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copperbadge · 3 years

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It’s Actually Ok To Round Up At Checkout

I keep seeing posts about how you shouldn’t round up your payment at checkout “for charity” because the company takes the money, gives in their own name, and then receives a tax break for the donation.

This is incorrect. It’s just plain wrong information.

Because it’s illegal for a company to claim collected donations on their taxes, since they give you a receipt that proves you can claim it on yours. They are considered a collection agent -- the corporate equivalent of a firefighter with a boot soliciting on the sidewalk.

And the sentiment is potentially fucking nonprofits out of serious change.

So here’s how it works. When you make a purchase you’re asked if you’d like to round up your price, say $22.70, to $23 and give that extra 30 cents to charity. When you choose yes, the company adds that as a special charge, and transfers the amount to a processing company. The processing company disburses many small gifts in one big chunk to the nonprofit, so that the nonprofit doesn’t get ten thousand transactions of thirty cents. Over the course of a couple of years, campaigns like this can raise millions for the nonprofit.

So where’s the catch? you’re thinking. Capitalism doesn’t allow kindness like this to rampage unchecked!

Well, you’re kinda right. For one thing, there’s something called the Halo Effect, where companies get a huge PR boost from this giving. People feel better about themselves and the place they give, when they give this way. That’s why companies do it, pure and simple. It’s cheap, built-in positive messaging.

The companies aren’t deducting it (it’d be chump change to them anyway tbh) but you can. You can literally deduct the thirty cents you gave at Jersey Mike’s off your very own taxes, if you keep the receipt. But unless you’re giving more than $6K to charity each year ($12K if you’re filing jointly!) then there’s no point keeping that receipt, because before that threshold you won’t get a tax break for charitable giving anyway.

UPDATE TO ABOVE, thanks @evvrythingisawesome, you do get a credit on your tax return for up to $300 in giving, which I even DID LAST YEAR and forgot about because that’s not my area of specialty. Sorry about that!

One significant benefit of giving at checkout is that the nonprofit doesn’t get your name or address, so you never go on a mailing list. If you give an average of 30 cents twice a week when you buy a soda at the gas station, over the course of a year you’ll have given over $30 commitment-free. Sweet deal.

Here’s what most people think is the catch: between three and seven percent of the money given goes to that processing company I mentioned. Because they have to, you know, process that money, which comes with expenses like software, customer support, servers, bank fees, etc.

However. Three to seven percent? That’s nothing. A good fundraiser working for a nonprofit costs, in salary, roughly 20% of what they raise. For every dollar they earn, they bring in about $5 from donors. Round-up campaigns raise $5 and charge you 25 cents for it and require almost no work from the charity -- that money just shows up. And even if you didn’t give at the checkout, if you give online we pay a processing fee to the place processing THAT payment. If you give by check or cash, we still have to pay people to count, record, and deposit those payments. Giving money costs money. That’s just the way it is.

2. Unless you actually are giving elsewhere, if you choose not to round-up, then you’re just...chest pounding. You’re pretending to stick it to the man when really you’re just not making a charitable gift at all. If you do give elsewhere that’s great, keep up the good work, I’m not talking to you. And if you can’t afford to give, I’m really sorry, I want you to keep your money and I’m also not talking to you. As we know, thirty cents adds up. I couldn’t give for several years, and it’s a point of pride now to always be able to hit the round-up button without doing any math.

But if you could give and aren’t giving somewhere...then no offense but you have no skin in this game and you need to sit down and let people who give a shit get on with their work.

Because an additional truth is that some people only remember to give when they’re asked but they HATE TO BE ASKED, except at checkout. And some people only give if they feel like they’re giving insignificantly relative to their income -- like thirty cents at checkout. These campaigns are nearly-free, super-easy money for us from people who probably wouldn’t otherwise give. They raise our profile, too, so that people who have given at checkout think of us when they DO remember to give (like oh, around the holidays, which are fast impending).

In the end, I suppose I’m really just begging people, as a whole, for about the seventh or eighth year running, to stop coming to charitable giving from the standpoint of “Well whaddaya give me for it? Where’s the catch? How do I know you’ll do the best with my money? Can you prove you aren’t a scam?”

I know that most of you, most of the time, come to any relationship with an inherent assumption of good faith -- from tv shows to friendships to Etsy purchases to pet ownership. You’re not deeply suspicious by nature! But this lingering hostility towards charitable giving, where the immediate assumption is one of bad faith, is really harmful to people who are attempting to do good work. An extremely small fraction of the nonprofits that want your funding are scams, religiously sketchy, or deeply negligent when it comes to how your money is eventually spent. Most are doing their best and many are putting up with a lot of unnecessary fucking side-eye while they do it.

So try to downshift from “Who will scam me the least” to “Who would I like to help the most?” and give accordingly. Whether that’s a local pet shelter, a toy or blanket drive, a national cancer organization, your friend’s top surgery gofundme, or the woman standing in traffic with the cardboard sign. Your blood pressure (and mine too, for that matter) will go way down.

#nonprofit #charitable giving #did I snap several days ago and write this at 2am?#maybe I did but you'll never know

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snoopdoodle · 3 years

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collab with : @sunflowerdaisybee

so glad we could do this!!

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Stop I live for this type of stuff :D also if you like it enough id love to do a part 2 !!

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Dad, but not

SECOND PART \\ THIRD PART

platonic!ranboo x dad!reader

pronouns: he/him

summary: Ranboo's dad (reader) is in town.

You raised Ranboo, like a father would to a child. Although, you weren't his birth-father, or related to him in anyway possible, he still considered you his dad. You had gon through all of his accomplishments with himHe’d brag about you on and no on stream, and when chat would ask to mean you, he'd flat out reject their request with a hard no…. seriously, there's a compilation of it on youtube. He had told you this previously, but soon enough, he would be leaving for the UK to meet up with his friends, you remember their names. Tommy, Tubbo, and Philza. You think back to it.

“I wish you could come with me, dad. You and Phil would get along well…. Probably.” He had said, and you smiled at the thought, it was funny to you. Meeting up with your… kid’s friends and having nothing to talk about. “What would we talk about? I don’t enjoy playing Minecraft like those people.” You spoke, laughing as Ranboo groaned. You laughed whole-heartedly again as you heard the banging on his desk. It was probably his fist. You’d yet to hell him, but you’d be going to Europe for a business trip in a few weeks. Actually, it was the same week as him. It was just 2 days off that your company scheduled the flight. You were ready to tell him, but you heard his “Streaming alarm” go off, so you had to wait.

Your thoughts were ripped away from you by a ping from your phone. You smiled as you looked at it, it was Ranboo and his friend, Tubbo, in the car. Poor kid, he was too tall for the car so he had to slouch down a mile. It made you laugh, so you sent a simple text, being tired and not knowing how to work the phone well enough when you’re sleepy.

My kid sent a message at 6:13am, 9/14/21

-photo.jpeg

You sent a message at 6:15am, 9/14/21

Lol, happy you’re happy, kid. Keep making me laugh and I won’t be able to sleep.

My kid sent a message at 6:16am, 9/14/21

JNKJNA LOVE YOY TO DAAD

You sent a message at 6:16am, 9/14/21

Grammar, you’re smart.

My kid sent a message at 6:17am, 9/14/21

Ok grandpa, love you too. 🙄

You sent a message at 6:16am, 9/14/21

That’s my boy. Love ya’, kid. ❤

You smiled at your phone, falling asleep shortly after. You’d need it for the 12 hour plane ride.

You woke up tired, there was still 3 hours left on the plane ride. The sun was shining in your face and you could see the clouds close up. You unplugged your phone from the airplane’s charger and chuckled as you saw the notifications. “7 unread messages from him? Jeez kid, I was asleep.” You laughed again as you read the messages. “Met with Tommy, watched a movie, cat… jeez, updating me on every part of your life, aren’t we.” you mumbled. It was funny, so the person beside you laughed. “Sorry, sorry, I heard your mumbling and I thought it was funny, I’m Kristin.” The woman smiled and held out her hand for a handshake. You contoured your body to shake her hand. She smiled and laughed again, shaking her head.

You smiled at the woman, and decided to start a conversation. “So,” you started, “Why are you headed to England?” She smiled, opening her phone. “Well, I’m on my way to see my husband. Just doing a surprise visit, then heading back to work in America.” She spoke, pulling up an image of her husband. ‘He looks familiar…’ You thought before it hit you. “Oh… my lord..” You dragged out, smiling. “Do you know Ranboo? Has your husband talked about him?” You asked. She looked confused, but nodded. You smiled even wider, happy about this situation. “I’m Ranboo’s dad. Well, not biologically, but I know he talks about me in his streams.” Kristin’s eyes lit up in delight and realization, and you two started talking while exchanging phone numbers in the process.

By the time you all stopped talking, the plane had landed and you were both smiling messes. You were happy to be seated by someone who could understand living with a streamer. “Bye Kristin!” You yelled as she walked to her car. Your face blossomed with a smile as she turned around and waved back. You went to the baggage claim area, walking to go get your [color] bag. You grinned as you saw your bag, the doodles from ranboo were littered on the [color] bag. Speed walking over to it, you picked it up and set it on the floor. Adjusting the backpack that was settled on your shoulders, you grabbed the suitcase’s handle and sped off to find your company’s rental car. You walked through the crowds, laughing as you could see over almost everyones’ head. You were really tall amongst these people, at the raging height of 6’2.

You smirked as you reached your company’s car, biting the inner part of your lips. You hopped into the car, it was a Subaru, so this should be fun. You drove right out of the parking garage and sped to your hotel. Once you go there, unpacking all of your things, you decide to walk around the town. You were feeling pretty hungry after only being able to eat crummy plane food, so you wme with your next best bet. Although, throughout this whole time, you didn't tell Ranboo that you would be in England. You only realized this when you heard him. “Y/N?” Your eyes shot open, and you turned around to face him. You could see his confused smile through his mask. “Y/N?” He asked again, and this time you walked right to him, dragged him down, and nuggied his head. “Kid! You scared the crap outta me!” You yelled. Ranboo was hitting your hand, wanting you to let go.

“Hey, man. Get off our friend.” A dark voice spoke. You turned to look at who it was, but a wave of surprise hit you. It was Tommy, with Tubbo and Wilbur behind him. You frowned and flicked Ranboo on his forehead. His hands rushed to cover the spot. “Ow! What the hell, dad?!” The confusion and relief washed over the group’s faces. They know you're not a stranger, but you're his dad? Realization hit Tubbo before anyone else. “Wait!! You're the guy ranboo always talks about on streams!” He shouted. Tommy and Wilbur realized this as well, and smiled. “Oh yeah, I should probably introduce myself.” You started, clearing your throat. “I’m Ranboo's dad…. but not.” You said. The 3 boys gave a roar of laughter to that sentence, and you had to give your two cents of chuckles as well. These next weeks are gonna be amazing.

#x male reader #male reader #platonic!ranboo #platonic bench trio #platonic!ranboo x reader #wilbur soot #tommyinnit #platonic tubbo #dsmp ranboo #dad!reader #male!reader

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seokjinsonlyone · 3 years

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so i got on tiktok for more than five minutes for the first time in like a month the other day and i saw they was doing this trend where it’s sorta like fmk but like husband, boyfriend, or sneaky link and i just wanted to add my two cents

namjoon:

this is your boyfriend

i know you may be thinking ???? boyfriend???? not husband??????????

but yes boyfriend listen we all know this man is brilliant; big brained and big bodied; cognitive skills off the charts; he knows a thing or two about a thing or two

however, he just ain’t there yet 😭 he don’t even got his license y’all gon flub on the contraceptives once or twice and next thing you know you strapping your kid into the basket of his bike so he can drop them off to school 😩

and his cooking……….. like watching this man with a knife gives me anxiety

he has a bit of growth to do but that’s why you date before getting married 🥳🥳🥳

y’all would go on the beeeest dates i’m talking museums, picnics, hikes, and yes bike rides

and like he’s just so sweet and thoughtful and he tries his very best to be gentle despite his destructive nature so it would just be so cute and fun for him to be your boyfriend

seokjin:

it goes without saying that this is your husband

to be honest ion even really need to elaborate on this one like…

he cooks; he cleans; he’s thoughtful, supportive, silly, will do anything to make you happy…

everything you could ever want and need in a man is manifested in kim seokjin

so just lemme tell you what this ^^ gif is this is like three months after you’ve given birth to your second child

he got home from work way later than expected he was tired exhausted really but still helped you with your new baby taking turns tending to them on and off all night

you had just gotten into a really good sleep when your alarm went off signaling it was time to get child number 1 up and ready for school

you groaned sitting up but before you could even get out of bed he was wiping the sleep from his eyes and telling you he was going to take care of it

“but you got off late last night and you helped me too”

he reassured you that it was fine and that he had it he knew how hard you worked all day everyday and you never got the opportunity to clock out

it was his day off anyway so he kissed your forehead and told you to get back to sleep

which was a bit easier said than done bc those two were like bulls in a china cabinet there was whining and scuttling all around a few disagreements on which outfit your child should wear and what they should eat for breakfast

but soon enough you looked out the window and saw jin adjusting his shorts and a few seconds later your child bobbling out after him backpack a little too big for their body before they walked hand in hand to the car

that’s… what that is… that’s your husband

and when i say your i mean mine that’s my husband

you can keep scrolling 😗✌️

yoongi:

husband <33333

like jin this man is the total package

he cooks, cleans, is loving and supportive, will take care of you emotionally, and on top of that he’s handy! extensive knowledge about interior design!

like if you want some pictures hanged or a shelf built or something this is the man for you

your lil bob the builder <3

like idk what it is with this man but something about him is just so soft and makes me want to love and be loved by him

like if this is not your husband this is your long term boyfriend you are dating him for no less than five years and when you part way you ain’t gon know how to live without him

so don’t leave

bring the documents he already said so

hoseok:

boyfriend 100%

hobi just seems so partnerable

i look at him and i see movie nights and pillow talk

i see cuddles and late night facetime calls

your own personal hope on the streets when he wants to loosen up or practice or relieve stress😩

you go to a restaurant and each pick a dish and share it with each other like he’s very much giving one milkshake 2 straws

or you two cook together side by side he’s chopping vegetables and cleaning while you’re sautéing and stir frying and what not

you go shopping with him and critique his outfits when he tries them on and vice versa

i don’t even know man i just see hobi and i think he’s flawless i want to give him the world

and i think about that time when he said one of his personal goals was to become special to someone 😭😭😭

so like girl get your boyfriend and just give him all the love he’s searching for all the love he deserves

jimin:

….sneaky link

look at him smh caught in 4k sending a “you up?” text at the tender hour of 3am

idk what to tell ya man he just ain’t bout it rn

he ain’t looking for nothing but fun

atm it’s just him and his bros

every once in a while he’ll go searching for a connection for a night or two

there may be a few repeat offenders a string of flings if you will but never anything serious

i can see it in his eyes everyone can really bc he flirts with every living and nonliving thing in sight

taehyung:

husband

now you may be thinking… is he not on par with namjoon when it comes to practical skills???

and like yes perhaps but he definitely is not as much as a liability

like i think i can trust him to open a packet of barbecue sauce without risk of ruining my outfit and like i know i wouldn’t fear for my life if he was slicing a hard boiled egg

which is not to say that i wouldn’t mind getting stabbed by joon there are certainly worse ways to go but that’s not what we’re talking about

what we’re talking about is tae and how i just know with him you’d be safe physically mentally and emotionally 🥺🥺🥺

and idk if it’s bc i done seen him in slacks one too many times but something about him just screams commitment

like he’s giving 401k he’s giving life insurance he’s giving condo in florida where you spend the winter bc your bones get too cold where you normally live

but you know what he’s also giving passion like you will 100% spend the rest of your life in love with this man

like in that picture it’s giving you’ve been married for three years it’s wednesday and he’s off so he asked you on a date

it’s taking you longer than anticipated to get ready you wanted to look pretty for him bc truthfully you don’t get to go on dates often as much as he’d like to

your hair and makeup is finally done so you find him and tell him you’re almost done and you’ll be out as soon as you slip on your outfit

he lazily turns his head to you and tells you to take your time there’s no rush and he’s just looking at you with absolute hearts in his eyes

you’re not even fully ready and there’s hearts in his eyes 😭 it makes your heart race and you can’t keep the smile off your face as you get ready for your date, for the rest of your life together with him

jungkook:

i know y’all gon hate to hear this one but… sneaky link

^^ that may be your boyfriend but you ain’t his girlfriend 😭

that is the face of someone you called and told that you wanted to stop messing around bc you was getting attached but he convinced you that it didn’t have to be all that and acted cute until you changed your mind

listen this man is in his prime he ain’t tryna settle down

the moment you try to commit is the moment he jumps out the window

and this is not to say that he’s not a good boy but like i’ve known jungkooks i’ve been friends with jungkooks and the second you try to take things farther than what they want that’s when they stomp all over your heart

however i do firmly believe that jungkook ain’t like them others he’s more than a good boy he’s the best boy

and if he like idk heard bells when you walked by or was pulled by the red string of fate or like felt the yearning or whatever it is that he done conjured up in his head he’d be everything and more 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰

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captnjacksparrow · 2 years

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I know we can only speculate, but what are your thoughts for SS and NH in the future of Boruto (manga & anime)? We know thanks god, that they are almost invisible in the manga at least and same in canon anime eps , hate those fillers. But do you think Ikemoto will dare to then turn NH or SS, or Sakura and hinata into characters with more presence?

As for Anime, it's very plain simple and obvious... Spam the Audience with Filler nonsense and make them to keep on believe that SS and NH is great.

As for Manga, I think they don't give 2 fucks about these girls. It's on the same level as to how Shikamaru's mom was given relevance in the Naruto manga...

Like Literally Nothing.

She appeared in the part 1 in one chapter and then there was nothing. And that's how Sakura and Hinata were being treated in this Manga.

The Author could've easily given Hinata to play a major role in these recent chapters...

I don't know whether these panels are accidental or intentional... (When it comes to Naruto manga, it was always intentional because the Author has brains and vision as to what kind of story he wanted to tell.... Can't say the same here... Anyways, my 2 cents)

Here, Ino is busy tracking Boruto's chakra along with Naruto.... And Shikamaru was casually saying that Sai was on Amado's guard duty.

So, Yamanaka Family is busy doing Shinobi Jobs by helping out Naruto on a personal basis. But What about their own Kid, Inojin???

Whereas, Here comes Hinata-Hime who wants to help out her Husband...

But Naruto was quick enough to shut her off by using, "Himawari" card!!!!

If Ino can work in that middle of the night leaving her kid, why can't Hinata??? Himawari is no way a 'Special' Kid to deserve a special protection from A Parent....unlike Boruto or Kawaki who has special enforced powers...

And also, Naruto is an Hokage, isn't it??? Can't he able to find some other capable shinobi on some Chunin Level to watch over his Daughter and use Hinata to track Boruto???

Plus, Hinata, Kiba and Shino were Sensory type ninjas, Right????

Byakugan was proven to be useful in scanning for chakras from the long range in 360 degrees...

In the Gaara Retrieval Arc, Neji was scanning 4 other tokens that was placed in 4 different locations which ranges for almost an entire forest.

Hinata could've been easily used for this purpose to find her son.

But they didn't....

That's why I said earlier that whether all of these chain of panels are intentional or accidental... But it truly shows that Hinata is not capable for doing anything other than playing a Wife and Mom whereas Ino was shown to be more useful here.

And do you think the Author will make her relevant in the Future Arcs????

The chances are very bleak.

I could see them as some proud mom who will send their Kids to fight on their Father's behalf (after their eventual death) in the War Arc... But I don't see them doing anything more than that.

Who knows, Ikemoto might pull this Team 7 Bullshit in his War Arc (i.e if N and S were alive until that point) and make Sakura summon slug along with N and S... or something like that... But she will be mocked in a very different way, that's for sure.

But I can't see NH or SS to have more presence that could influence the story again.

#anti nh #anti ss #ino #anti sakura #anti hinata

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ghoulchantsister · 2 years

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Ok idk if you can help me settle a dispute, but is there a history of gay men, like actual gay men, man only men, being into trans women anyway. Not even getting into why (unless you know?) or if they’re confused or “either admit being bi or transphobic” for that but just, does it happen and has it happened for a while? My experience is yes but my friends say it’s impossible and I’m like, sitting right here being impossible and knowing those dudes weren’t bi at all.

It doesn’t really sound like you need me to settle this, as I’m glad to see that you’re relying on your own experiences over the limited, black-and-white thinking of your friends. But, since you asked, I’ll offer my two cents.

1. "Gay men” and “trans women” have only existed and been seen as separate communities and groups of people for less than 100 years and there are places in the world right now where those boundaries are either really blurry or effectively don’t exist. Of course they’re gonna end up fucking each other at some point.

2. Identity ≠ action & activity. People engage in all kinds of sexual activity that would be considered outside the bounds of their stated “sexual orientation.” Sexuality and desire are not static and people are going to have sex with each other regardless of identity categories. Questions about whether or not they’re “bi” or “transphobic” are kinda pointless to me, as I’m not trying to reach some ultimate impossible knowledge of another person’s interiority. I’m not really interested in the “why” as it’s neither really that important nor that knowable.

3. Your friends sound like they need to broaden their horizons and get to know more people who don’t have their exact experiences and ideas.

4. And when it comes to my own personal experience, yes there are gay dudes in the world who are also into trans women. Perhaps not nearly as many as I wish there were, but they do exist. In fact, I have a current fuckbuddy who is gay and normally only hooks up with other dudes but is also really attracted to and into me. I'm much more interested in who he is as a person and how he treats me and how we interact with each than I am about the question of whether or not he's really "gay."

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shijiujun · 3 years

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on the danmei twitter fight

okay guys i didn’t wanna say anything about this and yes it’s that hot danmei twitter translations saga thing that’s going on, because honestly i feel like there’s nothing much to say but when i see dumb posts on tumblr taking about that, by people who present a misleading hot take and their friends or moots run off with it without even knowing what exactly is going on - it really pisses me off.

and also if you shit talk translators for not continuing their translations or locking their translations whatever - the door is that way on your right and left, but anyway here’s a rundown on what happened because i am seeing people make comments without two brain cells put together, without the slightest bit of consideration for the people who bring them translations

here’s my hot take and thesis: if you enjoy english translations made by fan translators, you don’t, in any way, no matter happens, shit talk fan translators. fan translators do this for free, and whatever their intentions are, whether genuine sharing or like some of you like to say, for clout, if you consume, and you enjoy these translations, i’m sorry, you’re not uninvolved, and you don’t get to sit on a high horse and say translators should or shouldn’t do something. you should just keep quiet, honestly, because someone else is doing you a favour, a favour that you are enjoying and taking. that’s what respect is.

i’m presenting both sides or i guess three sides of the story as objectively as i can, altho my support is still for fan translators who were just minding their own business before this blew up.

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🔺 what happened:

so it started because one of the bigger translators in the fandom did this poll - i’m not blaming her at all, i doubt she had any intentions of shaming anyone or causing any controversy and was plain curious, but her poll asked english speaking danmei twitter how many people buy the digital, print copies of the danmei they read, and who did not.

in my honest opinion, it’s not strange at all for her to have created that poll, considering just how much work she’s put into making sure things are accessible for the eng-speaking danmei fandom. i mean i’d be curious too, to know out of my thousands of readers, what the reading and buying behaviour is like. do yourself a favour and don’t read too much into it.

obviously in an era where a lot of people do consume content for free whether the underlying content is profit-making (like anime, donghua, manhua, manga etc.) or not (fanfiction etc.), it was unsurprising to see that the last option - the ones who consume danmei without paying a single cent, came out as the majority. i don’t think this is a surprising result at all, for all sorts of reasons that i will not get into now.

anyway, this is obviously kind of a sore point in the fandom especially for translators who want a wider audience to support their fave author’s works - i won’t get into that for now, but the issue began because other translators or fans started to criticize the majority of people who don’t pay for objectively rather affordable danmei and just consume things for free.

and yes, i don’t deny that the argument on both sides got really heated and emotionally charged with both sides calling each other names which i believe is uncalled for, but it totally derailed the crux of the issue, which basically is that the majority of english-speaking danmei fandom - consumes danmei for free.

anyway this whole thing escalated and fan translators were brought into this for no fucking reason at all except that the people who didn’t want, or were unable to pay for the danmei they usually consume, made what i call a LOGICAL FALLACY in argument by going to the extremes, i will explain why later.

the end result is that fan translators were brought into this (most of them, the bigger ones i know at least) without even participating in the direct crossfire. and obviously, you can see why they’re hurt and decided to lock their translations. let me explain why

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🔺 kind of like four camps:

(1) translators and fans who criticized those who consume danmei liberally but do not pay for them in any way - no merch, no digital copies, no physical copies, no audio dramas whatever

*** their arguments:

danmei is so cheap right, that technically people should be able to pay for it in one way or another, even if not all

danmei and its authors are, at the end of the day, out here to earn a living, and the industry, like any money-making industry, is a for-profit enterprise - and unlike public goods, if you cannot afford danmei, then there is no obligation for others to make it free for you (fan translators or otherwise, it wasn’t super clearly stated while this shitshow happened) when it is inherently a for-profit industry

yes, i don’t deny that some of them did call the peeps who don’t pay at all, “leeches” and other sort of names. personally, i wouldn’t go that far or even like venture there to be honest because in general, if it’s something that i’ll get punched in the face for if i called someone that in real life i tend not to do it, but i’ll leave my opinions, whatever they’re worth, for later

(2) the readers and fans of danmei who do not pay in any sort of way for them

*** their arguments:

some of them really cannot afford, even the dollar or more, to spend on danmei for several reasons: upbringing, culture, money-spending mindsets, real poverty, struggling to make ends meet etc. - some definitely more valid than others (and when i say not valid, it’s because SOME, a minority or like those few stragglers, say they cannot afford and then you see them like idk, throwing $50 on other merch on kpop and stuff - i’m just bringing up ONE example. not shaming anyone for spending more money on one aspect rather than the other, but yeah you can see why some of them, when making this same argument, are a little invalid, that’s just a small number of them tho)

if translators are blaming them for consuming free of charge, then the fault lies, at its foundation, fan translators who translate illegally, which i mean, in that definition, all of them including me

did i mention that we were called illegal translators like you know in response to being called leeches? anyway-

(3) others translators who literally were just minding their own fucking business before some smart alec dragged them into it

i don’t think most of us had an argument. we were just quietly munching on popcorn and staying out of it and yeah, can you imagine, we provide a service, however illegal it is, for free on our own time, we don’t even check whether people support legally or not, we just... provide, and pray that those who are able to, at least support in some small way or another do so, on their own time. i mean i don’t check, most of us don’t, not the bouncers at your local club before COVID happened do, and then suddenly, to be used to derail an argument, we were called illegal translators. and that we should stop translating, and that it is our fault that there are free riders in the fandom

(4) people who offered to provide JJWXC credits to those who said they couldn’t afford it etc.

honestly i think they were just trying to help - no different than a gofundme. there’s no shame in taking a free thing that people already weren’t intending to pay for. it’s there, just take it!

===

🔺 the shitshow that led to fan translators locking their stuff up:

i would provide some actual examples in the form of screenshots but i’ve blocked most of them, and i don’t want to direct any sort of traffic to them so i guess you’ll have to take my word on it or go search on twitter yourself but-

(1) the affordability issue: i can understand the frustration at being called leeches, and some if not a majority of people, do have valid reasons for not being able to afford something or anything and end up pirating content they enjoy. hey, i am not about to crucify anyone for pirating at some point in their lives. we all have done it at some point, or for example hate disney+ and that $30 they were trying to rip off us for a subpar Mulan live action. i don’t have anything to say about that. inherently, is it wrong and illegal? yeah sure of course it is. do we call people leeches? i wouldn’t go that far.

if anyone cannot afford, cannot access for whatever reason, fine, i’m not gonna go check if jjwxc truly is banned in your country, or is your postal service so terrible that you definitely won’t be able to receive a hard copy of the book you like at affordable rates.

and if you have to pirate? go ahead. i mean it’s always been a rampant thing. the only thing fan translators and fans can do is encourage, motivate and incentivise as much as possible to get people to support legally. they can only put up REALLY COMPREHENSIVE guides as to how to access jjwxc or taobao or whatever.

and if you still cannot afford it and pirate, honestly no one cares about the story behind it. you owe no one justification, just as how no other person is obligated to take it into consideration or understand you or empathize with you. i don’t say this in a malicious way - i do think that in general, you just do you.

(2) the poor people don’t deserve nice things argument: honestly, this was not the point of this entire debacle, altho yes, people were rude to those who could not afford to support legally. but this is not the point of this whole thing.

main point - there are free riders who can support but choose not to because they choose to just consume it for free and if you are able to you should support

everyone going off on a tangent - you guys hate poor people / you guys are leeches

well guess what, no one wins in this argument.

there were a lot of people saying “reading danmei is our only source of happiness, are you saying poor people who can’t access legally don’t deserve to read danmei” (this is just one example i’ve seen, there are other variations), and it wasn’t put across perhaps in the right way, but the other camp of people were saying “you’re not entitled to it for free if you cannot afford it”, which raised a lot of hackles and anti-poor yellings

altho i do not deny that there are those who mean it maliciously, i think what everyone is trying to say is - the danmei industry, like any other profit-making industry, is looking to make profits. the people working in the industry, the authors even, are looking at numbers - traffic to jjwxc or other legal platforms, how much revenue they’re making from their live actions etc., comments, rankings, etc. i think @/hunxi-after-hours made a really succinct post on this aspect which yall should read.

it’s the same as - if you wanted to purchase a standee which costs $20 USD, but you cannot afford it = you don’t get it. there’s no way you can get this standee unless some gifts it to you for free. what the camp trying to ask people to support legally is saying, is that danmei is NOT A PUBLIC GOOD. it is a private, for-profit product. it might be intangible, but it is a PRODUCT that has a price that needs to be paid.

if you cannot afford it, you either don’t get access entirely (i’m saying this objectively and honestly from an economic standpoint). if someone gifts that standee to you for free, count yourself lucky - if someone makes a danmei accessible to you for free, COUNT YOURSELF LUCKY. you don’t have to be grateful and treat them as gods or like obey their every word, but it’s not rocket science. someone did you a favour that you accepted and consumed, show some respect.

if you cannot afford to buy the standee - you do not go on twitter demanding that someone ensures that you have access to the standee for free. do you see how ridiculous this sounds once it’s a tangible product? and danmei novels ARE PRODUCTS. they are not FREE CONTENT. if someone cannot afford the standee, this is the equivalent of people going “we didn’t get the standee for free because poor people don’t deserve nice things”

totally missing the point. i don’t even know how it got to this. once again, i do admit that some users were unnecessarily mean, but going to the extreme of this is ridiculous. in argumentative essay writing we call this a logical fallacy:

e.g. “if you cannot pay for merchandise or danmei, it is a fact that you might not have access to it” morphing into “if we cannot pay for food, does this mean we cannot have access to it?!” - this is a slippery slope, and factors are not equivalent!!!! do they not teach people anything in school

don’t confuse fanfiction with danmei - danmei novels ARE PAID PRODUCTS unless for free chapters, just because it’s released online doesn’t mean it’s free public property, and also selected novels (did you guys know the WHOLE of SCI novel is free? about 500 chapters sorry, random, just a tidbit)

there are of course nuances right, like if anyone told me they were pirating disney+ content i’d be like yeah hey get one over those bloodsuckers, they take enough of our money and produce shit content anyway. the difference is that danmei authors, and the danmei industry itself can still be considered a nascent and not-yet matured industry, with a majority of authors if not all, depending on monetary flow, likes, comments, virality on the sites their content is hosted on, for a living, unlike hugeass MNCs trying to squeeze us dry for content that isn’t even interesting.

danmei is priced rather reasonably - and this brings me to another argument that was made, that the value of money is not the same for everyone. i don’t want to make comments on this because yes this is correct to a large extent. a $6 book might be cheap to most of us, but might be expensive to someone else. i’m not gonna comment on how cheap or whatever it is, if you gotta use your money for other things, definitely! i still maintain however, that a novel less than a dollar should be affordable to most people, a majority of people. and i definitely side eye some users who obviously have money but are just creating noise because they wanna continue free-riding

(4) the “they’re losing out on their international audience” argument: honestly, i feel like english-speaking danmei fandom gives themselves a bit too much credit. danmei has long thrived in china in its domestic market - sure the international audience is a plus to have and i’m sure the authors are grateful and flattered that people who don’t understand chinese love their content and love it a lot, but do they and their companies care about fans who basically don’t bring in money? i’m not sure (okay i’ll get to the fan translators doing illegal shit later okay i got it don’t be impatient)

and international fans are great, i don’t deny that - but when i see arguments like “oh but it’s their loss if they don’t cater or deny access to us, they get more popularity and sharing overseas”, i honestly think they don’t care as much as you think. once again, hunxi made a really good argument regarding non-sinophone audiences, but it really irks me, because this is the same as:

an instagram influencer saying they’ll give a restaurant exposure for free to their followers, if they get a free meal

it’s par for par - danmei authors wants earnings, popularity, tangible results that show that they are succeeding. this is life. if i put something out there for sale, i better be getting returns, simple economic logic. they probably don’t care that a non-paying reader is bringing them greater ‘exposure’ - once again, i mean this objectively.

and yes if they’re thriving without the international market then why should it matter that people are pirating right? which brings me to the next point~

(5) it’s fan translators faults for so many people pirating, and fan translators are the ones doing the “illegal” work: this one is like... wow where do i unpack this and how-

firstly, we are talking about assholes who can pay but decide to free ride and not pay for danmei, and we assume that if you really cannot afford and have to pirate, no one’s saying anything as long as you don’t go around spreading how to pirate, how the hell did it get to fan translators from “you guys are anti-poor” and whatever

yes, fan translations are indeed illegal, i don’t deny that, and i also don’t deny that there are translators who translate for clout and popularity but putting these aside - here’s what i have seen from people who ran their mouths and made this argument

“if you guys care about us pirating the book so much than fan translators shouldn’t have translated in the first place” and “if you wanna come after us for reading illegally, then fan translators, you guys should go get the copyright for the book and then translate it cuz what you guys are doing is also illegal”

hooooo i’m telling ya, i am all for translators locking up their translations at this point. see how fucking hurtful that is? you eat from my hand and then now you biting at the hand that fed you the gays in love?

honestly if you’ve made this argument or supported this, you can basically go to hell. yes this is personal because what, you think fan translators don’t take out their personal time and effort and hard work to make translations accessible to you? if you’re ever consumed and read translations, don’t be a hypocrite and make this argument. you benefitted from it, now you wanna say it’s their fault?

most translators want to share and spread the love they have for a novel right, want to show you how wonderful all these authors are, how much enjoyment u get from reading these wonderfully thought out stories of gays in love. yes we all know we are illegally translating, which is why on top of sharing we first, purchase the novels legally ourselves first, and then we try to encourage people to buy etc. and actually put their money to use. it doesn’t make it any less illegal, but we are bridging the gap between danmei and basically the english-speaking fandom, albeit illegally

we aren’t that self-important to ask for gratefulness but some respect would be nice. like i said, you read it, you consumed it, you enjoyed it, you can only access it because of illegal translators - a bit counter-intuitive to yell at these translators, who are simply telling you, if you can, please support. and none of us went “if you cannot afford, begone!”

===

🔺 some people tried to help by offering jjwxc credits so people who cannot afford as they say, can get legal access: honestly, just take it right, guess what some of these users did in response

they said the people giving away credits are trying to redeem themselves for their comments by giving away free stuff

they also said that we are trying to shame the people who cannot afford it with this handout to them, to show that they are the bigger person - the fact that they think this is a handout to them is TELLING. the people offering this is giving their money not to these readers, but to the authors! that’s the point of this exercise!!!

one of them even said “instead of trying to do these giveaways, here, there are greater world problems out there, donate instead to these causes” - love the initiative, but how did we get from being able to afford danmei and entertainment content to saving the world? i just- i cannot

===

🔺 so why i get why fan translators are locking up their translations, because wow, so hurtful:

you have no idea how many fucking assholes went “sure, lock up your translations, deal with the consequences” - ermmmm firstly, thanks for making a threat. like who the fuck do you think you are?

the consequences is... the authors still don’t get the money these free riders weren’t going to give them anyway, so no loss, and they weren’t reading on jjwxc anyway so you know, the authors don’t lose or gain any readership numbers or traffic they didn’t already have. instead, it WILL push and force people to pay for the PRODUCT. once again, it’s a product.

this works, and i’d say Word of Honor’s payment model worked marvellously for Youku, because they fucking forced everyone to pay to access content. ALL OF THEM. sure ok some people still pirated it, but how many MORE people paid on Youku, on Youku Youtube, watched on Viki etc. than if they didn’t? even english-speaking fandom were wracking their brains trying to purchase a Youku pass even if there were no subs initially - and other examples that lovely hunxi brought up in her amazing piece

and for translators?! honestly me for one, i’m glad i don’t feel pressured anymore to churn out a chapter every week since we get called names etc. most of us are glad to have a break to be honest. we’ve lost all motivation to translate because it’s a free service, at the very least we don’t expect like hate, or rudeass fuckers. for those who are doing a proof of purchase thing - go for it honestly!

hopefully it’ll minimize the free rider problem - some people for whatever reasons really cannot buy or support legally, that’s totally cool and they don’t have to justify it, i get that. but for others making the same argument but obviously are just unwilling to pay because they can’t read chinese, think it’s too troublesome when there are guides and translators provide it for free anyway so what’s the point - we all make concessions and make decisions to grab what we like (not talking about the ppl who have their various troubles and difficulties!)

===

🔺 and those who are saying why is it the ‘rest of us suffer’ from locked translations just because of a few bad apples:

IT ISN’T ABOUT YOU. where the hell were all of ya when we were getting called illegal huh? it’s about us fan translators getting shot at for no reason, and then people still demanding things for free. i don’t see any of the people i’ve seen on tumblr complain about fan translators stopping or locking translations defend any of us in any way. instead, you’re complaining.

it is the translator’s prerogative to start, stop and end translations, unless of course the original author starts to sue i suppose. i see people on tumblr going like if they were gonna do this, they shouldn’t have started in the first place etc. - i don’t what world you live in, but when i do something for free, then get called names and am attacked or get dictated on how i should do something that’s already like free, i tend to be less generous.

i’m sorry, do us illegal and free translators owe ANY OF YOU? i wasn’t aware any of us were being paid for this hobby. readers, especially those who CAN and just refuse to support, don’t get to say SHIT. translators deal with so much shit and so many entitled readers, i say they get to lock whatever they want as long as they aren’t profiting off of this monetarily.

let me give you an example - nan chan, which is translated by lian yin, completed translations by the way for all chapters. it is all free for viewing, and she only locked up one extra and asked for proof of payment. some dumbfuck quotes that locked up extra chapter tweet and said “honestly, this turned me off reading this novel because they restricted access”.

the. fucking. entitlement. the whole of nan chan is free, that’s like what more than 80 chapters. she locked up the EXTRA and the money goes to the author, she doesn’t earn anything. AND HERE THAT BIJ is (yes, i’m going to call them names because you know, fucking asshole who didn’t bother to check) going “yeah i didn’t wanna read because 1/80+ chapters were locked”.

AN EXTRA. LITERALLY AN EXTRA!!!!!!

at the end of the day, translators are not like DYING to translate, not like some of you are DYING to read the translations. once again, this isn’t a “BE GRATEFUL” message, it’s a please be respectful to the people who put in time and hard work for free and share the goodness ya know? what’s the use of yelling at fan translators as if we owe you anything?

================

🔴🔴🔴 TOO LONG DIDN’T READ 🔴🔴🔴

some people may need really need to pirate - and no one needs to justify why they cannot afford to purchase etc. pirating happens all the time, translators only hope that when you can, and in whatever way you can, to support legally - in general we don’t ask and we get it! we’re just annoyed that some people think that it SHOULD BE FREE, when it is a paid product, especially for those who CAN afford it

readers are not entitled to shit on translators for what they do with their translations - once again, you’re not OBLIGATED to have it. so what if i start and stop? i’m the one doing the work, i get the only say. don’t be a hypocrite and shit on translators, whose works you’ve read - it’s no loss for translators, we read and enjoy danmei just fine

yes, fan translations are illegal, but you can’t read and enjoy them like some of you have, and then turn around and point the finger at translators - a lot of us are happy to stop translating - this isn’t a threat, but at the end of the day, shitting on translators simply decreases access, and sure, some people can indeed live with you know, MTL or shitty translations from people who’ve learnt chinese for only six months or whatever, but you’re gonna be reading an entirely different book tbh

the people saying illegal translators are at fault - funnily enough, most of them consume the translations, so what the fuck? i mean we know it’s illegal, we’re trying to share the love and trying to minimize the illegalities of it by redirecting people to hopefully support legally. it’s still illegal yes, but i think it’s hypocritical for people who have read translations, stab translators in the back. and now that translators are indeed ‘restricting’ and ‘removing’ their ‘illegal translations’, yall yelling again? and threatening?

fan translators aren’t “elitist” or “classist” - just looking for some respect in a community which seems to have taken them for granted, and also looking for support for their fave authors - and honestly a lot of us were caught in the crossfires truly, don’t be an asshole and demand things from fan translators - who are you talking about? do you know why they decided to lock? do you know know what their locking system is like and what for?

it’s not EASY to lock the translations up - it’s more admin work, it’s putting together a whitelist of people, if given the choice i’m sure translators would prefer to share everything. but not when there are assholes who have a comment on how they should translate etc. and yeah!!! calling us illegal!! i mean we are but still!!

the last straw was seeing that post on tumblr and people in the comments going like fan translators shouldn’t or should do something, without getting the whole picture, without even considering how hard it is for fan translators being caught in this situation.

whoever puts in the work gets to decide, and everyone else should leave them alone.

be nice to the people who really cannot afford as they say so (or just don’t think about it), be nice to the translators feeding you content, and the people who free ride and shit on translators - honestly, i’d say ready the pitchforks.

edit: i forgot to mention this is my hot take and i’ve tried to like present all the arguments i’ve seen so far. i’m definitely not doing all of it justice and i don’t claim to speak on behalf of any of them except maybe one or two- and i’ve definitely left out stuff, but anyway, lmao we’re just tiny people doing what we love. i wish we could solve you know inequality or poverty or hunger or other pressing concerns. if i was that great i wouldn’t be stuck on tumblr or twitter or have to make posts like these like a loser.

thanks for coming to my ted talk.

#danmei #danmei twitter #rambles #long post #literally cannot take the stupidity of some people anymore

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kirtokyo · 3 years

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hey kira me again- hope ur doing well :} !! again, congrats on 100, your writing is adorable and im so happy you’re getting the recognition you deserve <<333 !! for the event, is it alright if you write for feitan at around 7:30am if that’s alright w/ you?? tysm and congrats once more !!!

𝐅𝐄𝐈𝐓𝐀𝐍 — 「 𝟕:𝟑𝟎𝐚𝐦 」 event details • black reader

Rising up just enough for your head and shoulders to lift off the pillow, your alarm woke you up out of your sleep. You planned on getting up early to do chores around the house. It was 7:30 in the morning but you pushed yourself up anyway, standing to stretch. Before you could begin walking to the bathroom your lover— Feitan tugged at your waist beckoning you to lay back down. 10 more minutes wouldn’t hurt you reckoned, joining him. Those 10 minutes then turned into 2 hours.

The air waking you up naturally, curiosity guiding your hand to check the time, you exclaimed. It was 9:42. Knowing you should get up you laid there, never finding the strength to do it. The bed felt so warm and soft like a cumulus cloud, not to mention Feitan peacefully sleeping right beside you. You couldn’t help but stare at his usually tense features turn soft, his chest without clothing, showcasing his bare abs in the sunlight. After a while his eyelashes started to bat open. His first view of the morning was your bronze skin glowing in the morning sunbeams, a sight he loved to see.

You sat up-right on the mattress, comforter resting at your lap. Feitan gave a raised eyebrow, questioning you so you proceeded to tell him why you were so rushed to get up. After explaining he grumbled and dragged you back down on top of him. You now laid with your head on his chest with your hand skimming over the indents of muscles on his stomach. You made small talk while staring up at the ceiling. He mostly listened while you spoke, putting in a few comments here and there. That was a regular occurrence In the relationship, you talked, he listened. Feitan was rather an opinionated person, adding his two cents in every once in a while.

When moments like these occurred you made sure to make the best of them. You promised yourself that. With the job he had you didn’t get to spend time with each other like this as often as you liked. Being able to be yourselves, relaxed, bask in the comfort of your lover. Saturday mornings with him were specifically your favorite. Being able to sleep in, maybe go out for brunch, and find things to occupy your rest of the day… with fei of course ♡︎!

Like and reblog !

#feitan x black reader #hxh x black reader #feitan x reader #feitan headcanons #feitan #feitan portor #feitan portor x reader #hxh feitan #Feitan fluff #Feitan hxh #hxh hcs #hxh fluff #hxh headcanons #feitan hunter x hunter

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whysojiminimnida · 2 years

Note

While I agree with you that there’s a lot of hypocrisy when it comes to what’s okay to share and what’s not, especially when it comes to Jikook!, I don’t get how people think it’s okay to take their phones out and photograph the members without them being aware and while they’re very obviously on their private times. The fact that we can find all those other pics of Jikook dates on Google does not make it okay, in my opinion. They were spread by fans, that’s all. Of course they know that they’re most likely to be caught when they’re in public places and these pics are going to happen but I still don’t understand how it makes it justifiable. It’s crossing boundaries. If you spot the members why not just keeping it for yourself? It’s beyond my comprehension. And even the thought of taking a picture… I find it extremely impolite. Maybe it’s because I’m an hardcore introvert and private person, who knows. Maybe it also has to do with the country I come from. It’s a big no here to do this, no one cares about celebrities going out and about, for the most part. Celebrities are real people, they’re not puppets. K-armys didn’t want the pic to be spread, once again the way I-army are behaving is disappointing. We don’t need that kind of pics to know Jikook are extremely close and most likely dating. We don’t need to try to prove it to the idiots who don’t want to admit it. Honestly I think we can do better than this. It’s not even about protecting them as a couple as that pic doesn’t show anything indeed, but protecting their privacy and their right to have some time off without cameras and people watching them every time they’re going somewhere. That might not seem harmful to you but just try to imagine how it must feel like for them. Anyway, just my 2 cents on the matter.

Anon has a perfectly valid, reasonable opinion and I think it's worth reading. Thanks nice anon :)

#thanks nice anon #controversy #jikook #anon #white day photo

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thefudge · 2 years

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idk how to feel about most of the enemies-to-lovers couples on TV lately. for some reason they just don't do it for me! i love the trope but i don't see the spark in many of them? i was wondering if you had thoughts on this

i might have an inkling as to why you don't feel that spark. nowadays, most enemies-to-lovers don't start out as enemies. i don't mind a variation of "they used to be childhood besties and now hate each other", or "they have messy history"; that can be very well done, but the problem with a lot of these dynamics is that you can see from day one that they have no actual reason to fight/no conflict/no problem with each other. it's all surface-level. and so, there's no emotional progression. if person A and person B are already in love, but they're just a little more bantery and aggressive than your average couple, then what's the point? i mean, i enjoy that for its own sake, but it's not really enemies-to-lovers. so i think the problem with this trope nowadays is 1. bad pacing, and 2. no progression, 3. not enough meanness. and i wanna stress the third one: people aren't mean enough to each other anymore! i know that sounds weird, but i want my enemies-to-lovers to properly dislike each other at first! you can have, like, a frisson of attraction, but let them honest-to-god dislike each other.

anyway, idk if you resonate with all that, but those are my two cents!

#enemies to lovers #tropes #my thoughts

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noteguk · 3 years

Text

white lies | teaser 2: jungkook | jjk | m

[ ! ] this is one of the two teasers for my upcoming fic (white lies), which will be posted July 5th. You can check out the first teaser here.

— contents and warnings (for the teaser); athlete!jungkook x reader, college au, childhood best friends, fake dating (in the actual fic), idiots to lovers, mutual pining, heavy simping content, Jungkook lies because he loves you and he is also a dumbass

— words; 1k

Jungkook probably told lies more frequently than the average person.

Continuously, he would convince himself that they were mostly harmless, just tiny little changes in reality or minor omissions that would make someone else feel better, or magically get him out of trouble. And, for the most part, that was what they were. But there were also the ones that he told himself, the ones that suffocated him from the inside out — ones that protected him from the truth, because it was better to live in his own made-up world than to deal with his problems once and for all.

During those last few months, most of those lies involved you in some way.

“What do you mean? So she just didn’t show up?” You asked, a deep frown forming on your face. You were attacking the small box of Chinese food like there was a treasure waiting to be found at the bottom, your following words coming out muffled, fighting through the food in your mouth. “What a bitch.”

“Yeah.” He chuckled, nervous. Jungkook didn’t have the guts to tell you that he was the one who cancelled at the last minute. His reasoning was simple: he was tired of leading other people on when he knew he only had eyes for you, and, well, because he liked when you paid attention to him — which was a bit sad, but, yeah, he managed to convince himself he just missed his best friend. “It happens,” he shrugged, a faux expression of disappointment falling over his features. “I don’t mind as long as we’re eating something, honestly.”

But you weren’t relenting. Jungkook had to admit that he loved when you got overprotective like that, it sparked a flame of appreciation inside his chest that he couldn’t put out easily. It almost (almost) made him think that he had a chance. “No, she’s so dumb. Who in their right mind would stand you up?” You continued, sauce splattered all over your chin, trickling down in a greasy disaster. “I really don’t have faith in the universe anymore.”

The boy smiled, leaning back against the uncomfortable kitchen chair — no matter how many times people complained, you were adamant on not spending one single cent on new cushions. “Thanks for the support, ___. But it’s fine, really,” Jungkook guaranteed. “You saved my night anyway. I’m probably having way more fun with you than I’d have with her.”

Not a lie, surprisingly.

“Always ready.” You winked at him. The table before you was a complete mess, with napkins thrown around, but unfortunately not as used as they should be. Jungkook was about to reach out for one, but your eyes lit up before he could do that, sidetracking him instantly. “Hm! By the way, tomorrow is Friday the thirteenth and I’m free all day. You know what that means.” You wiggled your eyebrows. Jungkook did, in fact, know. “Wanna join me in a marathon?”

Jungkook had been expecting your offer ever since his calendar changed and he noticed the fateful date. You were extremely avid when it came to horror movies — especially the bad ones — so it wasn’t exactly a surprise that you’d clear your schedule for such an important event. Lucky you, Jungkook had already done the same. “You don’t even have to ask,” he said, cheerful. “What time?”

“Eight.” You had that maniac expression on your face when you decided to do something stupid, one that Jungkook had learned to love a long time ago. You two probably knew every line from those movies already, but he wouldn’t pass up the chance to see you again, to make you happy. Besides, he could handle a few slasher movies after you made him watch Human Centipede — one and two — and Tusk back to back. He simply couldn’t stand body horror. “Be ready to sleep late. Or not sleep at all. It’ll change us.”

Jungkook laughed, almost choking on his food. “Yeah, hope it changes you enough to learn how to use a napkin.” He reached out for one, deciding to clean the mess on your face before it started to drip down to your miraculously white shirt. “Here. I’ll do it.”

You hesitated a little, body tensing for a millisecond as he started to tap the napkin around your face. Jungkook asked himself if he made his crush too obvious, if he made you uncomfortable. “Thanks,” you mumbled.

“No problem.” He cleared his throat, moving back and lowering his arm. It wasn’t awkward, was it? You two were best friends, there was nothing wrong about that. So why was he feeling so strange? “You were saying?”

You blinked a few times, seeming to search around your brain a little. “Oh, yeah, movie marathon,” you beamed. “I was thinking about watching The Fly again too. Are you up for that?”

Once again: Jungkook probably lied more often than the average person. And most times, his white lies came from the fact that he couldn’t handle the idea of letting you down in any way. It was stupid, yes — and kind of emotionally dependent, according to his friend, Yoongi. But that was the tiniest glimpse of control he had in the midst of the chaotic, overwhelming, earth-shattering crush he had on you. One which (he was sure) you clearly didn’t reciprocate.

Jungkook was also probably stupider than the average person. But that’s a tale for another time.

The boy sighed, reaching for his soda and avoiding your expectant gaze. “Sure,” he responded, faking excitement. “You know I love body horror.”

#bts fic #jungkook fic #x you #x reader #drabble #teaser #bts x you #bts x reader #reader insert #jungkook x you #jungkook x reader #jungkook smut #bts smut #bts fluff #jungkook fluff

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foibles-fables · 2 years

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Hi! Long-time listener, first-time caller! I just finished the main quest in HFW and I have Thoughts and no one to share them with, so I've decided to bother you with them 😁 I know you're primarily a Talanah blog, but all my thoughts pertain to Tilda (sns). You reblogged a post a while back (that I've lost, sorry) criticizing Tilda's character and specifically saying she's an example of the predatory lesbian trope, and I find that fascinating because I did not remotely have that reaction to her when I played the game, and I think I've figured out why, so I wanted to offer my 2 cents. First, I can't argue with the OP: she does, factually, meet the requirements for that trope, but I do believe it doesn't apply. First, because the game is riddled with other queer characters all over the world, the most noteworthy of which is (not Talanah unfortunately) Elisabet herself, but she is by no means the only one. Because of this, I would argue Tilda's predatory, selfish behavior is indicative, not of her sexuality, but of her class. I am *amazed* that a AAA-studio actually came out and said there's no such thing as an ethical billionaire. My biggest concern for the game was that they would try to redeem some billionaire and undercut their message from HZD, but imo they actually doubled down on it and I'm thrilled by that. Tilda's possessive behavior is such because a person does not become a billionaire by being any other way. Aloy literally wakes up in her vault, a part of her collection from the beginning, Tilda's intentions in saving her or befriending Beta are no less clinical or selfish than Gerard's in killing or creating them. She thinks she's better than him because she, what? Appreciates art? Sure, once it's been locked away in her vault (yeah yeah she probably did that for the plague but bare with me). That is why she rejects Beta for being "an imperfect copy." (And thats why Aloy's argument with Beta revolves around how Beta is not like Elisabet, and culminates with Aloy being able to see Beta as a unique individual and not just a photocopy of Sobeck [and yes that was also critical to Aloy's character development but shush].) Tilda was never meant to be queer rep, she was meant to be a megalomaniac billionaire. And she was a megalomaniac to her last. Imo, class is one of the major themes from the game, esp. Re: the Quen and Faro's Tomb, but imo you can see it even in those first quests in the Daunt (and ofc it was introduced hard-core in the prolog just like the rest of the Far Zenith and thematic stuff). Ultimately, it was driven home by Tilda's final betrayal and the actions of all the Zeniths, even the "good ones" Tilda talked about knowing. To have her arc end any other way would have been disingenuous and undercut the theme, and I'm really glad they didn't do that. Anyway, that's my 2 cents, sorry for dumping a novel in your inbox. Thanks for listening! ✌️

It's true that I have a complicated relationship with the details of Tilda's storyline and the handling of queer rep in HFW in general, lmao, but I completely agree with you on this front (re: its bones and commentary on class) and love the way you put it. Her behavior--which, whether read as predatory or not, is certainly toxic--can be pretty plainly taken as a byproduct of entitlement that's been left to fester unchecked for a millennia. A "Redeem the Billionaire" deal would've been totally out of place within the series's themes. I still think it's worth criticizing how some some of the queer aspects here were handled (especially when viewed in the larger scope of the game), but you're very right that more glaring factors serve to move her branch of the story forward.

#plus carrie-anne moss really put her back into it #horizon forbidden west #hfw spoilers #tilda van der meer #space fuck mcgee (affectionate)

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imjusttpeachy · 3 years

Text

the early bird gets the panini (c.h.)

well this is quite the change of pace isn’t it. lmao i figured u guys needed a break from the crying so here’s... whatever this is

thank u all new followers!! u jus made a big mistake💞🦋

u guys should search up “my very real collab with 50 cent” by corpse if you haven’t heard it yet, i ascended the first time i listened lmaoooo

playlist

the wombats - greek tragedy

aminé - heebiejeebies

free nationals - beauty and essex

the marías- let my baby stay

summary: Corpse interrupts the reader’s morning livestream after she left him alone in bed that morning. Fluff and fuckery ensues.

word count: 2, 326

WARNINGS: she/her pronouns, coarse language

>>>

“Okay, Tom Nook is the most bitch-ass motherfucker I’ve ever met. I could fold him like a panini with a slap I swear to god.”

Mornings were definitely one of your favourite times to stream. Of course, you loved staying up into the early hours of the morning only kept awake by the energy drinks running through your veins and the screaming of your friends over your headset, but nothing could beat the sweet simplicity of waking up with your watchers. It was always so calm, your anxiety levels at a low with the small audience building up slowly as more of them woke up. Reading those good morning messages saying that you helped to start their day off on a good foot— nothing would beat that.

The only downside to these scheduled morning streams was having to tear yourself away from the cozy warmth of your bed, especially if there was a certain someone blanketed over you silently persuading you to stay there forever. It was always a rare sight, bruised eyes sealed shut, long eyelashes kissing pale cheeks as small snores escaped from slightly parted lips. Glancing down at the messy black mop that rested on top of your chest, you sighed softly. You knew he’d only been asleep for a few hours, if that, thinking back to the night before where you crawled into bed alone after kissing him goodnight before leaving him to finish editing for his latest video. He worked too hard, but despite you reminding him this every single time he stayed up into the dark hours of the night to finish his work, he always never seemed to be satisfied. Most of the time you were able to coax him from the stuffy confines of his gaming office, bribing him with sweet kisses and promises of cuddles; when he was in the zone, though, nothing could steer his sore eyes away from the monitor. So with a sweet kiss goodnight, you’d make your way to the bedroom, falling asleep to the faint click-clacks of his keyboard.

It was funny how different you were in that aspect. You always loved mornings, the sun shining through the blinds always brought a smile to your face holding the promise of a bright day ahead. It felt good to never be in a rush, to enjoy the still air, and watch the world around you wake up as people settled into their daily routines. The day’s chaos always seemed to leak through into the dark of the night, but in the morning everything felt new and refreshed; the perfect new beginning to another chapter in the story of your life. Though, allowing yourself the guilty pleasure of staying in bed tangled together with your favourite person every so often wouldn’t hurt anyone.

Okay, maybe it was almost every day.

But who could say no when those strong arms encased you so perfectly, holding you so close you couldn’t figure out where you ended and where he started? Who could say no to his warm skin pressed against your own, the weight of his body grounding you as you pulled yourself from the darkness of sleep? Who could say no to being able to study his face up close, running your fingertip ever so lightly along the curve of his jaw, the bridge of his nose, the apples of his cheekbones, watching his eyelids flutter as he stirred softly in his sleep? Who could say no to the pillow talk you shared once those pretty eyes opened, the deep grumble of his morning voice that prickled goosebumps over your skin as he muttered those 3 sweet little words?

Definitely not you.

Well, not often anyway.

Reluctantly pulling your gaze away from the sweet face resting on your chest, you glanced over to the alarm clock on the nightstand. Red numbers reading 9:37 AM that seemed to be glaring back at you pushed any thought of indulging in your morning pleasures straight from your mind. You’d need to be live in 20 minutes. Puffing another sigh from your lips you slowly worked your way out from underneath your personal weighted blanket, trying your best to maneuver him softly onto the pillows to not wake him. Of course, you’d never be that lucky. Hissing through your teeth as your feet hit the icy top of the hardwood floor, you whipped your head around as a warm hand encased your wrist in a loose grip. Beneath messy bed head that could barely be seen from underneath the comforter that you had pulled back on top of him, you see the glimpse of tired eyes clouded with confusion peering out from underneath.

“Angel?” The deep grumble muttered underneath his breath almost made you throw all your plans to the wind and crawl right back into the fluffy clouds you longed to once again get lost in. Huffing out a sigh you slowly turned around, pulling your hand from his grasp only to bury it in the dark locks buried among the pillows. You leaned down softly, pushing your hands through his hair to reveal soft pleading eyes staring back at you, doing nothing but making your heart ache for having to leave so soon. Trancing your thumb along his eyebrow to try and smooth the small furrow that had made its home between them, you sighed softly.

“It’s Thursday, gotta stream puppy.” You watched as a small flash of recognition passed across his bleary eyes, a puff escaping his lips from under the comforter as you watched his chest fall slightly. Pulling his head up from the comforter, you smiled as you felt chapped lips press a small kiss to the inside of your wrist in understanding. Allowing yourself a bit of fun you leaned down pressing your lips to his briefly, giggling softly as a whine escaped his mouth as you pulled away. “Promise I won’t be long, I’ll be back before you even have time to miss me.”

“Too late for that.”

>>>

Smiling as you glanced up at your monitor that held your live chat, you watched as your viewers lost it with your threat to an animated shopkeeper. Times like this are what remind you of how grateful you are to your subscribers, they were practically family at this point and you felt you couldn’t be luckier to have such genuine, warm-hearted people that wanted to watch; even when you were cussing out characters that did nothing to you. You were laughing as you read some of the chat replies out loud when you saw your phone light up with a text from where it was sitting on your desk. Excusing yourself for a moment from the stream you grabbed your phone seeing a message from Corpse.

Corpsie💞💞: did you order coffee? someone knocked on the door and there’s a paper bag on the step

Cursing to yourself quietly for forgetting, you answered him quickly saying that you just needed to cut to a break on stream and you’d be out in a minute to grab it. He was wary of even opening the front door these days, and honestly, you couldn’t blame him. The last time you had driven out to pick up whatever was sent into his P.O. Box, there were people waiting outside the building. When you went inside to grab everything, you asked the teller what exactly they were waiting for, to which he told you that they were hoping to catch a glimpse of this faceless internet star as this is where he’d go to get his mail. You don’t think you’ve ever walked faster to your car— trying your best to not grab their attention though your body was shaking with adrenaline, knowing they might’ve seen him while he was waiting there for you. Practically throwing open the driver's door, you tossed everything haphazardly into the back seat, telling Corpse to pull up his hood and mask as you started the car and peeled out of there. That was the last time he left the house.

You sighed, dropping your phone back on your desk as well as the switch that had been sitting in your lap, beginning to explain that you needed a quick break to get your coffee and starting to click through the settings to set up your break screen when you saw your phone light up again.

Corpsie💞💞: nah don’t worry i got it

You barely had time to sit back in your chair as you stared at your phone in disbelief before there was a soft knocking on your office door.

“Just kidding guys, apparently we have a kind guest who’s bringing it to me instead.”

Corpse hearing your voice from behind the door, it swung open to reveal your mop-headed lover sporting his cute plaid pyjama pants and yesterday’s hoodie as he held your coffees and bag in his hand. You grinned to yourself, moving out of the frame of the webcam as you reached out to grab everything, placing it on your desk before turning back to him with a wide smile. Reaching back for his hand, you pulled it down toward you, his body following as your other hand reached up to bury itself in his bedhead. You leaned forward and pressed a small peck onto his lips, mumbling a soft thank you against them as you kissed him once more. While this may have looked like the most simple gesture you knew how difficult it must have been for him, almost wanting to cry at how sweet he was to go to those lengths to do something a little special for you. As you pulled away, you smiled as his face mirrored yours, those soft rosy lips pulled into the sweetest grin you’d ever seen. Resting his forehead against yours, he mumbled back a small “anything for you princess,” the deep rumble of his morning voice sending a chill up your spine as you leaned forward again to steal another sweet kiss. Finally pulling away from you he stood up to his full height, a yawn escaping his mouth; though as he looked back toward the door you could sense his hesitation and grinned widely up at him.

“Do you wanna sit with me for a bit? I can just turn off the camera.” Giggling softly, you watched his head practically whip back toward you nodding a yes as he squeezed your hand, still intertwined with his. Reluctantly pulling it from his grasp, you pulled yourself back toward your monitors as you began to click through your stream settings.

“Well, your favourite guest has decided to grace us with his presence for a little so I’m gonna have to turn off face-cam, but I don’t think you guys will have a problem with that.” You laughed out, watching as your chat began to surge with messages about him. Making sure there was no way you could accidentally turn on the webcam again, you gestured him over to you starting to stand from your chair to grab the other one sitting in the corner of the office when a hand grasped yours, a strong tug pulling you completely off it with; a small yelp escaped your lips as you fell clumsily into your boyfriend's chest. You could hear his laugh from above you as he maneuvered you around in his arms before falling back onto your chair and pulling you into his lap, his face burying itself into the crook of your neck where you could feel that smug grin that was surely painted on his face. With his arms wrapped around you completely, holding you securely to his chest you knew you weren’t going anywhere. Looking up at the chat a laugh was pulled from your lips as your watchers conspired against you, message after message accusing you of doing something unspeakable behind the camera as being the reason you turned it off.

“Guys, literally nothing is happening.” You laughed out, watching as the chat passed so fast you couldn’t even read a full sentence. “Corpse just decided he wanted to share a chair instead of getting his own.”

“Yeah, my bad.” With no trace of any remorse in his monotone answer, another laugh escaped from your lips. Leaning forward to grab your switch and actually start playing again, you settled back into Corpse’s lap knowing this is exactly where you wanted to be. You were only a few minutes back into the game, Corpse and you occasionally reading out some live chat comments excited about his surprise appearance as viewers slowly climbed— his own watchers joining to watch the stream, when he inevitably started to fuck with you. A chill snaked up your spine as you began to feel small kisses trailing up your neck, you should’ve known this was one of the reasons he wanted to have you in his lap— it was easier to get your attention this way. You could feel that smug little smile drift back onto his face as he heard your voice start to shake slightly; at those moments he’d pull away and start replying to messages before turning back and starting all over again. It was the fourth time he began to press those soft lips to the base of your throat when you shrugged him off and shoved the breakfast sandwich you were snacking on into his face.

“Okay, if you want to share a chair you’re gonna have to behave.”

“Okay, okay. Sorry baby, sorry.” Corpse laughed out, voice muffled from behind the sandwich; taking a bite of it and placing it back in front of you, his chest still shaking with laughter. Deciding to hook his chin over your shoulder instead, he went back to watching the live chat, chatting and answering questions— that is before he came across a certain comment that had him furrowing his brows in confusion.

“What’s this about you folding Tom Nook like a panini?”

>>>

#corpse husband x reader #corpse husband imagine #corpse x reader #corpse imagine #corpse husband x y/n

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greatsagestonemonkey · 3 years

Text

About “Shadow Play”

Warning! Spoilers ahead!

Okay, so, after watching “Shadow Play”, I had to write this out because a lot of people are talking about it and I had to lay out my two cents without being limited to a tiny box...

Possible spoilers for both Lego Monkie Kid Season 2 episode “Shadow Play” AND for Journey to the West, so be warned!

Okay for starters, the episode had a lot to unpack, but this is going to be covering the whole issue of “Poor Macaque” and “what the fuck Wukong”. THAT being said, I definitely LOVED the episode, it was fantastic! But I feel like this needs to be talked about because the writing for the episode tells a LOT more than I think people are seeing. That’s what I want to discuss here.

So, we all know from the story Macaque told in the episode, that he and Wukong go WAY back, the parallel of the Sun and the Moon was used, with Wukong being the Sun and Macaque being the Moon, of course, and that eventually Macaque was left behind by Wukong and he appears to be quite bitter about that. This is where I’ve noticed a lot of people bringing up the “what the fuck Wukong” bit... BUT, they seem to be overlooking something important here:

Wukong’s circlet. Also known as the “cursed hat” or “tightening band”. People who have read the book know that this circlet was given to Wukong by Tripitaka (also courtesy of Guan Yin) to keep Wukong in line. “Why?” many of you are probably asking... Well, it’s not just because Wukong is insanely powerful, that’s just part of the reason; a very MINOR reason.

The main and most important reason that people often forget about Wukong is that he is IMPULSIVE to a fault. For the first six chapters of Journey to the West, Wukong is driven PURELY by his impulsive desires. He never listened to anyone! His rampage through Heaven was testimony to that, as was his taking Buddha’s challenge to escape his palm, and in the end, his own hubris was his downfall. But even after being imprisoned for 500 years, Wukong hadn’t changed much. Or at all, in fact. That is why Tripitaka needed the circlet and the tightening mantra that came with it to control him; because Wukong wouldn’t listen to him AT ALL. It was only after Tripitaka had an effective way to discipline the monkey that Wukong started to actually do as he was asked. And as the book goes on, Wukong becomes more compliant, actually listening and doing as asked without Tripitaka having to use the tightening mantra to get Wukong to calm down. There’s actually a pretty compelling scene later on in the book (I don’t remember the exact chapter or page) where Tripitaka stops Wukong from attacking a demon minion JUST by calling out his name, whereas before he would have to recite the mantra to get him to stop.

There’s another infamous scene where Wukong is moved to tears by Tripitaka’s compassion for others, whereas earlier in the book Wukong wouldn’t have really bothered much with pity for others. Like seriously. He couldn’t be bothered to look after anyone but himself or his monkeys. He was kind of a selfish dick that way. But in that particular scene, it showed that Wukong had changed A LOT since being made to stop and listen to Tripitaka every once in awhile via the circlet. It was kind of like a wake-up call for him, in a way.

Anyway, we can clearly see the circlet on Wukong’s head in this scene when Macaque is showing how Wukong left. I know we can see it in earlier ones too, but I think the reason for that is because that’s how Macaque sees Wukong, but we’ll come back to that in a bit.

Now, we all know that Macaque is supposed to represent Wukong’s darker side, his “shadow”. And one thing that I think the writer’s made clear in this episode is that Macaque hasn’t changed much. He’s still the dark half, the side of Wukong that will always be in the shadows; the part of him that was BEFORE Wukong changed due to his travels with Tripitaka. Since it’s hinted that Macaque was with Wukong before his rampage through heaven and his 500 year imprisonment, we know that he saw the side of Wukong that existed before Wukong went through the various level of character development that he did in the Journey to the West. And the thing that the writers for “Shadow Play” make clear is that Macaque doesn’t completely understand why Wukong changed.

Macaque wasn’t there for the Journey. Which was probably his choice. The writers of this episode, and of the episode “Macaque” make it clear that Macaque hasn’t changed much in the centuries. He himself makes that clear by referring to himself as Wukong’s shadow, and with the parallel of the sun and the moon. And because he wasn’t there, because he stayed in the shadows, he clearly doesn’t understand the reason behind Wukong’s change and choice to stay by Tripitaka’s side through the Journey, despite being jilted and hurt by the monk plenty of times.

Wukong chose to stay with Tripitaka because he was changing, growing, for the better, even if he himself didn’t realize it right away. But when he did realize it, he chose to stay, even if that meant leaving behind a part of him--or even someone--that he held very dear; Macaque.

Which now brings us to this next part people keep talking about:

The scene where Macaque apparently gets his scar.

We now know for certain that Macaque gets his scar from Wukong. And a lot of people have been expressing their curiosity over why the two ended up fighting each other, or what could have prompted Wukong to wound someone he was supposed to have cared about in such a way.

Well, for those of you who have read the book, you probably know why exactly why. For those who haven’t, in the chapter where the Six Eared Macaque first makes his appearance, he attacks and wounds Tripitaka badly; like with the full intention of killing him kind of badly. I won’t spoil the whole chapter for you, but long story short, is that when confronted after his identity as “the false monkey king” is revealed, he confesses that his plan is to kill everyone in the Journey Crew--minus Wukong--and replace them with duplicates that he has created.

Now, we know from previous episodes of the series so far, that Wukong cares for the rest of the Journey Crew VERY MUCH. He’s kept momentos from the Journey and even made those little origami figures of them with that little shrine in the New Years Special. And we’ve seen how he gets when you threaten someone he cares about via the scene of him with Lady White Bone in that very same special.

THAT is what their fight was about.

Macaque hurt someone Wukong cared about, and Wukong retaliated in kind. Maybe he went a little too far, but he definitely wasn’t going to let it slide. It was almost literally “an eye for an eye”.

Now we come back to that bit of how Macaque sees Wukong, as promised. Macaque shows off Wukong with the circlet in the play because he again, doesn’t understand the reason behind Wukong’s change. He probably knows what the circlet does, and thus sees it and the one who controls it as the reason. This is probably why he attacked Tripitaka; in Macaque’s mind, without Tripitaka, without the tightening mantra, Wukong will go back to being his old self.

Macaque doesn’t understand that Wukong was changing without the circlet being used on him. He says this himself in Episode 9 of Season 1, when he delivers the line, “The old you would have leveled this whole mountain range to stop me! But you’re scared of hurting some kid?!”

That. Right there. Says SO much now that we’ve seen Shadow Play.

Wukong changed for reasons that Macaque doesn’t understand; Wukong grew to care about others and the consequences of his actions. But because Macaque stayed behind, he still holds onto Wukong’s old ways, and he wants that back. He used the analogy of himself as the warrior in the story, and even told MK about the “happy ending” because deep down that’s what he wants. He wants the old Wukong back because that’s the Wukong he understands.

Then we come to the line where he tells MK that he’s “a bit too much” like Monkey King, right after the flashback of how he got his scar. If we refer to that bit above again, we know that Macaque got his scar from Wukong after he tried to kill Tripitaka and very nearly turned the whole Journey Crew against Wukong completely. And what was Macaque doing in this scene?

The same thing.

He was using MK’s friends against him, which ticked MK off to the point where MK went almost blind with rage in an effort to get his friends back. We see in that brief flashback, that Macaque saw that bit of Wukong in MK; the part that cared too much.

This is also where we see a bit of growth in Macaque, and again I refer to the flashback. He realizes he’s reliving a moment where he possibly went too far, and decides to back out before it goes even further to a point where he gets hurt. But that’s also testament to how much he hasn’t changed over the centuries; he’s still only the best at looking out for himself, just like Wukong was before Tripitaka changed him.

His whole conversation with MK after the fight also shows how much he wants the old Wukong back and doesn’t want to see MK go down the same path, and we see it through the whole episode; he sees MK and Wukong as too “soft” now. They get concerned too easily with others, and what will happen if they fail, whereas Macaque is overconfident to a fault, looks out for “old number one” (himself) and doesn’t have the inconvenience of looking out for others to weigh him down or to blind him from his person goals. That’s why he tells MK he’s not ready, not because he lack the ability, but because he lacks the survival instinct. That same survival instinct that Macaque is used to.

In conclusion, Macaque both is and isn’t the victim here. He’s not Wukong’s victim, he’s his own victim; victim to his own misunderstanding and his own unwillingness to change or to accept change. It’s actually something we see in a lot of people, but we’re often unaware of because the signs are often hard to read, and I think that’s why a lot of people have reacted to this episode in the way they have. Again, I’m not saying that this episode was bad or anything, again, it was fantastic! The writers did an outstanding job, I just think there’s a lot more that they were trying to tell us with how they played it out that a lot of people aren’t seeing, and I really wanted to address that.

WHEW! Anyway, I think that about covers everything... sorry this is so long, and if you read this far, thank you so much for giving this a read!

#monkie kid #season 2 #spoilers #journey to the west #macaque #wukong #shadow play #psychology talk #warning long post

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