#if you've seen a similar post from me like a year ago

[princeasimdiya12]

Bucchigiri Utena Parallel-Wannabe Heroes and the Illusion of Fairy Tales

Apart from the NNL segments, I've also had some thoughts on the Bucchigiri storyline and it's parallels to the themes of Revolutionary Girl Utena. And this time my focus as been on Matakara, who has often been hailed as being the true protagonist and hero of the story because of his honorable, kind-hearted and proactive qualities. Much like Utena herself.

And like Utena, the two share a somber backstory where they held on to fairy tale beliefs to help them overcome their hardships and grow into the heroic figures they wish to be. But what they don't know is that they naively followed these tales without realizing the misinterpretations of those beliefs that have been passed down for generations and would soon become victims of the fairy tale figures that once inspired them.

But before I can delve into that story, we need to talk about this story.

Note: This post will contain MAJOR SPOILERS from the Revolutionary Girl Utena anime. If you still haven't watched it and want to be unspoiled, then please refrain from reading this until you've seen it. If that doesn't bother you, then go on ahead. Also, I would strongly recommend speaking with a friend or a reliable user about the dark and trigger-worthy content featured in Utena before watching. It's a great show but it does get DARK.

Also, there's another user who's planning on making an analysis post comparing Matakara and Anthy Himemiya so keep an eye out for that if you're interested in more Bucchigiri-Utena parallels.

Part 1: Origins of an Orphan

To start, Matakara's backstory and his idolization of Arajin has multiple similarities to Utena's backstory. For the purpose of this section, I'll be using the version that was shown to us in Episode 1 and not the true version.

"Once upon a time, many years ago, there was a little princess and she was very sad. For her mother and father have died."

The first piece of info that Utena gives us is that she was an orphan and was in despair because of her parents' deaths. Though Matakara's own parents haven't been brought up nor has it been explained what became of them, it's clear that he lost them at an early age. And while he did have his older brother and his presumed relatives to watch over him, this did very little in helping Matakara overcome his grief or escape the shadows that haunted him since he was little.

"Before the princess appeared a traveling prince riding upon a white horse. He had a regal bearing and a kind smile. The prince wrapped the princess in a rose-scented embrace and gently wiped the tears from her eyes."

While lacking the regal bearing and white horse, Arajin was the traveling prince who came into Matakara's life and inspired hope and light within him. As shown in their flashbacks, he was always a friendly and cheerful boy who radiated confidence and spirit. A true hero that Matakara could look up to and help him overcome his sorrow.

"Little one, he said, growing up alone in such deep sorrow, never lose that strength and nobility. Even when you are a young lady. I give you this to remember this day, we will meet again. This ring will lead you to me one day."

The crux of Matakara and Arajin's friendship was their desire to train and grow into becoming true Honki people. Warriors with strong hearts and did not flee from battle. Arajin genuinely saw that Matakara had that potential and encouraged him to train alongside him.

And what's more noteworthy is that the two are given a token to immortalize the moment. Utena is given a rose ring to remember the prince and her own nobility while Matakara is given a friendship stone to remember their bond as future Honki People. Even as their fated princes leave, the two heroes carry those precious tokens well into their adolescence years, never forgetting their mission of becoming the people they want to be.

It could also be argued that Mitsukuni, his older brother, could qualify as the prince in this scenario as he inspired him to stay strong in the face of adversity. Such as in Episode 8 where he explained the creed of the Honki and how he inspired his little brother to be brave like them. He even brings up their creed to Matakara just before he's hauled away to the big house.

"Perhaps the ring the prince gave her was an engagement ring. This was all well and good but so impressed was she by him that that the princess vowed to become a prince herself one day."

So the cherished prince rides off into the world leaving Utena alone, much like Arajin and even Mitsukuni would leave Matakara alone because of their respective issues. But rather then succumbing to despair, the two heroes resolved to maintain the noble spirit that those heroic figures saw in them. Utena went on to become a prince herself while Matakara would become someone worthy of being a Honki person. Though Matakara struggled more on his journey given how he threw himself into bloody battles while being alone, he would eventually be adopted into the Minato Kai Gang and become closer on his path to becoming a Honki person.

And just before we can go straight to Utena's story in the present, the fairy tale closes with a question to the viewer.

"But was that really such a good idea?"

For first time viewers, it's easy to interpret this question about Utena, a girl, becoming a prince since it defies traditional gender roles and what is expected in classic fairy tales. But as the RGU story progresses, we see that the concern comes not from a girl becoming a prince but more on the problems that come with being one.

Two in particular stand out. The first is that men who become princes usually use those roles for the sake of superiority and having control over women. They lack the nobility a true prince should have and relish in the title because of it's power and privileges. The second problem, and the one that this analysis post will focus on, is how princes who live up to those roles are exploited by the people they try to protect.

Part 2: The Truth That is Twisted by Time

All fairy tales, legends, myths and stories which have been passed from one generation to the next. And as the years go by, those stories are often subject to adaptations based on the preferences of the storyteller or how society uses those tales to explain their respective beliefs. A common criticism is how most fairy tales have more imaginative elements in play and avoid the grittier elements that the tale originally used (Ex. Cinderella got her dresses from a tree instead of a fairy godmother and her stepsisters chopped off parts of their feet to get the slipper to fit, Aladdin used African slaves as part of his prince con).

And we see those changes in adaptations in the fairy tales Utena showcased that omit or warp the truth to the ones who hear of them.

Such as in Utena's origins, we're told that it was only a prince who inspired her to become one so she can reunite with him one day. But the truth was that her decision was because she met Anthy who was suffering from the hatred of humanity. And the only way to rescue her was to turn into a prince whom she could believe in.

We also see a new adaptation in the backstory of Anthy and Akio which is now known to the world as The Tale of the Rose. The world remembers their story involving a powerful and perfect prince who was stolen from them by his sister who turned into a wicked witch out of jealousy. But the truth was that Anthy sealed him away not out of spite but out of love and concern as her brother was being exploited and over exhausted by a massive, unsatisfied world who overly-depended on him.

So as Utena demonstrates, the fairy tales we start out learning about aren't exactly as true as their origins demonstrate. They often omit or do away with the more tragic and gray aspects of the characters in those stories. This is all well and good, but what does that say about the Honki People?

Right in Episode 1, we're told that they're courageous and valiant fighters who train nonstop and pour their heart and soul into battle. Despite being brushed off as a simple old story in the present day, their legends and battles prove worthy enough of recognition. They have a temple in their honor, Arajin and Mataraka trained to become like them, and even the city is named after them. The narrative does a decent job in explaining the concept of the Honki People, but what about the people that inspired those legends?

As we see in Episode 9, we learn that Senya and Ichiya actually started out as ordinary humans who dedicated their lives to training and fighting one another, hoping to become a true Honki Person. It's stated that Ichiya was training himself to be a Honki Person so the legend was already around when the two of them were only boys growing up in a Middle Eastern town. And fitting the Aladdin parallels, Senya started out as a simple street rat with no family or home to call his own. And after meeting someone as cool, powerful and inspiring as Ichiya, he decided to spend his life alongside someone he could call his friend.

A rather somber element is that while the whole world grew up learning and embracing the Legend of the Honki, none of them actually knew who those Honki People were or what their past lives were like. Would it even matter to them how they started as humble street urchins with no family or home to call their own? They knew what they turned into, but they never stop to think about who these legends started out as or what their backstories or even their names are.

But what's more tragic is what became of Ichiya, the one who inspired Senya. Though we still don't know the exact details for what Senya did that tarnished their friendship, it ultimately impacted his best friend for the worst, corrupting his heart and letting him be filled with hatred and contempt. He no longer valued friendship like he did when he was human and views it as a weakness that must be purged. Perhaps becoming a true Honki Person wasn't all it's cracked up to be given how they're bound to pistols and made to serve whoever finds him for thousands of years.

It's akin to the Rose Prince who's powers were sealed away by Anthy in a desperate act of love leaving him unable to save the world like he used to. Only because of his powerless state did the Prince lose his heart and became a cruel, manipulative and spiteful monster who longed to reclaim what once belonged to him. He would even resort to inflicting every form of abuse imaginable onto his sister as "punishment" for what she did to him. (And yes I do mean every form so please keep that in mind if you haven't seen Utena yet!)

The hero who was glorified and admired in their respective tales loses their nobility in real life, allowing themselves to be corrupted and be filled with new desires of revenge and power. Transforming into the opposite of what they represented in the generations that told their stories. Simply put, they become a villain.

A villain who is...

Part 3: The Virtuous Victim Turned Vile Villain

Bucchigiri and Revolutionary Girl Utena are shows that share the themes of fairy tales while deconstructing and subverting tropes associated with them. One of which that the two share is playing on the idea of a heroic or fairy tale archetype (the genie and the prince) becoming the villain of their respective shows. It's even more ironic that the true heroes of those series would start out being inspired by adaptations of them that portrayed them in a positive light only for to fall prey to their schemes when they meet them in real life. Bucchigiri has Ichiya, a true Honki Person that Matakara heavily looked up to, and Utena has Akio, the Fallen Prince Dios who led the sad princess on the path to becoming a noble prince.

Each of them started out as the ideal fairy tale figure that helped the heroes when they were only children who confronted sadness and loneliness at a young age. But now that they're older and are meeting with them, they end up falling victims to the fairy tales they initially admired and tried to become. And neither of them realize that they're being used as it happens.

Ichiya's goal is ultimately to merge with Matakara to take over his body and exact his revenge on Senya. As to what Ichiya's motives are after taking his revenge aren't clear, but what is clear is that Matakara will lose himself after being completely possessed. And because Matakara is suffering through his feelings of loneliness and his childhood friend's true nature, he doesn't even notice how Ichiya is manipulating him to improve the merge rate.

Akio's goal has been to groom Utena into producing a noble heart that can help him reclaim his original powers, even leading her in an intimate relationship to further manipulate her. Should he succeed, then he'll discard Utena and move with his life as Prince Dios once again. If not, then he'll discard her and find another person to groom. And Utena doesn't realize this as she's led to believe that he's the prince who once saved her from despair and she'll get the happily ever after she believed will make her content.

The scary part about this, is that they're not the first victims to fall prey to their wicked schemes.

Though it hasn't been confirmed on Ichiya's side, it's heavily implied that he's bonded with other people who found his magic pistol before taking full possession of them. Given how he's lived for thousands of years and initially resided in a public Honki temple, there's no way he would have not been found by some unlucky sap. His common knowledge of possession would suggest he's done this before and has seen the unfortunate results of the person he takes control of, which he mentions to Akutaro.

As for Akio, he also has lived for thousands of years and organized constant Rose Duels in the vain hope of choosing one lucky winner to steal their heart so he can break. Using his sister as a prize to be one, there have been countless tournaments held with the hopes of finding the right target that can help him regain his powers from the Rose Gate.

Alas, neither villain was successful with their attempts given that they've turned their sights on the new generation of heroes to continue their cursed wishes that have lasted for centuries.

And speaking of wishes, remember how I brought up in Part 2 how fairy tales were much darker compared to the more enchanting stories we grew up with?

Well thanks to a peculiar finding by @mahoromouse, I came to realize something about Ichiya and possibly Honki people in general. They're not even genies, they're djinn.

Contrary to the Western media's adaptation of genies as whimsical, playful, wish granting spirits who are voiced by beloved comedians, djinn were actually neutral spirits who were born from fire and were able to wander the Earth like humans do. That said, there are some djinn who grow stronger when interacting with negative emotions found in a human being. It's even said that they can inspire greater levels of negative emotions in a human that they target. Much like how Ichiya is cultivating Mataraka's anger towards Arajin and his fears of the shadows that haunt him.

And how fitting it is that from the moment Senya was introduced to us, Arajin and the audience interpreted him as a genie. Especially given that Senya even offers him a wish while proclaiming that "Honki" can also be spelled to make "Majin" 魔ま人 which in Japanese means "demon person" or "magical person". But have we actually seen Senya grant Arajin's wish of losing his virginity? While he does help the boy in getting stronger and boosting his image as a man, that doesn't mean it's gotten him very close to losing his virginity (thank goodness). And it can be inferred that Ichiya never granted Akutaro's wish despite having stayed by his side during his reign as the NG Emperor.

Given how the Western's portrayal of genies have been popularized and glamorized for years, we have easily forgotten the true origins of genies or djinn and the grittier aspects associated with their backstories.

Conclusions

The theme that the two shows share is how a child who was in a dark moment in their life was inspired by a fairy tale to help them find the light. And so touched were they by the heroes in the stories that they decided to become just like them. But as their respective shows demonstrated, that wasn't a very good idea. The Prince and the Honki Person they once admired turned out to be monsters who resolved to exploit them and reclaim something that was lost to them many years ago. And because they grew up with the romanticized and ideal versions of their idols, they never realized the truth about them which was lost in time mixed with ongoing adaptations that omitted their pasts making them more acceptable to the world.

As for whether Matakara will be saved from Ichiya's corruption while still gaining a heart that does not flee, I cannot say. But as it stands, it looks like Arajin will need to be the one to come in and save the boy he once inspired and who still holds dearly in his heart. And just like I mentioned in my last NNL segment, maybe their friendship won't be the same anymore despite defeating Ichiya. Maybe Matakara will still harbor negative feelings to his friend for how he was mistreated and abandoned for so many years. But much like how Utena ended on a hopeful ending, I believe the same thing can happen in Bucchigiri.

And those are my thoughts on the matter. It's been a great while since I wrote an analysis post this big so thank you if you committed to reading all of this. So what do you think of these themes? If you agree or disagree with anything I've written, please feel free to reblog and/or comment with your own ideas. Thank you and may you have a great day/night!

#bucchigiri #bucchigiri?! #revolutionary girl utena #rgu spoilers #matakara asamine #utena tenjou #arajin tomoshibi #mitsukuni asamine #ichiya #senya #akio ohtori #anthy himemiya #fairy tales #analysis #eddy's post #loving these parallels #anime #long post

[galaxygirl8880]

I was inspired by a Tcf post I saw a while ago so if this post reminds you of something similar you've seen TELL ME PLEASE-

---

Cale Henituse is 13 years old, begrudgingly attending a party hosted by a Noble his father wishes to strike a business deal with, when he spots a child near where he's sat in by the bushes.

He had only just been able to shake off Eric, who wanted to make sure he behaved at this party. At the time his reputation was more "bratty child" than trash.

Sure, sitting on the floor wasn't really noble-like but honestly, Cale really could care less.

Momentarily, he got the kid's attention. They made eye contact for a split second, red puffy eyes more apparent to the redhead, and then the kid began furiously rubbing their face.

Cale stood up and began walking towards the child. (He still didn't like seeing people cry. Behind the "Trash" persona he put up, Cale was still there. For how much longer?)

The boy, who he believed might be Viscount Dacre's child, looked up sharply and seemed startled to see him there.

Cale scoffed and sat down, the kid flinched.

"Well? Sit." The older of the two sat down on the grass and patted the spot next to him.

Hesitantly, the pink haired child sat next to him.

For some reason, the kid wanted to start crying again. His face scrunched up as he did his best to stop the tears.

Suddenly, a handkerchief was thrusted in front of his face. An offering.

Picking it up and blowing his nose, he placed the handkerchief on his lap and said in a small voice-

"My father said we're not to cry.."

Cale tsked, memories of his own father telling him to avoid the Viscount, how rumors of the man's rude personality constantly surrounded him.

"That is because your father is incapable of human emotions, you are 9. Cry if you feel like it."

And its like a dam was broken. The kid's shoulders began to shake and suddenly Cale had an armful of a sad child weeping in his arms.

Shocked, Cale slowly wrapped his arms around the kid and began to rub his back slowly.

After the kid finished crying, Cale grabbed the abandoned handkerchief and wiped the child's face.

"Put cold water on your eyes to lessen the puffiness, now scram. I can hear them calling you."

"R-right! Thank you Hyung!"

Leaving a stunned Cale behind, the much happier pink haired child hurried along to find the voices of his (most likely) parents.

"...Huh."

Still a bit dazed, Cale stood up and dusted himself off, lost in thought, and began to walk towards a random direction.

---

This happens a few more times. Cale soon finds out Noble families aren't as perfect as people think, well he knew that before.. but to see it firsthand? It only solidifies his opinion.

They all end up practically forming a club.

When rumors of Cale being trash really start to set off, they want to defend him. Because really? Their Hyung hitting someone for being too loud? That makes literally. No. Sense.

But some of the older kids eventually piece it together. It's an act.

They know how kind Cale is, and a few playdates in, organized by their parents, realize how protective he is over his siblings.

Cale may not be the most affectionate towards them but causing a scene and diverting all attention on him after people begin to talk about his stepmother?

That's not a coincidence.

-

You'd be surprised by how easy it is to spread rumors as a child about someone you spend frequent time with.

With approval from Cale and a little lie, about something Cale allegedly did, to their parents?

It's ridiculously easy.

---------

One time Alberu walked out into the garden to socialize because he noticed a bunch of the kids heading towards there, and witnessed a majority basically swarming around Cale.

Later he saw them walking through the hall trailing after Cale like little ducklings.

---

Lol

Did it get a little scrambled at the end? Yeah. But I still like it

#tcf #trash of the count's family #lout of the counts family #cale henituse #original cale henituse #tcf fic #tcf fic idea #alberu crossman

[meanbossart]

A long over-due ask compilation (Art & Music)

It's vaguely based on a short story from the book "The Consumer" by Michael Gira, specifically "The Boss". I think it came up in conversation with a friend or something when I was picking a new username, so that's how we arrived at it - this was almost a decade ago so, my memory on it is a little hazy!

{MORE UNDER THE CUT]

HAHA thank you so much!!! Glad you enjoy what I do 😎🍻

I BELIEVE this little guide I put together over here might be helpful to you, also! I touched on pretty much everything you brought up.

As for reference material when it comes to facial expressions, I have a mirror next to my desk which I glance at often and make weird faces at LOL and for consistency, it's really a matter of learning to dissect and remember facial structure. It's just something you end up developing an eye for when you've done it for long enough! Naturally, if we're talking about drawing existing characters, it's always helpful to just look at some pictures of their mugs and take a minute to define what features about them make their faces recognizable - I touch on this at the link above as well!

I do plan on making a "drowstarion" (love that, by the way LOL) playlist eventually, life's just been kicking my ass and I hardly have the time 😭and when I do, I just wanna draw.

Otherwise I don't have any other playlists floating around at the moment, BUT the one my boyfriend made for his Vellioth comic can be found here, and it might scratch a similar itch!

Thank you! I believe this was in reference to this post. Something like that takes me about... An hour??? If we're talking just the colors, at least. Though that's a really rough estimate because I take a lot of breaks, so my sense of time when I work ends up pretty skewed. Even if the application of the colors themselves took less than 20 minutes I probably spent 2 hours just staring at it LOL.

My friend, I have no idea. I'm in a constant battle between "I want to draw more realistically" and "I want to simplify my art so I can draw more/faster". What you see is the result of that ongoing brain-tug-of-war.

Also, just the way I assume everyone else develops theirs - they see stuff they like and emulate it until their art is Frankensteinish enough to be it's own unique thing!

I'm far from a Type O Negative buff, BUT I'm happy to share some of my favorites with you! They're quite scattered across a couple of their albums so I'm not sure I have a favorite, but I would say October Rust is a good starting point.

In no particular order, these are my most listened tracks of theirs: -Love You to Death -Black N.01 -Haunted -She Burned Me Down -Can't Lose You -I Don't Wanna Be Me -Be My Druidess -September Sun -Tripping A Blind Man

Alas, I was one of those people who was already drawing in kindergarten 😅 though I would say I only started taking it seriously when I was around 15-16 years old. As someone who has tried their hand at several other hobbies since reaching adulthood, I get what you're saying that it can kinda feel like... You missed the wagon? I've felt that way about all kind of things lol

That said, I've seen adults managing to develop their art skills extremely fast and effectively before. Understanding where and how you need to improve, and how to follow lessons/guides best is something that is vastly improved by maturity and knowing how to best hone your time, attention, and resources - and those are skills we completely lack as children. So, I sincerely believe that as long as you commit yourself, you can definitely get to a point that you're happy with in a couple of years if not less.

JUST DO IT BUDDY we are all just people looking through a screen and you won't ever see, talk, or meet 99% of the folks who ever clap eyes on what you post. Whenever you start getting nervous about sharing something, take a minute to ask yourself why you're nervous, and if none of the reasons have any genuine substance besides being afraid of what people "might think", just go ahead and post it. You're no mind-reader after all, and if you are, I doubt you can hear what a guy from Argentina or wherever is thinking about the art you made.

Point is, nobody online can touch you 🤷and if someone doesn't like what you do, they can simply choose to not interact with it, and if they do you can block and move on. There are zero reasons for you to feel "bad" about putting up a doodle when our experiences on the web are so easily curated nowadays.

#ask compilation

[shatcey]

1st anniversary (William)

William Victor Victor epilogue Liam Liam epilogue

You know how it happens… Someone shows you affection, and you become curious about this person… Will recently shows up with the most beautiful 5⭐ card I've ever seen in this game, and that's the reason I decided to read his story in this event. Not because I liked the description of his story more than the others. No, no, no, no! It's just because he definitely likes me. And it doesn't really matter that I chose his route about a week before I got the card. This is just a... coincidence, yes, coincidence.

So...

You expect some flashbacks from the events dedicated to the anniversary. And this one is no exception. The story is from his perspective (which is really rare), so it is even more precious.

After Victor's instruction, Will feels a bit conflicted. Will respects the wishes of others, and he doesn't like making decisions for them. But Victor forbade him to tell Kate about it. So he went to play the piano, but Kate didn't answer his call as usual… So he went to look for her. He finds her in the garden with Harry and Liam. They were playing cards and laughing happily.

Will feels a bit nostalgic and recall the impression of her at their first meeting.

Harry jokes that it's written on her face that she loves Will. They laugh and at that moment, the man himself appears. The boys immediately found a reason to leave them alone. Good boys.

Will said he was a little tired and would like to take a nap on her lap and listen to her story. She agrees and asks what story he would like to hear. The day they met… He wanted to know in details how she spent that day. And she tells him (I'm actually impressed. It was a year ago, and she remembers it so well… I don't remember what I did a week ago, at least not in so much detail, that's for sure).

The next day… thanks to the combined efforts of the Crown members…

They repeat step by step everything she did on that remarkable day. She wakes up late (Alfons played the role of an alarm clock, oh, his magic fingers), Ellis brings her bread from the bakery (she used to lives to the second floor of the bakery and eats their bread for breakfast). Liam asks her to write a love letter. When Harry came and said that because of the season at the post office, where she used to work, there were not enough staff and they needed a hand. Kate is a good girl, so she agrees to help.

Will escorted her to the post office and went for his business. But at the same time as before, he was at the same place where they met. While waiting for her, he remembers their meeting…

I'm not sure, but I think it was in episode 0…

So… Kate appears and points out that this day is remarkably similar to the day they met.

In the normal ending, she instantly figure out that this is Will's doing, and when she asks why, he offers her to reveal it herself. So she did. And then she begs him to let her stay by his side.

After that, Will came to Victor with a signed agreement.

I actually find it so Will's like… "until the final day separates us"… poetic and a bit depressing)

And they recall their conversation on the same topic when Kate first appeared in the crown.

I think he ment "not soon" or "as far as possible"… But I'm not certain…

In the premium ending they continue. He sends her to deliver the last two letters. And the last one leads her to the same mansion where she meets all the boys from the crown (prologue).

Will mentioned that in this mansion he once again killed someone…. This place somehow attracts bad people.

He was playing the piano, and Kate (of course) happily approached him. She realized once again that this was a test of her determination.

If you've finished his route, you know what it means… If not… don't think about it, you'll figure out eventually.

After that, Will recalled his thoughts…

Yet again I think it was in episode 0…

And in the end, he expressed his usual hope..

And for once, something sweet, not gloomy.

I didn't expect it to be so grim.

I finished his route, read his events, so I knew about his fatalism and I cannot say I was surprised. But it's still too dark…

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🔝 Start page 🔝

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#cybird ikemen #ikemen series #cybird #ikemen games #ikemen villians #ikemen villains #william rex #ikevil william #ikemen event #liam evans #ikevil liam #ikemen villains liam #harrison gray #ikevil harrison #alfons sylvatica #ikevil alfons #ikevil victor #victor #ellis twilight #ikemen villains ellis #ikemen ellis #ikevil ellis

[mintacle]

Jason Todd being girl-coded, you've opened my eyes! You are so right and suddenly a lot of things about him make sense (including why I like him so much), especially with how the narrative treats him (right down to turning a morally complex character into a straight-up card-carrying villain who eats puppies, ironically right around the time they did that to another female character, Talia). Jason is even written how I (a girl) tend to write angry victim power fantasy female characters. Like yes babygirl, scream and rage against the heavens about how unfair it all is!

I remember a post calling Jason "the Punisher for girls" except... yeah he kinda is. The Punisher is a male power fantasy with all that implies, while Jason is such a girl power fantasy and written with a lot of the usual negative narrative bias female characters usually get.

Except if we're honest and look past the superficial similarities of lethal force and guns, the narrative role of Batman is far more like the Punisher than Jason. Jason's role is the Punisher's daughter. Jason is if Lisa came back and was angry after what happened and big parent man Frank had to try to keep his (hysterical emotional angry-like-a-girl) daughter from crossing his arbitrary lines because she was going "too far" and tragically, he's unable to "save" her from herself and he must Move On while his child gets locked up or lies dying behind him (I can seriously imagine exactly how a proper Lisa-is-back plot would go down it's crazy how similar it'd be to Jason's return).

And another way Jason is girl-coded is that he's mentored by Talia, a woman. In comics you don't see male characters mentored by female ones often. Sometimes they can be taught specific skills by them for a brief time (like Tim and Shiva) but Talia's role as Jason's primary mentor and caretaker for several years is pretty unusual in comics.

True!! I'm glad my posts resonated with you so much. :)

I don't really know anything about the Punisher so I can't add my opinion to the mix, but other people will probably recognize your point.

But! On the subject of female characters mentoring male characters @benbamboozled made a great post actually about how women are seen as Having A Specific Skill or Expertise to teach whereas men are mentors For All, or For Life. And yeah Jason does break the rule absolutely! But we also don't get to see to much of that on page. He is in Talia's care for years, but other than Lost Days and utrh we just don't get to see these two interact. I either made a post or drafted and forgot about it, how DC won't publish Talia and Jason working together because it is vital to DC's agenda of keeping them marginalized that they each be alone nomatter how much reason and history they have to be in more frequent and meaningful contact.

At the same time, we really only see Talia caring for Jason in a motherly context, she isn't cast quite in the role of a mentor, rather sending him around to teachers than teaching him herself. It's a step in the right direction, but the fact of any mentoring and most interactions occuring off-screen, as well as their relationship being ignored later, or ret-conned like in the utrh movie where Talia was kind of replaced with Ra's.

For me a lot of Jason's girl-coded aspect arises from his opposition to Bruce who embodies patriarchal ideals. To some extent Jason is in the role of every person who has been let down by the patriarchy. The system we were told is for our benefit as well and which has let us down. It's about how we were let down by this world we thought was fair when we were smaller and trusted to be protected. It's about how our own father's have let us down, even if the time we last thought of them as protectors might have been many, many years ago.

None of these experiences are exclusionary to women either. I am not a woman, but I am queer. And I have been let down both by the idea that my father could ever be my protector instead of the one I needed protection from. And I have been let down by the idea I used to have of a world that would give me a voice without me having to prove myself every step of the way.

The need I have for more interaction between Talia and Jason is so much about two people villainized and victimized by the same patriarch-favoring narrative bonding and rising to challenge and upset the status quo. While I am aware that it will never happen and that DC already left Winnick a lot of leeway to have made Talia play such a type of role at all, logically it should be what follows.

Jason is girl-coded, but he also drinks his respect-women juices.

#jason todd #ask answered #I held back bc I could have gone on and on and on #thank you anon for sharing your thoughts!!

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

tuesday again 3/12/2024

beat breath of the wild and have no real interest in rot13’ing spoilers for a seven year old game. also early thoughts on the first couple hours in tears of the kingdom. so if you don’t want to see that don’t read the playing section

listening

there is a particular piece of exploring ambient music that plays in a particular cave in genshin impact's fontaine and i adored it. i kept going back to that cave to trigger the music. it reminds me very much of Erich Wolfgang Korngold, who won several Oscars for early Technicolor swashbucklers-- The Sea Hawk, The Adventures of Robin Hood, et al. this particular piece leans into it the most and really grabbed me bc that's what Fontaine is all about: the romanticism, the folk heroism, the seafaring swashbuckling. i wish they leaned into it a bit more across fontaine, but i haven't played since i got fired and had to give my laptop back so perhaps the last patch has more similar music?

the use of bells in this is super great and pulled my attention first, but the way it ends-- a sort of sliding violin halt, some woodwinds fluttering up, a flute twining in. i hope their composing team wins some fuckin awards this year bc all the genshin music is good but the fontaine music is really a cut above.

either you've seen enough lavish technicolor adventure movies to know what the fuck i'm on about or you haven't, i hope this makes sense for why i was so excited about hearing this particular style in such an unexpected medium. here actually listen to this

-

reading

The Water Outlaws by S.L. Huang, i think a post on here influenced me bc it promised gay genderfuckery but i put it on hold SO long ago i could not tell you when that was or what the post was. it’s not NOT gay and genderfucky. but that’s really not the point of the book. this also wasn’t the easy read i was expecting it to be. let's yoink both the photo and the pitch from macmillan:

Lin Chong is an expert arms instructor, training the Emperor's soldiers in sword and truncheon, battle axe and spear, lance and crossbow. Unlike bolder friends who flirt with challenging the unequal hierarchies and values of Imperial society, she believes in keeping her head down and doing her job. Until a powerful man with a vendetta rips that carefully-built life away. Disgraced, tattooed as a criminal, and on the run from an Imperial Marshall who will stop at nothing to see her dead, Lin Chong is recruited by the Bandits of Liangshan. Mountain outlaws on the margins of society, the Liangshan Bandits proclaim a belief in justice—for women, for the downtrodden, for progressive thinkers a corrupt Empire would imprison or destroy. They’re also murderers, thieves, smugglers, and cutthroats. Inspired by a classic of martial arts literature, S. L. Huang's The Water Outlaws are bandits of devastating ruthlessness, unseemly femininity, dangerous philosophies, and ungovernable gender who are ready to make history—or tear it apart.

this book kept me company through a particularly bad bout of insomnia and i did enjoy my time with it, i'm glad it exists in the world and i'm glad to have read it essentially in one sitting. if i owned a hard copy, i don't think i would hang on to it. it was Fine, it's simply not for me. a bit too chewy and for bigger fans of Chinese history and/or wuxia i think.

there is an extremely large cast of characters (i often found myself referring back to the dramatis personae) and quite grim in parts. sexual assault, cannibalism as revenge, a very realistic war. a lot of really terrible, really grievous things happen to bodies. the fight scenes are clear and competent and will in fact unfold in your head like a martial arts movie.

it does take quite a while to get going and unfolds more like a TV show than a political thriller movie. this is a fat fucking book. this is a twenty hour audiobook. it strongly benefits from shifting POVs over its length, Huang is particularly good at differentiating tone and what each character pays attention to for maximum effect. she's also really good at one of my favorite things, displays of political deftness where you can’t see how someone would have made any other choice. some really top tier leftist infighting

while it is gay and it is genderbending, i would not say discussions of sex and sexuality are at the forefront. this is a group that has been pushed to the margins for their gender and sexuality, but this is a book concerned with how they survive and there isn’t a lot of space for discussions that aren’t about survival. there’s no fucking on page, but this book did not advertise itself as a romance or erotica so i don’t fully understand other readers' criticisms here.

this is a very competently written book. i am not going to remember it in a month's time. i don't normally emphasize it to this degree bc i feel a little bad about going "meh" at this tale of women fighting for societal and personal freedom, something i too have done but with less gore, but there is a wide gray sea of books that are simply fine and i don't particularly love or particularly hate bc they weren't quite what i needed or what i expected at the time. so it goes.

-

watching

there is a revelation in Yellowstone season 3 episode 7 (picture unrelated i just like having a picture for each section) that made us (me, my bestie, my bestie’s husband) all SCREAM and have to pause it and leave the room for a moment to compose ourselves. the amount of Things per episode that happen in that show. they really fuckin use all of their forty-four minutes.

i watch so little modern prestige tv i i keep thinking about why this has its hooks in my brain so, and i think this is the same concept as homestuck and soap operas and war and peace: once you get sucked into a huge sprawling semi-nonsensical drama you are In It BayBee

-

playing

i didn't know lizalfos could do that. i don't like that. stop it.

somehow i had never gotten up to this platform near dueling peaks stables and was rewarded with...some arrows. but the sun rising turned the marsh all gold, and all the atmosphere shading was firing on all cylinders, and it looked real pretty. the weather in breath of the wild is fun.

i had been under the impression that the divine beasts had been slowly siphoning away ganon’s energy or something and had not realized that they were lining up shots and were the equivalent of little laser sniper dots. hearing that joyous musical cue and watching ganon get got by that tremendous beam of light was maybe the funniest moment in the game???

anyway did finally beat breath of the wild!!! did tear up at the end! im annoyed that the postgame just vworps you back immediately pre-castle but i get it from a game architecture perspective.

at the very last bit of the fight i fell off my horse who got stuck against the beast’s leg taking damage and i was SO scared it was going to kill my horse but we were ok!!! i think i overprepared for that fight. the thunderblight light ganon fight was way harder imo.

popping that map back open postgame and seeing a cheery little 43% completion in the corner was. good god. i had 105 shrines and 66/77 side quests, all but four of the shrine quests, and like 250 koroks. i guess the koroks count for way more than i thought??? or perhaps i didn’t actually discover as many named places as i thought??? i would probably have more coherent thoughts about the end of this game if i were not Extremely Depressed and wasn't able to immediately jump to tears of the kingdom. as it is, i feel sort of "huh. ok. that's checked off. next task: ganon But More"

on to tears of the kingdom: i love zelda with her little bi bob. i do NOT love link with longer hair. give him his ponytail back

i loooooove these little grotesques on the temple of time-- i was spoiled for the end of tears of the kingdom bc i watched my bestie’s husband play through the last three hours. i have just enough context to make everything more confusing. also, i was fully expecting the time skip to be like several thousands of years but it’s like a month at most???

it is So Funny to me that the lord of the mountain in the last game is an extremely rare occurrence you have to go visit at a specific place, and in this game he just wants his appy slices :) this is an excuse to talk about other rideable animals: i started a new switch profile to replay botw lo these many weeks ago, forgot to choose that one when starting totk, and don’t have any of the horses i spent the last month with :( the horses from my first playthrough several years ago are, quite frankly, not very good stats wise.

i went right to hebra to start the rito quest (where is the divine beast??? what has happened to the divine beasts???) but keep getting my shit kicked in one blow so i think i will fuck around the castle and do some more shrines. my overall impression is that this game is way more fiddly. there’s more Stuff to combine and keep track of. i wish i could premake fire and ice and bomb arrows instead of having to select them every time. that’s a lot of button presses in the middle of a fight. also my controller is succumbing to some fatal connectivity issues so this portion of the tuesdaypost may be slower for a bit. i will scrape up some money for a new controller bc this is a real loadbearing activity but it’s going to take a minute to ship to me i assume.

-

making

listen i deep cleaned my living/dining and bedroom today in a fit of remarkably productive anxiety, that’s about all that’s happening this week. i finished repainting some large frames, i framed one thing but don't like it, i fucked up framing another thing and i have put it back in the closet to simmer/until i remember how to measure things again

#tuesday again #tuesday again no problem

[katiesharms]

65 (or march 6th) for @paulmezcal - love is a laserquest by arctic monkeys

i can't think of anything to dream about/i can't find anywhere to hide

it's weird to be haunted by someone who isn't dead.

bradley's well used to hauntings at this point in his life - his father looms over his career, his mother over his house. mav over his trust issues and most reckless tendencies. and jake over his heart.

he hasn't seen jake in years - 5 to be exact, almost to the day. since their leave ran out post mission and jake broke out of the daydream they had been in together, like he'd never even been there.

"this has been fun," jake had said, that same smirk he always has affixed to his face. "we should do it again some time."

and then he got in his car and drove off, leaving bradley in the parking lot, watching him, frozen in place. he's still there, in a way. it's weird, maybe concerning, how much everything reminds him of jake. the blanket across the back of the couch that they had laid down on the floor and fucked on top of the second they got home, adrenaline and relief taking them both to the edge in record time. the mug in the cabinet that jake dropped one morning when trying to prove he had the balance to be a waiter. the shampoo jake left that bradley started using, and kept buying even after it ran out.

it's not like he hasn't tried over the years. he's dated others, but it's all fallen away and all that's left is the stain on bradley's ceiling from the time jake opened the microwave and the butter exploded.

it's all pathetic. so pathetic that when he answers the door on a sunday afternoon, bradley almost doesn't believe it.

"jake," he says dumbly. maybe this is just another one of his daydreams.

"bradley," jake says back, more sure. always more sure. "you gonna invite me in?"

wordlessly, he steps aside to let jake come in. the man wastes no time getting comfortable, seemingly still acquainted with bradley's home after all this time. jake sits at the small table in the breakfast nook, so bradley sits across from him. he's struck with the memories of sharing their morning coffee here.

"what are you doing here, jake?" bradley asks when the other man is silent for a long time.

"i, uh, just got home from deployment," jake's not looking at bradley; instead, he's tracing his fingers over the wood grain of the table. "i got into my car and started driving south. didn't realize where i was going until i hit bakersfield."

it's not an answer, but bradley's too confused and too tired to fight. "and why did you come here?"

"i guess i was just thinking of you. it was just your birthday right? 40?"

bradley starts. he didn't know jake still kept those facts about him, stored away in some private file.

"yeah," he confirms. two weeks ago, he turned 40. the same age mom was when she was diagnosed.

"when i saw the date, i remembered how you used to look in the mirror sometimes, for so long i was afraid something had happened. and when i would ask you, you just told me you had to remind yourself that you're still here. i guess i was just wondering if you still had to do that. or if you've found something else to ground you."

for a long time, bradley thought jake would be that person. he almost was; by the end of there few months together, bradley's nights spent studying himself, picking out the differences and similarities to his parents, shrunk and shrunk. instead, he let jake kiss it out of him.

"not yet," bradley settles on as an answer and tries to decode the way jake's brows scrunch together, how his shoulders droop.

"i'm sorry. i know that's what you wanted."

it feels cruel, almost. that jake is sitting her and dangling what he refused to give bradley in his face.

"of course," jake continues, "you've never been very good at asking for what you want."

the truth of it burns, and bradley feels hot.

"what about you?" bradley volleys. "i remember distinctly feeling like this whole thing was some kind of game to you."

"it was," jake admits so easily that it shocks bradley, just for a moment. "i never felt like anything was real. i liked to move fast and not care about what i left behind."

"used to?" bradley echoes back carefully.

"yeah," jake confirms, looking deep into bradley's eyes. "used to."

"what changed?"

jake shrugs. "i think i finally feel my age. and i think i finally realized that i need to stop pretending you were just some lover, like all the rest."

bradley sucks in a sharp breath. "jake, you can't say that. not now."

jake's face crumples. "look, i know it's probably too late. but i'm sorry and i miss you and i want to try again. for real."

"what's changed?" bradley asks again, trying to quell the hope crawling up his throat.

"nothing. except for me. if that's enough."

bradley doesn't know if it is. but for now, it's good enough for him. he reaches across the table to loop their hands together and squeezes.

#top gun maverick #hangster #my writing #prompts #top gun fanfiction #hmmm that's enough

[clearwillow]

So I just saw the post you reblogged about A.I on Tumblr and I'm not sure what to think. I want to get back into post my Inuyasha art but now I'm worried about this whole ordeal. On the one hand I don't want to give up making and sharing my art w/ others (esp. Since I haven't in a while), but now I'm scared about it being stolen and other artists I love giving up posting. This whole debate with A.I has me so confused and scared and I really don't know whats going on. I'm also curious about what you will do if this deal goes through. Do you plan on using Glaze or something similar?

Come sit with me, anon cause to be frank, I'm trying to take that particular post with a grain of salt. I hope it's wrong, because it wasn't long ago we were hit with "oh my god tumblr is closing where is everyone going" and we're still here. But I won't lie, it pisses me off greatly that it's even a possibility.

I completely understand, and I say - go ahead and post it. Don't give up on art because a bunch of fuck bois with no talent in their short hairs decide that generative technology is the way to go. I honestly hope that it crashes and burns in the next couple years, if not sooner. It had potential before fat old men in suits decided that they had to have more money than they know what to do with. I'm not quitting, because it's my income. It's my joy. I am also fueled by spite, because if I wasn't I wouldn't be here right now.

Art getting stolen is always going to be a thing to worry about, even before AI unfortunately. People will repost without credit and still take credit when that post gets more traction. Create a watermark and be a menace to the reposters, I say. There's Glaze, like you mentioned, and Nightshade. I've heard you have to do them in that order for it to be effective.

You can also search haveIbeentrained.com to see if your work has been picked up and request for it to be pulled from the databases. I've found three more of mine this evening. One was one of my mother's paintings.

I've already erased 15 years of work off the internet when I deleted my deviantart gallery at the end of 2022. Some of that work is so old it was never shared anywhere else. I may not even have that work anymore. If the deal were to go through, I'm not deleting my blog. It's been active since 2012; there's no way I could go through and find every art post and delete it to repost glazed/nightshade versions. It won't affect the reblogs. I haven't personally tried Glazing anything yet because I'm not sure if it'd even be effective with my style, but it's something to try when time allows.

I'm gonna say it again - don't give up on your art. Whether you're doing it as a career (I dare someone say art is a sidehustle, this is not MLM and I am not some 2-bit influencer) or because it is something you just enjoy doing for the hell of it, you should continue. I've seen people give up entirely on art in the last year, and it makes me mad. If art is something you want to do, you shouldn't let anyone make you feel like you can't.

And if you need someone to rally behind you and cheer you on, you've got me in your corner 💕 Hell, feel free to tag me in some of your art, if you'd like!

#anon ask

[lxdyred]

𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓖𝓲𝓻𝓵𝓼 𝓪𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓑𝓪𝓬𝓴 | Prologue

TGATB Playlist / Series Masterlist / Chapter I

Summary: Since first grade, more than 15 years ago, the five girls — Strie (Reader), Helaena, Baela, Rhaena and Sara — have been inseparable, from the very moment they were put together in the back row of the class. Then, ever since they became adults, they have religiously gone on a week-long trip by themselves every summer. But this year is different, as one of them has recently been diagnosed with cancer and a group of boys — their brothers and their friends — have decided to join them.

Pairings: Aemond Targaryen x Strong!Fem!Reader, Helaena Targaryen x Fem!Reader, Aemond Targaryen x Alys Rivers, more to confirm… (Poll at the end of the post!)

A/N: English is not my mother tongue. This story is inspired and based on the netflix series 'Las de la ultima fila', the plot of the story will be similar, but all the changes are ideas that have occurred to me / The characters do not belong to me, they are from G.R.R. Martin.

Series Tag-list: Open! (If you are interested just let me know!)

“What are you looking at, eh!?" exclaimed a young woman, no more than 23 years old, as she approached the group of men who kept staring at her and her friends. "You've never seen a group of bald women before or what!? Your parents didn't teach you any manners, hm?"

"Strie! Strong!" Baela mumbled as she went to her friend and grabbed her arm, pulling her away from the group of men, as smoke continued to pour from her ears. Strie was furious, to day the least.

"Ladies, let's go over the rules of the trip one last time." Helaena spoke as she closed the circle of friends, not before looking at each and every one of them. Baela, Rhaena, Sara and Strie, she let out a small chuckle as she saw the last one scowling and giving the finger to the group of men she had precisely faced. "Strie, the rules are?" She asked her friend, trying to hide her small smile.

"Girls be for fucking for real, we have the letter 'C' tattooed on our foreheads." Strie said as she made a 'C' with her fingers and brought it to her forehead. “It’s stupid how people—“

"Hey, that's the golden rule. We've agreed that we don't talk about it." Rhaena pointed at her friend and lowered her hand. "We don't talk about cancer or anything related with it. We're going to ignore it completely for a week. As long as the trip lasts."

"Strie is right. You tell me how we're going to ignore the little thing when the five of us are so bald, they can almost see our brains, and everyone's looking at us." Sara spoke as she rested her arm on the Strong girl’s shoulder, with whom she agreed.

"We ignored the little thing and that's it. Heads high, my friend. We've come to enjoy the trip and above all, each other’s company."

"Well said Baela." Helaena nodded and gave a nod of agreement to her cousin. "Well, and the second rule. There's one piece of paper with a challenge to complete. Daily. The sooner we get it out, the more time we have to do what it says."

"Remind me why we do those?" Baela said as she pulled her water bottle out of her bag.

"It's a challenge, a to-do thing, that we have not dared to explore for fear of the consequences..." Explained Strie looking at her friend with a small smile. "...with other people or oneself." She finished saying as she ran a hand over her shaved head.

It still felt weird to feel her head like this. All of them would agree with that.

"I think it's a great game, but can you explain to me WHY THE HELL ARE THEY HERE!?" Baela asked as she pointed her head in Strie's direction, who confusedly followed her friend's gaze and turned around.

Her jaw dropped as she saw a group of five guys, very well known to them. Jace, Cregan, Criston, Aegon and... Aemond. All five came with a suitcase or backpack slung over their shoulders. Jace and Aegon wore amused, mocking smiles on their faces when they saw the group of you women by the gate.

"We had said you weren't coming to Menorca, that it was our holiday destination. Not yours. That's how we decided." Helaena said, crossing her arms as she reproached her older brother.

"It was your decision, Hel." Aegon said, plopping down in one of the seats near the group.

"Of all the places — of all the holiday destinations in the whole world? You have to come to the same one? Gods! How you love to be a pain in the ass." Mumbled the last part Cregan's little sister, frowning.

"Are we really going to keep ignoring the elephant in the room?" asked Jace, looking around at everyone present, especially the women. "Why the fuck are you all bald?" He said running a hand over his older sister’s head.

“Jace, goddammit! Stop that!”

After that, the five girls looked at each other and silently nodded, having come to an agreement without needing to say anything.

"We'll explain it once, we won't repeat it. You will not be able to ask questions for the duration of our holiday." Rhaena said as she looked at the new arrivals, who seemed to be full of questions and curiosity.

"That is the golden rule. You promise to abide by it, each and every one of you." Sara pointed her finger in warning, passing her gaze first to her brother and then to the rest of the boys.

They all nodded, reluctantly.

"Well? Why are you five bald?" Criston Cole broke the silence.

"One of us... has cancer. We're going on a trip just before the first cycle of chemo." Helaena spoke with a sad smile adorning her face, as she took Strie's hand, who in turn took Sara's too.

"Cancer? Who is the one who is sick? Why didn't you tell us anything?" Aemond spoke for the first time, glancing at his sister fleetingly, to focus all his attention then on Strie, who for the first time in six months was able to look him in the eye.

"No questions asked, as we had told you. Not until our holiday is over." Strie pointed out, as she rested her head on Helaena's shoulder, with whom he was still holding hands.

Chaos erupted. All the boys demanded answers, while the girls tried to park the subject. Aemond and Strie remained silent, looking at each other.

He was preparing a mental list of questions he would ask both her and his sister in a week's time.

She, meanwhile, with her heart pounding against her chest and echoing in her ears, could only think of the precise reason why their friendship had gone to shit.

"Remember how we said that between us, the truth always comes first?"

"Yes, of course. What is it Alys? Is there something I can help you with?"

"I find Aemond hot, i like him too. Aaaannd I think he is so into me.”

Even though it had been a bit over six months since that day, the young woman couldn't stop thinking about that New Year's Eve. The cold tone with which Alys, whom she had considered her friend since her first year of university, had said those words, along with the small, smug and arrogant smile she had accompanied them with.

She broke eye contact with him and wished with all her heart that things weren't going to get out of hand that week.

#aemond targaryen x reader #aemond targaryen x y/n #aemond targaryen x you #helaena targaryen x reader #aegon targaryen x reader #aegon targaryen x you #cregan stark x reader #jacerys valeryon x reader #jacerys velaryon x sara snow #baela targaryen #rhaena targaryen #sara snow #cregan stark #cregan stark x jacerys velaryon #criston cole x reader #arryk cargyll #erryk cargyll #Aemond Targaryen x alys rivers #alys rivers #lxdyred #angst #fanfiction #reader insert #house of the dragon au #house of the dragon modern au #modern au #prologue #helaena targaryen #aegon ii targaryen #aemond targaryen

[shrimpmandan]

I think at this point anyone who calls themselves a proshipper but is like, staunchly aggressively no-matter-what anti-RPF is either deluding themselves or thinks that the concept of "real people being reimagined as fictional characters" hasn't existed for decades at this point.

Everyone was fucking raving about Hamilton and Clone High barely a few years ago. A lot of extremely famous, influential movies are based off of real people, such as The Wolf of Wall Street. Every single fucking cartoon you've seen that references a real life historical figure like Cleopatra or Napoleon is technically doing RPF to some degree. THE MAGIC FUCKING TREEHOUSE IS RPF.

All this is ignoring how much we WORSHIP AO3, but-- but but, the founder of AO3 very much supports RPF. And by supports I mean they actively WRITE RPF. Tons of American Idol stuff that's all obscenely popular!

Now of course, there's gonna be some people who have a kneejerk rebuttal about how it's "different" with historical figures, that it doesn't matter because they're all dead, or that movies and books are different from fanfiction that may or may not be sexual. Except all of those arguments make absolutely zero sense when you think about them for more than two seconds.

Shouldn't the subjects being dead make it... more disrespectful, on a base level? You could made a valid case that with historical figures, nobody is left alive to mourn them. In comparison, people who have died relatively recently still have loved ones alive to mourn their deaths, and who would very likely be negatively mentally impacted by stumbling across an RPF fic. Understandably so--

but wasn't our whole argument that other people's feelings are their own to deal with, and not our responsibility?

You can make a similar case for serial killers, too. The victims of Jeffrey Dahmer still have friends and family that are alive. I would imagine they wouldn't want to see posts sexualizing or glorifying him-- but I doubt they're seeking out anything related to him /at all/, frankly. And then we're back to point one about how all that matters is that shit is consistently tagged and that people simply don't read what they don't like.

In my opinion, the sole, sound argument against RPF would be sexual RPF of minors. Even if no contact or even grooming is happening: that is still sexual content of a living minor. That is CSEM. That is a completely valid thing to be against. I honestly fail to see why sexual drawings of real minors are illegal, but not writings. Still, writings and drawings do not involve the same amount of /direct/ abuse as 'regular' CSEM and CSA, but making the argument of psychological harm is fair, especially when this is a case of a child being directly sexualized against their will.

But then we're still back to square one.

Don't like don't read.

Honestly, I'm neutral on RPF. I'm against anything that involves a sexualized depiction of a real child, and I'm generally not super interested in or comfortable with reading fics about real people, but it's also not a topic I can just disassociate myself from and say that it's somehow disconnected from proshipping. It isn't. Proship communities are built off of the backs of RPF shippers, like it or not. And honestly, I couldn't care less so long as the shipper in question is still respectful of the privacy of the subject(s) they're writing about. The version of the person they're writing is fundamentally not real, and that's a weird thing to wrap your head around. One could even argue my own reasons for singling out child sexual RPF is hypocritical or contradictory, and I wouldn't disagree. I think having mixed feelings on the subject is understandable. But being completely, over-archingly against it due to knee-jerk discomfort? It just seems a bit silly to me.

#shipping discourse #rpf discourse #proshipper #proship #profic #pro fiction #profiction #proshipping #anti anti #tw csem #tw csa #<-- for mentions

[vickyvicarious]

I didn't want to clog up your post about being barefooted but it reminded me that now following Dracula Daily after having read the book many years ago, I have been clocking similarities+parallels between Jonathan and Lucy in several things such as vulnerable youth, condemned while betrothed, restless dreams, performativity, secrets, stolen innocence. I've seen -not on tumblr, other places- comparisons between the two girls, but honestly it looks like there's interesting comparative readings between the first two main victims to be had so I'm looking forward to re-reading Lucy's arc semi-blind after Jonathan's.

Yes! I completely agree, Lucy and Jonathan have a lot of super interesting parallels. I won't talk about it too much here - both because you're looking forward to going in semi-blind and because I also want to do a closer reading as we go along to see what I catch - but there have already been some really cool echoes/mirrors between them. Specific stuff like:

Jonathan's mirror getting broken/Lucy musing about looking into her mirror

The three vampire women attacking Jonathan/the three suitors proposing to Lucy

Dracula touching Jonathan without consent/the suitors taking Lucy's hands in a reassuring expression of friendship

Dracula deciding Jonathan's fate by giving him that deadline/Lucy choosing her own by picking Arthur

(There's specific posts in my "lucy westenra" tag talking about all of those, often in greater detail from people who noticed them first and elaborated really well, but I digress.)

And of course that is just so far and in addition to bigger themes and roles like the ones you've mentioned. The one I have been especially interested in watching is the (in)ability to speak freely and how that manifests in each of them when under Dracula's influence (a BIG thing with Lucy; for Jonathan, there are two different answers during and after the castle, both of which compare to Lucy in very interesting ways).

The performative one is super cool because I haven't thought about it in that specific way before but you're so right. Jonathan and Lucy both put on a really good act and try to hide their true feelings, but the circumstances and ways in which they do so is at the same time quite different and bearing some major similarities. I may have to think/talk more about that in the future once we get to a certain letter from Lucy.

I also love the mention of condemned while betrothed together with that stolen innocence and vulnerable youth, because they both have this big cocktail of that mixed together when they're attacked. Both of them are leaving one stage of life behind them (clerk, teen girl living with her mother) and have just embarked upon a new one (solicitor, engaged to be married - that one both but marriage is also equivalent to Lucy's career in a way) when they meet Dracula. But neither are settled into it yet. This is Jonathan's first big job and he's away from home, Arthur isn't there with Lucy and she's still preparing for the wedding. Both times, Dracula comes along right on that cusp of the life they've chosen and are looking forward to, and he tries to take it all away from them.

I'm starting to get more spoilery/talk about stuff I want to when it's fresher so I'll stop here for now but I am absolutely with you on finding a lot of interesting comparative readings to be had with these two specifically, and I too will be looking for/enjoying them as we go along!

#anonymous #replies #dracula daily #dracula daily spoilers #nothing too specific if you know the plot but i couldn't keep them out entirely #lucy westenra #jonathan harker

[just-late-roman-republic-things]

Hi!! I’ve been planning to start a (biographical) comic on Agrippa for some time (to be honest, it’ll probably be a few years before it’s released…there’s still so much research and design to do…and I have not moved my pen an inch yet…but the idea is Somewhat There!)!

As one of the blogs I’ve seen on Tumblr who speaks about him quite a lot (I actually found you while looking for Agrippa content on here several months ago…!), is there anything in particular you think would be interesting to explore (/anything you’d personally like to see) in such a comic?

At this point, my ideas aren’t fully solid yet, so I’m just asking around and brainstorming ideas, and you’re one of the first people who come to mind! (I do intend to place a lot of focus on his building projects, as well as his inventiveness and versatility, since I find that it’s an aspect of him that’s underappreciated in most media portrayals)

Thanks!! And sorry if this was a strange question :”

Not at all, it's very kind of you to think of me! I love the idea!

You've gotten both the writer-side and history-nerd-side of my brain going. I will respond as a writer first. And this post got long, even for me!

Find the things about Agrippa - or any other topic - that grab your attention. What scenes keep appearing in your head? What emotions come up, what thoughts keep you awake at night? Find the core of your inspiration, the thing you need to put into art, because you may need to summon that spark again and again. It will give you the stamina to complete what might be a very long project. It will also give you the strength to stay true to your vision, and tell the difference between helpful and unhelpful advice.

If you aren't sure what that is yet, that's okay. You'll figure a lot of it out as you go along. Make drafts or sketches or outlines early, whatever gets material onto the page, you can always change it later if needed. Take risks. Make mistakes. You get as many chances as you like.

Okay, now for the history nerd brainstorming, haha. The part you actually asked about. These are the thoughts that keep popping into my head when I think about Marcus Agrippa's life. You are welcome to use any, all, or none of them.

I'm a big fan of character-driven stories, which focus on emotions, internal conflict and relationships, whereas plot-driven stories focus on physical conflicts and adventures. Some stories are both character-driven and plot-driven. It may be useful to consider which aspects you want to focus on.

War. Agrippa was probably the most skilled general and admiral of his generation. On the one hand, that skill may be admired; on the other hand, he played a role in the deaths of thousands of people. How much do we fault or forgive him for that, given the circumstances of his time? Depending on the narrator's perspective, and your goals with the comic, Agrippa might appear heroic, villainous, or anywhere in between.

Proscriptions, imperialism and autocracy. Similar to the previous point. Agrippa's one of my favorite historical figures, but he was involved in some very dark stuff. He profited off the second triumvirate's proscriptions, he shut down independence movements from indigenous people in Gaul, Spain and Illyria, he supported King Herod of Judea, and Agrippa's competence helped entrench the Augustan regime and bring an end to the old republic. I don't say this to discourage you, but because I like morally murky characters, and perhaps you would, too.

Public service. On the other hand, there's no doubt that Agrippa did a ton of things to improve ordinary people's quality of life, and rebuild Rome and its provinces. His famous building projects provided jobs, infrastructure, and art to the community at his own expense, and he funded these projects for both Romans and non-Romans. The extent goes way beyond what was necessary to secure the Augustan regime's power, so I believe it's something Agrippa valued for its own sake.

Personality. Agrippa appears to have been very good at keeping his own counsel, getting along with people and avoiding personal drama. (He somehow remained on good terms with Mark Antony enough to let Antony arrange his first marriage!) That's part of what I like about him, but it can also make it hard to gauge what his own opinions were. And it makes him easy to project ourselves onto. This can be a good thing - it's partly why I find the Isekai Agrippa AU so funny - but it can also make it harder for us to identify a story's weaknesses, or accept critical feedback. All of us are biased in some way, so it's good to be aware of your biases so you can compensate for them.

Disability. Agrippa appears to have had some kind of "childhood lameness," according to Pliny the Elder, and it's not clear whether he grew out of it. He suffered issues with his feet later in life, too. I've always wondered how that must have affected him in the very ableist, toxic-masculine culture of ancient Rome, and it's an interesting parallel to Augustus' chronic illnesses, too.

Classism. There's some funky shit going on here, too. Agrippa was a "new man," and although he held Roman citizenship, his family were from the Italian countryside, and probably only gained citizenship recently. Despite being the #2 man in the empire, the old aristocracy looked down on him, and this tension was the primary obstacle to Augustus appointing him as a potential successor.

Family. We know little of Agrippa's family life, but the hints we get are fascinating. Pliny says he had a "miserable youth"; Augustus saved Agrippa's older brother from execution during Caesar's civil war; the brother pops up much later in a court case with Agrippa not taking his side; Agrippa refused to use his family name as an adult; and we hear nothing of his mother at all. (She may even have died in childbirth, since his was a dangerous breech birth and he was the youngest sibling.) He was also very closely associated with Augustus' family, to the point of being buried with them, moving in with Augustus, and appearing among their portraits on the Ara Pacis. Which brings us to...

Augustus. Indisputably the most important person in Agrippa's life. They were definitely close friends, possibly more? I'm working on a whole Google doc about that, and will post it here eventually.

There's a lot of fun anecdotes in Agrippa's life in the ancient sources. If possible, grab some ebooks of Cassius Dio's Roman History, Pliny's Natural History, Josephus' Antiquities of the Jews and Jewish War, and Appian's Civil War, then do a search for "Agrippa" and go wild. Lindsay Powell's Marcus Agrippa is also a good, if dry, collection of everything we know about Agrippa in one place, and it has plenty of detail about his building projects. You're also welcome to poke through my #marcus agrippa tag for ideas.

#just roman asks #marcus agrippa #writing #you can do it anon! i believe in you! #jlrrt essays

[mimiatmidnight]

Hey! How are you? Would like to say that I LOVE your blog, and I was wondering if you would like to update your top 5 H&M moments, maybe add another 5??

Folks, if you've ever wondered what is the oldest message sitting in my inbox, it's this one. (Well, I'm pretty sure there are a couple others that are a touch older but every time I try to scroll back that far, my inbox just glitches. There are . . . a lot of messages sitting in there. Sorry about that 😬). So I just want to say thank you to this anon and everyone else who has sent me tens of messages over the years asking for this updated post (unless the messages were all from the same one person all this time, in which case, my god I'd feel even GUILTIER).

It's been two years since the original, but an even wilder FIVE years since Harry and Meghan wed in one of the most consequential events in modern cultural history. What a wonderful, special day to look back on their relationship, with even more of my favorite moments between these two unlikely lovers. While writing this post, I laughed, I swooned, I cried. And I, uh, REALLY went off the rails at the end. Content warning for just the sickest, sappiest philosophizing you've ever seen. I'd apologize, but I just can't help it. Harry and Meg just have that effect on me ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

So, with one more thank you to everyone who has been so patient and kind and loving to me these past few years, let's get into it! Five(-ish, lol) more of my favorite Harry and Meghan moments:

5. WE will not look a mess

I'd be remiss not to start this list of my personal favorite H&M moments with what is, judging by the numbers, arguably the entire WORLD'S favorite H&M moment. This iconic video by twitter user @/ddarveyy is perhaps the Sussex Squad's most viral fan tweet of all time? And if qualitative evidence is more convincing to you than quantitative, this video has been blessed with the mark of being liked by none other than Madame Rhianna herself. That's certified social media Diamond. The tweet also spawned some great jokes, ranging from Virgo Harry always making sure to keep his wife looking on point, to some people speculating about certain other, ah, intimate contexts where H might have developed this habit of putting his hands in her hair.

Ahem, either way, I've always seen this touching practice of his as being in the same vein of all those times he watches out for her footing on stairs or treacherous terrain. He's always on standby, always keeping an eye on her, never 100% focused on something else when she's near. You know, just in case she needs help. Or (more likely) just in case he has an excuse to fuss over her 😏 And you know what? Harry strikes me as the kind of man who has waited a long time to have someone to fuss over, someone to worry about and take care of outside of himself. And now that he has that someone . . . well, Captain Wales reporting for motherfucking duty 🫡

BONUS MAINTENANCE FASCINATION:

Yes we're doing bonus content again -- I did say "five(-ish)" moments! The "ish" was forewarned!!!

Anyways, while we're on the topic of sentimentally rhapsodizing about Harry keeping an eye on Meg and her hair, I want to sneak in a reboot of a discussion I had with an anon a few months ago after the Netflix documentary came out. These quiet, behind-the-scenes moments where Meg is getting her dress fitted or painting her nails, and there is Harry happily watching from behind. It's a small thing, I know, but it speaks volumes to me. The intimacy that comes with watching your partner prepare herself to face the world, the peaceful trust and unspoken support. And if you think THAT is me reading too much into it, scroll back to that original discussion and watch me make myself cry over picturing Harry as a kid watching his mom go through her similar glam routine. Y'all don't even KNOW the kinds of crazy parasocial assumptions I can lose my mind over!!!!!

And while we're here barely on topic talking about the intimacy of behind-the-scenes, let's move now from the "before" preparation, to the "after" unwinding (and undressing??). One of the most bittersweet moments from the doc for me was this picture, taken after one of Harry and Meg's final royal duty events. Away from the cameras, and the press, and the people, alone in their kitchen at last. I can think of no better representation of "Leaving the world behind."

4. Meghan "My Husband" Markle

There has been much discussion over Harry being the ultimate "wife guy," and deservedly so. If I tried to put in this post every moment the man has practically glowed with the pleasure of saying "my WIFE," I'm afraid this website would crash from server overload. But a less-discussed, yet equally sweet through line is Meghan being the ultimate "husband girl." And I think no single moment is a better demonstration of this phenomenon than her opening speech last year at Invictus 2022.

Introducing her husband to the crowd of his Invictus family, Meghan said, "I could not love and respect him more, and I know that all of you feel the same. He is your fellow veteran, he's the founder of the Invictus Games, and the father to our two little ones, Archie and Lili. Please welcome my incredible husband, Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex." And then the crowd roared, and Harry and Meghan kissed, and we got all these ooey-gooey heart eyes.

And then as Harry took the stage, overwhelmed by the love of his wife and his community, he choked up.

"Thank you my love."

And I was never the same :')

BONUS "HUSBAND GIRL" SIMPING:

At the 2021 Salute to Freedom Gala, a reporter asking, "Meghan are you proud of your husband?" And Meghan bashfully turning back to answer, "I'm always proud of him." 🫠

And one even blushier, from the African tour documentary. Somebody come pick our girl up off the FLOOR!!!!

3. BAY. BEES.

Ok so I am REALLY gonna have to restrain myself for this section, cause if I put every single heart-bursting baby moment (especially after the FEAST we were delivered through the Netflix doc), I would never be able to finish this post. So I'm just gonna highlight a select few and keep my baby fever in check (and then mayhaps rewatch the entire documentary tonight lol whoops).

Our first real baby moment ever was Harry being so delirious with joy and nerves and just like, raw energy, after the birth of his first child (and then turning around after the big birthday media announcement to thank the horses in the stable behind him 😅).

A few days later, there was a particularly famous photo of Baby King Archie meeting some regal relatives or whatever, but in THIS photo, the two irrelevant old geezers are instead replaced by the new little prince's noble steeds, Guy and Pula. An iconic family photo. Outsold the original, if you ask me 😌

The news of their pregnancy with Lili was world-stopping for many reasons, but most famously it held a powerfully touching connection with the past. Apparently accidentally, Harry and Meghan announced they were expecting their second child exactly 37 years to the day after his mother, Diana, announced she was expecting him. Two extra-special Valentine's Days to remember.

And once again, as I said at the time, I am NOT someone who is particularly occupied with imagining the spirits of the departed watching over us, nor am I crazy about inserting the memory of Diana into discussions in which she has no agency. HOWEVER . . . who could stop the wave of emotions looking at this moment, as the grandbaby she never got to meet reaches out to her photo, through glass and time, trying to hold her hand. Bruv . . . 🥲 Even a motherfucking atheist can occasionally feel God in this Chili's tonight.

I don't even have anything to say about these next two, except to wonder with awe at the universal panacea that is baby snuggles. My absolute favorites:

And lastly, to wrap up this unbearably melty baby section, I have a moment that isn't really about the babies at all. In this video you can watch here, Easter 2021, we have Mama Doria, Meg (bursting at the seams with soon-to-be Lili), the little king himself, Sir Archie, his ever-loyal canine companions, and Harry -- who stands there, on the other side of surviving so, so much, and says almost under his breath, "Come on, family, let's go." And . . . yeah. That pretty much says it all 🥹

2. My Sussex Squad Origin Story

I'm going to keep this one short, cause I know what #1 is about to be and it's a doozy. But I wanted to briefly mention a moment in Harry and Meghan lore that will forever be the most special to me, because it is the one that sucked me into this here community I still haunt to this day.

October 2018. I have just recently managed to recover my old Tumblr password and logged into this site for the first time since middle school. I am scrolling the trending pages and see "Meghan Markle" listed among the top current tags. It says she's recently announced her first pregnancy. "Huh," I think. "I kinda remember hearing she got married." I've never willingly read or watched a single solitary piece of information about the royal family ever in my life. I don't even really know who's who, outside of the members immediately surrounding Diana. But I scroll through the Meghan tag, and I see she and her new prince are on tour. I see a photo. I read the headline attached.

Is that an actual tear spilling out from the corner of my eye? I stare at the tag for a few minutes more. What is wrong with me? Maybe I'll check this page again tomorrow, just to see what else they get up to on this tour. Couldn't hurt to learn a little bit more about this couple that literally stopped me in my tracks. I wipe the back of my hand across my burning eyes. "Well," I think as I try to bring myself back to what I was doing before. "That was weird."

Ha. Little did I freaking know :')

1. A Modern Fairy Tale

And now, to end this long-winded (and -awaited, sorry again >_<) journey, if you will allow me to get a little unbearably sappy.

When I set out to write this Part 2 post in 2023, I was doubtful. Could I even muster up that same enthusiasm, that same untrampled hope with which I beamed when I wrote the original? Harry, Meghan, the world, and I have all lived a thousand lives in these brief five years. There has been so, so, so much unspeakable pain. More than anyone has a right to suffer in a lifetime, let alone half a decade. "And for what?" I've sometimes asked myself. "What is the point in trying to love when there's all this pain that follows?"

This June, we will be coming up on the 10 year anniversary of my absolute favorite Internet meme of all time: Tim Kreider's legendary New York Times Op-Ed "I Know What You Think Of Me," which gifted human history with his startlingly sincere declaration, "If we want the rewards of being loved, we have to submit to the mortifying ordeal of being known."

Well, there is perhaps no one on the planet who has submitted herself to a more painful ordeal of being known than Meghan. She has bared to the world her vulnerabilities, her quirks, her flaws, her losses, her pains. To think of the life she has lived thus far, and the life that she walked away from to be here . . . I can't pretend that I've always been certain of the righteousness of her choice. But as I was working through writing this post, I reached a point in my research where I landed back on the speech Meghan delivered on the night of her wedding, shared in their Netflix documentary. And she told, as she called it, "a modern fairy tale."

“Once upon a time, there was a girl from LA (some people called her an actress) and there was a guy from London (some people called him a prince). All those people didn’t fully get it. Because this is a love story of a boy and a girl who were meant to be together.

“Amidst whatever momentary worries that creep in, they look at each other and think, ‘Whatever world, we’re in.’

“They would love, and garden, and travel, and laugh, and rack up more air miles than any couple could have.

“And when the tides were rough, they squeezed each other tighter. ‘Nothing can break us,’ they’d say, ‘For this love, she was a fighter.’

“I appreciate, respect, and honor you, my treasure, for the family we will create . . .

“ . . . And our love story that will last forever.

“So I ask you to raise a glass to the astounding assurance that now life begins, and the everlasting knowing that, above all, love wins.”

And so, here I am once again, with real actual tears streaming down my face, listening to a woman who has crossed so many oceans and lost so much of herself to get to where she's sitting today, and yet still, STILL, speaks with the same determination and conviction in love that she had all the way back at the beginning. They have taken so much from that woman, but they have not taken this. And so if Meghan, of all people, can still believe that love is worth it all . . . well, then, how could I possibly disagree?

Happy 5th anniversary to the lovebirds, and my heartfelt wish to you all that you may find victory in joy, love, and peace, just like them.

L'chaim 🥂

#meghan markle #prince harry #harry and meghan #anniversaries #see you all again for year 10? #and to many many more 💞

[okchijt]

May I request headcanons about Oka Ruto with male S/O, who is nice and kind with her, but big asshole to everyone else?

Author's Note: Thank you so much Anon for the request! The art is by Reikiwie! The request asks for a male reader and the title also says it, but you can easily read it as gender-neutral as well since I don't think that what I write is that gender-specific to the request to matter. This was also supposed to be posted a month ago, but this is my final year so naturally, school got in the way. So forgive me if this sucks, I tried my best😭 And lastly, go ahead and check out my masterlist if you like what you just read and if you want to request anything yourself, thank you and enjoy!❤

Favorism - Oka Ruto x Male!Reader Headcanons

💀 I think the request says it all when I say you're not a sociable person, at all. You'd rather be alone and everyone in this school is either too annoying or boring.

💀 You have been a new student at Academi High for 4 weeks now and still hadn't found any friends, not that you care though. The only group you've been kind of interested in is the Occult Club, but not to a degree that you'd come up to them and perhaps join them.

💀 But during that 4th week a mysterious, timid, and shy girl with an overall dark appearance shows up and even though she looks basically like the other Occult Club members, there was just something else about her that drew you in.

💀 In order for you to get close to Oka before joining her club would be to learn a few things about her without becoming a stalker. So you'd ask around people that are usually near her or you think would know some facts about her, and by asking around I mean to intimidate or threaten the answers out of them. You'd write everything you've learned in your notebook, surprised to find you two had a lot of similar interests or at least some you wouldn't mind learning about or exploring, and you did.

💀 From there you'd have to wait for the right moment to approach Oka, assuming she already knows about you and your intimidating demeanor, you'd have to approach her in a very friendly and calm manner. You found your opportunity when seeing Oka lingering around her locker scrolling through her phone. You walked past her while glancing at her phone to see her reading one of your favorite Japanese urban legends.

💀 "Satoru-kun, huh? You've got taste Oka."

💀 Excpect to see the most adorable reaction ever, making you fall for her instantly! Oka's face would immediately flush red while covering her face, averting her gaze from you. Oka has seen you around before, but she'd never thought you'd even know of her existence, and you're giving her a positive reaction that she wasn't used to, piquing her interest in you on the spot.

💀 She'd watch you and follow you around the school grounds to learn more about you, not knowing that you were completely aware of her always being behind you, but you didn't mind it. You found it funny and sweet actually.

💀 You became so used to it that you'd forget most of the time she was even there! Which led to Oka witnessing you display your rude behavior to other people. Most would be completely turned off by it, but Oka was intrigued. Your level of assholeary varied depending on who you were talking to, like if a genuinely good person wanted to just say "hi" to you or something you'd be a little bit more gentle with them, still an asshole, but not as bad as if one of the bullies or delinquents wanted something from you, you'd go savage almost instantly. And Oka couldn't help to find it interesting that you'd try to be at least a little bit nice to some, but to her, you were always the sweetest and friendliest person ever.

💀 And by that I mean your personality would do a whole 180 when you were around Oka. You'd greet her every morning when walking into school, hold doors for her, carry stuff for her, protect her if someone tried to hurt her, help with cleaning up, talk to her about The Occult, and Japanese Creepypastas, etc. Which Oka would appreciate all of that! She'd still be very timid and awkward with you, but she obviously likes and trusts you.

💀 After some time though you'd eventually confront Oka about developing your relationship forward, by officially becoming friends and maybe something more in the future. To which Oka would shyly agree to, her face being red the whole time.

💀 From then on you and Oka would start trying to develop the relationship. Oka would eventually become very comfortable with you around and talk way more with you. She's too shy to admit that she honestly secretly likes that you hold special treatment for her and only her. She doesn't know what she has done to deserve it, but she loves it.

💀 You're just so sweet and loving with her it makes your classmates scratch their heads. You are verbally and physically affectionate with each other, you are patient with her, and you never raise your voice at her, reassure her when she needs and generally act like the total opposite to her compared to everyone else. You're like a whole different person with Oka around!

💀 Even though Oka secretly adores the special treatment you give her, she'd try to make a slight effort to make you less of an asshole to everyone else. Like, Oka would just tell you to take it easy or hold onto your arm to make you feel at ease. And it works! You take whatever Oka tells you as law and if she tells you to turn it down you will. You'll only make an effort if it's for her and she knows it. But you both know she'll never exploit you over it either, so compared to everyone else, your guard is always down if it's just you and Oka together.

💀 Days turn into weeks and weeks into months and you have officially succeeded at making Oka fall for you. Oka is a firm believer in the cherry blossom tree legend because she believes there must be some supernatural element to it and stuck a note in your locker to meet her there and confess. You'd obviously accept seeing as this was what you wanted all along and you two would start going out from there.

💀 Even if the two of you have been going out for some time since then, you both would act pretty much the same as before together. You might want to push the relationship forward, like being more intimate with each other, but Oka would not be comfortable with that idea yet and you'd have to wait probably the whole semester if not longer to get to that point but I promise you it's worth it.

💀 The most you two could do right now is hold hands and kiss on the lips or cheek occasionally. Oka is intimidated by intimacy in a way, so hugs are a little bit scary for her, but she'll get over it with time. Verbal affection is also a very foreign thing for Oka. Say anything nice to her, compliment her, or flirt and her whole face goes beet red while stuttering a response while trying to cover her face. Oka is also bad at verbal affection as well, she'd research the ways other couples act around the school or try to copy you so she can say something romantic to you as well only for it to sound really awkward. You still love it though and she tries so that's already enough!

💀 Your dates are the most chill dates ever. You'd mostly have indoor ones, which would involve watching gothic or horror movies and shows or reading Creepypastas together and then discussing them together. The only outdoor dates you'd probably have would be at the park or going to the movies. They may not be super exciting or "fun", but that's the best you're gonna get with Oka. You can go with her or do anything and she'll do it, but generally, she enjoys herself more if it involves her interests or hobbies.

💀 Overall, you and Oka are an odd bunch that no one expected to happen or even work, most people would describe your relationship as "beauty and the beast", which let's face it, it's totally true. As much as unpopular Oka is, people do appreciate her trying to tame you a little, while Oka and the rest of The Occult Club are thankful for you always standing up for them. There's no doubt to anyone that what you and Oka have is special and everyone secretly routes for you two to work long-term, cause your dynamic is just that adorable. And with how things are going, they might be on to something.

#yandere simulator #Yandere Simulator #Oka Ruto #oka ruto #oka ruta x reader #Oka Ruto x reader #yandere simulator oka ruto #Yandere Simulator Oka Ruto #headcanons #Headcanons #x reader #x male reader #male reader #oka ruto x male reader #Oka Ruto x male reader #yandere simulator x male reader #Yandere Simulator x male reader #x gender neutral reader #gender neutral reader #Oka Ruto x gender neutral reader #oka ruto x gender neutral reader #yandere simulator x gender neutral reader #Yandere Simulator x gender neutral reader

[timmymyluv]

delayed flight

Timothee Chalamet x Reader

genre: fluff, very brief angst if you squint

Summary: a very late mother's Day celebration based on an old tumblr post years ago on a daughter annually having lunch with her dad but missing because she was sick

her friends go in their stead and become very close to the dad too, jokingly saying they had fun without them and it became a tradition.

basically timothee is stranded in an airport and missing the annual chalamet dinner. You've been to more than you count but always with him by your side and it's your first time alone.

you feel closer than ever to your family, like one of their own and you're so thankful that you not only have the love of your life, but another family who treats you like no other.

“I don’t think I can make it for dinner. They keep canceling or rescheduling my damn flights back home!”

You hear Timothee’s garbled voice on speaker phone as you sat on the counter in your shared kitchen, head in hands as your long-standing plans are crumbling by the minute.

“When’s the earliest you can get home, bubs?” You ask, still hopeful.

He groans. “The weather is absolute shit. They said the earliest they can get me home is tomorrow afternoon.”

Your heart breaks at the prospect of Timmy, sleep deprived from a long day of meetings, memorizing scripts, interviews and living off a suitcase has to sleep overnight at the airport when he should be home, warm in your bed and cuddled against your skin instead.

Yet he fights tooth and nail that you still go to the annual Chalamet family dinner that has become part of your routine recently. Fairly soon into your relationship and shortly after he had introduced you to them as his significant other, they had warmly welcomed you and even added you to their family group chat, included into every plan.

Biting your nails frantically, you nearly panicked at the thought of being alone with his family without him present. You knew they were as sweet as pie, as friendly and affectionate to you as their own flesh and blood, but the mere thought of being there without Timothee at your side made you apprehend whether you were ready for, what seemed to be, a next step in your relationship.

“Baby, I can already see you biting your nails. Stop that. Listen, I know you’ve always seen them with me, but don’t feel like you have to miss out on annual dinner just because I’m not there. I won’t force you, but if you want to go to dinner as always, even if I’m not physically present, you can do that. Alright?” He knew, he knows, he always does. He knows you like second nature, like you’re a part of him.

“Are you sure?” You can’t help but want to ask one more time, hear it from him again, already fully dressed in something more dressy than your casual loungewear. Was your makeup too thick? Trying too hard? Too similar or different from what you wore last dinner?

“Yes, mon amour. You don’t have to if you don’t feel like it, but they’re looking forward to seeing you if you do. Ok? I love you, my sunshine.”

Looking back one more time, you affirm to yourself in front of the mirror before grabbing your belongings, your handbags and putting your heels on to drive to the Chalamet apartment.

Timothee messages the group chat on your behalf, one step ahead. “Sorry my flight has been cancelled so I can’t make it until tomorrow morning. Y/N will still be coming to the fam dinner as planned :) ”

…

As you approach the driveway towards the Chalamet apartment building, you feel bile rise up in your throat as it slowly creeps into your awareness that you’re about to have dinner with his family - alone. You shake it off, finding it silly you feel like you’re an animal up for slaughter, when the family has been nothing but kind to you.

You reach the top of the staircase towards the intercom and gather all your courage to press the number combination that’ll lead to their flat. It rings for a few intervals, before its picked up by a chirpy Pauline.

“Chalamet household - it’s Y/N”

“Come on in, Y/N!” A beep allows the door to open for you to enter the building, and you smile to yourself how you can hear how excited she genuinely sounded when she recognized your voice.

After taking the elevator to their floor, you find comfort in the silence other than your shoes brushing against the lush carpet as you make their way to the apartment. Taking a breath before you ring the doorbell, you are unable to utter a single word before the wooden door swings open inwards and a jubilant Pauline rushes towards you with a tight hug.

“Y/N!!! We were hoping you’d show up as always tonight!”

Marc and Nicole make their way towards you as Pauline ushers you inside to shut the door from any prying neighbours.

“I’m sorry Tim couldn’t make it tonight, it’s just me for today. He really wanted me to go even while he was gone.” You say apologetically as you take your coat off and hang it up the rails.

Nicole reaches you first with a bright smile and opens her arms wide open for an eager, motherly embrace, not without two kisses on each cheek as the French do. This is a French household too, after all - no matter how New York was in their veins.

“Don’t be sorry darling - we always love having you over! Without him or not.”

Marc snickers with a fatherly yet teasing smile before he does his en bisou to you and a loving hug. “It’s rare we don’t see him stuck to the hip with you anyway. Always love having you over.” With a gentle pat on the cheek, you beamed at the hospitality the family showed you.

You gradually made your way through the apartment, rubbing your arms to warm up from the cool outside as you made your way past the familiar array of collages carefully maintained by the proud parents of their children’s careers and accomplishments.

As you made your way towards the kitchen, recognizing the appetizing scent of the viandes baking in the oven, you stood beside Nicole and offered to help.

“Is there anything I can do to help, Nicole?” It felt odd calling her by her first name like she insisted you could, always referring to her as Mrs. Chalamet especially with Tim by your side, but you didn’t bite your tongue this time as it felt right.

There’s a glint in her eyes that reminds you of her son.“ You are not here to be our help, you are a welcomed guest. Go, shoo! The food will be ready soon anyway.” Ushering you towards the living room tenderly, you hesitantly try to offer one more time before you wake your way on the couch next to Pauline.

Circling her arm around your shoulder in the most natural, sisterly way as she should, Pauline rests her head against your arm, nuzzling her nose the exact same way her little brother would.

“Missed you so much, Y/N. How have you been?”

The smile on your face couldn't be even wider throughout the night, you thought your face would fall off due to how hard you'd laugh and smile as they would crack jokes between meals and sips of red wine from the fridge.

As Nicole brought out her homemade blueberry cheesecake from the fridge, Marc propped up his phone on a stand to FaceTime Timothee who was currently stranded in the airport.

You've picked up French here and there, but we're grateful it was sparsely used while you were around so you weren't excluded or lost to fend and translate for yourself.

"We're having fun without you Tim! Y/N is ours now!" Pauline teases.

"Hey! What about me!?"

Timothee even miles away with his memory foam neck pillow and grey blanket in some stranded airport felt a warmth, a serene, comfortable joy, a comforting peace that Y/N fit into the family like a missing puzzle piece.

"Next week, me, Pauline and Y/N are going shopping together." Nicole chirps excitedly, grasping your arm kindly.

"How about dad and I?" Tim's wifi was starting to cut off, lagging a few seconds as his figure became blurry on the screen here and there.

"Girls night only!"

#timothee chalamet imagines #timothee chalamet x reader #timothee chalamet scenarios #timothee chalamet #timothee x reader #timothee chalamet x you #timothee chalamet fanfic #timothee chalamet fluff #timothee chalamet smut #timothee blurb #fanfic #celebrity imagines

[woomycritiques543]

As a lackadaisy fan who dropped helluva 5 episodes in, I think you’re overestimating the effect of the fandom has on things outside of itself because you are inmeshed in it. You don’t have the outside view. Don’t get me wrong, it sounds like a toxic shit show, but it doesn’t have a ‘monopoly’. If all it took to gain a monopoly in entertainment was to have a horribly rabid fanbase that won’t take the smallest bit of criticism, the history of indie entertainment would be very different.

(TW: LONG POST, mentions of Vivziepop's behavior, also if you're another lackadaisy fan that's curious about what's been happening over at the Hazbin fandom PLEASE DONT SKIP THIS POST!)

"If all it took to gain a monopoly in entertainment was to have a horribly rabid fanbase that won’t take the smallest bit of criticism, the history of indie entertainment would be very different."

Hm...

As a Helluva Boss fan who's seen how many views most indie projects have nowdays, plus what Vivziepop did here, especially since this wasnt just about the fanbase to begin with:

(Psst. Vivienne, these people got bills and families to pay for, so maybe dont try to push them away from other projects just because you like Hazbin Hotel? You can hire other people, you've done it millions of times before- let other projects thrive, and let them have different projects so they can be successful too! Far-Fetched barely has as any workers compared to you, so maybe stop being selfish and share the load so other projects can get all the help they can get? Especially when you rush out 5+ episodes a year and treat your staff like shit? So maybe... I dont know... treat them better so "A BUNCH!" of people from Spindlehorse wont think of even having to do so much extra work, day jobs and all, when there's 40+ million bucks sitting from your shows RIGHT THERE?! There's a reason why "a bunch" of people would be brought to do other projects at the same time. -and it's not because of all the red...)

I think it's pretty safe to say that theres an obvious monopoly going on. Why else would these episodes be getting 20+ million at a time, for years, while other just as good projects get next to none in comparison. Honestly, look at how much views, how many trends the shows follow, how much mainstream appeal, how much merchandising fills the "shelves" of Sharkrobot, how many episodes were shilled out in 2021 alone, how much it dominates the indie industry, and try to tell me that Helluva Boss and Hazbin Hotel are " not a monopoly!" Shilling out multiple Helluva Boss episodes full of softcore porn and bright colors a year to keep Spindlehorse's shows on top of the trending tag on Youtube EVERY YEAR SINCE 2019! -and end being what millions end up being reccomended. Though many people dont know that HB exists, many others do, and it's almost constantly being mentioned with indie animation while equally beautiful looking, or much better written projects get only 50,000+ views. Even in spite of Exxes and Oohs situation:

Season Two's premiere got 4+ million views in 15 hours.

While when I was watching the premiere of Exxes and Oohs with my freinds a couple of weeks ago after it premiered:

I noticed that it only had 1 million views in 5 hours, and then pretty much stayed that way throughout the entire week with only about 3 million for several days after Ep 1 had 4+ mil in only 15 hours.

While the premeire of Season Two passed 4+ million in LESS THEN TWENTY FOUR HOURS! -and the last episode is barely over it's despite being over 5 months apart. It's been a whole month, yet Seeing Star's views are still similar to when it was released and Exxes and Oohs is barely surpassing Seeing Stars despite a whole month having passed, while for Season One, in 5 months there would be 20+ million views and at times... more!

-and just to make this worse...

Hazbin Hotel.. a show with a pilot with over 70+ million views:

It's anniversary/sneak peak into the official show got only-

Get this...

THREE MILLION VIEWS!

-when FIVE WHOLE MONTHS have already passed and the fandom's still popular! While most of the previews for the pilot got OVER 3.5 million and the most popular being 20+ mil!

So it's really just people not caring to see the literal anniversary of the show since most were turned off by Helluva Boss or moved on because they grew out of all the stereotypes. It's got only about 0.8% of the views Hazbin's pilot has gotten despite the fact that people have been waiting for this show for THREE YEARS now and the fandom is bigger than ever. So even for that monopoly, it's slowly falling, and people barely cared about Hazbin's anniversary and release date reveal despite having waited for 3+ years.

So "Seeing Stars's" views has barely budged since release, Season Two's premiere has 20+ mil, but has also been that way since over three months ago, Exxes and Oohs only had 1 mil after even 5+ hours and onward, and Hazbin Hotel, a show with billions of fans, it's anniversary got only 3 mil- while the past season made OVER A YEAR AGO continues to receive views regularly. Meanwhile, Lackadaisy, had 6+ million in only TWO WEEKS while Exxes and Oohs barely got passed that in that time period (I remember it having maybe 5+ mil in about two weeks last time I checked, or even less that that.) and has been stagnant in views for 3+ weeks while Lackadaisy got over half of that in only 2+ weeks.

Which now makes it Helluva Boss's very first competitor.

While Murder Drones has Seeing Star's level of views after an ENTIRE YEAR so this is really saying something about the quality of Helluva Boss's latest episodes as Season One still skyrockets, the latest episodes stay stagnant even after 3+ weeks, and Helluva Boss now has a direct competitior due to this lowering in quality and just how many reviews are now criticizing it while Lackadaisy's reviews are majority positive with little to no hiccups in between.

Not joking, the first thing you get when you search "Seeing Stars Review" is thousands of negative reviews because of Vivienne, Adam, and Brandon Rodger's refusing to improve in their WRITING- you know... WHAT THEY WROTE ON A DOCUMENT?! The thing people have been CRITIQUEING?! Not "a personal, useless preference" but ACTUAL CRITICISM that they keep ignoring to look "near perfect" and to keep the monopoly going while other indie shows continue to get mediocure level views in comparison to Helluva Boss.

The views have been stagnant since near release. I remember seeing 17 million 3 weeks after it came out- and now it wont budge!

Yeah, im sure those statistics and thousands of people getting upset for actual reasons are "bad faith!" too. Adam- FUCK OFF! People aren't "bad faith" for telling you that using anti-black and fatphobic stereotypes in your show is awful! Also- you're show is now getting genuine competition so I suggest not being an egotistical jerk to your own fans and to actually listen to them for once before shit hits the fan and you have to further get hit by your own karma!

While look at all of the positive reviews Lackadaisy's getting!

Lackadaisy has almost all positive reviews, is catching up with Helluva Boss's latest episodes, all the other episodes in Season Two are also still static in views and Season One continues to get thousands on a daily basis, and yet is still- and I mean- still, Barely scratching Daisy's success! In comparison to how you'd think these "still being rewatched a lot" last episodes would be doing since this is HB, the monopoly of indie animation, that we're talking about!

So i'd say that Helluva Boss Season Two has been getting it really rough for the past 8 months in comparison to the success Season One still has, and even then, the first episode still has 54+ mil and yet most of the episodes continued to decrease by the millions each release. So even in Season One, the signs that people were losing interest were already there. -and Ozzies and Truth Seekers have just now caught up with Season Two's first episode (You know... the one people got hyped as all hell by but then lost interest once the episode started getting slammed for how terrible it was?) despite being the ones that are praised often, while Season Two's premiere has barely budged for the past year- making this a receipe for MILLIONS of lost views in total, and this is a fandom that constantly says "I binge watch the episodes a ton!" and yet Season One has barely budged in one and a half years. Its been in 30+ mil I think since last year... it's April now. -and they're now all catching up to each other and are about the same views, which would mean that they're barely going up by the thousands for ENTIRE MONTHS and Season Two, is getting even less because of the negative reviews from not a "useless personal opinion" but OBJECTIVELY BAD WRITING!

Season Two stays stagnant in views even after 5+ weeks and onward since the difference in views is that small.

THEY NOW HAVE A COMPETITOR! So Vivienne really needs to start giving a shit or WOOAH boy things are going to get intense!

So though Helluva Boss is still on top, it's falling over, and now has competition to worry about after only two weeks.

-and even then, it's still on top, because of Vivienne manipulating both her audience and staff into meeting constant demands and giving it constant praise regardless of quality under the threat of being seen as a "bad person" for not doing so.

Helluva Boss having almost billions of dollars in merch, 40+ million views with many of their episodes, a majority celebrity cast with little to no indie actors, Vivziepop having basically tried to put down Far Fetch from having any actual success by trying to not get her team with a show of BILLIONS of views to not work on it just because Hazbin is her "favorite project!" when these people have BILLS TO PAY and a FAMILY that can't be held up just by one project- which is why people like Erin had to work extra jobs, overnight, despite this show getting millions of dollars each day, in the first place! Yet to Vivienne, what mattered the most was her project, and not their lives. Which is the reason why she overworks her staff, and according to people who worked there, aren't even actually allowed to work on other projects, including Far-Fetched, either. While Far Fetched has not nearly as many people working on it and everything we see there has with has 100,000+ or less while Helluva Boss continues to monopolize the industry. (in case you're asking: Yes, it was also her supervisor's fault, but she's a million dollar creator, can't she just hire someone else instead of getting in the way of other people's lives other a cartoon show? Most freelancers do multiple projects, how else are they going to pay the bills?)

Yeah, Erin was lifted from a few things- but did they still have to work an extra job just to support themselves despite working for a 40+ million dollar show, did most people in Spindlehorse end up having to suffer even worse to meet those kinds of demands?

YES!

So does that make all the "Erin's not a real victim" or "Erin Frost's mistakes, as a human being, makes everything people say about Vivienne's behavior "not true" just because we beleive people who bootlick Vivienne but not people that she's hurt despite both people "only" using word of mouth. Except no, because no the ex-staff have evidence and yet the current staff who threatened to punch the people who spoke out about Vivziepop's behavior have nothing but word of mouth but we'll still beleive them just because they give us softcore porn! :D" comments now complete bullshit?

YES!

-and with Ashley Nichols in particular:

You'd think that Vivziepop would try to help Ashley... A LOT!

-since Ashley gave her projects millions of views in publicity and support with Hunicast and having actually worked on Hazbin!

But instead, Viv prioritized herself in the situation, fired all of her indie voice actors and replaced most of them with celebrities when she could have easily found other indie vcs but choose to use her status to get an actor from Grey's Anatomy and NORMAN REEDUS- and most likely will get more celeberties for Hazbin just because "famous = don't accociate with indie actors." appparently despite her main thing being "Support indie creators guys! :("

Vivziepop, again, pulling herself up while she's already been the top of the indie industry for the past 4+ years, while other projects continue to be pushed into the mud of a "cult classic" grave.

So in reality- Helluva Boss isnt "helping" the indie industry grow stronger, it's causing a monopoly which gets in the way of people's shows, their careers, their jobs, and even their mental health.

-and many people having little to no mentions of other projects outside of "Look at this pretty cool project I found- Ok, BACK TO HELLUVA BOSS AND HAZBIN HOTEL WOOOOAH LOOK THIS IS THE BEST INDIE SHOW EVAR!1!" is a literal monopoly in it's most capitalistic, trend serving, overproduced form.

Ashley even saw Vivienne trying to blacklist yet another staff member just because that staff member was upset about how much they were being rushed and overworked in order to meet even near the same demands, even with a few things being lifted since they have ADHD, they were still overworked, and for the rest of the staff it was even worse since they were overworked and bullied in order to meet the demands of said monopoly and stay in Spindlehorse.

Far Fetched got announced years ago- yet Vivziepop hasnt even mentioned it once as far as ive seen, she fired Ashley's partner and seeing how HB is, is likely going to replace him with an non-indie voice actor when apparently she could have easily kept them if she just paid a fee, when she has MILLIONS of dollars in support for her show now, lives in LA, and could easily use her platform to support THOUSANDS of indie projects. But as usual, she pulls herself up, bullies her own fandom by saying that they're "NOT A WRITER!" and "CANT UNDERSTAND WRITING!" for giving her any feedback and has basically manipulated her audience into seeing her and her shows as "NEAR PERFECT!" to continue said monopoly with HB's continous trending and high reviews regardless of quality. While other projects are only "secondairy". -and despite having worked on Hazbin Hotel, Far Fetched has gotten the average amount of acknowledgement for indie animation- Which, isnt much... at all.

Compared to that of mainstream shows, and especially Hazbin Hotel!

Yet as usual, Vivziepop manipulates her followers into contuining to put her on top regardless of her channel's ever reducing quality, and even views since it's lost millions since debut. With people constantly making excuses such as "ITS JUST BEEN UP LONGER!" and "ITS NOT LOSING VIEWS THE PANDEMIC HAS JUST ENDED AND PEOPLE ARE OFFLINE MORE NOW!"

Yeah-

Say that to how Lackadaisy has 6+ million in only two weeks despite being another show altogether, despite the show also having been produced in the pandemic since 2019.

It's been only two weeks yet it already has almost just as many views, and if this keeps up, will likely even have more than HB's latest episode while "EXXES AND OOHS!" has been only at 13+ since it was released. It barely has moved on inch in a entire month while Lackadaisy keeps going... and going... and going...

While Helluva Boss's latest episode has barely scratched the surface despite being just as new with only a month difference.

It's honestly messed up how Ashley was shafted after supporting Vivziepop and working for her after all this time. Same for all the other artists who worked for her. -and as Erin said:

-and seeing how Far Fetched is doing right now, this couldnt be any more evident of just how much of a capitalistic, worker mistreating, monopoly that Vivziepop's channel has become to the point where people who worked with her FOR YEARS still end up getting the short end of the stick or even outright harassed by her and her fandom, and she doesnt even defend them, she just... let's the bullying happen, let's her ex staff get slandered, let's her staff threaten to HIT THEM while only caring about shippings involving literal FICTIONAL CHARACTERS! -and last time I checked... going to the levels of not just trying to manipulate people into thinking that Vivienne is a "perfect little lamb" to gaslight people into not looking into how she treats her staff- but also THREATENING VIOLENCE over the fact that someone was actually honest about what was happening in Spindlehorse- Isnt exactly what i'd like to call "good treatment" of your staff since Vivienne let you do this to people. Hell- is- IS THIS EVEN ALLOWED ON TWITTER?! Is it even allowed for people on the platform to threaten to hurt someone on Twitter in their guidelines, hell, is it even legal to threaten to hurt someone like this at all?! Especially if it's being used to threaten people into not speaking out about actual workplace mistreatment?!

HOLY SHIT! Just let these people tell you that you need to do better, and going to the levels of threatening to hit someone for critiqueing Vivienne for her behavior even once and then going out of your way to call them "GLASS JAWED MOTHER FUCKERS!" is genuine hostility and honestly, I dont even think it's even legal to verbally harass and threaten people to this extent. WHAT THE FUCK?!

I looked into this and... yeah! What Monica did was against Twitter guidelines by threatening to hit people who were in the studio that said anything about how Viv was actually acting.

I also checked to make sure, but.... yeah, she actually wanted to hit people for saying that Vivienne was overworking her own staff by rushing and also having to work full day jobs despite Helluva Boss continuisly ranking in millions of dollars. Which means that they were getting a small percentage of pay compared to what ends up being used for Vivziepop's "spectacle!" animation. So this isn't just acephobia, but also threatening genuine violence towards people for saying that they don't deserve to be mistreated. This is vile.

Hell, even without those guidelines- it's disgusting that Vivienne let her staff talk to people this way and then also mistreated Spindlehose for all these years too. NO ONE deserves to be treat this way for speaking out, especially if all they're doing is saying what happened to them in a studio that they worked in, and the fact that everyone demonizes Erin Frost for a few mistakes but then lets Vivziepop's "favorites" threaten to HIT SOMEONE is actually horrifying.

Honestly.

Helluva Boss isnt even "INDIE" anymore, it just fills up space in the indie community while clearly being a million dollar, mainstream show that has Norman Reedus and other celebrities in it to give the "We're indie so we can do what we want just because we're smaller than Disney!" excuse to be assholes to other people for even saying something as simple as "tone down the saturation a bit."

It's a monopoly. A monopoly built on years of breaking trust, threats, more bullying, betrayal, prioritizing in fame over indie creators, worker mistreatment, rushed projects, fanbase manipulation, and it's why I have so much faith in Lackadaisy. It gives me hope, it gives me hope that one day Vivienne will finally get told to "WAKE UP!" through all that's been happening. That the monopoly will end, that the indie industry will become more balanced again, that freelance artists will be treated better and receive more respect for their craft instead of just being used to meet corperate demands. That hope... is why, that though I like Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss, that I also wish for other creators to get the spotlight and that one day... maybe... just maybe... that a new franchise will take Helluva Boss's place.

So to answer your question:

Yes. By defintion Helluva Boss has become a monopoly. It's taking a large chunk of the indie animation industry, and the creators overworked their staff to meet high demands for it to get trending almost every year through high amounts of demand and episodes in 2021 alone. It's taken a large amount of control over the industry and it's come to a point where creators have to rely on supporting Vivziepop to even get a piece of what HB has. Honestly, how is that fair? How is it "fair" to overwork her staff and appeal to even the bottom of the barrels of trends to keep her show trending while most of the other indie shows on Youtube suffer for it?!

It's making the indie animation community almost as corperate as the very companies that caused these people to steer towards indie animation in the first place. Which is such a shame, because there's so many good projects out there- yet to be discovered by most people. -and yet HB gets the trending almost every time because it appeals to as many mainstream trends and porn accounts as possible through all it's fetish and ship bait content and mass amounts of merchandising, and from mass amounts I mean HUNDREDS OF PIECES OF MERCHANDISING every year, even after the show already has 40+ million dollars in it's budget so it's just capitalism and mainstream pandering at this point. The indie community went from going against corperations and capitalism to BECOMING corperate and capitalistic.

It makes me miss back when all we had mostly were just fun short films and play dough animations. It's like people in the indie community have forgotten why we even make all these animations in the first place.. Not just for money and sucess....

But for fun, to animate away from corperations... for fun.

#helluva boss season two #helluva boss criticism #lackadaisy #helluva boss critical #not putting this in helluva bosses tag since im not in the mood to be harassed and sent racial slurs by hazbin fans today.