul except the guy is spiteful enough to ignore your texts and calls at first. 

Of course, Riddle is the most likely. 😔 His face is just red by then. And he wouldn’t check his phone to see any messages you might have left. I think he’d use the time to cool off first before looking for you.

[angstymdzsthoughts]

I promised that I would share the convo me and @time-flies-by​ had earlier today regarding the Maleficent AU post, so here it is!

-

time-flies-by Dude that Maleficent AU-

angstymdzsthoughts I knoooow

angstymdzsthoughts It got a bit dark on me

time-flies-by It did, but goddamn was it good!

angstymdzsthoughts Right? I'm super happy with it

time-flies-by As you should! It actually gave me chills

angstymdzsthoughts WWX goes to sleep in his husbands arms, happy and in love. Wakes up to that husband mutilating him Thank you!!!

time-flies-by The best part, is that LWJ doesn’t even see anything wrong with it. He’s just like, “it has to happen”

angstymdzsthoughts Yep! Just another part of getting married to him

time-flies-by WWX definitely leaves understanding Madam Lan a lot better.

angstymdzsthoughts Oof LWJ grows up around spouses who seem perfectly happy with life after losing their wings And his mother, who still had her wings, was miserable So he thinks hes actually helping to make WWX happier

time-flies-by Double oof WWX really doesn’t understand what he was getting himself into.

angstymdzsthoughts Oh my god other spouses try to warn him (in a quiet subtle way so their husbands don’t get upset)

angstymdzsthoughts All the Lans are taught that this is a special, intimate experience between spouses

angstymdzsthoughts I feel like Su She is jealous that LWJ got to experience that and is vindictively happy when WWX ran away

time-flies-by Oh my god, the Lans all brainwashed into thinking that the tight smiles, and the tears are signs of love, when in reality their spouse is trying so hard to not hate them. Soakxldowkenenw fuxking Su She

angstymdzsthoughts The spouses are all trapped. Oh wait

angstymdzsthoughts The "soulmate" thing only happens once or twice in a generation and Madam Lan had been the most recent before WWX so the spouse around who tries to warn him away is an old woman who has been married and trapped in the CR for life 55 years That makes it so much worse

time-flies-by Oh my god, imagine wwx accidentally runs into the the wing room, and is absolutely horrified to find all the wings there, so he goes to lwj and is all like “Lan Zhan? What’s this?” And LWJ just goes “don’t worry Wei ying, I’ll make sure that never happens to you.” And what he means is “I’ll make sure your grounding isn’t as painful as theirs.” And wwx trusts LWJ 100%, but then their own grounding happens.

angstymdzsthoughts OOF Oh my god just rip my heart out

angstymdzsthoughts All I can picture is WWX crying and calling LWJ a liar before he's silenced Most disturbing part is how gentle and loving LWJ is being while hes Removing His Husbands Limbs Soft little praises and telling WWX that they will be happy together now

angstymdzsthoughts Ohhh WWX is totally gonna blame himself if he saw the wings and didn't immediately run Gets to Yunmeng like 'how could I be so stupid to believe him'

time-flies-by Ooh especially if the spouses before him tried warning him too.

angstymdzsthoughts Yes Exactly

time-flies-by WWX: The signs were all there. . . There was a red flag everywhere!

angstymdzsthoughts The way WWX sees it is like that 'face eating leopard party' meme Everyone else is just plain horrified

time-flies-by Oof 😂

angstymdzsthoughts LWJ is crying in the CR asking what he did wrong Yunmeng Jiang is ready to start a war in order to get WWX his wings back

time-flies-by Omg yesssss The Lans are all clueless and offended because they see NOTHING wrong with their traditions.

angstymdzsthoughts Someone tries to put it in perspective for them. "How would you react if your spouse cut off your hands?" But the Lans dont get it and just dig their hole deeper. "Thats ridiculous! You Need hands! Wings are in no way a necessity."

time-flies-by Aish 😓

time-flies-by Yeah no, the Jiangs are definitely cutting all ties with the Lan after that.

angstymdzsthoughts The Lans argue that wings do nothing but make someone fickle and reckless and arrogant. They Need to be earth bound so they can learn stability and humbleness ... Oh my god... Horrible thought

time-flies-by Do tell

angstymdzsthoughts Some children of grounded spouses end up with wings too But they get them cut off when they are younger Should it be LXC or LWJ who use to have wings?

angstymdzsthoughts Spend their entire adolescence being ashamed of the wings and eagerly waiting for the day they can be removed

time-flies-by Oooh maybe LXC?

angstymdzsthoughts The most recent wings added are a pair of small white ones maybe half the size of WWXs and the sight of them make him run out because he may be sick

time-flies-by Oh god, what if there’s like, a whole room just full of children’s wings.

Angstymdzsthoughts Of course the Lans would keep them Ohhh WWX hears people talking about the grounding ceremony that will follow the honeymoon and has no idea what their all talking about He asks and the Lans explain that it's a sacred ceremony between spouses that truly binds the new spouse to the Lan family WWX is like- oh wow that sounds really great! Like a big 'welcome to the family'!

time-flies-by Oh no that make it worse! WWX is super excited for the ceremony. He’s like hyping himself up nonstop.

angstymdzsthoughts Oh with the Lan members with wings- they normally have a form of the grounding ceremony when they get their courtesy name and become a Real Lan. Lose your wings and get a name Oh my gooood WWX and LWJ go to bed that night talking about how the bonding ceremony will be tomorrow morning and LWJ assures him that he knows WWX will be perfect

time-flies-by Oh god no, I’m just imagining a bunch of children scared but super willing to lose their wings, because they’d been taught that having them made them everything the clan was against

angstymdzsthoughts WWX, cuddling close: What if I mess up and make a fool of myself? No ones really told me what to do yet. LWJ, petting WWXs wings lovingly: Don't worry, I'll take care of everything Exactly

time-flies-by Oooh I just got chills again

angstymdzsthoughts Something about LWJ touching and admiring WWXs wings in this context... 😨

time-flies-by LWJ: once I get rid of these, he’ll be all mine.

angstymdzsthoughts Touching wings isn't a normal thing outside of family (given that touching in general isn't normal in Chinese culture) but WWX was always super ok with friends petting his wings. He totally offered to let LWJ touch his wings when they were teenagers after catching him admiring them

angstymdzsthoughts LWJ hadn't felt a wing since his mother died shortly after her Binding and WWXs are a really beautiful glossy black color that turns a dark, rich purple if the light hits them just right. Of course he wants to touch

time-flies-by 😥😥

angstymdzsthoughts LWJ, cautiously running one finger along the feathers: They are so big... WWX: Of course they are! My wings have to be big and strong to carry me while I fly! LWJ immediately snatching his hand back, suddenly cold at the remainder that WWX can and will fly away far, far away from him

time-flies-by LWJ is really undermining the love WWX has for him by being that concerned that he’ll leave him.

angstymdzsthoughts He got brainwashed by his clan and he saw his mothers constant attempts to escape. Everyone around him said that the only reason she was trying to leave was because of her wings. If his own mother would leave him because of wings, what would stop WWX?

angstymdzsthoughts Madam Lan got way too close to actually escaping and QHJ was pressured into finally doing the ceremony. Madam Lan didn't last long after that

time-flies-by sent a post Source (****)

angstymdzsthoughts Hahaha

angstymdzsthoughts You know what would be worse? Baby A-Yuan with wings

time-flies-by Oh noooooo

angstymdzsthoughts Like au where LWJ didn't do the binding and unbrainwashed himself Then A-Yuan is born with wings and he grows up being told he won’t be a Real Lan if he keeps them So his parents have no plans of removing them but as his naming ceremony gets closer Yuan says he Wants to get rid of them WWX is immediately packing a bag and getting him and his son the hell out of there. LWJ is right behind him with another bag

time-flies-by Oof yes I like that

time-flies-by But like what if, the day before they leave or something, A-yuan runs to the elders and tells them about what his parents plan to do, and he’s so desperate to get rid of his wings that he asks them to just do the ceremony there and then

angstymdzsthoughts AAAAAAAAAA

time-flies-by When LWJ and WWX wake, they’re so stressed cause they can’t find A-yuan, but a few minutes later he comes in all proud and wingless

angstymdzsthoughts I mean since its Maleficent au wings are apparently magic and can be put right back on but Still Horrible WWX cries LWJ is gonna fight to get his sons wings back and then get his family the hell out of there Oh my god..... LWJ walking through a room full of tiny, near identical wings looking for the little pair that he would recognize anywhere

angstymdzsthoughts Let's a few tears out when he finds them. Remembers helping WWX clean and groom them and watching while WWX taught their son to balance and fly using those wings Hates himself for not seeing what his clan was doing to LSZ and not getting them away from all of it sooner

time-flies-by Codnekaoenen perfect

time-flies-by Heartbreaking, but perfect

angstymdzsthoughts Also, if things had gone according to plan and they left before LSZ did the Binding Yuan, struggling and crying: But I won’t be a Real Lan! WWX, throwing Yuan over his shoulder to carry him mid tantrum: Then you're gonna be a Wei. Lan Zhan, would you please carry this bag? LWJ, taking the bag: Mn. Wei Yuan sounds nice.

angstymdzsthoughts Then they go to Yunmeng so LSZ can grow up in a healthier environment

time-flies-by Oh I like your version better.

angstymdzsthoughts You brought the pain, I brought a bandaid

time-flies-by Haha yes yes, thank you

angstymdzsthoughts Oof tho. LWJ finds the wings and brings them home where WWX is guarding Yuan while he sleeps. They Return the wings while Yuan sleeps and return to making plans to go to Yunmeng once Yuan wakes When he wakes up and has his wings back he bursts into tears.

angstymdzsthoughts Could be because he really missed his wings and is glad to have them back or because this means he's gonna have to go through the grounding AGAIN and it really hurt the first time and he doesn't want to go through it again. Maybe both

time-flies-by If both, then WWX and LWJ will do their best to reassure him that he won’t have to go through the grounding ever again.

angstymdzsthoughts Aww little Yuan crying so hard he can hardly breath and bringing his wings around himself so he can pet and groom them because he needs to make sure this is real and their back

angstymdzsthoughts Oof. Imagine LXC seeing this and wishing he could have kept his wings. Goes to visit his wings and knows that they are too small to fit his body now that hes an adult so he's lost his chance

time-flies-by *sigh* we really should give LXC a break.

angstymdzsthoughts Never Ok how about he gets his wings back and even tho there too small because they never got the chance to grow with him and he'll never be able to fly hes so unbelievably happy WWX and Yuan teach him how to groom his wings correctly because the only person who ever did that was his mother and he cant quite remember how to do it

time-flies-by *sniff* family bonding time

angstymdzsthoughts He starts an arrangement with Yunmeng Jiang so he can send any winged Lans to them for half the year so they can learn that having wings Isnt the worse thing in the world

time-flies-by Oooh yes yes That’s good.

[papers4me]

Fruits Basket,Se03, Ep7 (part 2)

Toxic kindness (Kureno):

I’ve touched upon this in se02 finale, but kureno’s toxic kindness mirrors the foolish traveler story. The foolish traveler says “ thank you” as he dies. Kureno ignores the knife in the hands of a person whom he saw with his own eyes abuse a number of children repeatedly. Kisa, Isuzu, hatori & yuki bodies testify of being beaten, cut, & bruised. Kyo’s psychological abuse was announced in front of kureno himself before akito summoned him in the beach arc. Akito has strangled her mom & screamed, cried & went manic in front of him. Yet, kureno walks toward her ignoring the knife, hugs her & tells her to press the button of change. Easy, right?

I highly respect the author that Akito didn’t respond positively. I don’t want kureno to be stabbed or want akito to run away & hurt the others.  Also, I hate cheap drama. So, I’ll never support dramatic confrontations just for the sake of it. I want a realistic depiction of trauma & mental illness. The person who lived her entire life entitled to be obeyed, feared & having extreme authority, won’t just change cuz a foolish guy told her to.

-The responsibility of Nurturing children:

Akito’s outburst represent the author’s view on the role of nurturing children properly to teach them to be decent human beings. Akito was raised with extreme views neglect & narcissism. You’re special & must be loved (said her dad), Others MUST obey you (said the old maid), No one truly loves you (said her mom). So, her entire life she craved showcasing her power over these unfortunate zodiacs as it stems from the notion that they live for her sake.

Tohru on the other hand was raised with compassion, love & appreciation of other ppl. Tohru being timid, shy or unable to stand for her self are personal struggles that tohru deals with & not related to nurturing , While her trauma might be caused by a parent, it didn’t prevent tohru from being a kind & compassionate person because she was raised & taught abt these things.

The faults of abusing a child might lead to create faulty mentality & social issues. these kids might even grow to implement similar abuse onto others, while all that is understandable, it will never excuse their behavior. A lot cases of real life abusers were once kids who were abused. It is tragic. It explains why they become the horrible person they are today, but it never excuses the harm of others. The victim is not responsible of your screwed upbringing. Kisa, kyo, yuki, & Isuzu have nothing to do with Akira, Ren or akito’s troubles. They are victims themselves but they didn’t go & inflect harm upon others. Yes, they each developed a faulty coping mechanism &  showed tendencies of rage, withdrawal, misplaced pain, but they were never a harm towards the society, & their peers.

Akito’s outburst paves the path for her redemption. How it will happen? I duno. Will someone once again holds her cheeks, talks her into bettering herself? I duno. She will atone. I can guess that based on the ED. but Will she be rightfully punished for her crimes? I duno. I hope so. Forgiveness is different from punishment. Thus, a type of punishment should be implemented. Abusers, whether victims or not, or atoned or not, must receive it. It is only fair.

- What will happen with tohru/ kyo’s confession/ confrontation? What is the exit from kyoko’s harsh last words! How can Furuba’s best mom hates kyo! My mind goes crazy!

Perhaps the following will happen:

(a) Kyo will confess the past, tohru forgive, kyo relieved, they kiss or whatever (happy ending). This could happen but while I would be happy for them, I’d hate that kyo’s entire trauma goes away with a simple “ I forgive you/ I love you”. Trauma doesn’t have a button you magically shut down. Kyo must unload his burden first! open his lid, then deal with it. Also, How will kyoko’s last words fit here? Are they just kyo’s imagination? really? it seems so anti-climatic. Imagine living with kyoko’s words for two seasons only for it to be in kyo’s mind! I really need kyoko to have bigger role than simple imagination. She’s either a haunting ghost or a holy perfect mother, rarely a real human character. Also, I need to include Akito. In this happy version, Akito gets stopped by shigure or even yuki! .. possible but too light for all the buildup drama & endless cliffhangers! lol

(b) Kyo will confess the past, tohru won’t forgive, kyo hurts himself as he sees her pain (dark ending). This ending is too dark for both. kyo hearing tohru’s words of un-forgivness will echo what he himself believe in he should be. Then where is hope for him? T_T Tohru not being able to forgive is logical since her mom is her world, but it also further ties tohru to her mom. She’ll be stuck again remembering her mom’s tragic words & last moment. Also, tohru will loose another person she loves even more than her mom. Here Akito will interfere somehow. Perhaps tries to kill tohru, then kyo sacrifices himself saving her. I duno.. too dark for furuba! lol

Ok. I give up. Anything I think gets stopped by kyoko’s words. I need kyo to push tohru away cuz this is the only logical progression for his trauma! I refuse to believe that kyo’s trauma was pushed into the climax & was written to embody furuba’s most mature themes of guilt, self-forgiveness, repeated mistakes, depression & others only to be quickly solved. But, tohru’s own issues were quickly presented & addressed in one short ep so..... augh! I want to hope for more from tohru, but I duno.. her growth has been so inconsistent, & I’m tired of being disappointed.

Next ep could either become furuba’s best ep or the worst ever!!! & this scares me so much. 

Side Notes:

Kyo was repeatedly punished for his mistakes & faulty coping mechanism throughout the series, He is yet to be forgiven by someone or forgive himself. But he has been living the punishment of his own trauma.

Why is momiji still speaking German in the dub? I know his curse break is a secret, but He’s still holding on the facade of identifying with a rabbit in his burger, imitating his mom’s accent as he’s still so attached to her. I thought he let go of the past while bravery acknowledging it & moved on. Starting brighter, happier & with more hope. He isn’t still holding on to pain. He is looking forward now. =/

At first, i didnt recognize the room tohru & kyo are eating in! XD. It’s their living room, right? first time seeing it with all doors closed. weird.XD

Seeing Hiro’s curse break further reinforces that there is no logic on its breaking order. It just breaks. that’s all. If there is any reason behind it, then, momoji should be the first. He had always developed outside relationships with others way before tohru & not exclusive to her. Seeing as he has lots of friends playing with him. Also, he has always dealt with his own issues with level headed perspective, never too absorbed in sadness, never too self-focused, he never withdrew or lashed out. He never looked down on kyo, heck! I’ll argue that he even looked up to him!. hiro could've happened earlier too, as he was always protected from trauma & in a loving home, then yuki as he not only opened his lid but told akito in her face that he will forgive her & decided to never be by her side. His curse should have broken right on se02, ep25. You can place anyone afterwards. So, yeah, the curse just breaks, perhaps akito herself has a role as her insecurities increases. duno.

I dont care for the curse itself at all. As far as I’m concerned it is (a) fun gimmick, (b) analogy for abuse & trauma. The later is the core of furuba.

plz let next ep be well-done, well-written & well-direct. plz! T_T

[hela-avenger]

poison & wine- part 30

Author: hela-avenger

Word Count: 1522

Summary: Prince Loki of Asgard is in need of a date to take back home. That’s where you come in with a task of your own to make the whole trip with an insufferable prince worth it. Too bad that things don’t always go as planned and you end up giving more than you can take. Fake-Dating AU.

A/N:  I don’t know where this part came out from and it wasn’t what I intended but it did its job. I’m having a hard time trying to finish this story because I love it so much! Gah, next part will most likely be heartbreaking if I can make myself to write it. 

poison & wine masterlist

For the first time since the first night you spent together, you had managed to wake up before Loki. He always woke first having duties bound as a royal prince to manage but today was different. He was sleeping in and it allowed you the chance to truly look at him. Not as a God or a royal prince, but as the man who owned your heart. 

Loki looked younger in his sleep. Probably because every waking moment he spent it scowling and that aged him quite a bit. You refrain from laughing at the image in your mind as you return your gaze on him.  

His long raven hair was still nicely brushed back, not a single strand out of place, and you chalked it up to his abundance use of magic. 

Prince Loki of Asgard could never look unruly, not even in his sleep. 

You shift a bit closer to him allowing the closer perspective to reveal details you were unable to see from afar. 

His eyelashes were dark and long resting on the top of his cheeks and they fluttered as he woke. You can’t help but gasp at being caught only feeding Loki’s amusement as he smirked down at you.

Loki opens his mouth to speak but is unable to as persistent knocking comes from the bedroom doors. 

You’re not allowed a chance to get out of bed when the doors open to reveal your handmaidens led by a very determined Frigga. 

“We tried to stop her…” Datya begins to explain poorly. “...but she’s the Queen.” 

Loki and you scramble out of bed. You’re quick to grab your robe and place it on hoping to look decent enough.

“Mother, what are you…” 

“You missed lunch and dinner,” she interrupts. “You’ve also banned anyone from entering your room. You can’t avoid the world forever.” 

Her glare strays to you easing into a calming and sympathetic stare. 

“You can’t hide her here forever.” 

“He wasn’t hiding me,” you assure her. You glance over at him and he sighs unsure of what explanation could be offered since your reclusion. “We needed some time alone considering the abrupt news of our engagement.”

“Right,” Frigga answers, recalling your curious handmaidens’ attention were still on you. “Well, we have a long day ahead so we must get a move on.” 

With a clap of her hands, your handmaidens are quick to move to the closet. You watch as they pull your gowns and the rest of your belongings out.

“What’s going on?” Loki asks her. 

“There’s a celebration to be had,” Frigga answers. “Asgard hasn’t seen a royal engagement since… well, since your father and I were engaged. There is much to do in such a short amount of time.” 

Iana is quick to take a hold of you and starts to lead you out of the room. You shoot a look of alarm to Loki only to see him trying to refrain from laughing. You glare at him in response and he simply raises his hands in defense. 

“Get dressed, son,” Frigga chastises him. “We’ve got a busy day ahead.” 

Iana was working on your hair while Lynn and Datya argued about what dress you should wear. You couldn’t care less about the decision seeing as there were more pressing concerns in your mind. 

Your time spent with Loki had been stagnant. The usual charm and ease was replaced with coldness and stiffness. Loki had spent the rest of your time together trying to formulate a more detailed plan and you listened. 

All you did was listen to his voice as he raved on about his plan and the back-up plan and the plan that would follow after that one. 

He was detailed and very organized and with the passion he spoke, it just further solidified that Loki was not only going to be a great king but was already a great man. 

“What are you thinking about, dear?” Iana quietly asks you. 

“Hmm, oh,” you whisper, not having noticed Iana’s ever-watchful stare. “I well… would it be cliche to say I’m thinking about Loki?”

Iana cracks a small smile. 

“He has you very enamored.”

“Is it that obvious?” you ask with a laugh. 

“There is a certain youthful glow to a woman in love,” Iana answers as she pins your hair back. “It fits you quite nicely.” 

You smile in response not knowing what else you could do. You couldn’t confess your troubles to her. Your handmaidens had snitched on you to the Allfather reminding you that you were truly on your own here. 

Your only confidant had been blocked from seeing you as you got dressed and his mother had a lot of things to manage for the day of celebration that laid ahead of you. 

“Have you talked about your mortality issue yet?” Iana asks. “You mentioned before you hadn’t breached that topic with him yet.” 

You swallow at the question. 

You hadn’t thought of that when it came to him. He did promise he would be at your side for the centuries to come, but you couldn’t offer him the same. 

“No, uh… it's a bit of a grim topic to discuss,” you answer. “But I have a few centuries left and I’ll be more than happy to spend them with him.” 

Iana smiles tightly at your response and simply taps on your shoulders. 

“I’m done with your hair,” she tells you. “Lynn and Datya can help you get dressed. If it’s fine with you, I would like to aid the Allmother with the preparations.” 

“Yes, you’re dismissed,” you tell her. “I’ll see you at the festivities.” 

Iana bows her head before taking her leave. Her presence quickly being replaced by Lynn and Datya who finally settled on a dress. 

Your handmaidens had left a while ago having done their best work once again. You seem to glow even more than the first night they helped you get ready and you thanked them for their work again before being left on your own. 

For once, you weren’t being forced to wear another green gown to a royal event and yet you can’t help but miss them when you realized what Lynn and Datya had decided to choose. 

You stared at your reflection in the mirror unable to accept the image that welcomed you. 

You had so long ago foregone the thought of you in a white gown and yet here you were wearing one. 

The lacing and the white silk…

It was the dress of your dreams and you hadn’t even realized you even had such dreams to begin with. 

You were living some sort of twisted fairy tale.

 A royal wedding and a prince too, but the love within the tale was the true work of fiction. 

A knock on your door disrupts the dark turn your thoughts had strayed to shifting them into a new direction altogether. 

Loki. 

You take a deep breath and try to ease your fast pacing heart at the thought of your prince waiting for you right outside. You smooth down the skirt of your gown as the doors open to reveal Loki waiting for you. 

“Come, we must make a…” 

Loki doesn’t finish his sentence as he stares at you in speechless wonder.

“...You look radiant,” he stammers out. “Absolutely stunning.” 

You warm at his compliments and try to keep your mind grounded. 

“You were saying something?” 

“Right,” Loki nods at the reminder. “We have a quick stop to make before joining the celebrations.” 

He offers your arm for him to take and you happily take it. He starts to quickly lead you away from the banquet room into an unknown area of the palace. 

“Where are you taking me?” 

“It’s a surprise,” Loki answers. “A gift too.” 

“A gift?” 

Loki doesn’t offer an answer as he stops in front of a beautifully carved wooden door. He motions for you to open it and so you do. 

The door creaks as it slides open revealing a dimly lit office. The lights grow brighter as you step inside making you notice the array of maps and trinkets laying around. 

“What is this?” you ask, turning to Loki for an explanation. “What is all of this?” 

Loki offers you a small smile.

“It’s your father’s office,” he answers. “All of his belongings, his travel logs, his journals… They’re stored here.” 

“Loki…” you whisper unsure of what else to say. 

He simply smiles in response as you approach your father’s desk and start to look through the logs scattered around. 

“We’ve got a few minutes to spare before we have to make an appearance,” Loki tells you. “But take all the time that you need.” 

“I don’t even know where to begin in thanking you, Loki.” 

“You’re already doing it, Y/N,” Loki responds. “By being by my side through it all.” 

He brushes back a strand of your hair and leaves it resting on your cheek. 

“You deserve to get what you want too,” Loki whispers. “You deserve to get everything you wish for.” 

You smile up at him and the urge to kiss him intensifies with the way he’s looking at you in return. The previous tension was gone, returning you both to the peaceful tranquility that you had before the news of your engagement broke.

poison & wine tag: @damalseer @just-the-hiddles @jessiejunebug @nonsensicalobsessions @smollest-soybean @assassinoftheworld @readerbandit @doyoufeelikeayounggod @strangemcuvlogs @ha-tep @i-dont-know-eiither @gene-king @day-dreaming-fox @bn-studies @is-it-madness @devilbat @victor-criss-bish @skinny-macncheese @musicconversedance @baby-bunnyxn @fandoms-allovertheplace @marvelloonie @jinxjinxednova @queenmuahaha @accio-boys @eternalqueensworld @umlvk @roger-the-reindeer @punkrockhufflefluff @your-local-abyss @horsesandwolvesaremyanimals​ @rogerrhqpsody @imsad420@pandacookieowo @justnerdystuffs @hanoi15​ @oneprolificqueen​ @nikki-who-likes-coffee​ @fandomrelative​ @nikki419ninja​ @onedollarduck​ @help-i-need-a-social-life​ @ephemeraljade​ @catsladen @amwolowicz​ @captainmarvelnerd​ @thegirlbeyondtheuniverse​

Loki Tag: @unicorniorosacomefrutillas @thesilentbluesparrow @oddly-drawn-muse @josiehosiedaninja @hp-hogwartsexpress @sadwaywardkid @wolf-lover74 @sizzlingbarbarianglitter @sigyn-njorddottir @aoirohi​ @defunctcherrybomb​

All Works Tag: @jmb959 @astudyoftimeywimeystuff @hellocookiecutter @steve-rogers-personal-hell @buckybarnesyard @not-zari-tak @strangersstranger @thefridgeismybestie​ @moonlightprime

[alreadyblondenow]

King Taeyong | 3

Taeyong x ballerina!reader // SMUT, FLUFF, ANGST, fantasy!au Summary: You welcome back Taeyong in your life after he left you for almost a year. Maybe its because your feelings never left in the first place. Now that he’s back, he’s more transparent and honest with you. Promises over promises, is he going to keep his promises this time?  Word count: 5k Warnings: Unprotected sex, swearing, mentions of other idols, pairing of other idols but not too much, death of someone  Note: -The fantasy part is already here. I tried to keep it short and simple, didn’t want to overdo it.  -Imagine a Narnia kingdom setting hihi Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

Seeing Taeyong again after for so long was something you’re not looking forward to happen. Even though you imagined him coming back to you, now that its real you’re like a statue. You have million things to say to him but non came out in your mouth. You wanted to yell at him, curse at him but you can’t. It’s been a long time but what you feel for him never left.  

You made coffee for the both of you still trying to escape the gaze from Taeyong’s eyes.  Those beautiful eyes that will make you fall in love with him again any second. Those beautiful eyes you used to lock eyes with while he’s making love with you.

“Y/n, I’m sorry” he broke the silence but his voice was almost a whisper. It made your heart sink, suddenly you’re hurt again. Tears falling because you don’t know what he’s sorry for. Are you sorry because you went away? Are you sorry because you’re breaking up with me?

“But can you please, come with me?” he added. You were so confused because you thought he’s here for closure.  “Baby please, just please. I’ll explain later. ” the pet name gave you shivers, hearing him call you with fondness again makes your heart warm. Out of respect and curiosity, you grabbed any coat you could find. Putting the cupcakes to the fridge, and leaving a note to Jaehyun, ‘I went out with Taeyong.’

Seeing Taeyong with his two bodyguards Jungwoo and Lucas is something normal, but seeing more than two bodyguards in front of your apartment sure is not. You try to count them in mind and they were at least eighteen. Why does Taeyong has eighteen bodyguards today?

His bodyguards addressed him as “Your highness,” as if he’s really a king or someone from a royal family. “The car is at the back of the building” a man in black suit informed Taeyong without any expression. Just a stern look in Taeyong’s eyes. What is happening. Is this some kind of joke.

All is settled inside the car and you sit as far from him crossing your arms and biting your lip from time to time. He came closer to you touching your knee with full bravery but you moved it away. “I promise all will make sense later” he said, keeping his hands to himself not trying to touch you again. Everything thats happening right now looks like a joke to you, some sick prank.

“I missed you. so much” he started talking again, annoying you with his sweet gestures.  You still gave him the silent treatment that he deserves but deep inside you wanted him to know how much you missed him too. And that you waited for so long but he never came back.

Finally, the car stopped. When Taeyong opened the door, the light coming from the outside was weirdly different from your perspective. You got out of the car still squinting trying to recognise where on Earth did he take you.

Everywhere you look seems so foreign in your eyes, you’re positive that you’re not in your own country. Impossible, you cant believe what you’re seeing right now. Is this a dream? A castle is right in front of you, one that looks like it came from a storybook. Tall, wide and overwhelming for your eyes but nonetheless it welcomes you. Seeing people bow before Taeyong, convinced you that this might be a dream, or a nightmare because Taeyong is in it.

This cant be real.

When the two of you are finally alone in his so called office... in his kingdom, you wanted to wake up. Thinking about opening your eyes over and over again, forcing yourself to wake up. Seeing Taeyong in a dream hurts so bad it makes your heart heavy, you cant take it anymore.

“you’re not dreaming” Taeyong surprised you with a kiss being brave again. You slapped him in the face, hard. Your hand burns from the slap “it’s hurts right?” Taeyong asked, “That means you’re not dreaming”

No, it cant be. Taeyong? A king?

Everything that’s happening right now is like a big pill that’s hard to swallow. The moment you saw Taeyong on your doorstep, asking you to come with him, his kiss, the castle, is all too much and hard to believe. You asked Taeyong again what is this place but you get the same answer, “My kingdom.”

“Oh please Taeyong, not that bullshit again” you said hard and stern. He rolls his sleeves and let out a heavy sigh. He’s not forcing you to believe him but he wants you to believe on every word he’s about to tell you now. He clears his throat, and made you sit on the couch with him.

“I was away for a friend’s wedding. He’s a good friend of mine and I couldn’t miss his wedding” he breaths in and exhales sharply,  “the wedding was perfect and everyone was having a good time, until… someone shot the groom, my friend, Taemin, right before my eyes. His wife... died too” his steady voice is not so steady now, you see his hands shaking while telling you more of what happened and to be honest you dont know if you should believe it.

“It was a fucking massacre we should’ve known better. Johnny lost his girlfriend too” he reaches for your hand and smiled when you didn’t nudge. “I was thankful… Really thankful that you were far from me during that time. Many people died that night. A lot of kingdoms right now are facing big problems. My kingdom needed me y/n, thats why I couldnt go back to you.”

Feeling his touch again made you want to wake up more. Praying that you really wanted to open your eyes now. Too much, everything about this dream is too much. “Doyoung, Johnny and Yuta are now looking for the last assassin, and it’s in your world. We figured, its there to hurt me, to kill you” there was a moment of silence, he came closer to you, his lips touched yours again. You didn’t slapped him this time. His soft lips made you want to stay in this dream more, if this is a dream might as well drown in it.

You hugged him tight, you both fell on the floor with a loud thud. He chuckled but you see tears in his eyes, “look babe were on the floor again” you dried the tears on his eyes with your thumb and laughed with him. Suddenly happiness hits you like a truck again just like the day you met Taeyong for the first time. “Can I kiss you again?” this time its you who initiated the kiss, you kissed him deeply with love.

He asked you to changed your clothes so people in his kingdom wont think your clothes are weird. The maids picked a simple beige garden dress for you though It was kind of long for your liking but it was surprisingly lightweight and beautiful. In other words, you looked like a princess. Get it together y/n, you’re a ballerina for goodness sakes think of it as a costume.

The place looks exactly how fairytales described it. High ceilings painted with clouds and angels, open roof for the everyone to admire the beautiful sky, fresh breeze, people wearing fancy dresses, knights guarding every corner of the palace and Taeyong....looking like a prince fresh out of a story book. You wait at the big balcony watching the sun set in front of you almost looking like a painting. “Im sure you have a lot of questions” Taeyong interrupted your thoughts.

You scoffed, “Lee Taeyong, you have no idea”

“Im sure I can answer them all. Fire away”

“Well, you can start by telling me the truth and tell me stuff I need to know. Parents? Siblings? ....Allergies?” You shook your head, “personal stuff Taeyong”

He’s calm expression melts your heart, he’s always like that. You felt him kiss your exposed shoulders his arms encircled on your waist. “I’m still your Taeyong. Just add the word king” he let out a soft chuckle but you gave him a look telling him you’re serious. “Okay, tiger. chill” he hugged you tighter letting his warm breath hit the shell of your ear, “I lost my parents when I was 8 from the same assassins that killed my friend Taemin. I have a sister but she’s in your world living peacefully without any memory of this world. I dont have any allergies” he turned you around so you’re facing him, he missed being this close to you. He doesn’t say it but he’s so turned on right now, his gaze never leaving yours.

“In your world, you call my world... a fairytale. There is magic lurking in this world but nothing too crazy don’t worry. No harry potter type of situation.” He winks.

“I want you to meet someone very important to me, one of these days I’ll bring you to her. She’s someone special and she helped me shaped my life and with my duties as king” you nod silently.

Taeyong secretly worries about you, to be honest he worries for you and your mental state while living with him here in his kingdom. Is it really okay with you? Do you still see him as the Lee Taeyong as your number one fan and not as the highest king in this world?

“Y/n.. please be honest with with me. Dont hide what you really feel right now.”

“Baby. You were gone for almost a year, it was a lonely time for me. I appreciate your effort for explaining everything even though its too much. I’ll get there. I hope you understand that.” he nods changing the subject and showering your face with kisses.

“How are you?” Taeyong asked sweetly like how he usually do.

You let out a small laugh, and told him everything he missed. That you were devastated, sad and lonely when he was gone and that he missed the opportunity of meeting your parents during Christmas eve. “Im sorry. Im sorry for not being normal enough to make you happy and provide normal stuff-“

“Dont say that” you cut him off, “You’re more than enough for me Taeyong. Dont say stuff like that” he’s still guilty but you comfort him nonetheless you never want to feel sad anymore. Not now that you’re in each others arms again.

Taeyong prepared dinner for the both of you while you’re out roaming the castle grounds. He made a picnic style dinner setup at the balcony of his chambers making you comfortable on your first night here in his kingdom. “Yum!” you let out a groan out of excitement and told him you missed his cooking.

“You know, I planned to have my own bakery. I already took care of the loan and the bank will help me make my dreams come true” you sounded really excited while telling him what you’ve been up to while he was away. He was happy that you had everything under control and you made the planning all by yourself. “Actually I could help you out. Forget about the bank, I can help you. Let’s find a decent place for your bakery when we get back” Of course your super rich boyfriend will help you out because he loves you so much.

You knew Taeyong loves seeing you do what you love, and you know Taeyong offered help because this is his way of taking part in your life. Again. And you love him more for it. “Yeah. Lets do that” you accepted his offer with a smile, feeding him a potato chip with a mouthful of guac. Just how he liked it. “How about you Taeyongie, whats new?” you made him think hard. “Hmmm. Well, do you accept interns?” You laughed hard and loud your giggles echoed in his room.

“What Im serious! I can taste everything you make, clean tables, anything you like me to do” There’s the Taeyong that you know. The simple man with a great sense of humour that you fell in love with. Now that you’re talking about dreams, you confidently told him about the life you wanted to build with him when all this is over, telling him you cant wait to go back and be with him again.

“If you’re going to marry me someday. I want a baby girl... now, I know you need a prince as an heir....” Taeyong laughed so loud enough for the whole castle to hear. Brave of you to tell him that you want kids in the future.

“But I want to have my own mini me. And maybe if we get lucky, you can have your own mini you” you continued and Taeyong is still laughing.

“I’ll help you buy our house when I save enough from the bakery. We will make love from sun up until sun down. Never ending happy mornings with you. Tie my hair until we grow old and everything in between, I just want to be with you until I die” Even though it made Taeyong laugh so hard, he can’t help but have butterflies in his stomach the whole time you were talking. He wanted the same thing too.

“I promise. We will have a normal life.” he kissed you to seal his promise.

After dinner you took a shower in Taeyong’s garden bathroom. Never getting used to what this castle can do, it really surprised you how a bathroom can be so magical. Taeyong’s bathroom smells like fresh flowers everywhere, maybe thats why Taeyong smells good all the time. It feels good to be in Taeyong’s comfortable clothes again. He gave you his favorite sweater and a pair of comfortable sweatpants. You only wore the sweater and underwear, not bothering to wear sweatpants.

As you got out of the bathroom you see Taeyong laying in bed with a book on his hand, topless and flashing his wide broad shoulders. You remember nights at your apartment when he waits for you in bed while he’s playing games on his phone. He looks so handsome. You crawl towards him feeling his soft bed and snuggles beside him comfortably. “Finally. Some alone time with you” he kisses you softly, carefully nibbling your neck and slowly tugging the sweater that he gave you as if he’s testing waters.

You were impatient so you removed it already showing off your breast to him. He gently kisses your body marking it like how he used to. His touch and kisses are still the same you thought. Oh how you missed this feeling. You crave for Taeyong and he can see that you’re eager “Slow down baby. We have all night” he says while drawing small circles on your thigh. It makes you crazy how he’s taking time with you and how he slowly devours your skin while you crave for him entirely.

He quickly switched positions with you, now kissing your lips slowly going down to face your pussy. Gently spreading your legs in front of him, you let out a gasp and a choked  moan when Taeyong blows cold air at your slit, making you shiver. He smiles at you before he finally licks your pussy, slow and deep. His tongue starts from the bottom slowly goes up to your clit and gently kiss it. Catching your first orgasm for the night, Taeyong overstimulates you while you ride your high. Your moans are load and sharp he cant help but smirk and feel proud of his work.

“Baby are you planning to wake up the whole castle?” leaving wet kisses on your left breast and bites your nipple.

“Babe just fuck me already” you beg, feeling his hands kneading your breast, playing with your nipples with his thumb. You’re so focused on what he’s doing with your breast, you didn’t notice he’s spreading your legs wide for him preparing you before he finally fucks you. Without warning he inserts two fingers already to stretched your cunt. You yelped and tried to grasp anything from bed, you feel like your energy was slowly fading until you surrender in his touch. He chuckled.

This is not funny Taeyong. “Lee Taeyong im almost the-“ you warn him but he lets you cum on his fingers. You whisper sweet words to him expressing how much you missed him and it made the sexual tension more intense. Lining his cock on your pussy, coating it with your essence and slowly he gets deeper and deeper inside you. It feels so good. He fucks in slow pace, taking his time before going faster. You let out a string of moans, encircling your arms on his neck feeling his back muscles.

Slow, fast, deep and sharp thrust. He’s taking his time, fighting his urge to cum before you. Little did he know you cant take it anymore, you’ve cum so many times when he was fucking you slow. You tried pushing him away but you’re too weak. Taeyong fucked you again and again until you don’t respond to him and he let’s you sleep. He took care of you before joining you, made sure you’re clean. “I love you y/n” he whispers before sleeping beside you.

Taeyong slept like a baby beside you. It was his first time getting a good sleep from months of longing you. Telling himself he will never let anything come between the two of you ever again.

And it went on like this for days, weeks, even months while you’re stay in his kingdom. You became used to the castle grounds already, roaming around as if you’ve live there for a long time. On your way to Taeyong’s office, you see Taeyong with a beautiful woman almost your age wearing a beautiful dress, she has gorgeous long straight blonde hair and her skin is as fair as Taeyong’s. You got jealous for a second but maybe he’s Taeyong’s cousin or whatever.

Taeyong saw you and quickly introduced you to the beautiful princess in front of you.

“Y/n, this is Sorn. My fiancé”

Your what Lee Taeyong?

You gave him a look. A look thats saying you’re confused, mad and at the same time you want to punch him. Then you remembered the time when Jaehyun introduced himself as your future husband, you think this is his way of getting even. But he wasn’t kidding at all.

“Arranged marriage when we were both still young. I hope you understand” the princess speaks and reached out a hand full of sparkling rings. You wonder which ring Taeyong gave her. You didnt have a choice but to be nice.

Taeyong and Sorn are now talking inside his office about some royalty shit you thought and you can’t help but sulk. Yuta noticed that you’re bothered by the thought of Taeyong having a fiancé, hoping he could help you feel better he explains the situation further.

“Don’t worry y/n, it’s only for formality. This royalty shit is crazy and Taeyong needs a “queen” to rule here so he can be with you from time to time in your world” you thought that the idea was fucked up. “What was he thinking?” You almost shout but Yuta laughs at you.  “I told you. This royalty shit is crazy. A lot of sacrifices needs to be done”

“I love her y/n” Yuta finally confess. “To protect this world. To protect my kingdom, I have to let go of Sorn” your heart aches for what Yuta just told you. How can the world of royalties can be so cruel to good people?

Yuta and Sorn were young and in love for as long as they can remember. So deeply in love, that they plan to help each other’s kingdoms by marriage someday. But Sorn’s family faced problems and they needed help immediately, so the royal court’s decision is to arrange her for marriage. The royal court is so obsessed with finding Taeyong a queen and they saw Sorn as a good opportunity. “Duty before self” Yuta explained.

“Why didn’t you volunteer your kingdom? Is that too selfish?” You asked, trying not to sound rude.

“My kingdom is not that rich to solve her kingdom’s money problems. Thats why I’ve been  saving money in your world and be as rich as possible. That’s how I help my father with being king for now “

You cant believe this tragic love story that you’re hearing from Yuta. Just the thought of it makes you scared, that even though two people deeply love each other if fate is not in their favor, you can’t do something about it. Feeling bad about oversharing his feelings, Yuta told you not to worry, for Taeyong loves you so much and his kingdom equally.

You didn’t notice that you fell asleep while waiting for Taeyong to join you in bed. You felt soft kisses on your cheek, Taeyong waking you up in the middle of the night. Softly stroking your hair telling you to shush and follow him. Guiding you as you follow him to dark places that you’re not familiar with, you finally arrived to where he’s taking you.

You squint a little, seeing candles lit up, different flowers scattered on the floor, you’ve guessed you’re walking on an aisle with Taeyong. Doyoung, Yuta, Johnny and....a priest is waiting at the end of the aisle. Gasping as you realised, you’re about to get married.

“I was actually going to ask you to marry me over dinner tonight but-“ you cut him off and kissed him. “I’ll marry you.” You sad with a smile and hugged him tight. Crying tears of joy already.

You both proceed to this secret wedding that he organised. It was simple, just like you’ve always wanted. Genuine like him and sincere like his love. Taeyong promised to give you a proper wedding when you both get back to your world, but you told him you wouldn’t trade this wedding for anything.

Doyoung, Yuta and Johnny are happy for the both of you. They’ve seen Taeyong suffer enough without you and they all think that you both deserve to be happy. The three princes congratulates the both of you and telling them they’re more than happy seeing their Taeyongie marry happily someone he loves.

“Just dont be too loud fucking tonight or the castle will know somethings up” Johnny jokes making Taeyong punch him on his arm.

You spend your honeymoon enjoying the cold breeze around the palace. Sitting on the grass while watching how the castle turn yellow because of the soft sunrise. Taeyong got you beautiful flowers from his garden, tying it in a perfect knot making a small bouquet. He told you that the last assassin is dead and finally you can go back to the human world.

Just like the sunrise, you watch Taeyong be happy beside you. Remembering every detail of this beautiful moment. He noticed you were staring at him for a while now and he cant help but make you laugh by showing his wedding ring. Reminding you that he’s your husband from now on. Taeyong completely changed your life.

It was almost afternoon when you finally wake up from your sleep and still couldn’t believe that you’re married to this handsome guy kissing you. For the second time, Lee Taeyong is waking you up from your beautiful sleep by kissing you until you acknowledge him. “Lee Taeyong what do you want?” You asked him forcing yourself to open your eyes.

“Good morning... wife” and that alone made you smile. Taeyong thought your smile was so bright but it never hurts his eyes.

“I need you to meet someone important today” he’s now kissing your neck. Seriously this guy. “Last three days before you leave this kingdom by the way” he chuckled. “Everything will go back to normal once we go back. I promise.” He gave you one good kiss before leaving to prepare for breakfast.

He told you that you’re meeting the kingdom’s witch, a nice witch who helped him to be the king that he is.  “Ruby is like my secret weapon. She warns me and gives me knowledge with all the decisions that I make for the kingdom.”

Ruby is a witch that tells Taeyong what the future holds for his kingdom. She never tells what will happen entirely. She didn’t want to ruin the natural order of the universe, she can only warn his king and give him choices to make good decisions.

When you arrived at where you believed Ruby lives, a pond inside a cave, you thought that maybe Ruby likes fishing. You peeked at how deep the pond is and you see coins and, random things under the water that are all solid gold.

“Anything you throw in this pond turns into solid gold” he winks after he explains.

You saw the water shine as Ruby comes out of the pond with all her glory turn into this gorgeous human in front of you. From being a mermaid with golden fishtail. A mermaid witch, you thought. And she is naked in front of your husband with only her golden hair covering her boobs. Wow.

“Y/n, this is Ruby.” Taeyong broke the silence. When Ruby took a step further out from the water, she turned in a much decent human, “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you y/n. Congratulations.” She smiled sweetly to you.

Ruby was nice to you and she offered to read your future. You didn’t want Ruby to show you your future to be honest, but you did it for Taeyong. She asked for your hand, holding it while she looks directly in your eyes. You saw what she saw. And there’s no need to tell Taeyong about it. You both giggle like little girls after you both saw your future, leaving Taeyong really curious.

In the future that Ruby showed you, you will have a little girl. And you will live like how he always promised for the both of you. Its pure happiness. “Thank you Ruby. It really means a lot” you told her with sincerity.

But little did you know, Ruby just showed you the future that you wanted to see. Not showing you your true future. She asked to speak to Taeyong privately and you respectfully left them talking.

Ruby did the same thing to Taeyong, but without the filter.  She showed Taeyong the challenges and pain he will put you through if he continue this married life with you.  “Your highness, Im afraid you’re not going to be the father of the child” Ruby showed Taeyong what you saw in her eyes earlier. It made him smile but he felt a pang of pain at the same time.

“Don’t get me wrong your highness, the child will come from you. But you will not be present as her father in her life.” Taeyong was confused. Ruby continued showing him more, and his world crashed. His heart feels heavy, he feels broken than ever. Taeyong is scared to the bone right now, but he trusts Ruby with his life and he is positive that Ruby wants what’s best for the kingdom and him.

Taeyong saw how his kingdom suffered from a famine while he was away from the kingdom living his life with you in the human world. He will have no other choice but to leave you again for the kingdom needs him. The famine will last for a year, and your pregnancy will not be the healthiest. You will lose the child and it will drive you to killing yourself. He saw how Doyoung told him the news that you passed away and it made him crazy. Taeyong turned into a mad king and the whole kingdom suffered in other words.

“Your highness now I ask of you.... to do the same thing as we did to your sister and prevent everything whats about to happen. We will create a life for y/n, a beautiful life without you in it” Ruby explains with a heavy heart.

Taeyeon. Taeyong’s sister is living well in the human world without any memory of the kingdom. Taeyeon was with their parents when they were killed and the incident traumatised her. To save her from being crazy, they gave her a potion for forgetting everything about the incident, the kingdom, Taeyong, everything.

Taeyong didn’t have much choice. He didn’t want to hurt you and kill yourself that will indeed make him crazy for good. Although its wrong for him to decide on his own, he still agreed to Ruby. He told her all about your dreams, the normal life you long with him, and the bakery you wanted to be successful with.

“I want her - I want her to have a peaceful life when she wakes up. A life without sadness, make sure she’s never alone or lonely. Be sure to never let her give up dancing because she loves her craft so much. Let her explore new things” Taeyong sniffs and continues to instruct Ruby. “She wants a bakery, let it be so successful customers will always buy every masterpiece she bakes. Please let her be with someone who truly loves her the same way I will.”

It really hurts him to pass you on to someone, it breaks his heart thinking of another man having you. “Please let that man be Jaehyun” he could only trust you with Jaehyun. Ruby hands the potion to Taeyong with a heavy heart. “I know you just got married. I’m sorry my king”

Your husband cant look you in the eye right now, but he stayed brave and put the small bottle in his pocket. “I’m still curious on what she showed you babe” Taeyong said, faking a smile. You let out a loud laugh without knowing what he really feels.

“Oh its a secret” you told him with a big mocking smile.

“I love you, y/n” he smiles ever so sweetly before your eyes.

Noticing his beautiful rose scar, and gently stroking it with your thumb. “I love you too, Lee Taeyong.”

[heat0death0of0the0universe]

i gotta talk about Narrative Telephone

I. Fucking. Love. It.

when my extreme dislike of second-hand embarrassment takes a loud backseat i can fin so much that i love about it. 

but what i love most isn't the humor. or even the continued critical role content. no, i love the allegory and the metaphor of the whole concept. 

all my life i loved the concept of watching time move forward. seeing evolution, hearing language change, watching cultures rise and fall. but what i dont like is time and the fact that im along for the ride. id rather watch evolution, not be step 48801 of a process with no end. and sadly most media and general public doesn't like watching time change. no one wants too see how the English language evolves with a rise in Spanish speaking folks and pop culture creating new idioms and words. everyone would much rather watch something with the same animals with the same people walking the same cities speaking the same language, albeit maybe with a few more neon lights and holograms to make you feel like its in some vague ~future~. but narrative telephone gives me the change i like to see. i can finally feel like im watching a story going through the times and changes of a culture.

im gonna need to explain a little more. what better way than to show off all the current episodes.

episode one is simple, pumat and the big bad wolf. the sorry starts with pumat on a stroll through the woods. he finds a talking wolf and they fight. the story ends with the pumat eating a nice mushroom and wolf stew. but the changes to the story are what get to me. i love ashley, trust me i really do. but in this context, she’s basically the dark ages. everything crumbles and the story follows in the crash. this point is when the more brothers grimm tales and nonsense folklore are added in. people dont like the night, so the seen changes to match. suddenly the wolf not only speaks, but has a beak! the fighting through being somewhat vague in the original story now is lost to time and is none existent. taliesin builds off it, changing it ever so slightly from a garbled to a more of a warning story. a story that reflects a change in a cultures thoughts on the woods. when everything was all writings and giant building the woods where just a place to rule over and harvest, but after the fall now its returned to the unexplored. the place of fey and monsters that should never be explored at night. marisha adds winter and gives it just the smallest bit of added context. a man in the woods during night before might have been seen as mad or crazy, but a man scrounging for some mushrooms in a dead forest in winter isnt tempting fate, he’s struggling to live. a shift in view also makes it so that the beaked magic wolf is just as weakened by the winter, and is easily turned away by just a voice. sam is..something. if ashley is the dark ages than id say sam is like a renaissance. specifically a very drunk renaissance. the kingdom was risen and is filled with hubris and pride.its gained a very “man falls for his hubris” greek vibe to it.  pumat has gone from scavenging to walking unbothered by cold dead winter. the kingdom has lost its enjoyment of strange creatures, monsters are still around in legend, but most have been replaced with magical people, with a clear rise in “person in an animals skin” tropes. the original fight has been mostly lost, now the story is that of a magic hunter who eyes the mushrooms taken by pumat and gives a chuckle and permission to continue exploring the woods unimpeded. pumat eats just the mushrooms, which now have gained the lupine taste, and the vague description of “he became something more” giving the idea of some sort of curse for his nature. Laura has added back the wolfs anger, but removed the suspicion of pumat. the curse is still in the end of the story though. this could be a change into more of a forbidden fruit trope. because pumat still trusted strange mushrooms in a dead forest with a magic guardian, he paid the price. travis is a sort of close to modernization of the story. its the point in time when its nonsensical nature and magic was viewed as weird and convoluted.  similar to when we look at older myths with long intricate plans and think “nice story, but poor pacing”. liam goes for the “granddad telling stories by the fire” vibe. the tale has died down and is being co-opted for new use. now the rather dark tale has turned into more of a children's storybook with messages like not to trust strangers and to not do drugs being tagged on. 

ep. 2: jesters ability to say 1000 words a second. pickadors plume is a story in a story. a story about gaining a treasure through a complex and detailed series of events  with lots of loaded lore about the world with no clear description of what the treasure truly is. liam is the first few generations. the generation close enough to the original to try and remember, but not enough to keep every detail. the best example is of the ending, where the treasure should be. humans love rewards, so a story with a vague reward isnt enough for people. in liams generation transition to the griffon, travel, and fruit specifically being the treasure begins to lay its foundations. since this is already so long i will also mention that the transition from stone shaped like a heart ---to----> stone shaped like a hut could be an example of a changing dialect and language. sam, travis, and marisha are clear evidence of a shift in culture. jesters complete backstory wasnt introduced till now. and in it comes the cultures want to explain this event. humans love simplifying, but we also love to describe things. if we want to, we will add words just as much as we remove them. the dialect changes just as much. the new word of “schtupping." has either replaced or become a synonym of the word fucking, the name of the plum as even changed too. the treasure has gone from “lost to time” to “there is treasure, i just wont name it”. but fret not, for the mystery aspect is still in the story. for now everything will disappear like it never happened, or did it? though travis specifically specifies that you keep the treasure. humans love rewards, it was gonna come back eventually. matt is the sorta an enlightening moment in the society. at the very least its the point in time where people who know geography and history say “wait, that layout doesnt make any sense”. taelisan and ashley are the beginning of the end. the slow fall into the dark ages. the story becomes vague and small. slowly becoming more of a statement and less of a story. the society is forgetting large chunks and its bleeding out into other legends. there maybe a sort of thanksgiving/ christmas sort of event spawned from or because of the myth, but the story itself isnt going to live every far (hence why its ending in a dark age and not somewhen else)

Ep. 3: boy do humans enjoy rich’s, love, and drama. sam’s story comes from a society that warns against wanting what you wish for without expecting some strings attached and features a evil ruler to boot, just so they can date the legend. the story of a delivery boy who invents a pair of glasses to see through objects and uses them to win rewards and gives them all to a rich woman that only loves him for the money, and really loves the prince. matt changes the story so the two are already in love. but also changed it so that it was the greed of the prince and the wife that lead to the heartbreak rather than the delivery boys naivety. travis changes delivery boy from a clever inventor to just already owning the glasses. both matt and travis with there respective fictional cultures are showing how humans like to remember the stuff they liked in a story, so when they forget when something specifically came in, they just fill in the blank and assume its always been there. travis specificaly begins the stories slow march to a less heartbreaking story by adding a joke to help give the couple a more flushed out relationship. this is also the shift in cultural perspective. the antagonist began his life as a evil prince, but now is simply a rotten neighbor. this could mean the myth was co-opted to fit a better role, possibly after the removal of monarchy or just of a specific bloodline.the rich wife becomes just the wife, no money involved. this is also the beginning of what a full fledged re-write of the story. now the delivery man has gone from giving up to still being in love with the wife and now even standing up for himself. (possibly a mix of when the story was of a prince and used to promote the common folk to rise up against the kings, leading to the theory of a removal of the crown). ashely...oh ashely. this moment in history atleast solidifies the love between them, and even brings back delivery husbands inventor skills. liam is the slow clawing climb back up out of the collapse. he’s still very much in the collapse of the kingdom. but aleast its just before when begin to solidify into the new meta of the era. laura and taelisin’s era is a complete re-write after the collapse of the society. the focus has moved to more of a folk-hero style legend about rising above through theft and cheating (could mean that after the collapse the culture around theft changed from crime to fighting to survive. the antagonist has really changed from being the bad guy to just in the love triangle. the society seems to agree with every polyamourous person when we all say “this how drama triangle could have been avoided if you guys all just got together”. marisha’s only real change a more modernization from “specticals” to “goggles” and that the culture either wants to make half-orcs feel more inclusive or just really dont like goliaths and changed it. 

ep. 4: deargodfinallyigottheneedtowritethisoutofmysystemsoletsspeedrunthisshit. liams story is an analogy for the horrors, pointlessness, and sacrifics of war. but over time the story shifts from a “we did this to ourselves” narrative to a “an outside force did this to use”. this shifts the goal from a need for peace to a need to protect everyone for the sake of the many. ill write more later but dear god i my hand might fall off soon

[edwad]

Based on your response to the comment regarding the use of Althusserian concepts; would you say a revolutionary process necessarily involves conscious elements? And are there other concepts of the state that you prefer over the instrumental view of the state?

i guess my argument would be that, even outside of revolutionary scenarios, the traditional understanding of class tends emphasize consciousness in a peculiar (and moralistic way), which is to treat The Capitalists (bad guys) as extremely aware of what’s actually going on while The Workers (good guys) suffer from “false consciousness” (overstated in the secondary literature, compared to its relative non-existence in the primary sources. engels used the term like, Once). the problem then is about whipping up proletarian consciousness (often assumed to be somehow automatically revolutionary after that has been done) against the deliberate attempts by capital (understood here as a group of people) to obscure the realities of the system. althusser’s work is an elaboration on this view.

marx, however, had a completely different approach, which is to focus on the way that capital (now appropriately understood as an “automatic subject”, as a self-moving substance with its own logic) obscures itself. in the unfolding of capital’s categories, marx shows how the money-form covers the tracks of the law of value’s operation at a higher level of abstraction so that there appears to be a contradiction between the “theories” of value and money, when in reality the paradox is immanent to the system and not a matter of conflicting understandings (the common criticism that marx contradicts himself between value and money, value and price, etc stems from this confusion). 

what this means is that the concepts are generative of multiple understandings of the concepts themselves, and that these appear contradictory so that these conceptions are often developed into one-sided theories of political economy. this is why marxs project takes the form of a genealogical critique of political economy, which requires interrogating the social forms in order to understand why they appear the way that they do, and why they, bearing the function of social mediation, determine our actions in such a way as to produce and reproduce everyday life, i.e. capitalism, thereby naturalizing it. 

this involves an implicit theory of knowledge and necessarily has huge ramifications for how we can understand the development and limitation of class consciousness, because the object under investigation presents itself in a distorted manner. as marx says, 

“Reflection on the forms of human life, hence also scientific analysis of those forms, takes a course directly opposite to their real development. Reflection begins post festum, and therefore with the results of the process of development ready to hand. The forms which stamp products as commodities and which are therefore the preliminary requirements for the circulation of commodities, already possess the fixed quality of natural forms of social life before man seeks to give an account, not of their historical character, for in his eyes they are immutable, but of their content and meaning. Consequently, it was solely the analysis of the prices of commodities which led to the determination of the magnitude of value, and solely the common expression of all commodities in money which led to the establishment of their character as values. It is however precisely this finished form of the world of commodities - the money form - which conceals the social character of private labour and the social relations between the individual workers, by making those relations appear as relations between material objects, instead of revealing them plainly. If I state that coats or boots stand in a relation to linen because the latter is the universal incarnation of abstract human labour, the absurdity of the statement is self-evident. Nevertheless, when the producers of coats and boots bring these commodities into a relation with linen, or with gold or silver (and this makes no difference here), as the universal equivalent, the relation between their own private labour and the collective labour of society appears to them in exactly this absurd form. 

The categories of bourgeois economics consist precisely of forms of this kind. They are forms of thought which are socially valid, and therefore objective [my emphasis], for the relations of production belonging to this historically determined mode of social production, i.e. commodity production. The whole mystery of commodities, all the magic and necromancy that surrounds the products of labour on the basis of commodity production, vanishes therefore as soon as we come to other forms of production.” [v1: p168-9, penguin ed.]

all of this is to say that the existence of a class unconsciousness does not require a class of evil puppeteers working behind the scenes to obscure the real functioning of the capitalist mode of production; the system generates its own obscuration independently of social actors and, as marx says, involves “a social process that goes on behind the backs of the producers” [v1: p135], which also necessarily applies to the capitalists themselves. all of this is why fetishism is so important to marx, and runs throughout the 3 volumes of capital, explicitly reappearing at the end of v3 when marx tackles the trinity formula. it is only after this is explained that marx closes the chapter on “the revenue and its sources” [part 7 in engels’ edition, divided into smaller chapters] with what we now have as a fragment of the final “chapter” of the three volumes of capital: “classes”. 

i dont think this ordering of the sections is an accident, as the elaboration on classes could only come after the clarification of the fetish-forms of the trinity formula, which necessarily complicates the notion of a class of omniscient agents directly overseeing and controlling society, and which also affirms the existence of “the three great classes of modern society based on the capitalist mode of production” [v3: p1025, penguin ed.], contrary to the earlier position developed at the beginning of the communist manifesto where he says that the bourgeois epoch has “simplified class antagonisms”, with the increasing reduction “into two great hostile camps, into two great classes directly facing each other — Bourgeoisie and Proletariat”, which is generally the starting point for most marxist perspectives on class struggle in capitalism. 

an alternative theorization/critique of the capitalist state (and with it, the theory of knowledge as it relates to the development of consciousness) would deal with the historically specific nature of capitalist social relations, especially the distinct form of impersonal domination where political and economic rule are divorced from one another in a way that differentiates bourgeois society from others, such as feudalism, where the serf stood in relation to the landlord as the former’s direct political-economic ruler. under capitalism, however, your employer at a retail establishment does not hold direct political power over you, just as the state which you must otherwise obey does not directly control whether or not you may quit your job in retail and move to some other industry. this is the sense in which the onslaught of capital involves the dual constitution of the “free laborer” and “legal subject”, with the former involving the historical “freeing” of labor from the land (and the corresponding freedom to starve to death if one does not submit to wage-labor), while our equivalence as legal subjects in labor contracts is dealt with by marx in a single sentence: “Between equal rights, force decides.” [v1, p344] 

obviously, if we were politically and economically ruled by capitalists in a direct way like that which characterizes feudalism, and which is suggested by the instrumentalist conception of the state, this separation would not need to exist (although the conspiracy theorist’s rendering of the theory would be that this separation is an intentionally illusory one meant to make us feel as if we are free, even though this is, as i already suggested, something generated by the system itself regardless of any class malevolence). any critique of the state worth paying attention to must be able to grapple with all of this, and i think the best starting point would be the work of legal scholars like pashukanis and the german state derivation debates beginning in the 1970s, as well as some more recent elaborations by those associated with the “open marxist” tradition (holloway, clarke, bonefeld, etc). 

[cozycryptidcorner]

Here is a match for a remarkable anonymous user! 

“Can I get a monster match? Im studying to be a masseuse & a physiologist. I dont live out in the country but Id love to one day. Im an INFP & spend too much time reading & sleeping. I also read Tarot & use Runes (o^^o)”

You’ve been matched with an Ondonti! The Ondontis are a subrace of orcs, a peaceful, magic-using people made up of several different tribes. Using their magic to kill or otherwise harm another living being is considered a horrible offense, so unless the creature was incurably insane or already dead, there would be no use of magic against it. There is an unfortunate element to always remaining pacifists, however, because that makes them rather easy targets to those who don’t share the same peaceful perspective on life. The Zhents are the ones who took advantage of the Ondontis’ softer nature, and thus began an unfortunate period of trading them as slaves.

Your Ondonti was old enough to remember what being free was like when he was captured, but still young enough to internalize much of the Zhents brainwashing and beatings. Even though his people were held against their will, they still refuse to use their magic to avenge themselves and harm others, and your Ondonti is no different. Considering the fact that his people are less likely to plan and execute a full-scale rebellion, they don’t get as much supervision during work. Sure, it might be a good deal from the outside, but they’re all still slaves, so it’s not all that great.

Due to the physical strength of the Ondontis, they’re able to manage the demanding requirements for construction with relative ease. That’s where your Ondonti spent most of his life, working with stone and wood to create temples and places of worship for the Zhent priests. Since his people’s skills are easy to recognize, even by those who believe they are lesser beings, they often get shuttled from place to place within the reaches of the Zhents. While he might not plan the overarching building, as that is an architect’s job, he does manage to create miracles within the smaller details, though gets no credit. He supposes that it’s just as well, though, because at least if the building fails, then none of the blame gets put on a lowly slave.

Your Ondonti, like the rest of his kind, has dusty green skin, his arms, back, and legs all covered in various scars, most of them from beatings he won’t ever forget. His thick, black hair is long, as his captures don’t much care in what he does with his appearance so long as it has nothing to do with rebellion, and it’s usually done with several small braids trailing past either side of his neck. Though he would say that his eyes aren’t anything special, most would beg to differ on that subject, as their soft, smelted golden tinge almost makes it look like the coal of his pupils are glowing. You wouldn’t lie, getting lost in them is something else. Oh, and he’s tall, which isn’t all that unusual for an orc, but still, there’s just something about him that demands to be looked at.

He spends most of his time in the city, entirely overwhelmed by the amount of work that is expected of him in such a short amount of time. As much as he works hard, there is only so much a person is capable of finishing, given the tight deadlines, so he is often subject to harsh punishments. Despite his talent, he receives no special privileges apart from the other slaves, as he is still considered a ‘lower species,’ and therefore is not worth respecting. He would never let on how much that burns, especially not to the masters, and not even to the other slaves. While a part of him dies with every thankless piece he makes, he still tries to find the good in his life; otherwise, he might drown in depression.

You met him while you were out selling basic magic wares, potions for simple things like sparkling eyes, a touch of luck, or adding dazzle to any smile, as well as tarot readings for anyone who would want it. Even though you knew he was a slave, you still offered him your wares; after all, he might mention them to whatever wealthy sack of useless garbage who owns him, and then you might pull in a decent profit. His eyes were sad, though, and full of melancholy, and that was enough for you to offer him a free reading to get on his good side.

The first time you offered, he refused on the basis that he didn’t need one, that he understood what his future held. But you didn’t give up, after all, you’ve seen him out on the streets before, you knew that you would see him again. And lo and behold, barely a few days later, you did, his large frame lumbering over to a merchant’s guild that specializes in building material, accompanied by what must have been his master. You didn’t know what you were doing at the time, after all, leaving your things unattended with your street urchin assistant wouldn’t exactly be considered wise, but you duck underneath the doorframe and slowly follow them. Close enough that someone might think you were a part of the group, but far enough to not arouse suspicion from the people in question.

Your Ondonti seemed to realize that you were on his tail, despite your not so graceful attempts at being stealthy, but didn’t let anyone else become aware of that little secret. Only when you managed to catch him alone in the hallway did he let out any hasty protests at your spying. You were staunch in your stance, though, making yourself stand tall (though that didn’t really make a difference given his height), and, offering him a sweet smile, you asked him to humor you in doing his reading. Perhaps you were also so relentless due to selfish reasons, as you were sensing something coming off of him in waves. Magic-y stuff, something you can’t really explain to anyone else.

You did the reading rather quickly, eye on the door where his master was negotiating with the merchants, coming up with three fascinating cards. Briefly, because the meeting seemed to be wrapping up, you tried to give him the overview as quickly as possible. Reverse emperor, justice, and the lovers, but as he was unfamiliar with your craft, and you didn’t have too much time to explain since that was the moment you heard footsteps.

Hastily, because you knew he would be punished and whatever might happen to you wouldn’t be awesome, either, you dodged, half tiptoeing, half running out of the building before you even realized that you never got your cards back. Which, ok, that was seriously disappointing, and while you might be able to continue giving readings, there would be a feeling of something missing throughout. But, another part of you is positively stoked to see him again, because if you perceived him right, he’s the type to run through sleet, snow, and hail just to make sure someone gets their belongings back.

And you were absolutely right, because just a few days later, there he was, lumbering over to where your shabby little blanket was with its little glass vials of potions laid out for anyone to look over. He offered some mumbling apologies, though you were quick to cut him off, because really, what did he have to apologize for? It’s not really his fault you decided to go covert to try to get to know him better. He seemed taken aback, mainly, because you are one of the first people outside his own species that appeared to take into account for your actions, and how they might negatively affect him, a slave. But he couldn’t claim to dislike it, not at all

He returned your cards, and you managed to give him a bit more information than where you left off. While he did seem a bit interested, you can see that he wasn’t planning on pursuing it any further. But he also came back a couple of days later, seemingly just because he wanted to exchange a few words with you. You didn’t think much of it at first, but then it became a habit. He would come, offer up a few, solitary words of greeting and small talk, and then leave, without going to any other stall in the marketplace. It’s cute, you decided, finding yourself looking at the sea of heads in the hopes you might pick him out of the crowd.

[synthaphone]

i’ll give characters arbitrary limitations for semi-realism in some places but then like, not in other places, based entirely on personal whims, and im not sure how viable that actually is as far as world building goes

like, half the stuff i have about how Viarnne works was the result of me thinking about what it would be like to be a person’s consciousness in a kind of limited robot shell, and the other half is “faerie magic, because i dont want THAT many limitations”

like, he has some amount of cartoon logic- arms that are more flexible and poseable than they should logically be, his face is almost never actually drawn how it would look in perspective and sometimes the features float off of it, his antenna can pretty much just do whatever i think looks good and helps him emote, he can see and hear without me explaining where he’d have cameras, or whether he can see with the eyes on his screen face closed (right now im gonna say he cant, because Faerie Magic), he probably is just gonna keep having a megaman nonsense blaster

but then there’s stuff about him like- i know his arms ARE attached to him, so like, they could be pulled off. he does need to sleep, because i felt like it would be too existentially horrifying to be eternally conscious and even a consciousness outside of a physical body would need rest.

faerie magic should be an decent excuse for me to give him spatial awareness, but i decided early on that he cant feel anything except his arms- because those can nonsensically bend, maybe they’re like, soft robotics and it would make sense to program into a robot the ability to tell how much pressure it’s applying to objects when trying to pick them up and manipulate them. but like, his body? no feelings or sensations. you could come up from behind him and put something on his head and he wouldnt notice unless it was heavy enough that he started sinking. because of this, he does NOT want to be touched without warning, (especially early on when he is super unused to everything) because he cant tell that its happening, but he’s also kind of touch starved because he’s like, a formerly living person who suddenly has only a tenuous connection left with feeling like he physically exists in space, so he likes to hold onto things, and does appreciate physical contact with people he trusts

another detail i have overthought: how his facial expressions have the tendency to not look how he would expect them to, since his face is a screen and based mostly off of his emotional state and only partially off of what he thinks he looks like. he could technically display whatever he wanted on there, but he doesnt have the control and would hate the idea. he’s already afraid of it drifting away from how he’s supposed to look over time, he doesnt want to feel even more like a computer by deliberately trying to use it as a screen

[eyecicles]

i'm autistic...i've known for about 6 years now, and i was diagnosed pretty late (17) and in secret. my mom doesnt believe in autism, calls it "all in my head", and she doesnt take the resulting depression and anxiety seriously either. she yells at me for everything i've come to learn has to do with my autism, and claims to have read and researched everything but i know she hasnt (or if she has, its been 1 or 2 unreliable articles) /1

whenever i break and tell her she’s yelling at me for something outside of my control (for example, being uncomfortable with sudden changes in plans or making eye contact) she starts talking about how if i keep saying it to myself i’ll never get better and i should acknowledge the problem and stuff like that. she doesnt want me to go to therapy and if i must, its gonna be someone she picks out and i really dont want to go there

im kinda scared of therapy as it is because ive lived my whole life this way and im worried that i’ll lose bits of my personality if i start to change (even if its for the better) and i dont want to go but i also know that i should, and i also really want an official diagnosis from someone whose opinion actually counts (because mine sure as fuck doesnt) so that my parents could get off my back about these things. im really confused about how to explain shit to them

and how to approach this whole thing because im so tired of having to constantly adapt to every new thing she insists on especially when im not mentally ready for it. she doesnt take my mental health seriously or considers it a priority and then tries to act like she cares (she does care, i know that, but her approach is all wrong) but refuses to take my opinion on it anyway, even tho im clearly the one suffering most. ive even told her (after a long time) that she hurts me but she wont stop

im sorry to dump this all on you but none of my friends have problems like this and my family doesnt believe in MIs because of the stigma around them here, and i dont know who else to ask for advice from. if you could give me anything at all, i’d appreciate it so much

_____________________________________________________________

Hmm, I don’t exactly know what you mean with "diagnosed in secret”. You don’t have access to any papers or anything else you could use as proof?

Asking the people who diagnosed you for something like a certification would be your easiest option, of course. But if that’s, for some reason, not possible, I would advice you to either talk to someone from an autism counselling centre (if that’s a thing where you live) or your doctor. They will help you find out how to get an official diagnosis, because I definitely think that would be your best course of action.

I unfortunately know a lot of parents who treat their autistic child like your mother does. And some of them refuse to accept the truth even when they’re confronted with hard facts and actual evidence, like a professional diagnosis. I think what helped a lot of people is talking about autism in a way that humanises us. Showing them interviews, videos or books by other autistic people in similar situations, with similar struggles, or just talking about as neutral as possible. No method is infallible, sadly, but I found that normalising or talking about the more positive aspects of autism will sometimes change the minds of parents with autistic children. Sometimes only to some degree and very slowly, but it’s still better than nothing, I suppose.

My parents were quick to accept that I’m autistic, but they’re pretty much like your mother when it comes to mental illnesses. It’s a very tricky situation and a topic I’m trying to avoid with them. I personally don’t think that changing the perspectives of one’s parents should be anyone’s main focus though, even if their words still hurt. Self acceptance and getting the help you might need are infinitely more important in the end.

I understand your concerns about therapy, I really do. Almost every autistic person has a comorbid diagnosis (I think it’s about 90%), or several, and getting the right kind of therapy is often unavoidable if we want to get better. But that’s also why it can be important to get an official diagnosis: regular therapy, with someone who doesn’t know a whole lot about autism (because let’s face it: even mental health professionals mostly know jack shit about autism if they didn’t study it) is often times almost completely fruitless. A good therapist won’t try to change your personality and autism symptoms by the way.

I know you said that your mother would want to pick your therapist, but it’s not for her to decide. Especially not when you’ve got the diagnosis, because the psychologists in charge will recommend you therapists that are well-versed in autism and the unique struggles we face. If you have still concerns about your mother, you can and should bring this up with those people as well! They will know how to best handle situations like yours, since it’s sadly not that uncommon.

The first step is usually the hardest. But to me it sounds like you desperately need to change something about your situation - you can see yourself that you won’t convince your mother the way you tried. But a diagnosis and therapy can help you in so many ways you might not even be aware of yet. It’s of course not a magical remedy to all your problems, but I think the fact that you reached out to me already shows that you’re on the right path. You seem to fully realise yourself that it can’t go on like that. Which is great!

So yes, my advice would be to first talk to someone from an Autism Centre of Excellence (or however it’s called where you’re from, it should be easy enough to find online) (you can usually e-mail them as well, if you don't want to call) or a doctor.

Another thing: if you haven’t already, I think it could help to check out the autism community online. There are many people in similar situations, with similar concerns, and just reading about other autistic people’s experiences online helped me a great deal. You can for example check out the #actuallyautistic tag on tumblr, or this blog. If you like, you can of course ask me more questions, of course.

I wish you the best of luck, anon!

[oppressiveliberator]

What are things Ghetsis likes to do in his spare time? Does he have anything in particular that he really enjoys doing that most wouldn’t know about? (Like. Knitting or some hobby type thing like that.)

Hobbies, huh. . . .

Ghetsis is a very goal-oriented person. Back when he was Plasma Boss and all, he wasn't really one for many hobbies--he certainly enjoyed doing things in his free time now and then, but by the time he'd adopted N, he was putting most of his free time into Plasma and advancing his goals and such.

But like I said, he did enjoy things now and then!

((snip snip unless you’re on mobile in which case as always I am sorry--maybe i should start putting these into multiple posts instead of singular big ones?  lmao

Also brief mentions of I think abuse, Pokémon abuse, torture??  i don’t think there was anything else triggering in there but i’m also too lazy to reread it lmao))

Ghetsis loves to read. He most enjoys nonfiction--true crime, history, religion, culture, Pokémon, human psychology, science, world news; Ghetsis really loves just about anything that can teach him something new. He's all about doing lots and lots of research, too, and he's actually well versed in old languages, too, especially old Unovan. He made a cypher for translating(and even taught Zinzolin how to read it a bit! In fact, Zinzolin is the one who has the Old Unovan linguistic work he's done atm because he can't let go of his boyfriend's old things) But he also likes a good fiction novel--crime, historic, alternate history, adventure, thriller, horror. . .he's picky about fantasy and science fiction and romance, but he'll read them now and then too.

While he's not really that into it, he does watch a lot of TV lately. He has days where he's pretty much immobile, so something he can just lie down and watch is nice to at least keep him from just sleeping all day. His taste in TV and movies is pretty similar to his taste in books. However, he's not much of a TV person and it's more something he just kind of accepts as what he 'has to' do nowadays. Sometimes he just. Doesn't have the energy to turn pages in a book. But entertainment is always better than boredom.

In his current state, Ghetsis doesn't really do much daydreaming or quiet contemplation, because ultimately it leads to a heavy slew of negative thoughts and emotions and makes him feel terrible. But in the past, he spent much of his time thinking about the world, plotting, planning. Lately if he does anything it's daydream or dissociate but. The latter isn't really, y'know, a hobby or something he really wants to do.

Music! Is one of his highest interests!! The Harmonia family is a very musical and artistic one, so he was surrounded by music and taught to sing and play instruments since he was in diapers. He doesn't think of himself as being able to play instruments nowadays. . .even though he still played now and then when he lost most usage of his arm, so long as it obviously didn't really require both hands or a need for both could be worked around. At present he's more into listening to music than anything--and his tastes are far more variant than you'd expect, as he's able to find some enjoyment in most any genre. He's started to sing more lately, too, although since his voice is often poor, he hates to do it and have to hear how terrible he sounds. But after Bede told him not to be discouraged over it and that some practice would surely restore his voice to its former glory, he's been singing to himself a bit more in an attempt to get his vocal chords back in decent condition.

(The unexpected part of this is when you find him singing old pop songs. . . . . . . .)

Ghetsis is, despite being antisocial as far as his personality/mindset/comfort levels, actually quite outgoing and enjoys people's company and talking to them, watching them. He loves social events and crowds and being around people--although he also hates it because, well, everyone is below him and the world around them is usually disgusting. But he quite likes company, especially from interesting and intelligent people, and he's playfully flirtatious too. While he prefers to do the talking and teaching, he's not against listening if somebody catches his attention and, again, Ghetsis has an insatiable desire for knowledge. Oh and socializing doesn't always have to be positive, either! He l o v e s to harass his protags. He likes to disturb people and make them afraid and uncomfortable and upset. He'd probably be an internet troll now and then if he bothered with internet socializing.

(Also, Ghetsis fucks to survive is a hedonist. So having people around means getting laid when he wants to. And how can he say no to being attended to and having his body worshipped and pleasured? To the power that comes with controlling someone else's pleasure, making their whole body respond with a mere touch, sometimes even less?)

As of late he also quite enjoys taking walks when he can--and while he's still beginning to accept it, he has started taking his wheelchair out(though, not in the regular world, only in the magic plane he’s hiding on) if he can't do his own walking and just enjoying the world outside. He. . .misses it.

He actually is very well travelled and he loves travelling, visiting new places, learning new things in person, going on expeditions and to archaeological sites and ruins and historic places. . .! Up until BW he travelled a good amount and enjoyed the bounties and interests his the world had to offer, practical or not. He likes himself a good time and experiences. Of course it lessened when he acquired his kids, especially N. And nowadays he hardly even leaves the house, let alone the region, though with the way his magic hideaway works(rather, doesn't work) he can wind up travelling by accident simply because it isn't stable enough not to move around.

And, of course there's magic. Ghetsis habitually draws little magic circles and things here and there, little spells to store magic or discourage nightmares or encourage remembering things. If he's idly tracing something on a table that's probably why. If he's idly tracing something on a person, that's probably why--in particular, he'd 'bless' N with safety when he went outside, or put magic on him that would ideally 'lock' his mind somewhat so he wasn't influenced by the outside world and had his plans ruined. Ghetsis does rituals every now and then(there used to be some cultish stuff in Team Plasma. . .maybe. . .but rituals aren't necessarily cultish, just like regularly done things) and magical cleanses, protection for his own spaces, charging the crystals and things he has around, and practices little bits of magic here and there just so he knows he can still do it. Now and then he tries to learn or develop new magic, but he's really not in the best condition for good magic usage. It certainly doesn't stop him but, y'know, tries to keep playing with fire to a minimum lest he burn his house down.

Of course, these are mostly things he does at present. . .with the strokes and the weakness in his body and the problems with his cognition and mind in general. . .his options are lessened in his opinion. His depression and lessened will to live make it hard for him to do even those things--let alone some of the things he used to do.

Sports are among the things he'd done in the past--namely basketball(just kinda happens when you're over 6ft tall.) He gave his old ball to N to teach him to play, but back then he could still play, one arm or not. Nowadays he has trouble even sitting up let along standing, running, and he's still accepting that he needs a wheelchair now and then when he can't get around so easily himself, so wheelchair basketball isn't something he'd even consider trying. Playing basketball? Tennis? Hell, any sport? He can't even consider it. He hates watching sports now. Whereas he used to love to do so because he could watch Unovan teams VS other regions and feel proud and cheer for Unova and so on, but now he can't stand it because it makes him think of how he used to be.

One of the things he did a lot up until the end of BWB2W2, was, of course, train his Pokémon, care for them, sometimes even play with them. They needed exercise and enrichment, and keeping them in fighting and killing shape was a high priority, both for enjoyment/entertainment and for the sake of having strong Pokémon. But now his Pokémon are all gone. . .and he resents all Pokémon for it and his hostility towards them all has increased. If anything at present, he takes even greater delight in hurting Pokémon than he had in the past.

Public speaking, debating, evangelizing, convincing people of Plasma's ways, giving and writing speeches was also a hobby he enjoyed. Usually, however, he winged his speeches, simply spoke from his cunning heart. Of course, if he tried to do something like that today. . .well, someone would call interpol and it'd be a whole thing. . .he does talk to himself a even more than he used to now, but it's not the same.

Punishing and teaching Plasma's members and anyone they decided to. . .host for a while, so they could learn the truths and come to know Team Plasma's might and perspective. . .being able to torment captives, seeing the hope leave somebody's eyes, god. He misses power. He misses victims. He misses taking out his frustrations on somebody locked in his dungeons, beating them and spitting on them and showing them how above them he was, torturing them--. . .expressing his power, he never really gets to do it anymore. . . . Harming others. . .even less. . .and what power, authority, strength does he have to at present anyways. . . . .

Training members of Plasma and their Pokémon, using the Pokémon they'd liberated for various behind the scenes work like building the castle, abusing people and Pokémon alike, really he found such bliss in it. Yes, it was something he kept quite quiet about or explained away until Neo Plasma--after all, nobody knew of his plans and intentions until he was defeated--but that didn't mean he didn't enjoy it.

Unexpected things. . .hm. he's pretty adventurous so I'm sure he's tried lots of things, but ultimately discarded them as things to do often for one reason or another. Knitting he can't see himself doing, one hand and all.

When N was younger, he actually took care of the human dolls and toys he gave him, since n mostly cared about the pokémon ones and was neglectful towards the human ones. Which was what was intended! But it irked Ghetsis's sense of perfectionism to see them all messed up, so he'd do their hair and dress them and so on just so they were in order and not a messy pile in the corner.

Ghetsis liked visiting dig sites and such, but he also enjoyed personally going on expeditions now and then too! He'd been planning one to the Abyssal Ruins for some time, but it never came to fruition. . . .

Since he was so well researched and did lots of discovering things himself, he’s written academic papers and things of that nature too.  Spreading his knowledge is always great.

Sciences piqued his interests sometimes, although that may not be a surprise. It's probably even less of a surprise that he was interested in experimentation on people and Pokémon--he was usually eager to let Colress do as he pleased as a result.

OH RIGHT ALSO! COLLECTING STUFF!! In particular things relating to or supposedly relating to legendary and mythical Pokémon and extinct ones too and history/legends and other unique things--stuff like feathers from legendary birds or orbs or gems said to strengthen or summon them and stuff like that. . .! He has a raw keystone, but he's not super aware of what it is since Mega Evos only really have recently come into common knowledge and he wasn’t in Kalos to learn about that in particular at the time, so he just thinks it's a cool kalosian rock with a strong life energy.

Tbh idk about any unexpected hobbies for him. . .tbf i also have like. No hobbies of my own. So this is kind of a hard question for me because doing things in your spare time??? I can't even bring myself to do things when o have to do them! Lmao.

He's abandoned a lot of his hobbies and interests. It kinda comes with being old and disabled and depressed and losing your will to live. He's feeling a bit better as of the start of the blog recent--so he's getting a bit active again, but. . .he's still not used to being "incapable" and it gets between him and doing anything for fun.

But hopefully this answer satisfied! And if not, if you're curious about anything in particular, send another ask my way!!

[dethl]

im going to start this with the TL;DR. everything im explaining is a LOT easier in practice than it is to actually explain. no, seriously, it is. ive just noticed a lot of people get hung up on all the acronyms and what they mean, or even why they exist, so this can serve as an explanation if you need one.

but it can really be as easy as - do you have any favorite pokemon? so for example, do you just really like crobat? cool. you can look up crobat, crobat is currently in the tier called RU. okay. are there more pokemon youre really like in RU? for me its metagross, roserade, mimikyu, sharpedo, chandelure, and then the aforementioned crobat. so you can just stuff those together on a team, see how they play together, and if something doesnt work as well you can just swap something out

anyway, onto the longer description:

so at first there were 3 main tiers

OU, which is overused, is like, the main tier. its the tier that nearly everyone ends up associating a generation of pokemon with and what people watch to see the current health of the metagame

next was UU, which stands for underused. smogon tierings are basically based on the popularity of how much people use them, this generally revolves around what the general userbase considers viable, the concept is the more people use something at a competitive level the more likely it is that its good. however not everything thats popular is necessarily good, for example, in generation 4's OU, electivire was extremely popular despite not actually being that great outside of a very specific niche. so basically the concept of underused is that these could also be good pokemon, but nobodys really using it. and when you play a lower tier, so UU in this case, you can only use pokemon in the tier UU or lower and so none of the main meta defining pokemon are here, but UU has its own meta defining pokemon within that tier

then the third main metagame is uber, these are pokemon that were so good in the tier overused they had to be flatout banned to make that tier remotely fair. a decent amount of pokemon that end up in ubers is pokemon that are boxart legendaries, generally the ones where if you add up the total of their base stats (BST) theyre over ~600 to ~650. to put it in perspective how high this is - infernape has a BST of 534. in generation 4 infernape was viable in OU (but you could set up a strategy where it could have a niche in ubers)

so, we have ubers, we have OU, we have UU. now, you may look at these three, and then you may look at just how many tiers actually exist now in the current generation - which is the 8th generation, and you may wonder what happened. well, welcome to the magical world of powercreep. whats power creep? well to put it shortly. mewtwo used to be like, the strongest pokemon, the pokemon that strikes fear in your heart. mewtwo has a BST of 680. then as generations go by, legendaries have gotten stronger and stronger, for example in generation 6, in ORAS, we got primal groudon. this thing was a motherfucker. base stat total of 770, this thing had an ability that made any water type attack fail that activates as soon as you swap it into battle, covering its 4x weakness to water, while ALSO boosting the strength of its fire type attacks. this thing was a monster, and it STILL wasnt the strongest pokemon introduced in ORAS. that spot goes to mega-rayquaza, and i dont even want to talk about that thing

so, powercreep. it doesnt just effect legends, it effects literally every single pokemon. for example, gengar, which was considered OU from the very inception of competitive pokemon, finally dropped to UU in generation 8. you can find usage of gengar dating back to 1997, and while tiers and everything didnt quite exist back then, this is a pokemon that was synonymous with the metagame until 2019. powercreep is real and its coming for you. anyway, to accommodate the powercreep, with every single generation smogon adds a new lowest tier to the meta, and things get shuffled accordingly based on the aforementioned popularity based viability rankings. so what started as ubers > OU > UU, now looks something like AG > ubers > OU > UU > RU > NU > PU > ZU (or as i still like calling it, FU for "fuck you"). or you may even see AG > ubers > OU > UUBL > UU > RUBL-- and so forth. and i think this is where a LOT of people get hung up, they see all these acronyms and assume that to get into any of this you have to be like, a sweatlord, and that all of this came about for literally no reason. but no it really does have like, a reason to be like this. we're up to 898 pokemon now, enough where gamefreak themselves is visibly struggling to keep up with this amount. tiers had to be developed to keep the metagame actually fair and make it so every pokemon could be used in some capacity and not just whats considered meta-defining

so what does it mean, what do these extra acronyms mean? so continuing on from underused, mostly everything is self explanatory and all the placements follow the aforementioned popularity rankings that the first 3 mentioned tiers used. RU is rarely used, NU is neverused, PU doesnt actually mean anything but most people go for P.U. YOU STINK! and then you get ZU, which also doesnt mean anything, but like.. Z is the lowest letter of the alphabet and these are also the lowest of the low competitively. dont ask me if ZU is actually officially recognised as a tier i dont know. and then you get the BL i mentioned earlier, this isnt actually a tier more as it is a banlist (where BL stands for banlist, though ngl until i started writing this i thought it stood for borderline fdlkjfds). so UUBL is pokemon that used to be in UU, but they were considered too good to be used in UU - for example maybe there werent enough pokemon within UU that could counter it, but arent used enough to actually be considered for the overused tier. so like idk, i guess just try using the pokemon from UUBL in overused and see if it works for you. so if somethings considered broken for UU and gets banned from UU, thats not a bad thing (unless that was like, one of your favorite pokemon to use in that tier i guess, i still miss you G6UU zapdos). the meta changes quite a few time every gen, banlists occur, new strategies are formed, etc

so how does it actually work in practice? well as i mentioned before, you can use anything thats counted as being the specific tier youre using, so with OU you can use everything thats considered OU, but you can also use everything thats counted as less used than whats in overused, so you can use a ZU pokemon in OU if you really wanted, nothings stopping you, except it may just not perform very well. or maybe youll end up carving a bizarre niche for yourself, like the person that once got a 100+ turn stall on me because i didnt have a pokemon on my team with taunt. who knows

so like i said in the TL;DR, if you want to get into competitive, you can literally just like.. pick a pokemon you like. like scolipede? look up scolipede. this generation its RUBL, but since we know that RUBL means that its the banlist for for the tier RU and thus not useable in RU and that RUBL isnt actually a tier, we'll go up a tier to see where its actually going to be usable, which is underused. so in this generations underused tier, i see primarina, skarmory, hydreigon, diggersby, and chandelure as far as pokemon that i can also use that i like - with 3 of these being UU, one being RUBL, two being RU but useable in UU. so i can make a team with these six, and see how these cover each other, and see if theyre fun for me to use. if i dont want to keep something, i can swap it out

every pokemon except the worst of the worst has a tier theyre viable in, and even PU for example is a really exciting and fun to play. even the baby pokemon in the tier LC standing for little cup have their own dedicated strategies, and LC is really fun too. its really worth looking into even if your favorites arent considered meta-defining amazing godtier pokemon, and i really admire smogon for trying so hard to keep this system running even when theres this many goddamn pokemon

so idk. this definitely got long. im willing to explain more if anyone needs it too fkjlfd. smogon itself is also just an excellent resource too. you can find viability rankings within tiers, moveset suggestions, etc there. its awesome

LMS if you want me to explain the entire smogon tiering system

[phati-sari]

Heyy One thing i love about u is that u dont ignore our questions and it really feels nice when u r not ignored but attended

Hi :)

Thanks! I try not to ignore any questions because I understand that, for some people, it takes a lot to send a question and it’s something they genuinely want to know or didn’t understand.

But we’re rapidly approaching a place where I will start to ignore and delete questions because no matter how many times I say that I’m not, some people seem to have mistaken me for a search engine.

I do not want to spend my Friday nights looking at whether Irani was wearing a wig or not. I should not have to explain to people that the characters are human and sometimes don’t see or don’t think of certain things. Seriously, some of the questions I get make me wonder whether the person who sent it in has ever interacted with another human being before.

I should not be required to come home from working 9 hours a day to working another 6 for this blog.

It might seem nice to not be ignored, but on my end, it’s not nice when the same person sends 5 asks in 15 minutes, all of which are varying degrees of pedantic.

Like, when I, the person who runs this blog, thinks some of you need perspective then that should worry us all lol.

There’s been a massive uptick in the work I’m required to do for this blog. It was never intended to be an ask blog but I think a bunch of new people have found it and then turned into one. This is not my job, no one is paying me to do this, and I have a feeling the new people don’t realise that I have a life outside of the blog or don’t care.

When do I get to write Charade?

When do I get to make gifs?

When do I get to just kind of squeal and watch the show cos I like it, not because I’m watching Teri Meri frame by frame to see where a wig meets real hair?

Like, I get it, it’s fun when there’s a magic box and they can type in whatever they’re thinking at the time and some time later an answer appears on the internet, but I am a person and this morning I woke up and cried for a good half an hour because of some of the asks I received overnight, and that’s not optimal for anyone.